What is Stock

What is a Stock? Stock is a security issued in the form of shares that represent interests of owners in a company. It is a type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporations possessions and earnings. A holder of share or stock of a company (a shareholder) has a claim to a part of the corporations or companys assets and earnings. In other words, a shareholder is an owner of a company or firm. Ownership right of an investor or share holder is determined by the number of shares a person owns relative to the number of outstanding shares. For example, if a company has 1000 shares of stock outstanding and one person owns 100 shares, that person would own and have claim to 10% of the firms assets.