What is the Stock Market? How does it work?

November 21, 2008

From FactMonster.Com

The word stock simply refers to a supply. You may have a stock of T-shirts in your closet, or a stock of pencils in your desk. In the financial market, stock refers to a supply of money that a company has raised. This supply comes from people who have given the company money in the hope that the company will make their money grow.

A market is a public place where things are bought and sold. The term “stock market” refers to the business of buying and selling stock. The stock market is not a specific place, though some people use the term “Wall Street”-the main street in New York City’s financial district-to refer to the U.S. stock market in general.

If a company wants to grow-maybe build more factories, hire more people, or develop new products-it needs money. It could get a loan from a bank. But then it would owe money. By issuing stock, a company can raise money without going into debt. People who buy the stock are giving the company the money it needs to grow.

Not every company can issue stock. A business owned by one person (a proprietorship) or a few people (a partnership) cannot issue stock. Only a business corporation can issue stock. A corporation has a special legal status. Like a school, its existence does not depend on the people who run it. Under the law it is separate from the people associated with it, and has special legal rights and responsibilities as well as its own unique name.

Owning stock in a company means owning part of that company. Each part is known as a share. If a company has issued 100 shares of stock, and you bought one, you own 1% of that company. People who own stock are called stockholders, or shareholders.

Stockholders hope the company will earn money as it grows. If a company earns money, the stockholders share the profits. Over time, people usually earn more from owning stock than from leaving money in the bank, buying bonds, or making other investments.

When the price of a particular stock rises, that stock is said to be “up,” meaning up in price. When the price falls, the stock is said to have gone “down.” The terms “up” and “down” are also used to describe the rise and fall of the market as a whole.

As a company makes money, the value of its stock goes up. For instance, pretend you bought some shares of stock for $10 each. Since you share the company’s profits, if it does well the shares might later be worth $15 each. You could then sell your stock and make $5 on each share. If the company loses money, however, you would also share its losses. Those $10 shares might each be worth $3 if the company fell on hard times.

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