A share is a small slice of a company. It gives you a claim on the company's future profits and, often, a vote at shareholder meetings.
When a company grows its profits, more investors want to own it and the share price tends to rise. That rise is called capital appreciation. Some companies also pay part of their profits out as dividends.
Shares trade on exchanges around the world: the NYSE and Nasdaq in New York, the London Stock Exchange, Euronext, Tokyo and more.
Each has fixed opening hours in its local time zone, and prices can gap at the open when news breaks overnight.
To list on a major exchange, a company must meet rules on size, financial reporting and disclosure, and keep meeting them. That gives investors regular, audited information.
It is a filter on information quality, not a guarantee of performance. Listed companies still fail.
Large companies trade millions of shares a day, so spreads are narrow and you can buy or sell almost instantly. Smaller companies may trade a few thousand shares a day, and one order can move the price.
A share price reflects expectations about the company's future. Earnings and growth matter most, but so does the environment around it: interest rates, the wider economy and investor mood.
A good company can still fall in a falling market.
What you now know about shares.
