hoto Credit: Peter Hellberg

stock represents ownership in a company. Therefore, when you purchase stock, you become part owner of the company. The number of shares of a company’s stock that you own generally indicates what portion of the company you own. For example, Walt Disney has sold 2,042,000,000 shares to the public. So if you owned 10 shares of the company’s stock, the percentage of the company you would own is .0000005% (10/2,042,000,000 = .0000005%).

The links below fill you in on the stock market and other information you should know before making your first investment.