Shares - Stock Trading

Shares - Units of account for diverse financial instruments like stocks, mutual funds, limited partnerships, REIT's.

Shares, in financial markets, are a unit of account for various financial instruments including stocks, mutual funds, limited partnerships, and REIT's Real Estate Investment Trust, that can be classified as equity, mortgage or hybrid. In British English, use of the word shares in the plural to refer to stock is so common that it almost replaces the word stock itself. In American English, the plural stocks is widely used instead of shares, in other words to refer to the stock (or perhaps originally stock certificates) of even a single company. Traditionalist demands that the plural stocks be used only when referring to stock of more than one company are rarely heard nowadays.

Shares can provide income, its main goal, which is called a dividend, while an investor owning shares is called a shareholder.

A share of stock is one of a finite number of equal portions in the capital of a company, entitling the owner to a proportion of distributed, non-reinvested profits known as dividends, and to a portion of the value of the company in case of liquidation. Shares can be voting or non-voting, meaning they either do or do not carry the right to vote on the board of directors and corporate policy. Whether this right exists often affects the value of the share. Voting and non-voting shares are also known as Class A and B shares respectively.

Please remember the value of your investments and the income from them - like your Shares - can go down as well as up. You may not get back the full amount you have invested. If you're in any doubt about the suitability of any our products, or whether to buy or sell shares, you should consult an appropriate Financial Adviser.

Shares - Stock Trading