WHAT is a stock, really? It used to be a piece of paper that sat somewhere. These days, like everything else, stock ownership has gone digital. So, you will just have to take someone’s word for it that it actually exists.What it is worth on any given day depends on what buyers and sellers decide on that day.Encarta defines stocks as "certificates representing shares of ownership in a corporation".Owning them confers three privileges:1. You get dividends. Or not. No corporation is compelled to pay dividends to common stockholders. In any case, it is a thin benefit. I checked out a few blue-chip companies in the Dow Jones index. The highest dividend was about 3%. Be still, my heart. Most were paying less than that. Let me go out on a limb: Few people buy stocks only for the dividends.2. You get to vote for officers of the corporation. What does this amount to? For most investors, it means that once a year or so, you have to fill out a form saying "don’t care" to a list of people you’v...
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