Posts Tagged ‘stock’

Preferred Stock is…

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Preferred stock is stock that pays out a fixed dividend to its owner. Dividends from preferred stock take precedence over common stock dividends (so owners of preferred stock get paid first and owners of common stock get paid out of whatever’s left).

How do shareholders exercise power?

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

A shareholder, or someone who owns stock in a company, has some power to make decisions about what that company does. The primary way in which a shareholder has power is by voting in the annual meeting. Usually you get one vote per share, unless you have special shares that come with extra votes or other perks – the more shares you own, the more power you wield.

If you can’t physically make it to the meeting you can send in a proxy vote. Some time before the meeting, the company should send each shareholder a packet with information on how to do this.

All the information you need to make an informed vote is made available in the annual report sent to shareholders. You can empower yourself and your dollars by staying informed and using your vote as a shareholder.

A Closing Price is…

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

A closing price is how much a stock is worth at the time of its last transaction of the day on a stock exchange. For example, if just before the closing bell on the NYSE, AT&T stock was sold for $25 a share, that is its closing price.

Can a bad stock be a good stock?

Friday, July 17th, 2009

One of the most basic principles of investing is that you want to buy stocks you think will achieve significant growth – you pay a certain price for them now in the hope that they will soon be worth much more. When you end up with stocks that aren’t increasing in value, you usually sell them. But is it ever worth it to hang onto a stock that isn’t growing rapidly?

An alternate way to profit from your stocks involves earning dividends, or payments a corporation makes to its shareholders out of the company’s quarterly earnings. Companies don’t have to pay dividends, so those that choose to do so are trying to attract shareholders. These companies’ growth rates have usually leveled off, and they don’t think they’ll benefit from trying to increase their growth any further, so they have to provide their investors with something else of value. As long as the company is stable – that is, as long as it’s not rapidly decreasing in value – you can still earn money from dividends, even if your stock isn’t growing as quickly as you’d like. So there are times when a stock that’s considered bad by conventional standards can actually turn you a profit through less conventional means.

A Stock is…

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

A stock is a unit of ownership in a corporation representing a share in the corporation’s assets and profits. For instance, if a company has 1,000 shares of stock available and you own 100 of those shares, you have a 10% ownership of the company. Stocks are traded (bought and sold) on a stock market, and there are two types of stocks: common stock and preferred stock. Capital stock is the total ownership of a business and includes common stock and preferred stock.

Equity is…

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Equity is Wall Street talk for “stock.” It can also refer to the value of things or properties you own outright. For example, you own equity in your new bike, your recently purchased car, or your developing intellect when you go to school.