Talk:Stock

From Academic Kids

Share vs Stock

Is there really anywhere in the world where this concept is referred to primarily as "share" and not stock? A share is a unit of account, or a measurement for the concept of owning stock in a company. I wondered if it was just a British usage, so a quick survey of the BBC news shows the word share used sometimes, stock others. Specifically, the BBC calls the markets stock markets and the London Stock Exchange. A survey of the Sydney Morning Herald appears similar, with more balance towards the use of "stock" for the concept and "share" to refer to the number of units of stock. So given the term is never called "shares" in the US and seems mixed in England and Australia at least, it seems much more appropriate to have this article moved to "Stock", with at most a disambig message to alert people to other uses of that word. I will make that move unless someone has good justification to oppose. - Taxman 19:44, Jun 30, 2004 (UTC)

Technically, stock refers to the invested capital in a company. A share means a share of stock, or a share in the invested capital of a company. If a company issues 3000 shares, each having a par value of $1, then the total stock of the company is $3000. So, while in common usage stock and share are used interchangeably, they actually mean different in law and finance. Someone should change this. Pmadrid 06:16, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

My understanding is somewhat different: Company stock is a category of securities or financial instruments which includes company shares and company (corporate) bonds. The capital of a business includes the shares and bonds. A share is a share in the ownership and therefore the profits. Stock is shares and bonds! But stock need not be company stock: Government bonds are stock too! Paul Beardsell 23:19, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Where did you get that from? Though I don't profess to be an expert on the subject, I have never heard of your version. Being fairly well versed i the subject, I would consider it possible that you are incorrect. Certainly provide some verifiable evidence here before drastically changing the article. - Taxman 03:19, Dec 19, 2004 (UTC)

OK. And thank you. It seems I am wrong on this. Stock includes all the various classes of shares, voting, preference, etc but not debt. "Stock" refers to either all the shares of a particular class or to all the particular classes of shares, depending on context. Do you agree? Paul Beardsell 08:33, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

First share?

I have always heard that the Swedish company Stora Kopparberg sold their first share in 1299, 103 years before the share of Dutch East India company was sold. Can anyone confirm this?

Is Hbc the world's oldest company?

No. There are a few other candidates with claims to this title and it depends on your definition of company.

The (British) Royal Mint: According to the Guinness Book of Records. But this isn't really a company in the modern sense of shareholders, etc. Guinness gives no date for its establishment and its own website says nothing of the kind. It produces an Annual Report - at Parliament's behest - but does not seem to be a "company" of investors at all.

Sumitomo Corporation: Founded over 400 years ago by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652), Sumitomo is publicly listed and includes such well-known names such as Mazda, Sumitomo Bank, Asahi Breweries, Mitsui OSK Shipping Lines, NEC computers and Dunlop tires. The history on its website indicates that it was family held for quite a while and it is unclear when it became jointly held. Its original business was copper-mining.

Stora Kopparberg: Copper has been mined in Falun, Sweden, for over 1,000 years, and two thirds of the world's copper ore was produced here during the 17th and 18th centuries. The town is home to the Falun Copper Mine and its awesome Big Pit (Stora Stöten), measuring 100 metres (328 feet) deep and 400 metres (1,310 feet) wide. The oldest document about the mine, dating from 1288, shows that it was then owned by a company, Stora Kopparberg, in which shares could be bought and sold. Nowadays known simply as "Stora," it is the world's oldest company of shareholders. In the 17th century it was the largest copper-producer in the world, but nowadays the company's interests lie mainly in the ownership of forests and the production of timber.

Based on this evidence Stora Kopparberg is probably the best choice for the world's oldest company. Hbc is Canada's largest department store retailer and oldest corporation. And we are the only one of the great joint-stock trading companies of the 16th and 17th centuries that is still in business. GT

See also:

• [1] (http://www.hbc.com/hbcheritage/faq/default.asp#3) Hudson's Bay Company (Hbc)

What does a company get from stock trading?

Once a company has sold a share of its company, what benefit does it get from that share being futher traded in a stock exchange? i.e. if the share price should rise, does the company receive extra money?

Is a company's stock market valuation equal the amount of money that company actually has to use for capital investment? [unsigned, Pbadams, Feb 19, 2005]

The second and third questions are easily answered: "No."

The first one is trickier. The benefits are indirect. Typically, it means that further capital, if needed, can be raised on more advantageous terms: the company could issue further shares at rates more reflective of its current, higher valuation. The benefits to the management are far larger (even independent of them typically being stockholders themselves): the stockholders—the owners—are presumably happy with them, and more likely to retain them.

On the whole, though, stock valuation is of far more direct consequence to the stockholders than to the company.-- Jmabel | Talk 06:57, Feb 20, 2005 (UTC)

I agree with Jmabel that the second and third questions are easily answered: "No".

Lets talk a little more about the first one. A rising share price indicates that the anticipated future rate of return from the operations of a company are rising. This means that the "Return on Equity" (ROE) (defined as net income/shareholder's equity is rising. Such a rising ROE is usually one of the prime objectives of setting up a company. However, this may not really answer the first question. Probably the straight answer to first question is that there is no benefit from secondary market trading of stocks for the issuing company.

doles 03:05, 2005 Mar 7 (UTC)