Share (finance)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Revision as of 12:03, 27 November 2006 by Notinasnaid (Talk | contribs)

(diff) ← Older revision | Current revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Securities
Image:Vereinigte Ostindische Compagnie bond.jpg
Securities Bond Commercial paper Hybrid security Stock Warrant
Markets Bond market Stock market Stock exchange
Stocks Share Stock Warrant
Bonds by coupon Fixed rate bond Floating rate note Zero coupon bond Inflation-indexed bond
Bonds by collateral Asset-backed security Collateralized debt obligation Collateralized mortgage obligation Credit linked note Mortgage-backed security Unsecured bond
Bonds by issuer Corporate bond Government bond Municipal bond Sovereign bond

In finance a share is a unit of account for various financial instruments including stocks, mutual funds, limited partnerships, and REIT's. In British English, the usage of the word share alone to refer solely to stocks is so common that it almost replaces the word stock itself.

A share 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.