What is Stock?

In financial terminology, stock is the capital raised by a corporation, through the issuance and sale of shares. A shareholder is any person or organization which owns one or more shares of a corporation’s stock. The aggregate value of a corporation’s issued shares is its market capitalization. Financing a company through the sale of stock in a company is known as equity financing. Alternatively, debt financing (for example issuing Bonds) can be done to avoid giving up shares of ownership of the company. Unofficial financing known as trade financing usually provides the major part of a company’s working capital (day-to-day operational needs). Trade financing is provided by vendors and suppliers who sell their products to the company at short-term, unsecured credit terms, usually 30 days. Equity and debt financing are usually used for longer-term investment projects such as investments in a new factory or a new foreign market. Customer provided financing exists when a customer pays for services before they are delivered, e.g. subscriptions and insurance.