What is a stock?

A stock (or share) is a small piece of ownership in a company. If a company has 1 crore shares and you own 100, you own a tiny slice of it.

How you make (or lose) money

• Price change: if the company does well and more people want its shares, the price can rise. It can also fall.
• Dividends: some companies share part of their profit with shareholders.

Where shares trade

In India, shares trade on the NSE and BSE. You need a demat and trading account with a SEBI-registered broker.

Why prices move

News, company results, interest rates and plain mood. In the short term prices can swing a lot. Over many years they tend to follow how much the business earns.

Risk

A single company can fail. That is why beginners often start with index funds, which hold many companies at once.