What are stocks? Stocks imply a percentage ownership of a company. Saying you have stocks at company XYZ simply means you have bought shares from company XYZ. What is the difference between stocks and shares? There are almost no differences between stocks and shares except for their use in context.
When you say "I have stocks", it implies ownership of a variety of companies, that is, you have bought shares from many companies. If you say "I have shares" however, it usually refers to a specific company. So the correct way to use these two words properly in context is as follows. 1) I have stocks. 2) I have shares from Microsoft. But today both terms are use interchangeably so no one will hold you for it.
Back to stocks. A stock certificate means you own a variable percentage of the company. That percentage of ownership also translates into an equal percentage when it comes to the profits that are made by the company. Companies pay out to their shareholders via dividends. Which is quite different to the Forex and Forex Trading Online Market.
Owning shares in a company also give the owner a vote(s) with regard to the corporations management. In extreme cases, shareholders can vote to have a management that has been performing below par removed. Of course, this only applies to those that own a large percentage of that company. Shares are publicly traded on a stock market.
