---
title: What Is a Stock?
description: Each share of stock represents a small piece of the ownership of a company. Here's everything you need to know about stocks and shares.
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published: '2014-05-20T13:48:59.000Z'
modified: '2014-05-20T13:48:59.000Z'
section: Retirement
tags:
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  - retirement planning
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  - saving for retirement
  - stock market
  - stocks
canonical: https://money.com/collection-post/stock-share-company-assets-earnings/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

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![What Is a Stock?](https://money.com/img/logo-social.png)

Each share of stock represents a small piece of the ownership of a company and entitles the shareholder to a small claim on the company’s assets and earnings.

Owning shares of a company’s stock technically makes you the boss of the company’s executives, including its CEO. But unless you own a significant portion of a company's stock, you don’t get a real say in how the company is operated.

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