Time to explore one of the most popular investment types - stocks!
A stock represents partial ownership in a real company. When you buy stock, you're literally buying a tiny piece of that business.
Engagement Message
Think of a company you know well—what's one possible benefit or responsibility that could come with owning just one share?
Companies split their ownership into millions of small pieces called "shares." Each share represents an equal slice of the company.
Imagine a pizza cut into a million pieces - each share is like owning one slice of that pizza.
Engagement Message
If a company has 1 million shares and you own 1,000 shares, what percentage of the company do you own?
Let's use Apple as an example. Apple has about 16 billion shares outstanding. If you buy 100 shares of Apple stock, you own 100 tiny pieces of the entire Apple company.
You don't get to walk into Apple stores and take products, but you do own a microscopic part of everything Apple owns.
Engagement Message
In a phrase, what do those 100 Apple shares actually represent?
As a stockholder, you benefit when the company does well. If Apple sells more iPhones and makes more profit, your shares typically become more valuable.
Conversely, if the company struggles, your shares might lose value.
Engagement Message
Can you think of a recent news event that might affect a company's stock price?
Stock prices change constantly throughout each trading day. They rise when more people want to buy than sell, and fall when more people want to sell than buy.
It's like an auction happening every second - prices move based on supply and demand.
Engagement Message
Why do you think some people might want to sell their stocks?
