In finance a share is a unit of account for various financial instruments including stock (ordinary or Preferred stock#Features , and investments in limited partnership , and Real estate investment trust The common feature of all these is equity participation (limited in the case of preference shares). The term stocksin the plural is often used as a synonym for shareshttp://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/stock?viewuk Compact Oxford English Dictionary] Traditionalist demands that the plural stocksbe used only when referring to stock of more than one company are rarely heard nowadays.

Valuation

Shares are valued according to various principles in different markets but a basic premise is that a share is worth the price at which a transaction would be likely to occur were the shares to be sold. The liquidity of markets is a major consideration as to whether a share is able to be sold at any given time. An actual sale transaction of shares between buyer and seller is usually considered to provide the best prima-facie market indicator as to the true value of shares at that particular moment.

Tax treatment

Tax treatment of dividends varies between territories. For instance, in India, dividends are tax free in the hands of the shareholder, but the company paying the dividend has to pay dividend distribution tax at 12.5%. There is also the concept of a deemed dividend, which is not tax free. Further, Indian tax laws include provisions to stop dividend stripping

Share certificates

File:Stora Kopparberg 1288.jpg copper mine in Sweden dates back from 1288. The first share company in the world]] Investors were given share certificate as evidence of their ownership of shares but certificates are not always issued nowadays. Instead, the ownership may be recorded electronically by a system such as CREST

See also

* Mutual organization

References

cnnmoney.com http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2001/jul/18/shares.investinginshares1]

External links

*http://www.moneyam.com MoneyAM.com - Source for UK Equities, Commodities and FX prices charts and reference information.] *http://www.share.com/a/try-trading-now-practice-account.html Open a free share dealing practice account before putting your own cash on the line with The Share Centre.] *http://www.goodvalueshares.com Good Value Shares- Benjamin Grahams take on shares] Category:Equity securities Category:Stock market af:Aandeel ar:سهم (تجارة) bn:অংশপত্র zh-min-nan:Kó͘-phiò be:Акцыя, фінансы be-x-old:Акцыя bg:Акция ca:Acció cs:Akcie cy:Cyfranddaliad da:Aktie de:Aktie et:Aktsia es:Acción (finanzas) eo:Akcio fa:سهم fr:Action (finance) gl:Acción (finanzas) ko:주식 hi:प्रतिभूति hr:Dionica io:Aciono id:Saham it:Azione (finanza) he:מניה jv:Saham sw:Hisa lb:Aktie lt:Akcija (finansai) hu:Részvény mk:Акција (финансии) mr:समभाग ms:Saham nl:Aandeel ja:株式 no:Aksje nn:Aksje pl:Akcja (prawo) pt:Ação (finanças) kaa:Aktsiya ru:Акция (финансы) sq:Aksioni sk:Akcia (cenný papier) sl:Delnica sr:Дионица fi:Osake sv:Aktie uk:Акція vi:Cổ phần yi:אקציע (פינאנץ) zh-yue:股票 bat-smg:Akcėjė zh:股票