Stock (Share), a security testifying to the investment of a certain sum of money in the capital of a joint-stock company and giving its holder the right to an annual income—dividend, i. e., interest paid on each share—out of the profit of a given company. The profits are distributed among the shareholders in proportion to the capital invested by each, i. e. the number of shares bought. A shareholder has no right to demand the return of his capital, but he can sell his shares on the securities market—the stock exchange. The sum designated on the share is its face value. Its actual selling price is called the rate of exchange; as a rule, it does not coincide with face value. To sell a share means to sell the right to derive income. The rate of exchange is directly proportional to trie size of the dividend and inversely proportional to the loan interest. The political and economic situation can affect the rate of exchange. The latter’s instability provides an opportunity for stock-exchange speculations. Through machinations that artificially cause a rise or drop in the rate of exchange, big shareholders wax richer, while small ones lose their poor savings. It is a well known historical fact that, through an enormous political and financial manoeuvre, the Morgan Bank cleared $1,500 million in profits in a single week, thereby ruining innumerable small and medium shareholders. Shares are divided into ordinary (common stock) and preference (preferred stock) ones. The former give their holder the right to participate in the general meeting of shareholders and receive an income depending on the profit of the joint-stock company. The latter give the stockholder a right to a fixed percentage of the company’s profits, the size of which is established in advance. The sum to be paid to the holders of preference shares is deducted from the part of the profits to be divided among the stockholders, and the rest is split among 346 the holders of ordinary shares. As distinct from ordinary shares, the cost of preference shares is paid off by the joint-stock company after the expiry of a certain period of time. In a number of countries, however, they do not give the right to vote on decisions.