That's where your P/E ratio comes in. The amount of money you are willing to invest to get $1 of profit. Yes you are absolutely buying a piece of the company and yes you get a piece of the profit but only your share of it. If a company has millions and millions of shares you won't get much. You can play it as a gamble or can decide to purchase and sit on it for the rest of time and just collect the profits. They are there just smaller. I paid for college off Boeing and Wal-Mart. Should Boeing get the 767 tanker bit with the Airforce I might just be able to retire a little early :D I only own three stocks though. Boeing, Wal-mart, and XJT(just 200shares). The real money is in ETFs. I've pulled 19% this year on EWA and EWJ. Highly recommended and www.morningstar.com should you want a great research source.

I don't follow you. The only time you get a share of the profits from the share of stock you own is when the company pays dividends (which I pointed out in a previous post).

I own stock to and I have never, ever, received a check at the end of the year for profits unless it was dividends.

Sometimes shares will split, but then you just own more stock, which you could sell to another investor...who buys them...hoping they go up, not because he gets paid money to own them (unless, as I said, they pay dividends).

The only thing holding up the house of cards is that other people are willing to pay for this "paper" that really isn't worth anything unless it pays dividends.

Some stocks increase in value but pay little or no dividents.

Exactly...and my point, which I previously stated, is that the only thing holding up the house of cards is that others are willing to buy them. What makes a stock go up in value? Is it because the underlying business is making more money? No...because the business doesn't share that income with the stockholders (unless it pays dividends). The ONLY REASON stocks go up is because others are willing to buy them...for the ONLY REASON hoping they go up in value. Why do they go up in value...because others are buying them! See my point? It's a never ending cycle. Essentially, the stock market is the biggest MLM scheme there is.

A house of cards my friend, a house of cards.

That's true for any market. Take the housing market – why is a two bedroom apartment on Park Avenue in Manhattan worth 10 times more than a similar sized apartment somewhere in the middle of nowhere?

You're joking, right?

No, I am not joking. Actualy 15 Central Park West seems to be the most expensive apartment building:

http://www.halstead.com/resources_pr...l.aspx?id=1027

The demand is higher for Central Park, so it costs more. The demand for Curtis, Nebraska (or wherever nowhere is for you) tends to be a little less so it's cheaper. Living in Manhattan is a sort of privilege; you get access to high paying jobs, stuff to do, and so on. With Nebraska, just lots of corn.

easy toiletduck.... sorry i was still a little ****ed about how you were bashing alpa in another thread when your still wet behind the ears. you have no life experience with the issues you were so openly bashing. it amazes me about some people in this industry that want to be mr know it all's. dude you have a lot to learn and a horrible attitude

stock prices are not a reliable way to predict a good company vs a bad. earnings forecasts can be extremely misleading and wrong. if the company doesn't come up with the numbers that these forecasters are guessing then the stock plunges..... did the company change somehow? no but the public is less likely to back them. also part of the reason many companies stopped giving out information about progress and financial status prior to their #'s release. or how about this scenario that tv show MAd Money doesn't like a stock so they honk some horns and scream "sell sell sell". what happens? the stock drops. why? one person didn't like the stock. sometimes in a stable industry it might be a good indicator of a strong company but it has very little to do with the company. all about how much people are willing to believe in a certain company. people are fickle ... no rhyme or reason

sorry for any grammatical errors champ. sorry for the attack but being young, ignorant, and outspoken ****es me off.

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