stocks and shares are one method that professionals and businesses try to use to leverage money into a larger sum over time, but it is a risky business, especially at the moment. But they require a certain amount of effort and experience to make work. They can be described as the constituent parts of a greater value of a company, in this case parts of the ownership of a company or organisation which can be bought and sold for profit. You might own a small number of shares in a company which only account for a tiny presentage of the total worth of the business. Or you might be a large investor who wishes to have a controlling interest in a company in which case you would buy the majority of the shares and become the majority shareholder. This is how some companies take each other over – by buying up enough shares so that they control the direction the company takes.