The value of stock comes from a several things: - A voting share lets you participate in company decisions (not that anyone votes for much other than the board

The value of stock comes from a several things: - A voting share lets you participate in company decisions (not that anyone votes for much other than the board recommendations / increasing profits) - The company may pay dividends - The company may participate in stock buybacks - If the company is sold, the profits are distributed among shareholders - The value of all of the above grows if a company grows, so stock in a growing company is worth more - The same "get in early before other people get in and raise the price" mechanism as a pyramid scheme And then all of those factors are awkwardly summed together into a single number.