Stocks represent small ‘pieces’ of ownership of a company. They are also called shares or equities. Privately owned companies may choose to issue stock and make it available to buy on the stock market. The company can then use the money raised to fund the company’s business activities, launch new projects, or to expand and acquire other companies. The first time a company ‘goes public’ with an issue of stock is called an Initial Public Offering (IPO). 

Four reasons to invest in a company’s stock

1. You participate in the company’s success. If the company is doing well, its stock price will go up in value. If you sell your stock for more than what you paid, you will receive a positive return on your investment. This is called a capital gain. Higher returns help grow your wealth, and can also offset the impact of inflation, which can erode the value of your investments over time. On the other hand, a capital loss occurs when you sell a stock for less than you what you paid.

2. You participate in the company’s decisions. At annual meetings with other shareholders and company management, you can vote on important company matters. These include:
   • Electing board members
   • Deliberating on corporate actions and policies
   • Assessing the company’s financial statements

Typically, the more shares of the company you own, the more votes you get.

3. You may receive regular income in the form of dividends. If you own dividend-paying stocks, you may receive a little extra income in your portfolio each quarter. These are called dividends. Dividends are paid to shareholders out of a company’s earnings. Dividend income can help to top up your returns and offset the impact of market declines. In addition, dividends from Canadian companies receive preferential tax treatment through the dividend tax credit. This can reduce the amount of tax you pay on dividend income. Dividends are classified as either “eligible” or “non-eligible” to reflect the tax rate paid by the issuing company. Non-eligible dividends receive the federal dividend tax credit and eligible dividends receive the enhanced federal dividend tax credit.

4. You can take advantage of lower tax rates. When you sell a stock for more than you paid, you can receive favourable tax treatment on the capital gains, or profits. Capital gains are not taxable within a registered plan like a RRSP, RESP or TFSA. If you are investing outside a registered plan, only 50 percent of your capital gains are taxed at your marginal tax rate – which is based on your annual income and differs between provinces. Let’s say you purchase $2,000 worth of stock in a non-registered account. You then sell it for $4,000. Your capital gain is $2,000. You will declare half of it -- $1,000 -- as income and pay tax on it at the same rate as your other income.

What makes a stock price go up or down?

Many factors determine a stock price and the returns you earn from it. In general, the price you pay for a stock today is based on how well the markets expect the company to do in the future. These expectations are influenced by several factors, including:

1. The overall health of the company. How has the company performed financially in the past? What are its future earnings expectations? Does the company currently have any debts? What is the company’s management structure? Who sits on the board of directors?
2. Macroeconomic trends. How is the broader economy doing? Are supply chains keeping up with consumer demand? Is the unemployment rate low or high? What is the outlook for interest rates?
3. Investor sentiment. How do investors feel about the company? Are they confident about its prospects or future plans? Does the company receive positive or negative media coverage? 

Before you invest

• Plan to diversify. Stocks offer many opportunities to diversify. For example, U.S. equities provide broad sector exposure to some of the world's largest companies, such as Microsoft and Amazon. International equities add exposure to both developed and emerging opportunities outside North America.
• Keep your risk tolerance and risk capacity in mind. While stocks have historically had the highest growth, they also have the potential for higher losses. Markets are unpredictable and no one knows exactly when they will move up or down. Too much exposure to these assets can introduce significant risk to your portfolio – especially if you don’t have a lot of time to recover from losses.

There are many ways to invest in stocks

You may choose to buy individual stocks one at a time. You can also choose investments that ‘pool’ together multiple different stocks into a single portfolio. These include: