ELI5: stock-market

// eli5

What is the stock market?

The stock market is like a big marketplace where people buy and sell tiny pieces of companies called shares or stocks [4]. When you own a share, it means you own a small part of that company, just like owning a slice of pizza means you own part of the whole pizza [4].

Why do people buy stocks?

People buy stocks because if the company does well and makes more money, the value of their stock can go up, and they can sell it for more than they paid [4]. It's like betting that a company will become more successful in the future [5].

What happens when lots of people buy or sell?

When many people want to buy a stock, its price goes up because it's more popular and harder to find [4]. When many people want to sell it, the price goes down because there are too many shares available [4].

How does it affect regular people?

When the stock market does well, companies hire more workers and people in the community get more jobs and better paychecks [5]. When the stock market struggles, companies might hire fewer people and the local economy can slow down [5].