Trading Shares With EuropeFX

A Share in a company is a unit of ownership that makes the holder of the share eligible for a percentage of any profits the company makes. If the company in question had a share issue of 1,000 shares and you owned 100 of these, then you would effectively own 10% of that company which would entitle you to 10% of any declared profits, payable as dividends.

Companies issue shares in two forms: Common and Preferred. The main difference between the two types is that holders of Preferred Shares have first access to any corporate assets in the event the company faces any financial difficulties. Preferred shares also are non-voting, meaning holders have no voting rights and no say in the running of the company.

Share trading has been a preferred investment for many years, and with the rise in popularity of CFD trading, an ever increasing number of traders are moving away from traditional share trading to the CFD variant. There are significant advantages to trading shares as CFDs over traditional share ownership, key among these being the compounding effect of leverage in CFD trading. Leverage can serve to magnify trading results, but it can also magnify losses. As with all asset types, trading shares calls for cautious use of leverage.

Share prices are effected by various factors, including supply and demand, company earnings, performance expectations (for example, Apple releasing a new iPhone – a reasonable expectation would be to see a rise in the price of Apple stock) and market news, particularly analyst expectations.