A stock is a share of ownership in a company. Holding one, even a fraction, means owning a portion of everything the company has and everything it will earn — on the same footing as the other shareholders, in proportion to the number of shares held.
Where the price comes from
A stock's price is not set by anyone: it results from buyers and sellers meeting on an exchange. At any moment, the "quote" shown is simply the price of the last trade completed. When more people want to buy than to sell at the current price, the price rises until sellers accept; the reverse pushes it down.
Two concrete consequences:
- The price moves even when the company does nothing — it reflects what participants are willing to pay at that instant, with everything that carries in expectations and moods.
- A price drop takes nothing away from what you own: you still hold the same share of the same company. What changed is its exchange value, not your share.
What a stock can return — or cost
- The capital gain (or loss): the difference between the sale price and the purchase price, which only exists concretely at the moment you sell.
- The dividend: some companies periodically pay part of their profits to shareholders. Others pay none — that is neither an obligation nor a sign of quality in itself.
A neutral worked example
You buy 10 shares of a fictional company at $50 each: $500 invested. The quote moves to $45: your position is worth $450, but nothing is lost as long as nothing is sold — and nothing is gained either if the quote climbs back to $55. Only a sale turns that paper value into a realized gain or loss. That is why Everyfolio always keeps the two apart.
What this changes for your tracking
Prices are not yet shown in the app; they will be at launch.
In the app, the distinction is everywhere: "unrealized gain" follows the exchange value of what you still hold; "realized gain" counts only what sales have actually crystallized. The two are never silently added together.
Informative, general content — not personalized advice. For your situation: your institution or an advisor.