Today almost everybody follow share markets and consider different variants of investing in shares. But what does investing in shares actually mean? Company shares (equities) are among world's most popular investments. Equities give investors the opportunity to share in the success of companies by benefiting from the potential for both income and capital appreciation.

So, a share is one of series of equal portions in the capital of a company, providing the owner dividends (certain payments, being exact a proportion of distributed, non-reinvested profits) and a portion of the value of the company in case of liquidation. When you buy shares, also known as equities or stocks, you literally become a part-owner of that business. If, for example, a company has 500,000 shares worth $10 each and you buy to the sum of $5,000, you own 1% of the company.

There are a number of different shares, including preference shares, bonds, and gilts but the most popular type is the ordinary share. Ordinary shares simply represent ownership of a company. Shares can be voting or non-voting, meaning they either do or do not carry the right to vote on the board of directors and corporate policy.

In such a way shareholders are granted special privileges depending on the class of stock, including the right to vote, the right to share in distributions of the company's income, the right to purchase new shares issued by the company, and the right to a company's assets during a liquidation of the company. However, the rights of shareholders to a company's possessions are subordinate to the rights of the company's creditors. This means that shareholders as usual receive nothing if a company is liquidated after bankruptcy (if the company had had enough to pay its creditors, it would not have entered bankruptcy). Although directors and officers of a company are called to act in the best interest of the shareholders, the shareholders themselves normally do not have such duties towards each other.

Shares may be classified in a range from conservative to speculative. Blue chip is often used to describe shares of high quality; they are shares of companies with a proven reputation, profitable in both good and bad times.