A stock is a financial document that describes transfer of part ownership in a company, usually for a financial consideration.  The number of stocks sold on a company generally indicate what fractional ownership you have.  If 100 shares of a stock were issued and you purchased one of them, then usually your ownership of the company would be 1/100th and would be entitled to one vote when deciding company business.

 

As part owner of the company you are also entitled to any monentary distributions... usually also on a per share basis.

 

The company itself is run by a board of directors headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  These directors are elected by the shareholders on a one vote per share method and handle the day-to-day operations of the company.

 

The stocks themselves are transferable from person-to-person.  In fact, whole markets have been established to facilitate such transfers.  One of the best known of these is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).