Basics of stock trading

Let us cover the basics of stock trading.
When stocks are bought and sold, it's called "trading." When a person says MSFT is trading at $40, that means Microsoft stock is selling at $40 and you will have to pay $40 to buy a share of MSFT stock. Every company listed on the stock market has a ticker symbol, which is the unique code used to identify its stock. For example, IBM is IBM on New York Stock Exchange and Microsoft is MSFT on NASDAQ.
A $1 move in stock price is called a "point." For instance, if MSFT move from $40 to $45, then you'd say it increased 5 points. Commonly, individual investors purchase stocks in block of 100, which is called a "round lot." This facilitate investors to control their stocks and monitor their profits/loss because a one point move up/down adds or subtract $100 from the value of his/her investment.
There are two types of stocks. First type is preferred and the other one is common. Both represent equity/ownership in a company. Basic characteristic of preferred stock is that it has a fixed dividend that does not fluctuate, Those who own the preferred stock receive their dividends before common stock holders. Because of its nature, preferred stocks can be thought of as a bond. It is more similar to liability than the equity. Thus, when the company fails and is liquidated, preferred stock holders are paid before common stock holders. Common stock is what most of individual investors own. Common stocks are available for trading on the market. When you buy a share of common stock, it entitles you to voting right and dividends will fluctuate based on profit/loss of the company.