STOCK (Anglo-Saxon, stoce, post, trunk, stick) in law, represents the capital of cor porations and is usually divided into shares of a definite value denoting the rights in the as sets, profits and management of the company possessed by the members of the corporation or the persons contributing the capital. A cer tificate of stock is a mere evidence that the person therein designated is entitled to an in terest in the company, which is stated. Shares of stock may be of any value the company sees fit to set, and the par value may not, and in fact, generally is not the selling price of the stock. In the United States some States have a law requiring stock to be issued at its Dar value. Stock may be divided into several classes, for example, as common and preferred; holders of the common stock have an equal right in the company and its profits; holders of the pre ferred stock are entitled to a preference over other shareholders but they are not creditors of the corporation. Dividends on stock repre sent a division of the surplus or net profits aris ing from the business of the company. Stock
is considered as personal property and may be transferred at the will of the owner by proper assignment of the certificate. This is generally done by having the name of the purchaser of the stock placed legally upon the books of the company in the place of that of the seller. The purchaser of stock from a stock-owner should have his name entered at once on the books of the company to prevent fraud on the part of the seller who plight have the name of some one else entered' This would stand good, in so far as the company was concerned. (See Srocx HOLDER ; STOCK EXCHANGE; CORPORATIONS). Con sult Cook, 'Treatise on the Law of Corpora tions' (Chicago 1903) ; Dos Passos, The Law of Stock Brokers and Stock Exchanges' (New York 1905). The capital stock of a company is the amount fixed by the charter of a corpora tion as the sum already paid or to be paid into its treasury for use in the carrying on of its business operations. This does not include the actual property owned by the corporation or company.