What are stocks?

Do people still make good earnings from trading in the stock market? Mostly they are professionals who worked in the city and traded using other peoples money. It is still true that you need considerable funds to participate at a high level where large quantities of shares are bought and sold and fortunes made and lost. However the availability of smaller numbers of shares in a variety of companies can now be purchased , allowing a portfolio ofshares & penny stocks to be accumulated by the average individual. These are normally purchased in anticipation that they will slowly increase in value giving a long term investment. Recent times have however shown that, no matter the stability of the company involved, shares can also lose value.