+162 If you had full access to Bill Gate's fortune in cash for a day, it would be smart to buy stocks in stable companies (such as Microsoft) to have a steady source of income after that day without needing to work, amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

you must not understand how stocks work... why dont you research something before making an IGNORANT post, so

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I thought if you own 1% of a company, then you get 1% of the profits? Or at least a proportion. There exist stocks that you just own a bit of the company, but don't get profits. If you had Gate's money, you would pay more and buy stocks that give you bits of the company's profits, wouldn't you? If I'm wrong, please tell me.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

here's where you are missing the point. bill gates dont need no money cuz he aint neva been poor.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah, but you will after 24 hours.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah that's not how stocks work. To actually access the money you gained from the stocks, you would have to sell the stocks. Then you wouldn't have a steady source of money anymore.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

What? But Bill Gates gets profits from Microsoft just by owning it, over and above his pay as (former?) CEO. Or am I thinking about shares? Or are they the same?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I thought the way that stocks work are that u have to invest in a small company, $100 for example... lets say that is 100% of what the company has to its name at the time. If the company grows, and becomes worth $1000, u can then cash your stock and have $1000. but if it fails, you are out $100... idk if that makes sense or is even right but that's my half-assed view on economics :p

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Bill Gates does get profits from Microsoft, but the profits that are from the stocks aren't readily available to him until he sells his stock. So when people say Bill Gates is worth however many billions of dollars, he doesn't have all of that money sitting in a Swiss bank account or something, a lot of it is tied up in stocks. I mean he invests in a lot of things and probably does sell a lot of his other stocks for profit, but that involves a deep understanding of the economy and different industries so unless you are an investing guru you probably wouldn't make much off of your plan. I remember when Apple released the iPhone my mom got really excited because she bought 100 shares of Apple stock in the 90s and their value was skyrocketing, and I was like "Awesome, we just made $50,000!" and then she was like "No we didn't because I'm not selling it until I retire". And thats when I learned how stocks work.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I see... I guess that does make more sense or else if a company is split between two people, 50-50, then the company itself doesn't get any profits... Things must have changed since my mom took econ, or she never passed it.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

look up dividends dipshit.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Ah, yes. That must be what I was talking about. Thanks.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

no blockhead is actually correct. you mom may not have the 50,000 dollars but she'll be getting more money if apple is making more money. where do you think the money from the profits go?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah, but she still doesn't have access to that money until she sells the stock...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

If I had access to his funds I would withdraw all of it, put it in my bank account, and then it would become my funds.

by Anonymous 11 years ago