Stocks

A stock (also called an equity or share), is an investment that lets you own part of a public corporation and may allow you to vote on key decisions about its future. Stocks let you take part in a company’s gains—like capital gains and potential dividend income—and losses, too.

When you buy a stock, you are participating in the future gains (like capital gains and potential dividend income) and losses of the company that has issued the stock. Stocks are considered a higher-risk investment than fixed-income investments like guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), so investors tend to expect a higher rate of return in exchange for that risk.

Companies issue stock so they can raise money to run and grow the business. Every share in the company's stock represents a small part of the company's assets and earnings. The total value of stock held by the public is known as the company's market capitalization, or market cap.

At RBC Direct Investing, you can place orders to buy and sell stocks on our Online Investing platform, the RBC Mobile^{Legal Disclaimer footnote 6} app and the Trading Dashboard. You can also place orders by phone with an investment services representative.

If you're comfortable with fluctuating returns, stocks offer a variety of benefits, including:

• Potential for superior long-term returns compared to cash and fixed-income investments
• Potential to earn dividends and capital gains

Yes, you can hold stocks in a TFSA, FHSA, RRSP, RRIF or RESP, so long as they are qualified investments (opens in new window).

If you choose to hold foreign investments in your TFSA or RESP, many governments — including the U.S. — apply a non-resident withholding tax to foreign-source income received. Withholding taxes are unrecoverable, and may reduce your potential returns. For example, the IRS imposes a 30% withholding tax to dividends paid on U.S. stocks, which can be reduced to 15% by submitting a W-8BEN or W-9 form. Check with your tax advisor to learn more.

There are several ways to search for a stock:

• Online Investing platform: Log in to your account and enter the stock symbol or company name in the quote search bar at the top of the screen.
• RBC Mobile app: Log in to your RBC Direct Investing account and enter the stock symbol or company name under Get a Quote.
• Trading Dashboard: Enter the stock symbol or company name in the quote search bar at the top of the screen. You can also use the Quote widget.