how do you buy stock 
most often stocks are bought and sold on stock exchanges such as the nasdaq or the new york stock exchange nyse after a company goes public through an initial public offering ipo its stock becomes available for investors to buy and sell on an exchange typically investors will use a brokerage account to purchase stock on the exchange which will list the purchasing price the bid or the selling price the offer the price of the stock is influenced by supply and demand factors in the market among other variables 