When a company decides to go public and sell stock, there is a price selected by the company's board of directors and the stock brokerage representing that company on the various stock exchanges. When the stock is first sold on the various exchanges, it's offered as an IPO (Initial Public Offering). The buyers (Bulls) and the sellers (Bears) decide whether or not that stock will rise or fall and how much that stock will go up or go down. If the bears outnumber the bulls the stock's price will go down. When the stock reaches a certain price, the stock is put on "the pink sheet" [.PK] or "the bulletin board" [.BB]. The sale of the stock is no longer governed by the majority of the strict rules and regulations of the major stock exchanges. One share of that company's stock could be bought and/or sold for less than one penny per share by an investor/trader BUT the stock broker STILL charges the same commission/fee for one share of that company's stock as it would if a trader/investor bought/sold 1,000 shares of that same stock at one time. Thanks for asking your Q! I enjoyed answering it! VTY, Ron Berue Yes, that is my real last name! Sources: My wonderful family! My wonderful coaches and mentors! TWO [2] of THE ABSOLUTE BEST, MOST wonderful trading groups in the world, which I am most proud to be a member of! Trading stocks and options more than 2 years. "THE University of Hard Knocks"