Discuss the nature of stock as an investment.?

Discuss the nature of stock as an investment. Do most stockholders play large roles in the management of the firms in which they invest? Why or why not?

Investing in stocks is part speculation, part educating oneself about the trends in the market, part sheer luck!

Most stockholders do not play a large role in the management of the firms in which they invest. Unless they are majority holders and that would make them owners of the companies.

no, they don't

No, they do not, most stockholders are not entitled to anything. Perhaps donuts and coffee in the anual shareholder meetings. You do have some proxy voting priviledges, but your vote is too tiny to really count.

Unless you're a militant stockholder.

A Militant Stockholder is a stockholder that has a lot of money and a lot of clout that can influence the outcome of management by asking a seat on the board. A good example is Carl Icahn trying to get into Motorola's board. Although this might sound good, keep in mind that companies can issue yet more stock to dilute your clout as a shareholder.

most stockholders do not play a large role in the company management. a few large stakeholders, sometimes mutual fund operators can have a stake on who sits on the company's boeard of directors.

a stock after the great depression was not considered an "investment" investments were only regarded as govt. bonds.
today many things are considered "investments" but they all cary different levels of risk.