How do stocks work?
 

I was going through my father-in-laws papers as part of his move, and found (in a shoebox of old letters and photos) 3 certificates of stocks he bought in Pepco a couple decades ago. I think he has no idea he has these, since he made no mention of them when going over finances.

So the question is, if I want to convert these certificates into a check in his name how do I do that? I've never seen one of these certificates in person before. Each one shows the number of shares he bought, and what their price was on the date of purchase. Do I get him to sign the back, and then take them to Pepco, or do I find a stock broker to buy them? Just what do you do with these pieces of paper? Or is it even possible that he already sold these stocks long ago and these old pieces of paper were just left in a shoebox? Assuming a share back then is worth a share today, he's looking at about $5k at today's Pepco stock prices. That will pay for a month in the nursing home.

You put them on before you put on your shoes, although as I recall, Archie Bunker and Meat-head disagree on whether you complete each sock/shoe cycle separately before moving on to the other side, or conversely complete the set of sock installations before proceeding to the shoe phase of the project.

I'm glad you asked, because I don't know if this debate was ever adequately resolved.

Hahahaha!

I remember that 'debate' like I saw it yesterday. I actually agree with Archie. What?

glatt, you probably expected a better response...but I have no idea!

Don't you work with lawyers? ;)

I figured Perry had got the sensible aspect of it covered so we could move on...?

I realized that after I posted. I left it for posterity. :lol:

It's Friday night. What do I know? Is there a penalty for semi-drunken posting? Crap!

yeah, it's not OK for you to be ahead of me, I've only had one or two....

Which is it? You cannot lose track at one or two.

I've had five or eight!

well I have two sizes on the go..... and it depends when you read my post, right? Now cracking #3....

but I totally scored in the beer dept tonight -Kroger had 24oz cans for a buck a piece!

Sweet!

Kroger rocks. Except on Coca Cola products.

right. I needed coke too, but they never have the best price.

In my experience, it's not just the 'not best' price...it's the absolute worst price ever! Highway robbery! ARGH>

Given the recent actions of the market, I think you first need to ask yourself, do stocks work? Then you might ask how.