Who Benefits From Stock Price Increases?

It's important to remember that a company does not directly benefit from a change in its stock price, particularly if there is no buying or selling from company owners and officers. Money does not magically appear in the company's accounts when the price of each share rises.

So in this way, yes, it's the traders and investors who directly benefit from a change in stock price.

A short-term trader may see an interesting chart-based technical analysis, buy shares, then sell those shares either at the end of the day or at the end of a few weeks to benefit from a short-term movement in price. The company does not get any of this money.

An investor who sees value in the company may buy today when shares trade at $50 and then sell 3 or 4 years later when shares are worth $80 and thus benefit from the $30 appreciation in share price. None of this money goes to the company.

That's not to say that company officers don't benefit, but they only benefit when they sell a portion of their shares, or fractional ownership, to the open market. All investors benefit from dividends, which are basically a way to share profits with investors. Remember that if you own a share of a company, you are a part-owner in the company as well.

So no, there is no direct benefit to a change in share price as it relates to the company.

source:

http://winninginvestor.quickanddirtytips.com/who-benefits-stock-prices.aspx

Bid price vs Ask price

The 'Bid' is the buyer's price. It is this price that you need to know when you have to sell a stock. Bid is the rate/price at which there is a ready buyer for the stock, which you intend to sell.

The 'Ask' (or offer) is what you need to know when you're buying i.e. this is the rate/ price at which there is seller ready to sell his stock. The seller will sell his stock if he gets the quoted 'Ask' price.

If an investor looks at a computer screen for a quote on the stock of say XYZ Ltd, it might look something like this:

Bid (Buy side)                                                            Ask (Sell side)
_____________________________________________________________
Qty.               Price (Rs.)                Price (Rs.)                   Qty.
_____________________________________________________________
1000             50.25                        50.35                         2000
500               50.10                        50.40                         1000
550               50.05                        50.50                         1500
2500             50.00                        50.55                         3000
1300             49.85                        50.65                         1450
_____________________________________________________________
Total 5850                                                                        8950
_____________________________________________________________

Here, on the left-hand side after the Bid quantity and price, whereas on the right hand side we find the Ask quantity and prices. The best Buy (Bid) order is the order with the highest price and therefore sits on the first line of the Bid side (1000 shares @ Rs. 50.25). The best Sell (Ask) order is the order with the lowest sell price (2000 shares @ Rs. 50.35). The difference in the price of the best bid and ask is called as the Bid-Ask spread and often is an indicator of liquidity in a stock. The narrower the difference the more liquid or highly traded is the stock.


source:

http://www.sharegyan.com/