Is there such a thing as a stock going away?

Question

If a stock goes down in value can it just disappear to no money at all?

Answer 1

Yup. Happens in bankruptcy. Ask people who owned United Airlines, K-Mart, Enron or Worldcom stock.

Answer 2

There are nuances to your question.

In a bankruptcy that turns into a chapter 7 liquidation, this happens all the time [stock disappearing]. This is because stockholders claims are junior to any creditors claims. So, if a company goes bankrupt, and it has debt outstanding of $100 and assets worth only $50. The creditors will get 50 cents on the dollar. The stockholders will get nothing. In essence, the stock has no value, it stopped trading. And, as you phrased it, it disappears.

Note that stocks disappear all the time for another completely different reason: mergers. If company A buys company B, company B's stock will disappear. But, company B's stockholders will be richly compensated typically receiving a 30% premium on their former holdings of company B's stock.

If you need clarifications, contact me through "Answer" and I'll change my response accordingly.

Answer 3

I have seen this happen two times in my lifetime.

One was OCB (The Company that created Robocop) and the other was Globodyne (The Company where Jim Carrey was working in the film "Fun with Dick & Jane")

In reality that is impossible.

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Answer 4

I suppose it could happen, but it's doubtful that a stock would ever be worth $0.

Answer 5

Stocks can also go "away" when the company is bought or merged by another company.

Answer 6

IT CAN BE TAKEN OFF THE STOCKMARKET BOARDS IF IT IS A LOW CAP STOCK.YOUR SHARES STILL HAVE VALUE BUT TRY TO AVOID LOW CAP STOCKS. INVEST IN BLUE CHIP STOCKS