Comment by JshWright

  I like thinking about shares as a virtual currency.
  Shareholders are speculating on that currency, and
  the company is trying to increase its value. Companies
  can inflate or deflate this currency depending on
  their performance, perceived potential or by issuing
  new shares.

I consider myself a fairly smart person, who had a reasonable grasp on the basics of financial markets, currencies, etc. That simple paragraph just triggered a huge light bulb moment for me. It's suddenly a lot easier to reason about stocks, etc, than it was 5 minutes ago...