Recently, many novice investors have been confused about why it costs so much to buy Taiwanese stocks, while U.S. stocks are much cheaper. The underlying logic is quite simple—it's the difference in trading units. Today, I want to talk about how much one share of stock actually costs and the rules behind it.

Let's start with the basics. The stock price is the trading price of a share, representing how much money you need to buy one share. In the stock market, stock prices are usually expressed per share and fluctuate in real-time based on buy and sell transactions. For example, TSMC's stock price is 561 New Taiwan Dollars, meaning one share of TSMC costs 561 NT dollars. Tesla's stock price is 254 US dollars, meaning one share costs 254 USD.

But there's a key difference here. The trading units for Taiwanese stocks and U.S. stocks are fundamentally different. U.S. stocks are straightforward—buy and sell in units of one share. But Taiwanese stocks introduce the concept of a "lot," where 1 lot equals 1,000 shares. That is, when you buy one lot of Taiwanese stock, you're actually buying 1,000 shares.

This is why there's such a big price difference. Taking TSMC as an example, if one share costs 561 NT dollars, then one lot is 561 multiplied by 1,000, which equals 561,000 NT dollars. Think about how high that barrier is for ordinary retail investors.

In contrast, for U.S. stocks, TSMC's ticker is TSM, and the stock price is about $95. Buying one share only costs $95, which is just over 3,000 NT dollars. That's why many people find U.S. stocks easier to get started with.

Of course, Taiwanese stock exchanges have recognized this issue. To encourage more participation, they later introduced "fractional trading," allowing investors to buy between 1 and 999 shares without needing to purchase a full lot. The advantage of fractional trading is a lower capital threshold, but liquidity is relatively lower, and transaction speed is slower compared to full lots.

There are many factors that influence stock prices. The company's fundamentals are very important—good companies with strong financial reports naturally attract investors, causing the stock price to rise. Macroeconomic factors like GDP and interest rates also impact the stock market. Lastly, market sentiment plays a role—optimistic investors buy, while negative news can cause panic selling, leading to price fluctuations.

In summary, the price of one lot of Taiwanese stock is the stock price multiplied by 1,000. If you want to participate in trading, you can choose to buy full lots (one lot or multiples thereof) or fractional shares (1 to 999 shares). U.S. stocks are much simpler—just buy at the price of one share. If you're ready to start trading, platforms like Gate allow you to quickly open an account, deposit funds, and discover trading opportunities that suit you.