You keep it for as long as you want. It's yours, held on your behalf by Fidelity (in this example). It's value will change every day and you can follow it as closely as you want. Buying one or two shares is a good way to 'force' (encourage) you to follow the market. There are no tax consequences until you sell, at which point, only the profit element is taxable, and that tax can be either short term (treated as income) or long term (treated more favorably) depending on how long you hold it. Just be aware any stock can drop to nothing and there's no insurance to back it up. Edit To Add - there CAN be minor tax consequences if the stock issues dividends, but if you only buy one share then this is not likely to be an issue. Plus, I doubt this would be a dividend-issuing stock.

You keep it for as long as you want. It's yours, held on your behalf by Fidelity (in this example). It's value will change every day and you can follow it as closely as you want. Buying one or two shares is a good way to 'force' (encourage) you to follow the market. There are no tax consequences until you sell, at which point, only the profit element is taxable, and that tax can be either short term (treated as income) or long term (treated more favorably) depending on how long you hold it. Just be aware any stock can drop to nothing and there's no insurance to back it up.