I believe stocks give you ownership in the company, and the company of course initially sells the stocks, so they get that money (and the price affects future stock offerings). So there's some kind of connection to the thing, not a purely empty token. If anyone could create stocks for any company (not even their own) and sell them, then your critique of them would seem justified, as they would be virtual Beanie Babies.
I own stocks. Know how you make money on them? You sell them for more than you bought them. That's it. It's no different than crypto.
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