Buying Stocks

Quite a few people have asked me why the public can't buy stock direct from the issuing company? Why does it have to be done through a stock broker?

Basically companies create stock to raise capital for their business to reinvest into a project or plan. So the shares they create exist in the market for the public to trade - buy and sell. When the company wishes to raise more capital it may decide to issue more shares. So the number of shares on issue are limited in number.