| common stock | A residual claim against the assets and earnings of the issuing corporation evidencing a share of ownership in that company.
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| preferred stock | A share of ownership in a business corporation that promises a stated annual dividend.
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| organized exchanges | Locations where stocks, bonds, and other assets are traded according to the rules and regulations for trading established by members of the exchange.
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| over-the-counter (OTC) | market A mechanism for trading stocks and other assets through brokers or dealers operating off the major securities exchanges.
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| market | An institutional mechanism for trading goods and services.
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| third market | Mechanism through which securities listed on a stock exchange are traded off the exchange in the over-the-counter market.
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| investment bankers | Financial firms that assist their customers in raising funds by underwriting their security offerings.
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| IPOs | Initial public offerings of stocks and other securities as companies convert from privately held businesses to publicly held corporations.
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| circuit breakers | Rules on a securities exchange that bring a halt to trading or that slow certain kinds of trades when prices decline beyond a prespecified limit.
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| American depository receipts (ADRs) | Dollar-denominated claims on specific foreign shares of stock that are held in safekeeping by U.S. financial institutions, giving U.S. investors access to selected foreign stock without having to accept or make payments in foreign currencies.
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| random walk | A theory of asset price movements that argues that the future path of individual asset prices is no more predictable than is the path of a series of random numbers.
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| technical analysis | A strategy for making buy/sell decisions on stock and other assets based on past patterns in prices and the volume of trading.
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| fundamental analysis | A strategy for choosing stocks and other assets based upon an analysis of a security-issuer's financial statements and the financial condition of the issuing firm and its industry.
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