security

/si kyoor"i tee/, n., pl. securities, adj.

n.

1. freedom from danger, risk, etc.; safety.

2. freedom from care, anxiety, or doubt; well-founded confidence.

3. something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense.

4. freedom from financial cares or from want: The insurance policy gave the family security.

5. precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage, espionage, etc.: The senator claimed security was lax and potential enemies know our plans.

6. a department or organization responsible for protection or safety: He called security when he spotted the intruder.

7. protection or precautions taken against escape; custody: The dangerous criminal was placed under maximum security.

8. an assurance; guarantee.

9. Law.

a. something given or deposited as surety for the fulfillment of a promise or an obligation, the payment of a debt, etc.

b. one who becomes surety for another.

10. an evidence of debt or of property, as a bond or a certificate of stock.

11. Usually, securities. stocks and bonds.

12. Archaic. overconfidence; cockiness.

adj.

13. of, pertaining to, or serving as security: The company has instituted stricter security measures.

[1400-50; late ME securytye, securite(e) < L securitas. See SECURE, -ITY]

Syn. 2. assurance, certainty, positiveness. 3. safeguard, safety.

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I

In finance, written evidence of ownership conferring the right to receive property not currently in the holder's possession.

The most common securities are stocks and bonds. Governments, companies, and financial institutions use securities to raise money. Stocks are securities issued in the form of equity ownership. Bonds are securities that take the form of debt. They constitute promises to pay a specified amount at a specified date and to pay interest at a specified rate in the interim. Most government securities are bonds that pay a fixed amount of interest per year; unlike commercial securities, their repayment is guaranteed. Both stocks and bonds are traded publicly on organized exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. External forces such as international troubles, changes in government policies, and trends in foreign stock markets all have an effect on security prices. For individual stocks, the company's current and prospective financial performance play an important role, as do overall trends within its business sector. See also investment; saving.

II

(as used in expressions)

Staatssicherheit State Security

Pacific Security Treaty

National Security Agency

National Security Council

social security

Social Security Act

United Nations Security Council

Securities and Exchange Commission

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations

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▪ business economics

Introduction

      in business economics, written evidence of ownership conferring the right to receive property not currently in possession of the holder. The most common types of securities are stocks and bonds, of which there are many particular kinds designed to meet specialized needs. This article deals mainly with the buying and selling of securities issued by private corporations. (The securities issued by governments are discussed in the article government economic policy (government budget).)

Types of corporate securities

      Corporations (corporation) create two kinds of securities: bonds, representing debt, and stocks, representing ownership or equity interest in their operations. (In Great Britain, the term stock ordinarily refers to a loan, whereas the equity segment is called a share.)

Bonds (bond)

      The bond, as a debt instrument, represents the promise of a corporation to pay a fixed sum at a specified maturity date, and interest at regular intervals until then. Bonds may be registered in the names of designated parties, as payees, though more often, in order to facilitate handling, they are made payable to the “bearer.” The bondholder usually receives his interest by redeeming attached coupons.

      Since it could be difficult for a corporation to pay all of its bonds at one time, it is common practice to pay them gradually through serial maturity dates or through a sinking fund, under which arrangement a specified portion of earnings is regularly set aside and applied to the retirement of the bonds. In addition, bonds frequently may be “called” at the option of the company, so that the corporation can take advantage of declining interest rates by selling new bonds at more favourable terms and using these funds to eliminate older outstanding issues. In order to guarantee the earnings of investors, however, bonds may be noncallable for a specified period, perhaps for five or 10 years, and their redemption price may be made equal to the face amount plus a “premium” amount that declines as the bond approaches its maturity date.

      The principal type of bond is a mortgage bond, which represents a claim on specified real property. This protection ordinarily results in the holders' receiving priority treatment in the event that financial difficulties lead to a reorganization. Another type is a collateral trust bond, in which the security consists of intangible property, usually stocks and bonds owned by the corporation. Railroads and other transportation companies sometimes finance the purchase of rolling stock with equipment obligations, in which the security is the rolling stock itself.

      Although in the United States the term debentures ordinarily refers to relatively long-term unsecured obligations, in other countries it is used to describe any type of corporate obligation, and “bond” more often refers to loans issued by public authorities.

      Corporations have developed hybrid obligations to meet varying circumstances. One of the most important of these is the convertible bond, which can be exchanged for common shares at specified prices that may gradually rise over time. Such a bond may be used as a financing device to obtain funds at a low interest rate during the initial stages of a project, when income is likely to be low, and encourage conversion of the debt to stock as earnings rise. A convertible bond may also prove appealing during periods of market uncertainty, when investors obtain the price protection afforded by the bond segment without materially sacrificing possible gains provided by the stock feature; if the price of such a bond momentarily falls below its common-stock equivalent, persons who seek to profit by differentials in equivalent securities will buy the undervalued bond and sell the overvalued stock, effecting delivery on the stock by borrowing the required number of shares (selling short) and eventually converting the bonds in order to obtain the shares to return to the lender.

      Another of the hybrid types is the income bond, which has a fixed maturity but on which interest is paid only if it is earned. These bonds developed in the United States out of railroad reorganizations, when investors holding defaulted bonds were willing to accept an income obligation in exchange for their own securities because of its bond form; the issuer for his part was less vulnerable to the danger of another bankruptcy because interest on the new income bonds was contingent on earnings.

      Still another hybrid form is the linked bond, in which the value of the principal, and sometimes the amount of interest as well, is linked to some standard of value such as commodity prices, a cost of living index, a foreign currency, or a combination of these. Although the principle of linkage is old, bonds of this sort received their major impetus during the inflationary periods after World Wars I and II. In recent years they have had the most use in countries in which the pressures of inflation have been sufficiently strong to deter investors from buying fixed-income obligations.

stock

      Those who provide the risk capital for a corporate venture are given stock, representing their ownership interest in the enterprise. The holder of stock has certain rights that are defined by the charter and bylaws of the corporation as well as by the laws of the country or state in which it is chartered. Typically these include the right to share in dividends (dividend) and other distributions, to vote for directors and fundamental corporate changes, and to inspect the books of the corporation, and, less frequently, the “pre-emptive right” to subscribe to any new issue of stock. The stockholder's interest is divided into units of participation, called shares.

      A stock certificate ordinarily is given as documentary evidence of share ownership. Originally this was its primary function; but as interest in securities grew and the capital market evolved, the role of the certificate gradually changed until it became, as it is now, an important instrument for the transfer of title. In some European countries the stock certificate is commonly held in bearer form and is negotiable without endorsement. To avoid loss, the certificates are likely to be entrusted to commercial banks or a clearing agency that is able to handle much of the transfer function through offsetting transactions and bookkeeping entries. In the United States, certificates usually are registered in the name of the owner or in a “street name”—the name of the owner's broker or bank; the bank may for legal reasons use the name of another person, known as a “nominee.” When a certificate is held in the name of a broker or bank nominee, the institution is able to make delivery more readily and the transfer process is facilitated. Investors, for legal or personal reasons, may prefer to keep the certificates in their own names.

      A corporation may endow different kinds or classes of stock with different rights. Preferred stock has priority with respect to dividends and, if the corporation is dissolved, to the division of assets. Dividends on preferred stock usually are paid at a fixed rate and are often cumulated in the event the corporation finds it necessary to omit a distribution. In the latter circumstance the full deficiency must be cleared before payments may be made on the common shares. Participating preferred stock, in addition to stipulated dividends, receives a share of whatever earnings are paid to the common stock. Participation is usually resorted to as an inducement to investors when the corporation is financially weak. Although a preferred issue has no maturity date, it may be given redemption terms much like those of a bond, including a conversion privilege and a sinking fund. Preferred stockholders may or may not be allowed to vote equally with common stockholders on some or all propositions or more characteristically may vote only upon the occurrence of some prescribed condition, such as the default of a specified number of dividend payments.

      Common stock, in some countries called ordinary shares, represents a residual interest in the earnings and assets of a corporation. Whereas distributions to bonds or preferred stock are ordinarily fixed, dividends paid on common stock are set at the time of payment by the directors and tend to vary with earnings. The market price of common stock is likely to move in a relatively wide range, depending on investors' expectations of earnings in the future.

Options

      An option contract is an agreement enabling the holder to buy a security at a fixed price for a limited period of time. One form of option contract is the stock purchase warrant, which entitles the owner to buy shares of common stock at designated prices and according to a prescribed ratio. Warrants are often used to enhance the salability of a senior security, and sometimes as part of the compensation paid to bankers who market new issues.

      Another use of the option contract is the employee stock option. This is used to compensate key executives and other employees; it is normally subject to a variety of restrictions and is generally nontransferrable. Stock rights, like warrants, are transferrable privileges permitting stockholders to buy another security or a portion thereof at a specified price for an indicated period of time. The stock right allows stockholders to subscribe to additional shares of stock in proportion to their present holdings. Stock rights usually have a shorter life-span than warrants, and their subscription price is below, rather than above, the market price of the common stock.

The marketing of new issues

      The marketing of securities is an essential link in the mechanism that transfers capital funds from savers to users. The transfer may involve intermediaries such as savings banks, insurance companies, or investment trusts. The ultimate user of the funds may be a corporation or any of the various levels of government from municipalities to national states.

      The growth of public debt throughout the world has made governments increasingly important participants in the markets for new securities. They have had to develop financing techniques with careful attention to their influence on the markets for nongovernmental securities. The treasuries must carefully study interest rates, yield patterns, terms of financing, and the distribution of holdings among investors.

      Local governments are usually subject to various statutory restrictions that must be carefully observed when offering a new issue for sale. Local government bonds are distributed through investment (investment bank) bankers who buy them and reoffer them to the public at higher prices and correspondingly lower yields. Sometimes the terms of the offer are negotiated. In the United States, however, a more prevalent means of selling state and local bonds is through competitive bidding, in which the issuer announces a contemplated offering of bonds for a designated amount, with specified maturity dates, and for certain purposes. Syndicates of investment bankers are formed to bid on the issue, and the award is made to the group providing the most favourable terms. The winning syndicate then reoffers the bonds to the public at prices carefully tailored to be competitive with comparable obligations already on the market and to provide a suitable profit margin.

      The financial manager of a company requiring additional funds has a number of alternative courses of action open to him. He may do all of his financing through commercial banks by means of loans and revolving credit arrangements that, in essence, are formalized lines of credit. Or, he may prefer to raise capital through the sale of securities. If he chooses to do the latter, he may undertake a private sale with an institutional investor such as an insurance company, permitting him to avoid both the complicated procedures of a public distribution and the risks of unsettled market conditions. On the other hand, a private placement of this sort deprives the issuer of the favourable publicity flowing from a successful public offering; it may not afford sufficient resources for very large firms with continuing demands for capital; and it involves rather restrictive legal requirements.

      A company that elects to float its securities publicly in the capital market will ordinarily utilize the services of an investment banker. The investment banker may buy the securities from the issuer and seek a profit by selling them at a higher price to the public, thereby assuming the market risks. If the issue is large, the originating investment banker may invite other houses to join with him in purchasing the issue from the company, while to facilitate disposal he may form a selling group to take over the issue from the buying firms for resale to the public. In lieu of buying the securities from the issuer, the investment banker may act as an agent and receive a commission on the amount sold. If the issuer negotiates the selection of an investment banker, the banker will serve as financial counsel and offer advice on the timing and terms of the new issue. If the selection is by competitive bidding, the relationship is likely to be more impersonal.

      An accepted principle of modern finance is that investors are entitled to knowledge about the issuer in order to appraise the quality of the securities offered. A number of countries now require issuers to file registration statements and provide written prospectuses.

      The security markets of Europe do not have the aggressive investment-banking machinery developed in the United States. European commercial banks, on the other hand, play a much more important role in financing the needs of industry than do commercial banks in the United States and Great Britain.

      In the 1960s, a number of industrial nations faced increasing difficulties in meeting their financing needs through local capital markets. Several issuers began to float securities that were payable in any of 17 different European currencies. This marked what might be called the beginning of an “international securities” market. Efforts were also made to issue bonds on a parallel basis in different countries with each portion denominated in the currency of the country in which it was sold. For various legal and technical reasons, these methods did not attract a wide following.

      Another factor that hastened the growth of a European securities market was the balance of payments problem confronting the United States in the 1960s. Certain legislative enactments substantially shut the capital market of the U.S. to foreign issuers; and other restraints were imposed on foreign lending by United States financial institutions and on direct foreign investment by United States corporations. As a result, a number of multinational corporations headquartered in the United States were forced to seek financing in overseas securities markets for the expanding business of their foreign subsidiaries. United States and foreign investment bankers joined in syndicates to float these securities. The process was facilitated by the growth of an international market in Eurodollars (Eurodollar), representing claims on dollars deposited in European banks. The bulk of the new bonds offered abroad were denominated in Eurodollars.

      During the period 1957–65, when this new European market came into being, the volume of foreign bonds issued publicly rose from $492,600,000 to $1,489,500,000. The principal and most consistent borrowers were in Canada, Australia, Japan, Norway, Israel, Denmark, and New Zealand. In all of these countries, the major borrower was the national government, except in Canada, where the political subdivisions were the major borrowers. In West Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, the only borrowers in international markets were private units.

The development of securities trading

      Organized securities markets and stock exchanges are a product of economic development. In the early years of economic growth, most of a country's industrial units are small and their capital requirements relatively modest. The rate of saving is low, and institutions for channelling private savings into investment are generally lacking. As the economy progresses and national income grows, new institutions enter the financial picture to direct the mounting volume of savings into productive outlets. The appearance of growing numbers of individual and institutional investors creates a need for trading markets to speed up transactions and enable stockholders swiftly and easily to convert their holdings to cash.

      At this stage of development, corporations usually meet less of their financing needs through direct sales of securities in the new issue market and obtain a larger percentage through reinvesting their own earnings. This plowing back of earnings is not insensitive to the judgment of investors: if the prospects of a company are good, investors bid up the price of its shares in the trading market and show a willingness to forego dividends for the possibility of long-term capital gains achieved through internal growth. Thus, when a company is able to finance its expansion by means of reinvested earnings rather than by new stock issues, the trading segment becomes the more important aspect of the capital market.

History

      Stock exchanges grew out of early trading activities in agricultural and other commodities. Traders in European fairs in the Middle Ages found it convenient to use credit, which required the supporting documents of drafts, notes, and bills of exchange. The French stock exchange may be traced as far back as the 12th century, when trading occurred in commercial bills of exchange. To regulate these incipient markets, Philip the Fair (1268–1314) created the profession of courratier de change, the forerunner of the modern French stockbroker, or agent de change. At about the same period in Bruges, then a prosperous centre of the Low Countries, merchants took to gathering in front of the house of the Van der Buerse family to engage in trading. From this custom, the name of the family became identified with trading, and eventually “bourse” came to signify a stock exchange. From similar roots in trade and commerce, the institutional beginnings of stock exchanges appeared during the 16th and 17th centuries in other great trading centres throughout the world—Amsterdam, Great Britain, Denmark, Germany.

      The growth of trade created a need for banks and insurance companies. Political developments caused governments to seek new sources of funds. This combination of expanding activity and intermittent capital shortages stimulated the early issuers of securities—governments, banks, insurance companies, and some joint-stock enterprises, particularly the great trading companies. From the existing exchanges for commercial bills and notes, it was an easy and logical transition to the establishment of stock exchanges for securities. By the early 1600s, shares of the Dutch East India Company were being traded in Amsterdam; in 1773, London stock dealers who had previously been meeting in coffeehouses moved into their own building; and by the 19th century, trading in securities on a formal basis was common in the industrialized nations.

      The evolution of stock exchanges continued. In Great Britain, progress has for the most part been internal and voluntary; the London Stock Exchange has regulated its own activities. The French stock exchanges, in contrast, are directly subject to law, and the operations of the agents de change have been affected by national decrees. At one time, there were three markets for securities in Paris: an official market called the Parquet (the “floor”); a semiofficial market, the Coulisse (the “wing”); and the Hors Côté (the “outside”), an unregulated market in unlisted securities. In 1929, the Hors Côté was subjected to official regulation and in the following decade its activities were absorbed into the Coulisse, which in turn was combined with the Parquet in a reorganization in 1961. In Belgium the exchanges have had a mixed history. Strict governmental controls were imposed in 1801 and not removed until 1867. Following the economic crisis of 1929–34, the pendulum swung the other way, and the exchanges were once more placed under the control of central authority. In Switzerland, the exchanges have been governed by cantonal (state) law.

      Historical events have left their mark upon the development of stock exchanges in some countries. Mining, rather than trade and commerce, was the impelling influence in the establishment of stock exchanges in South Africa and Canada. In Germany, the Berlin Stock Exchange lost its dominant role after World War II, and its position was assumed by exchanges in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. The Japanese (Japan) securities markets were revolutionized following World War II, when a new securities law was enacted patterned after the U.S. model. A campaign to distribute stock formerly held by the large zaibatsu (family-owned combines) and semigovernment corporations greatly increased public stock ownership, which in turn contributed to the considerable growth of trading on the nine Japanese exchanges. Another post-World War II development was the interest of the governments of developing countries in the use of stock exchanges to facilitate external financing.

Early U.S. markets

      Securities markets in the United States began with speculative trading in issues of the new government. In 1791, the country's first stock exchange was established in Philadelphia, then the leading city in domestic and foreign trade. An exchange in New York was set up in 1792, when 24 merchants and brokers decided to charge commissions while acting as agents for other persons and to give preference to each other in their negotiations. They did much of their trading under a tree at 68 Wall Street. Government securities formed the basis of the early trading. Stocks of banks and insurance companies added to the volume of transactions. The building of roads and canals brought more securities to the market. In 1817 the New York brokers decided to organize formally as the New York Stock and Exchange Board. Thereafter, the stock market grew with the industrialization of the country. In 1863, the New York Stock Exchange adopted its present name. During the Civil War additional exchanges were organized, one of them the forerunner of the present American Stock Exchange, the second largest stock market in the country.

Organization of exchanges

      All stock exchanges perform similar functions with respect to the listing, trading, and clearing of securities. They differ in their administrative machinery for handling these functions.

      The London Stock Exchange, the largest in the world in terms of the number and variety of domestic and international securities traded, is an independent institution not subject to governmental regulation. It resembles a private club with its own constitution and operating rules, administered by a council that, except for the government broker who is an ex officio nonvoting member, is elected by the membership. Operating responsibility is vested in the secretary and his staff.

      In the United States, as in Great Britain (United Kingdom), the government does not participate directly in the operations of the exchanges. Since 1933, however, Congress has enacted half a dozen measures that in one way or another affect the securities market. The most important are the Securities Act of 1933, which is primarily concerned with the new-issue market, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which is directed toward the trading market. The latter requires that every stock exchange register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a national securities exchange, unless it is exempted because of the limited volume of its transactions, and that it conform to certain rules in its trading practices. This relationship between the stock exchanges and the SEC is peculiar to the United States; it involves a sort of administrative partnership between the exchanges as private associations—but functioning as quasi-public institutions—and the government. The exchanges generally may adopt policies and issue regulations governing their own operations but are subject to SEC intercession in the event that the Commission believes modifications are required in the public interest.

      Most European exchanges are also subject to some form of governmental regulation. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is a private organization, relatively free to regulate the activities of the market, but the Minister of Finance exercises some supervision under existing legislation. The Zürich exchange is governed by a board of elected members that determines general policy and coordinates the work of the exchange's committees. Of these, the Zürich Cantonal Committee, which directs dealings on the floor of the exchange, is chaired by the head of the Finance Department of the State of Zürich. Although the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is under the direct administration of a Board of Governors elected by its own members, the rules of the exchange must be approved by the authorities of the state of Hesse; and the official specialists, each responsible for the trading in certain securities, are appointed by the Minister of Finance in the state of Hesse. In Brussels the Ministry of Finance is involved in the appointment of members to major committees, while a governmental representative is attached to each exchange to supervise the observance of all rules and laws; in addition, the Banking Commission that is nominated by the government has substantial powers over the admission of securities to public trading. The policy-making Exchange Commission of the Paris bourse is headed by the Governor of the Banque de France, while the regular members are chosen by the Ministry of Finance; the agents de change who supervise the trading process are semigovernmental officials. New members of the Italian stock exchanges are appointed by the government from a list of candidates as a result of competitive examinations and therefore have some public status.

      Since 1953, membership in the New York Stock Exchange has been limited to 1,366. Only individuals may be members, but they may be partners or stockholders of organizations that do business with the public. Their organizations in such cases are known as member firms. The exchange supervises and regulates member firms in what it considers to be the public interest: a majority of the owners must be engaged primarily in the business of brokers or dealers in securities; exchange approval is required of any shareholder with a 5 percent interest in a member corporation; and all principal officers and directors who are active in the firm must be members or allied members of the exchange. An allied member is subject to the rules of the exchange but does not have the right to engage in transactions on the floor.

      To become a member, an individual must acquire, with the approval of the board of governors, a “seat” from a present member or from the estate of a deceased one. Before granting approval, the exchange will investigate such matters as the applicant's past record and financial standing; he will also have to pass an examination demonstrating his knowledge of the securities field.

      There are several kinds of brokers on the floor of the exchange. They include the commission broker who executes customer orders placed at or near the current market price; the specialist in one or more issues who, as a broker, executes limited orders for other members and, as a dealer, buys and sells securities for his own account; floor brokers, or “two-dollar” brokers, who execute orders for other brokers at a commission but have no contact with the public; brokers associated with odd-lot firms, who undertake to buy or sell in quantities other than the standard 100-share lot; and “registered traders” who buy and sell for their own account.

      To become a member of the London Stock Exchange, an individual must acquire a “nomination” from a retiring member at a price that varies with demand and supply. Every applicant must be approved by at least three-quarters of the stock exchange council. A member may be a broker, dealing as an agent of the public, or a jobber, dealing for his own account with other brokers or jobbers.

      Membership in the Paris stock exchange is limited to 85 agents de change who supervise activity while the actual work of trading and executing orders is done by their employees and those of the exchange. To become an agent de change, an applicant must meet prescribed standards of education and experience as well as pass a written examination. He must be nominated by a retiring member or the heirs of a deceased member and make a deposit guaranty. He is formally appointed by the Minister of Finance.

      Other European exchanges set eligibility requirements of character, experience, and financial standing, and some have educational requirements as well. In Brussels, in addition to the completion of six consecutive years in a broker's office, a candidate must have a degree in commercial science or economics and pass a professional examination. In Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden, the brokerage business is dominated by banks.

      Members of Japanese exchanges must be corporations doing a business in securities. There are two kinds of members: regular members, who buy and sell for customers or for their own accounts, and saitori, who act principally as intermediaries for regular members.

Trading procedures

      Most stock exchanges are auction markets, in which prices are determined by competitive bidding. In very large, active markets, the auction is continuous, occurring throughout the day's trading session and for any security in which there is buying and selling interest. In smaller markets the names of the listed stocks may be submitted in some form of rotation, with the auction occurring at that time; this process is described as a “call market.”

      Trading methods on all the exchanges in the United States are similar. In a typical transaction for a security listed on the New York Stock Exchange, a customer gives an order to an employee in a branch or correspondent office of a member firm, who transmits it either indirectly through the firm's New York office or, as is becoming increasingly common, directly to a receiving clerk on the floor of the exchange. The receiving clerk summons the firm's floor broker, who takes the order, goes to the post where the stock is traded, and participates in an auction procedure as either buyer or seller. If the order is not a market order calling for immediate action, the broker turns it over to an appropriate specialist who will execute it when an indicated price is reached.

      As in any auction market, securities are sold to the broker bidding the highest price and bought from the broker offering the lowest price. Since the market is continuous, buyers and sellers are constantly competing with each other. In the New York Stock Exchange, the specialist plays an important role. As a principal, he has the responsibility of buying and selling for his own account, thereby providing a stabilizing influence; as an agent, he represents other brokers on both sides of the market when they have orders at prices that cannot be readily executed.

      With the growing demand for stocks on the part of institutions such as insurance companies, mutual funds, pension funds, and so forth, the size of orders consummated on the New York Stock Exchange has grown. The common way of handling these big blocks on the floor of the exchange has been to break them into smaller orders executed over a period of time. Another method is to assemble matching orders in advance and then “cross” them, executing the purchase or sale at current prices in accordance with prescribed rules; since the broker initially may have obtained the matching orders off the floor, this procedure assumes some of the aspects of a negotiated rather than a pure auction transaction. It is only a step from this to so-called block positioning, in which the broker functions as a principal and actually buys the block from the seller and distributes the securities over a period of time on the floor of the exchange.

      When none of these methods appears feasible, the exchange permits certain special procedures. A secondary distribution of stock resembles the underwriting of a new issue, the block being handled by a selling group or syndicate off the floor after trading hours, at a price regulated by the exchange. In an exchange distribution a member firm accumulates the necessary buy orders and then crosses them on the floor. This is distinguished from an ordinary “cross” because the selling broker may provide extra compensation to his own registered representatives and to other participating firms. A special offering is the offering of a block through the facilities of the exchange at a price not in excess of the last sale or the current offer, whichever is lower, but not below the current bid unless special permission is obtained. The terms of the offer are flashed on the tape. The offerer agrees to pay a special commission. A specialist block purchase permits the specialist to buy a block outside the regular market procedure, at a price that is somewhat below the current bid.

Brokers and jobbers

      Trading on the London Stock Exchange is carried on through a unique system of brokers and jobbers. A broker acts as an agent for his customers; a jobber, or dealer, transacts business on the floor of the exchange but does not deal with the public. A customer gives an order to a brokerage house, which relays it to the floor for execution. The receiving broker goes to the area where the security is traded and seeks a jobber stationed in the vicinity who specializes in the particular issue. The jobber serves only in the capacity of a principal, buying and selling for his own account and dealing only with brokers or other jobbers. The broker asks the jobber's current prices without revealing whether he is interested in buying or selling. The broker may seek to narrow the spread between the bid and ask quotations or he may approach another jobber handling the same issue and undertake the same bargaining process. Eventually, when satisfied that he has obtained the best possible price for his client, the broker will complete the bargain.

      A broker is compensated by the commission received from the customer. The jobber seeks to maximize his profitable business by adjusting his buying and selling prices. As the ultimate dealer in the London market, the jobber's activities provide a stabilizing factor, but unlike the specialist on the New York Stock Exchange, the jobber is under no obligation to help support prices. The growing importance of institutional customers has increased the size of transactions in the London market as it has in the U.S., and therefore the jobber has been compelled to risk larger sums. To offset this risk, arrangements for a particularly large order may be negotiated beforehand and the transaction put through the floor as a matter of procedure, with the jobber accepting a minimum “turn.” Although the jobbing system provides a continuous market, it does not employ the auction bidding of the New York exchange.

      The trading procedures of other major exchanges throughout the world employ the principles that have been described above, although they vary in their application of them. In the exchanges of Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Zürich, some form of auction system is employed: prices are established through bids and offers made on specific securities at particular periods of time. In Tokyo, trading is continuous and orders are consummated through the saitori members, who keep order sheets on all transactions. Unlike the specialist on the New York exchange or the jobber in London, however, the saitori does not trade for his own account but serves only as an intermediary between regular members. In Amsterdam, trading in active securities is done directly between members during designated trading periods; specialists function as intermediaries between buyers and sellers.

Types of orders

      The simplest method of buying stock is through the market order. This is an order to buy or sell a stated amount of a security at the most advantageous price obtainable after the order reaches the trading floor. A limit (or limited) order is an order to buy or sell a stated amount of a security when it reaches a specified price or a better one if it is obtainable after the order comes to the trading floor. In the Amsterdam market, the device of the “middle price” is used: an investor who gives a limit order before the opening will have it executed at the day's median level, or at a price that is better than the limit, whichever is found to be more advantageous to the client.

      There are other more specialized types of orders. A stop order or stop-loss order is an order to purchase or sell a security after a designated price is reached or passed, when it then becomes a market order. It differs from the limit order in that it is designed to protect the customer from market reversals; the stop price is not necessarily the price at which the order will be executed, particularly if the market is changing rapidly. This type of order does not lend itself to the London jobbing system.

      An important method of trading in stock is through the buying and selling of options. The most common option contracts are puts and calls. A put is a contract that permits the holder to deliver to the purchaser a specified number of shares of stock at a fixed price within a designated period of time, say six months; a call entitles him to buy shares from the seller within a given period. For example, a person who buys a stock hoping to sell it later at a higher price may also buy a put as a hedge against a fall in price. The put enables him to sell the stock at the price for which he bought it. If the stock rises he need not use the option and loses only the price of its purchase. Option trading is common in Brussels, Paris, London, and the United States.

      In the early days of securities trading, stocks and bonds were often bought at private banking houses in the same way that commodities might be purchased over the counter of a general store. This was the origin of the term “over-the-counter.” It is used today to mean all securities transactions that are handled outside the exchanges. Increasingly, this market is being subjected to regulation. The extent and nature of the over-the-counter market varies throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, there is no over-the-counter market as such. In the Netherlands, transactions are illegal if they do not involve a member of the Amsterdam exchange or one of its provincial branches as an intermediary, except with the permission of the Ministry of Finance. On the Paris bourse, one post is provided for trading in unlisted issues. In Belgium, the stock exchange committee organizes, at least once a month, public sales of stocks that are not officially quoted. In Japan a second security section has been introduced into the major exchanges to provide more effective trading procedures for over-the-counter transactions.

      In the United States, the over-the-counter market includes most federal, state, and municipal issues as well as a large variety of corporate stocks and bonds. The National Quotation Bureau, which compiles over-the-counter prices, has furnished quotations on approximately 26,000 over-the-counter stocks. In early 1971, a major development occurred with the introduction of current, computerized quotations on a number of active stocks.

      Transactions in the over-the-counter market are executed through a large number of broker-dealers with a complex network of private wires and telephone lines. Their operations are subject to the rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., a self-regulating body created in 1939. In 1964 the Congress extended to the larger over-the-counter companies the same requirements as to periodic reporting, proxy solicitation, and insider trading that are applied to dealers in listed stocks.

      The over-the-counter market is a negotiated market, as distinguished from the auction markets for listed securities. An investor desiring to trade an over-the-counter security gives his order to a broker functioning as a retailer, who ordinarily shops among various firms to obtain the best possible price.

      Because of the difficulty that institutions often experience in disposing of large blocks of listed securities on the exchanges, nonmember firms have set up over-the-counter markets in these issues—principally in those listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Although such transactions are conducted within the framework of the over-the-counter market, their prices are tied to those on the Exchange. Accordingly, this form of trading has been labelled the “third market.” There is now also a “fourth market,” consisting of direct transactions between investors without an intermediary. This market also had its origins in the need of the institutions to find ways of executing large transactions. Impetus to such direct dealings has been given by the development of computerized systems to bring together large traders.

The structure of demand for securities

      Interest in the ownership of securities has increased greatly in recent decades. Inflationary tendencies have directed attention to stocks as a means of offsetting rising prices. Stock exchanges have cultivated investors through public relations programs. Government regulation has strengthened public confidence in stock trading procedures. Many governments have given support to the capital markets in order to facilitate business financing.

      In the United States, in addition to the millions of individuals who own shares of publicly held corporations, many others own shares indirectly through institutions that are large holders of stock, such as investment companies and pension funds. It is difficult to obtain figures for other countries. A major problem of developing countries has been the absence of investors able and willing to buy shares. Many investors in these countries have preferred to place their funds in tangible assets such as land.

      Institutions such as insurance companies, mutual funds, pension funds, foundations, and universities have grown very important in the security markets of the United States. Because of their financial responsibilities to others, these institutions have characteristically followed conservative investment policies stressing the purchase of fixed-income securities. The long-term trend toward inflation, along with mounting stock prices, has led the institutions to look more favourably upon common stocks.

      Among the most rapidly growing institutions are the mutual funds (mutual fund). Technically, these are known as open-end investment companies because the number of their shares outstanding constantly changes as new shares are sold to investors and old ones redeemed.

Dynamics of the securities markets

      Over a long-term period, the movements of stock prices and of general business indicators tend to parallel each other. In studies of business cycles, it has been found that stock prices tend to reach their cyclical peaks and troughs somewhat ahead of general business indicators, and these are therefore generally classified as “leading indicators.”

      The price of a stock reflects the present value of expected future earnings, and the profits of a firm are strongly influenced by the general level of economic activity. The tendency of stocks to lead business may be attributable to investors' preoccupation with the future. Over the years, the trend of stock prices has been upward; since World War II the upward cycles has tended to be of longer duration, while declines have been relatively shorter. Within the generally expansionary movement, changes in share values of specific companies have been mixed, some showing striking long-term gains while others have suffered losses.

      Dramatic events sometimes have a special influence on the psychology of investors, driving stock prices down despite improving business conditions. For example, between the fall of 1940 and the spring of 1942, the period immediately prior to and after the entry of the United States into World War II, U.S. stock prices dropped swiftly despite a continued revival of economic activity. In other cases the reasons for a fall in stock prices are not easy to discover.

      Stock prices also experience daily changes of substantial size. Technical market analysts attempt to predict these changes by studying patterns in stock prices. Many theorists, however, claim that in a highly competitive market, prices fluctuate primarily as a result of new information that is not likely to appear in any organized fashion; they maintain that successive price movements are independent of each other and take place in a random fashion.

      As investors' expectations change over time, their attitudes toward different types of stock change. Buoyant investors lean toward growth stocks, the value of which is expected to increase rapidly; when uncertainty prevails, the preference is for more conservative issues with stable records of earnings. Within any given period, investors' choices of particular stocks vary with their judgments of the related companies.

Sidney Martin Robbins Ed.

Additional Reading

Glenn G. Munn, F.L. Garcia, and Charles J. Woelfel, Encyclopedia of Banking and Finance, 9th ed., rev. and expanded (also published as The St. James Encyclopedia of Banking & Finance, 1991), provides comprehensive definitions, many with bibliographies. Edward I. Altman and Mary Jane McKinney (eds.), Handbook of Financial Markets and Institutions, 6th ed. (1987), is a thorough compilation. Detailed information on a variety of markets is provided in Francis A. Lees and Maximo Eng, International Financial Markets: Development of the Present System and Future Prospects (1975), a descriptive treatment; Charles R. Geisst, A Guide to the Financial Markets, 2nd ed. (1989), for the general reader; Frank J. Fabozzi and Frank G. Zarb, Handbook of Financial Markets: Securities, Options, and Futures, 2nd ed. (1986); and Perry J. Kaufman, Handbook of Futures Markets: Commodity, Financial, Stock Index, and Options (1984), including the history, regulation, and mechanics of futures trading. Further discussion of financial futures is found in Mark J. Powers and Mark G. Castelino, Inside the Financial Futures Markets, 3rd ed. (1991), an explanation of the exchanges and their functions; and Nancy H. Rothstein and James M. Little (eds.), The Handbook of Financial Futures: A Guide for Investors and Professional Financial Managers (1984), a discussion of the market's development, organization, and regulation. The Spicer & Oppenheim Guide to Securities Markets Around the World (1988); and Paul Stonham, Major Stock Markets of Europe (1982), are good general surveys of world stock exchanges. Robert Sobel, N.Y.S.E.: A History of the New York Stock Exchange, 1935–1975 (1975), is a readable survey of this important exchange. See also Joel Seligman, The Transformation of Wall Street: A History of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Modern Corporate Finance (1982). Reference manuals include Richard J. Teweles and Edward S. Bradley, The Stock Market, 5th ed. (1987); and Frank G. Zarb and Gabriel T. Kerekes (eds.), The Stock Market Handbook (1970). William J. Baumol, The Stock Market and Economic Efficiency (1965), is an interesting effort to apply economic theory to the securities market. Arthur Stone Dewing, The Financial Policy of Corporations, 2 vol., 5th ed. (1953), is a classic treatise on financial policy, particularly useful for historical and statistical purposes. Hugh Bullock, The Story of Investment Companies (1959), recounts the development of mutual funds. Vincent P. Carosso, Investment Banking in America (1970), provides a relatively thorough history. John W. Hazard and Milton Christie, The Investment Business (1964), readably condenses the landmark U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's special study of the securities markets. Investment texts include Harry C. Sauvain, Investment Management, 4th ed. (1973); and Jerome B. Cohen, Edward D. Zinbarg, and Arthur Zeikel, Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, 5th ed. (1987), a comprehensive work. Graham and Dodd's Security Analysis, 5th ed. by Sidney Cottle, Roger F. Murray, and Frank E. Block (1988), is a classic work that led to the development of the field of security analysis. Richard W. Jennings, Harold Marsh, Jr., and John C. Coffee, Jr. (eds.), Securities Regulation, 7th ed. (1992), is a leading textbook dealing with the legal background of securities regulation. Louis Loss and Joel Seligman, Securities Regulation, 3rd ed. (1989– ), is a classic work kept up-to-date with supplements that delves into all aspects of the U.S. federal regulation of securities and securities markets.

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