Equity Instruments and Stock Ownership

In this section

• What Equity Securities Represent
  Understand equity securities as ownership claims on a company’s assets, earnings, and long-term growth.
• Common Stock and Preferred Stock
  Compare common and preferred stock by voting rights, dividend treatment, income priority, and growth potential.
• How Dividends and Voting Rights Work
  Learn how boards declare dividends and how shareholder voting rights shape corporate governance.
• How Stock Markets and Exchanges Work
  Understand how stocks list and trade on exchanges and the roles of market makers and electronic trading.
• Key Risks of Equity Instruments
  Understand the main risks of equity investing, including market, economic, company-specific, and volatility exposure.