in a typical city or town on a typical residential street we find a typical home occupied by a depakote american family like millions of isabel americans john q public earns enough money to keep up the payments on a new car he takes great pride in owning up my new long term mortgage hold that was built to last a lifetime mrs john q public no longer bind housework but taking graduate thanks to a host of labor saving devices including her husband mr john q because of a forty hour week at the leisure to dream about his favorite sport oftentimes in a secluded corner of his private then john q reflects on some of the better things he has done with his life insurance to protect his family if he is called before his time money  for emergencies for summer vacations and to help put john q junior through college in spite of the high cost of being a husband and father john q has a private little nest egg is practical nature tells him it ought to do more than collect more than do i honestly i don't even know what they are in that case it might be a good idea to get a little information with a fellow  operates a company that makes and sells oil drums each year customers buy more and more from our because he makes a better oil drum than his competitors one day customers demand more oil drums  the owner can produce he figures it will take about three million dollars to do the job so he decides to form a corporation to sell shares in his business to raise the capital he needs first the owner goes to the state government to get a corporation charter and permits sell shares in this business next our friend goes to an investment banker and shows him the record of the oil drum manufacturing companies past performance and plans for expand the investment banker decide to help our friend sell shares in the corporation to raise the three million dollars however before any shares in the corporation can be sold certain information must be filed with the securities and exchange been in washington the investment banker and the on air must swear that the information they filed contains nothing but the true registration with the f t c does not imply that the government approves th as a good investment but only assure the public the material statements about this issue are god's punishment will be according to the law after s c c registration is effective the investment banker pays the owner three million dollars in exchange for a certain number of shares in the oil drum manufacturing corporation the investment banker who sell shares of the common stock to people at a primary million dollar investment and shows a profit for his services in selling the stuff money received from the sale of shares in the business build a new and better plan which produces more and better i'll dr directors represent the stock and are responsible for the way the business is run directors determine the amount of dividends in the band aid to be paid out of earnings to the stockholders naturally when stockholders invest in a business they hope to receive dividends to help pay for less than two days of life within a few short years and increasing demand for the company's products pose a threat how can a bill all the order it will have to build more plants and buy more tools to increase production of oil drums it will take about twenty million dollars to do the job one way to get this additional capital is to sell more stock to many more people so they are grown manufacturing corporation votes to send its president to the new york stock exchange to see if their common stock and qualify for listing the corporation wants to list its securities on the exchange so that the additional stock they need to sell will be more attractive to investors all over the nation securities listed on the new york stock exchange can sold for cash anytime in this national marketplace each year inquire about listing their security but only those which can pass a thorough examination as to their financial health are accepted  listed on the new york stock exchange for ration must have substantial assets and plans to equipment and there must be a broad distribution of the chairs among a large number of stockholders the corporation must show successful management and sales records and annual net earnings at the time a listing of at least one million dollars the proposed stock issue must meet federal state and new york stock exchange regulations the corporation must agree to report to its stockholders at frequent i environment indicates a corporation meets minimum requirements of the exchange at the time of the examination the corporation's application for listing is recommended the board of governors of the new york stock exchange finally approves the application and sees that it is made public now that the oil drum manufacturing corporation stock is listed its name is abbreviated for use on the ticker tape each time o d m stock or any other stock listed on the exchanges bought or sold but ticker tape flashes all over the nation the price the number of shares traded a buyer in colorado wants to purchase some o d m stuff the buyers broker in colorado sees that the last o d m transaction was at ten dollars a share the buyer could buy from one to ninety nine shares which would be known as an odd lot but a colorado friend decided to invest in one hundred shares known as a round block the colorado broker wires the order to his new york office the by order his telephone to the floor of the new york stock exchange it is given to the firm's floor partner who becomes the representative of the buyer in colorado the floor partner goes to the post where o d m stock is traded the representative of the buyer and colorado bids ten dollars a share for one hundred shares bought at the moment there is no stock offered for sale at this price in the meantime however in main and o d m a stock holder who needs cash decides to sell his one hundred shares and he get ten dollars a share the main broker wires the sell order to his firm's representative on the floor of the new york stock exchange this permits bar partner representing the seller main offers to sell one hundred shares of o d m stock at ten dollars a share the price of ten dollars a share is mutually acceptable and the transaction is made like the cowboy in colorado and the fisherman in maine investors all over the country use the facilities of brokers who are members of the new york stock exchange whenever they want to buy or sell stock of companies listed on the national market yesterday a savings financed the miraculous growth of our airplane farm machinery communication electric light and power text countless other industries contributing to a more enjoyable life if a part of our savings continued to flow into industry american labor management and capital can continue to build your tools and plant industrial expansion creates jobs for hundreds of thousands of young people who must find employment each year a growing good bass they do produce things which make life better in these times and be our greatest protection in time of war when danger threatens weaken going bird industry to produce the things we need to defend ourselves common stock investments that help to make our country prosperous and powerful owning a share in american industry is like owning a share in the future of our nation but remember john q there is a risk as well as an advantage