A market for buying or selling commodities or foreign exchange for immediate delivery and for cash payment. The price of a commodity or currency available for immediate sale and delivery. The combination of high inflation and slow economic growth. An investment that represents part ownership of a company. Common stocks provide voting rights but no guarantee of dividend payments.
Preferred stocks provide no voting rights but have a set, guaranteed dividend payment.
Also called shares. An executive compensation plan, usually linked to stock options, that gives recipients the opportunity to benefit from a rise in the company's stock price without exercising the options. A contract to buy or sell the cash value of a stock index by a specified date. An agreement allowing an investor to buy or sell something, such as shares of stock, within a stipulated time and for a certain price. Also, it is a method of employee compensation that gives workers the right to buy the company's stock during a specified period of time at a stipulated exercise price.