Privately held - Refers to the owning of a company by a small number of stockholders. The term closely held is sometimes used. These companies are not subject to the same SEC reporting requirements as publicly held companies, whose shares are held by a large number of shareholders. Proxy statements - SEC required annual financial statements of public companies which include salaries and total compensation of the senior executives and boards of directors. Stock options are also listed.
Proxy statements are public record and are found in annual reports.
Top Retained earnings - That part of a company's profit not issued to the stockholders. Securities - Stocks and bonds and other financial instruments. Stock buyback - A public company's repurchase of stock from stockholders. Stock buybacks are done when management considers the stock to be undervalued and repurchase of stock to be a good investment and best use of available cash. Investors usually view buybacks as a positive indicator of value.