After the offering, the shares trade on the secondary market. Options give the owner the right to buy or sell a particular security at a prespecified price on or before a prespecified expiration date. Note that the option has no direct claim on the assets of the firm. For this reason, options are sometimes referred to as secondary securities. Call options give the owner the right to buy the underlying security at a prespecified price while Put options allow the owner to sell at a fixed price.
Warrants are call options issued by the firm.
The warrant gives the holder the right to buy shares of stock in the corporation at a particular price. Note that the warrant is a primary security in that it represents a claim on the corporation's assets. Forwards and Futures contracts obligate the holder of the contract to buy or sell a particular commodity at a set price on a fixed date. The primary market is dominated by investment banking firms. New securities are usually sold in the primary market to these firms.