There are many meanings to the word warrant. The marshal can show up on your doorstep with a warrant for your arrest. Many army helicopter pilots are warrant officers, who have received a warrant from the president of the US to serve in the Army of the United States. The State of California ran out
Category: Stocks
Tracking Stock
A tracking stock is a special type of stock issued by a publicly held company to track the value of one segment of that company. By issuing a tracking stock, the different segments of the company can be valued differently by investors. For example, if an old-economy company trading at a P/E of about 10
Stock Split
Ordinary splits occur when a publicly held company distributes more stock to holders of existing stock. A stock split, say 2-for-1, is when a company simply issues one additional share for every one outstanding. After the split, there will be two shares for every one pre-split share. (So it is called a “2-for-1 split.”) If
Shareholder Rights Plan
A shareholder rights plan basically states the rights of a shareholder in a corporation. These plans are generally proposed by management and approved by the shareholders. Shareholder rights are acquired when the shares are purchased, and transferred when the shares are sold. All this is pretty straightforward. The interesting question is why such plans are
Reverse Merger
A reverse merger is a simplified, fast-track method by which a private company can become a public company. A reverse merger occurs when a public company that has no business and usually limited assets acquires a private company with a viable business. The private company “reverse merges” into the already public company, which now becomes
Old Certificate Value
If you’ve found some old stock certificates in your attic, and the company is no longer traded on any exchange, you will need to get help in determining the value of the shares and/or redeeming the shares. The basic information you need is the name of the company, the date the shares were issued, and
Treasury Stock
Treasury stock is shares of a company that are repurchased by the company on the open market. In theory, the buyback should not be a short term fix to the stock price but a rational use of cash, implying that a company’s best investment alternative is to buy back its stock. Normally these purchases are
How to Replace Lost a Stock Certificate
If a person loses a stock, bond or other certificate through fire, theft, or whatever, shares registered in the stock holder’s name (as opposed to so-called “street name”) can be replaced fairly quickly and easily. To replace a lost certificate, begin by contacting the appropriate transfer agent. Stock transfer agents are often listed on a
Stock Price Data
Many people have asked me “how can I get the closing price for stock XY on date Z.” A common variant is to get the close of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (or other stock index) for some given date or range. The answer is that you need to find a provider of historical data
Stock Price Footnote Abbreviations
Stock prices from the previous day’s trading are printed in tables in most newspapers Tuesday through Saturday, and the week’s activity is commonly summarized on Sunday. These tables use an extremely abbreviated format, including footnotes to indicate various situations. The tables are distributed by the Associated Press. This article lists the most commonly used footnotes