Finance: Stock Dividends, Voting, and Securities Markets

Dividend Yield

expected cash dividend / its current price.

Capital gains yield

Dividend growth rate, or the rate by which the value of an investment grows.

Common stock

Equity without priority for dividends or in bankruptcy.

Cumulative Voting

shareholder can cast all votes for one member of the board of directors.

Straight voting

shareholder can cast all votes for each member of the board of directors.

Proxy

shareholder allowing another individual to vote his or her shares.

Dividends

Payments by a corporation to shareholders, in either cash or stock.

Preferred stock

Stock with dividend priority over common stock,

Primary market

Investors buy newly issued securities, and the company receives the money.

Secondary Market

Investors buy and sell existing securities from each other. The company does not receive the money.

Dealer

An agent who buys and sells securities from inventory.

Broker

An agent who arranges security transactions among investors.