Invest in stocks listed on major North American exchanges or pick from stocks sold over-the-counter in Canada and the U. As a client, you can get access to real-time quotes, hundreds of detailed analyst research reports 1 covering stocks in all major sectors, detailed fundamental and technical analysis, and the option to search by symbol or company name.

Each share of stock represents a unit of ownership in a public corporation. Owners are typically entitled to vote on the selection of directors and other important matters. In some cases shareholders are entitled to receive dividends on their holdings. In the event that a corporation is liquidated, the claims of secured and unsecured creditors and owners of bonds and preferred stock take precedence over the claims of those who own common stock.

However, common stock may have more potential for appreciation than these other securities. In North America, the securities markets are separated into two major market categories: A broker is a regulated firm that acts on your behalf, as your "agent," when you buy and sell securities, in effect putting you in touch with the other half of the trade you want to make.

And for that service, the broker charges you a commission. Scotia iTRADE usually acts as an agency broker and depending on the type of trade you make, we charge you a commission. Please see Fees Information. A broker can also act as a "principal" when you purchase or sell securities, actually taking stock out of its own dealer inventory and selling it to you, or buying it from you when you wish to sell. Normally in this transaction, the broker charges an investor a net price which includes a "mark-up" on shares purchased or a "markdown" on shares sold, or the broker charges a commission for the trade.

Scotia iTRADE does not generally trade as principal in respect of client transactions. American depositary receipts Certificates issued by a US Depositary Bank, representing foreign shares held by the bank, usually by a branch or correspondent in the country of issue. One ADR may represent a portion of a foreign share, one share or a bundle of shares of a foreign corporation.

If the ADR's are "sponsored" the corporation provides financial information and other assistance to the bank and may subsidize the administration of the ADR's. ADR's carry the same currency, political and economic risks as the underlying foreign share; the prices of the two, adjusted for various factors, are kept essentially identical by arbitrage.

American Depositary Shares ADS are a similar form of certification.

Analyst Employee of a brokerage or fund management house who studies companies and makes buy and sell recommendations on their stocks. Most specialize in a specific industry. Annual Report Yearly record of a publicly held company's financial condition. It includes a description of the firm's operations, its balance sheet and income statement.

Regulators require that it be distributed to all shareholders. In the US, a more detailed version is called a K. Arbitrage Profiting from differences in the price of a single security that is traded on more than one market.

Bear An investor who believes a stock or the overall market will decline. Beta Stocks Measure of a stock's risk in relation to the market. Bulletin Board Stocks Certain stocks not specifically authorized to trade within NASDAQ that were originally printed by the National Quotation Bureau in a daily publication called the pink sheets. Prices given for these stocks may not accurately reflect the most current market conditions for the stock.

Buyout Purchase of a controlling interest or percent of shares of a company's stock. A leveraged buyout is done with borrowed money. Capital Gains If your company's stock price increases, you will be presented with the opportunity for a "capital gain" which is the profit between what you originally paid for the stock and the higher price you sell it for.

Cash Dividends Cash dividends represent the stockholders' share of the company profits. Companies are not legally bound to pay dividends and many companies do not for various reasons. However, if a company does pay out dividends, they are usually paid out once each quarter. Dividends are frequently discussed in terms of "payout ratio" and "yield. Closing Purchase A transaction in which the purchaser's intention is to reduce or eliminate a short position in a stock, or in a given series of options.

Confirmation The written statement that follows any "trade" in the securities markets. A confirmation is issued immediately after a trade is executed. It spells out settlement date, terms, commission, etc. CUSIP number The Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures was established under the auspices of the American Bankers Association to develop a uniform method of identifying municipal, government and corporate securities.

Day order An order to buy or sell stock that automatically expires if it can't be executed on the day it is entered. Dividend Distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, cash flow or capital to shareholders, in cash or additional stock.

Dividend yield Is calculated by dividing the annual dividend payment by the per share price you paid for the stock. Exchange The marketplace in which shares, options and futures on stocks, bonds, commodities and indices are traded.

Principal Canadian stock exchanges are: Toronto Stock Exchange TSX , and the TSX Venture Exchange TSXV. Principal US stock exchanges are: New York Stock Exchange NYSE and the National Association of Securities Dealers NASDAQ.

Ex-dividend date The first day of trading when the seller, rather than the buyer, of a stock will be entitled to the most recently announced dividend. A stock that has gone ex-dividend is marked with an x in media listings on that date. Good 'til cancelled Sometimes simply called "GTC", this refers to an order to buy or sell stock that is good until you cancel it.

Brokerages usually set a limit of days, at which time the GTC expires if not re-entered. Initial public offering IPO A company's first sale of stock to the public.

Securities offered in an IPO are often, but not always, those of young, small companies seeking outside equity capital and a public market for their stock. Limit order An order to buy a stock at or below a specified price or to sell a stock at or above a specified price. Limited liability If you hold common shares you cannot be held personally liable for the debts or for the actions of a company in which you invest, and generally cannot lose more than the amount of your investment even if the company goes bankrupt.

Liquidity The degree to which a security can be bought or sold, without affecting the market price. Something which trades frequently and with high volume is more liquid than something which trades infrequently or with little volume. Market capitalization The total dollar value of all outstanding shares.

Computed as shares multiplied by current market price. It is a measure of corporate size. Market order An order to buy or sell a stock at the price which is current when the order is executed. Over-the-counter OTC A security which is not traded on an exchange, usually due to an inability to meet listing requirements, is said to trade Over-The-Counter.

See also OTC Bulletin Board , Pink Sheets and Bulletin Board Stocks. OTC bulletin board An electronic quotation system for unlisted, non-Nasdaq, over-the-counter securities. Payment Date Date on which a declared stock dividend or a bond interest payment is scheduled to be made. Payout Ratio Is calculated by dividing the annual dividend payment by the annual earnings per share.

Pink sheets A daily listing of bid and ask prices for over-the-counter stocks not included in the daily NASDAQ over-the-counter listings, published by the National Quotation Bureau and used by brokerages.

Prospectus Formal written document to sell securities that describes the plan for a proposed business enterprise, or the facts concerning an existing one, that an investor needs to make an informed decision. Prospectuses are used by Mutual Funds to describe the fund objectives, risks and other essential information. Proxy Document intended to provide shareholders with information necessary to vote in an informed manner on matters to be brought up at a stockholders' meeting.

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Includes information on closely held shares. Shareholders can and often do give management their proxy, representing the right and responsibility to vote their shares as specified in the proxy statement. Record date Date by which a shareholder must officially own shares in order to be paid a dividend or other distribution.

For example, a firm might declare a dividend on Nov 1, payable Dec 1 to holders of record Nov Once a trade is executed an investor becomes the "owner of record" on settlement date, which currently occurs 3 business days after the trade date for securities. Reverse stock split A proportionate decrease in the number of shares, but not the value of shares of stock held by shareholders.

Shareholders maintain the same percentage of equity as before the split. For example, a 1-for-3 split would result in stockholders owning 1 share for every 3 shares owned before the split. A firm generally institutes a reverse split to boost its stock's market price and attract investors. Rights offering Issuance of "rights" to current shareholders allowing them to purchase additional shares, usually at a discount to market price.

Shareholders who do not exercise these rights are usually diluted by the offering. Rights are often transferable, allowing the holder to sell them on the open market to others who may wish to exercise them. Rights offerings are particularly common to closed end funds, which cannot otherwise issue additional common stock. SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission, the US primary federal regulatory agency of the securities industry.

Settlement date The month, day, and year the transaction will settle. Share repurchase Program by which a corporation buys back its own shares in the open market. It is usually done when the company thinks its shares are undervalued. Since it reduces the number of shares outstanding and thus increases earnings per share, it tends to elevate the market value of the remaining shares held by stockholders. Short sale Selling a security that the seller does not own but is committed to repurchasing eventually.

It is used to capitalize on an expected decline in the security's price. Stock dividends Companies sometimes pay out dividends in stock. Although you are getting additional shares, you must remember that your total ownership of the company has not increased. The proportionate ownership of all shareholders has been increased equally by 10 percent. Another point to keep in mind is that unlike cash dividends, stock dividends are not necessarily taxed in the same way as cash dividends. Stock split Companies frequently increase or decrease their number of shares outstanding by splitting the stock.

An example explains the process best. Say you own shares of ABC Inc. Then ABC declares a 2 for 1 split. You will now get one additional share of ABC for each share that you already own for a total of shares. At the same time, ABC will now have , total shares outstanding and all of its applicable ratios will be divided by this higher number.

In other words, the total pie is the same size, it's merely been divided into smaller pieces. Stop loss order An order to sell a stock when the price falls to a specified level. Trade date The date on which a trade occurs. Trades generally settle are paid for business days after the trade date. With stocks, settlement is generally 3 business days after the trade date. Voting rights You can vote on company issues such as electing the board of directors and issuing new securities.

In most cases, you will receive a ballot form, known as a "proxy" that you can mail back to the company. We believe in providing you with all the information you will need to make the best investing decisions. Our additional resources include:. All research, analysis, charting, reports, estimates, commentary, information, strategies, data, opinions and news collectively, the "Research" are provided to you for general informational purposes only and do not address the circumstances of any particular investor.

Except for Scotia Global Banking and Markets research, all Research has been prepared and supplied by independent third parties that are not affiliated with Scotia Capital Inc. Neither the Research nor the profiles of the third party research providers have been endorsed or approved by Scotia Capital Inc. Scotia Global Banking and Markets research is provided by Scotia Capital Inc. Scotia iTRADE is a division of Scotia Capital Inc. Nothing in the Research constitutes a recommendation by Scotia Capital Inc.

You will not solicit any such advice from Scotia iTRADE and in making investment decisions, you will consult with and rely upon your own advisors and not Scotia iTRADE. You are fully responsible for any investment decisions that you make and any profits or losses that may result. Any opinions, views, advice or other content provided by a third party are solely those of such third party, and Scotia Capital Inc.

No endorsement or approval by Scotia Capital Inc. Neither Scotia Capital Inc.

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Sign in Open an account. Equities We offer you a simple and easy way to trade and invest. Scotia iTRADE clients can choose from a wide range of stocks. Take advantage of intuitive, easy-to-use tools As a client, you can get access to real-time quotes, hundreds of detailed analyst research reports 1 covering stocks in all major sectors, detailed fundamental and technical analysis, and the option to search by symbol or company name.

There are several reasons to consider owning stocks. Capital Gains Dividends Payout ratio Dividend yield Dividends Stock Split Voting Rights Liquidity.

The Primary Market is where a company sells their shares to the public for the first time in an Initial Public Offering IPO. The Secondary Market, which includes the stock exchanges and the Over-The-Counter OTC market, is where trades are made between investors in shares that are publicly traded. To view the Scotia iTRADE Policy on Multiple Marketplace Trading, please click here.

Our additional resources include: Advanced order types include Extended Hours, Stop and Trailing Stop orders. Contact Us service scotiaitrade. System response and account access times may vary due to a variety of factors, including trading volumes, market conditions, system performance, and other factors.