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INSTRUMENTS

Equities

Stocks are where most investors start, yet the basics rarely sit in one place.

This category fixes that across the explainers that begin at the beginning: what a share actually is, the claim it gives you on a company's profits and assets, and how common stock differs from preferred.

From there it builds into share classes and dual-class control, voting and proxy rights, the difference between authorized, issued, and outstanding shares, treasury stock, and the par-value relic still sitting on balance sheets.

Market-cap tiers, growth and value and cyclical styles, blue-chip and defensive names, depositary receipts, and warrants round out the set.

Investing With Purpose treats equities as the foundation every other instrument is measured against, so you finish knowing what you own before you try to value it.

Equities
What Is a Stock? Shares, Ownership, and Claims

A stock is a fractional ownership stake in a company. Buy one share and you own a small slice of the business, with a…

Beginner
Equities
Equity vs Debt: The Investor's Claim Explained

Every company is funded by some mix of debt and equity. The difference between the two is not just where the money…

Beginner
Equities
Common vs Preferred Stock: Key Differences

Most equity is common stock, the ordinary ownership share that votes and rises and falls with the business. Preferred…

Beginner
Equities
Authorized, Issued, and Outstanding Shares

A company can have several different share counts at once, and confusing them leads to mistakes in valuation and…

Beginner
Equities
Par Value of Stock: An Accounting Relic

Par value is one of the most misunderstood numbers on a balance sheet. It looks like it should mean something about…

Beginner
Equities
Shareholder Rights: Voting, Dividends, Residual Claim

Owning a share buys more than a price that moves; it buys a defined bundle of legal rights. Knowing what those rights…

Beginner
Equities
Stock Listings and Tickers: Exchanges Explained

Before a stock can trade on a major exchange, the company has to list it, meeting a set of standards and accepting…

Beginner
Equities
Market Cap and Size Tiers: Small to Mega Cap

Market capitalization is the simplest measure of a company's size in the stock market, and investors sort companies…

Beginner
Equities
Growth, Value, and Cyclical Stocks Explained

Investors label stocks by style to describe what kind of bet they represent. Growth, value, and cyclical are three of…

Beginner
Equities
Blue-Chip and Defensive Stocks Explained

Blue-chip and defensive are two labels investors reach for when they want stability rather than excitement. They…

Beginner
Equities
American Depositary Receipts: Buy Foreign Stocks in Dollars

An American Depositary Receipt is a US-listed security that represents shares of a foreign company. It lets US…

Intermediate
Equities
Dual Class Shares: How Founders Keep Voting Control

A dual-class share structure is an equity capitalisation that splits common stock into two or more classes with…

Intermediate
Equities
Share Classes Explained: A, B, and Super-Voting

Not all shares of the same company are identical. Many firms divide their common stock into classes, often labeled…

Intermediate
Equities
Treasury Stock: Shares a Company Buys Back

Treasury stock is what a company holds after buying back its own shares. The shares still legally exist, but they sit…

Intermediate
Equities
How Stock Ownership Works: Street Name and DRS

When you buy a stock through a brokerage app, you rarely receive a certificate or appear on the company's books by…

Intermediate
Equities
Equity Rights and Warrants: Claims on New Shares

Rights and warrants are both instruments that let the holder buy a company's stock at a set price. They look similar to…

Intermediate
Equities
Tracking Stock: Unit-Linked Equity Within a Parent

Tracking stock is a class of common equity issued by a parent company whose dividend and voting rights are tied to the…

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