The stock of a corporation constitutes the equity stake

of its owners. The stock of a corporation is partitioned

into shares, the total of which are stated at the time of
business formation.
In finance, a bond is an instrument of indebtedness of
the bond issuer to the holders.
Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major
difference between the two is that (capital)
stockholders have an equity stake in the company
(they are investors), whereas bondholders have a
creditor stake in the company (they are lenders).

A shareholder is an individual or company that

legally owns one or more shares of stock in a joint
stock company. Both private and public traded
companies have shareholders.
Shareholders are considered by some to be a
partial subset of stakeholders, which may include
anyone who has a direct or indirect equity interest in
the business entity or someone with even a nonpecuniary interest in a non-profit organisation.
The largest shareholders are often mutual funds, and,
especially, passively managed exchange-traded funds.

There are various methods of buying

and financing stocks, the most common being
through a stockbroker. Brokerage firms, whether
they are a full-service or discount broker, arrange
the transfer of stock from a seller to a buyer. Most
trades are actually done through brokers listed with
a stock exchange.
Selling stock is procedurally similar to buying
stock.

Bonds are issued by public authorities, credit

institutions, companies
and supranational institutions in the primary
markets. The most common process for issuing
bonds is through underwriting.
Government bonds are usually issued in an auction.
In some cases both members of the public and banks
may bid for bonds. In other cases only market
makers may bid for bonds.

At the time of issue of the bond, the interest rate and

other conditions of the bond will have been influenced
by a variety of factors, such as current market interest
rates, the length of the term and the creditworthiness of
the issuer.
These factors are likely to change over time, so the
market price of a bond will vary after it is issued. The
market price is expressed as a percentage of nominal
value.
The market price of a bond is the present value of all
expected future interest and principal payments of the
bond discounted at the bond's yield to maturity,
or rate of return.

Common stock
Preffered stock
Fixed rate bonds
Floating rate notes
Zero-coupon bonds
High-yield bonds
Convertible bonds
Exchangeable bonds
Subordinated bonds
Covered bonds
Bearer bond
A government bond
Municipial bond
Lottery bond
War bond
Social impact bonds

As a unit of ownership, common stock typically carries

voting rights that can be exercised in corporate decisions.

Prefered stock differs from common stock in that it

typically does not carry voting rights but is legally entitled to
receive a certain level of dividend payments before any
dividends can be issued to other shareholders.

Bond certificate for the state of South Carolina issued

in 1873 under the state's Consolidation Act.

War bond is a bond issued by a country to fund a war.

Convertible bonds let a bondholder exchange a bond to
a number of shares of the issuer's common stock. These
are known as hybrid securities, because they
combine equity and debt features.