Stock. The capital of a company represented by shares for which negotiable (transferable)
certificates are issued.
The usual varieties of stock in the United States are preferred (there may be first and second
preferred and even third preferred) and common (occasionally called ordinary or general stock).
Preferred stock is preferred as to assets and dividends. It must receive a dividend before one can
be paid on the common stock and in a distribution of assets it participates ahead of common
stock. Cumulative preferred stock is stock the dividends on which if not paid regularly or in full
accumulate and must be paid in the future before a dividend can be paid on the common stock.
Common stock is not preferred as to dividends or assets and seldom or never is made cumulative.
Often its chief value is its voting power. In addition there is founders' stock, which is issued to the
organizers of a company for services. It is entitled to participate in profits after a certain rate of
dividend has been paid on the common stock in any one period. Such stock formerly was
frequently issued in Great Britain, but it rarely has been issued in the United States.