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Concept
Secondary market
Summary
The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of the security by the issuer to a purchaser, who pays proceeds to the issuer, is the primary market. All sales after the initial sale of the security are sales in the secondary market. Whereas the term primary market refers to the market for new issues of securities, and "[a] market is primary if the proceeds of sales go to the issuer of the securities sold," the secondary market in contrast is the market created by the later trading of such securities.
With primary issuances of securities or financial instruments (the primary market), often an underwriter purchases these securities directly from issuers, such as corporations issuing shares in an IPO or private placement. Then the underwriter re-sells the securities to other buyers, in what is referred to as a secondary market or aftermarket (or a buyer in contrast may buy directly from the federal government, in the case of a government issuing treasuries).
The secondary market can be for a variety of assets, that can vary from stocks to loans, from fragmented to centralized, and from illiquid to very liquid.
The major stock exchanges are the most visible example of liquid secondary markets—in this case, for stocks of publicly traded companies. Exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq Stock Market provide centralized, liquid secondary markets for investors who wish to buy or sell stocks that trade on those exchanges. Most bonds and structured products trade "over the counter", or by phoning the bond desk of one’s broker-dealer. Loans sometimes trade online, using a loan exchange.
Another usage of "secondary market" is to refer to loans which are sold by a mortgage bank to investors such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Official source
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