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A type of security representing part ownership in a company/ corporation. Common stocks, preferred stock, and convertible stock are types of equity securities, but debt securities are not, as they do not represent ownership.
A security whose price is dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.
A commodity is a product that trades on a commodity exchange. Examples of these are food, metal or another physical substance that investors buy and sell which also includes foreign currencies and financial instruments and indices, Oil and gold are two of the most commonly traded commodities, but markets exist for cotton, wheat, sugar, cattle, pork bellies, lumber, silver and other precious metals.
A Mutual Fund is a common pool of money from numerous investors who wish to save money. Each fund's investments are chosen and monitored by qualified professionals who use this money to create a portfolio. That portfolio could consist of stocks, bonds, money market instruments, or a combination of those. Mutual funds offer investors the advantages of diversification, professional management, affordability, liquidity and convenience.
IPO is the first sale of stock by a private company or unlisted company to the public. IPOs are often issued by smaller, younger companies seeking the capital to expand, but can also be done by large privately-owned companies looking to become publicly traded.
A depository is a system where securities (like shares, debentures, bonds, government securities, mutual fund units, etc) of an investor are held in electronic form. A depository can be compared to a bank. An investor has to open an account with the Depository through a depository participant, just as he opens an account with the bank. In India, there are two Depositories, namely Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL). Know More | 
