Over the Counter Bulletin Board - OTCBB

Over the Counter Bulletin Board - OTCBB

A regulated electronic trading service offered by the National Association of Security Dealers (NASD) that shows real-time quotes, last-sale prices, and volume information for over-the-counter (OTC) equity securities. An OTC security generally is not listed or traded on any other national securities exchange including the NASDAQ. OTC securities include national, regional and foreign equity issues, warrants, units, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Direct Participation Programs (DPPs). If a stock trades on the OTCBB, it will end with ".OB".

Notes:

The truth is, OTC stocks are relatively not large or stable and are considered very risky. As a result, very few OTC stocks are successful in making the jump from this market to the NASDAQ or any other major exchange due to their inability to meet the listing requirements of the major exchanges. Also, because OTC stocks tend to trade infrequently, the bid-ask spread is larger.

See also: Delisting, Micro Cap, NASD, Nasdaq, OTC, Pink Sheets, Unlisted Security