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Glite Dictionary
OTC market

OTC market

1 6.4
A place where people trade stocks and bonds directly, not on an exchange
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : mercado OTC
  • Other exchanges may resume trading after 10 minutes have passed, and then trading can resume in the OTC market.

Examples

  • They wanted a new fund that would be positioned to rise right along with the OTC market.

  • Seems like risk keeps piling up higher, and they'll do anything to hide what's been going on in the OTC market.

    Blog text (11)

  • His company went public on Japan's OTC market last November.

  • Merial, whose parent company is holding over $6 billion in cash, could have greatly enhanced its presence in the U.S. OTC market through the deal as well.

Synonyms

over-the-counter market
vsOTC market
  • Specialized
1 6.6

A market where people buy and sell shares directly by phone or computer

is the abbreviated form used instead of the full phrase

How Centralized

stock exchange
  • Specialized
18 3.6
commodity exchange
  • Specialized
1 5.5
OTC market
  • Specialized
1 6.4
gray market
  • US
1 6.3

Surface Forms

OTC market singular
OTC markets plural

Morphology

OTC + market

The meaning is directly compositional: 'OTC' (over-the-counter/off-exchange trading) modifies 'market' (a place or system for trading), so the phrase denotes a market where off-exchange trades occur. This follows normal modifier+noun composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

OTC market comes from the phrase over-the-counter, which creates the picture of buying medicine or goods at a shop 'over the counter' by talking directly to the seller. That's why in finance the OTC market means trading stocks and bonds 'directly between buyers and sellers' instead of through a big exchange.