The financial investor about bonds

Question

Describe three ways to finance corporate activity.  Make a case that stocks are more risky for the financial investor than are bonds?

Answer 1

There are three ways to finance corporate activity: it can be done internally out of undistributed profits or Corporations can borrow from financial institutions or issue their own stocks or bonds.

Common stock is an ownership share in a corporation that gives a holder voting rights and a share of dividends. Bonds are promissory notes where the corporation promises to pay the holder a fixed amount in the future plus annual interest on the loan.  A bondholder is not an owner, only a lender.  Stocks are usually riskier than bonds. Bondholders have a “legally prior claim” against corporate earnings.  Stock dividends cannot be paid until all interest payments due to bondholders are paid.  Interest is guaranteed as long as the company is healthy, whereas dividend depends on profits.