The OTC Bulletin Board is a stock market for companies to list shares which either do not meet the capitalization, ownership, or other requirements of major stock exchanges, or for companies who do not choose to have their shares listed on such exchanges. A stock market is a market for the trading of publicly held company stock and associated financial instruments (including stock options, convertibles and stock index futures). ...

The letters "OTC" were initially an abbreviation for "over-the-counter" and described the way in which such shares were originally traded – rather than being bought and sold at exchanges by market specialists through stock brokers, physical stock certificates were literally dealt out over a counter. This method is now primarily of historical significance; relatively few shares actually changes hands in this manner currently. A stock broker or stockbroker or stock brokerage is someone or a firm who performs transactions in financial instruments on a stock market as an agent of his/her/its clients who are unable or unwilling to trade for themselves. ...

OTC markets are avoided by many investors due to a fear, sometimes well-founded, that shares traded on them can have prices which are easily manipulated. At times it is difficult to differentiate between OTC shares and penny stocks sold as part of what is essentially a confidence game. The OTC Bulletin Board is an attempt to differentiate the legitimate OTC market from such schemes and as such has its own capitalization requirements, which are nonetheless far less restrictive than those imposed by major exchanges. Many shares which have been "de-listed" from major exchanges for falling below minimum capitalization or other requirements nonetheless end up being traded on the OTC Bulletin Board. Stocks with market price below 1 unit of the local currency are called penny stocks. ... A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short, (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. ...

Ironically, one of the companies with shares traded on the OTC Bulletin Board is NASDAQ, a major electronic stock market. NASDAQ MarketSite (Times Square, New York City) at night NASDAQ (originally an acronym for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is a U.S. electronic stock exchange. ...