Bucket Shop (U.S)

A fraudulent brokerage firm that uses aggressive telephone sales tactics to sell securities that the brokerage owns and wants to get rid of. The securities that they sell are typically poor investment opportunities, almost always penny stocks.

A brokerage that makes trades on a client’s behalf and promises a certain price. The brokerage, however, waits until a different price arises and then makes the trade, keeping the difference as profit.

A stock brokerage operation in which the broker accepts the client’s money without ever buying the stock ordered. Instead the money is used for another purpose, the broker gambling that the customer is wrong and that the market price will decline and the stock can be bought at a lower price.