Stifel Nicolaus & Company managing director James Dixon provides clients with a full range of investment management services. A longtime Mountain Brook, Alabama, resident, James Dixon has extensive experience in securities management and has completed the Security Investors Association’s Branch Manager Development Program.
Comprising primary and secondary stock exchanges and markets, the security markets offer companies a conduit of raising significant funds through the initial public offering of stock. They also function as a marketplace in which already issued stock is traded, with the laws of supply and demand, influenced by corporate and economic performance, determining the stock’s current price.
In the United States, investor confidence in the markets is ensured through the active regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), established in 1934, at the height of the Great Depression. Among its roles is safeguarding against misconduct among corporate entities and traders through a variety of statutes, including full public disclosure. A major function is monitoring for cases of illegal insider trading that rely on non-publicly disclosed information, known only to internal company management, and which can distort equity prices.
