Warrant

A warrant, or stock warrant, is a security issued by a corporation that allows the owner to redeem the warrant for shares of stock in the company for a predetermined price. Thus a stock warrant is very much like a call option for shares. Like an option, a warrant can be traded on an exchange. The Wall Street Journal publishes trading prices for warrants by appending a "w" after the company's stock symbol. Unlike a stock option, a warrant can have a very long duration to expiration, even more than a decade, or no expiration at all. A warrant that never expires is called a perpetual warrant, and a warrant that expires on a specific date is called a subscription warrant. The warrant is typically issued in conjunction with a bond or preferred stock issue. A stock-purchase warrant is an alternative term.