Yellow Sheets

What is ‘Yellow Sheets’

A United States bulletin that provides updated bid and ask prices as well as other information on over-the-counter (OTC) corporate bonds (also called “corporate”). Companies issue corporate bonds to raise money for capital expenditures, operations and acquisitions. Similar to the Pink Sheets that track non-exchange-traded OTC micro-cap stocks, the yellow sheets are a key source of information for investors who follow OTC bonds or fixed income securities. The yellow sheets also provide a list of brokerages that make a market in the particular bonds. Today’s investors can still receive hard copies of the yellow sheets. However, the information is also available in electronic form.

Explaining ‘Yellow Sheets’

The National Quotation Bureau (NQB), established in 1913 to provide investors with information regarding OTC stocks and bonds, for decades published pink sheets and yellow sheets (named for the color of the paper on which each was printed). Stock quotes appeared on the Pink Sheets, and bond quotes were published on the yellow sheets. The NQB has since changed its name to Pink Sheets LLC and most recently to OTC Markets Group, Inc. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) considers OTC Markets Group, Inc. to be a non-exclusive securities information provider, and not a stock exchange.

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