Shmoop Finance

See: Proxy Fight.

Most people use stocks to make money. Buy low, sell high, and all that. It's easy to forget that those shares actually mean something. They represent tiny bits of ownership in a company.

When you buy stock, you also get voting rights in the company (most stock works like that; it depends on the kind of stock, but generally speaking, you get voting rights). If someone wants you to vote for something at a shareholders' meeting, details on that topic will be included in proxy materials. These documents lay out the proposals on the docket that shareholders will vote on. Usually, these votes are rather pedestrian. Sometimes, though, big votes come up. Merger deals. Controversial board members. Changes in compensation policy. The proxy materials will describe the planned votes, as detailed by SEC regulations.