Securities research is a discipline within the
financial services industry. Securities research professionals are known most generally as "analysts," "research analysts," or "securities analysts;" all the foregoing terms are synonymous. Securities analysts are commonly divided between the two basic kinds of securities:
equity analysts (researching stocks and their issuers) and fixed income analysts (researching
bond issuers). However, there are some analysts who cover all of the securities of a particular issuer, stocks and bonds alike.