what s the difference between the bond market and the stock market 
worldwide the bond market is larger than the stock market with about 130 trillion in bonds outstanding and about 101 trillion in stock market capitalization according to the last data available 8 the bond and stock markets serve different purposes and offer different risk reward profiles for investors in the bond market investors buy and sell debt securities typically issued by governments local state and federal or corporations when you invest in bonds you re essentially lending money for regular interest payments and the return on the bond s face value at maturity the stock market involves buying and selling shares and derivatives instruments whose value correlates in some way to particular stocks of publicly traded companies investing in stocks means buying a piece of ownership in a company stocks offer the potential for higher returns than bonds since investors can get both dividends when the company is profitable and returns when the stock price goes up they also have a higher risk as stock prices can be more volatile 