Float

The float is the number of shares actually available to trade, excluding restricted and closely held stock. A small float makes a price easy to move, which is why promotion schemes concentrate on small-float issuers.

manipulation techniques · updated 2026-10-16

Where does float come up?

This term is used in the following manipulation techniques, each explained in full on its own page.

• Float locking — Float locking is removing shares from the freely tradable supply — through lock-ups, nominee holdings, or coordinated refusal to sell or lend — so that ordinary buying moves the price far more than the company's size would suggest.
• Pump and dump — A pump and dump is a scheme in which shares are accumulated cheaply, promoted with misleading claims to drive the price up, and then sold into the demand the promotion created, leaving later buyers with the loss.

Enforcement actions involving these techniques

See also

• Penny stock — A penny stock is a low-priced security, generally outside the major listing standards, with thin trading and limited public inform…
• Restricted securities — Restricted securities are shares acquired in an unregistered transaction that cannot be freely resold until a holding period and o…

Terms that refer here

Dilution · Penny stock · Pump and dump · Restricted securities

Back to the full glossary — 282 defined terms.