OTCQB

The "OTC" part of "OTCQB" stands for "over-the-counter." The OTC markets provide a home for stocks that aren't listed on the big-shot U.S. equity exchanges, like the NYSE and NASDAQ.

It's like the NIT tournament vs. the NCAA. Or minor league baseball vs. the major league. Or the XFL vs. the NFL. Or, like wearing a jumpsuit while driving around in a Honda vs. being an astronaut.

There are three levels to the OTC markets: the OTCQB, the OTCQX, and the pink sheets. The OTCQB is also known as the Venture Market. It's meant as a place for early stage and developing companies, both from the U.S. and overseas.

It's considered the middle rung of the three-step OTC system. It sits below the OTCQX, which includes some big-name foreign companies and other known entities. But the OTCQB exists above the party at an Italian prime minister's house that goes on over at the pink sheets.

To stay listed on the QTCQB, companies have to remain current in their financial reporting. There's also an annual verification process in order to stay listed. Meanwhile, companies have to satisfy a $0.01 bid test and can't be in bankruptcy. That may not seem like much, but you should see the kind of Mad Max stuff that happens on the pink sheets.