Retired Securities

They'd spend 35 years workin' on the railroad, all the livelong day. Then it came time to retire and not just buy 4 new Goodyears.

Retired securities are stocks bought back by the company and then...nullified. That is, they're held initially as Treasury Stock, and then canceled through a simple filing process, wherein the number of those shares is decreased ratably, and at the same time the number of shares outstanding decreases as well.

Why would a company retire shares? They just don't need 'em anymore. Or want them. They just...go away. Like they never existed, leaving the pie a bit smaller, with the same amount of goop in it, so there's more apple or German chocolate or whatever per slice for everyone still invested in the pie. Or the company.