What is a primary market?
A primary market is a capital market where securities are created and sold directly to investors when they're first issued. The securities can then be resold on a secondary market, like a stock exchange or the bond market. Another name for a primary market is a new issue market (NIM).
Companies issue securities when they want to raise money. They may do so through stocks, which represent partial ownership shares of the company, or bonds, which are debts that the issuer must repay with interest to investors.