Securities research is a iscipline within the financial services industry. Securities research professionals are known most generally as "analysts", "research analysts", or "securities analysts"; all the foregoing terms are synonymous. Securities analysts are commonly divided between the two basic kinds of securities: equity analysts (researching stocks and their issuers) and fixed income analysts (researching bond issuers). However, there are some analysts who cover all of the securities of a particular issuer, stocks and bonds alike.