The name of a brokerage firm which buys stock on behalf of a client (and as a result holds the stock certificate). Street-name stocks are those registered and held in the name of the brokerage firm instead of the name of the investor who has purchased stock through it. Street name registration makes the subsequent sale of the shares more expedient. Buyers willing to hold the stock certificate will have to pay some fee ($25 or so), elongating the process of reselling the shares at a future date. An investor’s shares will be registered in the street name if (1) the investor wants to avoid the inconvenience of taking physical possession of the shares, (2) if the shares are bought on margin, in which case the broker will hold them as collateral.