1. A company's merchandise, raw materials, and finished and unfinished products which have not yet been sold. These are considered liquid assets, since they can be converted into cash quite easily. There are various means of valuing these assets, but to be conservative the lowest value is usually used in financial statements. 2. The securities bought by a broker or dealer in order to resell them. For the period that the broker or dealer holds the securities in inventory, he/she is bearing the risk related to the securities, which may change in price.