Marketable Securities

Marketable securities are investments that are easily sold, such as stocks or bonds, that the company plans to sell within the year.

If a company bought Exxon stock with the intention of keeping it for many, many years it would be called an investment. If the company bought that same stock with the intention of selling it within the year, it would be a current asset called marketable securities.

https://accounting.uworld.com/cpa-review/lc/accounting-dictionary/term/marketable-securities/