On bidding with securities: Risk aversion and positive dependence.

•We consider the second price auction in which bids are securities.•The ranking of DeMarzo et al. (2005) is extended to the case of risk averse buyers.•It does not hold when signals/values satisfy first order stochastic dominance (FOSD).•“Strong steepness” is necessary and sufficient for ranking securities given FOSD.•All results extend to the English auction.