A LATEX POLYMER OF (A) AT LEAST ONE VINYL ESTER OF A SATURATED ALIPHATIC MONOCARBOXYLIX ACID, (B) AT LEAST ONE POLYMERIZABLE MONOVINYL AROMATIC MONOMER AND (C) AT LEAST ONE ALPH, BETA-ETHYLENICALLY UNSATURAED ACID IN PROPORTIONS SUCH THAT MONOMES (A), (B) AND (C) COMPRISE AT LEAST 60 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF THE POLYMER, 90 TO 99.5% BY WEIGHT OF MONOMERS (A), (B) AND (C) ARE MONOMERS (A) AND (B) IN A WEIGHT RATIO OF (A) TO (B) IN THE RANGE OF 4:6 TO 9:1 AND CORRESPONDINGLY 0.5 TO 10% BY WEIGHT IS MONOMER (C), PREFERABLY FORMED BY POLYMERZING ALL OF MONOMER (A) IN A FIRST STEP AND ALL OF MONOMER (B) IN A SECOND STEP, COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING SAID POLYMER AND POLYVALENT METAL SALT, ALKALI-INSOLUBLE, ALKALI-DISPERSIBLE POLYMER, SUITABLE FOR CLEAR WOOD COATINGS AND/OR FLOOR POLISHES.