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Financial Dictionary

The following glossary of financial terms should provide you with a handy reference guide for those instances when you run into a term you don't fully understand.  As such, we'd urge you review the terms listed below and to bookmark this page for future reference.



A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z


10-K -- 12B-1 Fees --200-Day Moving Average -- 30-Day Annualized Yield -- 401(k) Plan -- 403(b) Plan  -- 7-Day Annualized Yield

A

Accountant
Accounting
Accumulation Phase
Acid Test Ratio 
Active Management

Advance/Decline Line
After-Hours Trading  
Agency Bond

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
American Depository Receipts (ADRs)
American Stock Exchange (AMEX)
Annual Percentage Rate (APR)

Annual Report   
Annuity
Arms Index  
Ascending Triangle 
Asset Allocation  
Assets Under Mgmt. (AUM)
Audit 

Average Daily Balance Method

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B

Baby Bonds
Back Testing
Backlog

Basing Pattern

Basis Point
 
Bear Market

Beige Book

Bellwether

Benchmark

Beneficiary  
Best Ask

Best Bid

Best-Price Rule

Beta

Bid Size

Bid-Ask Spread
Bid/Offer Price 
Big Board  
Black Friday
Black Monday

Black Thursday

Black Tuesday

Black-Scholes Model 

Block Trade
 

Blue Chip
  
Bollinger Bands 
Bonds 
Book Value
 
Breakaway Gap  
Breakpoint
Broadening Top
Bull Market

Bureau of Public Debt
Business Development Company
Buy and Hold

"Buy On Stop" Orders
"Buy On Stop w/Limit"
Buyout

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C

Call Option
Call Protection
Call Provision

Call Risk

Capital Appreciation
Capital Expenditures (CAPEX)
Capital Gain
Capital Gains Distribution

Capital Gains Treatment
Capital Intensive
Capital Loss

Capitulation
Cartel  
Cash Dividend

Certificate of Deposit
  

Channel Line
 
Chapter 7

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) 
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Class A Shares
Closed-End Fund
  

Collateral

Commercial Paper
Commission
Commodity 
Common Stock 

Compounding

Confirming Averages Consolidation
Consumer Confidence Index (CCI)

Consumer Price Index (CPI)Consumer Staples
Convertible Preferred Stock

Cost Basis

Coupon
Coupon Bond
Coupon Equivalent Rate

Coupon Equivalent Yield

Coupon Rate
 

Covenant

Coverage Ratio

Credit Ratings

Current Yield  
CUSIP
 

Cyclical Industry

Cyclical Stock
 

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D

Dark Cloud Cover  
Day Trader
 
Dead Cat Bounce

Debentures

Debt Ratio

Debt-to-Equity Ratio

Deduction

Default Risk
Defensive Stock

Deficit
Defined Benefit Plan 
Defined Contribution Plan

Deflation
Department of Labor  
Depreciation 
Deregulation
Dilution

Discount Rate (Interest)Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis
Distribution
 
Diversification
Divestiture 
Dividend
Dividend-Capture Strategy
Dividend Declaration Date
Dividend ETF

Dividend Payable Date
Dividend Payout Ratio
Dividend Record Date 
Dividend Yield
Doji Candlestick  
Dollar Cost Averaging
 
Dow Theory
Downtick
Dragonfly Doji

DRIP Plan 
Dual-Class Stock

Due Diligence

Duopoly

Duration

Dutch Auction

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E

Early Withdrawal Penalty Tax 
Earnings Per Share (EPS)
Earnings Season
Earnings Yield
EBITDA

Economic Moat

Economies of Scale
 
Economies of Scope
 
Education Savings Acct (ESA)
Effective Annual Interest Rate
Effective Tax Rate
Effective Yield
Efficient Frontier
Efficient Market Hypothesis
 
Emerging Markets Fund
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

Engulfing Candlesticks
 
Enhanced Income Security
Enterprise Value (EV)
Equity
Equity Fund
Equity-Linked Securities (ELKS)
Equivalent Taxable Interest Rate

Eurodollar
Evening Star Candlestick Formation 
Exchange-Rate Risk

Exchange-Traded Funds - ETFs

Exchangeable Bonds

Ex-Dividend Date 

Expense Ratio
 
Extraordinary Item

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F

Face Value
Fair Value
 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Federal Farm Credit System

Federal Funds Rate

Federal Reserve
 
Fiduciary  
Fiscal Year  
Flag Formation  
Flat Tax

Flight to Quality

Float
 
Floor Trader 
Fortune 500

Forward Dividend Yield
Four-Month Rule
Freddie Mac
 
Free Cash Flow

Front-End Load

Funds from Operations (FFO)

Futures

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G

GAAP  
Gaps 
Gaps - Exhaustion and Runaway
Gaps from a Japanese Candlestick Viewpoint
General Partner (GP)
Green Shoe Option  
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Growth Stock
 
Guarantee

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H

Hammer Candle 
Hangman Candle 
Harami Candle
Head and Shoulders Pattern
Head and Shoulders Bottom
Hedge
Hedge Fund
 
High-Income Trigger Securities (HITS)

High Wave Candle

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I

Income Deposit Security (IDS)
Income Fund

Indenture Agreement
Index
Index Fund
Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
Inflation

Inflation Risk

Institutional Ownership
 
Interest Coverage Ratio
Interest Rate
Interest Rate Risk

Interlisting

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

International Bond Fund

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Intrinsic Value

Inverted Hammer

Investor's Intelligence 
IPO 
Irrational Exuberance
IRS Form 1099

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J

January Effect   Junk Bond 

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K

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L

Laddering
LEAPS

Letter of Credit
Leveraged Buyout
Liability

Limited Partnership
Liquidity Listed Security 
Load

Long-Legged Doji Candlestick

Long-Term Debt

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M

MACD 
MACD Histogram 
MACD Divergence  
MACD Zero Line
 
Macroeconomics
Managed Distribution Policy  
Margin of Safety
  
Market Capitalization

Market Indices
 
Market Timing
Marubozu Candle
Master Limited Partnership (MLP)
 
Maturity

McClellan Oscillator 
McClellan Sum. Index   
Measuring Principle
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
Monetary Policy
Money Market 
Monopoly
 
Mortgage-Backed Securities

Moving Averages
Multiple Moving Avg.  
Simple vs. Exp. MA
 
Municipal Bond
Municipal Bond Fund 
Municipal Investment Trust

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB)
 
Mutual Fund
Mutual Fund Share Classes

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N

Nasdaq  Net Asset Value
Net Income
New Highs Indicator
No-Load Fund

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O

Odd Lot 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

On Balance Volume (OBV)
Operating Margin
Options as Equity Surr.
Overall Mkt Indicators 

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P

Parabolic SAR  
P/E Ratio
 
Piercing Candle  
Pink Sheets 
Preferred Stock
Present Value  
Price/Volume Analysis  
Prime Rate 
Principal
Profit Warning
Prospectus

Put/Call Ratio

Putable Bonds

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Q

Quadruple Witching
Qualitative Analysis

Quantitative Analysis

Quick Ratio 

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R

Random Walk Theory
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)  
Rectangle Formation  
Refunding Protection
 
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
Relative Strength Line  
Retail Investor

Retained Earnings
Retracement Levels
 
Return of Capital
Return on Equity (ROE)
RevPAR 
Revenue Per Employee
 
Reverse Mortgage
Royalty Trust 
RSI Divergence
RSI Failure Swing 
RSI Filter 
RSI Limitations
 
RSI Price Patterns
   
RSI Trendlines
 
Russell 2000 Index 

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S

S&P 500 Index
Sarbanes-Oxley Act 

Savings Account
Schedule K-1
Secondary Corrections Securities and Exch. (SEC) 
Self-Employment Tax
Semiconductor ($SOX)
Serial Bonds
Setting Stop Losses 

Share Classes
Short Sale 
Shooting Star Candle 
Small-Cap Stocks 
Spinning Top Candle 
Springs and Upthrusts
 
Stage IV Decline
Stalled Pattern 
Step-Up Bonds

Stock Split
  
Streaming Charts
 
STRIDES
STRIPS 
Symmetrical Triangle
 

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T

Taxable Equivalent Yield  
Tech. vs. Fundamental
Three Black Crows
Three White Soldiers
Time Deposit

Treasury Notes
Triple-Bottom

Trustee
Turnaround 
Tweezers Candles

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U

Underwriter
Unemployment Rate

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V

Variable Costs
Venture Capital

Vertical Integration

Volatility Index (VIX)
Volume Analysis Volume Spikes 

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W

Warrants
Wash
Wash Sale

Welles Wilder
Will
Working Capital

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X

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Y

Yield Curve 
Yield-to-Call

Yield-to-Maturity

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Z

Zero-Coupon Bond

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About the Author...

Tina Orem joined StreetAuthority as a financial writer in 2004. She is a frequent contributor to our Investor Update newsletter, as well as the primary author of our financial dictionary.

In addition to several years as a copy editor and proofreader for business publishers and content providers, Tina spent nearly a decade as a financial analyst, manager of financial planning and analysis, and director of finance for some of the nation's most well-known restaurant companies. She also spent time in investment banking at The Wallach Company in Denver, Colorado (now part of KeyCorp).

Tina graduated with a B.S. from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver and triple majored in finance, marketing, and economics. She has completed levels I and II of the Chartered Financial Analyst program and is a graduate of the University of Denver's Publishing Institute.
 
 

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