Bid price: The highest price an investor is willing to pay to buy a security. Basically, this is the available price at which an investor can sell shares of stock. Commission: The basic fee paid to a broker to execute a trade, based on number of shares or bonds.
Day order: An order to buy or sell a security that automatically expires if it cannot be executed on the day it is entered. Day trading: Refers to establishing and liquidating the same position(s) within one day's trading. Derivative: A financial instrument whose value is based on, or "derived" from, another security, or index. Examples of derivatives are warrants, futures and options contracts. Dividend: The portion of a company's profit paid to common and preferred shareholders. Earnings per share: EPS, as it is called, is a company's profit earnings divided by its number of outstanding shares. Execution: The process of the completion of an order to buy/ sell securities. Exercise price: The price at which the underlying future or options contract may be bought or sold. Expiration date: The last day (in the case of American-style) or the only day (in the case of European-style) on which an option may be exercised. Fixed Income: Securities issued by governments or corporations, which pay a fixed coupon at regular intervals and repay principal on maturity. Initial public offering (IPO): A company's first sale of shares to the public. Listed stocks: Stocks that are traded on an exchange. Market value: The current value of a security. Net Asset Value (NAV):
The current market worth of a mutual fund's share. A fund's net asset value is calculated daily by taking the funds total assets, securities, cash and any accrued earnings, deducting liabilities, and dividing the remainder by the number of shares outstanding. Net offset: Elimination of a long or short position by doing an opposite transaction. Odd lot: A parcel of shares that is below the minimum board lot necessary to be traded. Offer price: The price at which an investor is willing to sell. Basically, this is the available price at which an investor can buy shares of stock. Opening price: The price at which a security commences trading at the opening of a trading day. Portfolio: A collection of investment holdings, real and/or financial. ??????? Price-Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio):
A stock's market price divided by its current or estimated future earnings per share. The PE Ratio is used by investors as a fundamental measure of the attractiveness of a particular security versus all other securities. The lower the ratio relative to the average of the share market, the lower the market's profit growth expectations. Quotation: Often shortened to "quote" and also referred to as bid-asked. It is the bid and offered prices a dealer is willing to buy or sell at. Settlement: When payment is made for a trade. Settlement date: The date on which a securities transaction is finalised and payment is made. Spread: The difference between bid and ask prices of a stock or other security. Warrant:
A security giving the holder the right to purchase shares of stock at a stipulated price within a specified time span, or in some cases, indefinitely. Warrants are sometimes attached to other securities as an added purchase inducement and may be traded separately after issue. They are similar to call options. Yield:
Current annual income from a fund or other investment, expressed current income (interest or dividends) paid by a fund, expressed as a percentage of the investment's price.