Stock MarketBuzzwords

Affluenza• Indicative of a culture that prides financial

success as one of the highest achievements

• Symptoms include an addictive desire to gain more wealth

Baby Bills

• Nickname for the companies that may have formed if the Justice Department had broken up Microsoft Corporation.

Cash Cow• A business, product, or asset that once

paid off will cause a consistent cash flow

• Cash flow is over the lifespan of the business, product, or asset

Daisy Chain• Investors who artificially

inflate the price of a security to sell it at a profit.

• Based on a fictitious selling known as wash selling

Elephants

• Large institutions that make trades in very high volumes.

Free and Clear

• When someone gains outright ownership of an asset.

• Usually when payments are complete and no creditor has claim on the property

Golden Share

• A share that gives its shareholder veto power over changes to the company's charter.

Hurdle Rate

• The minimum amount of return that a person requires before they will make an investment in something.

In the Pink

• Describes a situation in which an investor or an economy is in a good financial position.

• Generally refers to being in the best health or condition.

Jitney • A fraudulent activity in the penny stock market in which two brokers trade a stock back and forth.

• This increases commissions and gives the impression of greater trading volume.

Kangaroos

• Term for Australian stocks

• Refers to stocks on the All Ordinaries index, which is composed of 280 of the most active Australian companies

Lemon

• A very disappointing investment.

• Actual return varies from expected return in which the actual return is lower

Macaroni Defense

• A company issues many bonds saying they must be redeemed at a high price if the company is taken over

• Usually done by a company trying to prevent a take-over

Nervous Nelly

• An investor who is concerned about investing and the risks associated with it.

Offshore

• Something located or based outside of one's national boundaries.

Panic Buying

• High volume buying as a result of sharp price increases

Red Chip

• A company incorporated and listed in Hong Kong

• Controlled by Chinese shareholders

Seat

• Membership in the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange)

Tailgating

• When a broker purchases or sells a security for a client, and then makes the same transaction in his or her own account.

Upstairs Trade

• When a trade in a listed stock is not executed through the listing exchange

Visibility

• The probability that future projections will be correct.

Whoops

• Slang for the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS), which made the record books with the largest municipal bond default in history.

Yard

• Slang for one billion units in currency

Zombies

• Companies that continue to operate even though they are insolvent. Also known as living dead.  

• It is advisable to avoid investing in zombies at all costs; their life expectancies are highly unpredictable.