Unit 17 Stock and Shares

borad of directors

is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization

common stock/ordinary stock

- Common stock is a security that represents ownership in a corporation. Holders of common stock exercise control by electing a board of directors and voting on corporate policy - a share entitling its holder to dividends which vary in amount and may even be missed, depending on the fortunes of the company

asset manager

- Person qho systematically deploys, operates, maintains, upgrades and disposes assets cost-effectively. - The term is most commonly used in the financial world to describe people and companies that manage investments on behalf of others.

government bonds

- a debt security issued by a government to support government spending - a bond issued by a national government, generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date

portfolio

- a grouping of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash equivalents, as well as their mutual, exchange-traded and closed-fund counterparts - a range of investments held by a person or organization

preferred stock/preference shares

- a share which entitles the holder to a fixed dividend, whose payment takes priority over that of ordinary share dividends - class of ownership in a corporation that has a higher claim on its assets and earnings than common stock - generally have a dividend that must be paid out before dividends to common shareholders

dividend

- a sum of money paid regularly (typically annually) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits (or reserves) - a distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the board of directors, to a class of its shareholders

stock exchange

- market in which shares of publicly held companies are issued and traded either through exchanges or over-the-counter markets - market in which securities are bought and sold

to underwrite

- sign and accept liability under (an insurance policy), thus guaranteeing payment in case loss or damage occurs - to give money to support (something, such as a new business) and agree to be responsible for any losses if it fails. : to agree to pay for a certain kind of loss or damage by offering (an insurance policy)

equity

- the difference between the value of the assets and the cost of the liabilities of something owned - the value of the shares issued by a company

stocks/shares

- units of ownership interest in a corporation or financial asset - one of the equal parts into which a company's capital is divided, entitling the holder to a proportion of the profits

blue chip

According to the New York Stock Exchange, a ~ is stock in a corporation with a national reputation for quality, reliability, and the ability to operate profitably in good times and bad. The most popular index that follows U.S. ~ is the Dow Jones Industrial Average

pension fund

a fund from which pensions are paid, accumulated from contributions from employers, employees, or both

bear market

a market in which share prices are falling, encouraging selling.

bull market

a market in which share prices are rising, encouraging buying

index fund/exchange traded fund (ETF)

a mutual fund or ~ with specific rules of construction that are adhered to regardless of market conditions - an investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks; holds assets such as stocks, commodities, or bonds, and trades close to its net asset value over the course of the trading day

hedge fund

an offshore investment fund, typically formed as a private limited partnership, that engages in speculation using credit or borrowed capital.

to short shares

borrowing shares form a fund, company that is not planning to sell them in the short term, selling them and waiting them to fall, buying them for a lower price and returning them back to their owner - The sale of a security that is not owned by the seller, or that the seller has borrowed. Short selling is motivated by the belief that a security's price will decline, enabling it to be bought back at a lower price to make a profit - to sell quickly

shareholder

legally owns a share of stock in a public or private corporation

listed company

public, publicly traded, publicly held company, or public corporation is a corporation whose ownership is dispersed among the general public in many shares of stock which are freely traded on a stock exchange or in over the counter markets

initial public offering (IPO)/flotation

stock market launch is a type of public offering in which shares of a company usually are sold to institutional investors that in turn, sell to the general public, on a securities exchange, for the first time

market price

the economic price for which a good or service is offered in the marketplace. It is of interest mainly in the study of microeconomics

nominal value

the price of a share, bond, or stock when it was issued, rather than its current market value; stated value of an issued security. Nominal value - also known as face value or par value in reference to securities - disregards an item's market value

to go public

to become a listed company

to factor in

to include a particular amount or factor when you calculate something

to float a company

to issue the shares on the market for the first time (IPO)