Finance — page 2 of 22

Finance terms

101. Application Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), an oral or written request for an extension of credit that is made in accordance with the procedures…
102. Application Fee A fee charged when you apply for a credit card.
103. Application Received Date The date the application was received or the date shown on the application form. For purchased loans, "NA" for not applicable is reported.
104. Appointment or Nomination Date The date the filer entered a covered position or the President nominated them. The promotion date (not the frocking date) is the appointment date for…
105. Appraisal The act of evaluating and setting the value of a specific piece of personal or real property.
106. Appraisal Fee The charge for estimating the value of property offered as security.
107. Appraiser The person who evaluates the damage caused by an accident or other covered loss and determines the amount to be paid under the policy terms.
108. Appreciation When an asset such as stock, real estate, or personal property increases in value without any improvements or modification having been made to it, that's…
109. Approved charge With traditional fee-for-service health insurance, the insurance company sets an approved or allowable amount for each medical procedure or office visit.
110. Arbitrage Arbitrage is the technique of simultaneously buying at a lower price in one market and selling at a higher price in another market to make a profit on the…
111. Arbitration The process in which a third-party arbiter examines facts presented by both you and the insurance company when you disagree about a settlement offer.
112. Arithmetic index An arithmetic index gives equal weight to the percentage price change of each stock that's included in the index.
113. Ask The ask price (a shortening of asked price) is the price at which a market maker or broker offers to sell a security or commodity.
114. Asset Anything owned that has value; any interest in real property or personal property that can be used for payment of debts.
115. Asset Allocation An investment strategy that divides assets among major asset categories such as stocks, bonds, or cash, usually balancing risk and creating…
116. Asset Backed Securities Financial instruments collateralized by one or more types of assets including real property, mortgages, and receivables.
117. Asset class Different categories of investments are described as asset classes. Stock, bonds, and cash - including cash equivalents - are major asset classes.
118. Asset Classes A type of investment, such as stocks, bonds, or cash equivalents.
119. Asset Management Account An asset management account, offered by a brokerage house, bank, or savings and loan, combines a number of financial services, such as checking, money…
120. Asset management account (AMA) All-in-one asset management accounts provide the financial advantages of an investment account combined with the convenience of an interest-bearing…
121. Asset-backed bond Asset-backed bonds, also known as asset-backed securities, are secured by loans or by money owed to a company for merchandise or services purchased on…
122. Assets What a firm or individual owns.
123. Assign We assign your credit card contract if we sell or pass to a third party any or all of our rights or obligations under the contract, including any amount…
124. Assigned Risk Plan The North Dakota Automobile Insurance Plan is a state-supervised insurance plan available to persons who are unable to obtain such insurance coverage in…
125. Assignment Assignment occurs when someone who has written, or sold, a listed option receives a notice that the option has been exercised and he or she must fulfill…
126. At-the-money At-the-money is another way of saying at the current price. Options whose exercise price is the same or almost the same as the current market price of the…
127. ATM Card Card used primarily for withdrawing funds, depositing funds or making a balance inquiry at an automated teller machine (ATM).
128. ATM surcharge The fee that the institution charges to non-account holders for use of its automated teller machines (ATMs).
129. Auction market Auction market trading, sometimes known as open outcry, is the way the major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Chicago…
130. Audit An audit is a professional, independent examination of a company's financial statements and accounting documents following generally accepted accounting…
131. Audit committee The corporate audit committee is the liaison between the company's management, the board of directors, internal and external auditors, and any other…
132. Authorization The issuance of approval, by a credit card issuer, merchant, or other affiliate, to complete a credit card transaction.
133. Authorized charge An authorized charge is any charge that you or any authorized user makes on the account, and any fees and interest charges owing on the account.
134. Authorized IRS e-file Provider A business authorized by the IRS to participate in the IRS e-file Program. The business may be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a corporation, or an…
135. Authorized user If you ask us to issue a credit card on this account to another person, he or she is an authorized user.
136. Auto Replacement Coverage A supplemental auto insurance coverage that guarantees your car will be completely repaired or replaced, even if the costs exceed its depreciated value.
137. Automated Clearing House (ACH) (ACH) A computerized facility used by member depository institutions to electronically combine, sort, and distribute inter-bank credits and debits.
138. Automated Teller Machine (ATM) (ATM) A machine, activated by a magnetically encoded card or other medium, that can process a variety of banking transactions.
139. Automatic Bill Payment A checkless system for paying recurring bills with one authorization statement to a financial institution.
140. Automatic enrollment Your employer has the right to sign you up for your company's 401(k) plan, in what's known as an automatic enrollment.
141. Automatic exercise If you hold a call option, automatic exercise may occur if the contract is in-the-money by a certain amount.
142. Automatic Premium Loan A provision in a life insurance policy that any premium not paid by the end of the grace period (usually 31 days) will be automatically paid by a policy…
143. Availability Date The date on which checks payable at local or non-local banks are considered to be collected and available for customers' withdrawal.
144. Availability Policy Bank's policy as to when funds deposited into an account will be available for withdrawal.
145. Available Balance The balance of an account less any hold, uncollected funds, and restrictions against the account.
146. Available Credit The difference between the credit limit assigned to a cardholder account and the present balance of the account.
147. Average A stock market average is a mathematical way of reporting the composite change in prices of the stocks that the average includes.
148. Average annual yield Average annual yield is the average yearly income on an investment, expressed as a percentage.
149. Average daily balance The average daily balance method is one of the ways that the finance charge on your credit card may be calculated.
150. Average daily balance method with compounding According to this method, we calculate the interest charges for each balance by applying the “daily periodic rate” for that balance to the “average…
151. Average daily balance method without compounding According to this method, we calculate the interest charges for each balance by applying the “daily periodic rate” for that balance to the “average…
152. Average Final Compensation (AFC) Average final compensation (AFC) is the 12 highest consecutive quarters of a member’s earnable compensation divided by three.
153. BA (Banker's Acceptance) A high-quality, short-term negotiable discount note, drawn on and accepted by banks that are obligated to pay the amount at maturity.
154. Baby bond Bonds whose par values are less than $1,000 are often described as baby bonds, or, in the case of municipal bonds, as mini-munis.
155. Baccalaureate bond Baccalaureate bonds are tax-free zero coupon bonds issued by certain states specifically to help families accumulate assets to meet college tuition costs.
156. Back-end load A sales charge levied when mutual fund units are redeemed.
157. Back-up withholding Back-up withholding is triggered when a bank, brokerage firm, or other institution pays interest, dividends, or other income that must be reported on IRS…
158. Balance We put each charge on your account, including interest or fees, into a balance category.
159. Balance of trade The difference between the value of a country's imports and exports during a specific period of time is called the balance of trade.
160. Balance Sheet A financial statement showing the nature and amount of a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity.
161. Balance transfer The process of moving an outstanding balance from one credit card to another. This is usually done to obtain a lower interest rate on the outstanding…
162. Balance-transfer fee A fee charged when you make a balance transfer. It may be a flat fee or a percentage of the transfer.
163. Balanced fund Balanced funds are mutual funds that invest in a portfolio of common stocks, preferred stocks, and bonds to meet their investment goal of seeking a strong…
164. balanced funds A mutual fund that holds a mix of securities - usually money market, bonds and equities.
165. Balloon Mortgage With a balloon mortgage, you make monthly payments over the mortgage term, which is typically five, seven, or ten years, and a final installment, or…
166. Balloon Payment A mortgage with periodic installments of principal and interest that do not fully amortize the loan.
167. Banker’s Acceptance (BA) (BA) A high-quality, short-term negotiable discount note, drawn on and accepted by banks that are obligated to pay the amount at maturity.
168. Banking Day A business day during which an office of a bank is open to the public for substantially all of its banking functions.
169. Bankrupt A bankrupt person, firm, or corporation has insufficient assets to cover their debts.
170. Bankruptcy The legal proceedings by which the affairs of a bankrupt person are turned over to a trustee or receiver for administration under the bankruptcy laws.
171. Barbell strategy When you use a barbell strategy you invest equivalent amounts in short-term and long-term bonds, creating the shape that gives the strategy its name.
172. Base Flood The flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
173. Base Flood Elevation (BFE) (BFE) The elevation shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Zones AE, AH, A1-A30, AR, AR/A, AR/AE, AR/A1-A30, AR/AH, AR/AO, V1-V30, and VE that…
174. Base Price Base Price is the cost of a car without options, but includes standard equipment and factory warranty. It is also known as sticker price.
175. Basement Any area of the building, including any sunken room or sunken portion of a room, having its floor below ground level (subgrade) on all sides.
176. Basis Basis is the total cost of buying an investment or other asset, including the price, commissions, and other charges.
177. Basis point Yields on bonds, notes, and other fixed-income investments fluctuate regularly, typically changing only a few hundredths of a percentage point.
178. Basis Point (bp) (bp) The smallest measure used in quoting yields or returns. One basis point is 0.01% of yield, 100 basis points equals 1%. A yield that changed from 8.
179. Basis price When you sell a security, such as a stock or bond, or real estate, the price you use to calculate your capital gains is known as your basis price.
180. Bear market A market in which prices are generally falling.
181. Bear spread A bear spread is an options strategy that you use when you anticipate a decline in the price of the underlying instrument, such as a stock or an index.
182. Bearer bond A bearer bond is a certificate that states the security's par value, the rate at which interest will be paid, and the name of the bond's owner.
183. Bearer form When securities are issued as paper certificates and the issuing corporation has no record of the owner, the securities are in bearer form.
184. Behavioral finance Behavioral finance combines psychology and economics to explain why and how investors act and to analyze how that behavior affects the market.
185. Beige Book Beige book is the colloquial name for the Federal report that is formally titled Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve…
186. Bellwether A market bellwether is a security whose changing price is considered a signal that the market is changing direction.
187. Benchmark A standard unit used as the basis of comparison; a universal unit that is identified with sufficient detail so that other similar classifications can be…
188. Benchmark rate(s) The rates set annually by the Commissioner of Insurance that rate-regulated insurance companies use to reference their rates.
189. Beneficial owner When your stocks are registered in street name, the brokerage firm has title to the stocks but you are the beneficial owner, or the person who actually…
190. Beneficiary A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract.
191. Beneficiary or Beneficiary Payee A person who is designated to receive, or is receiving, a retirement annuity or other benefit provided by the South Carolina Retirement Systems.
192. benefits received A concept of tax fairness that states that people should pay taxes in proportion to the benefits they receive from government goods and services.
193. Beta Beta is a measure of an investment's relative volatility. The higher the beta, the more sharply the value of the investment can be expected to fluctuate…
194. Betterment A condition relating to original equipment, or older parts, on your automobile, when having been damaged in an accident may only be replaced with new…
195. BID The bid is the price a market maker or broker is willing to pay for a security, such as a stock or bond, at a particular time.
196. Bid and ask The bid price is the highest price anyone is willing to pay to buy a stock; while the ask is the lowest anyone will accept to sell a stock.
197. Big Board The Big Board is the nickname of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the oldest stock exchange in the United States and the one with the largest trading…
198. Bill Your bill is the statement of your account. Your bill will tell you the total amount that you owe us as of the end of the last billing period.
199. Billing Cycle The time interval between the dates on which regular periodic statements are issued.
200. Billing Date The month, date, and year when a periodic or monthly statement is generated. Calculations have been performed for appropriate finance charges, minimum…