A shares This term has two distinct meanings with relatively equal usage. For stocks... Abandon To not exercise or sell an option by expiry. An Abandoned Option is one that... Abandonment option To not exercise or sell an option by expiry. An Abandoned Option is one that... Abatement Generally, abatement is a reduction or lessoning in intensity. In taxes, abatement... ABC agreement When a brokerage firm purchases a New York Stock Exchange membership for an... ABC Consumer Comfort Index - United States Assessment of consumer sentiment toward the economy based on telephone interviews... Abeyance Estate with no legal title holder or owner. Property is typically set in Abeyance... Ability to pay Generally, ability to pay refers to one's ability to meet existing or future... Above par Refers to the situation where the market value of a security (stock or bond)... Absolute advantage The ability of one state, country, or entity to produce a given service or good... Absolute priority rule The absolute priority rule specifies the peeking order of creditors during bankruptcy... Absorbed The term is applied in financial context similarly to its laymen use1 When business... Absorption rate Absorption Rate refers to the ability at which properties are able to be sold... Abstract of title A transaction record for a piece of land, recording transfers and claims that... Abusive tax shelter An abusive tax shelter refers to illegally reducing one's tax obligations.... Accelerated benefits Accelerated Benefits are an insurance option where policy holders may access... Accelerated Cost Recovery System The current method of gauging asset depreciation, as required by the United... Accelerated Depreciation "A depreciation method which allows faster write-offs than the straight line... Acceleration clause A provision contained within a loan or credit agreement which allows the lender... Accept "To agree to specified terms, as in a contract.", Acceptance "The contractual agreement entered into when the drawee of a time draft writes... Accidental death benefit The value paid to the beneficiary of a life insurance policy IN ADDITION to... Accommodation paper A bill or note endorsed by one party (the accommodation party) on behalf of... Accommodative monetary policy Central bank policy that strives to stimulate economic growth by increasing... Account Financial relationship between two parties involving a transfer of funds, and... Account aggregation The process of combining account information, such as credit accounts, customer... Account balance The amount of money in an account. An account statement will be able to provide... Account executive The officer assigned to serve as a liaison between the firm and the customer.... Account reconciliation The process of matching all checkbook debits and credits to the final bank statement.... Account statement Any document designed to summarize and record all transaction activity in a given accounting period, usually annual or monthly. Accountant Any trained and qualified person with the requisite skills and knowledge to... Accountant’s letter An annual statement provided by an independent accountant which audits any financial... Accountant’s opinion See accountant.s letter Accounting Accounting refers to a bookkeeping method that records how funds are paid and... Accounting equation A form of double entry bookkeeping which identifies the debit and credit elements... Accounts payable The amount owed by one party to its creditors. It must be paid after a previously... Accounts receivable An amount of money that a firm is owed by another party for goods sold or services... Accounts receivable aging "A periodic report showing all outstanding receivable balances, broken down by customer and month due.", Accounts receivable financing "The selling of a firm's accounts receivable, at a discount, to a factor, who... Accounts receivable turnover The average duration of an account receivable, equal to total credit sales divided by accounts receivable. Accredited investor An investor which meets a certain list of Securities and Exchange Commission... Accredited Personal Financial Planning Specialist A qualified investment planner certified by the Certified Financial Planner... Accreted value The price a bond would fetch in the open market assuming current market interest rates were held constant. Accretion See 'accretion.' Accretive Growing in size by external addition. Often used to refer to an acquisition which is expected to increase earnings per share. Accrual basis accounting A method of accounting that tracks revenues and expenses as they are incurred.... Accrual bond A bond which does not pay periodic interest to the bondholder, but accrues interest... Accrual of discount The annual addition to book value contributed by bonds purchased below par.The... Accruals see accrual basis accounting Accrue To compile events onto an accounting record whether or not any one given event incurred a debit or credit transaction. Accrued benefit The benefits (usually in the form of pension payments) an employee earns on... Accrued dividend A liability listed on a company.s balance sheet, where it remains until the... Accrued expense An accounting expense that is recognized and already recorded in a firm.s records... Accrued interest Interest that has accumulated on a bond from the previous payment date, all the way up to the settlement date. Accrued market discount The increase in a Discount Bond.s market value due to its approaching maturity,... Accumulated depreciation The net depreciation expense a producing asset has incurred to date. Also known... Accumulated dividend The dividend due to shareholder.s, but not yet paid. Usually applied in context to holders of cumulative preferred stock. Accumulated earnings The earnings not paid out as dividends but instead reinvested in the core business... Accumulated earnings tax A penalty tax (labeled at 39.6%) levied on a firm or company.s retained earnings... Accumulation "The act of purchasing over a period of time. For example, this might be done... accumulation bond Accumulation Bonds do not make regular payments of interest - instead accumulating... Accumulation period In investment terms, accumulation period refers to the phase of an investor.s... Accumulation unit A measurement of a fixed or a variable payment which increases an individuals,... Accumulative Swing Index (ASI) The Accumulative Swing Index, based on the Swing Index, is a swing or wave system... ACH Acronym for Automatic Clearing House. A nationwide electronic funds transfer... Acid-test ratio A test designed to determine whether or not a firm has enough short-term assets... Acknowledge "Certify the authenticity of a signature on a brokerage or bank document, such as for an account transfer.", Acquisition The act of obtaining control of a corporation, called a target, either by stock... Acquisition cost The net sum of costs required in order to obtain a property, equipment, or client.... Across the board A market-wide fluctuation where most stock and sectors move in the same direction.... ACRS Acronym for Accelerated Cost Recovery System. Depreciation methods applied to... Action Price action refers to the movement of price and volume during a certain window... Action to quiet title A lawsuit brought to court in order to review and preside over all land disputes,... Active account An account at a brokerage firm or a bank which generates more activity and transactions then normal. Active asset An item of economic value that is used on a daily basis to facilitate the routine... Active income Income received in return for a performed service. Examples include wages, tips,... Active management A portfolio-management strategy which focuses on outperforming a benchmarked... active market A condition in the market typified by heavy transaction volume in a certain commodity, security, or stock. active money Money and coins that are circulated in the hands of consumers and businesses.... active participant An individual who participates in a retirement plan sponsored either by his/her... activity The volume of a stock or exchange over a given period of time., actual market A condition of the market typified by heavy transaction volume. This may occur... actuals A term used to refer to physical commodities which require delivery of said... actuarial assumption In the case of retirement plans, an estimate made for the purposes of calculating... actuarial equivalent An insurance term used to refer to the expectation of loss and the benefits to be paid out in such an occurrence. actuarial evaluation A life-expectancy calculation by a professional actuary., actuary A professional statistician in the employ of an insurance agency. Duties include... ad valorem A term derived from the Latin phrase ad valentiam which translates to: .to the... add-on service The amount paid in addition to the par-value (the dollar value) assigned to a particular stock, bond, or security. additional paid-in capital "Capital contributed to a corporation by investors on top of the par value of... additional principal payment A payment by a borrower of more than the scheduled principal amount due in order... adequacy of coverage The degree to which the value of asset is protected against potential losses... adhesion contract A legally binding contract between two parties where one side has essentially... adjudication Also known as a court's ruling. The examination and subsequent settlement of... adjustable life insurance A form of insurance coverage