Investing

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Dividend Yield

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A financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. In the absence of any capital gains, the dividend yield is the return on investment for a stock. Dividend yield is calculated as follows:

Annual dividends per share/price per share

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Expense Ratio

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A measure of what it costs an investment company to operate a mutual fund. An expense ratio is determined through an annual calculation, where a fund's operating expenses are divided by the average dollar value of its assets under management. Operating expenses are taken out of a fund's assets and lower the return to a fund's investors.

Also known as "management expense ratio" (MER).

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12B-1 Fee

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An annual marketing or distribution fee on a mutual fund. The 12b-1 fee is considered an operational expense and, as such, is included in a fund's expense ratio. It is generally between 0.25-1% (the maximum allowed) of a fund's net assets. The fee gets its name from a section in the Investment Company Act of 1940.

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Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC)

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A fee (sales charge or load) that mutual fund investors pay when selling Class-B fund shares within a specified number of years of the date on which they were originally purchased.

Also known as a "back-end load" or "sales charge".

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Front-End Load

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A commission or sales charge applied at the time of the initial purchase for an investment, usually mutual funds and insurance policies. It is deducted from the investment amount and, as a result, it lowers the size of the investment.

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Back-End Load

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A fee (sales charge or load) that investors pay when selling mutual fund shares within a specified number of years, usually five to 10 years. The fee amounts to a percentage of the value of the share being sold. The fee percentage is highest in the first year and decreases yearly until the specified holding period ends, at which time it drops to zero.

Also known as a "contingent deferred sales charge or load."

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Net Asset Value - NAV

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A mutual fund's price per share or exchange-traded fund's (ETF) per-share value. In both cases, the per-share dollar amount of the fund is calculated by dividing the total value of all the securities in its portfolio, less any liabilities, by the number of fund shares outstanding.

In terms of corporate valuations, the calculation: value of assets less liabilities equals net asset value (NAV), or "book value", is used.

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Discount To Net Asset Value

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pricing situation that occurs with a closed-end mutual fund when its market price is currently lower than the net asset value of its components. Discounts can occur in times where the market has a pessimistic future outlook and fund investors have started to sell their holdings.

Also known as "discount to NAV"

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Closed-End Fund

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A closed-end fund is a publicly traded investment company that raises a fixed amount of capital through an initial public offering (IPO). The fund is then structured, listed and traded like a stock on a stock exchange.

Also known as a "closed-end investment" or "closed-end mutual fund."

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Annualize

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1. To convert a rate of any length into a rate that reflects the rate on an annual (yearly) basis. This is most often done on rates of less than one year, and usually does not take into account the effects of compounding. The annualized rate is not a guarantee but only an estimate, and its accuracy depends on the variance of the rate. This rate is also known as "annualized return" and is similar to "run rate".

For example, a security that returns 1% a month returns 12% on an annualized basis. If, however, the 12% value was computed after only one month of returns, it is not certain that the 12% will be achieved for the year.

2. To convert a taxation period of less than one year to an annual (yearly) basis. This helps income earners to set out an effective tax plan and manage any tax implications.

For example if after the first three months of the year you earn $10,000, you simply multiply the $10,000 by four to achieve $40,000, your annualized income.

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Annual Percentage Yield - APY

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The effective annual rate of return taking into account the effect of compounding interest. APY is calculated by:

= (1 + periodic rate)^(# periods) - 1

The resultant percentage number assumes that funds will remain in the investment vehicle for a full 365 days.

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Commodity

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A basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type. Commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services. The quality of a given commodity may differ slightly, but it is essentially uniform across producers. When they are traded on an exchange, commodities must also meet specified minimum standards, also known as a basis grade.

The basic idea is that there is little differentiation between a commodity coming from one producer and the same commodity from another producer - a barrel of oil is basically the same product, regardless of the producer. Compare this to, say, electronics, where the quality and features of a given product will be completely different depending on the producer. Some traditional examples of commodities include grains, gold, beef, oil and natural gas. More recently, the definition has expanded to include financial products such as foreign currencies and indexes. Technological advances have also led to new type

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Option

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A financial derivative that represents a contract sold by one party (option writer) to another party (option holder). The contract offers the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) a security or other financial asset at an agreed-upon price (the strike price) during a certain period of time or on a specific date (excercise date).

In terms of speculation, option buyers and writers have conflicting views regarding the outlook on the performance of an underlying security.

For example, because the option writer will need to provide the underlying shares in the event that the stock's market price will exceed the strike, an option writer that sells a call option believes that the underlying stock's price will drop relative to the option's strike price during the life of the option, as that is how he or she will reap maximum profit.

This is exactly the opposite outlook of the option buyer. The buyer believes that the underlying stock will rise, because if this happens, the buyer wi

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Short
Short Position
Short Sale

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The sale of a borrowed security, commodity or currency with the expectation that the asset will fall in value.

For example, an investor who borrows shares of stock from a broker and sells them on the open market is said to have a short position in the stock. The investor must eventually return the borrowed stock by buying it back from the open market. If the stock falls in price, the investor buys it for less than he or she sold it, thus making a profit.

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Long
Long Position

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The buying of a security such as a stock, commodity or currency, with the expectation that the asset will rise in value.

For example, an owner of shares in McDonald's Corp. is said to be "long McDonald's" or "has a long position in McDonald's".

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Call Option

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An agreement that gives an investor the right (but not the obligation) to buy a stock, bond, commodity, or other instrument at a specified price within a specific time period.

You profit on a call when the underlying asset increases in price.

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Put

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An option contract giving the owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell a specified amount of an underlying asset at a set price within a specified time. The buyer of a put option estimates that the underlying asset will drop below the exercise price before the expiration date.

When an individual purchases a put, they expect the underlying asset will decline in price. They would then profit by either selling the put options at a profit, or by exercising the option. If an individual writes a put contract, they are estimating the stock will not decline below the exercise price, and will not fall significantly below the exercise price.

Consider if an investor purchased one put option contract for 100 shares of ABC Co. for $1, or $100 ($1*100). The exercise price of the shares is $10 and the current ABC share price is $12. This contract has given the investor the right, but not the obligation, to sell shares of ABC at $10.

If ABC shares drop to $8, the investor's put option is in-the-money and he can

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Preferred Stock

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A class of ownership in a corporation that has a higher claim on the assets and earnings than common stock. Preferred stock generally has a dividend that must be paid out before dividends to common stockholders and the shares usually do not have voting rights.

The precise details as to the structure of preferred stock is specific to each corporation. However, the best way to think of preferred stock is as a financial instrument that has characteristics of both debt (fixed dividends) and equity (potential appreciation). Also known as "preferred shares".

There are certainly pros and cons when looking at preferred shares. Preferred shareholders have priority over common stockholders on earnings and assets in the event of liquidation and they have a fixed dividend (paid before common stockholders), but investors must weigh these positives against the negatives, including giving up their voting rights and less potential for appreciation.

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Noncumulative

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A type of preferred stock that does not pay the holder any unpaid or omitted dividends. If the corporation chooses to not pay dividends in a given year, the investor does not have the right to claim any of those forgone dividends in the future.

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Arbitrage

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The simultaneous purchase and sale of an asset in order to profit from a difference in the price. It is a trade that profits by exploiting price differences of identical or similar financial instruments, on different markets or in different forms. Arbitrage exists as a result of market inefficiencies; it provides a mechanism to ensure prices do not deviate substantially from fair value for long periods of time.

Given the advancement in technology it has become extremely difficult to profit from mispricing in the market. Many traders have computerized trading systems set to monitor fluctuations in similar financial instruments. Any inefficient pricing setups are usually acted upon quickly and the opportunity is often eliminated in a matter of seconds.

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Indenture

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A contract between an issuer of bonds and the bondholder stating the time period before repayment, amount of interest paid, if the bond is convertible (and if so, at what price or what ratio), if the bond is callable and the amount of money that is to be repaid.

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Trustee

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An individual who holds or manages assets for another individual.

For example, an indenture trustee is the agent of a bond issuer who handles all the administrative aspects of a loan, including ensuring that the borrower complies with the terms in the indenture.

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Depletion

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An accounting term describing the amortization of assets that can be physically reduced.

Unlike depreciation and amortization, which mainly describe the deduction of expenses due to the aging of equipment and property, depletion is the actual physical reduction of natural resources by companies.

For example, coal mines, oil fields and other natural resources are depleted on company accounting statements. This reduction in the quantity of resources is meant to assist in accurately identifying the value of the asset on the balance sheet.

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Covenant

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A promise in an indenture, or any other formal debt agreement, that certain activities will or will not be carried out.

The purpose of a covenant is to give the lender more security. Covenants can cover everything from minimum dividend payments to levels that must be maintained in working capital.

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Lien

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When a creditor or bank has the right to sell the mortgaged or collateral property of those who fail to meet the obligations of a loan contract.

This is typically enforced under provincial or state laws.

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Blanket mortgage

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A mortgage which covers two or more pieces of real estate. The real estate is held as collateral on the mortgage, but the individual pieces of the real estate may be sold without retiring the entire mortgage.

This is an alternative to a developer having to take out numerous individual properties within a large property purchase that they intend to sell in individual parts. The blanket mortgages are typically taken out to cover the costs of purchasing and developing land that developers plan to subdivide into individual lots.

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Income bond

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A type of debt security in which only the face value of the bond is promised to be paid to the investor, with any coupon payments being paid only if the issuing company has enough earnings to pay for the coupon payment.

The income bond is a somewhat rare financial instrument which generally serves a corporate purpose similar to that of preferred shares. It may be structured so that unpaid interest payments accumulate and become due upon maturity of the bond issue, but this is usually not the case; as such, it can be a useful tool to help a corporation avoid bankruptcy during times of poor financial health or ongoing reorganization.

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Debenture

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A type of debt instrument that is not secured by physical asset or collateral. Debentures are backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer. Both corporations and governments frequently issue this type of bond in order to secure capital. Like other types of bonds, debentures are documented in an indenture.

Debentures have no collateral. Bond buyers generally purchase debentures based on the belief that the bond issuer is unlikely to default on the repayment. An example of a government debenture would be any government-issued Treasury bond (T-bond) or Treasury bill (T-bill). T-bonds and T-bills are generally considered risk free because governments, at worst, can print off more money or raise taxes to pay these type of debts.

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Receiver

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A person appointed by a bankruptcy court or secured creditor to run a company for a short period of time in a manner that will ensure as much debt is paid back to creditors as possible.

The main purpose of a receiver is to use a company's assets in a way that will most effectively pay back creditors. Depending on where a receiver is appointed, there are numerous restrictions on how he or she runs a business. For instance, in many jurisdictions a receiver can run a company only for 14 days. In turn, a receiver's main function is often simply to liquidate all available assets. When a receiver is appointed, the company is said to be "in receivership."

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Collateral trust bond

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A bond that is secured by a financial asset - such as stock or other bonds - that is deposited and held by a trustee for the holders of the bond.

If the issuing company were to default on the debt obligation, the debt holders would receive the securities held in trust, like collateral for a loan.

For example, say Company A issues a collateral trust bond, and as collateral for the bond it includes the right to Company A shares held by a trust company. If Company A were to default on the bond payments, the bondholders would be entitled to the shares held in trust.

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Funded Debt

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Synonymous with "long-term debt".

A company's debt, such as bonds, long-term notes payables or debentures that will mature in more than one year or one business cycle. This type of debt is classified as funded debt because it is funded by interest payments made by the borrowing firm over the term of the loan.