See also BUSINESS, COMMERCE, COST.
aggie
n. an agricultural futures contract. (Securities markets. Usually plural.)The March aggies are looking good right now.Let's take a look at the aggies and see how the bellies are doing.
ak and ok
n. October. (Securities markets: options and futures trading.)The ak futures are looking worse by the hour.When the oks expire on Friday, we'll start looking at the des index.
angel
n. a secret financier.Who was the angel for your new play?I was hoping for an angel to see this project through, but all the fat-cats seem to have disappeared.
arb
n. an arbitrageur; a market speculator. (Securities markets.)The arbs are at it again, buying up companies like hotcakes.I wanted to be an arb, but it takes about $40 million to get in the door.
backer
n. a supporter; a financier of a play, political campaign, etc.I had a lot of generous backers for the play.I was hoping for a backer, but the project was too chancy.
beans
n. soybean futures contracts. (Securities markets. Usually with the.)The beans are headed south.Buy the jan beans and sell puts on the bellies.
bellies
n. pork bellies; pork belly futures. (Securities markets. Often with the.)What are the dec bellies doing?Buy the bellies and sell the beans.
Big Blue
n. the stock of International Business Machines or the company itself. (Securities markets.)I have 400 shares of Big Blue that I would like to sell.Big Blue led the market lower again today.
big board
n. the New York Stock Exchange. (Securities markets.)On the big board, stocks were down again today, bringing the loss this week on the Dow to nearly 175 points.Is that stock on the big board or where?
blue chip
1.
n. stock shares of a large company that has a high value. (Securities markets.)
The blue chips took another nosedive in today's trading.I buy nothing but blue chips.
2.
mod. having to do with the stock of large, valuable companies. (Securities markets.)
The blue chip rally ran for a third day.It was another blue chip–led sell off.
bottom line
n. the grand total; the final figure on a balance sheet. (Securities markets. Always with the.)The company's bottom line is in bad shape.If the bottom line is positive, everything is okay.
budget squeeze and budget crunch
n. a situation where there is not enough money in the budget.Facing another budget squeeze, the legislators were forced to put off their pay increase.The budget crunch hasn't begun to affect us yet.
cash cow
n. a dependable source of money; a good investment.I put most of my money in a dependable cash cow that pays off once a month.Mr. Wilson turned out to be the cash cow we needed to start our repertoire company.
Cash is king.
sent. “It is best to keep one's investment money in cash.” (Said when the prices in the securities market are too high. It is better to build up cash and wait for a break in the market.)Things look a little pricy now. I'd say that cash is king for the moment.I'm holding a little cash for a little bottom fishing, but I wouldn't say that cash is king.
Cash is trash.
sent. “It is unwise to keep one's investment money in cash.” (Said when there are good opportunities in securities and it is foolish to stay on the sidelines in cash.)If you've got money sitting around in a money market fund while the market is steaming ahead, you are losing dollars. Right now cash is trash.Cash is trash. Get into the market or you stand to lose a bundle.
churn
tr. [for a stockbroker] to cause a heavy turnover in the portfolio of an investor. (The broker collects commissions on each transaction.)I reported my broker for churning my account.They churn accounts to earn the commissions.
crash
1.
in. [for a securities market] to lose a significant portion of its value in a short time.
The market crashed and scared the stuffing out of everybody.When the bond market crashed, the press didn't even realize it.
2.
n. a collapse of a securities market.
After the crash, a lot of people swore off the market for good.A crash like that was too much for a lot of people.
crater
in. to collapse and go down as with a falling stock price.The stock cratered and probably won't recover for a year or two.When my portfolio cratered, I thought it was the end of the world. Then most of the prices came back up in a month.
cuff quote
n. an off-the-cuff quote of a financial instrument price. (Securities markets.)This is just a cuff quote, but I would say it's about ninety-four.I can give you a cuff quote of ninety-two, but don't hold me to it.
deadcat bounce
n. a small, knee-jerk rally in one of the financial markets. (A dead cat—or any other animal—will bounce only slightly after being dropped. Refers to a stock index or security price that bounces up only slightly after a precipitous fall. Securities market.)The whole market gave only a deadcat bounce after the string of losses this past week.I was expecting more than a deadcat bounce because of the good news.
dead-catty
mod. with only a slight bounce. (Said of a slight rise in the stock market after a big drop.)We expected the stock to go up a lot today, but the increase was no better than dead-catty.It was just a dead-catty day in spite of the good economic news.
deal stock
n. a stock that is a takeover candidate. (Securities markets.)I try to spot the deal stocks early and buy them before others do.You can lose a lot of money on deal stocks, too.
deduck
1.
n. a tax deduction. (From deduct.)
Interest is no longer a deduck.I need a few more deducks this year.
2.
and duck n. a deduction from one's paycheck.
More of my pay goes to ducks than I get myself.What's this duck for?
des
n. December. (Securities markets. Futures and options trading.)The bean futures for des fell out of bed yesterday.Are these figures des or March?
fed and the Fed
n. the Federal Reserve Board.The Fed is not likely to raise interest rates again very soon.There is no way to predict what the Fed is going to do.
fill or kill and F.O.K.
phr. a broker's notation advising the stock exchange to fill a stock order or kill it. (The abbreviation is an initialism. Securities markets.)Get rid of this order. It was fill or kill, and it should have been killed yesterday.Where? I don't see that it's marked F.O.K.
gazumph
1.
tr. to raise the price of a house after it is sold.
They tried to gazumph the price at the closing.I just knew that the owner was going to gazumph the final figure.
2.
tr. to subject someone to the raising of the price of a house after it is sold.
They tried to gazumph me!If they try to gazumph you, tell them to forget the deal.
golden handcuffs
n. monetary inducements to stay on the job. (Usually for highly paid executives in large corporations.)The company provided a variety of golden handcuffs to keep its execs happy through a takeover.The golden handcuffs included a half million in stock options for one of the vice presidents.
golden parachute
n. a special kind of severance pay for persons who may be forced to leave a job. (Usually for highly paid executives in large corporations. If the company is taken over and the executives are fired, they are very well provided for.)My golden parachute was so attractive that I wanted to get fired.If all the golden parachutes were used at the same time, it would bankrupt the company.
go public
in. to sell to the public shares of a privately owned company. (Securities markets.)The company decided not to go public because the economy was so bad at the time.We'll go public at a later time.
greenmail
n. a money-making scheme wherein a very wealthy person buys a large number of shares of a company, threatens to take control of the company, and then offers to sell the stock to the company at an exorbitant price in lieu of a takeover. (Securities markets.)Mr. Smith made about $20 million in greenmail last year.One state is trying to outlaw greenmail to protect its industrial base.
guru
n. a stockbroker or other financial adviser. (Securities markets.)My guru says to sell all my bonds.My guru just went bankrupt.
hamburgers
n. shares in the McDonald's corporation. (Securities markets. New York Stock Exchange jargon.)I want 400 shares of hamburgers.Hamburgers just dropped a point.
Hold some, fold some.
sent. to hold some of your stocks and sell some. (Securities markets.)My best advice right now is to hold some, fold some. There is no real trend to the market.The stock market was so lackluster that I decided to hold some, fold some.
(I-)beam
n. “IBM,” International Business Machines stock shares. (Securities markets.)I-beam fell out of bed and took the market with it.How much beam do you own?
in play
mod. having to do with a company (or its stock) that is a candidate for acquisition by another company. (Securities markets.)The company was in play, but nobody was buying it.These deal stocks—which are in play right now—offer excellent buying opportunities.
in the black
mod. financially solvent; profitable; not in debt.Now that the company is in the black, there's a good chance it will become a deal stock.We're in the black now and making a profit.
in the hole
mod. in debt; running a deficit.Looks like we are in the hole again this month.We always end the month in the hole.
jan
n. January in the financial futures markets. (Securities markets.)The bean futures for jan fell out of bed yesterday.Are these figures jan or March?
juice
n. orange juice futures market. (Securities markets. Usually with the.)The juice opened a little high today, but fell quickly under profit taking.It's time to sell the juice and buy bellies.
junk bond
n. a low-rated corporate bond that pays higher interest because of greater risk.Don't put all your money into junk bonds.Junk bonds pay a lot of interest.
Ma Bell
n. AT&T, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company; any telephone company.I forgot to pay Ma Bell this month.Ma Bell is still one of the largest firms in the nation.
merger-mania
n. an apparent need for companies to merge with one another. (Securities markets and journalism.)Merger-mania is in the news again tonight with Ford's offer to take over GMC.The market meltdown put an end to merger-mania.
over-the-counter
mod. having to do with stocks that are sold through dealers rather than through a stock exchange.You can make or lose a lot of money on over-the-counter stocks.Is this stock over-the-counter or available on the exchange?
play
n. an attractive investment; a way to make some money in the securities markets.I just heard about a good play in the options market.Not talking it over with your friends first was a bad play.Buying bonds at a discount is an interesting play.
poison pill
n. an element introduced into the restructuring of a corporation so that it becomes undesirable for another corporation to take it over.Acme Corporation approved a poison pill to prevent a hostile takeover.Mr. Boone would have bought the company if it weren't for the poison pill.
quant and quan
n. a technician who works in securities market analysis.He was a quant on Wall Street for two years.The quants have been warning us about the danger for a month.
rocks
n. Xerox Inc. (Securities markets, New York Stock Exchange.)When she says, “Buy me a thousand rocks at the market,” that means she wants one thousand shares of Xerox at whatever the market price is at the moment.Rocks is down a point and a half.
run-up
n. a movement upward in the value of one or more securities. (Securities markets.)The market's had a good run-up in the last week.I'm afraid that if it has a run-up to 3,000, it will fall to zero.
shark repellent
n. something that prevents corporate takeovers. (Securities markets.)Acme Systems tried again to get its board to approve a shark repellent to keep the Widget cartel from acquiring it.The shark repellent wasn't enough.
short
1.
n. the sale of borrowed shares of stock; a short sale. (Securities markets.)
I think that IBM is a good short in here. The high-tech companies are in for a pullback.There is a lot of covering of shorts this week. After that the market is in for a steady decline.
2.
tr. to sell borrowed stock. (Securities markets.)
I wouldn't short IBM. It's a long-term hold.The way the deficit is running, I'd short the whole market.
spot market
n. the open market where deals are made on the spot. (Securities markets.)Oil reached nearly twentyfive dollars a barrel on the spot market.Gold prices on the spot market finally reached $600 per ounce and then promptly collapsed.
steenth
n. “one sixteenth,” used in quoting securities prices. (Securities markets.)This issue was only up a few steenths for the whole week.Acme Systems was down a steenth at midday.
story stock
n. shares in a company that are bought because of an appealing story about the company.I never buy a story stock. By the time I hear about it, it's already gone up as much as it ever will.Acme Widgets is another story stock that I advise all my clients to buy.
street
n. Wall Street in New York City. (Always with the. Usually capitalized.)The Street doesn't seem to believe the policymakers in Washington.If you want excitement and stress, the Street is the place to be.
take something public
tr. to sell shares in a company to the general public. (Securities markets.)The board decided not to take the company public.We're going to take it public whenever the market looks good.
teenie and teeny
n. a sixteenth. (Securities markets. From sixteenth. One sixteenth of a point in a stock price.)It's going at three and two teenies at the moment.My forty thousand shares have dropped to three teenies each, and I think I am going to go down to the beach and jump.
wash
n. the almost simultaneous sale and purchase of the same stock, usually to make the stock appear to be trading actively. (Securities markets. The practice is illegal. Tax loss selling must be done in such a way as to avoid appearing to be a wash.)I sold the stock and couldn't buy it back for thirty days to avoid an illegal wash.The IRS ruled that the sale was a wash and that I couldn't take the tax loss.
whipsaw
tr. [for the stock market] to reduce the capital of investors by frightening them into selling when stock prices are low and encouraging them to buy when prices are high. (Securities markets.)A lot of people were whipsawed in the recent market volatility.The market will whipsaw the investor who is not cautious.