Term | Definition |
Aggressive Growth Stock Mutual Fund | mutual fund that seeks to provide maximum long-term capital growth from stocks of primarily smaller companies or narrow market segments; dividend income is accidental; the most volatile fund; also referred to as a small-cap fund. |
Annuity | Contract sold by an insurance company, designed to provide payments to the holder at specified intervals, usually after retirement; the holder is taxed at the time of distribution or withdrawal, making this a tax-deferred arrangement. |
Bond | debt instrument where an issuer such as a corporation, municipality, or government agency owes you money; the issuer makes regular interest payments on the bond and promises to pay back or redeem the face value of the bond at the maturity date. |
C.D. | Certificate of deposit, usually at a bank; savings account with a slightly higher interest rate because of a longer savings commitment. (I.E. Six months, one year, etc.) |
Commoditities | Food, metal, or fixed physical substance that investors but or sell, usually via future contracts. |
Diversification | To spread around one's investment dollars among several different classes of financial assets and among the securities of many issuers; results in lowered risk. |
Dividend | Distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the board of directors, to a class of its shareholders; generally distributed in the form of cash or stock. |
Fixed annuity | type of annuity that guarantees a certain rate of return |
futures | a term used to designate all contracts covering the sale of financial instruments or physical commodities for future delivery on a commodity exchange. |
Funds | an amount of money that has been saved up or used for a particular purpose |
Large-Cap Fund | funds comprised of large, well-established companies. |
Stock Exchange | a market in which securities, a.k.a stocks, are bought and sold |
Mid-Cap Fund | Mutual funds containing a group of medium-sized companies that are growing. |
Liquidity | quality of an asset that permits it to be converted quickly into cash without loss of value; availability of money; when there is more liquidity, there is typically less return. |
Money Market | mutual fund that seeks to maintain a stable share price and to earn current income by investing in interest-bearing instruments with short-term (usually 90 days or less) maturities. |
Records | documents containing proof of a transaction |
Investments | account or arrangement in which one would put their money aside to increase wealth over time; should not be withdrawn for a suggested minimum of five years. |
Risk | degree of uncertainty of return on an asset; in business, the likelihood of loss or a lower profit. |
International Stock Mutual Fund | mutual fund that contains international or overseas companies |
Risk Return Ration | The comparison of the likelihood of success and the amount of risk |
Savings Account | accounts at financial institutions that allow regular deposits and withdrawals. The minimum required deposit, fees charged, and interest rates vary among providers. |
share | a piece of ownership in a company or mutual fund |
Single Stocks | A futures contract with an underlying of one particular stock, usually in batches of 100. No transmission of share rights or dividends occur. |
Small-Cap fund | mutual fund that invests in companies whose market values are less than $1 billion; largely consists of smaller, more volatile companies, also called an aggressive growth stock mutual fund. |
Speculative | purchasing risky investments that present the possibility of large profits, but also pose a higher-than-average possibility of loss. |
Track Record | the past history of something; with investments, look at the five to ten year record |
Variable Annuity | annuity that has a varying rate of return based on the mutual funds in which one has invested |
Dow Jones Average | a stock market index based upon how thirty companies trade during a standard session in the stock market |
Standard and Poor 500 | a stock market index based on 500 leading countries |
New York Stock Exchange | One of the United States' oldest and largest stock exchanges, based in New York City |
American Stock Exchange | A major US Stock Exchange, located in downtown Manhattan. Most of the companies are small or medium-sized. |
Nasdaq | a major US stock exchange; one of the largest electronic stock exchanges. |
ratio | the comparison of two quantities by division |
Growth Stock Mutual Fund | fund that buts stock in medium-sized companies that have experienced some growth and are still expanding; also called a mid-cap fund |