H |
| Fifth
letter of a Nasdaq stock symbol specifying that the issue is the second preferred bond of the company. |
HEX |
| See:
Helsinki Exchange |
HKFE |
| See:
Hong Kong Futures Exchange |
HLT |
| See:
Highly leveraged transaction |
Haircut |
| The
margin or difference between the actual market value of a security
and the value assessed by the lending side of a transaction). |
Half-life |
| The
point in the life of a mortgage-backed security
guaranteed or issued by the Government National Mortgage Association,
the Federal National Mortgage Association
or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
when half the principal has been repaid. |
Half-stock |
| Stock, common
or preferred, with a $50 par value. |
Hammering
the market |
| Heavy selling of stocks by speculators
who think that the stock
is overvalued and is about to drop. |
Handle |
| The whole-dollar price of a bid or offer
is referred to as the handle (e.g., if a security
is quoted at 101.10 bid and 101.11 offered, 101 is the handle). Traders are assumed to know the handle. See: Full. |
Hands-off investor |
| An
investor who has a large stake in a company, but does not wish to play an active role in the management of the corporation. |
Hands-on investor |
| An
investor who has a large stake in a corporation and takes an active role in its management. Antithesis of hands-off investor. |
Hang Seng index |
| The
major index in Hong Kong. |
Hard capital rationing |
| A
capital budget that under no circumstances can be violated. |
Hard currency |
| A
freely convertible currency
that is not expected to depreciate in value in the foreseeable future. |
Hard dollars |
| Actual
separate payments made by a customer for services, including research, provided by a brokerage firm. Antithesis of soft dollars. |
Harmless
warrant |
| Warrant
that allows the user to purchase a bond
only by surrendering an other bond with similar terms. |
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act |
| Often
used in risk arbitrage. Antitrust act administered by U.S. Department of Justice and the FTC that requires an investor to file a form with the government before he acquires an economic interest in the lesser amount of $15 million or 15% of the capitaliation of a specific security. The government has thirty days to respond to the filer. |
Harvey, Campbell R. |
| Author
of this glossary. Finance professor at Duke University. Author of research on international finance, asset allocation, and emerging markets. |
Head & shoulders |
| In
technical analysis, a pattern that results where a stock price reaches a peak and declines; rises above its former peak and again declines; and rises a third time but not to the second peak, and then again declines. The first and third peaks are shoulders, while the second peak is the formation's head. Technical analysts generally consider a head and shoulders formation to be a very bearish indication. |
Heavy |
| An
equities market now dominated by sellers, or oversupply, resulting in falling prices. See: Overbought,
resistance level, tired. |
Hedge |
| A
transaction that reduces the risk
of an investment. |
Hedge
clause |
| A clause in a research report or any published document, that attempts to absolve the writer of responsibility for the accuracy of information provided. |
Hedge fund |
| A
fund that may employ a variety of techniques to enhance returns, such as both buying and shorting stocks
according to a valuation model. |
Hedge ratio (delta) |
| For
options, ratio between the change in an option's theoretical value and the change in price of the underlying stock
at a given point in time. For convertibles, percentage of a convertible bond representing the number of underlying common
shares sold against the shares into which bonds are convertible. If a preferred is convertible into 2000 common shares, a 75% hedge ratio would be short (long)
1500 common for every 1000 preferred long (short). See: Delta. |
Hedge
wrapper |
| An options
strategy in which an investor
with a long position in an underlying stock
buys an out-of-the-money put
and sells an out-of-the-money call.
The hedge wrapper defines a range
where the stock will be sold at expiration of the option, which way the stock moves. |
Hedged portfolio |
| A
portfolio consisting of a long position in the stock
and a long position in the put option on the stock, so as to be riskless and produce a return that equals the risk-free
interest rate. |
Hedged
tender |
| An investor
sells a portion of a stock holding short a tender offer in the event all shares tendered are not accepted. For example, investor Q has 5000 shares
of XYZ. An acquiring company makes a tender offer of $100 a share when the shares are currently worth $80. Investor Q short-sells
2500 shares after the announcement and the price of the stock has approached $100. Company XYZ purchases only 2500 of the original shares at $100. Investor
Q has sold all shares at $100 even as the price of the stock drops on a post-news dip. |
Hedgie |
| Slang
for a hedge fund. |
Hedging |
| A
strategy designed to reduce investment risk
using call options, put
options, short-selling, or futures contracts. A hedge can help lock in profits. Its purpose is to reduce the volatility of a portfolio
by reducing the risk of loss. |
Hedging
demands |
| Demands for securities to hedge
particular sources of consumption risk,
beyond the usual mean-variance diversification
motivation. |
Held at the opening |
| Used
for listed equity securities. Not open for trading
because specialists or regulators are not allowing trading to occur until imbalances dissipate or news is disseminated. |
Held order |
| Order that must be executed
without hesitation (Hit the bid
or take the offer in line) or if the stock can be bought or sold at that price (held limit order) in sufficient quantity. |
Hell-or-high-water contract |
| A
contract that obligates a purchaser of a project's output to make cash payments to the project in all events, even if no product is offered for sale. |
Helsinki Exchanges (HEX) |
| The
Helsinki Exchanges (HEX Ltd., Helsinki Securities and Derivatives Exchange and Clearing House) was formed at the beginning of 1998 following the merger of the Helsinki Stock Exchange Ltd. and SOM Ltd., the Securities and Derivatives Exchange, and the Clearing House. |
Hemline theory |
| A
theory that stock prices move in the same direction as the hemlines of women's dresses. For example, short skirts (1920s and 1960s) are symbolic of bullish markets
and long skirts (1930s and 1940s) are symbolic of bearish markets. |
Herstatt risk |
| The
risk of loss in foreign
exchange trading that one party will deliver foreign exchange but the counterparty financial institution will fail to complete its end of the contract. This is also referred to as settlement risk. |
H-H page |
| Quotron
display page that shows new listed inquiries/orders received after the block
call. |
HIBOR |
| Hong
Kong Interbank Offer Rate, the annualized offer rate banks pay to attain Hong Kong three-month deposits in denominated dollars. |
Hidden load |
| A
sales charge that is not explicitly disclosed or is buried in the fine print of a mutual fund prospectus or life insurance policy and therefore is not immediately apparent. |
Hidden values |
| Valuable
assets owned by a company, that are not accurately reflected in its stock price at a particular time. |
High-coupon bond refunding |
| Replace
a high-coupon bond with a new, lower-coupon bond. |
High credit |
| The
maximum amount of outstanding
loans for a particular customer on a bank's record. |
High current income mutual fund |
| A
mutual fund whose primary goal is to produce a high level of income by making higher-risk investments in instruments such as junk bonds. |
High flyer |
| High-priced
and highly speculative stock
that moves up and down sharply over a short period. Generally glamorous in nature due to the capital gains potential associated with them; also used to describe any high-priced stock. Antithesis of sleeper. |
High-grade
bond |
| A bond
with Triple-A or Double-A rating
in Standard & Poor's, or Moody's rating system. |
High price |
| The
highest (intraday) price of a stock
over the past 52 weeks, adjusted for any stock
splits. |
High-premium convertible debenture |
| A
bond with a long-term, high-premium, common
stock conversion feature. It also offers
a competitive interest rate.
This type of investment vehicle is aimed at bond investors
who want to be able to convert into stock
to hedge against inflation. |
High-tech stock |
| Stocks of companies operating in high-technology fields. |
High-yield bond |
| See:
Junk bond |
Highjacking |
| Japanese
term for a takeover. |
Highly confident letter |
| An
investment banking firm's letter indicating that the firm is highly confident it will be able to arrange financing for a securities deal. |
Highly leveraged transaction (HLT) |
| Bank
loan to a highly leveraged
firm. |
Highs |
| Stocks that have hit an all-time high for the current 52-week time period. |
Historical cost |
| Describes
the accounting cost carried in the books for a current cost of the item. |
Historical exchange rate |
| An
accounting term that refers to the exchange
rate in effect at the time an asset
or liability is acquired. |
Historical trading range |
| The
range of price over which a security or a commodity
has traded since listing on a exchange. |
Historical
yield |
| A measure of a mutual fund's yield
over a specific period of time, e.g., 1 year, 2 year, 5 year, or year to date. |
Hit the bid |
| A
dealer who agrees to sell at the bid price quoted by another dealer is said to "hit" that bid. Antithesis of take the offer. |
Hit the ribbon |
| Used
in the context of general equities. See: Print. |
Hold |
| To
maintain ownership of a security
over a long period of time. "Hold" is also a recommendation of an analyst who is not positive enough on a stock to recommend a buy, but not negative enough on the stock to recommend a sell. |
Holder of record date |
| The
date on which holders of record in a firm's stock
ledger are designated as the recipients of either dividends or stock rights. Also called date of record. |
Holding company |
| A
corporation that owns enough voting
stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors. |
Holding the market |
| The
illegal practice of maintaining and/or placing a sufficient number of buy orders to create price support for a security or commodity
in an amount to of stabilize a downward trend. |
Holding period |
| Length
of time a security is held. |
Holding-period return |
| Rate of return on an investment over a given period. |
Home run |
| Large
capital gain in a stock
in a short period of time. |
Homemade
dividend |
| Sale of some shares of stock
to get cash in an amount similar to that of a cash
dividend. |
Homemade leverage |
| Idea
that as long as individuals borrow (or lend) on the same terms as the firm, they can duplicate the effects of corporate leverage on their own. Thus, if levered firms are priced too high, rational investors will simply borrow on personal accounts to buy shares
in unlevered firms. |
Homeowner's
equity account |
| A credit line offered by mortgage lenders allowing a homeowner a second mortgage that uses the equity present in the customer's account as collateral. |
Homeowner's insurance policy |
| An
insurance policy protecting a homeowner against damage or loss to property. |
Homogeneity |
| The
degree to which items are similar. |
Homogeneous |
| Exhibiting
a high degree of homogeneity. |
Homogeneous expectations assumption |
| An
assumption of Markowitz portfolio
construction that investors have the same expectations with respect to the inputs that are used to derive efficient portfolios: asset returns,
variances, and covariances. |
Hong Kong Futures Exchange (HKFE) |
| Established
in 1976, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange (H.K.F.E.) operates futures and options markets in index, stock, interest rate, and foreign exchange products. |
Horizon analysis |
| An
analysis of returns using total return to assess performance over some investment horizon. |
Horizon return |
| Total
return over a given horizon. |
Horizontal acquisition |
| Merger between two companies producing similar goods or services. |
Horizontal analysis |
| The
process of dividing each expense item of a given year by the same expense item in the base year. It allows assement of changes in the relative importance of expense items over time and the behavior of expense items as sales change. |
Horizontal merger |
| A
merger involving two or more firms in the same industry that are both at the same stage in the production cycle; that is, two or more competitors. |
Horizontal price movement |
| Stock price movement within a narrow price range over an extended period of time which creates the appearance of a relatively straight line on a graph of the stock's price. |
Horizontal spread |
| The
simultaneous purchase and sale of two options
that differ only in their exercise
dates. |
Hospital revenue bond |
| A
bond issued
to finance construction of a hospital by a municipal or state agency. |
Host security |
| The
security to which a warrant
is attached. |
Hostile
takeover |
| A takeover
of a company against the wishes of the current management and the board of directors by an acquiring company or raider. |
Hot |
| Used
in the context of general equities. Active,
usually with positive price implications. |
Hot money |
| Money
that moves across country borders in response to interest
rate differences and that moves away when the interest rate differential disappears. |
House |
| Firms
that conduct business as broker-dealers in securities
or in the investment banking
field are charaterized as houses. |
House
account |
| A type of account
at a brokerage firm that is given a high level of priority and is handled by the main office or an executive, rather than a traditional salesperson. |
House call |
| Notification
by a brokerage house that a customer's margin
account is below the minimum maintenance level. The client must provide more cash or equity, or the account
will be liquidated. |
House of issue |
| An
investment banking firm whose business it is to underwrite stock or bond
issues and offer
the securities to the public. |
House maintenance requirement |
| The
internal rules of a brokerage house that govern the minimum amount of equity that must be present in a customer's margin account. |
House poor |
| People
who are short on cash because most of their money is tied up in their homes are "house poor." |
House rules |
| Internal
rules of broker-dealer firm that govern the handling of its customers' accounts. |
Housing
bond |
| Bonds
issued by a local housing authority to finance housing projects. |
"How are you making XXX?" |
| "What
is your market in a particular stock?" See: Quotation. |
Hubris |
| An
arrogance due to excessive pride and an insolence toward others. A classic character flaw of a trader or investor. |
Hulbert rating |
| A
rating by Hulbert Financial Digest (of Alexandria, Virginia) of how well the recommendations of various investment advisory newsletters have performed. |
Human capital |
| The
unique capabilities and expertise of individuals. |
Hung up |
| Used
to describe the position of an investor whose stocks
or bonds have dropped in value below their original purchase price. |
Hunkering down |
| A
term used to describe a trader
selling off a big position
in a stock. |
Hurdle rate |
| The
required return in capital
budgeting. For example, if a project has an expected rate of return higher than the hurdle rate, the project may be accepted. |
Hybrid |
| A
package of two or more different kinds of risk
management instruments that are usually interactive. |
Hybrid annuity |
| A
type of insurance company investment that combines the benefits of both a fixed annuity and a variable annuity. |
Hybrid security |
| A
convertible security
whose optioned common stock
is trading in a middle range, causing the convertible security to trade with the characteristics of both a fixed income security and a common stock instrument. |
Hyperinflation |
| See:
Inflation |
Hypothecation |
| In
banking, refers to the commitment of property to secure a loan. In securities,
refers to the commitment of securities
to serve as collateral for margin loans at the broker-dealer firm. |