N |
| Fifth
letter in a Nasdaq stock symbol specifying that the issue is the company's third class of preferred shares. |
NASD |
| See:
National Association of Securities Dealers |
Nasdaq |
| See:
National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System |
NAV |
| See:
Net asset value |
NFA |
| See:
National Futures Association |
NMS |
| See:
National Market System |
NIF |
| See:
Note issuance facility |
NOW |
| See:
Negotiable Order of Withdrawal |
NPV |
| See:
Net present value |
NYSE |
| See:
New York Stock Exchange |
Naive diversification |
| A
strategy whereby an investor
simply invests in a number of different assets
in the hope that the variance
of the expected return on the portfolio is lowered. In contrast, mathematical programming can be used to select the best possible investment weights. Related: Markowitz diversification. |
Naked option strategies
|
| An unhedged strategy making exclusive use of one of the following: Short call
strategy (selling or writing call options), and short put strategy (selling or writing put options). By themselves, these positions are called naked
strategies because they do not involve an offsetting
or risk-reducing position in another option or the underlying
security. Related: Covered option
strategies. Antithesis of covered option. |
Naked strategies |
| Writing
an option without owning the underlying asset. Holder is naked because holder may have agreed to sell something not owned. |
Named perils insurance |
| An
insurance policy that names specific risks covered by the policy. |
NASD form FR-1 |
| A
form required by the NASD of foreign dealers to ensure that firms participating in a new distribution of securities make a bona fide public
offering. |
Narrow market |
| An
inactive market, which displays large fluctuations in prices due to a low volume of trading. |
Narrowing the spread |
| Reducing
the difference between the bid
and ask prices of a security. |
Nasdaq small-capitalization companies |
| A
group of 2000 companies with relatively small capitalization,
which are listed separately and have at least two market makers. |
Nasdaq
stock market |
| The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities
and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market
that trades emerging growth companies. |
National Association of Investors Corporation |
| A
Michigan-based association that helps groups establish investment clubs. |
National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) |
| Nonprofit
organization formed under the joint sponsorship of the investment bankers'
conference and the SEC to comply with the Maloney Act, which provides for the regulation of the OTC market. |
National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (Nasdaq) |
| An
electronic quotation system that provides price quotations to market participants about the more actively traded common stock issues
in the OTC market. About 4000 common stock issues
are included in the Nasdaq system. |
National
bank |
| A commercial bank approved by the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, which is required to be a member of and purchase stocks in the Federal
Reserve System. |
National
Credit Union Administration |
| Federal
agency that oversees and insures the federal credit union system, and is funded by its members. |
National debt |
| Treasury bills, notes,
bonds, and other debt
obligations that constitute the debt
owed by the federal government. |
National
Foundation for Consumer Credit |
| A
nonprofit organization that seeks to help consumers who have taken on too much debt by helping them work out payment plans and supplying credit counseling. |
National Futures Association (NFA)
|
| The futures
industry self-regulatory organization established in 1982. |
National market |
| Related:
Internal market |
National Market Advisory Board |
| Group
that advises the SEC on establishing a national exchange market system, which is a highly automated, continuous national exchange, but that preserves the regional exchanges. |
National Market System (NMS) |
| Refers
to over-the-counter trading. System of trading OTC
stocks under the sponsorship of the NASD.
Must meet certain criteria for size, profitability and trading activity. More comprehensive information is available for N.M.S. stocks than for non-N.M.S. stocks traded OTC (high, low, and last-sale prices, cumulative volume figures, and bid and ask
quotations throughout the day). This is due to the fact that market makers must report the actual price and number of shares in each transaction within 90 seconds verses nonreal-time reporting for non-NMS stocks (thus, last sale prices and minute-to-minute volume updates are not possible). |
National Quotation Bureau |
| A
service that publishes bid
and offer quotes from market makers
in OTC transactions. |
National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) |
| A
clearing corporation that facilitates the settlement
of accounts among brokerage firms, exchanges,
and other clearing corporations. |
National Stock Exchange (NSE) |
| Second-largest
stock exchange based in India. |
Nationalization |
| A
government takeover of a private company. |
Natural |
| Used
in the context of general equities. Customer buyer or seller, versus a principal or profile
interest. Legitimate, real. |
Natural logarithm |
| Logarithm
to the base e (approximately 2.7183). |
Near money |
| Assets that are easily convertible into cash, such as money market accounts and bank deposits. |
Nearby |
| The
nearest active trading month of a financial or commodity futures
market. Related: Deferred futures. |
Nearby futures contract
|
| When several futures
contracts are considered, the contract
with the closest settlement date
is called the nearby futures contract. The next (or the "next out") futures contract is the one that settles just after the nearby futures contract. The contract farthest away in time from settlement is called the most distant futures contract. |
Nearest month |
| The
expiration date of an option
or future that is closest to the present. |
"Need the tick" |
| Used
for listed equity securities. A stock
must trade up/down at least one tick (1/8) in order to comply with regulations governing short sales/corporate
repurchases. |
Negative
amortization |
| A loan
repayment schedule in which the outstanding
principal balance of the loan increases, rather than amortizing, because the scheduled monthly payments do not cover the full amount required to amortize the loan. The unpaid interest is added to the outstanding
principal, to be repaid later. |
Negative carry |
| Related:
Net financing cost |
Negative cash flow |
| Occurs
when spending in a business is greater than earnings. |
Negative convexity |
| A
bond characteristic such that the price appreciation will be less than the price depreciation for a large change in yield of a given number of basis
points. For example, a fixed-rate mortgage may lose value as rates go down because of prepayments. |
Negative covenant |
| A
bond covenant that limits or prohibits certain actions unless the bondholders agree. |
Negative duration |
| Occurs
when the price of an MBS moves in the same direction as interest rates. |
Negative income tax |
| A
proposal to assist taxpayer with below-subsistence-level incomes. After filing a tax return, such persons would receive a subsidy to bring them up above the poverty level. |
Negative pledge clause |
| A
bond covenant that requires the borrower to grant lenders a lien
equivalent to any liens that may be granted in the future to any other currently unsecured lenders. |
Negative working capital |
| Occurs
when current liabilities exceed current assets, which can lead to bankruptcy. |
Negative yield curve |
| When
the yield on a short-term security is higher than the yield
on a long-term security, partially because high interest
rates are creating a greater demand for short-term borrowing. |
Neglected
firm effect |
| The tendency of firms that are neglected by security analysts to outperform firms that are the subject of considerable attention. |
Negotiable |
| A
security whose title is transferable by delivery . See also: Negotiable
instrument. |
Negotiable instrument |
| An
unconditional order or promise to pay some amount of money, easily transferable from one party to another. |
Negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) |
| Demand deposits that pay interest. |
Negotiated certificate of deposit |
| A
large-denomination CD, generally $1MM or more, that can be sold but cannot be cashed in before maturity. |
Negotiated
commission |
| An unfixed broker's commission that is determined through negotiation, depending on the specifics of the trades performed. |
Negotiated markets |
| Markets in which each transaction is separately negotiated between buyer and seller (i.e., an investor and a dealer). |
Negotiated offering |
| An
offering of securities
for which the terms, including underwriters'
compensation, have been negotiated between the issuer
and the underwriters. |
Negotiated sale |
| Determining
the terms of an offering by negotiation between the issuer and the underwriter
rather than through competitive bidding by underwriting groups. |
Negotiated underwriting |
| A
securities offering
process in which the purchase price paid to the issuer
and the public offering price are determined by negotiation rather than through competitive bidding. |
NEO |
| Abbreviation
for nonequity options, which are options
contracts on foreign currencies, debt
issues, commodities, and stock indexes. |
Net |
| The
gain or loss on a security sale as measured by the selling price of a security less the adjusted cost of acquisition. |
Net adjusted present value |
| The
adjusted present value minus the initial cost of an investment. |
Net advantage to leasing |
| The
net present value of entering into a lease financing arrangement rather than borrowing the necessary funds and buying the asset. |
Net
advantage to merging |
| The
difference in total post- and pre-merger
market value minus the cost of the merger. |
Net
advantage of refunding |
| The
net present value of the savings from a refunding. |
Net
after-tax gain |
| Capital
gain after income taxes
have been paid. |
Net asset value (NAV) |
| The
value of a fund's investments. For a mutual
fund, the net asset value per share
usually represents the fund's market price,
subject to a possible sales or redemption
charge. For a closed-end
fund, the market price may vary significantly from the net asset value. |
Net assets |
| The
difference between total assets
on the one hand and current liabilities
and noncapitalized long-term liabilities
on the other hand. |
Net
benefit to leverage factor |
| A
linear approximation of a number, that enables one to operationalize the total impact of leverage on firm value in the capital market imperfections view of capital structure. |
Net book value |
| The
current book value of an asset or liability;
that is, its original book value net of any accounting adjustments such as depreciation. |
Net
capital requirement |
| SEC requirement that member
firms and nonmember securities
broker-dealers
maintain a maximum ratio of indebtedness to liquid capital of 15 to 1. |
Net cash balance |
| Beginning
cash balance plus cash receipts minus cash disbursements. |
Net change |
| This
is the difference between a day's last trade
and the previous day's last trade. |
Net
current assets |
| The difference between current assets and current liabilities,
also known as working capital. |
Net errors and omissions |
| In
balance of payments accounting, net errors and omissions record the statistical discrepancies that arise in gathering balance of payments data. |
Net financing cost |
| Also
called the cost of carry or, simply, carry, the difference between the cost of financing the purchase of an asset and the asset's cash yield.
Positive carry means that the yield
earned is greater than the financing cost; negative carry means that the financing cost exceeds the yield earned. |
Net float |
| Sum
of disbursement float and collection float. |
Net income |
| The
company's total earnings, reflecting revenues adjusted for costs of doing business, depreciation, interest,
taxes and other expenses. |
Net
income per share of common stock |
| See:
Earnings per share |
Net interest cost (NIC) |
| The
total amount of interest that will be paid on a debt obligation by a corporate or municipal bond issuer. |
Net investment |
| Gross,
or total, investment minus depreciation. |
Net
investment income per share |
| Income
received by an investment company
from dividends and interest
on investments less administrative expenses, divided by the number of outstanding shares. |
Net lease |
| A
lease arrangement under which the lessee is responsible for all property taxes, maintenance expenses, insurance, and other costs associated with keeping the asset in good working condition. |
Net operating losses |
| Losses
that a firm can take advantage of to reduce taxes. |
Net operating margin |
| The
ratio of net operating income to net sales. |
Net parity |
| Antithesis
of gross parity. Convertibles: Price of a convertible security including accrued interest. International: Price of international security including commissions, fees, stamp duty, and other transaction costs, translated into U.S. dollar amounts. |
Net period |
| The
period of time between the end of the discount
period and the date payment is due. |
Net position |
| The
value of the position subtracting the initial cost of setting up the position. For example, if 100 options where purchased for $1 each and the option is currently trading for $9, the value of the net position is $900 - $100 = $800. |
Net present value (NPV) |
| The
present value of the expected future cash flows minus the cost. |
Net proceeds |
| Amount
received from the sale of an asset
after deducting all transaction
costs. |
Net present value of future investments |
| The
present value of the total sum of NPVs expected to result from all of the firm's future investments. |
Net present value of growth opportunities |
| A
model valuing a firm in which net present value
of new investment opportunities is explicitly examined. |
Net present value rule |
| An
investment is worth making if it has a positive NPV
Projects with negative NPVs should be rejected. |
Net profit margin |
| Net income divided by sales; the amount of each sales dollar left over after all expenses have been paid. |
Net quick assets |
| Cash,
marketable securities, and accounts receivable less current liabilities. |
Net
realized capital gains per share |
| Capital gains realized by an investment company minus any capital losses divided by the total number of the company's outstanding shares. |
Net sales |
| Gross
sales less returns and allowances, freight out, and cash discounts allowed. |
Net sales transaction |
| Refers
to over-the-counter trading. Securities deal in which the quoted prices include commissions (i.e., OTC);
looked at another way, the buyer and seller do not pay fees or commissions in addition to the print or quotation prices. |
Net salvage value |
| The
after-tax net cash flow for terminating the project. |
Net tangible assets per share |
| All
of a company's assets except patents, trademarks, and other intangible assets minus all liabilities and the par value of preferred stock, divided by the number of shares outstanding. |
Net transaction |
| A
securities transaction
in which no commissions or extra fees are paid, such as in an initial public offering. |
Net working capital |
| Current assets minus current
liabilities. Often simply referred to as working
capital. |
Net
worth |
| Common
stockholders' equity which consists of common stock, surplus, and retained
earnings. |
Net yield |
| The
rate of return on a security
minus purchase costs, commissions,
or markups. |
Netting |
| Reducing
transfers of funds between subsidiaries
or separate companies to a net amount. |
Netting out |
| To
get or bring in as a net; to clear as profit. |
Network A/Network B |
| See:
Consolidated tape |
Neutral hedge |
| Hedge that is expected to yield
a dollar-neutral result of the combined position,
regardless of price change in any part of the hedge securities. For any convertible trading at a premium, this ratio is less than 100%. The higher the convertible premium, the lower a ratio must be to be neutral. See: Delta. |
Neutral
period |
| In the Euromarket, a period over which Eurodollars are sold is said to be neutral if it does not start or end on either a Friday or the day before a holiday. |
New account report |
| A
broker's document including information about a new client. See: Know your customer. |
New high/new low |
| A
stock valued at its highest or lowest price in the last year. |
New issue |
| Securities that are publicly offered for the first time, whether in an IPO or as an additional issue
of stocks or bonds
by a company that is already public. |
New-issues market |
| The
market in which a new issue
of securities is first sold to investors. This is not a separate market but refers to a niche of the overall market. |
New listing |
| A
security that has just been entered on a stock or bond
exchange for trading. |
New money |
| In
a Treasury auction, the amount by which the par value of the securities
offered exceeds that of those maturing. |
New
York Cotton Exchange (NYCE) |
| Commodities exchange in New York trading futures
and options on cotton, frozen concentrated orange juice, and potatoes, as well as interest rate, currency, and index futures and options. |
New York Futures Exchange (NYFE) |
| A
wholly owned subsidiary of the NYSE
that trades futures
and futures options on the NYSE composite index. |
New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) |
| The
world's largest physical commodity
futures exchange. |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) |
| Also
known as the Big Board or the Exchange. |
NYSE
composite index |
| Composite index covering price movements of all new world common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It is based on the close of the market on December 31, 1965, at a level of 50.00, and is weighted according to the number of shares listed for each issue. Print changes in the index are converted to dollars and cents so as to provide a meaningful measure of changes in the average price of listed stocks. The composite index is supplemented by separate indexes for four industry groups: industrial, transportation, utility, and finance. |
New Zealand Stock Exchange |
| Automated,
screen-based national trading
system based in Wellington. |
"News
out" |
| Refers to over-the-counter trading. A news story concerning the stock being considered has recently been posted on one of the news services, such as the Dow Jones News Service or Reuters.
A courtesy standard in trading
is to mention that "news is out," in case the other party is unaware of the new development. |
Next day settlement |
| Transaction
in which the contract is settled the day after the trade is executed.
See: Settlement date. |
Next futures contract |
| The
contract settling immediately after the nearby futures contract. |
Nexus (of contracts) |
| A
set or collection of something. |
NICs |
| Newly
Industrialized Countries, which are countries with high-growth industrial economies, such as Hong Kong and Malaysia. |
Nifty Fifty |
| Institutional
investor' 50 most popular stocks. |
Nikkei stock average |
| Applies
mainly to international equities. Price-weighted average of 225 stocks of the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange started on May 16, 1949. Japanese equivalent of the U.S. Dow. |
Nine-bond
rule |
| An NYSE
rule requiring that orders
for nine bonds or fewer stay on the floor for one hour to seek a market. |
19c3
stock |
| A stock listed on a national securities exchange after April 26, 1979, that is exempt from the Securities and Exchange Commission
rule that prohibits exchange members from participating in off-board trading. |
No-action
letter |
| A letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission
agreeing that the commission
will take no civil or criminal action against a party, regarding a specific activity. |
"No Autex" |
| Used
in the context of general equities. "No buy or sell interest should be entered into the Autex (advertising) system." Inquirers do not want exposure of an inquiry to affect the price at which they hope to ultimately transact the trade, hence disturbing the customer's picture. |
No book |
| Used
for listed equity securities. Not much, if any, stock
is being bid for or offered
at the present time by customers or the specialist. |
No-brainer |
| A
market in which it does not take very complex analysis to figure out how securities are going to perform, such as a strong bull market. |
No-load
fund |
| A mutual
fund that does not impose a sales commission.
Related: Load fund, no-load mutual fund. |
No-load mutual fund |
| An
open-end investment company
whose shares are sold without a sales charge. There can be other distribution charges, however, such as Article 12B-1 fees. A true no-load fund has neither a sales charge nor a distribution fee. |
No-load stock |
| Shares that can be purchased from the issuing companies themselves, so that broker fees and commissions can be avoided. |
NM |
| Abbreviation
for "not meaningful". |
NOB
spread |
| Notes over bonds spread. This is the difference in yield between Treasury
notes (maturing in 2 to 10 years) and Treasury bonds (maturing in 15 or more years), which is traded using Treasury note and bond futures. |
Noise |
| Price
and volume fluctuations that can confuse interpretation of market direction. Used in the context of general equities. Stock market activity caused by program trades, dividend
rolls, and other phenomena not reflective of general sentiment. Antithesis of real. |
No-par-value
stock |
| A stock
with no par value given in the charter or stock certificate. |
Nominal |
| In
name only. Differences in compounding
cause the nominal rate to differ from the effective
interest rate. Inflation
causes the purchasing power
of money to differ from one time to another. |
Nominal annual rate |
| An
effective rate per period multiplied by the number of periods in a year. Same as annual percentage rate. |
Nominal cash flow |
| A
cash flow expressed in nominal
terms if the actual dollars to be received or paid out are given. |
Nominal dollars |
| Dollars
that are not adjusted for inflation. |
Nominal exchange rate |
| The
actual foreign exchange quotation
in contrast to the real exchange
rate, which has been adjusted for changes in purchasing
power. |
Nominal exercise price |
| The
exercise price of a GNMA
option contract, which equals the unpaid principal balance multiplied by the adjusted exercise price. |
Nominal income |
| Income
that has not been adjusted for inflation and decreasing purchasing power. |
Nominal interest rate |
| The
interest rate unadjusted for inflation. |
Nominal
price |
| Price quotations
on futures for a period in which no actual trading took place. |
Nominal quotation |
| Used
in the context of general equities. Bid
and offer prices given by a market maker for the purpose of valuation, not as an invitation to trade; must be specifically identified as such by prefixing the quotes FYI (for your information) or FVO (for valuation only). |
Nominal yield |
| The
income received from a fixed income security
in one year divided by its par value. See also: Coupon
rate. |
Nominee |
| A
person or firm to whom securities
or other properties are transferred to facilitate transactions, while leaving the customer as the actual owner. |
Nonaccredited investor |
| Wealthy,
sophisticated investors who do not meet SEC net worth requirements. These investors require less protection because of large financial resources, but only 35 nonaccredited investor can be included per investment. |
Noncallable |
| A
preferred stock
or bond that cannot be redeemed whenever desired by the issuer. |
Noncash charge |
| A
cost, such as depreciation,
depletion, and amortization,
that does not involve any cash outflow. |
Nonclearing member |
| An
exchange member firm that is not able to clear transactions, and must pay another member firm to carry out its clearing operations. |
Noncompete |
| A
provision in a number of employment contracts that prohibits an employee from working for a competing firm for a specified number of years after the employee leaves the firm. |
Noncompetitive bid |
| In
a Treasury auction, bidding
for a specific amount of securities
at the price, whatever it may turn out to be, equal to the average price of the accepted competitive bids. |
Noncontributory pension plan |
| A
pension plan that is fully paid for by the employer, requiring no employee contributions. |
Noncumulative |
| Applies
mainly to convertible securities. Type of preferred
stock on which unpaid or omitted dividends
do not accrue. Omitted dividends are, as a rule, gone forever. |
Noncumulative preferred stock
|
| Preferred
stock whose holders must forgo dividend
payments when the company misses a dividend payment. Related: Cumulative preferred stock. |
Noncurrent asset |
| Any
asset that is expected to be held for the whole year, not sold or exchanged, such as real estate, machinery, or a patent. |
Noncurrent liability |
| A
liability due in one year. |
Nondiscretionary trust |
| A
personal trust whose trustee has no discretion in deciding how income will be distributed to the beneficiary. |
Nondiversifiability of human capital |
| The
difficulty of hedging one's human capital (the unique capabilities and expertise of individuals) and employment effort. |
Nondiversifiable risk |
| Risk that cannot be eliminated by having a large portfolio of many assets. |
Nonfinancial assets |
| Physical
assets such as real estate and machinery. |
Nonfinancial services |
| Such
things as freight, insurance, passenger services, and travel. |
Noninsured plans |
| Defined
benefit pension plans that are not guaranteed by life insurance products. Related: Insured plans. |
Noninterest-bearing note |
| A
note without periodic interest
payment, but selling at a discount and maturing at face value. See: Zero-coupon
bond. |
Nonmarketed claims |
| Claims
that cannot be easily bought and sold in the financial markets, such as those of the government and litigants in lawsuits. |
Nonmember firm |
| Used
for listed equity securities. Brokerage firm that is not a member of an organized exchange (NYSE). Such firms execute
trades either through member firms, or on regional exchanges where they are members, or in the third market. |
Nonparallel shift in the yield curve
|
| A shift in the yield
curve in which yields do not change by the same number of basis points for every maturity.
Related: Parallel shift in the yield curve. |
Nonparticipating life insurance policy |
| Life
insurance policy whose policyholders do not receive dividends, because they are not participants in the interest, dividends,
and capital gains earned by the insurer on premiums paid. |
Nonperforming asset |
| An
asset that is not effectively producing income, such as an overdue loan. |
Nonproductive loan |
| A
loan that increases spending power, but is used in business that does not directly increase the economy's output, such as a leveraged buyout loan. |
Nonpublic information |
| Information
about a company that is not known by the general public, which will have a definite impact on the stock price when released. See: Insider trading. |
Nonpurpose loan |
| A
loan with securities pledged as collateral, but which is not to be used in securities trading or transactions. |
Nonqualifying annuity |
| An
annuity that does not fall under an IRS-approved pension
plan. Contributions are made with after-tax dollars, but earnings can accumulate tax-deferred until withdrawal. |
Nonqualifying stock option |
| An
employee stock option that does not satisfy IRS qualifying rules and therefore is liable for taxation upon exercise . |
Nonrated |
| A
bond that has not been rated by a large rating agency, usually because the issue is too small. |
Nonrecourse |
| In
the case of default, the lender has ability to claim assets over and above what the limited partners contributed. |
Nonrecourse loan |
| A
loan taken by limited partners used to finance their portion of the partnership, which is secured by their ownership in the venture. |
Nonrecurring charge |
| A
one-time expense or credit shown in a company's financial statement. |
Nonredeemable |
| Not
permitted, under the terms of an indenture,
to be redeemed. |
Nonrefundable |
| Not
permitted, under the terms of an indenture,
to be refundable. |
Nonreproducible assets |
| A
tangible asset with unique physical properties, like a parcel of land, a mine, or a work of art. |
Nonsystematic risk |
| Nonmarket
or firm-specific risk factors that can be eliminated by diversification. Also called unique risk or diversifiable
risk. Systematic risk refers to risk factors common to the entire economy. |
Nontradables |
| Goods
and services produced and consumed domestically that are not close substitutes to import or export goods and services. |
Nonvoting stock |
| A
security that does not entitle the holder to vote on the corporation's resolutions or elections. |
Normal annuity form |
| The
manner in which retirement benefits are paid out. |
Normal backwardation theory |
| Holds
that the futures price will be bid down to a level below the expected spot price. |
Normal deviate |
| Related:
Standardized value |
Normal investment practice |
| The
investment history of a customer, which is used as a benchmark to test the bona fide public offerings requirement of the allocation of a hot issue. |
Normal
Market Size (NMS) |
| A system that categorizes the size of transactions that are normal for a particular security and forces market
makers to deal within these sizes. |
Normal portfolio |
| A
customized benchmark that includes all the securities from which a manager normally chooses, weighted as the manager would weight them in a portfolio. |
Normal probability distribution |
| A
probability distribution for a continuous random variable that forms a symmetrical bell-shaped curve around the mean. This distribution has no skewness or excess
kurtosis. |
Normal random variable |
| A
random variable that has a normal probability distribution. |
Normal retirement |
| The
age or number of working years after which a pension
plan beneficiary can retire and receive unreduced benefits immediately. |
Normal trading unit |
| See:
Round lot. |
Normalized
earnings |
| Earnings
that have been adjusted in order to take into account the effect of cycles in the economy. |
Normalizing method |
| Making
a change in the income account equivalent to the tax savings realized through the use of different depreciation methods for shareholder
and income tax purposes, thus washing out the benefits of the tax savings reported as final net income to shareholders. |
Not a name with us |
| Refers
to over-the-counter trading. Not a registered market
maker in the security, especially in OTC and convertibles, or having nothing real to do. |
Not-for-profit |
| An
organization established for charitable, humanitarian, or educational purposes that is exempt from some taxes and in which no one in profits or losses. |
Not rated |
| A
rating service indicator, neither positive nor negative, showing that a security or company has not been rated. |
Not-sufficient-funds check |
| A
bank check having insufficient funds to back it. |
Not held order (NH order) |
| Applies
mainly to international equities. Market or limit
order in which the customer does not desire to transact automatically at the inside market (market held) but instead has given the trader or floor
broker (listed stock) time and price discretion in transacting on a best-efforts basis. This will not hold the broker responsible for missing the price within the limits (limit not held) or obtaining a worse price (market not held). The order is marked "not held, disregard tape/DRT, take time" or bears any such qualifying notation, excluding "or better." See: Held order. |
Note |
| Debt
instruments with initial maturities longer than one year and shorter than 10 years. |
Note agreement |
| A
contract for privately
placed debt. |
Note issuance facility (NIF) |
| An
agreement by which a syndicate
of banks indicates a willingness to accept short-term notes from borrowers and resell these notes in the Eurocurrency
markets. |
Notes to the financial statements |
| A
detailed set of notes immediately following the financial statements in an annual report that explain and expand on the information in the financial statements. |
Notice day |
| A
day on which notices of intent to deliver
pertaining to a specified delivery
month may be issued. Related: Delivery notice. |
Notice of sale |
| A
notice advertising a new issue
of municipal securities and inviting underwriters to submit competitive bids. |
Notification
date |
| The day the option
is either exercised or expires. |
Notional principal amount
|
| In an interest
rate swap, the predetermined dollar principal on which the exchanged interest payments are based. |
Nouveau Marche |
| An
equity market unit of the Paris Bourse that deals solely in innovative, high-growth companies. |
Novation |
| Defeasance whereby the firm's debt is cancelled. |
NPV profile |
| A
graph of NPV as a function of the discount rate. |
Numismatist |
| Collector
of historical coins and currencies. |