Definition of market index

market index

Measure of the investment performance of the overall market.

Index and Option Market (IOM)

A division of the CME established in 1982 for trading stock index
products and options. Related: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Market value-weighted index

An index of a group of securities computed by calculating a weighted average
of the returns on each security in the index, with the weights proportional to outstanding market value.

Bull CD, Bear CD

A bull CD pays its holder a specified percentage of the increase in return on a specified
market index while guaranteeing a minimum rate of return. A bear CD pays the holder a fraction of any fall in
a given market index.

Equity swap

A swap in which the cash flows that are exchanged are based on the total return on some stock
market index and an interest rate (either a fixed rate or a floating rate). Related: interest rate swap.

Index fund

Investment fund designed to match the returns on a stockmarket index.

Index model

A model of stock returns using a market index such as the S&P 500 to represent common or
systematic risk factors.

Index option

A call or put option based on a stock market index.

Jensen index

An index that uses the capital asset pricing model to determine whether a money manager
outperformed a market index. The "alpha" of an investment or investment manager.

market portfolio

Portfolio of all assets in the economy. In practice a broad stock market index, such as the Standard & Poor's Composite, is used to represent the market.

Passive portfolio

A market index portfolio.

Passive portfolio strategy

A strategy that involves minimal expectational input, and instead relies on
diversification to match the performance of some market index. A passive strategy assumes that the
marketplace will reflect all available information in the price paid for securities, and therefore, does not
attempt to find mispriced securities. Related: active portfolio strategy

Relative strength

A stock's price movement over the past year as compared to a market index (the S&P 500).
Value below 1.0 means the stock shows relative weakness in price movement (underperformed the market); a
value above 1.0 means the stock shows relative strength over the 1-year period. Equation for Relative
Strength: [current stock price/year-ago stock price] [current S&P 500/year-ago S&P 500]

S&P

Abbreviation for Standard & Poor’s stockmarket index.

Single index model

A model of stock returns that decomposes influences on returns into a systematic factor,
as measured by the return on the broad market index, and firm specific factors.

Arms index

Also known as a trading index (TRIN)= (number of advancing issues)/ (number of declining
issues) (Total up volume )/ (total down volume). An advance/decline market indicator. Less than 1.0 indicates
bullish demand, while above 1.0 is bearish. The index often is smoothed with a simple moving average.

Auction markets

markets in which the prevailing price is determined through the free interaction of
prospective buyers and sellers, as on the floor of the stock exchange.

Bear market

Any market in which prices are in a declining trend.

bear market

A market in which stock or bond prices are generally
falling.

Bear Market

A prolonged period of falling stock market prices.

Black market

An illegal market.

Bond indexing

Designing a portfolio so that its performance will match the performance of some bond index.

Brokered market

A market where an intermediary offers search services to buyers and sellers.

Bull market

Any market in which prices are in an upward trend.

bull market

A market in which stock or bond prices are generally rising.

Bull Market

A prolonged period of rising stock market prices.

Bulldog market

The foreign market in the United Kingdom.

Buying the index

Purchasing the stocks in the S&P 500 in the same proportion as the index to achieve the
same return.

Capital market

The market for trading long-term debt instruments (those that mature in more than one year).

Capital market

The market in which investors buy and sell shares of companies, normally associated with a Stock Exchange.

Capital Market

A market that specializes in trading long-term, relatively high risk
securities

Capital Market

The market in which savings are made available to those needing funds to undertake investment projects. A financial market in which longer-term (maturity greater than one year) bonds and stocks are traded.

Capital market efficiency

Reflects the relative amount of wealth wasted in making transactions. An efficient
capital market allows the transfer of assets with little wealth loss. See: efficient market hypothesis.

Capital market imperfections view

The view that issuing debt is generally valuable but that the firm's
optimal choice of capital structure is a dynamic process that involves the other views of capital structure (net
corporate/personal tax, agency cost, bankruptcy cost, and pecking order), which result from considerations of
asymmetric information, asymmetric taxes, and transaction costs.

Capital market line (CML)

The line defined by every combination of the risk-free asset and the market portfolio.

capital markets

markets for long-term financing.

Cash markets

Also called spot markets, these are markets that involve the immediate delivery of a security
or instrument.
Related: derivative markets.

Common market

An agreement between two or more countries that permits the free movement of capital
and labor as well as goods and services.

Common stock market

The market for trading equities, not including preferred stock.

Complete capital market

A market in which there is a distinct marketable security for each and every
possible outcome.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The CPI, as it is called, measures the prices of consumer goods and services and is a
measure of the pace of U.S. inflation. The U.S.Department of Labor publishes the CPI very month.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

An index calculated by tracking the cost of a typical bundle of consumer goods and services over time. It is commonly used to measure inflation.

Corner A Market

To purchase enough of the available supply of a commodity or stock in order to
manipulate its price.

Dealer market

A market where traders specializing in particular commodities buy and sell assets for their
own accounts.

Debt market

The market for trading debt instruments.

Derivative markets

markets for derivative instruments.

Direct search market

Buyers and sellers seek each other directly and transact directly.

DLOM (discount for lack of marketability)

an amount or percentage deducted from an equity interest to reflect lack of marketability.

Domestic market

Part of a nation's internal market representing the mechanisms for issuing and trading
securities of entities domiciled within that nation. Compare external market and foreign market.

EAFE index

The European, Australian, and Far East stock index, computed by Morgan Stanley.

Efficient capital market

A market in which new information is very quickly reflected accurately in share
prices.

efficient capital markets

Financial markets in which security prices rapidly reflect all relevant information about asset values.

Efficient Market Hypothesis

In general the hypothesis states that all relevant information is fully and
immediately reflected in a security's market price thereby assuming that an investor will obtain an equilibrium
rate of return. In other words, an investor should not expect to earn an abnormal return (above the market
return) through either technical analysis or fundamental analysis. Three forms of efficient market hypothesis
exist: weak form (stock prices reflect all information of past prices), semi-strong form (stock prices reflect all
publicly available information) and strong form (stock prices reflect all relevant information including insider
information).

Efficient Markets Hypothesis

The hypothesis that securities are typically in equilibrium--that they are fairly priced in the sense that the price reflects all publicly available information on the security.

Either-way market

In the interbank Eurodollar deposit market, an either-way market is one in which the bid
and offered rates are identical.

Emerging markets

The financial markets of developing economies.

Enhanced indexing

Also called indexing plus, an indexing strategy whose objective is to exceed or replicate
the total return performance of some predetermined index.

Equilibrium market price of risk

The slope of the capital market line (CML). Since the CML represents the
return offered to compensate for a perceived level of risk, each point on the line is a balanced market
condition, or equilibrium. The slope of the line determines the additional return needed to compensate for a
unit change in risk.

Equity market

Related:Stock market

Eurocurrency market

The money market for borrowing and lending currencies that are held in the form of
deposits in banks located outside the countries of the currencies issued as legal tender.

Excess return on the market portfolio

The difference between the return on the market portfolio and the
riskless rate.

External market

Also referred to as the international market, the offshore market, or, more popularly, the
Euromarket, the mechanism for trading securities that (1) at issuance are offered simultaneously to investors
in a number of countries and (2) are issued outside the jurisdiction of any single country. Related: internal
market

Fair market price

Amount at which an asset would change hands between two parties, both having
knowledge of the relevant facts. Also referred to as market price.

Fair market value

The price that an asset or service will fetch on the open market.

Fair Market Value

The highest price available, expressed in terms of cash, in an open and unrestricted market between informed, prudent parties acting at arm's length and under no compulsion to transact.

Farm Improvement and Marketing Cooperatives Loans Act

See here

Federal funds market

The market where banks can borrow or lend reserves, allowing banks temporarily
short of their required reserves to borrow reserves from banks that have excess reserves.

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)

Fed committee that makes decisions about open-market operations.

Financial market

An organized institutional structure or mechanism for creating and exchanging financial assets.

financial markets

markets in which financial assets are traded.

Fixed-income market

The market for trading bonds and preferred stock.

Foreign banking market

That portion of domestic bank loans supplied to foreigners for use abroad.

Foreign bond market

That portion of the domestic bond market that represents issues floated by foreign
companies to governments.

Foreign equity market

That portion of the domestic equity market that represents issues floated by foreign companies.

Foreign Exchange Market

A worldwide market in which one country's currency is bought or sold in exchange for another country's currency.

Foreign market

Part of a nation's internal market, representing the mechanisms for issuing and trading
securities of entities domiciled outside that nation. Compare external market and domestic market.

Foreign market beta

A measure of foreign market risk that is derived from the capital asset pricing model.

Forward Exchange Market

A market in which foreign exchange can be bought or sold for delivery (and payment) at some specified future date but at a price agreed upon now.

Forward market

A market in which participants agree to trade some commodity, security, or foreign
exchange at a fixed price for future delivery.

Fourth market

Direct trading in exchange-listed securities between investors without the use of a broker.

Futures market

A market in which contracts for future delivery of a commodity or a security are bought or sold.

Gray market

Purchases and sales of eurobonds that occur before the issue price is finally set.

Index

A series of numbers measuring percentage changes over time from a base period. The index number for the base period is by convention set equal to 100.
indexing
Linking money payments to a price index to hold the real value of those money payments constant.

index

An index is a statistical measure of a market based on the performance of a sample of securities in that market. For example, the S&P/TSX Composite index reflects the performance of the most actively traded stocks on The Toronto Stock Exchange.

Index arbitrage

An investment/trading strategy that exploits divergences between actual and theoretical
futures prices.

index funds

Mutual funds that aim to track the performance of a specific stock or bond index. This process is also referred to as indexing and passive management.

Index Portfolio Rebalancing Service (IPRS)

index Portfolio Rebalancing Service (IPRS) is a comprehensive investment service that can help increase potential returns while reducing volatility. Several portfolios are available, each with its own strategic balance of index Funds. IPRS maintains your personal asset allocation by monitoring and rebalancing your portfolio semi-annually.

Index warrant

A stock index option issued by either a corporate or sovereign entity as part of a security
offering, and guaranteed by an option clearing corporation.

Indexation

The adjustment of benefits to compensate for the effects of inflation.

Indexed bond

Bond whose payments are linked to an index, e.g. the consumer price index.

Indexing

A passive instrument strategy consisting of the construction of a portfolio of stocks designed to
track the total return performance of an index of stocks.

Intermarket sector

spread The spread between the interest rate offered in two sectors of the bond market for
issues of the same maturity.

Intermarket spread swaps

An exchange of one bond for another based on the manager's projection of a
realignment of spreads between sectors of the bond market.

Internal market

The mechanisms for issuing and trading securities within a nation, including its domestic
market and foreign market.
Compare: external market.

Internally efficient market

Operationally efficient market.

International market

Related: See external market.

International Monetary Market (IMM)

A division of the CME established in 1972 for trading financial
futures. Related: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Intramarket sector spread

The spread between two issues of the same maturity within a market sector. For
instance, the difference in interest rates offered for five-year industrial corporate bonds and five-year utility
corporate bonds.

Inverted market

A futures market in which the nearer months are selling at price premiums to the more
distant months. Related: premium.

Locked market

A market is locked if the bid = ask price. This can occur, for example, if the market is
brokered and brokerage is paid by one side only, the initiator of the transaction.

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