Definition of Scalp

Scalp

To trade for small gains. It normally involves establishing and liquidating a position quickly, usually
within the same day.

Average collection period, or days' receivables

The ratio of accounts receivables to sales, or the total
amount of credit extended per dollar of daily sales (average AR/sales * 365).

Average (across-day) measures

An estimation of price that uses the average or representative price of a
large number of trades.

Balance of trade

Net flow of goods (exports minus imports) between countries.

Basket trades

Related: Program trades.

Block trade

A large trading order, defined on the New York Stock Exchange as an order that consists of
10,000 shares of a given stock or a total market value of $200,000 or more.

Capital gains yield

The price change portion of a stock's return.

Changes in Financial Position

Sources of funds internally provided from operations that alter a company's
cash flow position: depreciation, deferred taxes, other sources, and capital expenditures.

Clear a position

To eliminate a long or short position, leaving no ownership or obligation.

Composition

Voluntary arrangement to restructure a firm's debt, under which payment is reduced.

Counter trade

The exchange of goods for other goods rather than for cash; barter.

Day order

An order to buy or sell stock that automatically expires if it can't be executed on the day it is entered.

Day trading

Refers to establishing and liquidating the same position or positions within one day's trading.

Days in receivables

Average collection period.

Days' sales in inventory ratio

The average number of days' worth of sales that is held in inventory.

Days' sales outstanding

Average collection period.

First notice day

The first day, varying by contracts and exchanges, on which notices of intent to deliver
actual financial instruments or physical commodities against futures are authorized.

Flat trades

1) A bond in default trades flat; that is, the price quoted covers both principal and unpaid,
accrued interest.
2) Any security that trades without accrued interest or at a price that includes accrued
interest is said to trade flat.

Floor trader

A member who generally trades only for his own account, for an account controlled by him or
who has such a trade made for him. Also referred to as a "local".

Forward trade

A transaction in which the settlement will occur on a specified date in the future at a price
agreed upon the trade date.

Informationless trades

trades that are the result of either a reallocation of wealth or an implementation of an
investment strategy that only utilizes existing information.

Information-motivated trades

trades in which an investor believes he or she possesses pertinent
information not currently reflected in the stock's price.

Last trading day

The final day under an exchange's rules during which trading may take place in a particular
futures or options contract. Contracts outstanding at the end of the last trading day must be settled by delivery
of underlying physical commodities or financial instruments, or by agreement for monetary settlement
depending upon futures contract specifications.

Long position

An options position where a person has executed one or more option trades where the net
result is that they are an "owner" or holder of options (i. e. the number of contracts bought exceeds the
number of contracts sold).
Occurs when an individual owns securities. An owner of 1,000 shares of stock is said to be "Long the stock."
Related: Short position

Limitation on asset dispositions

A bond covenant that restricts in some way a firm's ability to sell major assets.

Liquidating dividend

Payment by a firm to its owners from capital rather than from earnings.

Modigliani and Miller Proposition I

A proposition by Modigliani and Miller which states that a firm cannot
change the total value of its outstanding securities by changing its capital structure proportions. Also called
the irrelevance proposition.

Modigliani and Miller Proposition II

A proposition by Modigliani and Miller which states that the cost of
equity is a linear function of the firm's debt-equity-ratio.

Notice day

A day on which notices of intent to deliver pertaining to a specified delivery month may be
issued. Related: delivery notice.

Open position

A net long or short position whose value will change with a change in prices.

Position

A market commitment; the number of contracts bought or sold for which no offsetting transaction
has been entered into. The buyer of a commodity is said to have a long position and the seller of a commodity
is said to have a short position . Related: open contracts

Position diagram

Diagram showing the possible payoffs from a derivative investment.

Posttrade benchmarks

Prices after the decision to trade.

Pre-trade benchmarks

Prices occurring before or at the decision to trade.

Program trades

Also called basket trades, orders requiring the execution of trades in a large number of
different stocks at as near the same time as possible. Related: block trade

Publicly traded assets

Assets that can be traded in a public market, such as the stock market.

Registered trader

A member of the exchange who executes frequent trades for his or her own account.

Reversing trade

Entering the opposite side of a currently held futures position to close out the position.

Self-liquidating loan

Loan to finance current assets, The sale of the current assets provides the cash to repay
the loan.

Short position

Occurs when a person sells stocks he or she does not yet own. Shares must be borrowed,
before the sale, to make "good delivery" to the buyer. Eventually, the shares must be bought to close out the
transaction. This technique is used when an investor believes the stock price will go down.

Skip-day settlement

The trade is settled one business day beyond what is normal.

Small-firm effect

The tendency of small firms (in terms of total market capitalization) to outperform the
stock market (consisting of both large and small firms).

Small issues exemption

Securities issues that involve less than $1.5 million are not required to file a
registration statement with the SEC. Instead, they are governed by Regulation A, for which only a brief
offering statement is needed.

Spot trade

The purchase and sale of a foreign currency, commodity, or other item for immediate delivery.

Take a position

To buy or sell short; that is, to have some amount that is owned or owed on an asset or
derivative security.

Terms of trade

The weighted average of a nation's export prices relative to its import prices.

Thinly traded

Infrequently traded.

Trade

A verbal (or electronic) transaction involving one party buying a security from another party. Once a
trade is consummated, it is considered "done" or final. Settlement occurs 1-5 business days later.

Trade acceptance

Written demand that has been accepted by an industrial company to pay a given sum at a future date.
Related: banker's acceptance.

Trade credit

Credit granted by a firm to another firm for the purchase of goods or services.

Trade date

In an interest rate swap, the date that the counterparties commit to the swap. Also, the date on
which a trade occurs. trades generally settle (are paid for) 1-5 business days after a trade date. With stocks,
settlement is generally 3 business days after the trade.

Trade debt

Accounts payable.

Trade draft

A draft addressed to a commercial enterprise. See:draft.

Trade on top of

trade at a narrow or no spread in basis points relative to some other bond yield, usually
Treasury bonds.

Trade house

A firm which deals in actual commodities.

Traders

Persons who take positions in securities and their derivatives with the objective of making profits.
traders can make markets by trading the flow. When they do that, their objective is to earn the bid/ask spread.
traders can also be of the sort who take proprietary positions whereby they seek to profit from the directional
movement of prices or spread positions.

Uptick trade

Related:Tick-test rules

NUMBER OF DAYS SALES IN RECEIVABLES

(also called average collection period). The number of days of net sales that are tied up in credit sales (accounts receivable) that haven’t been collected yet.

extraordinary gains and losses

No pun intended, but these types of gains
and losses are extraordinarily important to understand. These are nonrecurring,
onetime, unusual, nonoperating gains or losses that are
recorded by a business during the period. The amount of each of these
gains or losses, net of the income tax effect, is reported separately in the
income statement. Net income is reported before and after these gains
and losses. These gains and losses should not be recorded very often, but
in fact many businesses record them every other year or so, causing
much consternation to investors. In addition to evaluating the regular
stream of sales and expenses that produce operating profit, investors
also have to factor into their profit performance analysis the perturbations
of these irregular gains and losses reported by a business.

dollar days (of inventory)

a measurement of the value of inventory for the time that inventory is held

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

an agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States establishing the North American Free trade Zone, with a resulting reduction in trade barriers

World Trade Organization (WTO)

the arbiter of global trade that was created in 1995 under the General Agreement on Tariffs and trade; each signatory country has one
vote in trade disputes

Long position

Outright ownership of a security or financial instrument. The
owner expects the price to rise in order to make a profit on some future sale.

Short sale, short position

The sale of a security or financial instrument not
owned, in anticipation of a price decline and making a profit by purchasing the
instrument later at a lower price, and then delivering the instrument to
complete the sale. See Long position.

long position

Purchase of an investment.

MM dividend-irrelevance proposition

Theory that under ideal conditions, the value of the firm is unaffected by dividend policy.

MM's proposition I (debt irrelevance proposition)

The value of a firm is unaffected by its capital structure.

MM's proposition II

The required rate of return on equity increases as the firm’s debt-equity ratio increases.

short position

The sale of an investment, particularly by someone who does not yet own it.

trade-off theory

Debt levels are chosen to balance interest tax shields against the costs of financial distress.

Balance of Merchandise Trade

The difference between exports and imports of goods.

Balance of Trade

See balance of merchandise trade.

Fallacy of Composition

The incorrect conclusion that something that is true for an individual is necessarily true for the economy as a whole.

Free Trade

The absence of any government restrictions, such as tariffs or quotas, on imports or exports.

Policy-Ineffectiveness Proposition

Theory that anticipated policy has no effect on output.

Terms of Trade

The quantity of imports that can be obtained for a unit of exports, measured by the ratio of an export price index to an import price index.

Trade Deficit

Deficit on the balance of merchandise trade.

Accounts Payable Days (A/P Days)

The number of days it would take to pay the ending balance
in accounts payable at the average rate of cost of goods sold per day. Calculated by dividing
accounts payable by cost of goods sold per day, which is cost of goods sold divided by 365.

Accounts Receivable Days (A/R Days)

The number of days it would take to collect the ending
balance in accounts receivable at the year's average rate of revenue per day. Calculated as
accounts receivable divided by revenue per day (revenue divided by 365).

Capitalized Cost An expenditure or accrual that is reported as an asset to be amortized against

future-period revenue.

Days Statistics

Measures the number days' worth of sales in accounts receivable (accounts receivable
days) or days' worth of sales at cost in inventory (inventory days). Sharp increases in these measures
might indicate that the receivables are not collectible and that the inventory is not salable.

Inventory Days

The number of days it would take to sell the ending balance in inventory at the
average rate of cost of goods sold per day. Calculated by dividing inventory by cost of goods sold
per day, which is cost of goods sold divided by 365.

Realized Gains and Losses

Increases or decreases in the fair value of an asset or a liability that
are realized through sale or settlement.

Trade Loading

A term used for channel stuffing in the domestic tobacco industry.

Deemed Disposition

Under certain circumstances, taxation rules assume that a transfer of property has occurred, even though there has not been an actual purchase or sale. This could happen upon death or transfer of ownership.

Financial Position

Status of a firm's assets, liabilities, and equity accounts as of a certain time, as shown in its financial statement.

High-Risk Small Business

Firm viewed as being particularly subject to risk from an investors perspective.

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