Archives

Orders placed before the market opens to buy or sell shares of stocks when their options expire. These orders are guaranteed a complete fill at the opening price to offset expiring options. They must be ordered between 4:15 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday before the third Friday of each month.

A seller of an option contract who does not own a position in the underlying security.

The difference between the previous day’s closing price and the last traded price.

This is a company’s market capitalization. To calculate the market cap, simply multiply the issued and outstanding shares by the current selling price.

Latest stock price multiplied by number of shares outstanding (shares issued).

This is a market order where the investor gives the floor trader the discretion to execute the order when he feels it is best. If the floor trader feels that the market will decline, he may hold the order to try to get a better fill. This order may not get filled.

This is an order to be executed at the market price when the market closes. Institutions frequently use this method to buy or sell large numbers of shares, e.g., when a stock is to be added or deleted from an index and the institution must buy or sell the stock for an index fund. These orders are also used on day trades in order to close a position at the end of the session regardless of the price. It can also be used when you want to exit a position that day, but do not want to cut off a stock that is running during the day-place a market on close order and your trade will be executed at the closing price. As with all market orders, there is risk in that the stock that was rising and hit a target you would be happy at selling at, but then falls right before the close.

Similar to a real estate investment trust (REIT), except MLPs are not limited to a specific industry compared to REITs which must invest in real estate. Both types trade like stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, and both types must distribute most of their earnings in the form of dividends. 

A change in an issuer’s affairs that could have a significant effect on the market value of its securities, such as a change in the nature of the business or control of the issuer. Under the principle of continuous disclosure, a listed issuer must issue a news release and report to the applicable self-regulatory organization as soon as a material change occurs.

The average market capitalization of stocks owned by a mutual fund.