Head & Shoulders Pattern

This is a reversal signature pattern. It can be either negative (typical head and shoulders), or positive (inverted head and shoulders). A head and shoulders pattern is one of the more common and reliable patterns. It is comprised of a rally which ends a fairly extensive advance. It is followed by a reaction on less volume. This is the left shoulder. The head is comprised of a rally up on high volume exceeding the price of the previous rally. And the head is comprised of a reaction down to the previous bottom on light volume. The right shoulder is comprised of a rally up which fails to exceed the height of the head. It is then followed by a reaction down. If the right shoulder does not reach the height of the left shoulder, this indicates that the fall could be even more severe. This last reaction down should break a horizontal line drawn along the bottoms of the previous lows from the left shoulder and head. This is the point in which the major decline begins. The major difference between a head and shoulder top and bottom is that the bottom should have a large burst of activity on the breakout.

If, As & When Issued Trading

Occurs when new securities are posted for trading, and trading takes place before the closing (formal original issuance) of the prospectus. Also known as the “grey market”. The term is used only for listing of new securities, either on a listing of a new issuer, a supplemental listing, or an additional listing of existing listed securities. Settlement occurs on the closing of the prospectus. The time from posting for trading to closing is generally within a week.

Implied Volatility

A measurement of the volatility of a stock. Current price rather than historical price is used. Generally, if the price of an option rises without a corresponding rise in the underlying equity, implied volatility is considered to have risen.

Improving the Market

An order that either raises the bid price or lowers the offering price is said to be improving the market. The market improves because the spread between the bid and offer decreases.

Income Deposit Security (IDS)

An exchange-traded, fixed income-like instrument consisting of a subordinated debt security and a share of common stock packaged together to form a tax-efficient delivery mechanism to distribute an issuer’s free cash flow to its investors. Investors are paid dividends from the common share component and interest from the subordinated debt.

Income Stock

A security with a solid record of dividend payments and which offers a dividend yield higher than the average common stock.

Income Trust

Also called income funds. Income trusts are trusts structured to own debt and equity of an underlying entity, which carries on an active business, or has royalty revenues generated by the assets of an active business. By owning securities or assets of an underlying business, an income trust is structured to distribute cash flows, typically on a monthly basis, from those businesses to unit holders in a tax-efficient manner. The trust structure is typically utilized by mature, stable, sustainable, cash-generating businesses that require a limited amount of maintenance capital expenditures. An income trust is an exchange-traded equity investment that is similar to a common share. There are four categories of income trusts: business trusts; real estate investment trusts (REITs); energy trusts; and power, pipeline, and utility trusts.