Rather than simply acting as an agent, an investment bank or other underwriters directly purchase securities from the issuer, usually at a discount to the market price, and then sells them to investors.
Archives
Book
An electronic record of all pending buy and sell orders for a particular stock.
Book to Bill Ratio
The ratio of a company’s new orders to shipments in the same period. A book to bill ratio greater than 1.0 indicates sales growth. Ratios less than 1.0 reflect shrinking sales. Used mostly in the semiconductor industry.
Booked Orders
Orders that do not trade immediately upon entry. These orders are also known as outstanding orders.
Blue Chips
Large, stabile companies.
Board Lot
A standard trading unit as defined in UMIR (Universal Market Integrity Rules). The board lot size of a security on Toronto Stock Exchange or TSX Venture Exchange depends on the trading price of the security, as follows: Trading price per unit is less than $0.10 – board lot size is 1,000 units Trading price per unit is $0.10 to $0.99 – board lot size is 500 units Trading price per unit is $1.00 or more – board lot size is 100 units
Black-Scholes Model
A mathematical model used to calculate the theoretical price of an option.
Block Trade
A single purchase or sale of a stock involving 10,000 or more shares.
Blue Chip Stocks
Stocks of leading and nationally known companies that offer a record of continuous dividend payments and other strong investment qualities.
Bid Size
The aggregate size in board lots of the most recent bid to buy a particular security.