Best-Efforts Underwriting

A type of underwriting where the investment firm acts as an agent. The firm agrees to use its best efforts to sell the new issue of securities, but does not guarantee the issuing company that the securities to be issued will be sold.

Better-Price-Limit Orders

An order with a limit price better than the best price on the opposite side of the market. A better-priced buy order has a limit price higher than the best offering. A better-priced sell order has a limit price lower than the best bid. These are available only at the opening.

Bid

The highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a stock. When combined with the ask price information, it forms the basis of a stock quote.

Bear Market

A longer period of time when prices in the market are generally declining. Bear markets typically are much shorter-lived than bull markets, but are usually more severe given the time period involved. We try to play corrections and bear markets to the downside as they can generate tremendous returns in a short time period.

Bear Trap

A false signal which indicates that the rising trend of a stock or index has reversed when in fact it has not.

Backtesting

Determining the results of using particular screening criteria, as if the screen had been run at some point back in time, and the selected stocks or funds were held for a predetermined time period and then sold. 

Balance Sheet

A financial statement listing a company’s assets (what it owns) and liabilities (what it owes) as of a specific date, usually the last day of a company’s fiscal quarter. The difference between a company’s assets and liabilities is termed its net worth or shareholder’s equity. 

Basing

This occurs when a stock trades sideways in various signature patterns (e.g., cup with handle, saucer base, flat base) while it is under accumulation prior to its next move up. We look for these stocks as they can lead to explosive moves out of the bases.

Averaging Down

Buying more of a security at a price that is lower than the price paid for the initial investment. The aim of averaging down is to reduce the average cost per unit of the investment.