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Sales 3-Year Growth Rate:

The unweighted average of the growth rate for sales or revenues over the last 3 years for a given corporation.

Sales/Price Ratio:

The last fiscal year's sales or revenues per share divided by the latest price per share for a given corporation.

Sales:

The total sales or revenues for the indicated year for a given security.

Sallie Mae:

Nickname for the Student Loan Marketing Association and the securities it issues.

Same-Day Substitution:

The buying of one security and the selling of another security, usually of equal value, on the same day.

Secondary Offerings:

When a company sells more stock to the market, after its initial public offering, to raise additional capital to finance its operations.

Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO):

SRO's are the principal means contemplated by federal law for the enforcement of fair, ethical, and efficient practices in the securities and commodities futures industries.

Selling Short:

An investment strategy in which the investor sells a stock he or she does not own with the intention of buying it back later at a lower price.

Series:

All option contracts of the same class that also have the same unit of trade, expiration date, and exercise price.

Settlement:

When payment is made and the securities are delivered for a securities transaction.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):

Agency of the federal government responsible for monitoring and regulating the securities industry. Created in 1934 by an act of Congress, its purpose is to protect investor from misconduct in the securities industry and to promote full disclosure to the investing public.

Secondary Market:

A market where securities are bought and sold after their initial purchase by public investors.

Sector Fund:

A mutual fund whose investment objective is to capitalize on equities belonging to a specific industry such as biotechnology or telecommunications. Also called specialized or specialty funds.

Sector Index:

An index which measures the performance of a narrow market segment, such as biotechnology or small capitalization stocks.

Secured Put/Cash-Secured Put:

An option strategy in which a put option is written against a sufficient amount of cash (or T-bills) to pay for the stock purchase if the short option is assigned.

Security:

An investment that is represented by a negotiable document issued by a corporation or governmental entity for the purpose of raising capital. The two main categories are; equity (claims against the earnings of a company by shareholders - includes stocks and mutual funds) and debt (claims against the assets of a company or government, includes bonds, notes, bills, and commercial paper). Some securities have hybrid characteristics such as preferred and convertible bonds. Securities are also classified by whether they are taxable, or tax-exempt. Most securities can be identified by unique ID numbers called CUSIP numbers or by symbols.

Sell Out:

A liquidation procedure, in a margin account, initiated to bring the margin to the requested level when a customer fails to produce additional equity after a margin call has been issued.

Send Trade:

This will direct your order to us for review. If approved, it will be immediately directed to the appropriate exchange for execution.

Series E Bond:

U.S. Government savings bond issued from 1941 to 1979.

Series EE Bond:

U.S. Government savings bond with a 10-year maturity and face value of $50 to $10,000. It has properties of a zero coupon bond since it is purchased at a discount

Series HH Bond:

U.S. Government savings bond available in denominations of $500 to $10,000 in exchange for Series E or EE bonds.

Series of Options:

Option contracts on the same class having the same strike price and expiration month. For example, all XYZ April 55 calls constitute a series.

Settlement Date:

Date on which an executed order must settled. Buyers pay for securities with cash, and sellers deliver certificates of sold securities.

Settlement Price:

The official price at the end of a trading session. For listed options, this price is established by The Options Clearing Corporation and is used to determine changes in account equity, margin requirements and for other purposes. See also MARK-TO-MARKET.

Settlement:

The transfer of the security (for the seller) or cash (for the buyer) in order to complete a security transaction.

Short Position (Options):

A position wherein a person's interest in a particular series of options is as a net writer (i.e., the number of contracts sold exceeds the number of contracts bought).

Short Sale:

The sale of securities that are not owned or which are not intended for delivery. The short seller "borrows" the stock to make delivery with the intent to buy it back at a later date at a lower price.

SIC:

Abbreviation for Standard Industrial Classification. Each four-digit code represents a unique business activity.

Short Account:

A margin account through which a client can sell stock, which he does not own. Sale proceeds are kept in the short account and marked to the market at the close of each business day to determine the account's credit balance.

Short Balance:

Total proceeds from all short open lots minus all net amounts paid for covered trades in a given account.

Short Option Position:

The position of an option writer, which represents an obligation on the part of the option's writer to meet the terms of the option if it is exercised by its owner. The writer can terminate this obligation by buying back (cover or close) the position with a closing purchase transaction.

Short Sell:

A trade where the investor borrows a security from the broker, sells it at market price, and receives the proceeds of the sale less commission. The short seller then hopes that the security will go down in price so he or she can buy to cover the security back and return it to the broker. However, if the price goes up, the seller will eventually receive a margin call and be expected to either buy at current price and take the loss or add more cash or marginal securities to his account, and be vulnerable to a further short squeeze. When you are long in a security, the worst you can do is lose an amount equal to the cost of the security. When you are short, theoretically, your risk is unlimited as a security's price can keep rising forever. The proceeds of the short sale less commissions are deposited in ones short account, which is subject to margin requirements and may not be available upon settlement for withdrawal.

Short Stock Position:

A strategy that profits from a stock price decline. It is initiated by borrowing stock from a broker-dealer and selling it in the open market. This strategy is closed (covered) at a later date by buying back the stock and returning it to the lending broker-dealer.

Short Value:

The latest value of all short investments (or short open lots) in a given account. See also SHORT SELL.

Small Cap Index:

An index measuring a basket of small-capitalization stocks (companies whose revenues are typically under $500 million).

Special Subscription:

A form of margin transaction in which a client can obtain advantageous credit to acquire a margin security through the exercise of a right or warrant.

Specialist:

A participant of the exchange who trades for his or her firm's or his or her own account and is responsible for maintaining a fair and orderly market in whatever issue has been allocated to him or her by providing bid and ask markets. Specialists are also responsible for orders entrusted to them for execution.

Specialist / Specialist Group:

One or more exchange members whose function is to maintain a fair and orderly market in a given stock or a given class of options. This is accomplished by managing the limit order book and making bids and offers for his/her/their own account in the absence of opposite market side orders. See also MARKET MAKER.

Spot Market:

See CASH MARKET.

Spin-off:

When a corporation divides its assets, resulting in an independent company. Shares of the new company are issued to stockholders of the original corporation.

Spread/Spread Order:

A position consisting of two parts, each of which alone would profit from opposite directional price moves. As orders, these opposite parts are entered and executed simultaneously in the hope of limiting risk, or benefiting from a change of price relationship between the two parts. See also LEG.

Standard & Poor's Corporation (S&P):

A company that rates various securities and publishes a variety of financial and investment reports in addition to producing and tracking the S&P indexes.

S&P 500® 200-Day Moving Average:

Value is calculated by averaging all the closing values of the S&P 500® for the last 200 days.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500®):

Composed of 500 stocks, it is a value weighted index where the stocks with the highest value (number of shares outstanding multiplied by the price per share) have the greatest affect on the index. It is a broader representation of the market than the Dow Jones Industrial Average but both move in tandem most of the time and both are frequently used to gauge the health or direction of the stock market as a whole.

Standard & Poor's 100 (S&P 100®):

A subset of the S&P 500® index composed of one hundred blue chip stocks. Options based on this index (OEX®) are very popular with some investors.

Standard & Poor's 500 Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio:

The latest S&P 500® value divided by the last 4 quarters earnings per share. Reading above 24 and below 8 is considered sell and buy signals respectively by some.

Standard & Poor's 500 Yield:

The sum of dividends of all stocks in the S&P 500® divided by the latest value of the S&P 500®.

Standard & Poor's Indices:

Standard & Poor's Indices are broad-based measures of changes in stock market conditions based on the performance of widely held common stocks

Standard & Poor's Mid Cap 400:

An index comprised of 400 mid-sized corporations.

Standard & Poor's Rank:

The computerized ranking system for stocks based on the last 10 years of dividend and earnings data of each company listed: A+ = Highest; C = Lowest; D = Company undergoing reorganization; LIQ = Company in liquidation, NR = No ranking due to insufficient data.

Standard Deviation:

A statistical measure of price fluctuation. One use of the standard deviation is to measure how stock price movements are distributed about the mean. See also VOLATILITY.

Statement of Cash Flows:

A financial statement showing a firm's cash receipts and cash payments during a specified period.

Stock Dividend:

A dividend paid in shares of stock rather than cash. See also SPIN-OFF.

Stock Power:

Power of attorney form by which ownership of a security can be transferred from the registered owner to another party.

Stock Split:

An increase in the number of outstanding shares by a corporation, through the issuance of a set number of shares to a shareholder for a set number of shares that the shareholder already owns. For example, a corporation might declare a "2-for-1 stock split." This means that for every share of stock an investor owns, he/she will be given another, thus owning 2 shares instead of 1. There will be a corresponding reduction in equity value per share. In this case, the new shares (post-split) will be worth one-half their previous value but the investor will own twice as many shares.

Stop & Stop Limit Orders:

'Stop' and 'Stop Limit' orders placed on options are activated when there is a trade at that price on the specific exchange on which the order is located. If selling, an order can also be activated if the quote on the offer -- on the specific exchange on which the order is located -- matches or is below the 'Stop' or 'Stop Limit' price. Conversely, a 'Stop' or 'Stop Limit' order to buy can also be activated if the quote on the bid, on the specific exchange on which the order is located, matches or is above the 'Stop' or 'Stop Limit' price.

Straddle:

A trading position involving puts and calls on a one-to-one basis in which the puts and calls have the same strike price, expiration, and underlying stock. A long straddle is when both options are owned and a short straddle is when both options are written. Example: A long straddle might be buying 1 XYZ Dec 60 call, and buying 1 XYZ Dec 60 put.

Strangle:

An option strategy that refers to writing a call and a put with different strike prices on the same underlying security.

Strategy, 90/10:

Conservative option strategy in which an investor buys Treasury bills (or other liquid assets) with 90 percent of his or her funds, and buys call options (or put options or a mixture of both) with the balance. The proportions of this strategy are subject to change based on prevailing interest rates.

Strike/Strike Price:

The price at which the owner of an option can purchase (call) or sell (put) the underlying stock. Used interchangeably with striking price, strike, or exercise price.

Strike Price Interval:

The normal price differential between option strike prices. Equity options generally have $2.50 strike price intervals (if the underlying stock price is below $25), $5.00 intervals (from $25 to $200), and $10 intervals (above $200). LEAPS® generally start with one at-the-money, one in-the-money, and one out-of-the-money strike price. The latter two are usually set 20%-25% away from the former.

Subordinated Debenture:

A debenture whose claim to interest and principal of the corporation comes after those of regular debentures and other debt securities.

Suitability:

A requirement that any investing strategy fall within the financial means and investment objectives of an investor or trader. Eligibility to employ certain trading strategies is determined by the information included in your application.

Support:

A term used in technical analysis to describe a price area at which falling prices are expected to stop or meet increased buying activity. This analysis is based on previous price behavior of the stock.

Symbol:

The official trading symbol used in actual transactions for stocks, options, mutual funds, or indices. A symbol uses letters, numbers, or a combination of the two. If the symbol contains any numbers, it means that it is a mutual fund that has not been assigned an actual trading symbol by NASDAQ and there is no quote service on that fund. For any stock traded on the NYSE, AMEX, or OTC, the symbol is the official trading symbol used in actual transactions. Preferred stock has a dash followed by the preferred stock class. For example, Company B Class A is displayed as BBB-A.

Synthetic Asset:

A value that is artificially created involving two or more instruments that has the same risk-reward profile as a strategy involving only one instrument. The following list summarizes the six primary synthetic positions.

Synthetic Long Call:

A long stock position hedged delta neutral with a long put position.

Synthetic Long Put:

A short stock position hedged delta neutral with a long call position

Synthetic Long Stock:

A long call position hedged delta neutral with a short put position.

Synthetic Short Call:

A short stock position hedged delta neutral with a short put position.

Synthetic Short Put:

A long stock hedged delta neutral with a short call position

Synthetic Short Stock:

A short call position hedged delta neutral with a long put position.