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Call Money
The unpaid installment of the share capital of a company, which a shareholder is called upon to pay.

Call option
Buying a call option gives you the right to buy a fixed quantity of the underlying investment at a specified price, called the strike price, within a specified time period. For example, you might buy a call option on 100 shares of a share if you expect the market price to increase but prefer not to tie up your money by making the actual purchase. If the price of the share goes up, you can exercise the option and buy at less than the market price. But if the price doesn't change or it drops, you can simply let the option expire. In contrast, you can sell a call option, which is known as writing a call. That gives the buyer the right to buy the underlying investment from you at the strike price before the option expires. If you write a call, you are obliged to sell if the option is exercised.

Cap
A cap is a ceiling, or the highest level to which something can go. For example, an interest rate cap limits the amount by which an interest rate can be increased over a specific period of time.

Capital gain
When you sell an asset at a higher price than you paid for it, the difference is your capital gain. If you own the share for more than a year before selling it, you have a long-term capital gain. If you hold the share for less than a year, you have a short-term capital gain.

Capital gains tax
A capital gains tax is due on profits you realize on the sale of a capital asset, such as share, bonds, or real estate. Long-term gains, on assets you own more than a year, are generally taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income while short-term gains are taxed at your regular rate.

Capital loss
When you sell an asset for less than you paid for it, the difference between the two prices is your capital loss.

Cash flow
Cash flow is a measure of changes in a company's cash account during an accounting period (usually a month, quarter, or year), specifically its cash income minus the cash payments it makes. You can calculate whether your cash flow is positive or negative the same way you would a company's: Subtract the money you receive (from wages, tips, investments and other income) from the money you spend on expenses (such as housing, utilities, transportation, and other costs). If there's money left over, your cash flow is positive. If you spend more than you have coming in, it's negative.

Central bank
Most countries have a central bank, which issues the country's currency, holds the reserve deposits of other banks in that country, and either initiates or carries out the country's monetary policy, including keeping tabs on the money supply. In India, Reserve Bank of India, is the central bank. In contrast,in the U.S., the 12 regional banks that make up the Federal Reserve System act as the central bank. This structure was deliberately developed to ensure that no single region of the country could control economic decision making. Circuit bre

Circuit breaker
After the share market crash of 1987 in U.S., share and commodities exchanges established a system of trigger-point rules, known as circuit breakers, to temporarily restrict trading in shares, share options, and share index futures when prices fall too far, too fast. Circuit breakers have been established in Indian securities market also. Generally, circuit breakers are put up for individual shares and the manner of restrictions vary, depending on the rules framed from time to time. Currently, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is halted when the market, measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), drops 10% any time before 2:30 p.m., sooner if the drop is 20%. But trading could resume, depending on the time of day the loss occurs. However, if the DJIA drops 30% at any point in the day, trading ends for the day. The actual number of points the DJIA would need to drop to hit the trigger is set four times a year, at the end of each quarter, based on the average value of the DJIA in the previous month.

Clean Float
Price of securities is permitted to vary in line with the market forces, in absence of official intervention; this is termed as clean float.

Clearing House/corporation
Clearing house is in the Stock Exchange acting as a central agency for effecting delivery and settlement of the contacts between all the members, of that Exchange. Clearing corporation does the same activities but it is independent of the Exchange.

Closing price
The closing price of a share, bond, option, or futures contract is the last trading price before the exchange or market on which it is traded closes for the day. However, the opening price at the start of the next trading day may be different from the closing price the day before. When a security is valued as part of an estate or charitable gift, its value is normally set at the closing price on the day of the valuation of the estate.

Coercive Tender Offer
A tender offer that exerts pressure on target shareholders to tender early. This could be in form of preferential compensation for shareholders tendering early, etc. Changes in securities laws have limited the effectiveness of such tender offers.

Collateral
Assets with monetary value, such as shares, bonds, or real estate, that are used to guarantee a loan are considered collateral. If the borrower defaults and fails to fulfill the terms of the loan agreement, the collateral, or some portion of it, becomes the property of the lender

Compound interest
When the interest you earn on an investment is added to form the new base on which future interest is calculated, it is said to be compound interest. Without compounding, you earn simple interest, and your investment doesn't grow as quickly.

Contract Month
The month in which futures contracts may be settled by making or accepting delivery.

Contract Note
A note issued by a broker to his client with regard to his order, stating the number of securities bought or sold in the market along with the rate, time and date of contract.

Contrarian
An investor who marches to a different drummer is sometimes described as a contrarian. In other words, if most investors are buying shares, a contrarian is concentrating on building a bond portfolio or putting more money into cash investments. This approach is based, in part, on the idea that if everybody expects something to happen, it probably won't. In addition, the contrarian believes that if other investors are fully committed to a certain type of investment, they're not likely to have cash available if a better one comes along. But the contrarian would. Contrarian mutual funds use this approach as their investment strategy, concentrating on building a portfolio of out-of-favor (and therefore often undervalued) investments.

Convertible bond
Convertible bonds are corporate bonds that you can convert into equity share of the company that issues them rather than redeeming them for cash when they mature. The details governing the conversion, such as the price of the share, are set when the bonds are issued. These bonds have a double appeal for investors concerned about volatility and high share prices: Their prices go up if share prices go up but usually drop less than the underlying share price if that price should fall. And while convertible bonds typically provide lower yields than regular bonds, they generally provide higher yields than the underlying share.

Convertible Preference Shares
These preference shares may be converted into equity shares after a specified time period as mentioned in the offer document.

Corporate bond
Corporate bonds are debt securities issued by publicly held corporations to raise money for expansion or other business needs.

Correction
A correction is a drop — usually a sudden and substantial one of 10% or more — in the price of an individual share, bond, commodity, index, or the market as a whole. Market analysts anticipate market corrections when security prices are high in relation to company earnings and other indicators of economic health. When a market correction is greater than 10% and the prices do not begin to recover promptly, some analysts point to the correction as the beginning of a bear market.

Coupon rate
The coupon rate is the interest rate that the issuer of a bond or other debt security promises to pay during the term of a loan. For example, a bond that is paying 6% annual interest has a coupon rate of 6%.

Coupons
Tokens for payment of interest attached to bearer securities.

Crash
A crash is a sudden, steep drop in share prices. The downward spiral is intensified as more and more investors, seeing the bottom falling out of the market, try to sell their holdings before these investments lose all their value.

Credit rating
A corporation's credit rating is an assessment of whether it will be able to meet its obligations to bond holders and other investors. Credit rating systems for corporations generally range from AAA or Aaa at the high end to D (for default) at the low end.

Creditor
A person or company who provides credit to another person or company functions as a creditor. For example, if you take out a mortgage or car loan at your bank, then the bank is your creditor. But if you buy a bond issued by a company or other institution, you are the creditor because the money you pay to buy the bond is actually a loan to the issuer.

Cum
Means ‘with’ or ‘including’. A cum price includes the right to any declared dividend or bonus.

Cumulative Convertible Preference Shares
A type of preference shares where the dividend payable on the same accumulates, if not paid. After a specified date, these shares will be converted into equity capital of the company.

Cumulative Preference Shares
A type of preference shares on which dividend accumulates, if not paid. All arrears of preference dividend have to be paid out before paying dividend on equity shares.

Current yield
Expressed as a percentage, current yield is a measure of your actual rate of return on an investment. If you own a bond, current yield is calculated by dividing the coupon rate by the purchase price and multiplying by 1,000.

Cyclical share
Cyclical shares tend to rise in value during an upturn in the economy and fall during a downturn. They usually include shares in industries that flourish in good times, including airlines, automobiles, and travel and leisure. In contrast, shares in industries that provide necessities such as food, electricity, gas, and health care products, or those that provide services that reduce the expenses of other companies, tend to be more price-stable. Shares of such companies are sometimes called countercyclicals.