Click over any alphabet to get a partial list of terms or click over 'Full List' to get complete list of terms on one page.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z  Full List
Face Value
The value that appears on the face of the scrip, same as nominal or par value of share/debentures

Fair market value
Fair market value is the price you would have to pay to buy a particular asset or service on the open market. The concept of fair market value assumes that both buyer and seller are reasonably well informed of market conditions, that neither is under undue pressure to buy or sell, and that neither intends to defraud the other.

Federal Reserve System
Established in 1913 to stabilize the U.S’s financial system, the Federal Reserve System, sometimes known as the Fed, is the central bank of the U.S. The Federal Reserve System includes 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, 25 Federal Reserve branch banks, all national banks, and some state banks. Member banks must meet the Fed's financial standards. Under the direction of a chairman, a seven-member Federal Reserve Board oversees the system and determines national monetary policy, with the goal of keeping the economy healthy and its currency stable. The Fed's Open Market Committee (FMOC) sets interest rates and establishes credit policies, and the New York Federal Reserve Bank puts those policies into action by buying and selling government securities.

Fiduciary
A fiduciary is an individual or organization legally responsible for holding or investing assets on behalf of someone else, usually called the beneficiary. The assets must be managed in the best interests of the beneficiary, not for the personal gain of the fiduciary. However, the term acting responsibly can be broadly interpreted, and may mean preserving principal to some fiduciaries and producing reasonable growth to others. Executors, trustees, guardians, directors of listed companies and agents with powers of attorney are examples of individuals with fiduciary responsibility.

Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
In United States, this independent, self-regulatory board establishes and interprets generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It operates under the principle that the economy in general and the financial services industry in particular work smoothly when credible, concise, and understandable financial information is available. The FASB periodically revises its rules to make sure corporations fully account for different kinds of income, avoid shifting income from one period to another, and properly categorize their income.

Financial planner
A financial planner evaluates your personal finances and helps you develop a financial plan to meet both your immediate needs and your long-term goals. In India, this service is at a nascent stage of development. In U.S., some, but not all, planners are certified by professional organizations. Among the most respected credentials are Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), and Personal Financial Specialist (PFS), a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who has passed an exam on financial planning. Fee-only financial planners charge by the hour or a flat fee for a specific service. They don't sell products or earn sales commissions. Other planners don't charge a fee but earn commissions on the products they sell. Still others both charge fees and earn commissions but may offset their fees by the amount of commission they earn.

Financial pyramid
Many investors structure their portfolios in the form of a financial pyramid. The base of the pyramid is made up of nonvolatile, liquid assets. The next level includes securities that provide both income and long-term capital growth. At the third level, a smaller portion of the portfolio is allocated to more volatile investments with higher potential returns and greater risk. And at the top level, the smallest percentage of the overall portfolio is invested in ventures that have the highest potential return but also pose the greatest investment risk. This strategic approach gives you the potential to realize significant returns if some of your speculative investments succeed without risking more than you can afford to lose. It's entirely different from a pyramid scheme, a scam that uses new investor money to pay large returns and repayment, to earlier investors.

Float
In investment terms, a float is the number of shares a company has issued and are available for trading. If there is a small float, share prices tend to be volatile, since one large trade could significantly affect the availability and therefore the price of these shares. If there is a large float, share prices tend to be more stable. In banking, the float is the period that elapses from the time you write a check until it clears your account. The same term also refers to the time lag between your depositing a check in the bank and the day the funds become available for use. For example, if you deposit a check on Monday, and you can withdraw the cash on Friday, the float is four days. When you write a check, the float works to your advantage. When you deposit a check, the float works to the bank's advantage. In a credit account, float is the amount of time between the date you charge a purchase and the date the payment is due.

Floating an issue
When a company offers new shares or bonds to the public, making the offering is called floating an issue. In the case of shares, the securities may be an initial public offering (IPO) or additional issues of a company that has already gone public. In that case, they're called secondary offerings.

Floating rate
A debt security whose interest rate is adjusted on a regular schedule to reflect changing money market rates is said to have a floating rate. These securities, are offered at a rate lower than comparable fixed-rate notes but help protect against declining prices in a period of rising interest rates. When a nation's currency moves up and down in value against the currency of another nation, the relationship between the two is described as a floating exchange rate. For example, the U.S. dollar is worth more Japanese yen in some periods and less in others. That movement is usually the result of what's happening in the economy of each of the nations and in the economies of their trading partners. A fixed exchange rate, on the other hand, means that two (or more) currencies, such as the U.S. dollar and the Bermuda dollar, always have the same relative value.

Floating Stock
The paid up equity capital of a company which normally participates in day to day trading.

Foreign exchange (FOREX)
Any type of financial instrument that is used to make payments between countries is considered foreign exchange. The list of instruments includes electronic transactions, paper currency, checks, and signed, written orders called bills of exchange.

Forward Contract
An agreement for the future delivery of the underlying commodity or security at a specified price at the end of a designated period of time. Unlike a future contract, a forward contract is traded over the counter and its terms are negotiated individually. There is no clearing house for forward contracts, and the secondary market may be non-existent or thin.

Forward price-to-earnings (forward P/E)
Share analysts calculate a forward price-to-earnings ratio (forward P/E) by dividing a share's current price by estimated future earnings per share. Some forward P/Es are calculated based on estimated earnings for the next four quarters. Others use actual earnings from the past two quarters with estimated earnings for the next two. Unlike a P/E ratio based exclusively on past performance, sometimes described as a trailing P/E, a forward P/E may help you evaluate the current price of a share in relation to what you can reasonably expect to happen in the near future. For example, a share whose current price seems high in relation to the last year's earnings may seem more reasonably priced if earnings estimates are higher for the next year. On the other hand, the expectation of lower future earnings may make the current price higher than you are willing to pay.

Front-end load
When you purchase shares or units of a mutual fund, you may have to pay a load, or sales charge. If you pay the charge when you make the purchase, it's called a front-end load.

Frontrunning
If you buy or sell a share, share option, or other investment because you know that an upcoming transaction is likely to affect the market price of the investment, you're frontrunning. Because frontrunning, sometimes known as forward trading, relies on information that isn't available to the general public, it's considered unethical and is illegal, in certain circumstances

Fundamental analysis
Fundamental analysis is one of two primary methods for analyzing a share's potential return. It involves assessing a corporation's financial history and current standing, including earnings, sales, and management, as well as the strength of the corporation's products or services in the marketplace. A fundamental analyst uses these details as well as the current state of the economy to assess whether the share is likely to increase or decrease in value in the short- and long-term, and whether its current price is an accurate reflection of its value.

Fungible
When two or more things are interchangeable, can be substituted for each other, or are of equal value, they are described as fungible. For example, shares issued by the same company are fungible at any point in time since they have the same value no matter who owns them. On the other hand, multiple classes of the same share may not be fungible. For example, in some markets citizens of the country are eligible to buy one class of share and non-citizens a different class. Typically, the shares have different prices and may not be exchanged for each other.

Futures Contract
An exchange traded contract generally calling for delivery of a specified amount of a particular financial instrument at a fixed date in the future. Contracts are highly standardized and traders need only agree on the price and number of contracts traded.