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Glossary of business terms - A to Z

This article is more than 11 years old
Handy definitions of financial and economic jargon - from libor and quantitave easing to black swans and dead cat bounces

A

Accounts
Actively managed funds
Actuary
Administration
After-hours dealing
Allocation rate
Alternative investment market
Annual bonus
Annual equivalent rate (AER)
Annual general meeting (AGM)
Annual percentage rate (APR)
Annuity
Arbitrage
Asset stripping
Auditors
Average (arithmetic mean)
Average earnings growth

B

Balance of payments
Balance sheet
Bank of England
Bank of England's inflation report
Banker's draft
Base rate
Bear market
Bid-offer spread
Black swan
Blue chip
Bond
Bridging loan
British Retail Consortium
Broker
Budget
Buildings insurance
Bull market
Business cycle
Buy-out
Buy-to-let mortgage

C

CAC 40 index
Carry trade
CBI industrial trends
Capital account
Capital gain
Capital gains tax
Capital ratios - Tier 1 and Tier 2
CDOs
Central bank
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
Chartists
Chinese walls
City of London
Collateral
Commercial paper
Commodity
Competition Commission
Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
Consumer confidence
Contents insurance
Corporate raiders
Corporation tax
Cost-push inflation
Council tax
Credit crunch
Credit default swaps
Credit reference agency
Current account

D

Day trading
Dead cat bounce
Defined benefit pension
Defined contribution pension
Deflation
Demand-pull inflation
Demutualisation
Depression
Derivatives
Diminishing returns
Discount mortgage
Dividend
Dividend yield
Dow Jones industrial average

E

Ebit
Ebitda
Earnings per share (EPS)
Economic growth
Economies of scale
Elasticity
Endowment policy
Enterprise value
Equity
Equity derivatives
Ethical investment
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
European Central Bank
Externalities

F

Final salary pension scheme
Financial Services Authority
Financial year
Fiscal policy
Fiscal year
Fixed costs
Fixed-rate mortgage
Flexible mortgage
Foreign exchange (Forex)
Freehold
FTSE 100 index
FTSE 250
FTSE 350
FTSE All-Share
FTSE SmallCap
FTSE TechMARK
FTSE4Good
Futures

G

Gazumping
Gazundering
Gearing
Gilts
Glass-Steagall Act
Gold
Golden handcuffs
Golden handshake
Golden hello
Golden parachute
Golden rule
Golden share
Greenback
Grey knight
Gross domestic product (GDP)
Gross national product (GNP)
Ground rent
Group of Eight (G8)
Group of Seven (G7)
Guaranteed annuity rate
Guarantor

H

Half year
Hang Seng
Hedge funds
Home reversion plan
Horizontal merger
Hostile takeover
House price surveys
Hyperinflation

I

Income protection insurance
Income statement
Income tax
Independent financial adviser (IFA)
Individual savings account (Isa)
Industrial output
Inflation
Inflation measures
Inheritance tax
Insider trading
Institutional investor
Interest-only mortgage
Interim
Investment trust
Invisible hand
Irrational exuberance

J

Joint account

K

Keynesian economics

L

Laissez-faire
Leasehold
Leveraged buyout
Libor rate
Liquid asset
Lloyd's of London
Loan-to-value
London Stock Exchange

M

Macroeconomics
Managed fund
Manufacturing output
Margin
Median
Merger
Microeconomics
Minimum wage
Monetarism
Monetary policy committee
Money supply
Monopoly
Mortgage broker
Mortgage indemnity protection/guarantee
Mortgage term
Mutual
Mutual fund

N

Naked short-selling
Nasdaq
National Economic Council
NIESR
National debt
National insurance
Negative equity
Net asset value
New York Stock Exchange
Nikkei 225
Nominal interest rate
Nominal values
Non-executive director

O

Occupational pension scheme
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
Offshore account
Old Lady of Threadneedle Street
Oligopoly
Open-market operations
Operating profit/loss
Option
Ordinary residence
Ordinary share
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
Organisation of petroleum exporting countries (Opec)
Overdraft

P

Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
Percentage change
Permanent interest-bearing shares (Pibs)
Personal loan
Poison pill
Ponzi scheme
Portfolio
Pound
Poverty trap
Precipice bonds
Preference shares
Preliminary announcement (prelim)
Premium bonds
Price to earnings ratio (PE ratio)
Primary discount rate
Privatisation
Producer price index
Profit and loss account
Profit Participating Deferred Shares
Profits
Public company
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
Purchasing power parity

Q

Quantitative easing
Quantity theory of money
Quarterly report
Quota

R

Rally
Random walk theory
Rate of return
Ratings agencies
Real estate investment trusts
Real interest rate
Real values
Recession
Regressive tax
Regulatory News Service (RNS)
Repayment mortgage
Retail Prices Index (RPI)
Retirement age
Reverse takeover
Rights issue
Royal Mint

S

Savings account
Second-lien loan
Securities and Exchange Commission
Security
Self-certification mortgage
Self-invested personal pensions (Sipps)
Self-select Isa
Serious Fraud Office (SFO)
Share index
Share options
Shareholder
Short selling
SIVs
Smith, Adam
Soft commodities (softs)
Sonia
Special liquidity scheme
Split capital investment trusts
Spot market/spot price
Square Mile
Stagflation
Stakeholder pensions
Stamp duty (equities)
Stamp duty (housing)
Standard & Poor's 500 stock index
Stock
Stock exchange
Sub-prime loans
Supply and demand
Swaps

T

Takeover
Takeover Panel
Takeover bid
Tangible Common Equity Ratio
Tarp (troubled asset relief programme)
Tax haven
Teaser rate
Term assurance
Terminal bonus
Tracker funds
Trade balance
Treasury
Turnover

U

Underwriter (insurance)
Underwriter (shares)
Unemployment
Unit trust
Unquoted shares

V

Value added tax (VAT)
Variable rate mortgage
Vertical merger
Volume
Vulture funds

W

Wall Street
Weighted average
White knight
Whole-of-life policy
Windfall tax
Without-profits policy
Write down, write off

Y

Yen carry trade
Yield

Z

Zero interest rates
Zombie funds

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