Glossary

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Short Selling

Economy Term

Short selling is a trading strategy that involves borrowing and selling securities that a trader believes will decrease in value. The trader then buys back the shares at a lower price to return them to the lender and profits from the difference in price.

Short selling is commonly used in the industry as a way to hedge against potential losses or to speculate on the future performance of a company or stock. It can also be used as a means of market manipulation, which is why it is often closely regulated.

Investors who short sell are often looking to profit from a decline in a particular company or market, or to mitigate risk in their overall investment portfolio. Short selling can be risky, however, as there is no limit to how much a stock can increase in value, which can result in a significant loss for a short seller.

More Glossary Terms Beginning with S

S&P 500 Index
is the Standard & Poors 500 Composite Stock Price Index, a widely recognized, unmanaged index of common stock prices. You may not invest directly in the S&P 500 Index, and, unlike the Fund, benchmark indices do not incur fees or expenses.   Indices

Financial Term Letter: S
S&P GSCI Commodity Index
is a composite index of commodity sector returns, representing an unleveraged, long-only investment in commodity futures that is diversified across the spectrum of commodities. The returns are calculated on a fully-collateralized basis with full reinvestment. The combination of these attributes provides investors with a representative and realistic picture of realizable returns attainable in the c

Financial Term Letter: S
S-Curve Method
A mathematical function which depicts an initial slow change, followed by a rapid change and then ending in a slow change again. This results in an "S" shaped line when depicted graphically. The actuarial application of these curves fit the reported data to date for a particular cohort of claims to an S-curve to project future activity for that cohort.

Insurance Term Letter: S
Sales per Employee
A ratio that measures companys productivity by dividing cumulative Sales of the past twelve months, by the number of employees. Sales Per Employee displays how much a single employee contributes over the twelve months period to the total sales of the company. Sales Per Employee Formula = (Sales trailing twelve months / Employee)

Fundamental Analysis Letter: S
Salt
also known as sodium chloride, has many end uses. Salt is used as feedstock for chlorine and caustic soda manufacture; these two inorganic chemicals are used to make many consumer-related end-use products, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic made from chlorine and paper-pulping chemicals manufactured from caustic soda. Chemical Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturing Term Letter: S
Salvage
The amount of money an insurer recovers through the sale of property transferred to the insurer as a result of a loss payment.

Insurance Term Letter: S
Sampling
Selecting a fractional but representative part of a mineral deposit for analysis.

Manufacturing Term Letter: S
Scrap Iron and Steel
Iron and steel scrap is a vital raw material for the production of new steel and cast-iron products. Steel scrap recycling conserves raw materials, energy, and landfill space. Iron & Steel Industry Operating Statistics

Manufacturing Term Letter: S
Second Injury Fund
The employer of an injured, impaired worker is responsible only for the workers compensation benefit for the most recent injury; the second-injury fund would cover the cost of any additional benefits for aggravation of a prior condition. The cost is shared by the insurance industry and self-insureds, funded through assessments to insurance companies and self-insureds based on either premiums or lo

Insurance Term Letter: S
Second-line
Treatment following first-line treatment; used if the initial treatment is unsuccessful or if the disease re-occurs.

Health Care Term Letter: S
Securitization
A process whereby loans or other receivables are packaged, underwritten and sold to investors. In a typical transaction, assets are sold to a special purpose entity, which purchases the assets with cash raised through issuance of beneficial interests (usually debt instruments) to third-party investors. Whether or not credit risk associated with the securitized assets is retained by the seller depe

Financial Term Letter: S
Securitization Income
Includes non-credit provision components of the net gains or losses from securitization activities; changes in fair value of the interest-only strip; excess spread related to securitized cardmember loans; and servicing income, net of related discounts or fees. Excess spread, which is recognized as earned, is the net cash flow from interest and fee collections allocated to the third-party investors

Financial Term Letter: S

More in this Category

Advance monthly sales
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Advance Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services Survey (MARTS) to provide an early estimate of monthly sales by kind of business for retail and food service firms located in the United States. Each month, questionnaires are mailed to a probability sample of approximately 5,000 employer firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS). Firms respo

Economy Term
Affiliate
means with respect to any entity, an entity that is controlled by a other company although the other company owns less than a majority of the other entity.

Economy Term
Agents and Brokers
Persons or organizations that act as a representative for others in negotiating contracts, purchases, or sales. Agents and brokers typically earn a commission or fee for their services and do not take possession of, or title to, any goods.

Economy Term
ARPU
Average revenue per user

Economy Term
Balance of payments
Record of transactions between U.S. residents and foreign residents during a given time period. Includes transactions in goods, services, income, assets, and liabilities. It is broken down into the current accounts (international), capital accounts (international), and financial accounts (international).

Economy Term
Balance on current account
Current receipts from the rest of the world less current payments to the rest of the world, formerly called "net foreign investment." Current receipts equal exports of goods and services plus income receipts from the rest of the world; current payments are the sum of imports of goods and services, income payments to the rest of the world, and current taxes and transfer payments to the rest of the

Economy Term
Balance on goods and services
Record of the difference between exports of goods and services and imports of goods and services. In the broad sense, this balance is conceptually equal to net exports of goods and services, which is a component of gross domestic product (GDP).

Economy Term
Bonded Warehouses Manufacturing
Warehouses that are authorized by the United States Customs for storage or manufacturing of goods on which payment of duties is deferred until the goods are removed into Customs Territory. These goods are not subject to duties if reshipped to foreign points.

Economy Term
Brokers
Persons or organizations that act as a representative for others in negotiating contracts, purchases, or sales. Agents and brokers typically earn a commission or fee for their services and do not take possession of, or title to, any goods.

Economy Term
Business sector
All corporate and noncorporate private entities organized for profit and certain other entities that are treated as businesses in the national income and product accounts (NIPAs), including mutual financial institutions, private noninsured pension funds, cooperatives, nonprofit organizations that primarily serve businesses, Federal Reserve banks, federally sponsored credit agencies, and government

Economy Term
CE-marked
A compliance symbol indicating that a product meets the requirements of the European Union (EU) directives that apply to that product. CE stands for Conformit?e Europ?enne, which means European Conformity.

Economy Term
CFTC Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States.

Economy Term