Similar financial terms
SpecialistOn an exchange, the member firm that is designated as the market maker (or dealer for a listed common stock). Only one specialist can be designated for a given stock, but dealers may be specialists for several stocks. In contrast, there can be multiple market makers in the OTC market.
Special drawing rights (SDR)
A form of international reserve assets, created by the IMF in 1967, whose value is based on a portfolio of widely used currencies.
Special sauce
We can thank McDonald's for this one. It's used to refer to anything proprietary.
Specialty fund
A mutual fund that concentrates its investments on a specific industrial or economic sector or a defined geographical area.
Specialist System
A type of trading commonly used for the exchange trading of securities in which one individual or firm acts as a market-maker in a particular security, with the obligation to see that trading in that security is fair and orderly by offsetting temporary imbalances in supply and demand by trading for his own account.
Cum dividend
Phrase used to indicate that a stock is selling with a recently declared right or dividend.
Ex dividend
Phrase used to indicate that a stock is selling without a recently declared right or dividend. The ex-rights or ex-dividend date is generally four business days before the date of record
Dividend
Payment made by a firm to its owners, either in cash or in stock. Also referred to as the income component of the return on an investment in stock.
Dividend payout ratio
A ratio showing the percentage of net profits paid out in dividends on common stock, after reducing net profits by the amount of dividends paid on preferred stock.
Dividend yield
A stock's daily percentage summary of yield, calculated by dividing annual dividend per share by the day's closing stock price.
Traditional view (of dividend policy)
An argument that "within reason," investors prefer large dividends to smaller dividends because the dividend is sure but future capital gains are uncertain.
Tax differential view ( of dividend policy)
The view that shareholders prefer capital gains over dividends, and hence low payout ratios, because capital gains are effectively taxed at lower rates than dividends.
Stock dividend
Payment of a corporate dividend in the form of stock rather than cash. The stock dividend may be additional shares in the company, or it may be shares in a subsidiary being spun off to shareholders. Stock dividends are often used to conserve cash needed to operate the business. Unlike a cash dividend, stock dividends are not taxed until sold.
Signaling view (on dividend policy)
The argument that dividend changes are important signals to investors about changes in management's expectation about future earnings.
Residual dividend approach
An approach that suggests that a firm pay dividends if and only if acceptable investment opportunities for those funds are currently unavailable.
Perfect market view (of dividend policy)
Analysis of a decision on dividend policy, in a perfect capital market environment, that shows the irrelevance of dividend policy in a perfect capital market.
Liquidating dividend
Payment by a firm to its owners from capital rather than from earnings.
Cash dividend
A dividend paid in cash to a company's shareholders. The amount is normally based on profitability and is taxable as income. A cash distribution may include capital gains and return of capital in addition to the dividend.
Cumulative dividend feature
A requirement that any missed preferred or preference stock dividends be paid in full before any common dividend payment is made.
Final dividend
The dividend that is paid at the end of the financial year as the final amount of profit has been published, under deduction of the interim dividend which was already paid out.
Extra Dividend
A payment declared or paid by a corporation in addition to its ordinary dividend policy. It can reflect a distribution of profits which are considered extraordinary.
