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- W
-
Fifth letter of a NASDAQ stock symbol specifying that this particular stock is a warrant.
- W.A.C.C.
- See: Weighted average cost of capital.
- W.E.B.S.
- See: World Equity Benchmark Series
- W.I.
- See: When issued.
- Waiting period
- Time during which the Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) studies a firm's registration statement. During this time the firm may distribute a preliminary prospectus.
- Walk away
- Used for listed equity securities. To take and maintain a position in a stock after going to the floor to consummate a trade. Antithesis of trade me out, buy them back.
- Wall Street
- Generic term for firms that buy, sell, and underwrite securities.
- Wall Street analyst
- Related: Sell-side analyst.
- Wallflower
- Stock that has fallen out of favor with investors; tends to have a low P/E (price to earnings ratio).
- Wanted for cash
- A statement displayed on market tickers indicating that a bidder will pay cash for same
day settlement of a block of a specified
security.
- Warehouse receipt
- Evidence that a firm owns goods stored in a warehouse.
- Warehousing
- The interim holding period from the time of the closing of a loan to its subsequent marketing to capital market investors.
- Warrant
- A security entitling the holder to buy a proportionate amount of stock at some specified future date at a specified price, usually one higher than current market.
This "warrant" is then traded as a security, the price of which reflects the value of the underlying stock. Warrants are issued by corporations and often used as a "sweetener" bundled with another class of security to enhance the marketability of the latter. Warrants are like call options, but with much longer time spans -- sometimes years. In addition, warrants are offered by corporations whereas exchange traded call options are not issued by firms.
- Wash
- Gains equal losses.
- Wash sale
- Used in the context of general equities. Purchase and sale of a security either simultaneously or within a short period of time, often done with the intention of recognizing a tax loss without altering one's position. See: tax selling.
- Wasting asset
- An asset which has a limited life and thus, decreases in value (depreciates) over time. Also applies to consumed assets, such as gas, and termed "depletion."
- Watch list
- A list of securities selected for special surveillance by a brokerage, exchange or
regulatory organization; firms on the list are often takeover targets, companies planning to issue new securities or stocks showing unusual activity.
- Weak form efficiency
- A form of pricing efficiency where the price of the security reflects the past price and trading history of the security. In such a market, security prices follow a random walk. Related: Semistrong form efficiency, strong form efficiency.
- Weekend effect
- The common recurrent low or negative average return from Friday to Monday in the stock market.
- Weighted average cost of capital (W.A.C.C.)
- Expected return on a portfolio of all the firm's securities. Used as a hurdle rate for capital investment. Often the weighted average of the cost of equity and the cost of debt The weights are determined by the relative proportions of equity and debt in a firm's capital structure.
- Weighted average coupon
- The weighted average of the gross interest rates of the mortgages underlying the pool as of the pool issue date, with the balance of each mortgage used as the weighting factor.
- Weighted average life
- See: Average life.
- Weighted average maturity
- The weighted average maturity of a M.B.S. is the weighted average of the remaining
terms to maturity of the mortgages underlying the collateral pool at the date issue, using as the weighting factor the balance of each of the mortgages as of the issue date.
- Weighted average
portfolio yield
- The weighted average of the yield of all the bonds
in a portfolio.
- Weighted
average remaining maturity
- The average remaining term of the mortgages underlying a M.B.S..
- Well diversified portfolio
- A portfolio spread
out over many securities in such a way that the weight of any security is small. The risk of a well-diversified portfolio closely approximates the systemic risk of the
overall market, the unsystematic risk of each security having been diversified out of the portfolio.
- When distributed
- Used in the context of general equities. When issued.
- When issued (W.I.)
- Used in the context of general equities. When, as if issued: refers to a transaction made conditionally because a security, although authorized, has not yet been issued. Treasury securities, new issues of stocks and bonds, stocks that have split, and in-merger situations after the time the proxy has become effective but before completion, are all traded on a when issued basis. With ice.
- White knight
- A friendly potential acquirer
sought out by a target firm that is threatened by a less welcome suitor.
- White squire
- Often used in risk arbitrage. White knight who buys less than a majority interest.
- Whole life insurance
- A contract with both insurance and investment components: (1) It pays off a stated amount upon the death of the insured, and (2) it accumulates a cash value that the policyholder can redeem or borrow against.
- Wholesale mortgage banking
- The purchasing of loans originated by others, with the servicing rights released to the buyer.
- Wide opening
- Used in the context of general equities. Abnormally large spread between the bid and asked prices of a security at the opening of a trading session.
- Wild card option
- The right of the seller of a Treasury Bond futures contract to give notice of intent to deliver at or before 8:00 p.m. Chicago time after the closing of the exchange (3:15 p.m. Chicago time) when the futures settlement price has been fixed. Related:
Timing option.
- Williams Act
- Often used in risk arbitrage. Federal legislation enacted in 1968 (and now comprises Rules 13d and 14d of the Security Exchange Act of 1934) that imposes requirements with respect to public tender offers.
- Window contract
- A guaranteed investment contract
purchased with deposits over some future designated time period (the "window"), usually between 3 and 12 months. All deposits made are guaranteed the same credit rating. Related: bullet contract.
- Window dressing
- Used in the context of general equities. Trading activity near the end of a quarter or fiscal year that is designed to dress up a portfolio to be presented to clients or shareholders. For example, a portfolio manager may sell losing positions in his portfolio so he can display only positions that have gained in value.
- Winners's curse
- Problem faced by uninformed bidders. For example, in an initial public offering uninformed participants are likely to receive larger allotments of issues that informed participants know are overpriced.
- Wire house
- A firm operating a private wire to its own branch offices or to other firms, commission houses or brokerage houses.
- With dividend
- Purchase of shares in which the buyer is entitled to the forthcoming dividend. Related: ex-dividend.
- With ice
- Used in the context of general equities. When issued.
- With rights
- Purchase of shares in which the buyer is entitled to the right to buy shares in the company's rights issue.
- Withdrawal plan
- The ability to establish automatic periodic mutual fund redemptions and have proceeds mailed directly to the investor.
- Withholding tax
- A tax levied by a country of source on income paid, usually on dividends remitted to the home country of the firm operating in a foreign country. Tax levied on dividends paid abroad.
- Without
- If 70 were bid in the market and there was no offer, the quote would be "70 bid without." The expression "without" indicates a one-way market.
- Without recourse
- Without the lender having any right to seek payment or seize assets in the event of nonpayment from anyone other than the party (such as a special-purpose entity) specified in the debt contract.
- Wi wi
- Treasury bills trade on a W.I. basis between the day they are auctioned and the day settlement is made. Bills traded before they are auctioned are said to be traded Wi wi.
- Woody
- Sexual slang for a market moving strongly upward, as in, "This market has a woody."
- Working
- Used in the context of general equities. Attempting to complete the remaining part of a trade, by finding either buyers or sellers for the rest.
- Working away
- Used in the context of general equities. Transacting an order with another broker/dealer.
- Working capital
- Defined as the difference between current assets and current liabilities (excluding short-term debt). Current assets may or may not include cash and cash equivalents,
depending on the company.
- Working capital management
- The management of current assets and current liabilities to maximize short-term liquidity.
- Working capital ratio
- Working capital expressed as a percentage of sales.
- Working order
- Used in the context of general equities. Order that exists in the marketplace, whereby a broker is bidding or offering to fill the order in a series of lots at opportune times in hope of obtaining the best price.
- Workout
- Informal arrangement between a borrower and creditors.
- Workout market
- Used in the context of general equities. Market which represents an indication of prices at which it is believed a security can be bought or sold within a reasonable length of time.
- Workout period
- Realignment period of a temporarily misaligned yield relationship that sometimes occurs in fixed income markets.
- World Bank
- A multilateral development finance agency created by the 1944 Bretton Woods, New Hampshire negotiations. It makes loans to developing countries for social overhead capital projects, which are guaranteed by the recipient country. See:
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
- World Equity Benchmark Series (W.E.B.S.)
- The World Equity Benchmark Series are similar to SPDRs. W.E.B.S. trade on the AMEX, and track the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) country indexes. W.E.B.S. are available for these countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Malaysia Free, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.
- World investible wealth
- The part of world wealth that is traded and is therefore accessible to investors.
- Write
- Applies to derivative products. Sell an option.
- Write-down
- Decreasing the book value
of an asset if its book value is overstated compared to current market values.
- Writer
- The seller of an option, usually an individual, bank, or company, that issues the option and consequently has the obligation to sell the asset (if a call) or to buy the asset (if a put) on which the option is written if the option buyer exercises the option.
- W-type bottom
- A double bottom where the price or indicator chart has the appearance of a W. See: technical analysis.
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