The Letter R

Rabbi Trust-according to RabbiTrust.com, a Rabbi Trust sets aside or segregates 'unfunded' assets, which may be used to satisfy the employer's obligations to employees under one or more nonqualified plans. Similar to an escrow account, it is an irrevocable trust established for the benefit of the participant by an employer. The primary purpose of a Rabbi Trust is to provide and protect nonqualified plan assets. In essence, it functions as a security device, guaranteeing that funds will be available when promised. Interestingly, the name Rabbi Trust resulted from the first IRS tax ruling that involved a rabbi whose temple established a trust to fund his deferred compensation.

Regulation FD-SEC regulation that prohibits selective disclosure of information to analysts and investors. This "Fair Disclosure" regulation became effective on 10/23/2000.

Regulation T-Federal Reserve Board regulation that covers the extension of credit to customers by broker/dealers. This regulation establishes initial margin requirements and defines marginable securities.

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)-company that is usually traded publicly which manages a portfolio of real estate to earn profits for shareholders. REITs are able to avoid taxation on the corporate level if they distribute 95% of their earnings to shareholders annually. REITs trade like stocks, usually have high yields and can be found in mutual funds.

Russell 2000-this index was created at the end of 1986. It is a subset of the Russell 3000. The 2000 measures the performance of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000. The average market cap of the 2000 is $526 million. The largest is about $1.35 billion. All the Russell indexes are market cap weighted & include only the common stock of companies that are based in the US or it's territories. The Russell 2000 is the main small cap index. This index is rebalanced once a year, at the end of the second quarter. Larger companies or companies that have been acquired are deleted and new smaller companies are added. The entire index is also adjusted for market capitalization. You should check the Russell web site in June of each year for information on the rebalancing.

Updated 1/4/01