Definition of Irrelevance result

Irrelevance result

The Modigliani and Miller theorem that a firm's capital structure is irrelevant to the firm's
value.

results benchmarking

benchmarking in which an end product or service is examined; the focus is on product/service specifications and performance results

MM dividend-irrelevance proposition

Theory that under ideal conditions, the value of the firm is unaffected by dividend policy.

MM's proposition I (debt irrelevance proposition)

The value of a firm is unaffected by its capital structure.

Underlying Results

Earnings after removing the effects of nonrecurring or nonoperating items.

Advance commitment

A promise to sell an asset before the seller has lined up purchase of the asset. This
seller can offset risk by purchasing a futures contract to fix the sales price.

Asymmetry

A lack of equivalence between two things, such as the unequal tax treatment of interest expense
and dividend payments.

Asymmetric information

Information that is known to some people but not to other people.

Asymmetric taxes

A situation wherein participants in a transaction have different net tax rates.

Cash commodity

The actual physical commodity, as distinguished from a futures contract.

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.

Cash flow per common share

Cash flow from operations minus preferred stock dividends, divided by the
number of common shares outstanding.

Commercial draft

Demand for payment.

Commercial paper

Short-term unsecured promissory notes issued by a corporation. The maturity of
commercial paper is typically less than 270 days; the most common maturity range is 30 to 50 days or less.

Commercial risk

The risk that a foreign debtor will be unable to pay its debts because of business events,
such as bankruptcy.

Commission

The fee paid to a broker to execute a trade, based on number of shares, bonds, options, and/or
their dollar value. In 1975, deregulation led to the creation of discount brokers, who charge lower
commissions than full service brokers. Full service brokers offer advice and usually have a full staff of
analysts who follow specific industries. Discount brokers simply execute a client's order -- and usually do not
offer an opinion on a stock. Also known as a round-turn.

Commission broker

A broker on the floor of an exchange acts as agent for a particular brokerage house and
who buys and sells stocks for the brokerage house on a commission basis.

Commission house

A firm which buys and sells future contracts for customer accounts. Related: futures
commission merchant, omnibus account.

Commitment

A trader is said to have a commitment when he assumes the obligation to accept or make
delivery on a futures contract. Related: Open interest

Commitment fee

A fee paid to a commercial bank in return for its legal commitment to lend funds that have
not yet been advanced.

Committee, AIMR Performance Presentation Standards Implementation Committee

The Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR)'s Performance Presentation Standards Implementation
Committee is charged with the responsibility to interpret, revise and update the AIMR Performance
Presentation Standards (AIMR-PPS(TM)) for portfolio performance presentations.

Commodities Exchange Center (CEC)

The location of five New York futures exchanges: Commodity
Exchange, Inc. (COMEX), the New York Mercantile exchange (NYMEX), the New York Cotton Exchange,
the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa exchange (CSC), and the New York futures exchange (NYFE). common size
statement A statement in which all items are expressed as a percentage of a base figure, useful for purposes of
analyzing trends and the changing relationship between financial statement items. For example, all items in
each year's income statement could be presented as a percentage of net sales.

Commodity

A commodity is food, metal, or another physical substance that investors buy or sell, usually via
futures contracts.

Common market

An agreement between two or more countries that permits the free movement of capital
and labor as well as goods and services.

Common stock

These are securities that represent equity ownership in a company. Common shares let an
investor vote on such matters as the election of directors. They also give the holder a share in a company's
profits via dividend payments or the capital appreciation of the security.

Common stock/other equity

Value of outstanding common shares at par, plus accumulated retained
earnings. Also called shareholders' equity.

Common stock equivalent

A convertible security that is traded like an equity issue because the optioned
common stock is trading high.

Common stock market

The market for trading equities, not including preferred stock.

Common stock ratios

Ratios that are designed to measure the relative claims of stockholders to earnings
(cash flow per share), and equity (book value per share) of a firm.

Common-base-year analysis

The representing of accounting information over multiple years as percentages
of amounts in an initial year.
Common-size analysis The representing of balance sheet items as percentages of assets and of income
statement items as percentages of sales.

Contingent immunization

An arrangement in which the money manager pursues an active bond portfolio
strategy until an adverse investment experience drives the then-available potential return down to the safetynet
level. When that point is reached, the money manager is obligated to pursue an immunization strategy to
lock in the safety-net level return.

Cum dividend

With 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.

Discounted dividend model (DDM)

A formula to estimate the intrinsic value of a firm by figuring the
present value of all expected future dividends.

Dividend

A dividend is a portion of a company's profit paid to common and preferred shareholders. A stock
selling for $20 a share with an annual dividend of $1 a share yields the investor 5%.

Dividend clawback

With respect to a project financing, an arrangement under which the sponsors of a project
agree to contribute as equity any prior dividends received from the project to the extent necessary to cover
any cash deficiencies.

Dividend clientele

A group of shareholders who prefer that the firm follow a particular dividend policy. For
example, such a preference is often based on comparable tax situations.

Dividend discount model (DDM)

A model for valuing the common stock of a company, based on the
present value of the expected cash flows.

Dividend growth model

A model wherein dividends are assumed to be at a constant rate in perpetuity.

Dividend limitation

A bond covenant that restricts in some way the firm's ability to pay cash dividends.

Dividend payout ratio

Percentage of earnings paid out as dividends.

Dividends per share

Amount of cash paid to shareholders expressed as dollars per share.

Dividend policy

An established guide for the firm to determine the amount of money it will pay as dividends.

Dividend rate

The fixed or floating rate paid on preferred stock based on par value.

Dividend reinvestment plan (DRP)

Automatic reinvestment of shareholder dividends in more shares of a
company's stock, often without commissions. Some plans provide for the purchase of additional shares at a
discount to market price. dividend reinvestment plans allow shareholders to accumulate stock over the Long
term using dollar cost averaging. The DRP is usually administered by the company without charges to the
holder.

Dividend rights

A shareholders' rights to receive per-share dividends identical to those other shareholders receive.

Dividend yield (Funds)

Indicated yield represents return on a share of a mutual fund held over the past 12
months. Assumes fund was purchased 1 year ago. Reflects effect of sales charges (at current rates), but not
redemption charges.

Dividend yield (Stocks)

Indicated yield represents annual dividends divided by current stock price.

Dividends per share

dividends paid for the past 12 months divided by the number of common shares
outstanding, as reported by a company. The number of shares often is determined by a weighted average of
shares outstanding over the reporting term.

Doctrine of sovereign immunity

Doctrine that says a nation may not be tried in the courts of another country
without its consent.

Euro-commercial paper

Short-term notes with maturities up to 360 days that are issued by companies in
international money markets.

Extra or special dividends

A dividend that is paid in addition to a firm's "regular" quarterly dividend.

Ex-dividend

This literally means "without dividend." The buyer of shares when they are quoted ex-dividend
is not entitled to receive a declared dividend.

Ex-dividend date

The first day of trading when the seller, rather than the buyer, of a stock will be entitled to
the most recently announced dividend payment. This date set by the NYSE (and generally followed on other
US exchanges) is currently two business days before the record date. A stock that has gone ex-dividend is
marked with an x in newspaper listings on that date.

Firm commitment underwriting

An undewriting in which an investment banking firm commits to buy the
entire issue and assumes all financial responsibility for any unsold shares.

Futures commission merchant

A firm or person engaged in soliciting or accepting and handling orders for
the purchase or sale of futures contracts, subject to the rules of a futures exchange and, who, in connection
with such solicitation or acceptance of orders, accepts any money or securities to margin any resulting trades
or contracts. The FCM must be licensed by the CFTC. Related: commission house , omnibus account

Gamma

The ratio of a change in the option delta to a small change in the price of the asset on which the
option is written.

Homemade dividend

Sale of some shares of stock to get cash that would be similar to receiving a cash dividend.

Immediate settlement

Delivery and settlement of securities within five business days.

Immunization

The construction of an asset and a liability that are subject to offsetting changes in value.

Immunization strategy

A bond portfolio strategy whose goal is to eliminate the portfolio's risk against a
general change in the rate of interest through the use of duration.

Indicated dividend

Total amount of dividends that would be paid on a share of stock over the next 12 months
if each dividend were the same amount as the most recent dividend. Usually represent by the letter "e" in
stock tables.

Information asymmetry

A situation involving information that is known to some, but not all, participants.

Integer programming

Variant of linear programming whereby the solution values must be integers.

International Monetary Market (IMM)

A division of the CME established in 1972 for trading financial
futures. Related: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Linear programming

Technique for finding the maximum value of some equation subject to stated linear constraints.

Letter of comment

A communication to the firm from the SEC that suggests changes to its registration
statement.

Liquidating dividend

Payment by a firm to its owners from capital rather than from earnings.

Mathematical programming

An operations research technique that solves problems in which an optimal
value is sought subject to specified constraints. Mathematical programming models include linear
programming, quadratic programming, and dynamic programming.

Modigliani and Miller Proposition I

A proposition by Modigliani and Miller which states that a firm cannot
change the total value of its outstanding securities by changing its capital structure proportions. Also called
the irrelevance proposition.

Modigliani and Miller Proposition II

A proposition by Modigliani and Miller which states that the cost of
equity is a linear function of the firm's debt-equity-ratio.

Multiperiod immunization

A portfolio strategy in which a portfolio is created that will be capable of
satisfying more than one predetermined future liability regardless if interest rates change.

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.

Production-flow commitment

An agreement by the loan purchaser to allow the monthly loan quota to be
delivered in batches.

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.

Securities & Exchange Commission

The SEC is a federal agency that regulates the U.S.financial markets.

Signaling view (on dividend policy)

The argument that dividend changes are important signals to investors
about changes in management's expectation about future earnings.

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT)

A dedicated computer network to support funds transfer messages internationally between over 900 member banks worldwide.

Special dividend

Also referred to as an extra dividend. dividend that is unlikely to be repeated.

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.

Symmetric cash matching

An extension of cash flow matching that allows for the short-term borrowing of
funds to satisfy a liability prior to the liability due date, resulting in a reduction in the cost of funding liabilities.

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.

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.

With dividend

Purchase of shares in which the buyer is entitled to the forthcoming dividend. Related: exdividend.

Zero-one integer programming

An analytical method that can be used to determine the solution to a capital
rationing problem.

BOOK VALUE OF COMMON STOCK

The theoretical amount per share that each stockholder would receive if a company’s assets were sold on the balance sheet’s date. Book value equals:
(Stockholders’ equity) / (Common stock shares outstanding)

Dividend

A payment a company makes to stockholders. Earnings before income tax. The profit a company made
before income taxes.

Earnings per share of common stock

How much profit a company made on each share of common stock this year.

Dividend

The payment of after-tax profits to shareholders as their share of the profits of the business for an accounting period.

Planning, programming and budgeting system (PPBS)

A method of budgeting in which budgets are allocated to projects or programmes rather than to responsibility centres.

Common stock

Shares of ownership sold to the public.

Dividend income

Income that a company receives in the form of dividends on stock in other companies that it holds.

Dividends

Amounts paid to the owners of a company that represent a share of the income of the company.

dividend payout ratio

Computed by dividing cash dividends for the year
by the net income for the year. It’s simply the percent of net income distributed
as cash dividends for the year.

dividend yield ratio

Cash dividends paid by a business over the most
recent 12 months (called the trailing 12 months) divided by the current
market price per share of the stock. This ratio is reported in the daily
stock trading tables in the Wall Street Journal and other major newspapers.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The federal agency that
oversees the issuance of and trading in securities of public businesses.
The SEC has broad powers and can suspend the trading in securities of a
business. The SEC also has primary jurisdiction in making accounting
and financial reporting rules, but over the years it has largely deferred to
the private sector for the development of generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP).

Common Stock

A financial security that represents an ownership claim on the
assets and earnings of a company. This claim is valid after the
claims of the debt providers and preferred stockholders have been
satisfied.

Cost of Common Stock

The rate of return required by the investors in the common stock of
the company. A component of the cost of capital.

Return on Common Equity Ratio

A measure of the percentage return earned on the value of the
common equity invested in the company. It is calculated by
dividing the net income available for distribution to shareholders
by the book value of the common equity.

benchmarking

the process of investigating how others do something better so that the investigating company can imitate,
and possibly improve upon, their techniques

committed cost

a cost related either to the long-term investment
in plant and equipment of a business or to the
organizational personnel whom top management deem
permanent; a cost that cannot be changed without longrun
detriment to the organization

common body of knowledge (CBK)

the minimum set of knowledge needed by a person to function effectively in a particular field

compensation committee

a company committee comprised mainly of members of the board of directors; is responsible
for establishing compensation packages for top management
and setting general compensation policies and guidelines

dividend growth method

a method of computing the cost
of common stock equity that indicates the rate of return
that common shareholders expect to earn in the form of
dividends on a company’s common stock

e-commerce (electronic commerce)

any business activity that uses the Internet and World Wide Web to engage in financial transactions

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