Definition of Poison pill

Poison pill

Anit-takeover device that gives a prospective acquiree's shareholders the right to buy shares of the
firm or shares of anyone who acquires the firm at a deep discount to their fair market value. Named after the
cyanide pill that secret agents are instructed to swallow if capture is imminent.

poison pill

Measure taken by a target firm to avoid acquisition;
for example, the right for existing shareholders to buy additional
shares at an attractive price if a bidder acquires a large holding.

Poison put

A covenant allowing the bondholder to demand repayment in the event of a hostile merger.

Put

An option granting the right to sell the underlying futures contract. Opposite of a call.

Put

An option to sell a stipulated amount of stock or securities within a
specified time and at a fixed exercise price. See Call.

Covered Put

A put option position in which the option writer also is short the corresponding stock or has
deposited, in a cash account, cash or cash equivalents equal to the exercise of the option. This limits the
option writer's risk because money or stock is already set aside. In the event that the holder of the put option
decides to exercise the option, the writer's risk is more limited than it would be on an uncovered or naked put
option.

Imputation tax system

Arrangement by which investors who receive a dividend also receive a tax credit for
corporate taxes that the firm has paid.

Input-output tables

Tables that indicate how much each industry requires of the production of each other
industry in order to produce each dollar of its own output.

Protective put buying strategy

A strategy that involves buying a put option on the underlying security that is
held in a portfolio. Related: Hedge option strategies

Put an option

To exercise a put option.

Put bond

A bond that the holder may choose either to exchange for par value at some date or to extend for a
given number of years.

Put option

This security gives investors the right to sell (or put) fixed number of shares at a fixed price within
a given time frame. An investor, for example, might wish to have the right to sell shares of a stock at a certain
price by a certain time in order to protect, or hedge, an existing investment.

Put price

The price at which the asset will be sold if a put option is exercised. Also called the strike or
exercise price of a put option.

Put provision

Gives the holder of a floating-rate bond the right to redeem his note at par on the coupon
payment date.

Put swaption

A financial tool in which the buyer has the right, or option, to enter into a swap as a floatingrate
payer. The writer of the swaption therefore becomes the floating-rate receiver/fixed-rate payer.

Put-call parity relationship

The relationship between the price of a put and the price of a call on the same
underlying security with the same expiration date, which prevents arbitrage opportunities. Holding the stock
and buying a put will deliver the exact payoff as buying one call and investing the present value (PV) of the
exercise price. The call value equals C=S+P-PV(k).

Throughput agreement

An agreement to put a specified amount of product per period through a particular
facility. For example, an agreement to ship a specified amount of crude oil per period through a particular
pipeline.

Transferable put right

An option issued by the firm to its shareholders to sell the firm one share of its
common stock at a fixed price (the strike price) within a stated period (the time to maturity). The put right is
"transferable" because it can be traded in the capital markets.

Uncovered put

A short put option position in which the writer does not have a corresponding short stock
position or has not deposited, in a cash account, cash or cash equivalents equal to the exercise value of the
put. Also called "naked" puts, the writer has pledged to buy the stock at a certain price if the buyer of the
options chooses to exercise it. The nature of uncovered options means the writer's risk is unlimited.

Throughput contribution

Sales revenue less the cost of materials.

Put Option

A contract that gives the holder the right to sell an asset for a
specified price on or before a given expiration (maturity) date

computer-aided design (CAD)

a system using computer graphics for product designs

computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

the use of computers to control production processes through numerically
controlled (NC) machines, robots, and automated assembly systems

computer integrated manufacturing (CIM)

the integration of two or more flexible manufacturing systems through the use of a host computer and an information networking system

input-output coefficient

a number (prefaced as a multiplier
to an unknown variable) that indicates the rate at which each
decision variable uses up (or depletes) the scarce resource

throughput

the total completed and sold output of a plant during a period

Puttable bond

A bond that allows the holder to redeem the bond at a
predetermined price at specified future dates. The bond contains an embedded
put option; i.e., the holder has bought a put option. See Callable bond.

put option

Right to sell an asset at a specified exercise price on or before the exercise date.

Full-Employment Output

The level of output produced by the economy when operating at the natural rate of unemployment.

Impute

To assign a value to a good or service in place of a market value that is not available.

Imputed Rent

The value of consumption services obtained by owning one's house rather than having to pay rent.

National Output

GDP.

Output Gap

The difference between full employment output and current output.

Potential Output or Potential GDP

Output produced when the economy is operating at its natural rate of unemployment.

Putaway

The process of moving received items to storage and recording the related
transaction.

Put Option

Contract that grants the right to sell at a specified price at some time in the future.

Assignment

The receipt of an exercise notice by an options writer that requires the writer to sell (in the case
of a call) or purchase (in the case of a put) the underlying security at the specified strike price.

Average cost of capital

A firm's required payout to the bondholders and to the stockholders expressed as a
percentage of capital contributed to the firm. Average cost of capital is computed by dividing the total
required cost of capital by the total amount of contributed capital.

Average life

Also referred to as the weighted-average life (WAL). The average number of years that each
dollar of unpaid principal due on the mortgage remains outstanding. Average life is computed as the weighted average time to the receipt of all future cash flows, using as the weights the dollar amounts of the principal
paydowns.

Bane

In the words of Warren Buffet, Bill Bane Sr., is, "a great American and one of the last real traders
around. I like to call him 'Salvo.'" His wife, Carol, is a huge NASCAR fan, and in her own words "delights in
pulling the legs off central bankers." Cooper Bane, son number two, is a thriving artiste who specializes in
making art that is much better than the stuff most folks are doing. Jackson, son number three, is a world
renowned master chef and plans on opening a restaurant. Bill Bane Jr., son number one, plans on giving Mr.
Monroe Trout a run for his money. [Bill Bane, Jr. helped Professor Harvey put the hypertextual glossary
together while an MBA student at Duke University.]

Bank wire

A computer message system linking major banks. It is used not for effecting payments, but as a
mechanism to advise the receiving bank of some action that has occurred, e.g. the payment by a customer of
funds into that bank's account.

Big Bang

The term applied to the liberalization in 1986 of the London Stock Exchange in which trading was
automated with the use of computers.

Bond-equivalent basis

The method used for computing the bond-equivalent yield.

Bond-equivalent yield

The annualized yield to maturity computed by doubling the semiannual yield.

Book-entry securities

The Treasury and federal agencies are moving to a book-entry system in which securities are not represented by engraved pieces of paper but are maintained in computerized records at the
Fed in the names of member banks, which in turn keep records of the securities they own as well as those they
are holding for customers. In the case of other securities where a book-entry has developed, engraved
securities do exist somewhere in quite a few cases. These securities do not move from holder to holder but are
usually kept in a central clearinghouse or by another agent.

Bull spread

A spread strategy in which an investor buys an out-of-the-money put option, financing it by
selling an out-of-the money call option on the same underlying.

Clearing House Automated Payments System (CHAPS)

A computerized clearing system for sterling funds
that began operations in 1984. It includes 14 member banks, nearly 450 participating banks, and is one of the
clearing companies within the structure of the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).

Combination strategy

A strategy in which a put and with the same strike price and expiration are either both
bought or both sold. Related: Straddle

Cost company arrangement

Arrangement whereby the shareholders of a project receive output free of
charge but agree to pay all operating and financing charges of the project.

Covered or hedge option strategies

Strategies that involve a position in an option as well as a position in the
underlying stock, designed so that one position will help offset any unfavorable price movement in the other,
including covered call writing and protective put buying. Related: naked strategies

Dynamic hedging

A strategy that involves rebalancing hedge positions as market conditions change; a
strategy that seeks to insure the value of a portfolio using a synthetic put option.

EAFE index

The European, Australian, and Far East stock index, computed by Morgan Stanley.

Economic risk

In project financing, the risk that the project's output will not be salable at a price that will
cover the project's operating and maintenance costs and its debt service requirements.

Effective annual yield

Annualized interest rate on a security computed using compound interest techniques.

Electronic data interchange (EDI)

The exchange of information electronically, directly from one firm's
computer to another firm's computer, in a structured format.

Exercise

To implement the right of the holder of an option to buy (in the case of a call) or sell (in the case of
a put) the underlying security.

Geometric mean return

Also called the time weighted rate of return, a measure of the compounded rate of
growth of the initial portfolio market value during the evaluation period, assuming that all cash distributions
are reinvested in the portfolio. It is computed by taking the geometric average of the portfolio subperiod
returns.

Hedging

A strategy designed to reduce investment risk using call options, put options, short selling, or futures
contracts. A hedge can help lock in existing profits. Its purpose is to reduce the volatility of a portfolio, by
reducing the risk of loss.

Hell-or-high-water contract

A contract that obligates a purchaser of a project's output to make cash
payments to the project in all events, even if no product is offered for sale.

Homogenous expectations assumption

An assumption of Markowitz portfolio construction that investors
have the same expectations with respect to the inputs that are used to derive efficient portfolios: asset returns,
variances, and covariances.

Index option

A call or put option based on a stock market index.

In-the-money

A put option that has a strike price higher than the underlying futures price, or a call option
with a strike price lower than the underlying futures price. For example, if the March COMEX silver futures
contract is trading at $6 an ounce, a March call with a strike price of $5.50 would be considered in-the-money
by $0.50 an ounce.
Related: put.

Liquid yield option note (LYON)

Zero-coupon, callable, putable, convertible bond invented by Merrill

Long run

A period of time in which all costs are variable; greater than one year.
Long straddle A straddle in which a long position is taken in both a put and call option.

Lookback option

An option that allows the buyer to choose as the option strike price any price of the
underlying asset that has occurred during the life of the option. If a call, the buyer will choose the minimal
price, whereas if a put, the buyer will choose the maximum price. This option will always be in the money.

Liquid yield option note (LYON)

Zero-coupon, callable, putable, convertible bond invented by Merrill Lynch & Co.

Long straddle

A straddle in which a long position is taken in both a put and call option.

Margin account (Stocks)

A leverageable account in which stocks can be purchased for a combination of
cash and a loan. The loan in the margin account is collateralized by the stock and, if the value of the stock
drops sufficiently, the owner will be asked to either put in more cash, or sell a portion of the stock. Margin
rules are federally regulated, but margin requirements and interest may vary among broker/dealers.

Market capitalization

The total dollar value of all outstanding shares. Computed as shares times current
market price. It is a measure of corporate size.

Market value-weighted index

An index of a group of securities computed by calculating a weighted average
of the returns on each security in the index, with the weights proportional to outstanding market value.

Materials requirement planning

Computer-based systems that plan backward from the production schedule
to make purchases in order to manage inventory levels.

Naked option strategies

An unhedged strategy making exclusive use of one of the following: Long call
strategy (buying call options ), short call strategy (selling or writing call options), Long put strategy (buying
put options ), and short put strategy (selling or writing put options). By themselves, these positions are called
naked strategies because they do not involve an offsetting or risk-reducing position in another option or the
underlying security.
Related: covered option strategies.

Open-end fund

Also called a mutual fund, an investment company that stands ready to sell new shares to the
public and to redeem its outstanding shares on demand at a price equal to an appropriate share of the value of
its portfolio, which is computed daily at the close of the market.

Option

Gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a set price on or before a
given date. Investors, not companies, issue options. Investors who purchase call options bet the stock will be
worth more than the price set by the option (the strike price), plus the price they paid for the option itself.
Buyers of put options bet the stock's price will go down below the price set by the option. An option is part of
a class of securities called derivatives, so named because these securities derive their value from the worth of
an underlying investment.

Out-of-the-money option

A call option is out-of-the-money if the strike price is greater than the market price
of the underlying security. A put option is out-of-the-money if the strike price is less than the market price of
the underlying security.

Over-the-counter market (OTC)

A decentralized market (as opposed to an exchange market) where
geographically dispersed dealers are linked together by telephones and computer screens. The market is for
securities not listed on a stock or bond exchange. The NASDAQ market is an OTC market for U.S. stocks.

Passive portfolio strategy

A strategy that involves minimal expectational input, and instead relies on
diversification to match the performance of some market index. A passive strategy assumes that the
marketplace will reflect all available information in the price paid for securities, and therefore, does not
attempt to find mispriced securities. Related: active portfolio strategy

Portfolio insurance

A strategy using a leveraged portfolio in the underlying stock to create a synthetic put
option. The strategy's goal is to ensure that the value of the portfolio does not fall below a certain level.

Portfolio internal rate of return

The rate of return computed by first determining the cash flows for all the
bonds in the portfolio and then finding the interest rate that will make the present value of the cash flows
equal to the market value of the portfolio.

Production payment financing

A method of nonrecourse asset-based financing in which a specified
percentage of revenue realized from the sale of the project's output is used to pay debt service.

Program trading

Trades based on signals from computer programs, usually entered directly from the trader's
computer to the market's computer system and executed automatically.

Purchase agreement

As used in connection with project financing, an agreement to purchase a specific
amount of project output per period.

Rate of interest

The rate, as a proportion of the principal, at which interest is computed.

Sales forecast

A key input to a firm's financial planning process. External sales forecasts are based on
historical experience, statistical analysis, and consideration of various macroeconomic factors.

Sales-type lease

An arrangement whereby a firm leases its own equipment, such as IBM leasing its own
computers, thereby competing with an independent leasing company.

Short straddle

A straddle in which one put and one call are sold.

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT)

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

Spreadsheet

A computer program that organizes numerical data into rows and columns on a terminal screen,
for calculating and making adjustments based on new data.

Stock exchanges

Formal organizations, approved and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), that are made up of members that use the facilities to exchange certain common stocks. The two major
national stock exchanges are the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the American Stock Exchange (ASE
or AMEX). Five regional stock exchanges include the Midwest, Pacific, Philadelphia, Boston, and Cincinnati.
The Arizona stock exchange is an after hours electronic marketplace where anonymous participants trade
stocks via personal computers.

Straddle

Purchase or sale of an equal number of puts and calls with the same terms at the same time.
Related: spread

Strike price

The stated price per share for which underlying stock may be purchased (in the case of a call) or
sold (in the case of a put) by the option holder upon exercise of the option contract.

Strip, strap

Variants of a straddle. A strip is two puts and one call on a stock, a strap is two calls and one put
on a stock. In both cases, the puts and calls have the same strike price and expiration date.

Tolling agreement

An agreement to put a specified amount of raw material per period through a particular
processing facility. For example, an agreement to process a specified amount of alumina into aluminum at a
particular aluminum plant.

Type

The classification of an option contract as either a put or a call.

Variable cost

A cost that is directly proportional to the volume of output produced. When production is zero,
the variable cost is equal to zero.

Voting rights

The right to vote on matters that are put to a vote of security holders. For example the right to
vote for directors.

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.

Yield to worst

The bond yield computed by using the lower of either the yield to maturity or the yield to call
on every possible call date.

Z score

Statistical measure that quantifies the distance (measured in standard deviations) a data point is from
the mean of a data set. Separately, z score is the output from a credit-strength test that gauges the likelihood of
bankruptcy.

UNITS OF PRODUCTION

A depreciation method that relates a machine’s depreciation to the number of units it makes each
accounting period. The method requires that someone record the machine’s output each year.

Cost object

Anything for which a measurement of cost is required – inputs, processes, outputs or responsibility centres.

Tangible fixed assets

Physical assets that can be seen and touched, e.g. buildings, machinery, vehicles, computers etc.

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