N
A Nasdaq stock symbol specifying that it is the company's third class of preferred shares.
NAD
In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Namibia Dollar.

Naked Call
A call option position held by a writer who does not hold a long position in the stock on which the call has been written. Sometimes referred to as an "uncovered call".

Naked Option
An option position where the buyer or seller has no underlying security position.

Naked Position
A securities position that is not hedged from market risk. Both the potential gain and the potential risk are greater when a position is naked instead of covered (a covered position is hedged from market risk).


Naked Put
A put option whose writer does not have a short position in the stock on which he or she has written the put. Sometimes referred to as an "uncovered put."

Naked Put
A put option whose writer does not have a short position in the stock on which he or she has written the put. Sometimes referred to as an "uncovered put."

Naked Shorting
The illegal practice of short selling shares that have not been affirmatively determined to exist. Ordinarily, traders must borrow a stock, or determine that it can be borrowed, before they sell it short. However, some professional investors and hedge funds take advantage of loopholes in the rules to sell shares without making any attempt to borrow the stock.


Nano Cap
Small public companies having a market capitalization below $50 million.


Narrow Basis
A condition found in futures markets in which the spot price of underlying commodities is close to the futures price of the same contract.

Narrow Money
Another term for M1, the category of the money supply that includes all physical money like coins and currency. It also includes demand deposits, which include checking accounts and NOW accounts.

Narrow-Based Weighted Average
An anti-dilution provision used to ensure that investors are not penalized when companies are undergoing additional financing or issuing new shares. A narrow-based weighted average takes into account only the total number of outstanding preferred shares for determining the new weighted average price for the old shares.

Nasdaq
Created in 1971, the Nasdaq was the world's first electronic stock market. The Nasdaq is a computerized system that facilitates trading and provides price quotations on some 5,000 of the more actively traded over-the-counter stocks.

Nasdaq 100 Index
An index composed of the 100 largest, most actively traded U.S companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. This index includes companies from a broad range of industries with the exception of those that operate in the financial industry, such as banks and investment companies.

Nasdaq Composite Index
A market-capitalization weighted index of the more than 3,000 common equities listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The types of securities in the index include American depository receipts, common stocks, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and tracking stocks. The index includes all Nasdaq listed stocks that are not derivatives, preferred shares, funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or debentures.

Nasdaq National Market Securities - Nasdaq-NM
The Nasdaq National Market consists of over 3000 companies that have a national or international shareholder base, meet stringent financial requirements, and agree to specific corporate governance standards.

National Association of Securities Dealers - NASD
A self-regulatory organization of the securities industry responsible for the operation and regulation of the Nasdaq stock market and over-the-counter markets. It also administrates exams for investment professionals, such as the Series 7 exam.

National Best Bid and Offer - NBBO
A term applying to the SEC requirement that brokers must guarantee customers the best available ask price when they buy securities and the best available bid price when they sell securities.
National Bureau of Economic Research - NBER
This private, non-profit, non-partisan research organization's main aim is to promote greater understanding of how the economy works. It disseminates economic research among public policymakers, business professionals and the academic community.

National Commodities And Derivatives Exchange - NCDEX
India's largest and most recognized commodities exchange, which was established in 2003. The exchange was founded by some of India's leading financial institutions such as ICICI Bank Limited, the National Stock Exchange of India and the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development, among others.

National Futures Association - NFA
An independent self-regulatory non-profit organization that regulates the futures market.

National Market System - NMS
A system with two main functions: 1. To facilitate trading of OTC stocks whose size, profitability, and trading activity meet specific criteria.
2. To post prices for securities on the NYSE and other regional exchanges simultaneously, allowing investors to obtain the best price.

National Registration Database - NRD
A Canadian database, launched in 2003 to replace the old paper form system, that allows security dealers and investment advisors to file registration forms electronically.

National Securities Clearing Corporation - NSCC
A subsidiary of the DTCC that provides centralized clearing, information, and settlement services to the financial industry.

National Securities Markets Improvement Act - NSMIA
Passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996, the NSMIA was an attempt to update and amend previous security acts and create one uniform code that companies and regulators could follow.

National Treatment
A concept of international laws that declares that if a state provides certain rights and privileges to its own citizens, it should also provide equivalent rights and privileges to foreigners who are currently in the country. This concept of equality can be found in bilateral tax treaties and also in most World Trade Organization agreements.



Natural Unemployment
The lowest rate of unemployment that an economy can sustain over the long run. Keynesians believe that a government can lower the rate of unemployment (i.e. employ more people) if it were willing to accept a higher level of inflation (the idea behind the Phillips Curve). However, critics of this say that the effect is temporary and that unemployment would bounce back up but inflation would stay high. Thus, the natural, or equilibrium, rate is the lowest level of unemployment at which inflation remains stable. Also known as the "non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment" (NAIRU).


Near Term - NT
Another word for "short term."

Nearby Month
In the context of options and futures, it's the month closest to delivery (futures) or expiration (options).

Needs Approach
A method of calculating how much life insurance is required by an individual/family to cover their needs (i.e. expenses). These include things like funeral expenses, legal fees, estate and gift taxes, business buyout costs, probate fees, medical deductibles, emergency funds, mortgage expenses, rent, debt and loans, college, child care, private schooling and maintenance costs. The needs approach contrasts the human-life approach.

Negative Amortization
The increase in the balance of a loan caused by interest payments being larger than the re-payments made on the loan. On adjustable-rate mortgages, if the monthly payments are not enough to cover both the interest and principal payments on the loan, the shortage is added to the principal. This situation occurs when the mortgage payments reach the maximum (as defined by the loan agreement) while the interest rate on the loan is increasing.

Negative Butterfly
A non-parallel yield curve shift in which long- and short-term yields decrease by a greater degree than intermediate rates. This yield curve shift effectively humps the curve, adding to the curvature of the yield curve.

Negative Carry
A situation in which the cost of financing a securities or financial futures position exceeds the yield earned.

Negative Covenant
A bond covenant preventing certain activities, unless agreed to by the bondholders. Negative covenants are written directly into the agreement creating the bond issue, are legally binding on the issuer, and exist to protect the best interests of the bondholders. Also referred to as "restrictive covenant".


Negative Goodwill
A gain occurring when the price paid for an acquisition is less than the fair value of its net assets.

Negative Income Tax
A taxation system where income subsidies are given to persons or families that are below the poverty line.

Negative Obligation
An obligation of NYSE specialists to remain on the sidelines and refrain from acting as principal when there is sufficient market demand and supply to efficiently match orders.

Negative Pledge Clause
A negative covenant in an indenture stating that the corporation will not pledge any of its assets if doing so gives the lenders less security. Also be referred to as a "covenant of equal coverage".

Negative Volume Index - NVI
An index that focuses on days where the volume has significantly decreased from the previous day's trading.

Neglected Firm Effect
The phenomenon of less-known firms producing abnormally high returns on their stocks.

Negotiable
1. Describing the price of a good or security that is not firmly established.

2. Describing a good or security whose ownership is easily transferable from one party to another.

Negotiable Certificate Of Deposit - NCD
A certificate of deposit with a minimum face value of $100,000. These are guaranteed by the bank and can usually be sold in a highly liquid secondary market, but they cannot be cashed-in before maturity

Negotiable Order of Withdrawal (NOW) Account
An interest-earning bank account with which the customer is permitted to write drafts against money held on deposit. Also known as a "NOW account".

Negotiated Market
A type of secondary market exchange in which the prices of each security are bargained out between buyers and sellers.

Negotiated Sale
A method of offering municipal bonds or similar financial instruments in which the issuing entity and a selected underwriter negotiate the terms of the issue, as opposed to having multiple underwriting groups competitively bidding on the issue to establish its terms.

Negotiated Underwriting
A process in which both the purchase price and the offering price for a new issue are negotiated between the issuer and a single underwriter.

Neoclassical Economics
An approach to economics that relates supply and demand to an individual's rationality and his or her ability to maximize utility or profit. Neoclassical economics also increased the use of mathematical equations in the study of various aspects of the economy. This approach was developed in the late-nineteenth century, based on books by William Stanley Jevons, Carl Menger and Leon Walras.

Nervous Nellie
An investor who isn't comfortable with investing and the risks associated with it.

Nest Egg
A special sum of money saved or invested for one specific future purpose.

Net Advantage To Leasing - NAL
The total monetary savings that would result from a person or a business choosing to lease an asset, as opposed to purchase it outright. The benefit of leasing is determined by comparing the net present value of purchasing the asset outright to the net present value of leasing it

Net Asset Value - NAV
1. In the context of mutual funds, the total value of the fund's portfolio less liabilities. The NAV is usually calculated on a daily basis.
2. In terms of corporate valuations, the book value of assets less liabilities.

Net Change
The difference between the closing price of a security on the day's trading and the previous day's closing price. Net change can be positive or negative and is quoted in terms of dollars. This is what the newspaper stock tables quote

Net Debt Per Capita
A measurement of the value of a government's debt expressed in terms of the amount attributable to each citizen under the government's jurisdiction. It is commonly computed using the following formula:

Net Debt To Assessed Valuation
In a municipal bond issue, a ratio measuring the value of the municipality's net debt compared to the specified value of the real property being purchased as assessed for tax purposes.

Net Debt To Estimated Valuation
A ratio comparing the net value of a municipal bond issue to the estimated market value of the property secured by the debt. This ratio can differ significantly from a municipal bond's net debt to assessed valuation if real-estate prices for the municipality's holdings incur large increases or decreases.

Net Domestic Product
An annual measure of the economic output of a nation that is adjusted to account for depreciation, calculated by subtracting depreciation from the gross domestic product (GDP).

Net Exporter
A country or territory whose value of exported goods is higher than its value of imported goods over a given period of time.
A net exporter is the opposite of a net importer.

Net Exports
The value of a country's total exports minus the value of its total imports. It is used to calculate a country's aggregate expenditures, or GDP, in an open economy.

Net Importer
A country or territory whose value of imported goods is higher than its value of exported goods over a given period of time.
A net importer is the opposite of a net exporter.

Net Income - NI
1. A company's total earnings (or profit). Net income is calculated by taking revenues and adjusting for the cost of doing business, depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses. This number is found on a company's income statement and is an important measure of how profitable the company is over a period of time. The measure is also used to calculate earnings per share.
Often referred to as "the bottom line" since net income is listed at the bottom of the income statement. In the U.K., net income is known as "profit attributable to shareholders".
2. An individual's income after deductions, credits and taxes are factored into gross income. Deductions and credits are subtracted from gross income to arrive at taxable income, which is used to calculate income tax. Net income is income tax subtracted from taxable income.

Net Interest Margin Securities - NIMS
A type of security that allows holders to access excess cash flows resulting from securitized mortgage loan pools.

Net Investment
A measure of a company's investment in capital, found by subtracting non-cash depreciation from capital expenditures. This measure helps to give a sense of how much money a company is spending on capital items (such as property, plants and equipment), which are used for operations.

Net Investment Income
Income received from investment assets (before taxes) such as bonds, stocks, mutual funds, loans and other investments (less related expenses). The individual tax rate on net investment income depends on whether it is interest income, dividend income or capital gains.

Net Long
A condition in which an investor has more long positions than short positions in a given asset, market, portfolio or trading strategy. Investors who are net long will benefit when the price of the asset increases.

Net Loss
The result that occurs when expenses exceed the income produced.

Net Operating Income - NOI
A company's operating income after operating expenses are deducted, but before income taxes and interest are deducted. If this is a positive value, it is referred to as net operating income, while a negative value is called a net operating loss (NOL).

Net Operating Loss - NOL
A period in which a company's allowable tax deductions are greater than its taxable income, resulting in a negative taxable income. This generally occurs when a company has incurred more expenses than revenues during the period.
The net operating loss for the company can generally be used to recover past tax payments or reduce future tax payments. The reasoning behind this is that because corporations are required to pay taxes when it earns money, it deserves some form of tax relief when it loses money.

Net Operating Profit After Tax - NOPAT
A company's potential cash earnings if its capitalization were unleveraged (that is, if it had no debt). NOPAT is frequently used in economic value added (EVA) calculations.
Calculated as:
NOPAT = Operating Income x (1 - Tax Rate)

Net Operating Profit Less Adjusted Taxes - NOPLAT
Total operating profits for a firm with adjustments made for taxes.


Net Present Value - NPV
The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to analyze the profitability of an investment or project.
NPV analysis is sensitive to the reliability of future cash inflows that an investment or project will yield.
Net Proceeds
The amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security.

Net Realizable Value - NRV
The value of an asset that can be realized by a company or entity upon the sale of the asset, less a reasonable prediction of the costs associated with either the eventual sale or the disposal of the asset in question.

Net Receivables
A company's accounts receivable (money owed to the company) minus bad debts.

Net Revenue Pledge
A provision in a municipal bond issue that requires the issuing municipality to use net revenues (revenues left after expenses) from the project being financed to pay first the debt service costs of the issue

Net Sales
The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted.

Net Short
A condition in which an investor has more short positions than long positions in a given asset, market, portfolio or trading strategy. Investors who are net short will benefit when the price of the underlying asset decreases.

Net Tangible Assets
Calculated as the total assets of a company, minus any intangible assets such as goodwill, patents and trademarks, less all liabilities and the par value of preferred stock. Also known as "net asset value" or "book value".

Net Unrealized Appreciation - NUA
The difference in value between the average cost basis of shares and the current market value of the shares held in a tax-deferred account.

Net Volume
A security's uptick volume minus its downtick volume over a specified period. An indicator very similar to money flow.

Net Worth
The amount by which a company or individual's assets exceed their liabilities.

Netback
A summary of all the costs associated with bringing one unit of oil to the marketplace, and all of the revenues from the sale of all the products generated from that same unit. The netback is calculated by taking all of the revenues from the oil, less all costs associated with getting the oil to a market. These costs can include, but are not limited to, importing, transportation, production and refining costs, and royalty fees.

Netscaped
A slang term referring to an instance in which a company gets hurt materially or put out of business as a result of head-to-head competition with Microsoft. Microsoft's size, resources and expertise mean there is always a risk that the company will steal market share. Many competitors have tried to beat the software giant and ended up suffering serious damage.

Netting
1. Settling mutual obligations at the net value of a contract as opposed to its gross dollar value.
2. Reducing the transfer of funds between subsidiaries to a net amount.

Neutral
1) A term that describes an option on a security or market that is neither bullish nor bearish.
2) A term that describes a person who is non-biased in the case of a dispute, such as an arbitrator.

New Economy
A buzzword describing the new, high growth industries that are on the cutting edge of technology and are the driving force of economic growth.

New Highs
Refers to a stock attaining a new price high when compared to its old price high of the last 52 weeks

New Highs List
Found daily on Investor's Business Daily's ‘Industry Group’ page. Identifies both the top industry sectors with the greatest number of stocks making new price highs as well as lists the individual stocks hitting new highs within that sector (‘New Highs’ list).

New Home Sales
An economic indicator that measures sales of newly built homes. Released by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau, it includes both quantity and price statistics. It is considered to be a lagging indicator of demand in the market and to affect mortgage rates.

New Issue
A reference to a security that has been registered, issued and is being sold on a market to the public for the first time. New issues are sometimes referred to as primary shares or new offerings. The term does not necessarily refer to newly issued stocks, although initial public offerings are the most commonly known new issues. Securities that can be newly issued include both debt and equity.

New Paradigm
In the investing world, a totally new way of doing things that has a huge effect on business.

New York Mercantile Exchange - NYMEX
The world's largest physical commodity futures exchange. Trading is conducted through two divisions: the NYMEX Division, which is home to the energy, platinum and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, where metals like gold, silver and copper and the FTSE 100 index options are traded. The NYMEX uses an outcry trading system during the day and an electronic trading system after hours

New York Stock Exchange - NYSE
A corporation, operated by a board of directors, responsible for listing securities, setting policies and supervising the stock exchange and its member activities. The NYSE also oversees the transfer of members' seats on the Exchange, judging whether a potential applicant is qualified to be a specialist.


News Item
Summary of the most recent news event. News items are obtained from several sources, including all major news wires and company press releases

NGN
In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nigerian Naira.

Nifty 50
The 50 stocks that were most favored by institutional investors in the 1960s and 1970s. Companies in this group were usually characterized by consistent earnings growth and high P/E ratios.

Nigerian Scam
A scam most often perpetrated by email. In a Nigerian scam, the sender requests help in facilitating the transfer of a substantial sum of money. In return, the sender offers a commission, usually in the range of several million dollars. The scammers then request that money be sent to pay for some of the costs associated with the transfer. If money is sent to the scammers, they will either immediately disappear or try to get more money with claims of continued problems with the transfer.


Nikkei
Short for Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average, the leading and most-respected index of Japanese stocks. It is a price-weighted index comprised of Japan's top 225 blue-chip companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Nikkei is equivalent to the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index in the U.S. In fact, it was called the Nikkei Dow Jones Stock Average from 1975 to 1985.

Nil-Paid
Security that are tradeable but originally posed no cost to the seller. For example, a renounceable right being sold by the original owner to another investor is considered nil-paid. A right is an opportunity to purchase more shares, usually at discount, given to shareholders by a corporation. The shareholders receive these rights at no cost, and if the rights are renounceable, the shareholders can choose to sell them on the market

Nine-Bond Rule
The NYSE requirement that all orders for nine bonds or less be sent to the floor for one hour, in which time a market is sought. The rule doesn't apply if the customer directs the broker to go to the OTC market. Also known as "Rule 396".

NIO
In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nicaraguan Cordoba.

NMF
An abbreviation for "no meaningful figure". You'll often see this when comparing financial data among companies where a certain ratio or figure isn't applicable.

No Quote
A designation indicating that no market makers are making an inside market at this time.

No-Load Fund
A mutual fund whose shares are sold without a commission or sales charge. The reason for this is that the shares are distributed directly by the investment company, instead of going through a secondary party. This is the opposite of a load fund, which charges a commission upon the initial purchase at the time of sale.

No-Par Value Stock
Stock that is issued without the specification of a par value indicated in the company's articles of incorporation or on the stock certificate itself.

Noise
Price and volume fluctuations in the market that can confuse one's interpretation of market direction. Used in the context of equities, it is stock market activity caused by program trading, dividend payments or other phenomena that is not reflective of overall market sentiment. Also known as "market noise".
Noise Trader
The term used to describe an investor who makes decisions regarding buy and sell trades without the use of fundamental data. These investors generally have poor timing, follow trends, and over-react to good and bad news.

Noise Trader Risk
A form of market risk associated with the investment decisions of noise traders. The higher the volatility in market price for a particular security, the greater the associated noise trader risk


NOK
In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Norwegian Krone.

Nominal
An unadjusted rate, value or change in value. This type of measure often reflects the current situation, such as the current price of a car, and doesn't make adjustments to reflect factors such as seasonality or inflation, which provide a more accurate measure in real terms.

Nominal Effective Exchange Rate - NEER
The unadjusted weighted average value of a country's currency relative to all major currencies being traded within an index or pool of currencies. The weights are determined by the importance a home country places on all other currencies traded within the pool, as measured by the balance of trade.

Nominal GDP
A gross domestic product (GDP) figure that has not been adjusted for inflation.
Also known as "current dollar GDP" or "chained dollar GDP".

Nominal Interest Rate
The interest rate unadjusted for inflation.

Nominal Quotation
A quote generated by a futures exchange or broker for contracts that have not traded for a specific period of time.
Also referred to as a "nominal quote" or "nominal price".

Nominal Value
The stated value of an issued security that remains fixed, as opposed to its market value, which fluctuates.

Nominal Yield
The interest rate stated on the face of a bond, it represents the percentage of interest to be paid by the issuer on the face value of the bond.

Nominalism
The principle of keeping the amount of a debt obligation fixed despite fluctuations in the money's purchasing power or exchange rate.

Nominee
A person or firm into whose name securities or other properties are transferred in order to facilitate transactions, while leaving the customer as the actual owner.

Nominee Dividend
A dividend that a person receives on behalf of someone else. If you pass the dividends on to another person, then you must file a Form 1099-DIV to get a dividend adjustment and thereby reduce your taxable dividend interest.

Nominee Interest
Interest that a person receives on behalf of someone else. If you pass the interest on to another person, then you must file a Form 1099-INT to get an interest adjustment and thereby reduce your taxable interest.

Non Performing Asset
Any asset that is not effectively producing income.

Non Performing Loan - NPL
Loans that are in default or close to being in default.

Non-Accredited Investor
An investor who does not meet the net worth requirements for an accredited investor under the Securities & Exchange Commission's Regulation D. A non-accredited individual investor is one who has a net worth of less than $1 million (including spouse) and who earned less than $200,000 annually ($300,000 with spouse) in the last two years.

Non-Assessable Stock
A class of stock in which the issuing company is not allowed to impose levies on its shareholders for additional funds for further investment. Non-assessable stocks typically have the words "fully paid and non-assessable" printed on the stock certificate.
These are the opposite of assessable stocks.

Non-Cash Charge
A charge off, made by a company against earnings, that does not require an initial outlay of cash.

Non-Client Order
An order on an exchange made by a participant firm or on behalf of a partner, officer, director or employee of the participant firm. Where a participant firm is a firm that is entitled to trade on the exchange, it also known as a member firm. While these orders are allowed, priority must be given to client orders for the same securities.

Non-Competitive Tender
One of the two bid processes for buying debt issuances. Non-competitive tender is for small investors, while competitive tender is for large institutional investors. The price that a non-competitive bidder receives is the average bid price of all competitive bids.
Also known as a "non-competitive bid".

Non-Contestability Clause
1. A provision in a person's will designed to stop beneficiaries from contesting the will. The provision states that if beneficiaries try to contest the will, their potential inheritances will be effectively redistributed to other beneficiaries.
2. A provision in a life insurance policy designed to stop life insurance companies from refusing to pay out a claim to individuals because of fraud or error.

Non-Deliverable Forward - NDF
A cash-settled, short-term forward contract on a thinly traded or non-convertible foreign currency, where the profit or loss at the time at the settlement date is calculated by taking the difference between the agreed upon exchange rate and the spot rate at the time of settlement, for an agreed upon notional amount of funds

Non-Deliverable Swap - NDS
A swap that is similar to a non-deliverable forward, with the only difference being that settlement for both parties is done through a major currency. Non-deliverable swaps are used when the swap includes a major currency, such as the U.S. dollar, and a restricted currency, such as the Philippine peso or South Korean won.

Non-Directed Order
A customer order where specific instructions are not given, by the customer to the broker, pertaining to its routing destination.

Non-Equity Option
A term for option contracts whose underlying securities are instruments other than equities.



Non-Farm Payroll
A statistic researched, recorded and reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics intended to represent the total number of paid U.S. workers of any business, excluding the following employees:
- general government employees
- private household employees
- employees of nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to individuals
- farm employees
This monthly report also includes estimates on the average work week and the average weekly earnings of all non-farm employees.

Non-Financial Asset
An asset with a physical value such as land, property or some type of object.

Non-Fluctuating
The characteristic of constancy in a security or measurement's value, rate of change or other metric.

Non-Interest-Bearing Current Liability - NIBCL
A category of debt entered on the liabilities side of a balance sheet under current liabilities. While a NIBCL is debt, representing a sum of money that the company owes and must pay within one year, it does not require interest payments.

Non-Negotiable
1. A term relating to the price of a good or security which is firmly established and cannot be adjusted.
2. A term relating to a good or security whose ownership is not easily transferable from one party to another.

Non-Operating Asset
Assets that are unnecessary to the ongoing operations of a business.

Non-Operating Cash Flows
Cash inflows and outflows related to non-current investments, financing, and dividends.

Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation - NQDC
Compensation that has been earned by an employee, but not yet received from the employer. Because the ownership of the compensation - which may be monetary or otherwise - has not been transferred to the employee, it is not yet part of the employee's earned income and is not counted as taxable income.



Non-Qualified Distribution
1) A distribution from a Roth IRA that occurs before the Roth IRA owner meets certain requirements (see definition for qualified distributions).
2) A distribution from an education savings account that exceeds the amount used for qualified education expenses.

Non-Qualified Stock Option - NSO
A type of employee stock option where you pay ordinary income tax on the difference between the grant price and the price at which you exercise the option.

Non-Qualifying Investment
An investment that does not qualify for any level of tax-deferred or tax-exempt status. Investments of this sort are made with after-tax money. They are purchased and held in tax-deferred accounts, plans or trusts. Returns from these investments are taxed on an annual basis.

Non-Recourse Debt
A loan that is secured by some sort of collateral, usually property. The issuer can seize the collateral if the borrower defaults.

Non-Recourse Finance
A loan where the lending bank is only entitled to repayment from the profits of the project the loan is funding, not from other assets of the borrower.

Non-Recurring Item
Indicates pre-tax, non-recurring items were included in calculation. Daily Graphs Online uses a blue delta (triangle) to denote non-recurring items.

Non-Renounceable Rights
An offer issued by a corporation to shareholders to purchase more shares of the corporation (usually at a discount). Unlike a renounceable right, a non-renounceable right is not transferable, and therefore cannot be bought or sold.

Non-Resident
An individual who mainly resides in one region or jurisdiction but has interests in another region. In the region where he or she does not mainly reside, he or she will be classified by government authorities as a non-resident. The classification itself will be determined in each region based on set circumstances such as the amount of time spent within the region during the calendar year. This classification is focused on where the person resides and does not focus on citizenship.


Non-Resident Alien
A non-U.S. citizen who doesn't pass the green card test or the substantial presence test. If a non-citizen currently has a green card or has had a green card in the past calender year, he or she would pass the green card test and would be classified as a resident alien. If the individual has resided in the U.S. for more than 31 days in the current year and has resided in the U.S. for more than 183 days over a three-year period, including the current year, he or she would pass the substantial presence test and also be classified as a resident alien.



Noncallable
Securities that cannot be called by the issuer prior to maturity.

Noncommercial Trader
A classification used by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to identify traders that use the futures market for speculative purposes.

Nonconvertible Currency
Any currency that is used primarily for domestic transactions and is not openly traded on a forex market. This usually is a result of government restrictions, which prevent it from being exchanged for foreign currencies.
Also known as a "blocked currency".

Noncumulative
A type of preferred stock that does not pay the holder any unpaid or omitted dividends. If the corporation chooses to not pay dividends in a given year, the investor does not have the right to claim any of those forgone dividends in the future.

Nonelective Contribution
A type of contribution an employer chooses to make to each of his or her eligible employee's employer-sponsored retirement plan. The contribution is not based on salary reduction contributions made by the employee.

Nonprofit Organization
An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a nonprofit organization are often tax deductible as well.

Nonrecurring Charge
An expense occurring only once on a company's financial statement.

Nontaxable Dividends
Dividends from a mutual fund or some other regulated investment company that are not taxed. Taxes are not paid out because the fund invests in municipal and other tax exempt investments.

Normal Market Size
A share classification structure based on the number of shares outstanding. This determines the number of shares that a market maker can trade at the quoted price.

Normal Market Size
A share classification structure based on the number of shares outstanding. This determines the number of shares that a market maker can trade at the quoted price.

Normal Yield Curve
A yield curve in which short-term debt instruments have a lower yield than long-term debt instruments of the same credit quality. This gives the yield curve an upward slope. This is the most often seen yield curve shape.
Sometimes referred to as "positive yield curve".

Normal-Course Issuer Bid-NCIB
The action of a company buying back its own outstanding shares from the markets so it can cancel them.

Normalized Earnings
1. Earnings adjusted for cyclical ups and downs in the economy.
2. On the balance sheet, earnings adjusted to remove unusual or one-time influences.

North American Free Trade Agreement - NAFTA
A trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that encourages free trade between these North American countries.

North American Securities Administrators Association - NASAA
A voluntary organization, established in 1919, of securities regulators whose aim is to protect investors who buy securities or investment advice by educating the public, investigating violations of state and provincial law and filing enforcement actions. Membership includes securities regulators from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada and Mexico.

North Sea Brent Crude
A type of oil that is sourced from the North Sea. This type of oil is used as a benchmark to price European, African and Middle Eastern oil that is exported to the West.

Nostro Account
An account that a bank holds with a foreign bank.

Not-Held Order
A market or limit order that gives the broker or floor trader both time and price discretion to attempt to get the best possible price.

Note
A debt security, usually maturing in one to 10 years.

Note Against Bond Spread - NOB
A spread within futures contracts created by offsetting positions in 30-year treasury bond futures with positions in 10-year treasury note contracts.

Note Issuance Facility - NIF
A syndicate of commercial banks that have agreed to purchase any short to medium-term notes that a borrower is unable to sell in the eurocurrency market.

Notice Of Assessment - NOA
An annual statement sent by revenue authorities to taxpayers detailing the amount of income tax they owe. It includes the amount of their tax refund, tax credit and income tax already paid.

Notice Of Seizure
A letter or written notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) informing the recipient that authorization has been given to liquidate his or her assets in order to cover the income taxes due.

Notional Principal Amount
In an interest rate swap, the predetermined dollar amount on which the exchanged interest payments are based.

Notional Value
The total value of a leveraged position's assets. This term is commonly used in the options, futures and currency markets because in them a very little amount of invested money can control a large position (have a large consequence for the trader).

Novation
1.The act of replacing one participating member of a contract with another.
2. The exchange of new debts or obligations for older existing ones

NPR
In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nepal Rupee.

Numeraire
An economic term that represents a unit of account. In French, the term means counting or measuring. Usually a numeraire is applied to a single good, which becomes the base good. All other similar goods are then valued and priced against the base good. This comparison makes it possible to identify which goods are worth more than others.


Nuncupative Will
A verbal will that must have two witnesses and can only deal with the distribution of personal property. A nuncupative will is considered a "deathbed" will, meaning that it is a safety for people struck with a terminal illness and robbed of the ability or time to draft a proper written will.


NY Empire State Index
A seasonally-adjusted index that tracks the results of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The survey is distributed to roughly 175 manufacturing executives and asks questions intended to gauge both the current sentiment of the executives and their six-month outlook on the sector.

NYSE Composite Index
Measures all common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange and four subgroup indexes: Industrial, Transportation, Utility, and Finance. The index tracks the change in market value of NYSE common stocks, adjusted to eliminate the effects of new listings and de-listings. The market value of each stock is calculated by multiplying its price per share by the number of shares listed.

NZD
In the currency market, this is the abbreviation for the New Zealand dollar.

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