 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Market glossaryBy Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, CURBS IN: Temporary restrictions on trading are in effect. Restrictions may be triggered by a large increase or decrease in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and are intended to decrease volatility. The curbs that kicked in Monday morning involved restrictions on certain types of computerized trading. A steeper decline could have led to a complete halt in trading for a half hour, an hour or for the rest of the day. Different rules apply at various times of the trading day. CORRECTION: A market decline. There are no firm definitions, but generally anything less than a 20 percent pullback from market highs is called a correction, while a more serious decline is labeled a bear market. FLIGHT TO QUALITY: A rush to buy U.S. government securities and blue-chip stocks while selling more speculative investments. SELLING SHORT: A bet that a stock will go down. Usually this involves selling borrowed stock, hoping to replace it with shares purchased later at a lower price. The later purchase is referred to as "covering" a short position. SELL ORDER: An order to sell stock. TRADING FLOOR: The place at the New York Stock Exchange (and other stock exchanges) where brokers representing buyers and sellers transact business with specialists who are charged with maintaining an orderly market in assigned stocks. Many orders are processed electronically, but the specialist on the floor still keeps track of the trading. The Nasdaq Stock Exchange does not have a trading floor.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Business report
From the AP
|
