Soft Patch

What Does it Mean?
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A period of economic slowdown amid a larger trend of economic growth. This buzzword is most often used in the financial media and by the U.S. Federal Reserve to describe a period of economic weakness.

Investopedia Says:
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This term gained popularity when former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan used it in his review of the overall U.S. economy. Central banks often cut interest rates in an attempt to spur the economy through the soft patch. An example of a soft patch would be an economic slowdown due to rising commodity prices, which is believed to be short term, with the economy growing at a faster rate after the slow patch.

Graveyard Market

What Does it Mean?
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The period near the end of a prolonged bear market. In a graveyard market, long-time investors have taken large losses, while new investors prefer to stay liquid by sitting on the sidelines and keeping their money in cash or cash-equivalent securities until market conditions improve.

Investopedia Says:
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The term graveyard market is an apt description of this market phenomenon: the investors in a graveyard market can't get out of it, and the investors who aren't in it don't want to be. Therefore, until a positive outlook becomes more conclusive, the overall market conditions will be slow to improve

Witching Hour

What Does it Mean?
The last hour of stock trading between 3 p.m. (when the bond market closes) and 4 p.m. EST. It is typically controlled by large professional traders, program traders and large institutional traders, and can be characterized by higher than average volatility.

dry powder

The term "dry powder" originated during the days when military battles were fought with guns and cannons that used gun powder. The gun powder had to be kept dry in order for it to remain effective. Nowadays, the term "dry powder" is used metaphorically in various contexts and circumstances, including the world of finance.

Statement Shock

What Does it Mean?
The shock associated with opening an investment statement and seeing that the value of your portfolio has dropped more than what was expected. Statement shock is most commonly referring to an unexpected drop in value but can also be used to describe lower than expected returns.

Investopedia Says...
Statement shock can occur especially after large downturns in the market. Many investors will contribute to an investment fund and receive statements in the mail on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis

What are pro forma earnings?

What are pro forma earnings?
Great question, but it is not easily answered, because pro forma earnings figures are inherently different for different companies. There are no universal guidelines that companies must follow when reporting pro forma earnings, which is why the distinction between pro forma and earnings reported using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is very, very important.
(See Full Answer)
What is a Ginnie Mae security?
A Ginnie Mae, or Government National Mortgage Association security, functions similarly to the process of lending someone money to purchase a house or business. Ginnie Mae buys home mortgages from banks and financial institutions, bundles them together, and then markets portions of these bundles to investors.

Value Averaging

What Does it Mean?
An investing strategy that works like dollar cost averaging (DCA) in terms of steady monthly contributions, but differs in its approach to the amount of each monthly contribution. In value averaging, the investor sets a target growth rate or amount on his or her asset base or portfolio each month, and then adjusts the next month's contribution according to the relative gain or shortfall made on the original asset base.

Investopedia Says...
For example, suppose an account has a value of $2,000 and the goal is for the portfolio to increase by $200 every month. If, in a month's time, the assets have grown to $2,024, the investor would fund the account with $176 ($200 - $24) worth of assets

Protest Divestment

What Does it Mean?
The intentional selling of stock or other assets on a large scale to create financial pressure on a corporation or government to force social change. Protest divestment is a form of shareholder activism.

Investopedia Says...
For example, in the late 1980s, students at many American universities lobbied their schools' endowment funds to stop investing in South Africa

Pilot Fishing

What Does it Mean?
A type of pre-marketing of an initial public offering (IPO) that involves testing investor sentiment to receive feedback on how the market may respond to an issue. Pilot fishing has led to much controversy because it could undermine the role of investment bankers by providing advice to clients about the price the IPO is launched at.

Investopedia Says...
Pilot fishing is practiced in Europe. However, SEC regulations about what can and cannot occur during the SEC's IPO approval process prevent this from happening in the US

Automatic Investment Plan (AIP)

Automatic Investment Plan (AIP)
An investment program that allows investors to contribute small amounts of money, such as $20 a month in regular intervals. Funds are automatically deducted from the investor's checking/savings account or paycheck and invested in a retirement account or mutual fund.