Harvey's

Hypertextual Finance Glossary

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

G: Fifth letter of a Nasdaq stock symbol specifying that the issue is the first convertible bond of the company.
GA: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GABON.
GAAP: See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
GAB: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GABON.
GB: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for UNITED KINGDOM.
GBP: The ISO 4217 currency code for the United Kingdom Pound Sterling.
GBR: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for UNITED KINGDOM.
GD: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GRENADA.
GDP: See: Gross Domestic Product
GDR: See: Global Depositary Receipt
GE: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GEORGIA.
GEO: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GEORGIA.
GF: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for FRENCH GUIANA.
GFMA: See: Global Financial Markets Association
GG: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GUERNSEY.
GGY: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GUERNSEY.
GH: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GHANA.
GHA: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GHANA.
GI: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GIBRALTAR.
GIB: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GIBRALTAR.
GIC: See: Guaranteed Investment Contract
GIN: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GUINEA.
GL: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GREENLAND.
GLP: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GUADELOUPE.
GNP: See: Gross National Product
GM: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GAMBIA.
GMB: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GAMBIA.
GMC: See: Guaranteed Mortgage Certificate
GN: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GUINEA.
GNB: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GUINEA-BISSAU.
GNQ: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for EQUATORIAL GUINEA.
GP (1): The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GUADELOUPE.
GP (2): See: General partner
GPM: See: Graduated Payment Mortgages
GQ: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for EQUATORIAL GUINEA.
GR: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GREECE.
GRC: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GREECE.
GRD: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GRENADA.
GRL: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GREENLAND.
GS: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS.
GT: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GUATEMALA.
GTC: See: Good 'til cancelled order
GTM: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GUATEMALA.
GU: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GUAM.
GUF: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for FRENCH GUIANA.
GUM: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GUAM.
GUY: The three-character ISO 3166 country code for GUYANA.
GW: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GUINEA-BISSAU.
GY: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for GUYANA.
G-2: G-2, the Group of Two, refers to the United States of America and China.
G-7: G-7, the Group of Seven, is a meeting of finance ministers and was formed in 1976 when Canada joined the Group of Six. The member countries of G-7 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States.
G-8: G-8, the Group of Eight, is a meeting of finance ministers and was formed in 1997 when Russia joined the Group of Seven. The member countries of G-8 are Russia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States.
G-20: G-20, the Group of Twenty, was established in 1999 in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis to bring together major advanced and emerging economies with the goal of stabilizing the global financial market. The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States of America. The European Union, who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank, is the 20th member of the G-20.
Gadfly: A nickname for a "professional" securityholder who owns stock in various companies, attends annual meetings and asks senior management hard and often embarrassing questions.
Gaijin: Japanese term used to describe a non-Japanese investor in Japan (outside person). A more polite version of the same word is gaikokujin which means outside country person.
Gain: A profit on a securities transaction recognized by selling a security for more than the security originally cost. The gain is the difference between the cost and the sale.
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.
Gap: Financing that is required, but for which no provision has been made. The difference in total funding needed for a proposal and the amount of funding already made available.
Gap Hedging: An asset-liability corporate hedge based on net assets, or the amount of a company’s shareholders’ equity. Less sophisticated than placing one hedge on the total assets of the company, and another on the total liabilities, gap hedging is the practice of simply hedging the net of the two, or owners’ equity. Assumes the volatility of assets and the volatility of liabilities are equal.
Gap opening: In the context of general equities, opening price that is substantially higher or lower than the previous day's closing price, usually because of some extraordinarily positive or negative news.
Garage: The floor of the NYSE, which is situated on the north side of the main trading floor.
Garbatrage: Rising stock prices and increased market activity in an entire sector caused by a psychology change stemming from a major takeover involving two companies in the sector. Speculators feel other takeovers are likely in the sector. See: Rumortrage.
Garman-Kohlhagen option pricing model: A model widely used to price foreign currency options.
Gather in the stops: A market strategy in which investors sell stocks to drive prices to a level that breaks through stop orders known to exist. Once the price is low enough, the stop orders become market orders and are executed, to create snowballing.
Gaussian: A system whose probabilities are well described by the normal distribution, or bell-shaped curve.
GDP implicit price deflator: An economic technique used to account for inflation by comparing the current-dollar gross domestic product GDP to constant-dollar GDP as a ratio. The ratio accounts for price changes of goods and services that make up GDP and changes in the composition of GDP. This is an alternative measure of inflation compared to the usual Consumer Price Index.
Gearing: Financial leverage.
GEM (growing equity mortgage): Mortgage in which annual increases in monthly payments are used to reduce outstanding principal and to shorten the term of the loan.
General Average: Provision in maritime law where all shippers on a given voyage would reimburse the ship line in the event of vessel sinking or catastrophic damage. It also provides for the reimbursement to those shippers whose cargo was thrown overboard in order to save the vessel.
General Average Contribution: The amount of money paid by each shipper involved in a General Average.
General account: Federal Reserve Board's term for a margin account provided to a customer by a brokerage firm. Governed by Regulation T of the Fed.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): A treaty adopted by the United Nations aimed at elimination of international trade barriers between member countries.
General cash offer: A public offering made to investors at large.
General collateral rate: Interest rate earned on borrower's collateral for equity loans.
Generic credit spread: Refers to the corporate bond spread for a particular credit rating and expiry. For example, 10-year single A corporates were priced or trading at 130 basis points above Treasuries last night, or said differently, 130 is the generic credit spread for 10-year single A corporates.
General ledger: Accounting records that show all the financial statement accounts of a business.
General lien: An attachment that gives the lender the right to seize the personal property of a borrower who has not fulfilled the obligations of the loan, but prevents the lender from seizing real property.
General loan and collateral agreement: The agreement governing the broker-dealer's borrowing against listed securities from a bank for the purpose of carrying on business and making transactions. See: Broker loan rate.
General mortgage: A type of obligation that covers all a borrower's mortgageable properties, not just one specific property.
General obligation bonds: Municipal securities secured by the issuer's pledge of its full faith, credit, and taxing power.
General Order: A penalty imposed on imported goods that are not promptly cleared through customs.
General partner: A participant who has unlimited liability for the obligations of a partnership. In private equity, the General Partner is the managing partner of the PE company who has unlimited personal liability for the debts and obligations of the Limited partnership and the right to participate in the management. See also:Limited partner.
General partnership: A partnership in which all participants are general partners.
General price level: An index that measures the change in price of goods in an economy over time and hence the purchasing power of the currency of the country. For instance, in the U.S. it is represented by the CPI (Consumer Price Index) maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor.
General price level accounting: Restating conventional financial statements (which are stated in nominal currency) in units of general purchasing power to adjust for inflation.
General revenue: The sum of taxes, charges, and miscellaneous income taken in at the state and local level while neglecting overlapping revenue which may be erroneously counted twice.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP): The overall conventions, rules, and procedures that define accepted accounting practice at a particular time in the U.S.
Generation-skipping transfer or trust: A trust in which a principal amount is placed in a trust on the death of person A and is transferred to A's grandchildren when A's children die. The income from the trust goes to the children of person A while they survive.
Generic: Usually used in the context of mortgage-back securities. Describes the characteristics and/or experience of the total universe of a coupon of MBS sector type; that is, in contrast to a specific pool or collateral group, as in a specific CMO issue.
Genetic Algorithms: Models that optimize rules by mimicking the Darwinian notion of survival of the fittest. A set of rules is chosen from those that work the best. The weakest are discarded. In addition, two successful rules can be combined (the equivalent to genetic cross-overs) to produce offspring rules. The offspring can replace the parents, or they will be discarded if less successful than the parents. Mutation is also accomplished by randomly changing elements. Mutation and cross-over occur with low probability, as in nature.
Geographic risk: Risk that arises when an issuer issues policies concentrated within certain geographic areas, such as the risk of concentrating their coverage in hurricane or earthquake prone regions.
Geometric mean return: Also called the time-weighted rate of return, a measure of the compound 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. Also called the time-weighted rate of return or Dietz algorithm.
Gestation repo: A reverse repurchase agreement between mortgage firms and securities dealers. Under the agreement, the firm sells federal agency-guaranteed MBS and simultaneously agrees to repurchase them at a future date at a fixed price.
Get hit: Go lower in price, when bids in the stock or market are hit, causing those bids to vanish and be replaced by lower ones. Come in. Antithesis of on the take.
Get out: Used in the context of general equities. Sell interest in a position ("We could get out big size in Humana.")
Ghosting: The illegal practice that one firm drives a stock's price higher or lower, while other conspiring firms follow its lead to influence up the price of the stock.
Gift splitting: A technique used to avoid a gift tax in which a large sum of money to be given by two parents to a child is halved and given to the child separately. For example, a husband and wife each donate $10,000 to their child rather than one parent donating $20,000.
Gift tax: A tax assessed on the giver of a property or asset as a gift. A $10,000 federal gift tax exemption exists per recipient. See: Gift splitting.
Gift inter vivos: A piece of property or asset given from one living person to another.
Gilt-edged securities: British and Irish government securities. Blue Chip.
Gilts: British and Irish government securities. Blue Chip.
Ginnie Mae: See: Government National Mortgage Association
Ginnie Mae pass-through: A security guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association that is backed by a collection of mortgages, in which the investor receives the interest and principal payments of participating homeowners.
Give up: Used for listed equity securities. (1) Term used in a securities transaction involving three brokers, as follows: Broker A, a floor broker, executes a buy order for broker B (a member firm broker who has too much business at the time to execute the order). The broker with whom broker A completes the transaction (the sell-side broker) is broker C. Broker A "gives up" the name of broker B, so that the record shows a transaction between broker B and broker C even though the trade is actually executed between broker A and broker C; (2) distribution of commissions to brokerage houses not participating in a trade. This is a grey area of the law governing reimbursement of a broker for services (e.g., research). See: Directed brokerage.
Glamour stock: A popular stock characterized by high earnings growth rate and a price that rise is faster than the market average in a bull market.
Global Depositary Receipt (GDR): A receipt denoting ownership of foreign-based corporation stock shares which are traded in numerous capital markets around the world.
Glass-Steagall Act: 1933 legislation prohibiting commercial banks to own, underwrite, or deal in corporate stock and corporate bonds. The bill was effectively repealed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, November 12, 1999 and was partially reinstated with the Volcker Rule in 2013.
Global bonds: Bonds designed to qualify for immediate trading in any domestic capital market and in the Euromarket.
Global Financial Markets Associtation: The Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) is a lobby group which "joins together some of the world�s largest financial trade associations to develop strategies for global policy issues in the financial markets, and promote coordinated advocacy efforts. The member trade associations count many of the world�s largest financial institutions as their members." (according to their website). GFMA currently has three members: the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), and, in the United States, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).
Global fund: A mutual fund that can invest anywhere in the world, including the U.S.
Globalization: Tendency toward a worldwide investment environment, and the integration of national capital markets.
GNMA-I: Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) on which registered holders receive separate principal and interest payments on each of their certificates, usually directly from the servicer of the MBS pool. GNMA-I mortgage-backed securities are single-issuer pools.
GNMA-II: Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) on which registered holders receive an aggregate principal and interest payment from a central paying agent on all their certificates. Principal and interest payments are disbursed on the 20^th day of the month. GNMA-II MBS are backed by multiple-issuer pools or custom pools (one issuer but different interest rates that may vary within one percentage point). Multiple-issuer pools are known as "jumbos." Jumbo pools are generally longer and offer certain mortgages that are more geographically diverse than single-issuer pools. Jumbo pool mortgage interest rates may vary within one percentage point.
GNMA Midget: A GNMA pass-through certificate backed by fixed-rate mortgages with a 15-year maturity. GNMA Midget is a dealer term and is not used by GNMA in the formal description of its programs.
Gnomes: Freddie Mac's 15-year fixed-rate pass-through securities issued under its cash program.
Go along: Used for listed equity securities. Buy or sell at prices that randomly occur on the floor, participating in what trades the specialist and other players will allow.
Go around: Describes the N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank's trading desk practice of communicating with primary dealers to establish a market of bids and offers on behalf of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Goal: An individual's or institution's financial objective.
Godfather offer: An aggressive takeover technique in that the proposed offer of the acquiring company is so large that management of the target company cannot refuse, out of fear of lawsuits or shareholder revolt.
Go-go fund: A type of mutual fund invested in highly aggressive growth stocks. The fund has high levels of risk and potential return.
Go to: Used in the context of general equities. Sell insurance ("we've got 50 IBM to go".).
Goes: Used in the context of general equities. (1) Trades ("10 IBM goes on at 115 "); see Print; (2) indicates a change in the stock's inside market ("Apple goes 3/4 bid").
Going ahead: A broker-dealer trades in a personal account prior to filling the orders of his or her clients. Prohibited by the NASD rules of fair practice. Also see front running
Going away: The type of bond purchased by dealers for immediate resale to investors, as opposed to purchasing a bond to hold for some amount of time, and then reselling it at a future date.
Going-concern value: The value of a company to another company or individual in terms of an operating business. The difference between a company's going-concern value and its asset or liquidation value is deemed goodwill and plays a major role in mergers and acquisitions.
Going long: The investor's purchase of a security for investment or speculation that the price will rise resulting in a profit once the security is sold. See: long position. Antithesis of going short.
Going out: Used in the context of general equities. Soliciting/advertising over the SS1, NASDSAQ, or Autex.
Going private buyout: When publicly owned stock in a firm is replaced with complete equity ownership by a private group. The firm is delisted on stock exchanges and can no longer be purchased in the open markets.
Going public: When a private company first offers shares to the public market and investors. See: IPO.
Going public through the backdoor: The process by which a company comes to have publicly traded shares without an IPO. This could happen through a reverse shell merger, or through acquisition of a public company and offering shares to previous owners. Another way is through a series of private placements, selling shares on an exchange to institutional and other sophisticated investors.
Going short: Selling stock that an investor does not own by borrowing shares from a broker. The assumption is that the price will fall. The investor anticipates buying (covering the short) the shares back at a lower price than what they were sold for, recognizing the difference as a profit. Antithesis of going long.
Going into the trade: Used in the context of general equities. 1) Condition of the trader's position in the security and expectations of stock placement with accounts just prior to taking an order to the exchange floor for execution; 2) On the way in. Antithesis of come out of the trade.
Gold bars: Bars with a minimum content of 99.5% (two nines five in trader jargon; typically traded gold is four nines pure or 99.99%) gold, which may be held by central banks or traded by investors.
Gold bond: Bonds issued by gold-mining companies and backed by gold. The bonds make interest payments based on the level of gold prices.
Gold bullion: Investment-grade, pure gold, which may be smelted into gold coins or gold bars.
Gold Carry Trade: A carry trade where you borrow and pay interest in order to buy something else that has higher interest. The gold carry trade works as follows. A central bank loans a bank (sometimes called a bullion bank) some gold. The gold lease rate is usually very low. The bullion bank immediately sells the gold and invests in securities with a higher rate of return, such as government long-term bonds. The carry return is the return on the bonds minus the gold lease rate. However, this trade is risky on two dimensions. First, if the bullion bank invested in long-term bonds and the interest rate goes up, the trade could be unprofitable. More seriously, the bullion bank has effectively sold the gold short. If the loan is called by the central bank and if gold has risen in value, the bullion bank will have to go into the market and purchase higher priced gold. Indeed, if many banks are short, the unwinding of the gold carry trade could drive the gold price even higher. Related: Carry Trade.
Gold certificate: Certificate of an investor that shows proof of ownership of gold bullion.
Gold coins: Coin minted in gold, such as the American Eagle or the Canadian Maple Leaf.
Gold exchange standard: A fixed exchange rate system adopted in the Bretton Woods agreement. It required the U.S. to peg the dollar to gold and other countries to peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar. The U.S. last abandoned the gold standard in August 1971.
Gold fixing: The process of determining the price of gold based on supply and demand forces of the market; which occurs twice daily in London.
Gold mutual fund: A mutual fund that primarily invests in gold-mining companies' stock. The most popular way to invest in gold today is via an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) such as GLD.
Gold standard: An international monetary system in which currencies are defined in terms of their gold content, and payment imbalances between countries are settled in gold. It was in effect from about 1870 to 1914 and then off and on. The U.S. abandoned the standard in August 1971.
Goldbug: Analysts who recommends gold as an investment/hedge. Also, an investor who has a penchant for gold and gold stocks.
Golden cross: A bullish signal generated when the 50-day(short-term) moving average crosses above the 200-day(long-term) moving average. See also death cross.
Golden handcuffs: A contract that binds a broker to a brokerage firm by offering the broker commissions and bonuses, but penalizes the broker if he or she goes to work for another firm.
Golden handshake: A large payment to a senior employee who is forced into retirement or fired as a result of a takeover or similar development.
Golden hello: A bonus a securities firm pays to attract an employee from a competing firm.
Golden parachute: Compensation paid to departing top-level management by a target firm if a takeover occurs.
Goldilocks economy: A term developed in the mid 1990s to describe the positive performance of the economy as "not too hot, not too cold; just right."
Good delivery: A delivery in which everything - order-endorsement, any necessary attached legal papers, is in good order such that a transaction settles satisfactorily.
Good delivery and settlement procedures: Refers to PSA Uniform Practices such as cutoff times on delivery of securities and notification, allocation, and proper endorsement.
Good faith deposit: Used in the context of commodities. Refers to the initial margin account deposit needed when buying or selling a futures contract; approximately 2%-10% of the contract value.
Used in the context of securities to describe the deposit required by securities firms engaged in transactions on behalf of a new client.
Also used to refer to the deposit with a municipal bond issuer by firms competing for the underwriting business.
Good money: Federal funds that clear on the same day, unlike clearinghouse funds, which require three days to clear.
Good-this-Month order (GTM): An order to buy or sell securities that continues to be a valid order until the end of the current month.
Good through/until date order: Used in the context of general equities. Market or limited price order that remains viable for a stated period of time unless cancelled, executed, or changed, after which such order or the portion thereof not executed is to be treated as cancelled.
Good 'til cancelled order (GTC): An order to buy or sell stock that is good until the client executes or cancels it. Brokerages usually set a limit of 30-60 days, at which the G.T.C. order expires if not restated. (Different from a day order.)
Goodwill: Excess of purchase price over fair market value of net assets acquired under the purchase method of accounting.
Googol: A unit of quantity equal to 10¹⁰⁰ (1 followed by 100 zeros).
Googolplex: A unit of quantity equal to 10^googol (1 followed by a googol of zeros).
Government bond: See: Government securities
Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae): A wholly owned U.S. government corporation within the Department of Housing & Urban Development. Ginnie Mae guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on securities issued by approved servicers that are collateralized by FHA-issued, VA-guaranteed, or Farmers Home Administration (FmHA)-guaranteed mortgages.
Government obligations: U.S. government-backed debt instruments, which are considered among the safest investments possible, including Treasury bonds, bills, and notes, and savings bonds.
Government securities: Negotiable U.S. Treasury securities.
Government sponsored enterprises: Privately owned, publicly chartered entities, such as the Student Loan Marketing Association, created by Congress to reduce the cost of capital for certain borrowing sectors of the economy including farmers, homeowners, and students.
Governments: U.S. government-issued securities, such as Treasury bills, bonds, and notes, and savings bonds. Governments are considered among the safest investments available as they are backed by the U.S. government.
Also used to refer to debt issues of federal agencies, which are not directly backed by the U.S. government.
Grace period: The time period stipulated in most loan contracts and insurance policies during which a late payment will not result in default or cancellation.
Graduated call writing: Selling covered call options at incrementally rising exercise prices, so that as the price of the underlying stock rises and the options are exercised, the seller receives a higher average price than the original exercise price.
Graduated lease: A type of long-term lease whose payments are variable rather than fixed, and depend upon a benchmark rate, such as changes in the consumer price index.
Graduated payment: Repayment terms calling for gradual increases in the payments on a closed-end obligation. A graduated payment loan usually involves negative amortization.
Graduated-payment mortgage (GPM): A type of stepped-payment loan in which the borrower's payments are initially lower than those on a comparable level-rate mortgage. The payments gradually increase over a predetermined period (usually 3, 5, or 7 years), and then are fixed at a level-pay schedule, which will be higher than the level-pay amortization of a level-pay mortgage originated at the same time. The difference between what the borrower actually pays and the amount required to fully amortize the mortgage is added to the unpaid principal balance.
Graduated security: A security that has moved from listing on an exchange of less prominence to one of more prominence.
Graham and Dodd method of investing: An investment strategy based on fundamental analysis. It is the original idea of value investing. You look to buy equities that have good prospects but have very low valuation ratios, such a price to book value.
Graham-Harvey Measure 1: Performance measure developed by John Graham and Campbell Harvey. The idea is to lever a fund's portfolio to exactly match the volatility of the S&P 500. The difference between the fund's levered return and the S&P 500 return is the performance measure.
Graham-Harvey Measure 2: Performance measure developed by John Graham and Campbell Harvey. The idea is to lever the S&P 500 portfolio to exactly match the volatility of the fund. The difference between the fund's return and the levered S&P 500 return is the performance measure.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: 1999 U.S. legislation that lifted certain remaining restrictions established by the Glass-Steagall Act. The act was partially repealed with the institution of the Volcker Rule in 2013 which restricts commercial banks from proprietary trading.
Grandfathered activities: Nonbank activities, some of which would normally not be permissible for bank holding companies and foreign banks in the United States, but which were acquired or engaged in before a particular date. Such activities may be continued under the "grandfather" clauses of the Bank Holding Company Act and the International Banking Act.
Grandfather clause: A provision included in a new rule or regulation that exempts a business that is already conducting business in the area addressed by the regulation from penalty or restriction.
Grant: The issuance of an award under a stock plan, such as a stock option or shares of restricted stock.
Grant Date: The date on which an option or other award is granted.
Grantor: A trader in the options market who makes premium income by selling options.
Grantor Retained Income Trust (GRIT): A tax-saving trust in which a grantor transfers property to a beneficiary, but receives income until termination, at which time the beneficiary begins receiving the income.
Grantor trust: A mechanism of issuing MBS wherein the mortgages' collateral is deposited with a trustee under a custodial or trust agreement.
Graveyard market: Bear market in which investors who sell are faced with substantial losses, while potential investors prefer to stay liquid; that is, to keep their money in cash or cash equivalents until market conditions improve.
Gray knight: In a merger or acquisition, a gray knight is an acquiring company that outbids a white knight in pursuit of its own best interests, although it is friendlier than a hostile bidder.
Gray list: Formal roster of stocks that can be traded by the block desks, but not in risk arbitrage because an investment bank is involved with the company on nonpublic activity (e.g., mergers and acquisitions defense). A stock's presence on this list should never be conveyed to anyone outside the trading area, much less outside the firm. See: Restricted list.
Gray market: Describes the sale of securities that have not officially been issued to firms other than the underwriting syndicate. This type of market serves as a good indicator of demand for a new issue in the public market.
Great call: Used in the context of general equities. Potential customer who may have an interest in participating in a particular trade if customer's past inquiry or activity is any indication.
Greater fool theory: An investment notion that even when a stock is fully valued by conventional standards, there is room for upward movement because there are enough buyers to push prices farther upward purely on speculation or hype.
Greenmail: The holding of a large block of stock of a target company by an unfriendly company, with the object of forcing the target company to repurchase the stock at a substantial premium to prevent a takeover.
Greenshoe option: Option that allows the underwriter for a new issue to increase the size of the issue because of high demand for the shares.
Gross per broker: The dollar amount of commissions generated by a broker or registered representative over a specific period.
Gross domestic product (GDP): The market value of final goods and services produced over time including the income of foreign corporations and foreign residents working in the U.S., but excluding the income of U.S. residents and corporations overseas.
Gross earnings: A person's total taxable income prior to adjustments. See: adjusted gross income.
Gross estate: The total value of a person's property and assets before accounting for debts, taxes, and liabilities.
Gross income: A person's total income prior to exclusions and deductions.
Gross interest: Interest earned before taxes are deducted.
Gross lease: A type of property lease in which the lessor (owner of the property being leased) pays expenses associated with ownership such as damages, taxes, and insurance.
Gross National Product (GNP): Measures an economy's total income. It is equal to G.D.P. plus the income abroad accruing to domestic residents minus income generated in domestic market accruing to non-residents.
Gross parity: Applies mainly to convertible securities and international equities. Antithesis of net parity. For the price of a convertible, including accrued interest. For the price of international security, including commissions, fees, stamp duty, and other transaction costs, translated into U.S. dollar amounts.
Gross profit: Sales minus the cost of goods sold.
Gross profit margin: Gross profit divided by sales, which is equal to each sales dollar left over after paying for the cost of goods sold.
Gross sales: Total sales calculated by summing all sales at invoice values, neglecting any adjustments such as customer discounts, excise taxes, or returns.
Gross spread: The fraction of the gross proceeds of an underwritten securities offering that is paid as compensation to the underwriters of the offering.
Gross Weight: The full weight (including goods and packaging) of shipment.
Ground lease: A lease of land, as opposed to a lease of a building.
Group depreciation: Method of depreciation where a single average depreciation rate is applied to a group of similar assets with similar service lives. See also Composite depreciation.
Group insurance: Insurance coverage for a group, which can usually be obtained at a cheaper rate than insurance for an individual.
Group of Eight (G-8): The G-7 countries plus Russia.
Group of Five (G-5): The five leading countries (France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S.) that meet periodically to achieve some cooperative effort on international economic issues. When currency issues are discussed, the monetary authorities of these nations hold the meeting.
Group of Seven (G-7): The G-5 countries plus Canada and Italy.
Group of Ten: A group of the ten major industrialized countries whose mission is to create a more stable world economic trading environment through monetary and fiscal policies. The ten are Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Group rotation: The tendency of stocks in one sector of the market to outperform and then underperform other industries, usually as a result of economic cycles or the conditions in a particular industry.
Group rotation manager: A top-down manager who deduces the phases of the business cycle and allocates assets accordingly.
Group sales: Block sale (of large amounts) of securities to institutional investors.
Group Universal Life Policy (GULP): Universal life insurance on a group basis. See: Group insurance.
Growing Equity Mortgage (GEM): Mortgage with a fixed interest rate and payments that increase throughout the term of the mortgage.
Growing perpetuity: A constant stream of cash flows without end that is expected to rise indefinitely.
Growth fund: A mutual fund that invests primarily in stocks with a history of and future potential for capital gains.
Growth and income fund: A mutual fund that invests primarily in stocks with a history of capital gains (growth) and consistent dividend payments (income).
Growth manager: A money manager who seeks to buy stocks that typically sell at relatively high P/E ratios due to high earnings growth, with the expectation of continued high or higher earnings growth.
Growth opportunity: Opportunity to invest in profitable projects.
Growth phase: A phase of development during which a company experiences rapid earnings growth as it produces new products and expands market share.
Growth rates: Compound annual growth rate for the number of full fiscal years shown. If there is a negative or zero value for the first or last year, the growth is N.M. (not meaningful).
Growth recession: A growth recession is a prolonged period (more than one quarter) of significantly below trend real GDP growth. For the U.S., this would be growth in the 0-2 percent range. While an official recession usually has two quarters of negative real GDP growth, this is not required in a growth recession.
Growth stage: In context of private equity, the state of a company when it has received one or more rounds of financing and is generating revenue from its product or service. Also known as middle stage.
Growth stock: Common stock of a company that has very attractive possibilities for revenue growth.
Guarantee: The assumption of responsibility for payment of a debt or performance of some obligation if the liable party fails to perform to expectations.
Guarantee Fee: A sum paid by the importer to the guarantor, usually as a percentage per annum of the face value of the bills or notes being guaranteed.
Guarantee letter: A commercial bank's letter assuring payment of the exercise price of a client's put option.
Guaranteed bond: A type of bond for which a firm other than the issuer guarantees its interest and principal payments.
Guaranteed delivery: Seller commits to a settlement date and the buyer is allowed to cancel the trade if delivery is not made. Delivery terms are negotiated trade by trade.
Guaranteed insurability: A life and health insurance policy feature that enables the insured to add coverage at future times and at fixed and agreed-upon rates regardless of health conditions.
Guaranteed insurance contract: A contract promising a stated nominal interest rate over some specific time period, usually several years.
Guaranteed investment contract (GIC): A pure investment product in which a life company agrees, for a single premium, to pay at a maturity date the principal amount of a predetermined annual crediting (interest) rate over the life of the investment.
Guaranteed Mortgage Certificates (GMC): First issued by Freddie Mac in 1975, G.M.C.s, represent undivided interest in specified conventional whole loans and participations previously purchased by Freddie Mac.
Guarantor: A party who will guarantee repayment or performance of a covenant.
Guardian: An individual or trust institution appointed by a court to care for a minor or an incompetent person and his or her property.
Guaranteed renewable policy insurance: A type of insurance policy that requires the insurer to renew the policy to an individual regardless of health changes. No changes may be made to an individual policyholder unless the same change is applied to all policyholders.
Guaranteed replacement cost coverage insurance: A policy that covers the full cost of replacing damaged property without any allowances or deductions, e.g., depreciation.
Guaranteeing/ Avalising Bank: The person, bank, or financial entity who gives the guarantee for the importer.
Guarantor program: Under the Freddie Mac program, the aggregation by a single issuer (usually an S&L) for the purpose of forming a qualifying pool to be issued as PCs under the Freddie Mac guarantee.
Guidance: It is increasingly important for firms to meet or exceed analysts' consensus earnings forecasts. Often management will give guidance or hints of the earnings per share prospects over the next quarter to try to direct the consensus to what is achievable. For example, it is possible that the consensus is well above management's internal forecasts. Management will try to guide the consensus downwards so that when the earnings are released the negative surprise is minimized or eliminated. Under Regulation FD, management needs to be very careful to provide guidance information to all shareholders -- not just a select group of analysts. This is often achieved in investor presentations (that are often webcast) or conference calls (where anyone is allowed to dial in).
Gun jumping: In the context of securities trading, refers to trading in a security on the basis of information that has not been made available to the public. The illegal solicitation of buy orders in an underwriting before completion and finalization of Securities and Exchange Commission registration. Also see front running.
Gunslinger: An aggressive portfolio manager who makes risky investments, typically in margin accounts, in search of high returns.
Gypsy Swaps: In the context of Regulation D. A private purchaser wishes to invest directly in an issuer but hopes to acquire unrestricted securities. Through arrangements and understandings with the issuer, a stockholder with shares that are either restricted securities currently eligible for sale under Rule 144 or unrestricted securities sells the shares to the private purchaser. At about the same time, the issuer sells an equivalent number of shares to the stockholder. The Securities & Exchange Commission's view is that the shares taken by the private purchaser from the stockholder will be restricted securities within the meaning of Rule 144(a)(3). The holding period will date to the private acquisition. A public resale of the shares acquired from the stockholder without regard to the conditions of Rule 144 would raise serious issues under Section 5 of the Securities Act for all parties to the transactions.

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Copyright © 2023, Campbell R. Harvey. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without explicit permission.

[Version 1 June 2023.]

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