Financial Terms and Definitions » H

High Frequency Trading

ashivapu — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:41:46 +0000

Computers that execute complicated algorithms to automically make thousands of trades per second with no human interaction.

Generally profits per trade don’t exceed a penny; however, due to the bulk amount of trades the overall profits can range into the millions.

At it’s current state, high frequency trading is an extremely secretive practice and is still being examined by the SEC.

High frequency trading was responsible for the “flash crash” that happened in May 10′.

After-Hours Trading (AHT)

Hedge Fund

ashivapu — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:48:35 +0000

A managed portfolio that uses various investment techniques to generate high-returns. Investors are generally required to keep their money in the fund for some time and invest with larger-than-normal amounts. Hedge funds are usually kept private, and investors are required to meet some standards before be able to invest in the fund. Related posts:Mutual Fund [...] Related posts:

Hyperinflation

ashivapu — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:58:56 +0000

A more severe case of inflation. Indicators vary from a cumulative inflation rate over three years approaching 100% to inflation exceeding 50% a month. Related posts:Inflation Related posts:

Inflation

Hold

ashivapu — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:53:37 +0000

A type of analyst recommendations for a stock. A “hold” recommendation may indicate that the analyst expects the stock to perform similarly to the market and therefore is neither a buy nor a sell.

However, since analysts don’t often hit the sell button, a downgrade from “Buy” to “Hold” may signal more bearishness from the analyst than the term suggests.