See: Investment; Speculation; Speculator

Take A Flier
The process of buying securities with the full knowledge that the investment is highly risky. The investor is said to be speculating.

See: Investment; Risk; Risk/Reward Ratio; Speculation

Take A Position
1: Term used when a broker-dealer has a security that is held in inventory. The position may be either long or short.

See: Long Position; Short Position

2: Said of investors who buy securities with the intention of holding them for the long term or using them to take control of the company.

See: Buy And Hold Strategy; Target Company

Takeover
A change in a corporation's controlling interest through either a friendly acquisition or a hostile bid. Hostile takeovers aim to replace the target company's existing management and are usually attempted through a public tender offer. Other takeover methods are unsolicited merger proposals to directors, accumulation of shares in the open market, or proxy fights.

See: Acquisition; Bear Hug; Bust-Up Takeover; Garbatrage; Golden Parachute; Greenmail; In Play; Merger; Proxy Fight; Rumortrage; Tender Offer; White Knight

Taking Delivery
Procedure whereby the buyer's broker accepts receipt of security certificates from the seller's broker.

See: Certificate; Delivery

Tape
Commonly called a "ticker tape", it is a service that reports the prices and size of transactions that took place on major exchanges. The term also refers to the Dow Jones news wire, however, this is more commonly known as the "Broad Tape".

See: Broad Tape; Late Tape; Ticker Tape

Target Company
A firm that has been deemed as attractive for takeover by a potential acquirer.

See: Acquisition; Majority Shareholder; Raider; Takeover; Working Control

Tax Deferred
Phrase used to describe investments whose accumulated earnings are not taxed until the investor takes possession of them. In IRAs, for example, all dividends, interest and appreciation accumulate until the account owner starts withdrawing funds from the account, usually at age 59 1/2.

See: Annuity; IRA; IRA Rollover; Self-Directed IRA; Qualified Pension Plan Or Trust

Tax Exempt Money Market Fund
A mutual fund that invests in short term municipal securities that are tax-exempt. The fund distributes the income tax-free to shareholders.

See: Money Market Fund; Mutual Fund; Tax Exempt Security

Tax Exempt Security
A debt obligation whose interest is exempt from federal, state and/or local taxes--commonly called a "municipal bond" or just "municipals". All tax-exempt bonds are federally exempt as well as in the state and, if applicable, local jurisdiction in which the securities are issued.

See: Municipal Bond; Tax Exempt Money Market Fund; Triple Tax Exempt

Tax Selling
Securities sold to realize a loss that can be used to offset any capital gains. This is usually done at the end of the year.

See: Capital Gains; Capital Loss; Net Realized Capital Gains Per Share; Selling Short Against The Box; Short Term Gain (Loss); Thirty Day Wash Rule

T-Bill (Treasury Bill)
A short-term debt obligation of the US Government that is purchased at a discount from face value--that is, they are bought at a discounted price and mature at face value. The amount of the discount is considered the interest. They are sold in denominations of $10,000 to $1 million and have maturities of either 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 52 weeks. T-bills are a common abbreviation for "Treasury bills".

See: Denomination; Discount; Face Value; Maturity Date; Short Term Debt; Treasuries; U.S. Government Securities

T-Bond (Treasury Bond)
A long term debt obligation of the US government that has a maturity of more than 10 years. They are issued in $1,000 denominations and pay interest semiannually. T-bonds are a common abbreviation for "Treasury bonds".

See: Denomination; Long Term Debt; Maturity Date; Treasuries; U.S. Government Securities

TD (Time Deposit)
Certificate of deposits or savings accounts that are held in a financial institution for a set amount of time. The funds cannot be withdrawn until the depositor gives the institution notice. Technically, certificates of deposit do not require any notification to withdraw as the date is set beforehand.

See: Certificate Of Deposit; Demand Deposit

Tear Sheet
A sheet (report) from Standard & Poor's Stock Reports. The reports provide information on over 4000 corporations. Each report details a corporation's financial data and provides data on the company's fundamental business and its future outlook. These reports are often torn out of the books by brokers and mailed to their clients--hence, the origination of the term.

See: Balance Sheet; Financial Statement; Fundamental Analysis; Income Statement; Standard & Poor's Corporation

Technical Analysis
Research and examination of the market and securities as it relates to their supply and demand in the marketplace. The technician uses charts and computer programs to identify and project price trends. The analysis includes studying price movements and trading volumes to determine patterns such as Head and Shoulder Formations and W Formations. Other indicators include support and resistance levels, and moving averages. In contrast to fundamental analysis, technical analysis does not consider a corporation's financial data.

See: Ascending Tops; Breakout; Chartist; Correction; Descending Tops; Double Bottom; Double Top; Fundamental Analysis; Head-And-Shoulders Pattern; Moving Average; Resistance Level; Rising Bottoms; Support Level; V Formation; W Formation

Technical Analyst
A person who examines all data available on the overall market and individual stocks to ascertain their supply and demand in the marketplace.

See: Fundamentalist; Technical Analysis

Technical Rally
A brief rise in securities' prices within a general market descent. These rallies usually occur when analysts observe a support level at which securities will rebound or bargain hunters perceive the securities to be good buy. Once the market has rebounded, it normally resumes its decline.

See: Rally; Support Level; Technical Analysis

Technical Sign
A short term trend that a technician ascertains as being significant in a security's price movement.

See: Technical Analysis; Technical Analyst

Tender
1: Act of surrendering ownership in a corporation's securities in response to an offer to buy them at a set price as in a tender offer.

See: Tender Offer

2: The submittal of a bid to buy a security such as in a US Treasury bill auction.

See: Dutch Auction; Treasury Bill

Tender Offer
An offer to buy shares from the target company's stockholders by another company or organization. The offer may be for cash, securities or both. Often, the goal is to take control of the target company. The suitor may be hostile or friendly. During a specified time period, shareholders are asked to tender (surrender) their shares for a stated value, usually at a premium, subject to the tendering of a minimum and maximum number of shares.

See: Takeover; Target Company; Tender; Working Control

Testamentary Trust
A trust that is established within a person's will. This differs from an inter vivos trust that is created during the grantor's lifetime.

See: Inter Vivos Trust

Thin Market
Market on a security that has too few bids and too few offers to sell. Large trades can have a marked affect on a security's prices, making the security much more volatile. Institutional investors usually avoid buying stocks that have a thin market for this reason--that is, it is hard for them to get in or out of a position without substantially affecting the security's price.

See: Institutional Investor; Liquidity; Position Building; Seek a Market; Volatility

Third Market
The buying and selling of exchange listed stocks in the over-the-counter market by non-exchange member brokers and institutional investors.

See: Institutional Investor; Listed Security; Over The Counter

Thirty Day Wash Rule
IRS rule stipulating that losses incurred from selling securities may not be used to offset gains if an equivalent security is bought within thirty days before or after the date of sale.

See: Tax Selling

Tick
The downward or upward price movement in a security's transactions.

See: Downtick; Minus Tick; Plus Tick; Uptick; Uptick Rule; Zero Minus Tick; Zero Plus Tick

Ticker Symbol
Letters used in trading to identify a corporation's securities on the ticker tape.

See: Corporation; Stock Symbol; Ticker Tape

Ticker Tape
Telegraphic system that displays security transactions within a minute after it occurred. Commonly called the "tape", it provides the trade's last sale price and volume.

See: Last Sale; Tape; Ticker Symbol; Transaction; Volume

Tight Market
Market for a security, or the overall market, that is characterized by very active trading and narrow bid and asked price spreads.

See: Asked Price; Narrow Market; Spread; Volume

Tight Money
Tight credit--that is, an economic condition in which there is little money available for loans.

Time Deposit (TD)
Certificate of deposits or savings accounts that are held in a financial institution for a set amount of time. The funds cannot be withdrawn until the depositor gives the institution notice. Technically, certificates of deposit do not require any notification to withdraw since the date is set beforehand.

See: Certificate Of Deposit; Demand Deposit

Time Value
The amount of an option premium that exceeds the intrinsic value of an in-the-money option. A call option with a strike price of 30, for example, has a premium of 3. If the underlying stock is at 32, the call has an intrinsic value of 2, and the time value is 1. The premium for an option that is at- or out-of-the-money is all time value.