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Equities & Finance Glossary – Terms Starting with S
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Top Searches for Stock Markets & Equities
More popular stocks & investing search terms from What the World is Searching on Stock Markets
See also: What the World is Searching on Stocks & Stock Markets – a comprehensive list of popular search terms related to stock markets & stock investing
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Terms Starting with S
Sales/Turnover (Net) Gross sales (the amount of actual billings to customers for regular sales completed during a specified period) reduced by cash discounts, trade discounts, and returned sales and allowances for which credit is given to customers. Sales/Turnover (Net) is scaled in millions and reported on a quarterly basis.
Sales Load A mutual fund's sales load (also known as a sales charge) is a fee charged on the purchase of fund shares. The fee is charged as a percentage of the fund's offering price (price to buy shares). For higher investment amounts, some funds offer sales load breakpoints.
Score An indicator of how closely a company matches your search, Score is designed to help you understand how well each stock meets your indicated criteria compared to all other stocks in the research database. In a search results set, each company is assigned an overall Score from 1 to 100. A Score of 100 represents the best match for your search criteria. The companies that most closely match your criteria, each criterion weighted equally, appear at the top of the list.
See Working with Search Results for more information.
Secondary Market The market for securities previously offered or sold. Investors buy and sell Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the secondary market. Only Authorized Participants can create/redeem directly with the the ETF through in-kind transactions.
Sector & Industry The market segment to which a company belongs, as determined by Standard & Poor's. S&P uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS)SM, an industry classification system developed by S&P in collaboration with Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).
GICS is currently comprised of:
10 Sectors 24 Industry Groups 67 Industries 147 Sub-Industries A company is assigned to a single GICS sub-industry according to the definition of its principal business activity as determined by Standard & Poor's and MSCI. Revenues are a significant factor in defining principal business activity; however, earnings analysis and market perception are also important criteria for classification.
GICS was developed in response to the financial community's need for one complete, consistent set of global sector and industry definitions. The GICS standard can be applied to companies globally, in both developed and developing markets, and currently comprises a universe of over 25,000 companies worldwide.
S&P has assigned each company in the stock search database to one of 10 sectors.
Energy Sector The GICS Energy Sector comprises companies whose businesses are dominated by either of the following activities: The construction or provision of oil rigs, drilling equipment and other energy related service and equipment, including seismic data collection. Companies engaged in the exploration, production, marketing, refining and/or transportation of oil and gas products. Materials Sector The GICS Materials Sector encompasses a wide range of commodity-related manufacturing industries. Included in this sector are companies that manufacture chemicals, construction materials, glass, paper, forest products and related packaging products, and metals, minerals and mining companies, including producers of steel. Industrials Sector The GICS Industrials Sector includes companies whose businesses are dominated by one of the following activities: The manufacture and distribution of capital goods, including aerospace & defense, construction, engineering & building products, electrical equipment and industrial machinery. The provision of commercial services and supplies, including printing, employment, environmental and office services. The provision of transportation services, including airlines, couriers, marine, road & rail and transportation infrastructure Consumer Discretionary Sector The GICS Consumer Discretionary Sector includes manufacturers and suppliers of automobiles and motorcycles, auto parts and equipment, tires and rubber, household durables (including consumer electronics, home furnishings, homebuilding, home appliances, and housewares), sporting equipment, photographic equipment, textiles and apparel, luxury goods, hotels and restaurants, leisure facilities, media (including advertising, broadcasting and cable TV, movies and entertainment, and publishing), Internet and catalog retail sales, department stores, general merchandisers, and specialty retail. Consumer Staples Sector The GICS Consumer Staples Sector includes food and drug retailing, beverage brewing and retailing, agricultural products, packaged foods and meats, tobacco, household products (including detergents, soaps, diapers, and some tissue and household paper products), and personal products (including beauty care products, cosmetics, and perfumes). Health Care Sector The GICS Health Care Sector encompasses two main industry groups. The first includes companies who manufacture health care equipment and supplies or provide health care related services, including distributors of health care products, providers of basic health-care services, and owners and operators of health care facilities and organizations. The second regroups companies primarily involved in the research, development, production and marketing of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products. Financials Sector The GICS Financial Sector contains companies involved in activities such as banking, mortgage finance, consumer finance, specialized finance, investment banking and brokerage, asset management and custody, corporate lending, insurance, financial investment, and real estate, including REITs. Information Technology Sector The GICS Information Technology Sector covers the following general areas: First, Technology Software & Services, including companies that primarily develop software in various fields such as the Internet, applications, systems, database management and/or home entertainment and companies that provide information technology consulting and services, as well as data processing and outsourced services; second, Technology Hardware & Equipment, including manufacturers and distributors of communications equipment, computers & peripherals, electronic equipment and related instruments, and third, Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers. Telecommunications Services Sector The GICS Telecommunications Services Sector contains companies that provide communications services primarily through a fixed-line, cellular, wireless, high bandwidth and/or fiber optic cable network. Utilities Sector The GICS Utilities Sector encompasses those companies considered electric, gas or water utilities, or companies that operate as independent producers and/or distributors of power. This sector includes both nuclear and non-nuclear facilities. If you are looking for stocks that might benefit from an industry trend, you can use the sector to narrow your search. If you want to be more specific, you could refine your search using industry. Each sector is divided into approximately 10 industries.
Sector-Based Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that invest in the stocks of one specific sector of the economy, such as health care, chemicals, or retailing. These funds tend to be more volatile than funds holding a diversified portfolio of stocks in many industries.
Security Name The full name or description of a security, such as a stock or mutual fund name.
7-Day Analyst Consensus (Down) A net negative change in analyst Consensus Rating or average available analyst ratings over the last seven days.
If results are shown in quintiles, the universe of searched stocks is all stocks with a consensus number that went up (degraded) over the time period. When you enter a specific value or range of values, enter a positive number to specify the change. All numbers are absolute numbers representing the magnitude of the change, which can vary from 0 to 4.
7-Day Analyst Consensus (Upgrade) A net positive change in analyst Consensus Rating or average available analyst ratings over the last seven days.
If results are shown in quintiles, the universe of searched stocks is all stocks with a consensus number that went down (improved) over the time period. When you enter a specific value or range of values, enter a positive number to specify the change. All numbers are absolute numbers representing the magnitude of the change, which can vary from 0 to 4.
SG&A Expense / Net Sales Expenses incurred from sales, administrative needs, and any other general purposes as a percentage of sales.
A higher SG&A expense relative to sales might indicate that the company has been spending as if it were a larger company, which would suggest that increased revenue would make the company more profitable.
Shareholders' Equity The common and preferred shareholders' interest in the company. Shareholders' Equity represents the sum of Total Common/Ordinary Equity and Preferred/Preference Stock. Data is represented each quarter in millions of dollars.
Shares For stocks, options, and mutual funds, the number of shares of a security you specify when creating or editing a watch list. A negative number of shares indicates shares from a short sale. For a Fidelity variable annuity investment option, the number of units owned. This price is entered for tracking purposes and is used to display gain/loss or quote information when using the Gain/Loss or Quotes views.
Sharpe Ratio (3-Year) A measure of historical adjusted performance calculated by dividing a fund's excess returns (fund's average monthly returns minus the average monthly return of the Salomon Smith Barney 3-Month T-Bill Index) by the standard deviation of those returns. The higher the ratio, the better the fund's return per unit of risk.
Short Interest Used to evaluate market sentiment, a ratio calculated by dividing the total shares of a stock sold short by its average daily trading volume. A Short Interest ratio greater than 2.0 is often considered a sign that a stock's price will soon go higher. Since shorted shares are those borrowed and sold by investors who think the same shares will be available later for repurchase at a lower price, the rationale is that the large short position must be covered in the future, thereby creating buying pressure, and driving the stock price up.
Short Interest as % Float The total number of shares of a security sold short and not yet repurchased divided by Float, which is the number of shares outstanding and available for trading by the public.
Short Interest as % Float attempts to measure how many people are betting that the stock will go down. Usually, a high Short Interest is a very bad sign. However, short sellers eventually have to buy the stock to close out their position, and sometimes this flood of buy orders, called a "short squeeze," creates higher prices.
Short Interest % Change Short interest changes over a specified number of weeks, expressed as a percentage. Since Short Interest is a measure of how much some investors are assuming that the stock price is going to go down, an increase in short interest is a bearish indicator. A decrease is a bullish indicator.
If Short Interest as a % Float is relatively high, and if Short Interest % Change is positive, those two signals combined are so bearish that you should only consider buying shares in the company if you are convinced you know more than those who are holding a short interest.
Short-Term Pattern Short-Term Patterns, such as Hanging Man and Gap Up, are based on the shape and relationship of the price bars representing one or multiple consecutive trading days. The technical events confirm that the pattern has formed in the price bars. The events may suggest possible short-term price movement, or support or refute the possible price movement suggested by classic patterns. Short-Term Patterns are often considered supplementary.
Slow Stochastic Slow Stochastic compares a security's closing price relative to its price range over a given time period. As with Moving Average, the sensitivity increases with shorter time spans. Two or more stochastics may be used with different time spans on a single chart to develop cross-over signals. This method is used to spot trend reversals with fairly good accuracy.
A stochastic indicator is plotted as two lines, %D and %K, with values ranging from 0 to 100. Readings above 80 are strong and indicate that price is closing near its high. Readings below 20 are strong and indicate that price is closing near its low. Ordinarily, the %K line changes direction before the %D line. However, when the %D line changes direction prior to the %K line, a slow and steady reversal is usually indicated. A flattening-out of the %K or %D lines indicates that a trend is likely to reverse during the next trading range.
Small Blend Funds that invest in a variety of small U.S. stocks. Stocks in the bottom 10% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as small-cap. The blend style is assigned to funds where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate.
Small Growth Funds that invest primarily in small U.S. stocks that are growth-oriented. Stocks in the bottom 10% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as small-cap. Growth is defined based on fast growth (high growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow) and high valuations (high price ratios and low dividend yields).
Small Value Funds that invest primarily in small U.S. stocks that are value-oriented. Stocks in the bottom 10% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as small-cap. Value is defined based on low valuations (low price ratios and high dividend yields) and slow growth (low growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow).
Specialty-Communications Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in communications stocks
Specialty-Financial Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of U.S. or non-U.S. financial-services companies, including banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies.
Specialty-Health Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of U.S. or non-U.S. health-care companies, including drug manufacturers, hospitals, and biotechnology firms.
Specialty-Natural Resources Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of U.S. or non-U.S. companies involved in the exploration, distribution, or processing of natural resources.
Specialty-Precious Metals Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of companies engaged in the mining, distribution, or processing of precious metals.
Specialty-Real Estate Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in U.S. or non-U.S. real-estate-related equity securities.
Specialty-Technology Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in hardware, software, and communications technology.
Specialty-Unaligned Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by concentrating their investments in a single industry or sector other than those described above/below. Sector ETFs may be more volatile than ETFs that diversify across many industries.
Specialty-Utilities Morningstar category for investment products that seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of U.S. or non-U.S. public utilities including electric, gas, and telephone-service providers.
Sponsor An underwriting company that offers shares of its mutual funds, or a manager or organization that creates an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) by filing the appropriate regulatory material and soliciting and approving an authorized participant to create and redeem shares.
Split Factor The multiplier used to adjust the number of shares you own when a stock splits.
Standard & Poor's Earnings & Dividend Rank The Standard & Poor's (S&P) Earnings and Dividend Ranking System measures the historical growth of earnings and dividends. Those companies with high growth in earnings and dividends rank higher than companies whose earnings and dividends grow more slowly or not at all. The starting point in the ranking process is a computerized scoring system based on per-share earnings and dividend records over the most recent 10-year period, a time period sufficient to measure a company's performance under varying economic conditions. The system measures growth, stability within the trendline, and cyclicality. From these, scores for earnings and dividends are determined. The system makes allowances for company size, since large companies have certain inherent advantages over smaller ones.
Once computed, a final score is measured against a scoring matrix. The results are reviewed and sometimes modified, because no mechanical system can evaluate the many special considerations that could effect a company's earnings and dividend record.
The Standard and Poor's Earnings and Dividend Ranking System has seven grades:
A+, A, and A- are above average B+ is average B, B-, and C are below average An NR designation (no ranking) is given to common stocks with insufficient historical data or because the stock is not amenable to the ranking process. As a matter of policy, Standard & Poor's does not rank the stock of foreign companies, investment companies, or certain finance-oriented companies. D signifies a company in reorganization.
Standard & Poor's Fair Value Rank The price at which a stock should sell today as calculated by Standard & Poor's (S&P) computers using a quantitative model based on the company's earnings, growth potential, return on equity relative to the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500) and its industry group, price to book ratio history, current yield relative to the S&P 500, and other factors. The current fair price is shown given today's S&P 500 level. Each stock's fair value is calculated weekly.
Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) An unmanaged market-weighted index of 500 of the nation's largest stocks from a broad variety of industries. The S&P 500 represents about 80% of the total market value of all stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. Market-weighted means that component stocks are weighted according to the total value of their outstanding shares.
Standard & Poor's Midcap 400 Index (S&P 400) An unmanaged, market capitalization-weighted index of 400 medium-capitalization domestic stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation.
Standard &Poor's Relative Strength Rank On a scale of 1 (lowest) to 99 (highest), a relative measure of strength as to how a stock has performed compared with all other companies in Standard & Poor's (S&P) universe of companies on a rolling 13-week basis.
Standard & Poor's STARS Rank Buy, hold or sell recommendations are provided using Standard & Poor's (S&P) unique Stock Appreciation Ranking System (STARS), which measures short-term (six- to 12-month) appreciation potential of stocks. STARS performance is measured against the performance of the S&P 500.
5 Stars (Strong Buy) Total return is expected to outperform the total return of the S&P 500 Index by a wide margin, with shares rising in absolute price 4 Stars (Buy) Total return is expected to outperform the total return of the S&P 500 Index with shares rising in absolute price. 3 Stars (Hold) Total return is expected to closely approximate that of the S&P 500 Index, with shares generally rising in price. 2 Stars (Sell) Total return is expected to underperform the total return of the S&P 500 Index, and share price is not anticipated to show a gain. 1 Stars (Strong Sell) Total return is expected to underperform the total return of the S&P 500 Index, with shares falling in absolute price. For Europe, the same holds, but the appropriate benchmark is the Europe 350 Index. For Asia, the appropriate benchmark is the S&P Asia 50.
Standard & Poor's Technical Evaluation An indicator used to identify whether the technical analysis signals a bearish (1), neutral (2), or bullish (3) outlook on the stock.
In researching the past market history of prices and trading volume for each company, Standard & Poor's (S&P) computer models apply special technical methods and formulas to identify and project price trends for the stock. They analyze how the price of the stock is moving and evaluate the interrelationships between the moving averages to ultimately determine buy or sell signals, and to decide whether they're bullish, neutral or bearish for the stock. The date on which the signals were initiated is also provided so you can take advantage of a recent or ongoing uptrend in price or see how a stock has performed over time since our last technical signal was generated.
Standard Deviation for Exchange Traded Funds Statistical measure of how much a return varies over an extended period of time. The more variable the returns, the larger the standard deviation. Investors may examine historical standard deviation in conjunction with historical returns to decide whether an investment's volatility would have been acceptable given the returns it would have produced. A higher standard deviation indicates a wider dispersion of past returns and thus greater historical volatility. Standard deviation does not indicate how an investment actually performed, but it does indicate the volatility of its returns over time. In addition to the numeric value for standard deviation, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) may be displayed as having High, Medium, or Low standard deviation, based on how much an ETF's monthly return varied from its average return over 3, 5, and 10–year periods, as applicable. Standard deviation is annualized.
StarMine StarMine Corporation provides independent, objective ratings by measuring securities analysts around the globe on the return of stock recommendations and the accuracy of earnings estimates.
StarMine Predicted Surprise A calculation provided by StarMine that equals the difference between Current Consensus and the StarMine SmartEstimate.
StarMine Ranking The StarMine ranking is a relative measure that compares a firm's performance with that of its peers. The ranking ranges from 1 to 100, with 50 representing the median performance of a firm within a sector. To get a ranking higher than 50, the industry-relative return of a firm’s recommendations within a sector must, when taken together, be greater than those of the median firm. StarMine opportunity adjusts a ranking on a given stock based on the stock's volatility profile, resulting in a ranking that can be fairly compared and aggregated across stocks.
A firm needs to have covered the sector for at least 24 months in order to calculate a StarMine Ranking. If a StarMine Ranking cannot be provided, the firm is assigned an “N/R” (Not Rated).
StarMine SmartEstimate A calculation provided by StarMine used to estimate a stock's earnings or revenue. SmartEstimates take into consideration an analyst's accuracy and timeliness of estimates, rather than relying on a simple average of analyst estimates.
StarMine Top-Ranked Firms A StarMine Top-Ranked Firm has a StarMine Ranking of 68 or higher for the stock under consideration.
Stock Price The price of a common share of stock in the company, as reported by the Nasdaq, American Stock Exchange, or New York Stock Exchange. If the market is open, the price is updated throughout the day. If the market closed, the price is the closing price from the previous day.
Style Box for Exchange Traded Funds Style Box depictions of Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) characteristics are produced using data and calculations provided by Morningstar, Inc. Style Box estimate characteristics of an ETF's equity holdings over two dimensions: market capitalization and valuation. The percentage of ETF assets represented by these holdings is indicated beside each Style Box. Current Style Box characteristics are calculated each time Morningstar receives updated portfolio holdings from an ETF and are denoted with a dot. Style Box characteristics represent an approximate profile of the ETF's equity holdings (e.g., domestic stocks, foreign stocks, and American Depositary Receipts), and are based on historical data, and are not predictive of the ETF's future investments. Although the data are gathered from reliable sources, accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed.
Symbol An identifier used throughout the financial community to identify a security.
To allow you to get quotes, view investment options in watch lists, or view historical price charts for variable annuity investment options, Fidelity created trading symbols for them. These symbols for Fidelity variable annuity investment options are not recognized on exchanges, in trading markets (e.g., New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq), on external Web sites that provide quotes and other information for securities, or by other financial institutions.
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