Odd lot
Purchase or sale of securities in any amount less than 100 shares. An investor buying or selling an odd lot often pays a higher commission rate than someone making a round lot trade. This odd-lot differential varies between brokers.
BACK TO TOP

Open-end mutual fund
A type of fund that issues as many shares as investors demand. This contrasts with a closed-end fund, which has a fixed number of shares that trade over-the-counter or on a stock exchange. The share price of an open-end fund is determined by dividing the total net assets of the fund by the number of shares outstanding. This figure is called the fund's net asset value (NAV). The net asset value of an open-end fund is calculated at the end of each trading day. Most mutual funds are open-end funds. See "Closed or Open End?"
BACK TO TOP

Open interest
A measure of liquidity in futures and options. Open interest is the total number of futures contracts or options that have been opened with either a purchase or a sale and not yet closed by an offsetting opposite purchase or sale.
BACK TO TOP

Operating income
A measure of a company's earning power from ongoing operations, equal to earnings before deduction of interest payments and income taxes. Operating income is calculated by subtracting costs of sales and operating expenses from revenues. It is often used to gauge the financial performance of companies with high levels of debt and interest expenses. Also called operating profit or EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes).
BACK TO TOP

Operating margin
A company's profitability after all operating costs have been paid. Operating margin is calculated by dividing cash flow by revenue and then multiplying by 100. The result is expressed as a percentage. Operating margin shows you how profitable a company is before interest expenses on debt and depreciation costs have been deducted. Since accountants often manipulate depreciation and amortization costs on income statements, many analysts feel operating profit paints a truer picture of a company's profitability. See Margins.
BACK TO TOP

Option
An agreement that gives an investor the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock, bond or commodity at a specified price within a specific time period. A call option is an option to buy the security; a put option is an option to sell. If the option is not exercised before the expiration date, all monies paid for the option are forfeited. Options are traded on several exchanges, including the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the Pacific Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. See Derivative.
BACK TO TOP

Option series
A number of options on the same underlying stock that have the same strike price and expiration month.
BACK TO TOP

OSE Total Index
Index including all large-capitalization Norwegian stocks.
BACK TO TOP

Out-of-the-money
A term used to describe an option worth nothing if exercised immediately. In the case of a call option, it means the strike price is higher than the current price of the underlying security. In the case of a put option, it means the strike price is lower than the current price of the underlying security.
BACK TO TOP

Over-the-counter derivative
A financial contract, whose value is designed to track the return on stocks, bonds, currencies or some other benchmark, that is traded over-the-counter or off organized exchanges. Also called an OTC derivative.
BACK TO TOP

Over-the-counter market
A market in which securities transactions are conducted by dealers through a telephone and computer network connecting dealers in stocks and bonds. Also called OTC trading.
BACK TO TOP

Over-the-counter securities
Securities that aren't listed and traded on an organized exchange. Over-the-counter securities are traded via a telephone and computerized network linking OTC security dealers. The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) oversees over-the-counter transactions and regulations. Nasdaq is the best known market for trading OTC securities.
BACK TO TOP