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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 #

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Maintenance Call - See House Maintenance Call.
Make a Market - Refers to brokerage firms that buy and sell a particular over-the-counter stock for their own accounts at their own risk.
Maloney Act of 1938 - This Act, which was an amendment to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, provides for the regulation of the over-the-counter market through National Securities Associations registered with the SEC.
Management - Officers of the corporation that serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors.
Management/Closely Held Shares - Percentage of shares held by persons closely related to a company, as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Management Company - The group of individuals responsible for managing a mutual fund's portfolio.
Management Fees - The component of a fund's expense ratio that refers to the percentage of a fund's net assets paid to the fund's advisor; the firm primarily responsible for a fund's day-to-day operation.
Manipulation - In the securities industry, it usually refers to the illegal process of buying or selling a security to create a false or misleading appearance of active trading for the purpose of raising or depressing the price to induce purchase or sale by others.
Margin - Purchasing Treasury and agency securities with money borrowed from a bank or brokerage.
Margin Account - An account in which the firm lends the customer money on purchases or securities on short sales. Customers must have enough equity in the account to pay for purchases by the third business day after trade or meet obligations that may be incurred immediately.
Marginal Tax Rate - The combined federal, state, and local tax rate applied to the next additional dollar of income. For example, if your federal tax bracket is 28%, and your state tax rate is 5%, when you earn another dollar of income, it would be taxed at a 33% tax rate.
Margin Balance - The net open balance in your margin account. If negative, this is the amount owed to the brokerage firm. If positive, the balance is available to earn interest.
Margin Call - A demand upon a customer to deposit money or securities with the broker when the value of the securities purchased on margin falls.
Margin Department - The department of a brokerage firm that computes the balance their clients need to keep in order to avoid maintenance and margin calls.
Margin Loan - A loan made by a broker-dealer to a client in a margin account secured by readily marketable securities. A margin account is a brokerage account that permits an investor to purchase securities on credit using securities in the account as collateral.
Margin Requirement - The percentage of investment that may be financed using borrowed capital.
Marketable Securities - A security that may be resold, usually in the secondary market.
Market Capitalization - The size of a company, as measured by the value of its issued and outstanding stock.
Market Cycle - The period between the two latest highs or lows of the S&P 500, showing net performance of a fund through both an up and a down market. A market cycle is complete when the S&P is 15% below the highest point or 15% above the lowest point (ending a down market). The dates of the last market cycle are 12/04/87 to 10/11/90 (low to low).
Market Data System - An electronic process, invisible to an investor, where the details of a filled order are transmitted to all interested parties through the ticker tape. These details will include the stock name, the number of shares traded, and the price of the trade.
Market Maker - Another term for dealer or specialist. In the interest of maintaining orderly trading, a market maker stands ready to trade against the public and therefore to make a market in an issue.
Market Not Held - Type of market order usually for a sizable amount of stock that gives the floor broker discretion with respect to price and/or timing on execution.
Market Order - An order to be executed at the current market price. Buy market orders accept the current offer, and sell market orders accept the current bid.
Market Price - Last reported price at which a stock or bond was sold.
Market Risk - Risk experienced from daily fluctuations in the price of a security.
Market Sector Risk - A fund's overall risk level will depend on the market sectors in which the fund is invested and the current interest rate, liquidity and credit quality of such sectors. The fund may overweight or underweight certain industries or market sectors, which may cause the fund's performance to be more or less sensitive to developments affecting those sectors.
Market Value - The current price of an asset, as indicated by the most recent price at which the asset was traded on the open market.
Market-Weighted Index - An index using calculations that equal the price of each stock, multiplied by the number of shares held by the public. The companies with the most shares make the greatest impact. Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index would be an example.
Mark-to-Market - Process by which security position values are brought up to their current value. The customer may request the excess equity, or the firm may call for the deposit of additional funds. Either request is a "mark" to the market.
Marry a Put - Form of hedging done by buying the stock and buying a put on the same day.
Matching - In some 401(k) plans, an employer provides a contribution that fully or partially matches the contribution of employees.
Maturity - The date on which a loan becomes due and payable — when bonds, CDs and other debt instruments must be repaid.
Maturity Date - The date a bond expires, usually at face value.
Maturity Length - The time it takes for a bond to mature. A bond issued in 1999 and maturing in 2009 is a 10-year bond. For corporate bonds, short-term bonds usually mature in five years or less, intermediate-term bonds mature in five to ten years, and long-term bonds mature after ten years.
Maximum Monthly Loss - A measure of volatility of return indicating the largest loss (or the smallest gain) within a single month for a fund or benchmark during the most recent 36-month period.
MDIB Table - Minimum Distribution Incidental Benefit Table under the 1987/1988 proposed regulations (the Uniform Life Expectancy Table under the 2001 proposed regulations).
Member - An individual who owns a membership (a seat) on an exchange.
Member Bank - Bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System.
Member Firm - A partnership or corporation that owns a membership on an exchange.
Merger - The combination of two or more companies into one through the exchange of stock.
Mid-Cap Stocks - Stocks of medium-sized companies. They offer growth potential with the stability of a larger company.
Mill Rate - This is the physical amount of money per share earned in dividends in one business day. The mill rate is used in the 1-day yield calculation.
Minimum Deposit - The minimum deposit accepted by the Institution for the particular CD. Jumbo and MiniJumbo CDs indicate minimum deposits of $100,000 for Jumbos and $25,000 and $50,000 for MiniJumbos.
Minimum Investment - The amount that is required to make an initial investment in a product.
Minimum Maintenance - Established by the exchanges’ margin rules, the level to which the equity in an account may fall before the client must deposit additional equity. It is expressed as a percentage relationship between debit balance and equity or between market value and equity.
Minimum Purchases - For mutual funds, the amount required to open a new account or to deposit into an existing account. Some funds are closed to new investors, but allow deposits to existing accounts.
Mini-Refunding - Auctions of Treasury securities occurring in March, June, September, and December.
Minor - Person who is under the general age of majority. According to state laws, the age is either 18 or 21.
Minority Interest - An outside ownership interest in a subsidiary that is consolidated with the parent for financial reporting purposes.
Minus Tick - An execution price below the previous sale.
Monetary Policy - Is set by the Federal Reserve Board (FRB). Although the Federal Reserve Board has many tools available to it, they all have the effect of either tightening or easing the money supply.
Money Market Fund - A type of mutual fund that specializes in securities of the money market, such as T bills and commercial paper.
Money Market Instruments - Short-term debt instruments (such as U.S. Treasury bills, commercial paper, and banker's acceptances) that reflect current interest rates and that, because of their short life, do not respond to interest rate changes as longer-term instruments do.
Money Market Obligation - Short-term debt instrument issued by a corporation, government or municipality to raise funds for short-term financing needs.
Monthly Investment Plan - Investment technique whereby an investor puts a fixed dollar amount into a particular investment every month.
Monthly Yield - Represents the dividend factor divided by the number of days in the calendar month, is annualized and converted to a percent.
Moody's Investor Services - Well-known U.S. debt rating agency that rates short- and long-term debt issues based on its opinion of the ability of the issuer to punctually repay its debt obligations.
Morningstar, Inc. - Research and publishing firm which provides mutual fund data, analysis and overall framework for assessing mutual funds. Morningstar reports are targeted to the mutual fund investor to assist him in making an informed investment choice. Morningstar also rates funds with a 1 to 5 star system based on a measured risk/reward assessment. Morningstar ratings are not performance rankings, but have become a leading data source for the mutual fund investor.
Mortgage-Backed Funds - Invest primarily in securities backed by mortgages. Examples of these securities may include GNMAs, FNMAs, Freddie Macs, CMOs and ARMs. These funds provide investors with fully taxable monthly income that is generated from the mortgage-related securities.
Mortgage-Backed Securities - A collection of mortgages bundled into a single security and retailed to private or institutional investors as a single security.
Mortgage Bond - A debt instrument issued by a corporation and secured by real estate owned by the corporation (such as factories or office buildings).
Moving Average - Used in charts and technical analysis, the average of security or commodity prices constructed in a period as short as a few days or as long as several years and showing trends for the latest interval. As each new variable is included in calculating the average, the last variable of the series is deleted.
Multiple Class Offerings - Flexible pricing allows the investor to choose between different fee structures such as Class A and Class B shares.
Muni - Short for municipal bond.
Municipal Bond - A long-term debt instrument issued by a state or local government. It usually carries a fixed rate of interest, which is paid semiannually.
Municipal Bond Funds - Funds that invest in bonds issued by state and local governments. Municipal Note - A short-term debt instrument of a state or local government. Most popular are revenue, bond, and tax anticipation notes.
Municipal Bond Insurance - Policies underwritten by private insurers guaranteeing municipal bond principal repayments in the event of default.
Municipal Note - A short-term debt instrument of a state or local government. Most popular are revenue, bond, and tax anticipation notes.
Municipal Securities Rule Making Board (MSRB) - Establishes rules and regulations to be followed in the trading, dealings and customer relationships concerned in municipal securities.
Mutual Fund - A pooling of many investors’ money for specific investment purposes. The fund is managed by a management company, which is responsible for adhering to the purpose of the fund.
Mutual Fund Custodian - Commercial bank or trust company that physically holds the securities owned by a mutual fund company. It may also act as a transfer agent. Also known as Processing Bank.
Mutual Fund Marketplace - Schwab’s service that provides clients with the ability to invest in over 2,000 mutual funds, including Mutual Fund OneSource service funds, from a wide variety of fund companies.
Mutual Fund OneSource - Schwab’s service that offers clients access to 1,280 no-load mutual funds from many of America’s most prominent fund families. Clients purchasing or selling funds that participate in OneSource pay no commissions or fees at the time of purchase or sale.