See: Block Trade; Floor Broker; Market Order; Orders

Nikkei Stock Average
Index of 225 leading stocks traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Nikkei is similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Both are composed of representative blue chip corporations (called "first-section" companies in Japan) and are price-weighted indexes--the movement of each stock is weighted equally regardless of its market capitalization. The Nikkei Stock Average is the most widely quoted Japanese stock index.

See: Blue Chip; Dow Jones Industrial Average

NL (No Load)
Abbreviation used in newspaper listings of mutual funds to indicate a no-load fund.

NMS (National Market System)
An informational system that is part of the NASDAQ system. NMS displays actual transactions, last trade and volume data.

See: Last Sale; NASDAQ; Volume

Noise
Market activity caused by program trades and other circumstances that are not reflective of general opinion.

See: Program Trading

No Load Mutual Fund
A mutual fund that allows shares to be purchased without a sales charge to imposed on its investors.

See: Load Mutual Fund; Mutual Fund

Nominal Quotation
Bid and asked prices given by a market maker as valuation of a security, but not for trading purposes. Security rules require that nominal quotations be specifically identified as such.

See: Firm Quote

Nominal Yield
Interest rate on a debt security that the issuer promises to pay the holder until maturity. The rate is expressed as an annual percentage of face value. For example, a bond with a 9% coupon will pay $9 per $100 of the face amount per year. The annual payment is usually divided into semiannual installments.

Nominee
Person or firm, such as a brokerage house, whose name is inscribed on a security certificate if it is different from that of the beneficial owner. The purpose is to expedite transfers of title when the security is sold. The beneficial owner is the true shareholder and he retains all rights of ownership.

See: Beneficial Owner; Street Name

Non-Callable
A bond that cannot be redeemed before its maturity by the issuer. Call provisions in a bond's indenture agreement specify whether the bond is callable or non-callable. Because so many bonds issues are callable, bond yields are often quoted to the first date at which the bonds could be called instead of maturity.

See: Callable; Call Protection; Callable; Indenture

Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock
Preferred stock on which unpaid dividends do not accrue. Omitted dividends, for the most part, will never be paid. This contrasts with cumulative preferred stock in which omitted dividends accumulate until paid to shareholders.

See: Cumulative Preferred Stock; Preferred Stock; Omitted Dividend

Non-Public Information
In the securities industry, non-public information most often refers to corporate information that will have a material effect on its stock price when it is released to the public. The information can be either negative or positive. An example of non-public information is an earnings report about to be released that is substantially worse than what most analysts anticipated. It is illegal for insiders to make transactions based on non-public information as they would have an unfair advantage over the rest of the public.

See: Inside Information; Insider

Non-Qualified Plan
A retirement plan or an annuity in which contributions are made with after-tax dollars. The contributions are not tax deductible because the plan or annuity is not an IRS approved pension plan. However, just as with a Qualified Plan, earnings accumulate tax deferred until withdrawn.

See: Annuity; Qualified Pension Plan or Trust

Non-Recurring Charge
A one-time write-off or expense--also called "extraordinary charge". These charges are required to be displayed in a corporation's financial statement. An example of a non-recurring charge would be a division that was closed down and written-off.

See: Write-Off

Nonvoting Stock
Corporate securities in which shareholders of such securities have no voting powers--that is, they may not vote on the election of directors or on any corporate resolutions.

See: Voting Right

Normal Trading Unit (NTU)
Standard minimum size of a trading unit for a particular security--more commonly referred to as a "round lot". Stocks typically have a normal trading unit of 100 shares. However, inactive stocks may have normal trading units equal to 10 shares. Any amount of shares less than a round lot is called an "odd lot".

See: Inactive Stock/Bond; Odd Lot; Round Lot

Not Held (NH)
A market order to buy or sell that allows a floor broker discretion as to the time and price in executing the best possible trade. NH means the customer will not hold the floor broker responsible if a better execution might have been possible. This type of order qualification is principally used for large block orders.

See: Block Trade; Floor Broker; Market Order; Orders

Nothing Done (ND)
In a day order, upon expiring at the end of the day, the status given to the order if it has not been executed.

See: Day Order; Execution

Notice of Sale
Advertisement used by a municipal issuer to announce its plan to sell a new issue and to solicit investment bankers to enter bids for the issue.

See: Initial Public Offering; Investment Banker; Issuer; Municipal Bond; New Issue; Official Notice Of Sale; Underwrite

Not Rated (NR)
Indication used by various rating services to show that a security or a company has not been rated. The abbreviation "NR" is placed next to the security's or company's name.

See: Rating

Novation
1: The substitution of an older debt or obligation with a newer one.

See: Debt; Debt Security

2: An agreement to substitute one party to a contract with a new party. The new party has both the rights and obligations required by the original party. To make the transfer effective, consent of all parties is required.

NQB (National Quotation Bureau)
Daily service that provides its subscribers bid and asked quotes from market makers in securities traded over-the-counter. Stock quotes are published in Pink Sheets and corporate bonds in Yellow Sheets.

See: Asked Price; Market Maker; Over The Counter; OTC Bulletin Board; Pink Sheets; Yellow Sheets

NR (Not Rated)
Abbreviation used by various rating services to indicate that a security or a company has not been rated.

See: Rating

NTU (Normal Trading Unit)
Standard minimum size of a trading unit for a particular security--more commonly referred to as a "round lot". Stocks typically have a normal trading unit of 100 shares. However, inactive stocks may have normal trading units equal to 10 shares. Any amount of shares less than a round lot is called an "odd lot".

See: Inactive Stock/Bond; Odd Lot; Round Lot

NYFE (New York Futures Exchange)
A subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange that concentrates on the trading of financial futures contracts.

See: Futures Contract; Futures Market; New York Stock Exchange

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange)
The oldest and largest stock exchange in the United States--also known as the "Big Board" and "The Exchange". The exchange is a not-for-profit corporation consisting of 1,366 individual members. It is governed by a Board of Directors that is made up of 10 public representatives, 10 exchange members, and a full-time paid chairman and president.

The NYSE does not buy, sell, own or set the prices of securities traded there. The NYSE has operating divisions that are concerned with market operations, member firm regulation and surveillance, finance and office services, product development and planning, and customer relations. The NYSE imposes requirements on corporations who wish to have their securities listed on the exchange.

See: Big Board; Floor; Floor Broker; Floor Trader; Listing Requirements; Post