A bull market signifies a prolonged rise in the price of stocks, commodities, or bonds. It reflects investor optimism and confidence, often fueled by strong economic indicators and corporate earnings.
A rapid and significant decline in stock prices or economic activity, or a catastrophic hardware or software failure in data processing systems.
The manipulation by companies of certain items in their financial statements to eliminate large movements in profit and report a smooth trend over a number of years. This practice stems from the belief that investors prefer companies showing steady profit increases year by year.
The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) is a nonprofit corporation supported by its membership of securities brokers and dealers. It was developed to protect their customers and to promote confidence in the securities markets. In principle, SIPC provides certain amounts of insurance on cash and securities left on deposit in a brokerage account. This insures investors against the failure of the brokerage firm but not against a decline in the value of securities.
A sensitive market refers to a financial market easily swayed by the announcement of positive or negative news. Such a market's fluctuations are often more pronounced than those of a market in which investors exhibit greater confidence in the price outlook.
