Dictionary_of_Banking_and_Finance

progress payment / prəυ respe mənt/ noun a payment made as a

particular stage of a contract is completed The fifth progress payment is due in March.

prohibitive /prəυ h b t v/ adjective with a price so high that you cannot afford to pay it The cost of redesigning the product is prohibitive.

project / prɒd$ekt/ noun 1. a plan

He has drawn up a project for developing new markets in Europe. 2. a particular job of work which follows a plan

We are just completing an engineering project in North Africa. The company will start work on the project next month.

project analysis / prɒd$ekt ə-

n ləs s/ noun the examination of all the costs or problems of a project before work on it is started

projected /prə d$ekt d/ adjective planned or expected projected sales a forecast of sales Projected sales in Europe next year should be over £1m.

project engineer / prɒd$ektend$ n ə/ noun an engineer in charge

of a project

projection /prə d$ekʃən/ noun a forecast of something which will happen in the future Projection of profits for the next three years. The sales manager was asked to draw up sales projections for the next three years.

project manager / prɒd$ektm n d$ə/ noun the manager in charge of a project

promise / prɒm s/ noun an act of saying that you will do something to keep a promise to do what you said you would do He says he will pay next week, but he never keeps his promises. to go back on a promise not to do what you said you would do The management went back on its promise to increase salaries across the board. a promise to pay a promissory note verb to say that you will do something

They promised to pay the last instalment next week. The personnel manager promised he would look into the grievances of the office staff.

promissory note / prɒm səri nəυt/ noun a document stating that someone promises to pay an amount of money on a specific date

promote /prə məυt/ verb 1. to give someone a more important job or to move someone to a higher grade He was promoted from salesman to sales manager. 2. to advertise a product to promote a new product to increase the sales of a new product by a sales campaign, by TV commercials or free gifts, or by giving discounts 3. to promote a new company to organise the setting up of a new company

promotion /prə məυʃ(ə)n/ noun 1. the fact of being moved up to a more important job I ruined my chances of promotion when I argued with the managing director. The job offers good promotion chances or promotion prospects. to earn promotion to work hard and efficiently and so be promoted 2. all means of conveying the message about a product or service to potential customers, e.g. publicity, a sales campaign, TV commercials or free gifts

Our promotion budget has been doubled. The promotion team has put forward plans for the launch. We are offering free holidays in France as part of our special in-store promotion. We a running a special promotion offering two for the price of one. 3. promotion of a company the setting up of a new company

promotional /prə məυʃ(ə)n(ə)l/ adjective used in an advertising campaign

The admen are using balloons as promotional material.

promotional budget /prə-

məυʃ(ə)n(ə)l b d$ t/ noun a forecast of the cost of promoting a new product

prompt /prɒmpt/ adjective rapid or done immediately We got very prompt service at the complaints desk. Thank you for your prompt reply to my letter. prompt payment payment made rapidly prompt supplier a supplier who delivers orders rapidly

‘…they keep shipping costs low and can take advantage of quantity discounts and other allowances for prompt payment’ [Duns Business Month]

prompt date / prɒmpt de t/ noun a date for delivery, stated on a futures contract

prompt payer /prɒmpt pe ə/ noun a company or person that pays bills rapidly

proof /pru f/ noun evidence which shows that something is true

-proof /pru f/ suffix which prevents something getting in or getting out or harming something a dustproof cover

an inflation-proof pension a soundproof studio

property / prɒpəti/ noun 1. land and buildings Property taxes are higher in the inner city. They are assessing damage to property or property damage after the storm. The commercial property market is booming. 2. a building We have several properties for sale in the centre of the town. 3. things which a person or organisation owns

property bond / prɒpəti bɒnd/ noun an investment in a fund invested in properties or in property companies

property company / prɒpətik mp(ə)ni/ noun a company which buys buildings to lease them

property developer / prɒpəti d -

veləpə/ noun a person who buys old buildings or empty land and plans and builds new houses or factories for sale or rent

property development / prɒpəti d veləpmənt/ noun the business of

renovating old buildings or building new ones on their sites

property portfolio / prɒpəti pɔ t-

fəυliəυ/ noun all the investment property which belongs to one person or company

property shares / prɒpəti ʃeəz/ plural noun shares in property companies

property tax / prɒpəti t ks/ noun a tax paid on building or land (such as the council tax in the UK)

proportion /prə pɔ ʃ(ə)n/ noun a part of a total A proportion of the pre-tax profit is set aside for contingencies. Only a small proportion of our sales comes from retail shops. in proportion to compared to something else, by an amount related to something else

Profits went up in proportion to the fall in overhead costs. Sales in Europe are small in proportion to those in the USA.

proportional /prə pɔ ʃ(ə)n(ə)l/ adjective directly related The increase in profit is proportional to the reduction in overheads.

proportionately /prə pɔ ʃ(ə)nətli/ adverb in a way that is directly related

proprietary /prə pra ət(ə)ri/ noun, adjective (a product, e.g. a medicine) which is made and owned by a company

proprietary company /prə-

pra ət(ə)ri k mp(ə)ni/ noun US a company formed to invest in stock of other companies so as to control them. Abbreviation pty (NOTE: The UK term

is holding company.)

proprietary drug /prə pra ət(ə)ridr / noun a drug which is made by a particular company and marketed under a brand name

pro rata /prəυ rɑ tə/ adjective, adverb at a rate which varies according to the size or importance of something

When part of the shipment was destroyed we received a pro rata payment.The full-time pay is £500 a week and the part-timers are paid pro rata. dividends are paid pro rata dividends are paid according to the number of shares held

prospect / prɒspekt/ noun a chance or possibility that something will happen in the future her job prospects are good she is very likely to find a job

prospective /prə spekt v/ adjective which may happen in the future

prospective dividend /prə spekt vd v dend/ noun a dividend which a company expects to pay at the end of the current year

prospective P/E ratio /prə spekt vpi i re ʃiəυ/ noun a P/E ratio ex-

pected in the future on the basis of forecast dividends

prospectus /prə spektəs/ noun a document which gives information to attract buyers or customers The restaurant has people handing out prospectuses in the street.

‘…when the prospectus emerges, existing shareholders and any prospective new investors can find out more by calling the free share information line; they will be sent a leaflet. Non-shareholders who register in this way will receive a prospectus when it is published; existing shareholders will be sent one automatically’ [Financial Times]

prosperity /prɒ sper ti/ noun the state of being rich in times of prosperity when people are rich

prosperous / prɒsp(ə)rəs/ adjective rich a prosperous shopkeeper a prosperous town

protect /prə tekt/ verb to defend something against harm The workers are protected from unfair dismissal by government legislation. The cover is supposed to protect the machine from dust. to protect an industry by imposing tariff barriers to stop a local industry from being hit by foreign competition by taxing foreign products when they are imported

protection /prə tekʃən/ noun 1. a defence against harm The legislation offers no protection to part-time workers. The new equipment offers more protection against noise. 2. the imposing of tariffs to protect domestic producers from competition from imports

protectionism /prə tekʃən z(ə)m/ noun the practice of protecting producers in the home country against foreign competitors by banning or taxing imports or by imposing import quotas

protective /prə tekt v/ adjective which protects

protective tariff /prə tekt v t r f/ noun a tariff which tries to ban imports to stop them competing with local products

pro tem / prəυ tem/ adverb temporarily, for a time

protest noun / prəυtest/ 1. a statement or action to show that you do not approve of something to make a protest against high prices 2. an official document which proves that a bill of exchange has not been paid verb

/prə test/ to protest a bill to draw up a document to prove that a bill of exchange has not been paid

provide /prə va d/ verb 1. to give or supply something 2. to provide for to allow for something which may happen in the future The contract provides for an annual increase in charges. £10,000 of expenses have been provided for in the budget. 3. to put money aside in accounts to cover expenditure or loss in the future £25,000 is provided against bad debts.

provident / prɒv d(ə)nt/ adjective providing benefits in case of illness, old

age or other cases of need a provident fund a provident society

provision /prə v $(ə)n/ noun 1. to make provision for to see that something is allowed for in the future 2. a legal condition we have made provision to this effect we have put into the contract terms which will make this work 3. an amount of money put aside in accounts for anticipated expenditure where the timing or amount of expenditure is uncertain The bank has made a £2m provision for bad debts or a $5bn provision against Third World loans.

‘…landlords can create short lets of dwellings which will be free from the normal security of tenure provisions’ [Times]

provisional /prə v $(ə)n(ə)l/ adjective temporary, not final or permanent

He was given a provisional posting to see The sales department has been asked to make a provisional forecast of sales. The provisional budget has been drawn up for each department. They faxed their provisional acceptance of the contract.

provisionally /prə v $(ə)nəli/ adverb not finally The contract has been accepted provisionally.

proxy / prɒksi/ noun 1. a document which gives someone the power to act on behalf of someone else to sign by proxy 2. a person who acts on behalf of someone else She asked the chairman to act as proxy for her.

proxy form / prɒksi fɔ m/, proxy card / prɒksi kɑ d/ noun a form which

a shareholders receive with their invitations to attend an AGM, and which they fill in if they want to appoint a proxy to vote for them on a resolution

proxy statement / prɒksiste tmənt/ noun a document, filed

with the SEC, outlining executive pay packages, option grants and other perks, and also giving details of dealings by executives in shares of the company

proxy vote / prɒksi vəυt/ noun a vote made by proxy The proxy votes were all in favour of the board’s recommendation.

prudent / pru dənt/ adjective careful, not taking any risks

prudential /pru denʃ(ə)l/ adjective which is careful, prudent

prudential ratio /pru denʃ(ə)lre ʃiəυ/ noun a ratio of capital to assets which a bank feels it is prudent to have, according to EU regulations

prudent man rule / pru d(ə)ntm n ru l/ noun a rule that trustees who make financial decisions on behalf of other people should act carefully (as a normal prudent person would)

PSBR abbreviation Public Sector Borrowing Requirement

ptas abbreviation pesetas

Pte abbreviation (in Singapore) private limited company

Pty abbreviation proprietary company

Pty Ltd abbreviation private limited company

public / p bl k/ adjective 1. referring to all the people in general 2. referring to the government or the state

public expenditure / p bl k k-

spend tʃə/ noun money spent by the local or central government

public finance / p bl k fa n ns/ noun the raising of money by governments (by taxes or borrowing) and the spending of it

public funds / p bl k f ndz/ plural noun government money available for expenditure

public holiday / p bl k hɒl de / noun a day when all employees are entitled to take a holiday

publicity budget /p bl s tib d$ t/ noun money allowed for expenditure on publicity

public limited company / p bl kl m t d k mp(ə)ni/ noun a company

whose shares can be bought on the Stock Exchange. Abbreviation Plc, PLC, plc. Also called public company

public monopoly / p bl k mə-

nɒpəli/ noun a situation where an organisation owned and run by the state (e.g. the Post Office) is the only supplier of a product or service

public offering / p bl k ɒf(ə)r ŋ/ noun an offering of new shares in a corporation for sale to the public as a way of launching the corporation on the Stock Exchange

public ownership / p bl kəυnəʃ p/ noun a situation where the

government owns a business, i.e. where an industry is nationalised

public placing / p bl k ple s ŋ/,

public placement / p bl kple smənt/ noun an act of offering a

new issue of shares to certain investing institutions, though not to private investors in general

public sector / p bl k sektə/ noun nationalised industries and services a report on wage rises in the public sector or on public-sector wage settlements

Also called government sector

Public Sector Borrowing Requirement / p bl k sektə bɒrəυ ŋ r kwa əmənt/ noun the amount of

money which a government has to borrow to pay for its own spending. Abbreviation PBSR

public spending / p bl k spend ŋ/ noun spending by the government or by local authorities

public-to-private deal / p bl k təpra vət di l/ noun an arrangement by which a quoted company leaves the Stock Exchange and becomes a privately owned investment.

take-private

public utilities / p bl k ju t l tiz/ plural noun companies (such as electricity, gas or transport companies) which provide a service used by the whole community

pula / pu lə/ noun a unit of currency used in Botswana

pull off / pυl ɒf/ verb to succeed in negotiating a deal (informal)

pull out / pυl aυt/ verb to stop being part of a deal or agreement Our Australian partners pulled out of the contract.

pump /p mp/ verb to put something in by force Venture capitalists have been pumping money into the company to keep it afloat.

‘…in each of the years 1986 to 1989, Japan pumped a net sum of the order of $100bn into foreign securities, notably into US government bonds’ [Financial Times Review]

pump priming / p mp pra m ŋ/ noun government investment in new projects which it hopes will benefit the economy

punt /p nt/ noun 1. a former unit of currency in the Republic of Ireland 2. a gamble, bet (informal) That stock is

worth a punt. He took a punt on the exchange rate falling. verb to gamble or to bet (on something)

punter / p ntə/ noun 1. a person who gambles or who hopes to make money on the Stock Exchange The share price shot up as punters rushed to buy. 2. a customer (informal) The product looks attractive but will the punters like it?

‘…if punters don’t come in for their regular packet of cigarettes, then they are unlikely to make any impulse buys’ [The Grocer]

purchase / p% tʃ s/ noun a product or service which has been bought to make a purchase to buy something verb to buy something to purchase something for cash to pay cash for something

purchase acquisition / p% tʃ skw z ʃ(ə)n/ noun same as acquisi-

tion accounting

purchase book / p% tʃ s bυk/ noun a book in which purchases are recorded

purchase ledger / p% tʃ s led$ə/ noun a book in which expenditure is noted

purchase order / p% tʃ s ɔ də/ noun an official order made out by a purchasing department for goods which a company wants to buy We cannot supply you without a purchase order number.

purchase price / p% tʃ s pra s/ noun a price paid for something

purchaser / p% tʃ sə/ noun a person or company that purchases The company has found a purchaser for its warehouse. the company is looking for a purchaser the company is trying to find someone who will buy it

purchase tax / p% tʃ s t ks/ noun a tax paid on things which are bought

purchasing / p% tʃ s ŋ/ noun, adjective buying

purchasing department

/ p% tʃ s ŋ d pɑ tmənt/ noun the section of a company which deals with the buying of stock, raw materials, equipment, etc.

purchasing manager / p% tʃ s ŋ

m n d$ə/ noun the head of a purchasing department

purchasing officer / p% tʃ s ŋ

ɒf sə/ noun a person in a company or

organisation who is responsible for buying stock, raw materials, equipment, etc.

purchasing power / p% tʃ s ŋ

paυə/ noun the quantity of goods which can be bought by a particular group of people or with a particular sum of money the purchasing power of the school market The purchasing power of the pound has fallen over the last five years.

purse /p% s/ noun a small, usually leather, bag for keeping money in

push /pυʃ/ verb to push a share to try to persuade investors to buy a share (using forceful means)

put /pυt/ verb to place or to fix the accounts put the stock value at £10,000 the accounts state that the value of the stock is £10,000 to put a proposal to the vote to ask a meeting to vote for or against a proposal to put a proposal to the board to ask the board to consider a suggestion

put down / pυt daυn/ verb 1. to make a deposit to put down money on a house 2. to write an item in a ledger or an account book to put down a figure for expenses

put in / pυt n/ verb to put in a bid for something to offer to buy something, usually in writing to put in an estimate for something to give someone a written calculation of the probable costs of carrying out a job to put in a claim for damage to ask an insurance company to pay for damage the union put in a 6% wage claim the union asked for a 6% increase in wages

put into / pυt ntυ/ verb to put money into a business to invest money in a business

put on / pυt ɒn/ verb to put an item on the agenda to list an item for discussion at a meeting to put an embargo on trade to forbid trade

put option /pυt ɒpʃən/ noun an option to sell shares at a certain price

(NOTE: The opposite is call option.)

put out / pυt aυt/ verb to send something out for other people to work on

We are planning to put out most of the work to freelancers. to put work out to contract to decide that work should be done by a company on a contract, rather than employ members of staff to do it

put up / pυt p/ verb 1. who put up the money for the shop? who provided the investment money for the shop to start? to put something up for sale to advertise that something is for sale When he retired he decided to put his town flat up for sale. 2. to increase something, to make something higher The shop has put up all its prices by 5%.

PV abbreviation present value

pyramiding / p rəm d ŋ/ noun 1. the process of building up a major group by acquiring controlling interests in many different companies, each larger than the original company 2. the illegal prac-

tice of using new investors’ deposits to pay the interest on the deposits made by existing investors

pyramid selling / p rəm d sel ŋ/ noun an illegal way of selling goods or investments to the public, where each selling agent pays for the franchise to sell the product or service, and sells that right on to other agents together with stock, so that in the end the person who makes most money is the original franchiser, and sub-agents or investors may lose all their investments

‘…much of the population had committed their life savings to get-rich-quick pyramid investment schemes – where newcomers pay the original investors until the money runs out – which inevitably collapsed’ [Times]

qty abbreviation quantity

quadruplicate /kwɒ dru pl kət/ noun in quadruplicate with the original and three copies The invoices are printed in quadruplicate. The application form should be completed in quadruplicate.

qualification / kwɒl f ke ʃ(ə)n/ noun a document or some other formal proof of the fact that someone has successfully completed a specialised course of study or has acquired a skill You must have the right qualifications for the job. Job-hunting is difficult if you have no qualifications.

‘…personnel management is not an activity that can ever have just one set of qualifications as a requirement for entry into it’ [Personnel Management]

qualification of accounts

/ kwɒl f ke ʃ(ə)n əv ə kaυnts/ noun same as auditors’ qualification

qualified / kwɒl fa d/ adjective 1. having passed special examinations in a subject She is a qualified accountant.

We have appointed a qualified de-

signer to supervise the decorating of the new reception area. highly qualified with very good results in examinations

All our staff are highly qualified. They employ twenty-six highly qualified engineers. 2. with some reservations or conditions qualified acceptance of a contract The plan received qualified approval from the board.

‘…applicants will be professionally qualified and ideally have a degree in Commerce and postgraduate management qualifications’ [Australian Financial Review]

qualified accounts / kwɒl fa d ə-

kaυnts/ plural noun accounts which have been noted by the auditors because they contain something with which the auditors do not agree

qualify / kwɒl fa / verb to qualify for to be entitled to something The

company does not qualify for a government grant. She qualifies for unemployment benefit.

‘…federal examiners will also determine which of the privately insured savings and loans qualify for federal insurance’ [Wall Street Journal]

qualifying distribution

/ kwɒl fa ŋ d str bju ʃ(ə)n/ noun a payment of a dividend to a shareholder, on which advance corporation tax is paid

qualifying period / kwɒl fa ŋ

p əriəd/ noun a time which has to pass before something or someone qualifies for something, e.g. a grant or subsidy

There is a six-month qualifying period before you can get a grant from the local authority.

qualifying ratio / kwɒl fa ŋ

re ʃiəυ/ noun a calculation of how much mortgage a borrower can afford, by comparing his monthly incoming against his monthly outgoings

qualifying service / kwɒl fa ŋ

s% v s/ noun the period for which an employee must be employed by a company before becoming eligible to join a group pension scheme

qualifying shares / kwɒl fa ŋ

ʃeəz/ plural noun the number of shares which you need to earn to get a bonus issue or to be a director of the company, etc.

quality control / kwɒl ti kən trəυl/ noun the process of making sure that the quality of a product is good

quant funds / kwɒnt f ndz/ plural noun same as quantitative funds

quantifiable / kwɒnt fa əb(ə)l/ adjective which can be quantified The effect of the change in the discount structure is not quantifiable.

quantify / kwɒnt fa / verb to quantify the effect of something to

show the effect of something in figures

It is impossible to quantify the effect of the new legislation on our turnover.

quantitative / kwɒnt tət v/ adjective referring to quantity

‘…the collection of consumer behaviour data in the book covers both qualitative and quantitative techniques’ [Quarterly Review of Marketing]

quantitative funds / kwɒnt tət v f ndz/ plural noun funds which invest according to the instructions given by a computer model

quantity / kwɒnt ti/ noun an amount, especially a large amount

quantity discount / kwɒnt tid skaυnt/ noun a discount given to

people who buy large quantities

quantity purchase / kwɒnt tip% tʃ s/ noun a large quantity of goods bought at one time The company offers a discount for quantity purchase.

quantum meruit / kw ntυmmeru t/ phrase a Latin phrase meaning ‘as much as has been earned’

quarter / kwɔ tə/ noun 1. one of four equal parts (25%) He paid only a quarter of the list price. a quarter of an hour 15 minutes 2. a period of three months The instalments are payable at the end of each quarter. 3. US a 25 cent coin (informal)

‘…corporate profits for the first quarter showed a 4 per cent drop from last year’s final three months’ [Financial Times]

‘…economists believe the economy is picking up this quarter and will do better still in the second half of the year’ [Sunday Times]

quarter day / kwɔ tə de / noun a day at the end of a quarter, when rents, fees etc. should be paid

COMMENT: In England, the quarter days are 25th March (Lady Day), 24th June (Midsummer Day), 29th September (Michaelmas Day) and 25th December (Christmas Day).

quarterly / kwɔ təli/ adjective, adverb happening once every three months

There is a quarterly charge for electricity. The bank sends us a quarterly statement. We agreed to pay the rent quarterly or on a quarterly basis. noun the results of a corporation, produced each quarter

quartile / kwɔ ta l/ noun one of a series of three figures below which 25%, 50% or 75% of the total falls

quasi- /kwe za / prefix almost or which seems like a quasi-official body

quasi-loan / kwe za ləυn/ noun an agreement between two parties where one agrees to pay the other’s debts, provided that the second party agrees to reimburse the first at some later date

quasi-public corporation

/ kwe za p bl k kɔ pə re ʃ(ə)n/ noun a US institution which is privately owned, but which serves a public function (such as the Federal National Mortgage Association)

quetzal / kets(ə)l/ noun a unit of currency used in Guatemala

queue /kju / noun 1. a line of people waiting one behind the other to form a queue or to join a queue Queues formed at the doors of the bank when the news spread about its possible collapse. 2. a series of documents (such as orders or application forms) which are dealt with in order his order went to the end of the queue his order was dealt with last mortgage queue a list of people waiting for mortgages verb to form a line one after the other for something When food was rationed, people had to queue for bread. We queued for hours to get tickets. A list of companies queueing to be launched on the Stock Exchange. The candidates queued outside the interviewing room.

quick /kw k/ adjective fast, not taking much time The company made a quick recovery. He is looking for a quick return on his investments. We are hoping for a quick sale.

quick assets /kw k sets/ plural noun cash, or bills which can easily be changed into cash

quick ratio /kw k re ʃiəυ/ noun same as liquidity ratio

quid pro quo / kw d prəυ kwəυ/ noun money paid or an action carried out in return for something He agreed to repay the loan early, and as a quid pro quo the bank released the collateral.

quiet / kwa ət/ adjective calm, not excited The market is very quiet. Currency exchanges were quieter after the government’s statement on exchange rates.

quitclaim / kw tkle m/ noun a release of someone from any claim that might exist against him or her or that he or she might have on something

quorum / kwɔ rəm/ noun a minimum number of people who have to be present at a meeting to make it valid to have a quorum to have enough people present for a meeting to go ahead Do we have a quorum?

COMMENT: If there is a quorum at a meeting, the meeting is said to be ‘quorate’; if there aren’t enough people present to make a quorum, the meeting is ‘inquorate’.

quota / kwəυtə/ noun a limited amount of something which is allowed to be produced, imported, etc.

‘Canada agreed to a new duty-free quota of 600,000 tonnes a year’ [Globe and Mail (Toronto)]

quota system / kwəυtə s stəm/ noun 1. a system where imports or supplies are regulated by fixed maximum amounts 2. an arrangement for distribution which allows each distributor only a certain number of items

quotation /kwəυ te ʃ(ə)n/ noun 1. an estimate of how much something will cost They sent in their quotation for the job. Our quotation was much lower than all the others. We accepted the lowest quotation. 2. the company is going for a quotation on the Stock Exchange the company has applied to the Stock Exchange to have its shares listed We are seeking a stock market quotation.

quote /kwəυt/ verb 1. to repeat words or a reference number used by someone

else He quoted figures from the annual report. In reply please quote this number. When making a complaint please quote the batch number printed on the box. She replied, quoting the number of the account. 2. to estimate what a cost or price is likely to be to quote a price for supplying stationery Their prices are always quoted in dollars. He quoted me a price of £1,026.Can you quote for supplying 20,000 envelopes? noun an estimate of how much something will cost (informal) to give someone a quote for supplying computers We have asked for quotes for refitting the shop. His quote was the lowest of three. We accepted the lowest quote.

‘…banks operating on the foreign exchange market refrained from quoting forward US/Hongkong dollar exchange rates’ [South China Morning Post]

quoted company / kwəυt dk mp(ə)ni/ noun a company whose shares can be bought or sold on the Stock Exchange

quote-driven system / kwəυtdr v(ə)n s stəm/ noun a system of

working a stock market, where marketmakers quote a price for a stock (as opposed to an order-driven system)

quoted shares / kwəυt d ʃeəz/ plural noun shares which can be bought or sold on the Stock Exchange

qwerty keyboard / kw% ti ki bɔ d/ noun an English language keyboard, where the first letters of the top row are Q-W-E-R-T-Y The computer has a normal qwerty keyboard.

racket / r k t/ noun an illegal deal which makes a lot of money He runs a cut-price ticket racket.

racketeer / r k t ə/ noun a person who runs a racket

racketeering / r k t ər ŋ/ noun US the crime of carrying on an illegal business to make money

‘…he was charged with 98 counts of racketeering and securities fraud and went on to serve two years in jail. He was banned for life from the securities industry’ [Times]

rack rent / r k rent/ noun a very high rent

raid /re d/ noun a sudden attack

raid alarm / re d ə lɑ m/ noun an automatic alarm in a bank which goes off when a robbery is taking place

raider / re də/ noun a person or company which buys a stake in another company before making a hostile takeover bid. Also called corporate raider

‘…bear raiding involves trying to depress a target company’s share price by heavy selling of its shares, spreading adverse rumours or a combination of the two. As an added refinement, the raiders may sell short. The aim is to push down the price so that the raiders can buy back the shares they sold at a lower price’ [Guardian]

raise /re z/ noun US an increase in salary He asked the boss for a raise. She is pleased – she has had her raise. She got her raise last month. (NOTE: The UK term is rise.) verb 1. to raise an invoice to write out or print out an invoice to raise a cheque to write out a cheque, either by hand or by machine 2. to increase or to make higher The government has raised the tax levels. Air fares will be raised on June 1st. The company raised its dividend by 10%. When the company raised its prices, it lost half of its share of the market. The organisation will raise wages if inflation gets worse. This increase

in production will raise the standard of living in the area. 3. to obtain money or to organise a loan The company is trying to raise the capital to fund its expansion programme. The government raises more money by indirect taxation than by direct. Where will he raise the money from to start up his business?

‘…the company said yesterday that its recent share issue has been oversubscribed, raising A$225.5m’ [Financial Times]

‘…investment trusts can raise capital, but this has to be done as a company does, by a rights issue of equity’ [Investors Chronicle]

‘…over the past few weeks, companies raising new loans from international banks have been forced to pay more’ [Financial Times]

raised check / re zd tʃek/ noun a cheque where the amount has been increased by hand illegally

rake in / re k n/ verb to gather something together to rake in cash, to rake it in to make a lot of money

rake-off / re k ɒf/ noun a person’s share of profits from a deal, especially if obtained illegally The group gets a rake-off on all the company’s sales. He got a £100,000 rake-off for introducing the new business. (NOTE: The plural

is rake-offs.)

rally / r li/ noun a rise in price when the trend has been downwards Shares staged a rally on the Stock Exchange. After a brief rally shares fell back to a new low. verb to rise in price, when the trend has been downwards Shares rallied on the news of the latest government figures.

‘…when Japan rallied, it had no difficulty in surpassing its previous all-time high, and this really stretched the price-earnings ratios into the stratosphere’ [Money Observer]

‘…bad news for the US economy ultimately may have been the cause of a late rally in stock prices yesterday’ [Wall Street Journal]

ramp /r mp/ noun an act of buying shares in order to force up the price (as