| Earnings | |
| revenues minus cost of sales, operating expenses and taxes, over a given period of time. | |
| Earnings-per-share (EPS) | |
| The EPS is a popular financial ratio used to value companies, Earnings Per Share (EPS) is calculated by dividing the company's annual profit by the total number of shares outstanding. This key financial ratio measures the company's profitability. Major component in the price earnings ratio, which is used to value a company on the stock market. The EPS figure gives a good indication of a company's profitability and is calculated by dividing the company's net income by its number of shares. For example, if a company has a net income of £100 million and has 500 million shares in issue, the EPS stands at 20p. Using EPS figures to compare the profitability of a range of companies is better than looking at their dividends because some companies may decide to hold back profits to build up the business (and increase the share value), rather than distribute them as dividends to shareholders. | |
| EBITDA | |
| Is an acronym for: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. It is a commonly used earnings performance measure. | |
| Economic indicators | |
| statistical data showing general trends in the economy. | |
| EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) | |
| an EFT or is required for margin calls of £10,000.00 or more. | |
| EGM | |
| Extraordinary General Meeting. Called to vote on a major company issue. For instance to ratify a takeover, or perhaps to sack the board. | |
| Electronic Trading | |
| trading via computer through an automated, order entry and matching system. GLOBEX which trades 24 hours S&P, DOW and NASDAQ 100 futures is an example of an international electronic trading system. | |
| Elliot wave theory | |
| a type of technical analysis that studies price wave sequences based on the theories of Ralph Nelson Elliot. A relatively complex study, the basic theory is based on markets form waves, 5 waves in the general direction of the main trend and 3 in the opposite direction. | |
| Emerging markets | |
| Countries with developing economies who often experience rapid growth and offer good investment opportunities. Emerging Markets are also often considered to be very instable and high risk. | |
| Enterprise value (EV) multiples | |
| Enterprise value represents that value of a publicly listed company if it was to be privatized (i.e. taken off the market as a private going concern). It is calculated as market capitalization plus total debt, less cash. It is useful in valuation measures such as Enterprise Value to EBITDA. As such the EV is determined by adding debts to and subtracting cash from a company's market capitalisation to find out what it would cost to acquire the company. This figure is then divided by sales, profits and other performance metrics and is designed to make it easier to compare companies from different industries and geographies. | |
| Equities | |
| Securities issued as shares in a company. Ordinary shares as distinct from debenture and loan stock. If the company does badly the dividend to ordinary shareholders is the first to be cut, but if the company does well the ordinary shareholder can expect to receive an increased dividend. The ordinary shareholder takes the greater risk in the expectation of receiving the greater reward. | |
| ETFs | |
| ETFs stands for Exchange Traded Funds which are shares on different sectors within the stock market. You can place a spread bet on an ETF share or sector bet (albeit not with all providers) - although sector bets are more common in the UK as UK ETFs on the London Stock Exchange lack liquidity. | |
| Euribor | |
| Aka as 3 month money or short rates - this is the 3 month European interest rates. | |
| Eurodollar | |
| 3 month US interest rates, sometimes also referred to as 3 month money or short rates. | |
| Euronext.LIFFE | |
| international derivatives business of Euronext, made up of the Amsterdam, Brussels, LIFFE, Lisbon and Paris derivatives markets. | |
| EuroStoxx 50 | |
| This consists of the 50 main European stocks, denominated in Euros. For this reason London, Swedish and Swiss shares are therefore not included. | |
| EuroSwiss | |
| 3 month Swiss interest rates sometimes referred to as 3 month money or short rates. | |
| Equity | |
| Another name for shares. | |
| Ex | |
| Means excluding. The opposite to cum. Therefore shares that are ex-dividend, come with no payout. | |
| Exchange Traded Fund | |
| Exchange Traded Funds (or ETFs) allow you to trade baskets of shares from a particular market, e.g. You could trade an Irish ETF, a China ETF, etc...ETF's are considered a good way to get exposure to a particular sector without having to buy multiple securities from that market. | |
| Ex-dividend | |
| A share bought without the right to receive the next dividend which is retained by the seller. Purchases of shares made while a share is 'ex-dividend' are not be eligible for the most recent declared dividend. A share will theoretically fall by the value of the declared dividend on the ex-dividend date. | |
| Ex-dividend date | |
| The date on which any share purchases after this date no longer qualify for the company's most recent dividend payment. | |
| Execution Only Stockbrokers | |
| Stockbroking lite. They offer a bare bones buy and sell facility, but don't give investment advice. Think e*trade, Barclays Stockbrokers, or Hargreaves Lansdown. | |
| Exit PE | |
| The price earnings ratio at which a company is sold.. | |
| Ex-rights | |
| A share bought ex-rights is not entitled to receive the rights issue previously attached to it. | |
| Ex-scrip | |
| A share bought ex-scrip excludes the rights to the scrip issue attached to it. | |
| Expire | |
| letting a futures contract or spread bet expire without closing the trade. The contract will be closed out and settled at the EDSP. | |
| Expiry date | |
| The date a spread bet ends. The trade is settled automatically on this date unless the trader closes the bet beforehand or instructs the company to roll the bet over to the next expiry date. 2) The date at which a security matures. It can no longer be traded thereafter. | |
| Extraordinary general meeting | |
| A special meeting called to provide shareholders with an opportunity to consider some special decision or happening concerning the company. | |
| Extrinsic/time value | |
| that part of an option's price that is not accounted for by its intrinsic value. The extrinsic value of an option reflects the likelihood that the option will move into, or further into, the money before expiration. | |
