< previous page page_443 next page > Page 443 PERCENTAGE ORDER order to a securities broker to buy or sell a specified number of shares of a stock after a fixed number of these shares have been traded. It can be a LIMIT ORDER or a MARKET ORDER and usually applies to one trading day. PERCS acronym for preferred equityredemption cumulative stock. A form of preferred stock that allows common shareholders to exchange common stock for preferred shares, thereby retaining a high dividend rate. PERCS usually have little appreciation potential, however. PERFECT COMPETITION market condition wherein no buyer or seller has the power to alter the market price of a good or service. Characteristics of a perfectly competitive market are a large number of buyers and sellers, a homogeneous (similar) good or service, an equal awareness of prices and volume, an absence of discrimination in buying and selling, total mobility of productive resources, and complete freedom of entry. Perfect competition exists only as a theoretical ideal. Also called pure competition. PERFECT HEDGE see HEDGE/HEDGING. PERFORMANCE BOND surety bond given by one party to another, protecting the second party against loss in the event the terms of a contract are not fulfilled. The surety company is primarily liable with the principal (the contractor) for nonperformance. For example, a homeowner having a new kitchen put in may request a performance bond from the home improvement contractor so that the homeowner would receive cash compensation if the kitchen was not done satisfactorily within the agreed upon time. PERFORMANCE FEE see INCENTIVE FEE. PERFORMANCE FUND MUTUAL FUND designed for growth of capital. A performance fund invests in high- growth companies that do not pay dividends or that pay small dividends. Investors in such funds are willing to take higher-than-average risks in order to earn higher-than-average returns on their invested capital. See also GROWTH STOCK; PERFORMANCE STOCK. PERFORMANCE STOCK high-growth stock that an investor feels will significantly rise in value. Also known as GROWTH STOCK, such a security tends to pay either a small dividend or no dividend at all. Companies whose stocks are in this category tend to retain earnings rather than pay dividends in order to finance their rapid growth. See also PERFORMANCE FUND. PERIODIC PAYMENT PLAN plan to accumulate capital in a mutual fund by making regular investments on a monthly or quarterly basis. The plan has a set pay-in period, which may be 10 or 20 years, and a mechanism to withdraw funds from the plan after that time. Participants in periodic payment plans enjoy the advantages of DOLLAR COST AVERAGING and < previous page page_443 next page > < previous page page_444 next page > Page 444 the diversification among stocks or bonds that is available through a mutual fund. Some plans also include completion insurance, which assures that all scheduled contributions to the plan will continue so that full benefits can be passed on to beneficiaries in the event the participant dies or is incapacitated. PERIODIC PURCHASE DEFERRED CONTRACT ANNUITY contract for which fixed-amount payments, called premiums, are paid either monthly or quarterly and that does not begin paying out until a time elected by the holder (the annuitant). In some cases, premium payments may continue after payments from the annuity have begun. A periodic purchase deferred contract can be either fixed or variable. See also FIXED ANNUITY; VARIABLE ANNUITY. PERIOD-CERTAIN ANNUITY annuity that guarantees payments to an ANNUITANT for a particular period of time. For example, a 10-year period-certain annuity will make annuity payments for 10 years and no more. If the annuitant dies before the 10 years have expired, the payments will continue to the policy's beneficiaries for the remaining term. The monthly payment rate for a period-certain annuity is generally higher than the rate for a LIFE ANNUITY because the insurance company knows its maximum liability in advance. PERIOD OF DIGESTION time period after the release of a NEW ISSUE of stocks or bonds during which the trading price of the security is established in the marketplace. Particularly when an INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING is released, the period of digestion may entail considerable VOLATILITY, as investors try to ascertain an appropriate price level for it. PERLS acronym for principal exchange-rate-linked securities. Debt instrument that is denominated in U.S. dollars and pays interest in U.S. dollars, but with principal repayment linked to the performance of the U.S. dollar versus a foreign currency. For example, a PERLS offering by the STUDENT LOAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION (Sallie Mae), under-written by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, links the principal repayment to the exchange rate of the Australian dollar versus the U.S. dollar. If the Australian dollar gains value against the U.S. dollar when the bond matures, redemption will be at a premium to par value. If the Australian dollar is weaker, redemption will be at a discount. PERMANENT FINANCING Corporate finance: long-term financing by means of either debt (bonds or long-term notes) or equity (common or preferred stock). Real estate: long-term mortgage loan or bond issue, usually with a 15-, 20-, or 30-year term, the proceeds of which are used to repay a CONSTRUCTION LOAN. PERPENDICULAR SPREAD option strategy using options with similar expiration dates and different strike prices (the prices at which the < previous page page_444 next page > < previous page page_445 next page > Page 445 options can be exercised). A perpendicular spread can be designed for either a bullish or a bearish outlook. PERPETUAL BOND bond that has no maturity date, is not redeemable and pays a steady stream of interest indefinitely; also called annuity bond. The only notable perpetual bonds in existence are the consols first issued by the British Treasury to pay off smaller issues used to finance the Napoleonic Wars (1814). Some persons in the United States believe it would be more realistic to issue perpetual government bonds than constantly to refund portions of the national debt, as is the practice. PERPETUAL INVENTORY inventory accounting system whereby book inventory is kept in continuous agreement with stock on hand; also called continuous inventory. A daily record is maintained of both the dollar amount and the physical quantity of inventory, and this is reconciled to actual physical counts at short intervals. Perpetual inventory contrasts with periodic inventory. PERPETUAL WARRANT investment certificate giving the holder the right to buy a specified number of common shares of stock at a stipulated price with no expiration date. See also SUBSCRIPTION WARRANT. PERQUISITE commonly known as a perk. A fringe benefit offered to an employee in addition to salary. Some examples of perquisites are reimbursement for educational expenses, legal services, vacation time, pension plans, life insurance coverage, company cars and aircraft, personal financial counseling, and employee assistance hotlines. In general, the higher an employee's position and the more valued he or she in a company, the more perks he or she receives. PERSONAL ARTICLE FLOATER policy or an addition to a policy, used to cover personal valuables, such as jewelry and furs. PERSONALEXEMPTION amount of money a person can exclude from personal income in calculating federal and state income tax. Taxpayers can claim one exemption for every person in their household. The amount of the personal exemption is adjusted for inflation each year. In 1998, it was $2,650. Taxpayers also can claim additional exemptions for each dependent parent living with them, if the dependent is blind, or over age 65. Exemptions are phased out for certain high-income taxpayers. For a married couple filing jointly, exemptions begin to be phased out when adjusted gross income reaches $181,800 and are eliminated completely for those reporting more than $304,300 in income. For single people, phaseout starts at $121,200, and are eliminated for those reporting over $243,700. For heads of household, the phaseout begins at an income level of $151,500 and is complete at income over $274,000. For married couples filing separately, the phaseout begins at $90,900 and is complete at levels over $152,150. PERSONAL INCOME income received by persons from all sources: from participation in production, from both government and business < previous page page_445 next page > < previous page page_446 next page > Page 446 TRANSFER PAYMENTS and from government interest (which is treated like a transfer payment). "Persons" refers to individuals, nonprofit institutions that primarily serve individuals, private noninsured welfare funds, and private trust funds. Personal income is calculated as the sum of wages and salary disbursements, other labor income, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustment, rental income of persons, with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and transfer payments to persons, less personal contribution to Social Security. PERSONAL INFLATION RATE rate of price increases as it affects a specific individual or couple. For example, a young couple with children who are buying and furnishing a home probably will have a much higher personal inflation rate than an elderly couple with their home paid off and self-supporting children, because the young couple needs to buy many more things that are likely to rise in price than the elderly couple. The personal inflation rate is far more relevant for most people than the general inflation rate tracked by the Labor Department's CONSUMER PRICE INDEX. PERSONALPROPERTY tangible and intangible assets other than real estate. PER STIRPES formula for distributing the assets of a person who dies intestate (without a will) according to the "family tree." Under such a distribution, the estate is allocated according to the number of children the deceased had, and distributed accordingly to those surviving the decedent. If any children predeceased the decedent, the share allocated to them would be equally divided among their children and so on. PETRODOLLARS dollars paid to oil-producing countries and deposited in Western banks. When the price of oil skyrocketed in the 1970s, Middle Eastern oil producers built up huge surpluses of petrodollars that the banks lent to oil-importing countries around the world. By the mid-1980s and 1990s, these surpluses had shrunk because consumption increased while oil exporters spent a good deal of the money on development projects. The flow of petrodollars, therefore, is very important in understanding the current world economic situation. Also called petrocurrency or oil money. PHANTOM INCOME LIMITED PARTNERSHIP income that arises from debt restructuring and creates taxability without generating cash flow. Phantom income typically occurs in a tax shelter created prior to the TAX REFORM ACT OF 1986 where real estate properties, having declined in market value, are refinanced; income arises from portions of the debt that are forgiven and recaptured. PHANTOM STOCK PLAN executive incentive concept whereby an executive receives a bonus based on the market appreciation of the company's stock over a fixed period of time. The hypothetical (hence phan- < previous page page_446 next page > < previous page page_447 next page > Page 447 tom) amount of shares involved in the case of a particular executive is proportionate to his or her salary level. The plan works on the same principle as a CALL OPTION (a right to purchase a fixed amount of stock at a set price by a particular date). Unlike a call option, however, the executive pays nothing for the option and therefore has nothing to lose. PHILADELPHIA BOARD OF TRADE (PBOT) subsidiary of the PHILADELPHIA STOCK EXCHANGE which trades currency futures on the Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Deutsche mark, EURO, French franc, Japanese yen and Swiss franc. Options are traded on the PSE's United Currency Options Market. PHILADELPHIASTOCK EXCHANGE (PHLX) founded in 1790 as the first organized stock exchange in the U.S. PHLX trades equities, equity options, sector index options and currency options. In 1998, the exchange became a charter member of the NASD/AMEX family of companies, formed with the merger of the AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE, (AMEX) and the NASDAQ STOCK MARKET. The alignment combines the best technology of the two entities and provides for operation of the PHLX trading floor in Philadelphia for up to five years. Trading is conducted through floor brokers or PACE (Philadelphia Automated Communication and Execution System), the exchange's electronic retail-oriented delivery and execution system. After the market officially closes at 4 P.M., PHLX's Post Primary Session (PPS) offers trading from 4:00 P.M. to 4:15 P.M. to allow institutional traders the ability to complete unfilled trades. PHLX also offers the VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) Trading System, which allows institutions to match equity orders before and after the market is open in an automated and electronic manner. PHLX trades over 700 equity options, LEAPS (Long-Term Equity AnticiPation Securities) and FLEX (Flexible Exchange) options. LEAPS are options contracts with expiration dates as long as three years in the future. FLEX options allow users to tailor equity and index options to meet hedging and investment needs by allowing them to specify expiration dates, strike prices, and exercise styles. These options trades are executed by AUTOM (the Automated Options Market), which enables brokerage firms to electronically transmit retail customer orders directly to the trading floor for execution. The exchange also trades several sector index options, covering both broad and industry specific market sectors. Some of the broad-based sectors include the National OTC Sector, SuperCap Sector, US TOP 100 Index, and Value Line Composite Index. Some of the industry-specific sectors include airlines, banking, forest and paper products, gold/silver, oil services, phones, semiconductors and utilities. Trading hours are 9:30 A.M. to 4:15 P.M. PHLX, a leader in the trading of foreign currency options, offers the United Currency Options Market (UCOM) in such currencies as the Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Deustsche mark, European Currency Unit, French franc, Italian lira, Japanese yen, Mexican peso, Spanish peseta, Swiss franc and U.S. dollar. UCOM < previous page page_447 next page > < previous page page_448 next page > Page 448 offers trading in 3-D options, which are cash settled in U.S. dollars, and are also available in Japanese yen and Deutsche marks. Trading hours are 2:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. Monday through Friday. See also SECURITIES AND COMMODITIES EXCHANGES. PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE operates two trading floors, Manila and Makati; Manila is the larger. Trading hours are from 9:30 A.M. to 12 noon, Monday through Friday, with a 15-minute extension at closing prices, and a 10- minute break at 10:50 A.M. Settlement takes place on the fourth business day after a trade. PHYSICAL COMMODITY actual commodity that is delivered to the contract buyer at the completion of a commodity contract in either the SPOT MARKET or the FUTURES MARKET. Some examples of physical commodities are corn, cotton, gold, oil, soybeans, and wheat. The quality specifications and quantity of the commodity to be delivered are specified by the exchange on which it is traded. PHYSICAL INVENTORY see PHYSICAL VERIFICATION. PHYSICAL VERIFICATION procedure by which an auditor actually inspects the assets of a firm, particularly inventory, to confirm their existence and value, rather than relying on written records. The auditor may use statistical sampling in the verification process. PICKUP value gained in a bond swap. For example, bonds with identical coupon rates and maturities may have different market values, mainly because of a difference in quality, and thus in yields. The higher yield of the lower- quality bond received in such a swap compared with the yield of the higher-quality bond that was exchanged for it results in a net gain for the trader, called his or her pickup on the transaction. PICKUP BOND bond that has a relatively high coupon (interest) rate and is close to the date at which it is callablethat is, can be paid off prior to maturityby the issuer. If interest rates fall, the investor can look forward to picking up a redemption PREMIUM, since the bond will in all likelihood be called. PICTURE Wall Street jargon used to request bid and asked prices and quantity information from a specialist or from a dealer regarding a particular security. For example, the question "What's the picture on XYZ?" might be answered, "58 3/8 [best bid] to 3/4 [best offer is 58 3/4], 1000 either way [there are both a buyer and a seller for 1000 shares]." PIG see PASSIVE INCOME GENERATOR. PIGGYBACKING illegal practice by a broker who buys or sells stocks or bonds in his personal account after a customer buys or sells the same security. The broker assumes that the customer is making the trade because of access to material, nonpublic information that will make the stock or bond rise or fall sharply. Trading following cus- < previous page page_448 next page > < previous page page_449 next page > Page 449 tomer orders is a conflict of interest, and may be disciplined by the broker's firm or regulatory authorities if discovered. PIGGYBACK REGISTRATION situation when a securities under-writer allows existing holdings of shares in a corporation to be sold in combination with an offering of new public shares. The prospectus in a piggyback registration will reveal the nature of such a public/private share offering and name the sellers of the private shares. See also public offering. PIK (PAYMENT-IN-KIND) SECURITIES bonds or preferred stock that pay interest/dividends in the form of additional bonds or preferred. PIK securities have been used in takeover financing in lieu of cash and are highly speculative. PINK SHEETS daily publication of the national quotation bureau that details the bid and asked prices of over the counter (OTC) stocks not carried in daily newspaper listings of NASDAQ STOCK MARKET. Brokerage firms subscribe to the pink sheetsnamed for their color because the sheets not only give current prices but list market makers who trade each stock. Debt securities are listed separately on YELLOW SHEETS. See also OTC BULLETIN BOARD. PIN NUMBER acronym for personal identification number. Customers use PIN numbers to identify themselves, such as when performing transactions with a debit card at an automatic teller machine. PIPELINE term referring to the underwriting process that involves securities being proposed for public distribution. The phrase used is "in the pipeline." The entire underwriting process, including registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, must be completed before a security can be offered for public sale. Underwriters attempt to have several securities issues waiting in the pipeline so that the issues can be sold as soon as market conditions become favorable. In the municipal bond market, the pipeline is called the "Thirty Day Visible Supply" in the Bond Buyer newspaper. PIT location at a futures or options exchange in which trading takes place. Pits are usually shaped like rings, often with several levels of steps, so that a large number of traders can see and be seen by each other as they conduct business. PITI acronym for principal, interest, taxes and insurance, the primary components of monthly mortgage payments. Many mortgage lenders, to ensure that property taxes and homeowner's insurance premiums are paid on schedule, require that borrowers include these amounts in their monthly payments. The funds are then placed in escrow until needed. When calculating how much a house will cost a borrower on a monthly basis, the payment is expressed for PITI. PLACE to market new securities. The term applies to both public and private sales but is more often used with reference to direct sales to < previous page page_449 next page > < previous page page_450 next page > Page 450 institutional investors, as in PRIVATE PLACEMENT. The terms FLOAT and distribute are preferred in the case of a PUBLIC OFFERING. PLACEMENT RATIO ratio, compiled by the Bond Buyer as of the close of business every Thursday, indicating the percentage of the past week's new MUNICIPAL BOND offerings that have been bought from the underwriters. Only issues of $1 million or more are included. PLANNED AMORTIZATION CLASS BONDS see PAC BONDS. PLAN PARTICIPANTS employees or former employees of a company, members of an employee organization or beneficiaries who may become eligible to receive benefits from an employee benefit plan. Participants are legally entitled to certain information about the plan and the benefits, including a summary annual report and summary plan description. PLAN SPONSOR entity that establishes and maintains a pension or insurance plan. This may be a corporation, labor union, government agency, or nonprofit organization. Plan sponsors must follow government guidelines in the establishment and administration of these plans, including informing plan participants about the financial health of the plan and the benefits available. PLANT assets comprising land, buildings, machinery, natural resources, furniture and fixtures, and all other equipment permanently employed. Synonymous with FIXED ASSET. In a limited sense, the term is used to mean only buildings or only land and buildings: "property, plant, and equipment" and "plant and equipment." PLAYING THE MARKET unprofessional buying and selling of stocks, as distinguished from SPECULATION. Both players and speculators are seeking capital gains, but while playing the market is more akin to gambling, speculating is done by professionals taking calculated risks. PLAZA ACCORD agreement in August of 1985 in which the finance ministers of the Group of 5the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Japanmet at the Plaza Hotel in New York City to mount a concerted effort to reduce the value of the U.S. dollar against other major currencies. Though the dollar had already begun its decline months earlier, the Plaza Accord accelerated the move. The action was necessary because the dollar had become so strong that it was difficult for U.S. exporters to sell their products abroad, weakening the American economy. PLC see PUBLIC LIABILITY COMPANY. PLEDGING transferring property, such as securities or the CASH SURRENDER VALUE of life insurance, to a lender or creditor as COLLATERAL for an obligation. Pledge and hypothecate are synonymous, as they do not involve transfer of title. ASSIGN, although commonly used interchange- < previous page page_450 next page > < previous page page_451 next page > Page 451 ably with pledge and hypothecate, implies transfer of ownership or of the right to transfer ownership at a later date. See also HYPOTHECATION. PLOW BACK to reinvest a company's earnings in the business rather than pay out those profits as dividends. Smaller, fast-growing companies usually plow back most or all earnings in their businesses, whereas more established firms pay out more of their profits as dividends. PLUS 1. plus sign (+) that follows a price quotation on a Treasury note or bond, indicating that the price (normally quoted as a percentage of PAR value refined to 32ds) is refined to 64ths. Thus 95.16 + (95 16 Ú32+ or 95 32 Ú64+) means 95 33 Ú64. 2. plus sign after a transaction price in a listed security (for example, 39 1 Ú2+), indicating that the trade was at a higher price than the previous REGULAR WAY transaction. See also PLUS TICK. 3. plus sign before the figure in the column labeled ''Change" in the newspaper stock tables, meaning that the closing price of the stock was higher than the previous day's close by the amount stated in the "Change" column. PLUS TICK expression used when a security has been traded at a higher price than the previous transaction in that security. A stock price listed as 28+ on the CONSOLIDATED TAPE has had a plus tick from 27 15 Ú16 or below on previous trades. It is a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that short sales can be executed only on plus ticks or ZERO PLUS TICKS. Also called uptick. See also MINUS TICK; TICK; ZERO-MINUS TICK. POINT Bonds: percentage change of the face value of a bond expressed as a point. For example, a change of 1% is a move of one point. For a bond with a $1000 face value, each point is worth $10, and for a bond with a $5000 face value, each point is $50. Bond yields are quoted in basis points: 100 basis points make up 1% of yield. See BASIS POINT. Futures/options: measure of price change equal to one one-hundredth of one cent in most futures traded in decimal units. In grains, it is one quarter of one cent; in Treasury bonds, it is 1% of par. See also TICK. Real estate and other commercial lending: upfront fee charged by a lender, separate from interest but designed to increase the overall yield to the lender. A point is 1% of the total principal amount of the loan. For example, on a $100,000 mortgage loan, a charge of 3 points would equal $3000. Since points are considered a form of prepaid mortgage interest, they are tax-deductible, usually over the term of the loan, but in some cases in a lump sum in the year they are paid. Stocks: change of $1 in the market price of a stock. If a stock has risen 5 points, it has risen by $5 a share. The movements of stock market averages, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, are also quoted in points. However, those points refer < previous page page_451 next page > < previous page page_452 next page > Page 452 not to dollar amounts but to units of movement in the average, which is a composite of weighted dollar values. For example, a 20-point move in the Dow Jones Average from 8000 to 8020 does not mean the Dow now stands at $8020. POINT AND FIGURE CHART graphic technique used in TECHNICAL ANALYSIS to follow the up or down momentum in the price moves of a security or sector. Point and figure charting disregards the element of time and is solely used to record changes in price. Every time a price move is upward, an X is put on the graph above the previous point. Every time the price moves down, an O is placed one square down. When direction changes, the next column is used. The resulting lines of Xs and Os will indicate whether the security or sector being charted has maintained an up or a down momentum over a particular time period. POISON PILL strategic move by a takeover-target company to make its stock less attractive to an acquirer. For instance, a firm may issue a new series of PREFERRED STOCK that gives shareholders the right to redeem it at a premium price after a TAKEOVER. Two variations: a flip-in poison pill allows all existing holders of target company shares except the acquirer to buy additional shares at a bargain price; a flip-over poison pill allows holders of common < previous page page_452 next page > [...]... INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING (IPO) of stock PUBLIC OFFERING 1 offering to the investment public, after registration requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been complied with, of new securities, usually by an investment banker or a syndicate made up of several investment bankers, at a public offering price agreed upon between the issuer and the investment bankers Public offering is... mortgages insured and guaranteed by the FHA and the Veterans Administration PRODUCTIVITY in labor and other areas of economics, the amount of output per unit of input, for example, the quantity of a product produced per hour of labor PROFIT Finance: positive difference that results from selling products and services for more than the cost of producing these goods See also NET PROFIT Investments: difference... between the selling price and the purchase price of commodities or securities when the selling price is higher PROFITAND LOSS STATEMENT (P & L) summary of the revenues, costs, and expenses of a company during an accounting period; also called INCOME STATEMENT, operating statement, statement of profit and loss, income and expense statement Together with the BALANCE SHEET as of the end of the accounting period,... background of managers, fund objectives, a financial statement, and other essential data A prospectus for a PUBLIC OFFERING must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and given to prospective buyers of the offering The prospectus contains financial information and a description of a company's business history, officers, operations, pending litigation (if any), and plans (including the use of. .. RESERVE BANK of New York in its execution of Fed OPEN MARKET OPERATIONS Such dealers must be qualified in terms of reputation, capacity, and adequacy of staff and facilities PRIMARY DISTRIBUTION sale of a new issue of stocks or bonds, as distinguished from a SECONDARY DISTRIBUTION, which involves previously issued stock All issuances of bonds are primary distributions Also called primary offering, but... "pool of financing," the concept that investment projects are financed out of a pool of funds rather < previous page page_453 next page > < previous page page_454 next page > Page 454 than out of bonds, preferred stock, and common stock individually A weighted average cost of capital is thus used in analyses evaluating the return on investment projects See also COST OF CAPITAL Industry: joining of companies... universe of assets in terms of expected return and expected risk; asset allocation decision determining how assets are to be distributed among classes of investment, such as stocks or bonds; portfolio optimization reconciling risk and return in selecting the securities to be included, such as determining which portfolio of stocks offers the best return for a given level of expected risk; and performance... financial statement See also COST OF GOODS SOLD; NET INCOME; NET SALES PROFIT CENTER segment of a business organization that is responsible for producing profits on its own A conglomerate with interests in hotels, food processing, and paper may consider each of these three businesses separate profit centers, for instance PROFIT FORECAST prediction of future levels of profitability by analysts following... different levels of significance to the metals In the Far East, especially Japan, platinum traditionally is held in higher regard than gold, both in terms of physical metal and investment holdings, and for personal accumulation (e.g., jewelry and coins) Gold is favored in the West In India and the Middle East, silver is highly prized, and the dowries of Indian women are replete with silver jewelry and coins... intentions of those seeking shares See also TENDER OFFER; WILLIAMS ACT PRENUPTIAL CONTRACT agreement between a future husband and wife that details how the couple's financial affairs are to be handled both during the marriage and in the event of divorce The agreement may cover insurance protection, ownership of housing and securities, and inheritance rights Such contracts may not be accepted in a court of . buildings or only land and buildings: "property, plant, and equipment" and "plant and equipment." PLAYING THE MARKET unprofessional buying and selling of stocks, as distinguished. highest bid and lowest offer have precedence over other bids and offers, that the first bid or first offer at a price has priority over other bids or offers at that price, and that the size of the. regard than gold, both in terms of physical metal and investment holdings, and for personal accumulation (e.g., jewelry and coins). Gold is favored in the West. In India and the Middle East, silver