A long position in a financial security, such as a stock in the stock market. A bull or long position seeks to profit from rising prices in certain securities. When prices rise, a bull position becomes profitable. If prices fall, the bull position is not profitable. A bull or long position is the most well-known type of position and is what is typically used in "buy and hold" investing. An alternative way to initiate a bull position can include buying call options. Taobiz explains Bull Position A bull position is the opposite of a bear position. A bull position is a trade or investment that is initiated in the hopes that the instrument's price will rise and make a profit. A bull market occurs when prices are rising, and is characterized by investor optimism and confidence that prices will continue to rise.
A buy order made on a stock or other listed security that closes out an existing short position. A short sale involves selling shares of a company that one does not own, as the shares are borrowed and need to be repayed at some point. This order, by buying an equal number of shares as were borrowed, "covers" the sale and the shares can be returned to the original lender of them. The lender will typically be the investor's own broker/dealer but their broker may have had to borrow the shares from a third party. Taobiz explains Buy To Cover For the investor who has bet on a stock price going down, the hope is to be able to buy the shares back at a lower price than the original short was executed at. There is no timetable for the short investor to follow, so they can wait as long as they wish to repurchase the shares. However, if the stock begins to rise above the price the shares were shorted at, the investors' broker may require them to execute a buy to cover order as part of a margin call. To prevent this from happening, investors should always keep enough buying power in their account to make a "buy to cover" trade based the current market price of the stock.
A slang phrase regarding the practice of purchasing stocks following a decline in prices. After a significant dip in the price of a security or stock index, investors should increase positions or purchase different stocks to capitalize on what is seen as an eventual upswing. Taobiz explains Buy The Dips The concept of buying dips is based on market fluctuation. Because the market is volatile, any given dip in prices should eventually rise back up. By purchasing stocks right after a dip, investors are essentially buying shares at a discounted sale price. Like all trading strategies, buying the dips is not a sure thing, because some stock price drops are due to negative changes in the underlying company's fundamentals. For example, investors who followed this strategy around the bursting of the dotcom bubble may have lost a lot of money because many internet companies lacked a proper revenue-generating business model.
An order to purchase all shares available in the market for a particular stock at the current selling price. A buy the book order is most likely to be made by an institutional investor, and is generally to be executed at the current market price. Shares can be purchased from any party interested in selling. Taobiz explains Buy The Book "Book" refers to the record of positions kept by a broker or specialist before the advent of computers. It was a record of all shares owned, so buying the book meant that an investor was taking all the broker's shares off his hands. This type of trade can end up being a very large trade in high volume stocks and may increase the price other investors are willing to sell at.
An event or condition that alerts investors to purchase a particular investment. Buy signals can simply be observed by astute investors and analysts, or they can be indicated by trading software or charts. Momentum traders, for example, might rely on two charts, the moving-average-convergence-divergence histogram and the exponential moving average histogram, for a buy signal. Taobiz explains Buy Signal Some investors (contrarians, for example), consider it to be a buy signal when large numbers of investors pull out of the stock market. This is because widespread bearish sentiment among investors can indicate a market bottom. When a market is at or near its bottom, it can be a good time for investors to pick up stocks at prices that are lower than their true value.
The purchase of a company's shares in which the acquiring party gains controlling interest of the targeted firm. Incorporating a buyout strategy is a common technique used to gain access to new markets and is one of the most common methods for inorganically growing a business. Taobiz explains Buyout A leveraged buyout is accomplished by borrowed money or by issuing more stock. Buyout strategies are often seen as a fast way for a company to grow because it allows the acquiring firm to align itself with other companies that have a competitive advantage in a specific area.
When a private equity firm buys out a target firm (usually with a leveraged buyout) and then sells the target firm in an IPO within a relatively short period of time. Along the way, the private equity firm may take out loans to make special dividends or carry out other actions to improve its own financial situation. Taobiz explains Buy, Strip And Flip Private equity firms typically own and manage a target firm for a number of years. In this time, the company's management and financial situation are improved before the private equity firm cuts the newly-successful company loose with an IPO, at which time the private equity firm earns a nice return for all its work. In the buy, strip and flip situation, purchased firms are held for only a year or two before the IPO. This usually means that the firm's financial situation is virtually unchanged and, as a result, most of these IPOs do not perform very well.
A stock or bond that is listed under a major financial exchange, but is not actively traded. Taobiz explains Cabinet Security The securities stay up in the cabinet like "Mom's fine china." The security may trade only in small lots, such as 5 shares at a time.