List of Glossary Terms
The PDSnet Glossary of Terms contains definitions and explanations for over 2600 financial market terms. These definitions are constantly kept up-to-date with current topical examples from the markets. They are also updated for changes in legislation and current events like COVID19 and the July 2021 civil unrest.
The terms in the Glossary are directly linked to all PDSnet articles, confidential reports, lecture modules and other material. This means that a client reading one of our publications can immediately see which terms are defined in the Glossary and click through to read the definition. Terms within the definitions in the glossary are similarly linked, which gives the Glossary an enormous educational depth share market investors.
| P:E |
The market price of a share divided by its most recent average annual earnings per share. This gives the reciprocal of the "earnings yield",... read more |
| PADEFI |
This index, called the "padefi" is an average of the performance of domestic equity unity trusts in South Africa. It is produced and maintained by Profile Media (Pty) Ltd. |
| PAIRS TRADING |
Trading in two related securities by taking advantage of excessive and unusual variations between their prices - most commonly found in derivatives. |
| PALLADIUM |
A platinum group metal (PGM) which is mainly used in autocatalysts. The metal is found in South Africa, Russia, America and Canada. Recycling is a major... read more |
| PANAMA PAPERS |
A massive leak (over 11 million documents) of important documents from a Panamanian legal company involved in setting up off-shore companies and trusts... read more |
| PAPER CURRENCY |
All currencies were originally commodity currencies - which means that they had the value inherent in the commodity which they were made of. Thus,... read more |
| PAPER PROFITS |
The difference between the purchase price of a share and its current market price. Another term for this is "market appreciation". The opposite... read more |
| PAPER TRADING |
A training method which imitates the actions of the share market as closely as possible to enable investors to gain real-life experiences without the risks inherent in investing directly in the... read more |
| PAR VALUE |
A concept from the old Companies Act which meant the value given to shares when they were created (i.e. the price for which they were first sold).... read more |
| PARASTATALS |
State Owed Enterprises (SOE) are corporations owned and controlled by the government. In South Africa there are about 200 SOE's which deal with everything... read more |
| PARENT COMPANY |
A company which owns more than 50% of another company (its subsidiary). JSE listed companies are usually groups which own a number... read more |
| PARETO'S LAW |
A law that states that 80% of results come from 20% of the effort, also known as the 80-20 rule. This rule says that in organisation or projects, 80% of the results... read more |
| PARITY |
An option is said to be trading at parity if the premium at which it is currently trading in the market is exactly equal to its intrinsic value. Time value,... read more |
| PARTIAL FILL |
When a trader has placed an order to buy or sell more than 1-lot, it is always possible that the order may be only partially filled. This happens most commonly... read more |
| PARTICIPANT |
A CSDP is a person authorised to perform custodial, administrative or settlement duties. The central securities depository (CSD) in South Africa is known... read more |
| PARTICIPATING PREFERENCE SHARE |
Preference shares which participate in the profits of the company in some way - usually beyond a fixed percentage. For example, they might... read more |
| PARTNERSHIP |
A business which is not incorporated and which is owned and managed by more than one person. Partnerships usually have a partnership agreement which stipulates... read more |
| PASSIVE INCOME |
An income which comes in regularly, usually as the result of a contractual obligation and a pre-arranged bank debit order. When analysing a share,... read more |
| PASSIVE INVESTOR |
An investor who aims to maximise his profits over the long term by holding on to his investments instead of taking advantage of short term... read more |
| PATTERNS |
There is an on-going debate in the investment world about whether share prices move in patterns or are simply random. Obviously, it is impossible... read more |
| PAY AS YOU EARN TAX |
A system of tax which is applied to salaried tax payers. Companies are required to deduct PAYE directly from employees' salaries and pay it to SARS.... read more |
| PAY-DAY LOANS |
A small, unsecured loan which must be repaid on a person's next payday. These loans are usually made at very high interest rates which border on what is... read more |
| PAYE |
A system of tax which is applied to salaried tax payers. Companies are required to deduct PAYE directly from employees' salaries and pay it to SARS.... read more |
| PAYMENT DATE |
One of the dates associated with the payment of a dividend by a listed company. The dates are the date of declaration when the board... read more |
| PCE |
Personal consumption expenditure (PCE) measures how much consumers spend on goods and services. Goods are divided into two categories, durable goods... read more |
| PECORA COMMISSION |
A commission set up in 1932 to look into the causes of the 1929 stock market crash. The commission found a wide range of abusive practices by banks... read more |
| PEF |
A collective investment scheme (CIS) where the funds used are invested into equity (and sometimes debt instruments) in the hopes of generating a return for the investors. Sometimes a private... read more |
| PEGGED EXCHANGE RATE |
Following the Bretton Woods agreement most currencies (and especially the US dollar) were fixed against gold. President Nixon abandonned Bretton... read more |
| PENNANT FORMATION |
A charting formation where the price chart forms a pattern which looks something like a triangle. The difference between a pennant... read more |
| PENNY STOCK |
Shares which trade for low prices per share. They may be shares of a very good company; however, they are usually not. They are attractive to speculators... read more |
| PENSION FUND |
A fund which an employee contributes to during his/her working life and which is paid out, tax free, on retirement or in the event of the contributor's death,... read more |
| PER CAPITA |
A Latin term which translates to "per head". It is a term often used in economic and statistical data when comparing measurement of data to a population.... read more |
| PER SHARE RATIO |
Certain ratios are calculated as a number of cents per share - like the net asset value per share, the dividends per share and the... read more |
| PERCEPTION |
The way in which the investing public in general feel about a share, an industry or the market as a whole. In other words, do they see a share as... read more |
| PERCEPTION |
Perceptions are very important in the stock market. They determine the overall "mood of the market" - is it bullish or bearish? They are also... read more |
| PERFECT COMPETITION |
A theoretical economic market in which there are many willing buyers and many willing sellers and lots of substitute products. The closest that modern... read more |
| PERMANENT CAPITAL |
Capital which is tied up in the company permanently like share capital - as opposed to capital which is there temporarily - like loan capital... read more |
| PERSISTENCY RATE |
The persistency rate is an insurance industry ratio which refers to the percentage of policy holders that hold their policy through to maturity. Obviously, this is very important... read more |
| PERSONAL CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES |
Personal consumption expenditure (PCE) measures how much consumers spend on goods and services. Goods are divided into two categories, durable goods... read more |
| PERSONAL LIABILITY COMPANY |
A private company, used mostly by professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers or accountants, in which the directors and previous directors... read more |
| PESSIMISTIC RATE OF RETURN |
A statistic that adjusts the usual wins/losses statistic to estimate the worst return from trading results. It reduces the number of wins by the... read more |
| PETROL PRICE |
Fuel costs are a key factor in the inflation rate, both directly through increased transport costs and indirectly through their role in production... read more |
| PGM |
These are platinum itself and rhodium, palladium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium. Normally these metals are all found in the same deposits and so... read more |
| PHILIDELPHIA FEDERAL RESERVE BANK'S MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY INDEX |
The Philly Fed Manufacturing Activity Index measures changes in business growth covering the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware region. A value greater than... read more |
| PIC |
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) manages the largest fund in South Africa which is the pensions contributions of the millions of public servants... read more |
| PIERCING PATTERN |
A bullish candlestick formation consisting of two candles at the bottom of a trend. The formation begins at the end of a downtrend... read more |
| PIGS |
An acronym for the countries of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, often used derogatorily. It refers to the economies of these countries, that during the... read more |
| PILLAR |
A mining term which refers to a body of ore which is left in place to support the roof. Normally when the mine is worked out, the last action would be to... read more |
| PIPS |
Slang forex reference to digits added to or subtracted from the fourth decimal place in a quoted currency rate, i.e. 0.0001. See also Points. |
| PIT |
The area on the trading floor where trading in futures or options contracts is conducted by open outcry. |
| PIVOT POINT |
A technical indicator used with the purpose of identifying the overall trend over different time periods. Used as a price indicator to determine... read more |
| PLATINUM |
A precious metal predominantly produced in South Africa. This metal is used primarily in auto catalysts together with other platinum group metals... read more |
| PLATINUM GROUP METALS |
These are platinum itself and rhodium, palladium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium. Normally these metals are all found in the same deposits and so... read more |
| PLUS TICK |
A small upward move in the price of a security over a short time period such as a few minutes or a day and sometimes called a "plus tick". An up tick is not seen as necessarily indicating an... read more |
| PMI |
An economic indicator which shows the health or otherwise of the manufacturing sector.... read more |
| POINT |
One hundredth of one percent. This term is often used in the debt markets to refer to slight changes in the effective yield on debt instruments... read more |
| POINT AND FIGURE CHART |
A price-only chart (i.e. without a date axis) that plots up prices as Xs and down prices as Os. The minimum price recorded is called the box size which is often 100c. Typically,... read more |
| POINTS |
A measurement term for market indices. An index is an aggregate of the listed companies on an exchange, for example,... read more |
| POISON PILL |
A defensive tactic used by a company which is the subject of a hostile takeover to make it more difficult for the predatory company to gain control.... read more |
| POLICY UNCERTAINTY INDEX |
An index, which was started in February 2023, (the PUI) to measure policy uncertainty in South Africa by surveying articles from the top 20 media publications... read more |
| POLITICAL RISK |
Risk, which is political rather than economic, financial or managerial. This kind of risk is very difficult to determine and can cause tremendous... read more |
| POLITICAL STABILITY |
A major factor in emerging economies like South Africa which directly affects their ratings by the international ratings agencies (Fitch,... read more |
| PONZI |
An illegal investment scheme which aims to steal money from members of the public by persuading them that they will make an above average return... read more |
| POOR QUALITY EARNINGS |
The quality of a company's earnings is a direct function of how sustainable they are. If the profits of a company rise every year by 15% and... read more |
| POORLY RATED |
Companies which have an erratic flow of profits are usually "poorly-rated" by investors. This means that their shares will trade on... read more |
| POPULATION |
The population of a country and its growth rate are key long-term components of its unemployment rate and its per capita income levels. Essentially, a larger population can mean that each individual... read more |
| POPULISM |
A socio/political philosophy which ostensibly aims to do what is best for ordinary people. Unfortunately, most populist ideas ultimately result in the ordinary... read more |
| PORTFOLIO |
A group of shares and other investments belonging to a single investor, group or entity. As a private investor, you should aim to have... read more |
| PORTFOLIO MANAGER |
This is someone who manages portfolios on behalf of investors. He makes the investment decisions and is not usually obliged to get his clients' permission... read more |
| PORTFOLIO STRUCTURE |
The percentage breakdown of a portfolio over the various market sectors. |
| POSITION |
An investment or derivative contract which is currently held or owned, often known as an "open position". An open position implies that the investor is exposed... read more |
| POSITION LIMIT |
The maximum number of speculative futures contracts one can hold as determined by the CFTC and/or the exchange where the contract is traded. |
| POSITION MANAGEMENT RATIO |
The ratio of profits extracted on winning transactions versus losses suffered on trades that liquidate unprofitably.
|
| POSITION TRADER |
A trader who either buys or sells contracts and holds them for an extended period of time, as distinguished from a day trader. |
| POSITIVE DIRECTIONAL INDICATOR |
An indicator developed by Welles Wilder and used as a component in the calcuation of his "average directional movement index". The positive directional indicator is designed to determine the... read more |
| PRE-IPO PLACEMENT |
The issue of large blocks of shares to specific investors before an initial public offer (IPO) usually at a discount to the listing price. These investors are taking a greater risk because the... read more |
| PRE-LISTING STATEMENT |
A public press announcement required by the JSE before the listing of a company, which is not accompanied by a new issue of shares and therefore a prospectus. It is felt that the investing public... read more |
| PRE-TAX PROFIT |
The company's earnings before the deduction of Companies tax. For example, Dischem in their results for the year ended 29th February 2020 disclosed... read more |
| PRECIOUS METAL |
There are really three main precious metals - gold, silver and platinum. To this you could add the other platinum group metals, like... read more |
| PREFERENCE SHARE |
Shares which have preferential rights in relation to another class of share in the same company. These rights consist of: the right to receive dividends... read more |
| PREFERENTIAL DIVIDEND |
These are the dividends paid on preference shares. Preference dividends are paid out, usually at a fixed rate, before any ordinary share dividend. Some preference shares are either convertible... read more |
| PREFERRED INCOME |
An income which accrues to a certain class of share and is paid prior to other classes - similar to the dividends paid to preference shares. For example in the Dipula REIT where Dipula "A" shares... read more |
| PREFERRED STOCKS |
Shares which have preferential rights in relation to another class of share in the same company. These rights consist of: the right to receive dividends... read more |
| PREMIUM |
A general term used to describe the difference between the price at which a share was first issued and the current price. Often, a successful company wants to issue additional shares to raise... read more |
| PREMIUM ARISING ON ACQUISITION |
An intangible asset which arises when a holding company pays more for a subsidiary than its book value. Goodwill is also called a "premium arising on acquisition"... read more |
| PREMIUM TO PAR |
A concept from the old Companies Act which meant the value given to shares when they were created (i.e. the price for which they were first sold).... read more |
| PREPAYMENT |
The payment of an expense before it is incurred. For example, a company may decide to pay the rent on its factory annually resulting in there being an amount of rent which has been paid but not... read more |
| PREPROCESSING |
Altering data to some extent to be more accurately analysed; smoothing, reducing unwanted data, removing trends. Processing data is mathematically transforming the data from one form into another... read more |
| PRESCRIBED ASSET |
An asset which must be held by a retirement fund in terms of the law. This idea was introduced by the National Party, to ensure that they had sufficient... read more |
| PRESCRIBED OFFICER |
In terms of the Companies Act (77 of 2008) a prescribed officer is "“a person who, within a company, performs any function that has been designated by the Minister in terms of section... read more |
| PRESCRIPTION |
This is the period of time for which a debt remains valid, after the creditor ceases to demand payment. In terms of the Prescription Act. If the creditor does not demand payment (i.e. by delivering... read more |
| PRESS RELEASE |
An announcement made by a company, either voluntarily or to comply with legal requirements, to inform the public of some material development which will impact on shareholders. Typically, profit... read more |
| PRICE |
The value of a share or other security on an organised exchange in the currency of the country where it is traded. In South Africa... read more |
| PRICE CHANGE |
A revision to a previously reported fill, usually due to the resolution of an out trade.
|
| PRICE DISCOVERY |
The process of determining the price of a commodity by trading conducted in open outcry at an exchange. |
| PRICE EQUILIBRIUM |
A price region that represents a balance between demand and supply. This is a micro-economics term which suggests that in any free market... read more |
| PRICE LIMIT |
The maximum advance or decline, from the previous day's settlement price, permitted for a futures contract in one trading session. Also referred to as Maximum Price Fluctuation. |
| PRICE MAKER |
An entity or individual with a sufficient monopoly in a product to increase prices. When there is strong demand for a product or a good brand loyalty,... read more |
| PRICE PAGE |
The page of your daily newspaper which displays the previous day's closing prices on the JSE. The price page is divided into the same sectors and sub-sectors as the JSE and gives the high, low,... read more |
| PRICE RANGE |
The difference between the highest and lowest prices at which a particular share has traded over a certain time period - such as one trading... read more |
| PRICE TAKER |
A company or industry that has no power over the pricing of the products which it sells. Typically, mining companies have to accept the internationally... read more |
| PRICE TO SALES RATIO |
The price of a stock divided by sales-per-share of the company in the most recent fiscal year. |
| PRICE:EARNINGS GROWTH RATIO |
A ratio which is designed to show whether a share is cheap or expensive at the current market price, in relation to its track record... read more |
| PRICE:EARNINGS MULTIPLES |
The market price of a share divided by its most recent average annual earnings per share. This gives the reciprocal of the "earnings yield",... read more |
| PRICE:EARNINGS RATIO |
The market price of a share divided by its most recent average annual earnings per share. This gives the reciprocal of the "earnings yield",... read more |
| PRICING POWER |
The ability of a company to raise the price of its products without losing significant market share. Pricing power is determined by the existence of suitable substitute products and competition.... read more |
| PRIMACY |
A term used in the banking sector to describe a bank account into which a customer has his or her salary paid and which is used for making transactions. Many bank accounts opened by consumers... read more |
| PRIMARY DEALER |
... read more |
| PRIMARY INDUSTRY |
An industry engaged in extracting or producing raw materials. The two best examples of primary industry are agriculture (including fishing) and mining. Both are exploiting natural resources which... read more |
| PRIMARY LISTING |
A listing on the stock market of a company's origin and where it has its main business. Thus a company might have a primary listing on the... read more |
| PRIMARY MARKET |
The market for shares when they are first sold by a company to raise capital. New issues and rights issues are examples of activity... read more |
| PRIMARY REBATE |
In terms of the Income Tax Act (58 of 1962), individual tax payers can claim primary, secondary and tertiary rebates. The primary rebate is one which everyone can claim irrspective of their age... read more |
| PRIMARY TREND |
The overall long-term trend of the share market as a whole. The primary trend is either bullish (up) or bearish (down) separated by... read more |
| PRIME OVERDRAFT RATE |
The rate of interest which commercial banks charges to its most credit-worthy clients. This rate is usually 3,5% above the repo rate. The difference... read more |
| PRIME RATE |
The rate of interest charged by a commercial bank to its very best (i.e. lowest risk) clients. The prime overdraft rate is usually about 3,5% higher than the repo rate, which is the rate which... read more |
| PRINCIPAL |
The initial amount of an investment or loan. The principal amount of a loan (or mortgage bond) is the amount intially borrowed. That must be paid back together with interest. The principal amount... read more |
... read more |
| PRIOR YEAR ADJUSTMENT |
An adjustment which is made for an error in the financial statement of a previous accounting period. Occasionally, the accountants make a mistake in the financials which is not picked up by the... read more |
| PRIVATE COMPANY |
A company defined by the Companies Act which may not make an offer of shares to the public - as opposed to a public company which may. So all the shares trading on the JSE represent public companies.... read more |
| PRIVATE CREDIT EXTENSION |
The amount of money borrowed by companies, private individuals and other non-government organisations. This figure is made up of private individuals borrowing... read more |
| PRIVATE ENTERPRISE |
That part of a country's economy which is run and organised by individuals and private companies, with no direct control from government. This sector... read more |
| PRIVATE EQUITY FUND |
A collective investment scheme (CIS) where the funds used are invested into equity (and sometimes debt instruments) in the hopes of generating a return for the investors. Sometimes a private... read more |
| PRIVATE INVESTOR |
A natural person (rather than a corporate entity) who invests on the stock market either directly or indirectly. Private investors make up... read more |
| PRIVATE PLACING |
An offer of shares to specific investors chosen by the board of directors. Usually, a private placing is offered to staff members, suppliers, clients and others who are closely connected with... read more |
| PRIVATE SECTOR |
That part of a country's economy which is run and organised by individuals and private companies, with no direct control from government. This sector... read more |
| PRIVATE SECTOR CREDIT EXTENSION |
An economic indicator which measures changes in bank lending to the domestic private sector year-on-year. This is a key indicator of how consumers... read more |
| PRIVATE SHAREHOLDER |
Anyone who is not a public shareholder of a company listed on the main board of the JSE. In terms of the JSE's listing requirements a company listed on the main board must have at least 20% of... read more |
| PRIVATISATION |
The sale of government assets to the private sector. The union movement in South Africa has been implacably opposed to privatisation since... read more |
| PROBABILITY |
The chances that a certain event or outcome will occur. It has been well said that investment is not about certainty. It is about probability. When you... read more |
| PROCUREMENT |
This is the buying of goods and services by the government from the private sector. In South Africa procurement has been highly controversial with many instances of corruption, the most notable... read more |
| PRODUCER GOODS |
An economics term which refers to manufactured goods which will be used in the futher manufacture of other goods. Thus producer goods ultimately become part of the final finished product which... read more |
| PRODUCER PRICE INDEX |
The inflation rate measured at the producer level. This is the average price of goods sold by manufacturers to wholesalers. If the PPI is rising... read more |
| PRODUCER PRICE INFLATION |
The inflation rate measured at the producer level. This is the average price of goods sold by manufacturers to wholesalers. If the PPI is rising... read more |
| PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION |
The incorporation into a product of characteristics that vary from those of competitive products. All manufacturing and retailing companies do everything they can to separate their products from... read more |
| PRODUCTION |
The act of producing a product. This can take many forms such as harvesting, mining or manufacturing. Th efficiency with which goods and services... read more |
| PRODUCTIVITY |
The efficiency with which a product is produced. Prodcutivity is a key metric in any economy because it determines that country's ability to compete with... read more |
| PROFESSIONAL INVESTOR |
A private person who makes his/her living out of buying and selling shares on the JSE. These people generally keep a very low profile and are hard... read more |
| PROFILES ALL DOMESTIC EQUITY FUND INDEX |
This index, called the "padefi" is an average of the performance of domestic equity unity trusts in South Africa. It is produced and maintained by Profile Media (Pty) Ltd. |
| PROFIT |
The earnings of a company are its profits. They are calculated by deducting the expenses of a period from the incomes of the same period.... read more |
| PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT |
The profit and loss account (P&L) subtracts indirect expenses from gross profit to arrive at net profit. The P&L itself is not disclosable in terms of the Companies Act... read more |
| PROFIT CALCULATION |
The subtracting of a business's costs from its turnover in order to arrive at its profit/earnings in the financial period. Typically, the profit calculation takes place in three steps - (1) the... read more |
| PROFIT HISTORY |
The past earnings of a company going back over many years. Examining a company's profit history should be a key part of a private investors investigations. The profit history shows whether the... read more |
| PROFIT MARGIN |
1. In share trading, an account in which a purchase of shares may be financed with borrowed money; in futures trading, the deposit placed with the... read more |
| PROFIT MARGIN EXPANSION |
In long-term reference, a measure of a company's net profit margin in the latest reported quarter divided by profit margin in the fiscal year previous. In short-term reference, a measure of a... read more |
| PROFIT SHIFTING |
A method of moving profits out of a high-tax regime into a low tax regime, used by multinational companies with subsidiaries or business interests in a variety of countries. By selling product... read more |
| PROFIT TAKING |
Selling tradables that have appreciated since initial purchase in order to take advantage of the appreciation. |
| PROFITABILITY |
The ability of a company to generate profits in relation to its turnover, operating costs, capital employed or shareholders' equity.... read more |
| PROGRAM TRADING |
Trades based on signals from computer programs, usually entered directly from the trader's computer to the market's computer system. |
| PROHIBITED PRACTISE |
An action or activity which is illegal. In the context of the JSE this usually means some form of market abuse or insider trading. The JSE has published a booklet on insider trading and market... read more |
| PROMISSORY NOTE |
A written agreement by one party (the payor) to pay another (the payee) a specific sum of money on a specific date or on demand. A promissory note is thus a debt instrument. The note will usually... read more |
| PROPERTY |
A fixed asset, being land with or without improvements, owned by both private individuals and companies. Property is unique among assets in that... read more |
| PROPRIETARY TRADING |
The buying and selling of shares by a stockbroking firm or commercial bank for its own account, rather than as an agent for other parties. In 1996, with the advent of "dual trading", stockbroking... read more |
| PROSPECTING |
In the context of the share market, this means searching for shares which have the potential to yield a good return. Prospecting begins with the universe of shares listed on the JSE and through... read more |
| PROSPECTUS |
This is a requirement of the Companies Act (71 of 2008) for every offer of shares made to the public. Section 108 of the Act requires that a company... read more |
| PROTECTED DISCLOSURES ACT |
The Protected Disclosures Act (26 of 2000), also called the "Whistle Blowers Act" aims to protect employees, either in the private sector or government service who report unlawful... read more |
| PROTECTIONISM |
The economic policy of protecting certain industries within an economy from outside competition, usually by the imposition of tariffs. In... read more |
| PROVEN RESERVES |
The quantity of a mineral which can be economically and legally extracted from a company's mining area. Reserves are usually proven by drilling exploratory holes and analysing the resultant "core".... read more |
| PROVISION |
An item on the balance sheet that falls under liabilities. A provision is "raised" when the company has an expense or potential expense... read more |
| PROVISIONAL TAX |
A method of paying income tax whereby the taxpayer estimates their tax liability and pays it in advance before the final assessment. Provisional tax payers are people who do not receive a regular... read more |
| PROXY |
A document, signed by a shareholder of a company, which entitles a person (who is not necessarily a shareholder of that company) to attend shareholders' meetings, speak and vote on behalf of... read more |
| PRUDENTIAL AUTHORITY |
A juristic person within the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) responsible for the regulation of the banking sector, the insurance industry, cooperative financial institutions, financial conglomerates... read more |
| PRX |
12 - 08 - 2020 On 11th September 2019, Naspers (NPN) separately listed Prosus (PRX) on the Euronext in Amsterdam which houses all its international assets including its stake in Tencent,... read more |
| PSBR |
This is the total claim which the government, state owned enterprises and other government or quasi-government entities like municipalities has on the capital markets. The government has a number... read more |
| PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT |
An announcement made by a listed company about an event within the company which may have an impact on its shareholders or the price... read more |
| PUBLIC COMPANY |
A company as defined by the Companies Act may issue shares to the public, has no restrictions concerning the number of shareholders,... read more |
| PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT ACT |
An Act which governs the management of public funds in the hands of government departments, provinces and municipalities. It establishes procedures for... read more |
| PUBLIC INTEREST SCORE |
A public interest score is a requirement of the Companies Act (71 of 2008) in order to determing the type of annual financial statement your company needs to rpepare and the reporting standards... read more |
| PUBLIC INVESTMENT CORPORATION |
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) manages the largest fund in South Africa which is the pensions contributions of the millions of public servants... read more |
| PUBLIC LISTED COMPANY |
A company which has obtained the right to have its shares traded on an organised exchange. The JSE has stringent requirements for companies... read more |
| PUBLIC OFFER |
An offer of shares made to the public. The public is invited to apply for the shares by completing an application form and submitting it with their cheque. If the total amount raised exceeds... read more |
| PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP |
A partnership between the government and the private sector in terms of the Public Finance Management Act. The Gauteng freeway project and toll roads undertaken... read more |
| PUBLIC SECTOR |
That part of the economy which is controlled by the government. This includes government departments, state-owned enterprises (SOE) and municipalities. Altogether the public sector is a significant... read more |
| PUBLIC SECTOR BORROWING REQUIREMENT |
This is the total claim which the government, state owned enterprises and other government or quasi-government entities like municipalities has on the capital markets. The government has a number... read more |
| PUBLIC SHAREHOLDER |
A shareholder who is not directly associated with the company itself, but rather is a member of the public at large. The JSE is intent in its listing requirements to ensure that there is a good... read more |
| PUBLIC UNLISTED COMPANY |
A company which may offer shares to the public but which is not listed on any stock exchange. The Companies Act (71 of 2008) distinguishes between public companies and private companies. A public... read more |
| PUBLISHED ACCOUNTS |
Sometimes known as an Annual Report or just the "financial statements", this is a document required by the Companies Act (71 of 2008) to be... read more |
| PUBLISHED RESULTS |
Sometimes known as an Annual Report or just the "financial statements", this is a document required by the Companies Act (71 of 2008) to be... read more |
| PUI |
An index, which was started in February 2023, (the PUI) to measure policy uncertainty in South Africa by surveying articles from the top 20 media publications... read more |
| PURCHASE AND SALE STATEMENT |
A statement sent by a Futures Commission Merchant to a customer in the US when a futures or options position has been liquidated or offset. The statement shows the number of contracts bought... read more |
| PURCHASES |
In financial accounts, that part of the ledger where the company's purchases of goods are recorded. Purchases of assets are consumables, in... read more |
| PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX |
An economic indicator which shows the health or otherwise of the manufacturing sector.... read more |
| PURCHASING POWER |
The ability of a currency to be exchanged for goods and services. The purchasing power of most paper currencies decreases because of inflation... read more |
| PURCHASING POWER PARITY |
A point of equilibrium where a basket of goods costs the same in two countries after taking into account the exchange rate between their currencies. Obviosuly the wider the basket of products... read more |
| PUT OPTION |
The purchased right to sell (put) specified securities at a specified price (strike price) within a specified period (American) or a specified date... read more |
| PUT UP OR SHUT UP |
A rule of certain stock exchanges which requires an acquiring company to make a formal offer or to publicly abandon its take over attempt. The London... read more |
| PYRAMID |
A holding company that holds subsidiaries that in turn holds other subsidiaries and so on. In this way the company at the top of the pyramid can control those at the bottom even though it effectively... read more |
| PYRAMID SCHEME |
A scheme whereby people are promised a percentage return for getting other people to invest in the scheme. Participants are encouraged to enroll as many people below them in the the pyramid as... read more |