Acronyms

SEC

The Federal regulatory agency established in 1934 to administer Federal securities laws. Banks and investors had lost great sums of money in the crash of 1929, and the depression that followed caused people to loose confidence in the markets. To restore investor c

RICO

RICO is an acronym for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, a legislation designed to inhibit white collar crime such as insider trading.

IMM

IMM or the International Money Market, a division of the Chicago Mercantile Exhange was established by Leo Melamed in 1972 for trading financial futures. Currency Futures and Interest Rate Futures are two notable IMM contracts.

IFTA

See: International Federation of Technical Analysts

IEA

See: International Energy Agency

IB

See Introducing Broker

HOLDR

HOLding Company Depository Receipts represent a basket of stocks and are designed to reflect the performance of a particular industry. Introduced by Merrill Lynch, HOLDR’s trade like stocks on the American Stock Exchange.

REIT

Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs are companies that hold portfolios of properties, or real estate related assets. There are about 200 publicly traded REITs. Many mutual funds contain REIT in their portfolios and there are also several Exchange Traded Funds that include multiple REITs.

DCM

See Designated Contract Market.

AAII

AAII stands for the American Association of Individual Investors. The AAII is a non-profit organization that provides investment education for the individual investor. Website: aaii.com