FINANCIAL ALPHABET SOUP

Page Summary: A lexicon or dictionary of abbreviations for the global investor


We apologise for the loss of detail arising on the use of alphabet soup. This is necessary in the interests of brevity, especially in the Chronology charts, which analyse financial history. For the benefit of those for whom some of the acronyms may be unfamiliar, we set out below a listing in alphabetical order together with explanations in plain English. This does not include the names of individual companies quoted on a stock market.

Soup

Meaning

. .

ADR

American Depository Receipt

ANC

African National Congress (South Africa)

BJP Bharatiya Janta Party (India)

BRD

West Germany

CAP

Common Agricultural Policy (European Union)

CBI Confederation of British Industry (UK)

CD

Christian Democrat

CDU

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

CGT

Capital Gains Tax

CIS

Former USSR

CSU

Christian Socialist Union (Germany)

D2 Second generation German mobile phone network

DDR

East Germany

DJP Democratic Justice Party (Korea)

DJII

Dow Jones Industrial Index (USA)

DKr

Danish Krona

DM

Deutsche Mark

ECB European Central Bank

ECU

European Currency Unit

EEC

European Economic Community

EFTA

European Free Trade Association

EMU

European Monetary Union

EPS Earnings per Share (See Jargon for Definition)

ERM

Exchange Rate Mechanism (Europe)

ETF Exchange Traded Fund

EU

European Union

FAZ

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Index

FDI Foreign Direct Investment

FDP

Free Democratic Party (Germany)

Fed.

Federal Reserve Bank (USA)

FF

French Franc

FIBV

Federation Internationale des Bourses de Valuers

FSA

Financial Services Authority (UK)

FTSE

Financial Times All Share Index (UK)

GATT

General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GST

General Sales Tax (alias VAT)

IFC

International Finance Corporation Indexes

IFO Institute fuer Wirtschaftsvorschung (Germany)

IG Metall

Metal Workers Union (Germany)

IMF

International Monetary Fund

IPO

Initial Public Offering

JGB Japanese Government Bonds
LBO Leveraged Buy-Out

LDP

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

LME London Metal Exchange
LTCM Long Term Capital Management

Mercosur

South America Free Trade Association

MSCI

Morgan Stanley Capital International Indexes

MS DOS Microsoft Digital Operating System

NAFTA

North America Free Trade Association

NAPM National Association of Purchasing Managers (USA)
NASDAQ National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

NKP

New Korea Party (alias DJP)

NoK

Norwegian Krona

NYSE

New York Stock Exchange (USA)

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OPEC

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries

PASOK

Socialist Party (Greece)

PD

Popular Democrat

P/E Price / Earnings Ratio (See Jargon for Definition)

PIT

Professional Investment Tools Ltd.

P/T Price over Time Indexes (produced by PIT)

PR

Proportional Represenation

REIT

Real Estate Investment Trust (USA)

PRI Revolutionary Party (Mexico)

S&P

Standard & Poors 600 Share Index (USA)

SD

Social Democrat

SEO Senior Executive Officer (FSA term)

SDP

Social Democratic Party

SDR

IMF Special Drawing Rights

SE

Stock Exchange

SeK

Swedish Krona

SF

Swiss Franc

SFA

Securities & Futures Authority (UK)

SPO

Socialist Party (Austria)

STOXX Dow Jones Stock Market Indexes (Europe)
TANKAN Federation of Industrial Corporations (Japan)

TOPIX

Tokyo Stock Price Index (Japan)

TMT Technology, Media & Telecom sectors

UK

United Kingdom

UN

United Nations

US

United States

USSR

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (alias CIS)

VP Vice President

VAT

Value Added Tax (alias GST)

WTO World Trade Organisation
Y2K Year 2000 Computer Bug

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Copyright © 1999 Professional Investment Tools Ltd., authorised by the Financial Services Authority. Independent Financial Adviser (UK) and member of Investorside Research Association (US). Please read Financial Health Warning and Licence Agreement. UK laws apply exclusively. Principal sources: Consensus Economics, Corel Corp., FIBV, Global Financial Data, PIT, national governments and stock exchanges. Information and opinions are based on sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However PIT does not guarantee this to be the case, and does not accept liability for any loss arising. This is for information only and does not constitute a solicitation to deal in any securities. Opinions are liable to change. Past performance is no guarantee of future success. Last modified: January 01, 2002.