Secured Loans
Expected value
The weighted average of a probability distribution. Also known as the mean
value.
Expected value of perfect information
The expected value if the future uncertain outcomes could be known minus the
expected value with no additional information.
Expensed
Charged to an expense account, fully reducing reported profit of that year, as is
appropriate for expenditures for items with useful lives under one year.
Expense ratio
The percentage of the assets that were spent to run a mutual fund (as of the last
annual statement). This includes expenses such as management and advisory
fees, overhead costs and 12b-1 (distribution and advertising) fees. The expense
ratio does not include brokerage costs for trading the portfolio, although these
are reported as a percentage of assets to the S.E.C. by the funds in a Statement
of Additional Information (SAI). The SAI is available to shareholders on request.
Neither the expense ratio or the SAI includes the transaction costs of spreads,
normally incurred in unlisted securities and foreign stocks. These two costs can
add significantly to the reported expenses of a fund. The expense ratio is often
termed an Operating Expense Ratio (O.E.R.).
Expiration
The time when the option contract ceases to exist (expires).
Expiration cycle
An expiration cycle relates to the dates on which options on a particular security
expire. A given option will be placed in 1 of 3 cycles, the January cycle, the
February cycle, or the March cycle. At any point in time, an option will have
contracts with 4 expiration dates outstanding, 2 in near-term months and 2 in far-
term months. Last day on which an option may be exercised.
Expiration date
The last day (in the case of American-style) or the only day (in the case of
European-style) on which an option may be exercised. For stock options, this
date is the Saturday immediately following the 3rd Friday of the expiration month;
however, brokerage firms may set an earlier deadline for notification of an option
