Secured Loans
In hand
Used in the context of general equities. Firm, indicating control of a bid, offer, or
order.
In-house
Used in the context of general equities. Keeping an activity within the firm. For
example, rather than go to the marketplace and sell a security for a client to
anyone, an attempt is made to find a buyer to complete the transaction with the
firm. Although a listed trade must be brought to the floor of the stock exchange,
matching supply with demand within the confines of the firm results in greater
commissions for the firm.
In-house processing float
Refers to the time it takes the receiver of a check to process the payment and
deposit it in a bank for collection.
Initial margin
Used in the context of general equities. 1) Amount of money deposited by both
buyers and sellers of futures contracts to ensure performance of the terms of the
contract; 2) amount of cash or eligible securities required to be deposited with a
broker before engaging in margin transactions.
Initial margin requirement
When buying securities on margin, the proportion of the total market value of the
securities that the investor must pay for in cash. The Security Exchange Act of
1934 gives the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve the responsibility to
set initial margin requirements, but individual brokerage firms are free to set
higher requirements. In futures contracts, initial margin requirements are set by
the exchange.
Initial public offering (IPO)
A company's first sale of stock to the public. Securities offered in an I.P.O. are
often, but not always, those of young, small companies seeking outside equity
capital and a public market for their stock. Investors purchasing stock in I.P.O.s
generally must be prepared to accept very large risks for the possibility of large
gains. I.P.O.s by investment companies (closed-end funds) usually contain
underwriting fees which represent a load to buyers.
