B
Balance
This can be one of the following:
- For Fidelity NetBenefits®, it is
the market value of each investment option position in your account (e.g., each mutual fund you hold in
your 403(b), 401(k), or 457 account) as of the date displayed.
- For Personal Trust accounts, it is the balance in
the Personal Trust account or sub-account as of the date displayed. Balance does not reflect the Fair
Market Value of certain non-financial assets held in an account. This field displays on the Personal
Trust Balances screen.
Balances
This amount is
the sum of all your contributions and employer matching contributions,
if any, for the period.
Bank Account Number
The bank account to which mutual fund redemptions are sent, or the bank
account for Electronic Funds Transfers.
Bank Business Day
This refers to a day, Monday through Friday excluding
holidays when U.S. banks are open.
Bank Name
The name of a bank to or from which you want to
transfer money using Fidelity Electronic Funds Transfer.
Bank Qualified
Bonds that banks and trust departments can hold in their portfolios.
These bonds are usually rated investment grade or higher. The issuer is
generally limited to no more than 10 million dollars per year of
outstanding indebtedness.
Bank Routing Number
The unique transit routing number that identifies a
specific bank or institution. This is also sometimes referred to as the ABA number.
The transit routing number is used to
wire redemptions to a bank account.
You specify a bank routing number
when adding the Bank Wire feature or Electronic Funds Transfer service to an account.
Bank State
The state in which the issuing bank of a Certificate of Deposit is registered.
Bank Wire Indicator
Indicates if an account has the Bank Wire feature.
This feature allows fund redemptions to be wired to a bank account you specify.
Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
The Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate Index is an unmanaged, market-value-weighted index of
taxable investment-grade fixed-rate debt issues, including government, corporate, asset-backed,
and mortgage backed securities, with maturities of one year or more.
Barclays Capital U.S. Government Bond Index
A market value weighted index of U.S. Government and
government agency securities (other than mortgage securities) with maturities of one year or more.
Barclays Capital U.S. Insured Municipal Bond Index
Barclays Capital U.S. Insured Municipal Bond Index is an unmanaged,
market-value-weighted index of investment-grade municipal bonds with
maturities of one year or more.
Barclays Capital U.S. Intermediate Government/Corporate Bond Index
The Barclays Capital U.S. Intermediate Government/Corporate
Bond Index is a market value weighted performance benchmark for government and corporate fixed-rate debt
issues with maturities between one and 10 years.
Barclays Capital U.S. Universal
The Barclays Capital U.S. Universal Index represents the union of the U.S. Aggregate Index,
U.S. Corporate High-Yield, Investment Grade 144A Index, Eurodollar Index, U.S. Emerging
Markets Index, and the non-ERISA eligible portion of the CMBS Index. The index covers USD-
denominated, taxable bonds that are rated either investment-grade or below investment-grade.
Base Coupon
This is the date on which the next or last coupon interest payment for a fixed-income security (e.g.,
a bond) was paid or is scheduled to be paid, depending on which date is closest to the current calendar
date. For example, if it is 10/1/2001, the coupon payment is quarterly, the last payment was on 9/20/2001
and the next payment would be on 12/20/2001, the 9/20/2001 date would display.
Referencing this date and the
payment frequency information together can help you determine the date for the next coupon interest
payment.
Based On
The specified
price a trailing stop order can trail the market which includes Last
Trade, Bid and Ask. This field is only available for trailing stop
orders.
Basis Point
One
one-hundredth (1/100 or 0.01) of one percent. Yield differences among
fixed income securities are stated in basis points.
Basis Previously Provided
The indicator of whether or not you provided the cost basis and holding period date of these shares.
Possible Values:
- No: You have not added cost basis information before today,
indicating that Fidelity has already processed an update transaction.
- Yes: You have added cost basis information before today,
indicating that Fidelity has already processed an update transaction.
Note: You may update cost basis in either case.
Basket Name
The name of your basket. Each basket must have a
unique name.
Basket Position Cost
The position level cost for each holding in a basket, based on the acquisition
cost or average cost if shares have been added or removed from a basket position.
Basket Return
For basket trading, the Total Current Market Value
divided by the Total Basket Cost.
Beginning FMV
The fair market value of a
company's stock at the close of business on the first day of the offering period.
Benchmark
An unmanaged group of securities whose overall
performance is used as a standard against which relative investment performance is measured.
Benchmark %
The percentage of the portfolio represented by a
particular index, like the Wilshire 5000.
Benchmark Formula
A formula to determine a performance standard against which a bond or other security can be measured.
Benchmark Reference
A group of securities whose overall performance is generally agreed to
be used as a standard against which relative investment performance is
measured.
Beneficiary
The person or other party designated to receive the
proceeds from a life insurance policy, trust, estate, College Savings Plan, retirement account,
etc.
Best Ask
The price that someone who owns a security offers as
a price at which they will sell.
Best Bid
The price a prospective buyer is willing to pay for a
share of a security at a particular time.
Best n-Year Return
On the Historical Analysis screen, this is the best
average annual return that is returned from the
market for the asset-allocation mix shown over a 35-year period. Returns for the best 1-year and then
returns in 5-year increments up to 35 years are shown.
The analysis uses your portfolio or
one or more selected accounts to calculate asset-allocation mix percentages. Then, the historical
performance information is calculated for that asset allocation using general market indexes.
Best n Years
On the Historical Analysis screen, this is the number
of years over which account values are graphed.
If a security you hold has not
existed for 35 years, then best values over the life of the security are provided.
Beta
Beta is a coefficient which measures the volatility of a stock's returns relative to a given market index.
In the case of a Company Profile displayed on , the index used is the S&P 500. It is based
on a 60-month historical regression of the return on the stock onto the market return.
- A beta of 1 means that the market and the stock
move up or down together, at the same rate. That is, 5% up or down move in the market would result in a
5% up or down move in the stock.
- A beta coefficient of 2 suggests that the stock
will tend to fluctuate twice as much as the market. That is, if the market moves up 5%, then the stock
would move up 10%.
- A beta coefficient of 0.5%, indicates that the
stock will move one-half as much as the market, either up or down.
A negative beta indicates the stock
tends to move in the opposite direction from the general market. That is, the stock price declines when
the overall market is rising, or rises when the overall market is declining. Negative Beta stocks are
rare. Beta values are not calculated if less than 24 months of pricing is available.
Bid [tick]
Refer to Bid Price.
For Extended Hours session
(Premarket or
After Hour session) quotes, this is the best price* at
which someone is willing to buy shares of the stock through the
ECN in which Fidelity participates.
* Extended Hours quotes obtained from
Fidelity.com will only reflect the prices available in the ECN, linked ECNs and Nasdaq's SelectNet, when
available.
For Premarket and After Hours session
trade orders, the bid price source is the ECN and Extended Hours Session displays as the source on trade
order verification screens.
For Fidelity variable annuity investment option quotes, this information is not
applicable and N/A displays in the Bid Exchange field.
Bid
Exchange
The exchange or market from which the bid price was
quoted (e.g., New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq etc.).
For Fidelity variable annuity investment option quotes, this information is not
applicable and N/A displays in the Bid Exchange field.
Bid Orders
The list of the top (highest price) ten offers to buy a security
during a Premarket or After Hours session.
The list displays only on the Full Book quote screen.
For each order in the Bid Orders list, the following information is displayed from left to right:
- ECN
- Shares (the number of shares in the order)
- Price (Bid Price)
Bid Price [tick]
The price a buyer is willing to pay for a security.
Nasdaq® requires all real-time data
distributors to display a Bid Tick indicator on quotation displays for securities traded on the Nasdaq
Global MarketSM. The indicator displays the upward [+] or downward [-] movement from the previous bid
price. This indicator only displays for securities traded on the Nasdaq Global Market.
For Extended Hours session
(Premarket and
After Hour session) quotes, this is the best price* at
which someone is willing to buy shares of the stock through the
Electronic Communications Network (ECN) in which Fidelity participates.
* Extended Hours quotes obtained from
Fidelity.com will only reflect the prices available in the ECN, linked ECNs and Nasdaq's SelectNet®, when
available.
For Premarket and After Hours session
trade orders, the bid price source is the ECN and Extended Hours session displays as the source on trade
order verification screens.
For Fidelity variable annuity investment option quotes, this information is not
applicable and N/A displays in the Bid Price field.
Bid Size
The number of round lots currently available at the
bid price. For example, if this field displays 15, that represents 15 round lots or 1500 shares.
For Extended Hours session (Premarket or After Hours session) quotes, this is the total number of
shares that investors are willing to buy at the bid price* through the ECN in which Fidelity participates, linked ECNs and
Nasdaq's SelectNet, when available. For example, a bid size of 500 could be the total of 100 and 400
shares that two different prospective buyers are willing to buy at the quoted bid price.
* This is the bid size for the
highest bid price in the ECN, linked ECNs and Nasdaq's SelectNet, when available. Extended Hours quotes
obtained from Fidelity.com will only reflect the prices available in the ECN.
For Fidelity variable annuity investment option quotes, this information is not
applicable and N/A displays in the Bid Size field.
Bid Yield
The highest annual rate of return on an investment
(e.g., a bond) at which a buyer is willing to buy a security.
BigCharts
BigCharts, Inc. provides some security price charts
for informational purposes only. BigCharts, Inc. is an independent, third-party company and is not
affiliated with Fidelity Investments or any of its affiliates.
Bill Payment
Refer to Fidelity BillPaySM service.
Billing Cycle (Credit Card)
The period of time that begins the day after the closing date shown on
your account's preceding monthly statement, and ends on the closing
date that appears on your account's statement for the current month.
Billing cycles are approximately one month long.
Blackout Period
These are certain times of the year when privileges
to exercise your stock options may be restricted. Refer to your
stock option plan rules for more information.
For example, blackout periods often
coincide with a company's fiscal year end, dividend schedules, and calendar year end.
Blank Rung
A blank
rung is a placeholder rung in your bond ladder. It's left blank because
there are no bond offerings that meet your selection criteria and can
fill the rung. You can:
- Select a blank rung as an option on the View Alternatives page and the View Existing Holdings page
- Replace an existing rung with a blank rung
Blend
This is an investment type referring to stocks with a valuation that is
close to that of the S & P 500.
Portfolio and account analysis shows
information about your holdings' investment types in the Domestic Equity Style Profile. For more
information about the Domestic Equity Style Profile, select Learn More About Analysis at the top of the
analysis screens.
In the Domestic Equity Style Profile
section on the Holdings Detail screen, this is the value of your domestic holdings that are classified as
equities and
underlying securities of pooled investments such as
mutual funds which are small cap blend,
mid cap blend, or large
cap blend. All values are as of the date and time shown in the Control Panel.
Blended Benchmark
A combination of market indexes in varying percentages used to evaluate
the performance of an investment account.
Block Trades
The number of block trades that have occurred for a
security during the current trading day as of the date and time displayed.
Block Volume
The percentage of all trades for a security that have
been placed during the current trading day as of the date and time displayed.
Blue-Chip Stocks
Stocks of well-established companies that have had a
history of earnings and dividend payments, as well as a reputation for sound management and quality of
products and services. While not all large cap stocks are blue chip stocks, there is usually a large cap
bias to blue chip stocks.
Blue Sky Laws
The registration of new issue securities with the state agency that
reviews selling documents for accuracy and completeness. When seen as
an attribute ("SKY") in a CD Results table or Details page, the phrase
is used to point out those states that have Blue Sky Laws that prohibit
the marketing and sale of that security to customers residing in that
state.
Bollinger Bands
Bollinger Bands are a type of envelope (or trading
band) plotted at standard deviation levels above and below a moving average.
Because standard deviation measures
volatility, the bands widen during volatile markets and contract during calmer periods.
Mr. Bollinger notes the following
characteristics of Bollinger Bands:
- Sharp price changes tend to occur after the bands
tighten, after volatility lessens.
- When prices move outside the bands, a
continuation of the current trend is implied. Bottoms and tops made outside the bands followed by bottoms
and tops made inside the bands call for reversals in the trend.
- A move that originates at one band tends to go
all the way to the other band. This observation is useful when projecting price targets.
- Bollinger Bands are displayed in two bands which
are plotted at standard deviation levels above or below a moving average.
- Bollinger Bands provide a view of the current
trading range. They can be used with other indicators to determine when it's time to buy or sell.
- Bollinger Bands indicator in BigCharts references the following fixed parameter: Time Period -
20.
Bond
An interest-bearing
promise to pay a specified sum of money (the principal amount) due on a
specific date. Bonds are typically issued by a company, municipality,
government, or government agency for the purposes of raising capital or
retiring other debt.
- Corporate Bond [standardize definition between ATP and OLTX]
A debt security issued by a private corporation. Corporate bonds
generally have a face value of $1,000, are taxable, and have a term
maturity. These bonds pay coupon interest according to a coupon rate set at the time the bond is issued.
- Government Bond [not in OLTX or ATP at all, new definition—needs detail?]
A type of debt security issued by the U.S. Treasury. Government bonds
are direct debt obligations issued and explicitly guaranteed by the
U.S. government.
- Municipal Bond [in ATP, in OLTX as “Municipal Securities”. standardize]
A type of debt security issued by local governmental subdivisions such
as cities, towns, counties, or special districts, as well as securities
issued by states and political subdivisions or agencies of states. A
prime feature of these securities is that coupon interest
on them is generally exempt from federal income taxes and, in some
cases, state and local taxes as well. Municipal bonds come in two basic
types: general obligation bonds, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuer, and revenue bonds, which are backed by revenue generated by a particular project.
Bond/CD Redemption Alerts
Fidelity Bond/CD Redemption Alerts is a service designed to provide
Fidelity customers with information about key changes to the status of
their bonds via either paper or e-mail. Customers can enroll in the
Alerts service by going to the Research tab and selecting Alerts.
Bond/CD Redemption Alerts consist of the following events:
- Partial and Full Calls
- Maturities
- Mandatory Puts
Bond Concession Schedule
For secondary market fixed income security transactions,
concession is the per-bond trading charge levied in addition to the
purchase or selling price quoted. A concession is the per-bond markup
or markdown on a fixed income trade, as opposed to an agent commission.
Concessions vary by product type. Bonds are made available from our
affiliate, National Financial Services (NFS), and from various external
dealers for whom Fidelity Brokerage Services acts as riskless
principal. The offering broker, which may be our affiliate NFS, may
realize a trading profit or loss on the transaction. For a complete
breakdown of Fidelity's Fixed Income concession schedule, go to
Investment Products > Brokerage, click Learn About Fidelity
Brokerage, and under Fidelity Account Details, click Brokerage
Commission and Fee Schedule.
Bond CUSIP
The security identifier number used throughout the
financial community to identify a bond.
Bond Funds
Registered investment companies whose assets are
invested in diversified portfolios of bonds.
Bonds/Shares
On the Open Indications of Interest screen, this is
the number of bonds or shares that you entered as part of an
indication of interest in a
new issue fixed-income offering (e.g., bond offering).
For Fixed Rate Capital Securities, you enter the number of shares instead of bonds.
Bond Tier / Tier 1/ Other Bonds
Also: Risk/Price
Secondary bonds offered are subject to a Price Test and a Risk Test*.
The Risk and Price Tests are specific quantitative observations that
compare a particular bond to its peers (as defined by bonds of a like
credit rating) to determine whether it is representative of those
bonds. A bond that exceeds certain established proprietary standards
fails the associated test. Bonds labeled Other have been classified as
outliers in either the Price Test or the Risk Test.
The detail as to why a particular bond is in the Other category of
bonds is shown by the following notation in the Bond Details or Table
Search Results screens:
- RO - Risk Outlier means
the bond is beyond the parameters necessary to pass the Risk Test. RP,
or Risk Pass, means the bond has passed the Risk Test.
- PO - Price Outlier means
the bond is beyond the parameters necessary to pass the Price Test. PP,
or Price Pass, means the bond has passed the Price Test.
*The Risk Test and Price Test are specific quantitative
observations. The Risk Test is based upon comparing the yields of a
particular bond in the context of its peers (as defined by bonds of a
like credit rating). The Price Test is based upon comparing a bond's
current offered price with its latest third party closing price. Use of
these terms should not imply that Fidelity is recommending any bond(s)
over others.
The Risk and Price Tests are applied to varying degrees to the following bond categories:
- US Treasuries - No tests applied, all bonds are T1
- Agencies - Price Test only
- Municipals - Both Risk and Price Tests
- Corporate - Both Risk and Price Tests
- CDs - Risk Test only as defined presence of FDIC Insurance
See
Risk Test and
Price Test.
Bond Type
The type of bond as delineated across the primary product sub-categories: Corporates, Municipals, Agencies/GSEs.
In the Bond Ladder tool, indicates whether the ladder will invest
in only municipal bonds or will invest in taxable bonds. Generally
tax-free municipal securities are inappropriate holdings for
tax-advantaged accounts such as an IRAs and other retirement accounts.
Please consult your tax advisor for advice about your specific
situation.
Book Value Per Share, MRQ ($ per share)
In a Company Profile, this is defined as the common shareholder's
equity divided by the shares outstanding at the end of the most recent fiscal quarter.
MRQ is the most recent
quarter.
Borrowing on Margin
Borrowing using loan value generated from securities held in margin. Borrowing on margin increases the margin debit balance in the account.
Break Even
The underlying stock price at which an options strategy (or combined stock and option strategy) has a zero loss and zero gain.
Broadly Diversified International Equity Funds
Broadly diversified international equity funds
generally fall into two categories:international funds, which do not invest in U.S. securities, and
global funds, which invest anywhere in the world, including the U.S. Although they are both considered
more aggressive than most domestic equity funds, broadly diversified funds are often considered to be a
"less aggressive" type of international fund because of their typical emphasis on diversification within
established markets. With these funds, risk is spread out across an expansive geographic area rather than
concentrated in a single region or country. These funds are used by many investors to form the foundation
of the international component of their portfolio.
Broad Market Comparison
On the Graphical View screen, this is the distribution of your
domestic holdings that are classified as equities by
industry sector (e.g., durables, staples, retail,
health, etc.) relative to equities tracked on the Wilshire
5000 Equity Index.
You can also see if the percentage of
your securities in an industry sector is higher (overweight) or lower (underweight) compared to the
equities tracked on the Wilshire 5000 Equity Index.
The Wilshire 5000 Equity Index is
used, because it includes over 7,000 securities and measures the performance of the publicly traded
stocks of U.S.-headquartered companies on which pricing data is available.
BrokerageFlex
This
is a section of the Portfolio screen in which all of your institutional
self-directed brokerage accounts in your employer's qualified
retirement plan are displayed. An account is considered institutional
if it is introduced to Fidelity through a financial intermediary such
as a Registered Investment Advisor or Third Party Administrator.
BrokerageLink
This is a Fidelity NetBenefits® account
investment option that is available through some employers' plans.
The availability of Fidelity
NetBenefits and the options and services available to you depend on the specific features of your
employer's plan.
If your NetBenefits account has the
BrokerageLink investment option and you use it, a linked
brokerage account maintained with Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC is funded with money from your NetBenefits
account. From this linked brokerage account, you can buy a variety of securities (e.g., stocks, bonds,
mutual funds) depending on the type of plan and the plan provisions.
The BrokerageLink value that is
displayed on the NetBenefits Account Balances screen is the market value of the linked brokerage
account as of the date displayed.
Note:On the Portfolio screen, a BrokerageLink account is
listed separately from a NetBenefits account with which it is linked and is displayed as a
non-prototype (NONP) brokerage account.
Bronze Pricing
Fidelity's Bronze Level pricing is available to all
customers. There is no minimum asset level or number of trades.
Butterfly
A butterfly spread is a multi-leg option strategy made up of all calls
or all puts with three different strike prices. It is ratio spread with
a 1:2:1 ratio. There are two types of butterflies long and short. Long
Butterfly spreads are established by purchasing a call/put at low
strike price, selling 2 call/put at middle strike price, and then
buying a call/put at highest strike price. Long butterflies are
generally used by people who feel the underlying will trade in a narrow
range. This strategy has limited up and downside. Short Butterfly
spreads are established by selling a call/put at low strike price,
buying 2 call/put at middle strike price, and then selling a call/put
at highest strike price. Short butterflies are generally used by people
who feel the underlying will move significantly. This strategy has
limited up and downside.
Buy
Refers to buying securities. Also refers to an analyst's
recommendation to buy a security.
Buy Side
In a multi-leg options transaction (or a combined stock and option
strategy), this is the stock or option transaction that constitutes
your purchase, or buy. For example, in a covered call, where you buy a
stock and sell a covering option, the stock purchase would be the buy
side.
Buy to Close
Closing of a short position in an
option transaction.
Buy to Cover
Buying shares of a stock to offset a short position,
a position for shares of a stock you sold but did not own.
Buy to Open
Opening of a long position in an
option transaction.
Buy Write
A buy-write trade order is the simultaneous purchase of stock and the
sale of covered call options for the same underlying security. For
example (where XYZ is a fictitious trading symbol), selling 1 XYZ FEB
65 call options and buying 100 shares of XYZ. To place a buy-write
order, you must have an Option Agreement on file with Fidelity and be
approved for option trading level 1 or higher. Buy writes require a
minimum of 1 contracts/100 shares.
Buying Power
The
maximum dollar amount available, including both cash and margin, to
purchase marginable securities without adding money to your account.
The balance includes open order commitments, intraday trade executions, and money movement into and out of the account.
- For Margin Trades
The dollar amount available to purchase marginable securities without generating a margin call.
The balance does not include cash held in the Core but does include
intraday trade executions and money movement into and out of the
account.
- For Cash Trades
The
amount available to purchase securities in a Cash account without
adding money to the account. Executed Buy orders will reduce this
value, and executed Sell orders will increase this value at the time
the order executes.
- Intraday Buying Power
This
balance field only applies to Pattern Day Trade accounts. Unlike Day
Trade Buying Power, this value does update intraday to reflect trade
executions, money movement in and out of the account, core cash and
buying power allocated to open orders.
- For Non-Margin Securities. Margin buying power available to purchase securities that are not marginable (have a 100% margin requirement).
- For Corporate Bonds. Margin buying power available to purchase Corporate Bonds. Most Corporate Bonds are marginable, however, margin requirements may vary based on the type of bond.
- For Municipal Bonds. Margin buying power available to purchase Municipal Bonds.
- For Government Bonds
Margin buying power available to purchase Government Bonds.
Buying Power Used
The dollar amount of Buying Power used on trades that have executed today and the amount committed to orders
that have yet to be executed. You can reduce this value—in other
words, increase your Buying Power—by cancelling or replacing open Buy
or short sale orders or by transferring money into the account.
By
A drop-down list on the Symbol Lookup screen that
displays a list of criteria from which you can choose to lookup a symbol.
You can choose from:
