Dictionary of Business and Economic Terms

Barron's Educational Series, Jack P. Friedman

• Publisher: Barrons Educational Services
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780764147579
• eBook ISBN: 9781438083384
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Small in size but packed with detailed information, Barron's Business Dictionaries are extremely useful and economical reference sources for business students, business managers, and general readers seeking advice and information on specific business subjects. Each pocket-size book defines thousands of authoritative yet specialized terms within its subject area and features an abundance of diagrams, charts, and line art. These are must-haves for students and professionals alike.

This revised and expanded dictionary defines approximately 8,000 terms relating to accounting, taxation, advertising, business law, communications, transportation, computers and the Internet, insurance, international business, management, marketing, real estate, and statistics. This brand-new edition has been expanded to include more than 150 new terms specifically relating to finance and economics.

C

CABLEGRAM telegram sent overseas by means of a submerged wire.

CABLE TRANSFER arranging for the transfer of something, typically money, overseas. It is an expeditious way of transferring funds overseas, by means of a submerged wire.

CAC-40 a CAPITALIZATION-weighted price index of the 40 most actively traded shares on the Paris BOURSE; the acronym stands for Compagnie des Agents de Change. Compare DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE (DJIA).

CACHE

1. a hiding place where provisions or implements are stored.

2. a place where data can be stored in a computer and retrieved more quickly than from a slower device such as a disk. For example, frequently used disk sectors are copied and stored in a disk cache in a computer’s RAM so that they are accessed more quickly.

CACHET a mark of quality or distinction, individuality, or authenticity: A Mercedes-Benz has a certain cachet.

CAD computer-aided design: the use of a computer for design work in fields such as engineering and architecture. The computer’s graphics capabilities replace work that would traditionally have been done with pencil and paper.

CADASTRE list of appraised property values in a jurisdiction, used to determine the amount of tax ASSESSED on each parcel.

CAFETERIA BENEFIT PLAN arrangement under which employees may choose their own employee benefit structure. For example, one employee may wish to emphasize healthcare and thus would select a more comprehensive health insurance plan for the allocation of the premiums, while another employee may wish to emphasize retirement and thus allocate more of the premiums to the purchase of pension benefits.

CAI computer-aided instruction: any kind of teaching in which a computer takes the place of a live instructor and the learner usually proceeds at his own pace.

C&F cost and freight charges for a shipment. See also COST, INSURANCE, AND FREIGHT INSURANCE.

C&I or C&I&G consumption, investment, government expenditures: the components of GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP).

CALENDAR YEAR continuous period beginning January 1 and ending December 31. Contrast with FISCAL YEAR.

CALL

Banking: demand to repay a secured loan. When a banker calls a loan, the entire principal amount is due immediately.

Bonds: right to redeem outstanding bonds before their scheduled maturity. The first dates when an issuer may call bonds are specified in the prospectus of every issue that has a call provision in its INDENTURE. See also CALLABLE; CALL FEATURE; CALL PRICE.

Options: right to buy a specific number of shares at a specified price by a fixed date. See also CALL OPTION, PUT OPTION.

CALLABLE security redeemable by the issuer before the scheduled maturity. The issuer must pay the holders a premium price if such a security is retired early. Bonds are usually called when interest rates fall so significantly that the issuer can save money by floating new bonds at lower rates. See also CALL PREMIUM; CALL PRICE.

CALL CENTER a facility equipped to handle a large volume of telephone calls (especially for taking orders or serving customers). Call centers may be primarily incoming (staffed by ORDER TAKERS or technical support personnel) or outgoing (staffed with TELEMARKETING personnel).

CALL FEATURE or CALL PROVISION part of the agreement a bond issuer makes with a buyer, called the INDENTURE, describing the schedule and price of redemptions before maturity. Most corporate and municipal bonds have ten-year call features (termed call protection by holders); government securities usually have none. See also CALL PREMIUM; CALL PRICE.

CALL FORWARDING service offered by the local telephone company at extra cost whereby incoming calls may be automatically transferred to another number.

CALL OPTION the right, purchased by an investor, to buy a certain number of shares of a particular stock or stock index at a predetermined price before a preset deadline. See also PUT OPTION.

CALL PREMIUM

1. amount the buyer of a CALL OPTION has to pay to the seller in excess of the current market price, for the right to purchase a stock or stock index at a specified price by a specified date.

2. in bonds and preferred stock, the amount over par an issuer has to pay to an investor for redeeming the security early.

CALL PRICE price at which a bond or preferred stock with a CALL FEATURE can be redeemed by the issuer; also known as redemption price. See also CALL PREMIUM.

CALL REPORT report kept by an advertising agency of conferences between agency representatives and current or prospective advertiser clients; also called conference report, contact report. The call report tells when the meeting took place, who was present, and what was discussed.

CALL WAITING service offered by the local telephone company whereby a tone rings when a person is on the line and another caller has just dialed the person’s number. Call waiting allows the person called to answer the second call, putting the first caller on hold.

CAMERA-READY COPY (CRC) artwork or printout that is ready to be photographed and made into a printing plate for offset reproduction.

CANCEL

In general: void a negotiable instrument by annulling or paying it; also, prematurely terminate a bond or other contract.

Securities: void an order to buy or sell. See also GOOD-TILL-CANCELED ORDER (GTC).

CANCELLATION CLAUSE contract provision that gives the right to terminate obligations upon the occurrence of specified conditions or events. A cancellation clause in a lease might allow the landlord to break the lease upon the sale of a building.

CANNED APPROACH company-prepared selling presentation. Sales representatives memorize and repeat it verbatim when making a sales presentation. This selling approach can be effective for inexperienced sales personnel, but it is too artificial for complex selling transactions.

CANNED PROGRAM prewritten computer program available for purchase.

CAP see CAPS.

CAPACITY

1. mental ability to make a rational decision.

2. ability to produce during a given time period, with an upper limit imposed by the availability of space, machinery, labor, materials, or capital. Capacity may be expressed in units, weights, size, dollars, man hours, labor cost, etc. Typically, there are five different concepts of capacity.

a. Ideal capacity: volume of activity that could be attained under ideal operating conditions, with minimum allowance for inefficiency. It is the largest volume of output possible. Also called theoretical capacity, engineered capacity, or maximum capacity.

b. Practical capacity: highest activity level at which the factory can operate with an acceptable degree of efficiency, taking into consideration unavoidable losses of productive time (i.e., vacations, holidays, repairs to equipment). Also called maximum practical capacity.

c. Normal capacity: average level of operating activity that is sufficient to fill the demand for the company’s products or services for a span of several years, taking into consideration seasonal and cyclical demands and increasing or decreasing trends in demand.

d. Planned capacity: similar to normal capacity except it is projected against a particular single year. Also called expected actual capacity.

e. Operating capacity: similar to planned capacity except the time period is within a small slice of a single year (i.e., daily, monthly, quarterly).

CAPACITY PLANNING long-term strategy to effectuate the level of resources required to meet projected consumer demand.

CAP AND TRADE informal phrase for emissions trading, an environmental policy approach whereby the government sets a limit (cap) on the overall amount of pollutants emitted, and individual companies trade permits, called credits, among themselves. The overall aim is to reduce emissions. This goal is further advanced as the authorities periodically lower the overall caps and as market prices of credits are forced higher by reductions in the available supply. The United States has one national cap and trade program (Acid Rain Program) and three regional programs.

CapEx short for CAPITAL EXPENDITURE (CAPEX).

CAPITAL

Finance: money and other property of a corporation or other enterprise used in transacting its business.

Economics: factories, machines, and other human-made inputs into the production process.

CAPITAL ACCOUNT

Finance: group of accounting records that involve transactions in the EQUITY or ow...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• How to Use This Book Effectively
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X Y Z
• APPENDIX: Abbreviations and Acronyms