Glossary > F through L

F

FactSet
FactSet delivers insight and information to investment professionals through superior analytics, service, content and technology. More than 85,000 global users make smarter investment decisions with FactSet’s desktop analytics, mobile applications and comprehensive data feeds. FactSet ETF Data provides comprehensive reference and analyticsdata across the universe of exchange-traded products. FactSet ETF data issourced from more than 80 providers, with more than one year of history for US reference data and current European reference data. Learn more at about FactSetdata solutions at factSet.com/data and follow on Twitter at Twitter.com/FactSet.

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Face (Par) Value
The security's face, par, or stated value.

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Fast Stochastic
Compares where a security's price closed relative to its price range over a given time period. As with moving averages, the sensitivity increases with shorter time spans. Two or more stochastics may be used with different time spans on a single security price chart to develop "cross-over" signals. This method is used to spot trend reversals with fairly good accuracy.

The stochastic indicator is plotted as two lines, the %D line and the %K line, with values ranging from 0 to 100. Readings above 80 are strong and indicate that price is closing near its high. Readings below 20 are also strong and indicate that price is closing near its low. Ordinarily, the %K line changes direction before the %D line. However, when the %D line changes direction prior to the %K line, a slow and steady reversal is usually indicated. When both %K and %D lines change direction, and the faster %K line subsequently changes direction to retest a crossing of the %D line but doesn't cross it, this is a good confirmation of the stability of the prior reversal. Many times, when the %K and %D lines begin to flatten out, this is an indication that the trend will reverse during the next trading range.

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Fidelity Variable Annuity Investment Option Symbols
To allow you to get quotes, view investment options in watch lists, or view historical price charts for investment options, Fidelity created trading symbols for Fidelity variable annuity investment options. Fidelity Variable Annuity Investment Options are not recognized on exchanges or in trading markets (e.g., New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ), on other web sites that provide quotes and other information for securities, or by other financial institutions.

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52-Week High
The highest price at which a security has been purchased or sold in the last 52 weeks.

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52-Week Low
The lowest price at which a security has been purchased or sold in the last 52 weeks.

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First Optional Call Date
The first date on which an issue may be redeemed at the issuer's option. For preferred securities, it is returned for optional calls exclusively into cash.

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First Optional Call Price
The first price at which an issue may be redeemed at the issuer's option. For preferred securities, it is returned for optional calls exclusively into cash.

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Fixed Income: AMT Exposure
This figure shows the percentage of a fund's securities that are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax. Although income from municipal bonds is usually exempt from federal taxes, some investors must pay taxes on those bonds subject to AMT. Only certain municipal bonds are AMT-subject. In general, the bonds are issued to finance private economic activity.

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Fixed Income: Average Duration
Average duration for all long fixed income positions in a portfolio. Morningstar asks fund companies to calculate and send average duration (also known as "option adjusted duration") for each of their fixed income or allocation funds. Morningstar asks for average duration because the measure gives better estimation of how the price of bonds with embedded options, which are common in many mutual funds, will change as a result of changes in interest rates. Average duration takes into account expected mortgage prepayment or the likelihood that embedded options will be exercised if a fund holds futures, other derivative securities, or other funds as assets, the aggregate average duration should include the weighted impact of those exposures. Standard practice for calculating this data point requires determination of a security's option-adjusted spread, including the use of option models or Monte Carlo simulation, as well as interest-rate scenario testing Morningstar requests that the fund only report data in this field that has been specifically labeled effective or option-adjusted duration, or that fund is certain has been calculated in the fashion described.

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Fixed Income: Average Maturity
Average maturity is a weighted average of all the maturities of the bonds in a portfolio, computed by weighting each bond's average maturity by the market value of the security. Average maturity takes into consideration all mortgage prepayments, puts, and adjustable coupons. Longer-maturity funds are generally considered more interest-rate sensitive than their shorter counterparts. Morningstar lists Average Maturity for Taxable Fixed-Income and Hybrid funds and Average Nominal Maturity for Municipal Bond Funds.

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Fixed Income: Credit Grade Exposure
Credit Grade Exposure is provided by a third-party using a proprietary algorithm which considers the ratings assigned to the ETP's underlying fixed income securities by three Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations ("NRSROs"): Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's"), Standard & Poor's Rating Services ("S&P"), or Fitch, Inc. The percentages shown in the table are based on the ETP's fixed-income holdings and may not total 100% if an ETP holds non-fixed income securities such as cash, derivatives, and/or equities. If a security is rated by two or more NRSROs, then the lowest rating is assigned to the holding. If only one NRSRO rates the security, that rating is assigned to the holding. If a security is not rated by an NRSRO, the holding is classified as "Not Rated". "AAA" consists of securities having a credit rating of AAA. "Investment-Grade" consists of securities with a credit rating of AA down to BBB (or for municipal Money Market securities, a rating of SP1 and corporate money market securities, a rating of P1). "High Yield" consists of all securities whose lowest rating is below BBB (or for municipal Money Market securities, a rating of SP2 or SP3, and corporate Money Market securities, a rating of P2 or P3) that are not in default. "Default" consists of securities rated D. The resulting credit quality analytics shown may differ from the ETP Manager's methodology to determine credit quality of the ETP's fixed income securities. A link has been provided to learn more about the ETP's Managers' investment approach and credit grade analytics.

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Fixed Income: Credit Grade Objective
The ETP has the stated objective of investing primarily in underlying securities of a particular Credit Grade as specified in the prospectus. Credit Grade objectives include AAA, Investment Grade and High Yield.

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Fixed Income: Average Duration
Average duration for all long fixed income positions in a portfolio. Morningstar asks fund companies to calculate and send average duration (also known as "option adjusted duration") for each of their fixed income or allocation funds. We ask for average duration because the measure gives better estimation of how the price of bonds with embedded options, which are common in many mutual funds, will change as a result of changes in interest rates. Average duration takes into account expected mortgage prepayment or the likelihood that embedded options will be exercised if a fund holds futures, other derivative securities, or other funds as assets, the aggregate average duration should include the weighted impact of those exposures. Standard practice for calculating this data point requires determination of a security's option-adjusted spread, including the use of option models or Monte Carlo simulation, as well as interest-rate scenario testing Morningstar requests that the fund only report data in this field that has been specifically labeled effective or option-adjusted duration, or that fund is certain has been calculated in the fashion described.

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Fixed Income: Average Maturity
Average maturity is a weighted average of all the maturities of the bonds in a portfolio, computed by weighting each bond's average maturity by the market value of the security. Average maturity takes into consideration all mortgage prepayments, puts, and adjustable coupons. Longer-maturity funds are generally considered more interest-rate sensitive than their shorter counterparts. We list Average Maturity for Taxable Fixed-Income and Hybrid funds and Average Nominal Maturity for Municipal Bond Funds.

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Fixed Income: Debt Issuer Objective

  • The ETP has the stated objective of investing primarily in underlying securities of a particular type of Debt Issuer as specified in the prospectus. Types of Debt Issuers include, but are not limited to, Government and Corporate.

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    Fixed Income: Maturity Exposure
    The ETP has the stated objective of investing primarily in underlying securities of a particular term to Maturity as specified in the prospectus. Examples include, but are not limited to Short, Intermediate and Long Term.

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    Fixed Income: Maturity Objective
    The sponsor of the Exchange Traded Product (ETP) has stated in the prospectus that the underlying securities will be primarily from the maturity.

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    Fixed Income: Modified Duration
    A modified version of the Macaulay duration that is a direct measure of how much a bond's price changes when its yield changes. It is calculated by dividing the Macaulay duration by yield plus one.

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    5-Year Return
    The average load-adjusted return over the last five years for a mutual fund. This return is updated monthly. If the fund has not been in existence for five years, the average return for the life of the fund is displayed.

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    5-Year Sales Growth
    The five-year annualized growth rate of sales or revenues. This figure is derived by the least squares method, using six data points—a base year plus five subsequent annual data points.

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    Ford Equity
    For more than 30 years, Ford Equity Research has been a trusted source of unbiased, independent research to professional money managers. By incorporating rigorous data collection and analysis methods, Ford employs a unique approach to investment research that has served its clients well. The Ford Equity Research investment process seeks to evaluate the relative performance potential of stocks by classifying them based on a complementary set of proprietary factors. These factors—which have been developed and refined over many years—give valuable insight into earnings trends, relative valuation, and timeliness. Through careful measurement of these characteristics and their effect on expected returns, Ford's stock recommendations are designed to differentiate between the most and least attractive investment candidates.

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    Forward PE
    The latest closing price of the stock divided by the latest Earnings Per Share (EPS) estimate as provided by Zacks Investment Research. In the first three quarters of a company's fiscal year, the EPS estimate for the current fiscal year is used. Starting in the fourth quarter, the next fiscal year's estimate is used. The EPS estimate is the mean estimate of EPS growth, as derived from all polled estimates from Wall Street analysts.

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    Free Cash Flow
    Free cash flow is a measure of the healthiness of a company's cash position. Because income statement accrual accounting can be quite different than actual cash flows, free cash flow measures the amount of cash available for ongoing business uses. Free cash flow is calculated as Operating Activities Net Cash Flow minus Capital Expenditures.

    As an example, if free cash flow is less than cash dividend payments, the company must be borrowing in order to pay dividends. This is not a sustainable practice.

    Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) Free Cash flow is measure of the cash generated over the last year in the most recent quarter. Free cash flow is a cumulative measure, so to calculate FCF (TTM) the following approach is used.

    Calculation:
    Fiscal (FY) year-end
    FCF (TTM) = FCF (Fiscal Year)

    Q1 FCF (TTM) Calculation
    Q1 FCF (TTM) = Q1 FCF + Last FY FCF - Last Year Q1 FCF

    Q2 FCF (TTM) Calculation
    Q2 FCF (TTM) = Q2 FCF + Last FY FCF - Last Year Q2 FCF

    Q3 FCF (TTM) Calculation
    Q3 FCF (TTM) = Q3 FCF + Last FY FCF - last Year Q3 FCF

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    Frequency
    Use Frequency to chart data for a given time period (e.g., intraday, daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly). Typically, choosing a weekly or monthly perspective when looking at several years of data makes it easier to identify long-term trends. A daily chart is useful for active traders and short-term time period charts. Five-minute and hourly Frequencies are used for intraday charts.

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    Frequently Used Criteria Search
    A Frequently Used Criteria Search lets you select any combination of the ten most popular search criteria to help you find stocks that may support your investment goals.

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    Funds from Operations (Most Recent FY)
    A financial measure used by real estate investment trusts (REITs) to define cash flow from their operating performance for the most recent fiscal year. FFO is calculated by adding depreciation and amortization expenses to earnings.

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    Funds from Operations (Most Recent QTR)
    A financial measure used by real estate investment trusts (REITs) to define cash flow from their operating performance for the most recent quarter. FFO is calculated by adding depreciation and amortization expenses to earnings.

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    G

    Gain/Loss
    The amount by which the current market value of a security has increased (a gain) or decreased (a loss). The gain or loss is calculated by subtracting the total purchase cost (number of shares * price per share) from the current market value (number of shares * last sale price).

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    Geography Objective (not showing US)
    The ETP has the stated objective of investing primarily in underlying securities of a particular type of geographic location as specified in the prospectus. Examples include, but are not limited to, Country Specific, Regional, Global, Emerging Markets and International (Excluding the US). It is updated as necessary and as stated in the prospectus or categorized by Marco Polo XTF.

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    Gross Expense Ratio for Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
    Morningstar provides the annual percentage of an ETP's assets paid out in expenses. Expenses can include management, transfer agent and all other fees associated with the ETP's daily operations and distribution.

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    Gross Margin
    Gross income divided by net sales, expressed as a percentage, for a specified time period. Gross margin indicates the amount of each dollar of revenue that can be counted as gross profit. Time periods measured include:

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    Gross Profit Margin
    Gross profit divided by sales, expressed as a percentage.

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    Growth
    An investment product, like a mutual fund or an Exchange Traded Product (ETP), that pursues capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities. Current income is a secondary concern, if a concern at all.

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    H

    High
    The highest price traded for the security during the current trading day.

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    High Yield Bond
    High Yield Bonds are funds that primarily invest in U.S. high-income fixed-income securities where at least 65% or more of bond assets are not rated or are rated by a major agency such as Standard & Poor's or Moody's at the level of BB (considered speculative for taxable bonds) and below.

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    High Yield Funds
    High yield funds may invest in lower quality debt securities, which generally offer higher yields, but also carry more risk.

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    The Hightower Report
    The Hightower Report is an industry-leading market research firm with over 100 years of collective experience. Using fundamental and technical analysis, Hightower delivers comprehensive daily reports on multiple markets such as Interest Rates, Foreign Exchange, Energy, Metals and Agriculture.

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    Historic Volatility (HV)
    An annualized one standard deviation of stock prices that measures how much past stock prices deviated from there average over a period of time.

    Interpretation: Historical Volatility does not measure direction; it measures how much the securities price is deviating from its average. When a securities Historical Volatility is rising or higher than normal it means prices are moving up and down farther/more quickly than usual and is an indication that something is expected to or has changed regarding the underlying (i.e. uncertainty) and you may want to research/monitor the security more closely. When securities Historical Volatility is falling things are returning to back to normal (i.e. uncertainty has been removed).

    A sharp increase in HV is usually associated with an unexpected event such as an earnings release that beat/missed estimates or an unexpected news release. These sharp increases usually occur after the fact and are normally preceded by a declining/stable Historical Volatility.

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    Hull Moving Average
    The Hull Moving Average (HMA), developed by Alan Hull, is an extremely fast and smooth moving average. In fact, the HMA almost eliminates lag altogether and manages to improve smoothing at the same time.

    Interpretation and Calculation:
    There are many uses. Basically, any method that requires a moving average would allow the user to experiment with using the HMA versus a simple or exponential moving average. The Weighted Moving Average (WMA) and the Exponential Moving Average both try to address lag in the Simple Moving Average by placing emphasis in the calculation in the more recent minutes. Here is the equation based on period n:

    HMA(n) = WMA(2*WMA(n/2) - WMA(n)),sqrt(n))

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    I

    Ichimoku Cloud
    The Ichimoku Cloud is a type of chart used in technical analysis to display support and resistance, momentum, and trend in one view.  Tenkan Sen and Kijun Sen are similar to moving averages and analyzed in relationship to one another.  When the shorter term indicator (Tenkan Sen) rises above the longer term indicator (Kijun Sen), the securities trend is typically positive. When Tenkan Sen falls below Kijun Sen, the securities trend is typically negative.
    Tenkan Sen and Kijun Sen – as a group- are then analyzed in relationship to the 'Cloud', which is composed of the area between Senkou A and Senkou B. When Tenkan Sen and Kijun Sen are decidedly above the 'Cloud', the issue''s trend is positive. When Tenkan Sen and Kijun Sen are decidedly below the 'Cloud', the issue's trend is negative.

    There are five plots that make up the Ichimoku Cloud indicator. These are their names and calculations:

    Tenkan Sen aka "Conversion Line": (High+Low)/2 … default period = 9
    Kijun Sen aka "Base Line": (High+Low)/2 … default period = 26
    Chiku Span aka "Lagging Span": Price Close shifted back 26 bars
    Senkou A aka "Leading Span A": (Tenkan Sen+Kijun Sen)/2 (SenkouA is shifted forward 26 bars)
    Senkou B aka "Leading Span B": (High+Low)/2 … using period = 52 (Senkou B is shifted forward 26 bars)

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    Inbound Trend Duration
    The length, in days, of the trend leading into a classic or short-term pattern. The height of an inbound trend indicates the possible price move away from the breakout price of the event. The breakout price depends on the pattern's definition.

    The slope of an inbound trend indicates the strength of an event. A very strongly sloped inbound trend (large height, short duration) is a stronger indicator of a reversal than a shallow inbound trend (small height, long duration).

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    Inception Date
    The date on which a fund commenced operations. It is updated daily by Marco Polo XTF.

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    Income/Distributions
    For tax purposes, an investment product, like a mutual fund or an Exchange Traded Product (ETP), generally passes along dividends and interest it receives from securities it owns. Additionally, a mutual fund and an ETP pass along your share of the profits it makes when it sells securities for a higher price than it paid for them. Distributions are subject to federal tax, and may also be subject to state or local taxes. Your distributions are taxable when they are paid, whether you take them in cash or reinvest them.

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    Independent Expert Strategies
    Independent expert stock search strategies have been developed for Fidelity.com by third-party professionals such as Zacks Research, SmartMoney.com, and Standard & Poor's Market Research. You can use expert search strategies to find stocks that match the predefined criteria, or you can use them as jumping off points for creating your own search strategy. See Independent Expert Search Strategies for complete details.

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    Independent Firms
    Independent firms are firms who derive no financial benefit from the nature of their recommendations.

    For the purposes of performance evaluation, Investars defines independent research as research produced by a firm that has no conflicts of interest in the following areas:

    Research firms are also designated as independent if they have been selected to provide independent research to investors under the terms of the Global Research Analyst Settlement. In all cases, research firms must contact Investars and request that they be identified as independent, and they must agree to forward data to Investars directly. To determine whether a firm qualifies as independents, Investars reviews the firm on a quarterly basis, or when the firm begins to forward data to Investars.

    Investars provides this service for the convenience of its clients only. Investors should conduct their own due-diligence to determine whether the research provided to them presents any conflicts of interest. Investors should also understand that identifying a firm as independent does not suggest that that firm provides good research. The quality of the research provided and how each firm resolves potential conflicts of interest is best evidenced in the firm's track record.

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    Index
    One of the following major stock market indexes:

    On a chart, you can compare a symbol's relative price performance with an index's performance.

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    Index Composition
    A portfolio of securities that are selected based on the objective and rules as stated by the index methodology. Each index has its own proprietary calculation methodology and composition as defined by the index provider. This methodology is used to select and weight the constituent securities and then rebalance them according to predefined metrics. It is updated as necessary and as stated in the prospectus or categorized by Marco Polo XTF.

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    Index Funds
    A passively managed fund designed to replicate the performance of an unmanaged stock or bond index.

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    Industry Average
    An average of all stock data values in the same industry. Industry Average is used to compare a stock's Valuation, Growth, and Profitability ratios to that of other stocks in the same industry.

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    Insider Gain/Loss
    On the Insider Activity chart, the Insider Gain/Loss statistic is based on the return generated during the period shown by a portfolio consisting of long positions in the stock corresponding to each purchase, and short positions for each sale.

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    Insider Timing Grade
    On the Insider Activity chart, the Insider Timing Grade is calculated by testing the statistical significance of the timing of the insiders' trades. A grade of A means that if the same trades were made with random timing, there would be no more than a 5% chance of exceeding the insiders' return.

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    Interest
    The amount paid by a borrower as compensation for the use of borrowed money. This amount is generally expressed as an annual percentage of the principal amount.

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    Interest Coverage
    Net earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of one period divided by interest expenses on bonds and other contractual long-term debt for the same period.

    The lower the ratio, the more the company is burdened by debt expense. When a company's Interest Coverage ratio is 1.5 or lower, its ability to meet interest expenses may be questionable. An Interest Coverage ratio below 1 indicates the company is not generating sufficient revenues to satisfy interest expenses.

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    Interest Rate
    The annual rate, expressed as a percentage of principal, payable for use of borrowed money.

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    Inventory
    Merchandise bought for resale, and materials and supplies purchased to generate more revenues through sale.

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    Inventory Turnover
    Cost of goods sold for a specified time period divided by average inventory. Average inventory is the average of the inventory at the beginning and end of the year. Inventory turnover measures how quickly a company's inventory of goods is sold. Time periods measured include:

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    Inverse
    A type of Exchange Traded Product (ETP) that seeks to profit from a negative move in its stated benchmark index. Inverse ETPs generally seek results over a pre-set time period indicated in the prospectus or offering circular. That time period is often one day. As a result, their returns can differ significantly, both positively and negatively, from that of their benchmark, especially over investment periods lasting longer than one day. These ETPs use a variety of derivatives such as futures, options and SWAPs. These ETPs may give an investor single or multiple (leveraged [LMS1] ) inverse exposure, such as double or triple inverse exposure. These ETPs are also known as "Short" or "Bear" ETPs.

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    Investars
    Investars was founded in 1999 to provide investors with the tools to measure the value of research. Investars is owned and operated by Netologic Inc. a privately held company. Fidelity displays firm's stock recommendations (buy to sell) collected and standardized by Investars. Investars is an independent firm not affiliated with Fidelity Investments.

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    Investars Smartindex
    The Investars Smartindex measures the accuracy of a particular research provider in a particular sector. The process is similar to that of an index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, where the index components are treated as though they are long positions. The Smartindex uses only the BUY recommendations of a research firm and then breaks these recommendations into the ten GICs sectors and assesses the performance of the research firm in each sector.

    Specifically, Investars compounds the daily returns of the stocks in an equal-weighted portfolio composed of the "positive" rated stocks in each sector. "Positively rated" means that a research provider might have a recommendation like "outperform, buy, strong buy or anything that denotes that an investor should have the stock in their portfolio. The Smartindex sector portfolios are rebalanced every time its composition changes due to the new ratings issued by the research provider.

    There are many ways to analyze research performance. The Smartindex is a simple, intuitive measure to assess the performance of research firm in a particular sector and compare them to other research firms' performance in that sector. The transparency of estimation of this measure is intended to provide guidance in the investment process.

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    Investment Category
    Groupings of investment products based on investment category. Generally, investment categories often include these basic categories:

    Investment categories designated by Fidelity may not match investment categories designated by third parties, and may differ depending on investment product.

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    Investment Grade (Investment Grade Bond)
    The broad credit designation given to corporate and municipal bonds which have a high probability of being paid, and few, if any, speculative features. Bonds rated Baa and higher by Moody's Investors Service, or BBB and higher by Standard & Poor's, are considered by those agencies to be "investment grade."

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    Investment Option
    The official name and portfolio number for each investment option held in a Fidelity variable annuity.

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    Investment philosophy
    A classification of a fund's overall strategy that guides its investment principles. Examples include the use of a passive or enhanced index or a benchmark for use in an actively managed fund. It is updated by Marco Polo XTF as necessary and as stated in the prospectus.

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    Issue Features
    Identifies the characteristics and other descriptive information about the security, for example the types of call provisions which apply to the security.

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    Issue Type
    Identifies the security's classification or type, and will provide any other descriptive information about the security.

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    Issuer Type
    Identifies the type of firm or entity issuing the security.

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    J

    Jefferson Research
    Jefferson Research methodology relies on forensic financial analysis, based on academic research, forensic accounting and financial analysis approaches. Forensic accounting is a detailed examination of a company's financial health through studying the three financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flows) released by the company.

    Jefferson's Financial Sonar reports synthesize information on about fifty variables to identify buys and sells for a portfolio. Jefferson's approach analyzes companies through the dual lens fundamental performance and financial reporting forensics. Financial Sonar Reports contain sections on; Earnings Quality, Cash Flow Quality, Operating Efficiency, Balance Sheet Quality, and Valuation and cover about 2,300 companies in the U.S. Market.

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    K

    Keltner Channel
    Keltner Bands are a type of price channel first described by Chester W. Keltner in his book How to MakeMoney in Commodities. They are fixed bands that are plotted above and below a simple moving average of average price. The Keltner indicators in the Advanced Chart take two parameters. Period1 specifies the period to smooth highs -lows, and Period2 specifies the period to use to smooth Average Price in the calculation (see below).

    Interpretation:

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    L

    Large Blend
    An investment product, like a mutual fund or an Exchange Traded Product (ETP), that invests in a variety of large US stocks—primarily large-cap stocks, or those in the top 70% of the capitalization of the US equity market. The large blend style is generally assigned to investment products where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate.

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    Large Growth
    An investment product, like a mutual fund or an Exchange Traded Product (ETP), that invests primarily in large, growth-oriented US stocks—primarily large-cap stocks, or those in the top 70% of the capitalization of the US equity market. The large growth style is generally based on fast growth (i.e., high growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow) and high valuations (i.e., high price ratios and low dividend yields).

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    Large Value
    An investment product, like a mutual fund or an Exchange Traded Product (ETP), that invests primarily in large, value-oriented US stocks—primarily large cap stocks, or those in the top 70% of the capitalization of the US equity market. The large value style is generally based on low valuations (i.e., low price ratios and high dividend yields) and slow growth (i.e., low growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow).

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    Last
    For stock and option quotes, the unit price of the most recent order of the shares of the security on the primary exchange. For mutual funds and money market funds, the net asset value (NAV) of the fund as of the last time the fund was priced and prior to the date displayed. For Fidelity variable annuity investment options, Last is the value on the date noted. On a Watch List, Date and Time for a quote will appear when the cursor is held over a security's Last Trade or Current Price value. All dates and times are reported in ET.

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    Last Change to Recommendation
    Last Change to Firm's Recommendation provides the date of the last action, if the action was a downgrade, upgrade or drop; and the firm's recommendation on that action date. An (r) after Last Change to Firm's Recommendation Action indicates that a reiteration of the firm's recommendation occurred within last twelve months. The Date is the day that this Action was originally issued for the Recommendation being displayed. To see the History of a firm's Recommendations versus Stock Performance, click on the Date.

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    Last Trade
    For stocks and options, the share price of the most recent order for shares of the security on the primary exchange (delayed by at least 15 minutes). For mutual funds and money markets, the Net Asset Value (NAV) as of the end of the previous trading day. For indexes, the index value at the time noted in the Date & Time field. On a Watch List, Date and Time for a quote will appear when the cursor is held over a security's Last Trade or Current Price value. All dates and times are reported in ET.

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    Last Trade Exchange
    The exchange or market on which the security was last traded (for example, New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ). Also indicates the primary exchange for an option contract.

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    Legal Structure
    The legal structure of an Exchange Traded Product (ETP) as legally defined and stated in the prospectus. There are five primary legal structures: open-end investment companies (most typical), unit investment trusts, limited partnerships, senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt and grantor trusts. Legal structure is updated by Marco Polo XTF as necessary and as stated in the prospectus.

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    Leveraged (CEF)
    Closed end funds can use leverage by issuing preferred stock or debt securities to raise additional capital which can then be used to buy more securities for its portfolio. Leverage achieved through the issuance of preferred stock or debt is referred to as "'40 Act leverage" after the Investment Company Act of 1940 ('40 Act), which among other things regulates the amount of leverage funds can bear. CEFs invest the additional capital raised through leverage in securities whose return is expected to exceed the borrowing cost associated with the preferred stock or debt security. A CEF can also create leverage through certain investments held in its portfolio, such as reverse purchase agreements, tender options, bonds, derivatives or other instruments, referred to as "non-'40 Act leverage" because this type of leverage is not subject to the regulations of the '40 Act. The use of leverage can magnify price volatility and loss of principal in the CEF's portfolio. Fluctuations in interest rates will also have an impact on a leveraged fund's distributions as the cost of borrowing associated with the leverage will fluctuate in response.

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    Leveraged (ETF)
    A type of Exchange Traded Product (ETP) that seeks to amplify the potential returns and/or potential losses of a benchmark index. Leveraged ETPs seek results over a pre-set time period indicated in the prospectus or offering circular. That time period is often one day. As a result, their returns can differ significantly, both positively and negatively, from that of their benchmark index, especially over investment periods lasting longer than one day. These ETPs use a variety of derivatives such as futures, options and SWAPs. They aim to keep a constant amount of leverage during the investment time frame, (often one day)such as a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. Leveraged ETPs can either amplify returns and losses on the long side of the market or the inverse side of the market.

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    Leveraged/Inverse
    This criterion tells you whether an ETP is leveraged or inverse.

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    Leveraged/Inverse: Factor
    A multiplier that identifies the leverage exposure. A leveraged fund provides the investor with exposure greater than 100% as compared to the underlying index. It can also be negative to provide inverse exposure. It is updated as by Marco Polo XTF as necessary and as stated in the prospectus.

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    Leveraged/Inverse: Rebalance Frequency
    How often the fund or index rebalances its constituents. Leveraged ETPs typically rebalance daily. The data is updated as necessary to what is stated in the prospectus.

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    Liabilities - Total
    Current liabilities plus long-term debt plus other non-current liabilities (including deferred taxes and investment tax credit). Data is represented each quarter in millions of dollars.

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    Limit
    An order price type placed on the execution of an order. Limit restricts the price you pay to buy or sell a security to be a limit price you specify or better. The limit price is specified in a separate Limit field. Buy limit orders state the maximum price at which to buy, while sell limit orders state the minimum price at which to sell.

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    Linear Regression
    The Linear Regression Line indicator in the Advanced Chart gathers the prices for the number of specified periods and finds a straight line which best fits all the prices using a linear regression model. This model uses every point on the chart to determine a trend line that gives a good estimation of the entire chart with a single line.

    Interpretation: Since the Linear Regression indicator displays the statistically-predicted price value, you can look for cases where price veers sharply from the predicted line through that period.

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    Liquidity Ratio
    A ratio calculated by adding the daily percentage changes of a stock's closing price for each trading day of the month, then dividing the total dollar volume for the month by the total percentage change. Liquidity Ratio measures how much dollar volume is required to move a stock's price up or down by one percentage point.

    A high Liquidity Ratio indicates a stock that requires relatively heavy trading to move its price. A low Liquidity Ratio indicates a stock that moves on relatively light volume.

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    Long-Term Capital Gains
    On the screener and research pages, this refers to gains on a security held longer than 12 months. If the security has not been sold, the gains are generally considered to be "unrealized". If the security is sold, the gains are generally considered to be "realized". ETPs may issue long-term capital gain distributions derived from the long-term capital gains of the fund. For individuals who realize gains from the sale of their securities, the gains since purchase may not be the same as what is reportable for tax purposes because of adjustments to tax basis and the potential applicability of tax rules specific to an investor's particular tax situation. At the federal level, realized long-term capital gains in taxable accounts usually qualify for the long-term capital gains tax rate.

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    Long-Term Debt
    Debt obligations due more than one year from the company's balance sheet date. Data is represented each quarter in millions of dollars.

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    Long-Term Debt Equity
    Debt obligations due more than one year out from the issuance of the company's balance sheet divided by Shareholder's Equity calculated for a specified time period. A company's long-term debt could be in the form of bank debt, mortgage bonds, debenture bonds, or other obligations. Time periods measured include:

    A high ratio indicates leverage in that the company is financing operations or growth with debt. Current and future earnings would then be affected by interest expenses from this debt.

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    Low
    The lowest price traded for the security during the current trading day.

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    Lower Indicators
    In a price chart, a list of several popular technical indicators, including Volume, Volume+, and Relative Strength Index (RSI).

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