Business Glossary: S

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S Fifth letter of a Nasdaq stock symbol specifying a beneficial interest.

SA The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SAUDI ARABIA.

SAIF See: Savings Association Insurance Fund

SAR The ISO 4217 currency code for the Saudi Arabian Riyal.

SATURNS See Structured Asset Trust Unit Repackagings.

SB The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SOLOMON ISLANDS.

SBD The ISO 4217 currency code for the Solomon Islands Dollar.

SC The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SEYCHELLES.

SCR The ISO 4217 currency code for the Seychelles Rupee.

SD The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SUDAN.

SDD The ISO 4217 currency code for the Sudanese Dinar.

SDR See: Special drawing rights

SE The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SWEDEN.

SEAQ See: Stock Exchange Automated Quotation System

SEC See: Securities & Exchange Commission

SED See: Shipper's Export Declaration

SEHK See: Stock Exchange of Hong Kong

SEK The ISO 4217 currency code for the Swedish Krona.

SHP The ISO 4217 currency code for the Saint Helena Pound.

SIAC See: Security Industry Automated Corporation

SIC See: Standard Industrial Classification

SIMEX See: Singapore International Monetary Exchange

SG The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SINGAPORE.

SGD The ISO 4217 currency code for the Singapore Dollar.

SH The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SAINT HELENA.

SI The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SLOVENIA.

SIT The ISO 4217 currency code for the Slovenian Tolar.

SJ The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN.

SK The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SLOVAKIA.

SKK The ISO 4217 currency code for the Slovak Republic Koruna.

SL The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SIERRA LEONE.

SLL The ISO 4217 currency code for the Sierra Leone Leone.

SM The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SAN MARINO.

SMBS See: Stripped mortgage backed securities

SN The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SENEGAL.

SO The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SOMALIA.

SOES See: Small Order Execution System

SOS The ISO 4217 currency code for the Somalian Shilling.

SOXS See: Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

SR The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SURINAME.

SRG The ISO 4217 currency code for the Surinam Guilder.

ST The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE.

STD The ISO 4217 currency code for the Sao Tome & Principe Dobra.

SV The two-character ISO 3166 country code for EL SALVADOR.

SVC The ISO 4217 currency code for the El Salvador Colon.

SWIFT See: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications

SY The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC.

SYP The ISO 4217 currency code for the Syrian Pound.

SZ The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SWAZILAND.

SZL The ISO 4217 currency code for the Swaziland Lilangeni.

SACE The Italian export credit agency.

Safe harbor Often used in risk arbitrage as a form of shark repellent. A target company acquires a business so onerously regulated that it makes the target less attractive, giving it, in effect, a safe harbor.

Safe harbor lease A lease to transfer tax benefits of ownership (depreciation and debt tax shield) from the lessee, if the lessee could not use them, to a lessor that could use them.

Safekeep Holding by a bank of bonds and money market instruments. For a fee, the bank clips coupons and presents for payment at maturity.

Safety cushion In a contingent immunization strategy, the difference between the initially available immunization level and the safety-net return.

Safety-net return The minimum available return that will trigger an immunization strategy in a contingent immunization strategy.

Salary Regular wages and benefits an employee receives from an employer.

Salary freeze A temporary halt to increases in salary due to financial difficulties experienced by a company.

Salary reduction plan A plan allowing employees to contribute pre-tax income to a tax-deferred retirement plan.

Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SARSEP) A low-cost, no-frills version of a 401(k) employee savings plan available to companies with 25 or fewer employees. It allows employees to make pretax contributions to their IRAs through salary reduction each year. The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 replaced SARSEPs with SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) plans. Existing SARSEPs were allowed to add new participants, but new plans could not be formed after December 31, 1996.

Sale An agreement between a buyer and a seller on the price to be paid for a security, followed by delivery.

Sale and lease-back Sale of an existing asset to a financial institution that then leases it back to the user. Related: Lease.

Sales charge The fee charged by a mutual fund at purchase of shares, usually payable as a commission to a marketing agent, such as a financial adviser, who is thus compensated for assistance to a purchaser. It represents the difference, if any, between the share purchase price and the share net asset value.

Sales completion In the context of project financing, the state in which the project has reached physical completion and has delivered product or generated revenues in satisfaction of a sales completion test.

Sales Contract Contract between a seller and buyer for the sale of goods, services, or both.

Sales forecast A key input to a firm's financial planning process. External sales forecasts are based on historical experience, statistical analysis, and consideration of various macroeconomic factors.

Sales literature Material written by an institution selling a product, which informs potential buyers of the product and its benefits.

Sales load See: Sales charge

Sales tax A percentage tax on the selling price of goods and services.

Sales-type lease The leasing out of a firm's own equipment, such as a printing company leasing its own presses, thereby competing with an independent leasing company.

Sallie Mae See: Student Loan Marketing Association

Salomon Brothers World Equity Index (SBWEI) A top-down, float capitalization-weighted index used to measure the performance of fixed-income and equity markets. It includes approximately 6000 companies in 22 countries.

Salomon Brothers Non-U.S. Dollar World Government Bond Index A benchmark index that includes institutionally traded bonds other than U.S. issues that have a fixed rate and a remaining maturity of one year or longer.

Salvage value Scrap value of plant and equipment.

Same-Day Funds Settlement (SDFS) A method of settlement used in trading between well-collateralized parties in good-the-same-day federal funds used by the Depository Trust Company for transactions in US government securities, short-term municipal notes, medium-term commercial paper notes, CMOs, and other instruments.

Same-day substitution Offsetting changes in a margin account during the day that result in no overall change in the balance of the account.

Samurai bond A yen-denominated bond issued in Tokyo by a non-Japanese borrower. Related: Bulldog bond and Yankee bond.

Samurai market The foreign market in Japan.

Santa Claus Rally Seasonal rise in stock prices in the last week of the calendar year, between Christmas and New Year's Day.

Sao Paulo Stock Exchange See: Bolsa de Valores de Sao Paulo

S&P Standard & Poor's Corporation.

S&P 500 Composite Index Index of 500 widely held common stocks that measures the general performance of the market.

S&P phenomenon Tendency of stocks newly added to the S&P composite index to rise in price due to a large number of buy orders as S&P-related index funds add the stock to their portfolios.

S&P Rating Rating service provided by S&P that indicates the amount of risk involved with different securities.

Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 Legislation passed largely as a result of a number of accounting scandals. Among the many features is the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. This board is charged to: The Board shall: 1) register public accounting firms; 2) establish, or adopt, by rule, auditing, quality control, ethics, independence, and other standards relating to the preparation of audit reports for issuers; (3) conduct inspections of accounting firms; (4) conduct investigations and disciplinary proceedings, and impose appropriate sanctions; (5) perform such other duties or functions as necessary or appropriate; (6) enforce compliance with the Act, the rules of the Board, professional standards, and the securities laws relating to the preparation and issuance of audit reports and the obligations and liabilities of accountants with respect thereto; (7) set the budget and manage the operations of the Board and the staff of the Board.

Saturday night special Often used in risk arbitrage. Sudden attempt by one company to take over another by making a public tender offer.

Saucer Technical chart pattern depicting a security whose price has reached bottom and is moving up.

Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) A government organization that replaced the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation as the provider of deposit insurance for thrift institutions.

Savings bank An institution that primarily accepts consumer savings deposits and to make home mortgage loans.

Savings bond A government bond issued in face value denominations from $50 to $10,000, with local and state tax-free interest and semiannually adjusted interest rates.

Savings deposits Accounts that pay interest, typically at below-market interest rates, that do not have a specific maturity, and that usually can be withdrawn upon demand.

Savings element Used in the context of life insurance, the cash value built up in a policy, which equals the amount of premium paid minus the cost of protection. This excess is invested by the insurance company, and the returns are tax-deferred inside the policy.

Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) 401(k) plan A tax-deferred retirement savings plan similar to a conventional 401(k) plan, redesigned with specific rules to meet the needs of small employers. The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 created these plans for companies with fewer than 100 employees. An employee's contributions are indexed for inflation, and employers must make annual annual matching contributions.

Savings and loan association National- or state-chartered institution that accepts savings deposits and invests the bulk of the funds thus received in mortgages.

Savings rate Personal savings as a percentage of disposable personal income.

Scale Payment of different rates of interest on CDs of varying maturities. A bank is said to "post a scale." Commercial paper dealers also post scales.

Scale-enhancing Describes a project that is in the same risk class as the whole firm. That is, the project allows the firm to grow larger in the context of their current business rather than diversify into new businesses.

Scale in Gradually taking a position in a security or market over time.

Scale order Order to buy (sell) a security that specifies the total amount to be bought (sold) and the amount to be bought (sold) at successively decreasing (increasing) price intervals; often placed in order to average the price.

Scaling How the characteristics of an object change as you change the size of your measuring device. For a three dimensional object, it could be the volume of an object covered as you increase the radius of a covering sphere. In a times series, it could be the change in the amplitude of the time series as you increase the increment of time.

Scalp To trade for small gains. Scalping normally involves establishing and liquidating a position quickly, usually within the same day.

Scalping Buying up the good IPOs.

Scattered Used for listed equity securities. Unconcentrated buy or sell interest.

Scenario analysis The use of horizon analysis to project total returns under different reinvestment rates and future market yields.

Schedule C Describes membership requirements and procedures of NASD, in its bylaws.

Schedule 13d Disclosure form required when more than 5% of any class of equity securities in a publicly held corporation is purchased.

Scheduled cash flows The mortgage principal and interest payments due to be paid under the terms of the mortgage, not including possible prepayments.

Scorched-earth policy Often used in risk arbitrage. Any technique a company that has become the target of a takeover attempt uses to make itself unattractive to the acquirer. For example, it may agree to sell off its crown jewels, or schedule all debt to become due immediately after a merger.

S Corporation A corporation that elects not to be taxed as a corporation. That is, the corporation does not directly pay federal income tax on its earnings. Similar to a partnership, it passes its income or losses and other tax items on to its shareholders.

Screen stocks To analyze various stocks in search of stocks that meet predetermined criteria. For example, a simple value screen would sort all stocks by their price-to-book ratio and pick the stocks with the lowest ratios as candidates for the value portfolio.

Scrip A temporary document that represents a portion of a share of stock, often issued after a stock split or spin-off.

Scripophily Collecting stock and bond certificates for their scarcity, rather than for their value as securities.

Search costs Costs associated with locating a counterparty to a trade, including explicit costs (such as advertising) and implicit costs (such as the value of time). Related: Information costs.

Seasonally adjusted Mathematically adjusted by moderating a macroeconomic indicator (e.g., oil prices/imports) so that relative comparisons can be drawn from month to month all year.

Seasoned In the case of equity, having gained a reputation for quality with the investing public and enjoying liquidity in the secondary market; in the case of convertibles, having traded for at least 90 days after issue in Europe, and thus available for sale legally to U.S. investors.

Seasoned datings Extended credit for customers who order goods in periods other than peak seasons.

Seasoned issue Issue of a security for which there is an existing market. Related: Unseasoned issue.

Seasoned new issue A new issue of stock after the comp