Financial Glossary

Search for definitions of important investment concepts, tax forms, and options strategies.

1

1042-S

IRS form issued to foreign investors showing US-source income and taxes withheld

A

Assignment

The obligation to buy (put) or sell (call) shares when an options contract is exercised

C

Cash-Secured Put (CSP)

Selling a put option while holding enough cash to buy the shares if assigned

Covered Call (CC)

Selling a call option on shares you already own

D

Delta

The rate of change in an option's price relative to a $1 move in the underlying

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)

Investing a fixed amount at regular intervals regardless of price

DTE

Days To Expiration, the number of days remaining until an options contract expires

F

Foreign Tax Credit

A tax credit for taxes paid to a foreign government, reducing home country tax liability

I

Iron Condor

An options strategy selling both an OTM put spread and OTM call spread simultaneously

IV Percentile (IVP)

The percentage of days in the past year where IV was lower than today

IV Rank (IVR)

A measure of where current implied volatility sits relative to its 52-week range (0-100)

P

PFIC

Passive Foreign Investment Company, a US tax classification relevant to international investors

R

Return of Capital (ROC)

A distribution that returns part of your original investment rather than income

T

The 4% Rule

A retirement guideline suggesting withdrawing 4% of portfolio value annually

The Wheel Strategy

A cyclic options income strategy combining cash-secured puts and covered calls

Theta Decay

The daily erosion of an option's time value as expiration approaches

TQQQ

ProShares UltraPro QQQ, a 3x leveraged ETF tracking the Nasdaq-100

V

VIX

CBOE Volatility Index, a real-time measure of S&P 500 implied volatility

Volatility Decay

The structural drag on leveraged ETF returns caused by daily rebalancing in volatile markets

W

W-8BEN

IRS form certifying foreign investor status, required to claim reduced dividend withholding rates