| Allotment | The allocation of new securities to an applicant for a new issue. |
| Annual General Meeting | Mandatory yearly meeting of a company for the purposes of receiving the directors' report and statement of accounts for the year, declaring a dividend, electing directors and auditors and determining the auditors' remuneration. |
| Annual Report & Accounts | A document to be forwarded to shareholders by the directors of a company on an annual basis which contains, amongst others, the annual audited accounts of the company. |
| Arbitrage | Buying on one exchange and selling on another at virtually the same moment to take advantage of a price variation in a company's shares listed on the two exchanges. |
| Articles of Association | The documents of a company that govern the management and administration of that company. |
| Asset Backing | A handy yardstick for shareholders. It is the net assets of a company (assets less liabilities) divided by the number of shares. |
| At Discretion | An instruction given by a client to his broker, for the broker to buy or sell a stock at his (the broker's) discretion. |
| At Limit | An order placed which sets a limit on either the lowest or highest price, for which a share is bought or sold. |
| At Market (also At Best) | An instruction to buy or sell at market price. Allows the broker/dealer complete freedom of action. Should be treated with caution and used only when a share must be sold. |
| Authorised Capital | The nominal amount of capital that a limited company is permitted to raise under the capital clause in its Memorandum of Association. |
| Averaging | Buying more of the same shares, generally on a falling market, to lower the average cost per share. (Can also average up, thereby raising the average cost per share). |