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The average yield on corporate bonds rated Aaa by Moody's Investors Service. Bonds that are rated Aaa are judged to be of the best quality.

Amount owed for goods and services that have been bought, and payment is due within the next 12 months. This item can be found on a company's balance sheet.

Amount to be received for providing goods or services. Payment is due within the next 12 months. This item can be found on a company's balance sheet.

An expense recognized in the books before it is paid for

The total amount charged to reflect the aging of property, plant, and equipment owned by a company over the course of multiple accounting periods.

The Action Bar refers to the section of the new Company Profile that includes the Industry Rank, as well as the notifications for Alerts, Watchlists, and Notepad.  The classic Value Line PDF Reports can also be accessed from the Action Bar.

Active funds are run by a manager and look to outperform. Passive funds track an index and are usually cheaper.

When there is a stock split or stock dividend, the exchanges adjust the strike prices to reflect the change. Usually, if the split is 2 for 1, the strike price is cut in half and the number of contracts in the subscribers’ account is doubled with the number of shares per contract remaining at 100. However, for some other splits, the number of shares per contract and the strike price are both changed. For example, when there is a 3-for-2 split, the exchanges can change the strike prices (e.g., from $60 to $40) and the number of shares per contract (from 100 to 150). Sometimes, when there is a spin-off, the option will be exercisable into a composite of more than one stock (and sometimes some cash).  

See Corporate Profits.

A non-cash credit to income consisting of equity and debt components. This non-cash income results from construction work in progress and is expected to be converted into cash income at a future date.

Premium related balances due from policyholders

Percentage of net profits paid out as dividends, excluding special dividends

A non cash credit to income consisting of equity and debt components. This non cash income results from construction work in progress and is expected to be converted into cash income at a future date.

Allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC) as a percentage of net profit

The excess return above an asset's required rate of return. Also known as the risk-adjusted return.

A negotiable certificate issued by a U.S. bank representing a specified number of shares (or one share) in a foreign stock that is traded on a U.S. exchange.

A market-capitalization weighted index of the prices of the stocks traded on the American Stock Exchange.

An American-style option is exercisable at any time until expiration. All U.S. exchange traded equity options are American-style.  Options that are exercisable only at expiration are know as European-Style.  Some index options, including the SPX (S&P 500) and the NDX (NASDAQ 100) are European-Style. 

An accounting method that reduces the value of an intangible asset on a regular basis over time

Analyst Adjusted Assets Under Management Growth over Trailing 10 Year Period

Analyst Adjusted Assets Under Management Growth over Trailing 5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted rate of book value growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of book value growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of cash flow growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of cash flow growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Distributions Growth over Trailing 10 Year Period

Analyst Adjusted Distributions Growth over Trailing 5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted rate of dividends growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of dividends growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of earnings growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of earnings growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of investment income growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of investment income growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Loan Income Growth over Trailing 10 Year Period

Analyst Adjusted Loan Income Growth over Trailing 5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted rate of loans growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of loans growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of mortgage loans growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of mortgage loans growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of net operating revenues growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of net operating revenues growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Net Revenue Growth over Trailing 10 Year Period

Analyst Adjusted Net Revenue Growth over Trailing 5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted rate of premium income growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of premium income growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Projected Assets Under Management Growth over 3-5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted projected rate of book value growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted projected rate of cash flow growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Projected Distributions Growth over 3-5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted projected rate of dividends growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted projected rate of earnings growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted projected rate of investment income growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Projected Loan Income Growth over 3-5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted projected rate of loans growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted projected rate of mortgage loans growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted projected rate of net operating revenues growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Projected Net Revenue Growth over 3-5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted projected rate of premium income growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted projected rate of revenues growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

Projected rate of sales growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted projected rate of savings deposits growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

Projected rate of total assets growth over 3-5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Projected Total Revenue Growth over 3-5 Year Period

The analyst adjusted rate of revenues growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of revenues growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

Rate of sales growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

Rate of sales growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of savings deposits growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

The analyst adjusted rate of savings deposits growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

Rate of total assets growth over trailing 10 years as of latest fiscal year

Rate of total assets growth over trailing 5 years as of latest fiscal year

Analyst Adjusted Total Revenue Growth over Trailing 10 Year Period

Analyst Adjusted Total Revenue Growth over Trailing 5 Year Period

An approximate 350-word report on each company in Ratings & Reports that discusses recent developments, and evaluates a company's prospects and its corresponding stock.

An approximate 350-word report on each company page in Ratings & Reports on recent developments and prospects issued every three months on a preset schedule.

Annual change for the Dow Jones Industrial Average for a given year

The annual change from year end to year end in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, expressed as a percentage.

Annual percentage change in a fund's net asset value for a given year

The change in percentage terms of the net asset value per share at the end of any given year from what it was at the end of the preceding year, adjusted for any capital gains distributions made during the year.

Compound yearly rates of change of per-share sales, cash flow, earnings, dividends, and book value, or other industry-specific, per-share figures, over the past 10 years and five years and estimated for the coming three to five years. Historical rates of change are computed from the average figures for a past three-year period to the most recent actual three-year period. Forecasted rates of change are computed from the average figure for the most recent three-year period to an average for a future three-year period. If data for a three-year period are not available, a two- or one-year base may be used.

A compound yearly return to shareholders that includes both stock price appreciation and dividend returns.

The expected percentage gain (capital appreciation plus dividends) that an investor would achieve per year by purchasing and holding a particular stock.

A form of contract sold by life insurance companies that guarantees a fixed or variable payment at some future time.

An API—short for “application programming interface”—is a system that allows different computers or different pieces of software to communicate. In the same way that a program’s graphical user interface—its various icons, buttons, and windows—allows a human user to interact with it, an API allows programs to interact with each other. In modern parlance, the term API most frequently refers to a web API. Web APIs allow websites to interact with each other, allowing for, among other things, the embedding of content from one site on another site, such as a Tweet inserted into a news article on a separate website. Web APIs are ubiquitous. Every major website in the world offers its own API.

A computer program or piece of software that is designed to fulfill a particular purpose. App is short for Application.

The percentage difference between the recent stock price and the mid point of the 3- 5-year Target Price Range.

Items to be averaged are added and their sum is divided by the number of items. The result is an arithmetic, or simple, average (or mean).

At its most basic, an artificial intelligence is a system that seeks to simulate human cognitive functions such as learning and problem solving. While more traditional forms of software produce specified outputs in response to predetermined inputs—such as Microsoft Word producing the letter ‘M’ when you hit the ‘M’ key on your keyboard—artificially intelligent programs attempt to make inferences from sets of previously processed data in order to determine correct responses to novel situations; this is known as MACHINE LEARNING, and is the most commonly used method of creating artificially intelligent programs. It is worth noting that, unlike the technology’s common portrayals in media, most AI is designed to perform only a narrow set of tasks, such as recognizing faces or playing one particular game. This is what’s called weak AI; a software that seeks to replicate or improve upon the full breadth of human mental capabilities is called strong AI, or “artificial general intelligence,” and currently remains more a matter of theory than practice.

It is also worth noting that, despite being much faster and more accurate than humans in many tasks, AI systems are neither infallible nor incapable of bias. This is because although AI seeks to adapt responses to novel inputs without need of a human operator, its ability to do so is limited by the quality of the data on which it was initially trained. If that data is biased or flawed, any AI trained on it will go on to replicate those flaws in the inferences it makes from that data.

In short, while simple software takes a limited input, like a keystroke, and produces a predictable response, artificially intelligent software takes a large, highly complex input—its initial training data—and uses it to infer open-ended responses to situations, with the quality of the responses being dependent on the quality of the input. The current and potential applications of artificial intelligence are too numerous to list, and include such diverse areas as speech recognition (see NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING) and the development of self-driving cars (see ROBOT).

This is the price at which the market is willing to sell the option. The ask price (also known as the “offer” price) is always higher than the bid price, which is the price at which the market maker will buy the option. 

An indicator of problem loans and other assets relative to total assets. A bank with good asset quality, for example, has a lower percentage of problem loans than the average bank.

We have all ETFs broken down into one of six asset types; Alternative (multi-asset, specific strategy), Balanced (Target Date, Target Outcome), Commodities (natural resources), currencies (dollar, euro, yen, etc.), Equities (stocks), Fixed Income (bonds), Volatility (products tracking volatility-linked indexes).

The total common equity, with securities valued at market, rather than cost, divided by the number of shares outstanding.

The total common equity at year end, with securities valued at market, rather than cost, divided by the number of shares outstanding at year end.

For a corporation, the total of current assets (normally cash and short-term investments, inventories, and receivables) and long-term assets (normally including property and equipment and good will).

The market value of assets that an investment company oversees on behalf of its clients.

The market value of assets that an investment company oversees on behalf of its clients.

The market value of assets that an investment company oversees on behalf of its clients, on a per share basis.

The market value of assets that an investment company oversees on behalf of its clients, on a per unit basis.

Total investment company assets at market value, including stocks, bonds, government securities, and cash, at year end.

This means at the prevailing bid (if a seller or a writer) or offer (if a buyer) price.  

The striking price of an option equals the market price of the underlying stock or index price. 

Augmented reality, not to be confused with VIRTUAL REALITY, refers to the imposition of a digital overlay on top of a person’s physical environment in real time in order to provide information, allow access to digital tools, or even to add virtual (computer-generated) objects that are not really there. Augmented reality can be accessed using specialized equipment, such as a headset, or simpler tools such as the camera and screen of a smartphone. Augmented reality often relies on advanced IMAGE RECOGNITION in order to identify objects in the displayed environment, which it can then digitally enhance or provide information about.  Some video games allow players to wear special headsets so they experience a game as if they were physically there, such as soldiers fighting. Because of the potential for seamless integration into everyday life, the range of possible applications for augmented reality is nearly limitless.

All exchange-traded options held by retail investors are automatically exercised at expiration if they are so much as $0.01 in-the-money.

A measure of the airline seating capacity available for sale. Each ASM is one seat flown one mile.

Dividends declared per share for a year divided by the average annual price of the stock in the same year, expressed as a percentage.

The average price of the stock for the year divided by earnings per share (excluding nonrecurring items, as determined by Value Line) reported by the company for the year. In the case of fiscal-year companies, all data are for the fiscal year. (See also Price/Earnings ratio.)

Is calculated by dividing the average price for a year with the actual reported earnings for that year and is shown in the Statistical Array.

The average price of the stock for the year divided by earnings per share (excluding nonrecurring items, as determined by Value Line) reported by the company for the year. In the case of fiscal-year companies, all data are for the fiscal year. (See also Price/Earnings ratio.) 

Average annual price divided by funds from operations (FFO) for REITs

Average fiscal P/E of the stock relative to the median P/E of all stocks under Value Line's review

The average of all common shares outstanding.

The average of all common shares outstanding, including securities that could be converted into common stock.

The average annual industrial revenues per kilowatt hour (KWH) - in cents, includes two decimal places, for Electric Utilities as stated in the Electric Operating Statistics

The average annual industrial use, per megawatt hour (MWH), for Electric Utilities as stated in the Electric Operating Statistics

Average interest paid

The interest paid during the year divided by the average debt outstanding.

The sum of the 52 Tuesday closing prices for the year divided by 52.

Average trading volume for the last 2 weeks.

Average trading volume for the last 3 months.

Average trading volume for the last 6 months.

Average trading volume for the last 30 days.

Average trading volume for the last year

Average estimated yield for the next 12 months of all dividend paying stocks in the 3500 stock universe