CHINESE WALL Policy
of a brokerage firm which prohibits confidential information from being
passed to one area of the firm to another. For example, the firms merger
and acquisition department may know of an upcoming takeover however that
information may not be shared with the trading department, which would
benefit.
CIRCUIT BREAKERS The
practice of a stock exchange to impose trading restrictions when prices
go up or down by a specified amount. These were imposed in the wake of
the 1987 stock market crash. There are various forms such as trading halts,
suspension of automated trading and limits on indexes.
CONTRARIAN An
investor who believes that the opposite will happen when virtually all
others believe something to be true. For example when a stock is beaten
down because of a perception of a future event the contrarian will buy.
CYCLICAL STOCKS Stocks
that tend to move with health of the overall economy. These are usually
homebuilders, autos and leisure goods. Non-cyclical stocks would be food
companies, pharmaceuticals and insurance companies because there is always
demand regardless of the economy.