| Scalp: A trading strategy where an investor buys and sells a stock or other financial instrument quickly and repeatedly, in order to profit from small price movements. Scalping is considered a high-risk, high-reward strategy. |
| SEAQ (Stock Exchange Automation Quotation System): A system used by the London Stock Exchange for the trading of smaller, less liquid stocks. It allows market makers to quote both bid and offer prices for a stock and for traders to trade directly with them. |
| SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission): A U.S. government agency responsible for regulating securities markets and protecting investors. The SEC enforces federal securities laws and oversees the registration and reporting of public companies, brokerage firms, and investment advisers. |
| Sectors: A group of companies within a specific industry or market. Examples of sectors include technology, healthcare, finance, and energy. |
| Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR): A benchmark interest rate for overnight borrowing and lending transactions that are collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities, it is published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) and it's used to price floating-rate debt securities and derivatives. |
| Securities: Financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, and options that represent ownership in a company or a debt that is owed to an investor. Securities can be traded on securities exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. |
| Securities lending: The temporary transfer of securities from one party to another in exchange for cash or other securities. Securities lending is used to facilitate short selling and other trading strategies, and it is typically done by institutional investors such as mutual funds and pension funds. |
| SETS (Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Service): A system used by the London Stock Exchange for the trading of the most liquid and actively traded UK and international shares. It allows for an automatic matching of buy and sell orders at the best available price. |
| Share buyback: A process by which a company repurchases its own shares from the market, in order to reduce the number of shares outstanding and increase the value of the remaining shares. Share buybacks can be used as a way for companies to return value to shareholders. |
| Share price: The current price at which a share of stock can be bought or sold. Share price can be influenced by a variety of factors such as company performance, industry trends, and overall market conditions. |
| Shares: Units of ownership in a company. When a company issues shares, it is effectively selling a portion of itself to investors, who become shareholders and have a right to vote on certain matters related to the company. |
| Shares trading: The buying and selling of stocks in a stock market. |
| Shariah-compliant investing: Investment strategies that adhere to the principles of Islamic law, also known as Shariah law. |
| Short: A financial term that refers to the act of borrowing an asset, such as a stock, with the intention of selling it at a higher price and buying it back at a lower price to make a profit. |
| Short ETF: An ETF that aims to provide the opposite of the performance of the underlying index or benchmark it tracks. It is used to make short-term bets on market declines. |
| Short-selling: The practice of borrowing shares of a stock and selling them in the market with the expectation that the price will fall, allowing the investor to buy the shares back at a lower price and return them to the lender, pocketing the difference as profit. |
| Shortfall risk: The risk that an investment's return will not meet the desired or expected level. |
| Slippage: The difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is actually executed. |
| Smart order router: An electronic system that routes trading orders to the most advantageous market or exchange based on real-time market conditions, such as price and volume. |
| SNB: Swiss National Bank, the central bank of Switzerland. |
| Socially responsible investing: Investment strategies that take into consideration environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in addition to financial considerations. |
| Spot: A financial term referring to the current market price of an asset, such as a currency or commodity, as opposed to its forward or future price. |
| Spot price: The current market price of an asset, such as a currency or commodity, as opposed to its forward or future price. |
| Spread betting: A form of speculation that involves betting on the price movement of a financial market, such as a stock market index, without actually buying the underlying asset. |
| Spread: The difference between the bid and ask prices of a financial instrument, such as a currency pair or stock. |
| Stamp duty and SDRT (Stamp Duty Reserve Tax): A tax that is imposed on the transfer of ownership of certain securities, such as shares and bonds, in the UK. |
| Sterling Overnight Interbank Average rate (SONIA): A benchmark interest rate used to set the cost of overnight borrowing in the UK money markets, based on the average of the interest rates at which banks borrow sterling from one another. |
| STIBOR: Stockholm Interbank Offered Rate, is a reference rate, based on the average interest rate at which banks can borrow unsecured funds from other banks in the Swedish market. |
| Stock analysis: The process of evaluating a stock or a company's financial and operational performance, to determine its future potential and investment value. |
| Stock exchange: A marketplace where stocks and other securities are bought and sold, typically through a licensed and regulated organization. |
| Stock index: A measurement of a section of the stock market, typically consisting of a basket of stocks that are representative of a particular market or sector, used as a benchmark for measuring the performance of a portfolio of stocks or the overall market. |
| Stock market: A marketplace where stocks and other securities are bought and sold. The stock market is a place where investors can buy and sell shares of publicly traded companies. |
| Stock symbol: An abbreviation used to identify publicly traded companies and their stocks on a stock exchange, typically consisting of a combination of letters. |
| Stockbroking: The activity of buying and selling stocks and other securities on behalf of clients. |
| Stop order: A type of order to buy or sell a security at a specific price, or better, that becomes a market order when the specified price is reached. |
| Straddle: A strategy that involves buying a call option and a put option with the same strike price and expiration date. |
| Strike price: The price at which an option can be exercised. |
| Super-contango: A market condition where the futures price for a commodity is significantly higher than the expected future spot price. |
| Support level: A level at which a stock or other security's price tends to find support as it falls. |
| Synthetic replication: A method of replicating the returns of an index or other benchmark by using a combination of derivatives and other securities, rather than buying the underlying assets. |