Please browse our alphabetized list of financial acronyms. If you don't find the acronym you're looking for, you may want to try searching Google by typing in the acronym plus "stands for." So, for instance, if you wanted to know the meaning of CUSIP, you'd type in "CUSIP stands for." This simple phrasing has turned up many hard to find acronyms that are now categorized on this web site.
ADR - American Depository Receipt
AIG - American International Group
AIR - Assumed Interest Rate
AMEX - American Express (credit card)
APR - Annual Percentage Rate
ARM - Adjustable Rate Mortgage
ATM - Automated Teller Machine
BWIC - Bid Wanted In Competition
BTFD - Buy The F*cking Dip
CB - Carte Blanche (as in Diner's Club Carte Blanche credit card)
CBD - Commerce Business Daily
CD - Certificate of Deposit
CDSC - Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
CFP - Certified Financial Planner
CMO - Collateralized Mortgage Obligation
CUSIP - Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures
DB - Defined Benefit (retirement plan; for example, a pension)
DC - Defined Contribution (retirement plan; for example, a 401(k) plan)
DCA - Dollar Cost Averaging
DR - The Daily Reckoning
DTCC - Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
EFT - Electronic Funds Transfer
EPS - Earnings Per Share
ERISA - Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
ETF - Exchange Traded Funds
FASB - Financial Accounting Standards Board
FDIC - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FIFO - First In, First Out
FOMC - Federal Open Market Committee
FOREX - Foreign Exchange
FRB - Federal Reserve Board
GDP - Gross Domestic Product
GL - General Ledger
GNP - Gross National Product
GO - General Obligation Bond
GUDD - Gold Up, Dollar Down
IA - Investment Adviser
IBD - Investors Business Daily
IFS - Infiniti Financial Services
IMF - International Monetary Fund
ING - Internationale Nederlanden Group (a financial company)
IOU - I Owe You
IPO - Initial Public Offering
IRA - Individual Retirement Account
IVA - Individual Voluntary Arrangements
JTWROS - Joint Tenants With Rights of Survivorship
LOI - Letter Of Intent
MMKT - Money Market
MPT - Modern Portfolio Theory
MSI - Multiple Streams of Income
NASD - National Association of Securities Dealers
NASDAQ - National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (system)
NAV - Net Asset Value
NL - No Load
NMAC - Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation
NYSE - New York Stock Exchange
OPM - Other People's Money
OSJ - Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction
OTC - Over the Counter
PBGC - The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
PE - Price to Earnings (Ratio)
PIIGS - Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain
PMI - Private Mortgage Insurance
POP - Public Offering Price
PPT - Plunge Protection Team (an unknown buyer who "makes the market" during sharp downturns)
PSP - Profit Sharing Plan
REIT - Real Estate Investment Trust
ROE - Return on Equity
ROI - Return on Investment
RR - Registered Representative
S&P - Standard & Poor's
SAI - Statement of Additional Information
SEC - Securities Exchange Commission
SEP - Simplified Employee Pension
SEQUINS - Select Equity Indexed Notes
SIPC - Securities Investor Protection Corporation
SRO - Self-Regulatory Organization
STC - Securities Training Corporation
TSA - Tax-Sheltered Annuity
UGMA - Uniform Gifts To Minors Act
UTMA - Uniform Transfers To Minors Act
WAC - With Approved Credit
WSJ - Wall Street Journal
YTM - Yield To Maturity