| Earnings | |
| revenues minus cost of sales, operating expenses and taxes, over a given period of time. | |
| Earnings-per-share (EPS) | |
| The EPS figure gives a good indication of a company's profitability and is calculated by dividing the company's net income by its number of shares. For example, if a company has a net income of £100 million and has 500 million shares in issue, the EPS stands at 20p. Using EPS figures to compare the profitability of a range of companies is better than looking at their dividends because some companies may decide to hold back profits to build up the business (and increase the share value), rather than distribute them as dividends to shareholders. | |
| Economic indicators | |
| statistical data showing general trends in the economy. | |
| EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) | |
| an EFT or is required for margin calls of £10,000.00 or more. | |
| Electronic Trading | |
| trading via computer through an automated, order entry and matching system. GLOBEX which trades 24 hours S&P, DOW and NASDAQ 100 futures is an example of an international electronic trading system. | |
| Elliot wave theory | |
| a type of technical analysis that studies price wave sequences based on the theories of Ralph Nelson Elliot. A relatively complex study, the basic theory is based on markets form waves, 5 waves in the general direction of the main trend and 3 in the opposite direction. | |
| Enterprise value (EV) multiples | |
| The EV is determined by adding debts to and subtracting cash from a company's market capitalisation to find out what it would cost to acquire the company. This figure is then divided by sales, profits and other performance metrics and is designed to make it easier to compare companies from different industries and geographies. | |
| Equities | |
| Ordinary shares as distinct from debenture and loan stock. If the company does badly the dividend to ordinary shareholders is the first to be cut, but if the company does well the ordinary shareholder can expect to receive an increased dividend. The ordinary shareholder takes the greater risk in the expectation of receiving the greater reward. | |
| ETFs | |
| ETFs stands for Exchange Traded Funds which are shares on different sectors within the stock market. You can place a spread bet on an ETF share or sector bet (albeit not with all providers) - although sector bets are more common in the UK as UK ETFs on the London Stock Exchange lack liquidity. | |
| Euribor | |
| Aka as 3 month money or short rates - this is the 3 month European interest rates. | |
| Eurodollar | |
| 3 month US interest rates, sometimes also referred to as 3 month money or short rates. | |
| Euronext.LIFFE | |
| international derivatives business of Euronext, made up of the Amsterdam, Brussels, LIFFE, Lisbon and Paris derivatives markets. | |
| EuroStoxx 50 | |
| This consists of the 50 main European stocks, denominated in Euros. For this reason London, Swedish and Swiss shares are therefore not included. | |
| EuroSwiss | |
| 3 month Swiss interest rates sometimes referred to as 3 month money or short rates. | |
| Ex-dividend | |
| A share bought without the right to receive the next dividend which is retained by the seller. Purchases of shares made while a share is 'ex-dividend' are not be eligible for the most recent declared dividend. A share will theoretically fall by the value of the declared dividend on the ex-dividend date. | |
| Ex-rights | |
| A share bought ex-rights is not entitled to receive the rights issue previously attached to it. | |
| Ex-scrip | |
| A share bought ex-scrip excludes the rights to the scrip issue attached to it. | |
| Expire | |
| letting a futures contract or spread bet expire without closing the trade. The contract will be closed out and settled at the EDSP. | |
| Expiry date | |
| the date a spread bet ends. The trade is settled automatically on this date unless the trader closes the bet beforehand or instructs the spreadbetting company to roll the bet over to the next expiry date. | |
| Extraordinary general meeting | |
| A special meeting called to provide shareholders with an opportunity to consider some special decision or happening concerning the company. | |
| Extrinsic/time value | |
| that part of an option's price that is not accounted for by its intrinsic value. The extrinsic value of an option reflects the likelihood that the option will move into, or further into, the money before expiration. |