Keep Straight Flashcards
During the first year of an oil and gas drilling program what will generate the largest deduction?
Intangible drilling costs (because they are expensed that year and not spread out over a period of years)
As it relates to member firms distributing their own securities, what does Control mean?
Is considered having ownership of 10% or more of the common or preferred equity or subordinated debt of another entity or having a right to 10% or more of the profits or losses of a partnership.
How long do forward trades take to settle?
T+>2
What is a combination?
An option position in which an investor either purchases (is long) a call and a put contract or sells (is short) a call and put contract with different expiration months and/or different strike prices.
What is Rule 144A?
An exemption to the holding period and volume restrictions of Rule 144 for qualified institutional buyers.
Which of the following trade T+3?
- Cash Trades
- Corporate Securities
- Municipal Securities
- US Government Securities
- Option Trades
2 and 3 - Corporate and Municipal Securities.
What is Rule 144?
A regulation that provides for the sale of restricted stock and control stock. Filing with the SEC is required prior to selling restricted and control stock. The number of shares that may be sold is limited?
What is an accredited investor?
Includes any of the following:
- Financial institutions (banks), a large tax-exempt plans, or private business development companies
- Directors, executive officers, or general partners of the issuers
- Individuals who have a net worth of $1,000,000 or have a cross income of at least $200k ($300k combined with spouse) for each of the past two years with the anticipation that this level of income will continue.
What are authorized shares?
- At the time of incorporation, a company is authorized to issue a certain number of shares.
- Although the original number of shares is arbitrary, it may only be change by a majority vote of the stockholders and by revising the corporate charter.
During the cooling off period, underwriters are permitted to do what? 3
- Discuss the issue
- Provide the red herring to potential purchasers
- Record the names of persons providing an indication of interest
What happens when a customer fails to pay for securities by payment date?
- The account is frozen for 90 days.
- Before the customer may buy additional securities, the customer must deposit the full purchase price of the securities in the account. (Reg T requirement)
What are issued shares?
The amount of stock that is actually been sold by the corporation. Any shares that have not been sold or distributed are referred to as unissued shares.
If a client redeems his mutual fund shares, the fund company must send the payment within how many days?
7 days.
What are the rights of a shareholder? 5
- Right to Evidence of Ownership
- Right of Transfer
- Right of Inspection
- Right to Vote
- Right to Receive Dividends
In a new issue of muni bonds, the syndicate manager will fill orders in which of the following priorities?
- Pre-Sale
- Group Net
- Net Designated
- Member
What is best efforts all-or-none underwriting?
The underwriters act as agents for the issuer and attempt to sell as much of the offering as possible. If the entire issue is not sold, all sales that were made must be canceled and the money returned to the subscribers.
What are the characteristics of long-term brokered CDs? 5
- Not considered Highly liquid (no active secondary market)
- Subject to interest-rate risk
- May be callable
- May have features such as floating rates
- FDIC insurance may not apply to long-term CDs sold by BDs if the face amount exceeds $250k.
What are Certificates of Participation (COP)?
Lease financing agreements which are typically issued in the form of tax-exempt or municipal revenue bonds.
What are the three phases of the registration process for securities?
- The preregistration period
- The (20-day) cooling-off (waiting) period
- The post-effective period.
F a long margin position, the customer’s minimum required deposit is what? (Think $, not %)
The lesser of:
- $2,000 or
- 100% of the purchase price
- Exercise prices for the Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swiss Franc, and Euro option contracts are stated in what?
- Japanese yen option contracts are stated in what?
- Cents per unit
2. Hundreths of a cent per unit.
For an investor who holds stock in a company that is subject of a tender offer may tender what?
- Only stock that he holds long.
- If a shareholder has written call option positions against the long stock, the options positions will reduce his net long holding in the stock.
What are the three stages or money laundering?
Placement
Layering
Integration
According to corporate dividend exclusion, corporations may exclude from taxation what?
70% of eligible dividends received from investments in stock of other corporations.
Listed equity options cease trading at what time during the day?
4 pm Eastern
What is the political contribution limited for a municipal finance professional?
$250
Transfers from one brokerage account to another of shares are done by what method?
ACATS - Automated Customer Account Transfer Service.
What does Rule 144 state in regards to unregistered (restricted) stock?
An affiliated person must hold unregistered stock for at least six months before it may be sold.
What is best-efforts underwriting?
When underwriters agree to sell as much of the new offering as they are able to, with the stipulation that they can return any unsold securities to the issuer.
-Acting as agent for the issuers.
Technically speaking, when does the Reg T 50% initial requirement really apply?
For initial deposits are greater than $4,000 (or lmv?)
FINRA focuses on the suitability of annuity transactions when?
- In the purchase of new contracts
- Exchanges
- Allocations of funds to the subaccounts products within the annuity.
What are short sellers required to do when they are short a stock that issues a dividend?
They must pay the lender the dividend. That is true even if the dividend is a stock dividend. They have to return the borrowed shares plus the newly issued shares from the stock dividend
Who is permitted to participate in a rights offering?
Only common stockholders.
What is the initial margin requirement % for short accounts?
50%
What is bankers’ acceptances?
A money-market instrument used to finance international and domestic trade. It is a check drawn on a bank by an importer or exporter of goods representing the bank’s unconditional promise to pay the face amount of the note at maturity.
If an investor believes interest rates will decrease they should do what with yield-based options?
- Buy yield-based puts or
- Sell yield-based calls
The options for which six currencies are the primary focus of the series 7?
- Austrailian Dollar
- British Pound
- Canadian Dollar
- Euro
- Swiss Franc
- Japanese Yen
What does the AMBAC do?
Insured new municipal bond issues.
What is statutory voting?
A method of voting for members of the board of directors of a corporation. Under this method, a shareholder receives one vote for each share and may cast those votes for each of the directorships.
Which type of bonds are quoted using 32nds?
T-Bonds, T-Notes
How do you determine the yield of a yield based option?
The strike price is divided by 10
What is the private placement disclosure document?
Offering Memorandum
Some non-equity options use what style exercise?
European
What is an unsponsored ADR? 3
- Company does not pay for the cost associated with trading in the US
- A depository bank issues the ADR
- Trade in the OTC market and usually quoted on the OTC Link
During periods of deflation, which investments tends to perform best?
During deflationary periods, interest rates and the price of goods will be declining, which generally has a negative impact on the stock market. The consumer price index (CPI), to which the principal on TIPS is linked, declines in value during periods of deflation resulting in decreasing principal on TIPS. The fixed interest on TIPS would also decline. Bonds perform better when interest rates decrease, with long-term debt appreciating more than short-term debt. Long-term zeros would tend to perform best during deflationary periods.
What is the spot rate?
The current market price for the cash currency.
All listed equity options use what style exercise?
American
A brokerage firm must buy in securities within how many days if a customer has failed to deliver the securities that were previously sold?
10 business days from settlement.
The underwriting spread is made up of what three parts?
- Manager’s Fee
- Member’s Underwriter’s Fee
- Concession
What is the minimum maintenance requirement % for a short position?
30%
Loans against a cash value policy do what to the cash value?
Reduce the cash value available.
Assuming normal market conditions, what is the order of the different types of preferred stock listed from the most valuable to least valuable?
- Cumulative
- Participating
- Convertible
- Noncumulative
What type of POA is required for a third party to do Not-Held Orders (for one day)?
None
The VIX is often considered to be a gauge of what?
Investors’ sentiments or fears of expected stock market volatility over the next 30 days. The VIX will typically move inversely to the S&P Index.
When is a dividend taxed at a maximum rate of 20%?
Dividends paid on stock held by individuals for more than 60 days during the 120-day period beginning 60 days before the ex-dividend date are taxed at a maximum rate of 20%
What is the 5% Markup Policy and when does it apply?
- A guideline used when determining the price that a BD charges a customer or pays a customer for securities.
- It applies when a member firm acts as a dealer in a transaction with a customer.
- Does not apply when a security is being issued with a prospectus or for municipal securities.
When is the expiration date for listed equity options?
The third Friday of the expiration month at 11:59 pm Eastern.
When a customer wants to transfer part or all of the assets of her brokerage account to another firm, they must complete what?
The Transfer Initiation Form (TIF)
While equity options use a multiplier of 100 shares, currency options use the multiplier of what?
$100
A high put/call ratio would most likely be associated with what?
It is a contrarian indicator so the higher the ratio, the more oversold the market and the higher the probability that the market will reverse course and turn bullish.
Customer payment date is NOT regulated by Reg T for what types of securities/trades? 2
- Municipal Securities
2. US Govt Securities
What factors affect the supply or demand of a country’s currency that play a major role in establishing its spot rate? 7
- Demand for a country’s products and/or raw material.
- A country’s balance of payments
- The level of affluence of a country’s population
- The level of foreign investment by the country
- Government monetary and fiscal policy
- Direct Government Intervention
- Prevailing Interest Rates
IRS rules allow for the reallocation of investments in a 529 plan to be made how often?
Twice per year
What is Standard and Poor’s best and worst rating for notes?
Best - SP-1
Worst - SP-3
What is a spread? (option)
The purchase and sale of puts or calls on the same underlying security with different expirations and/or strike prices.
Interest from what type of financial instrument is only tax exempt at the federal level?
Out of state munis
A person maintains an IRA account and has contributed both pretax and after-tax dollars. Withdrawals from this account will be treated as what?
A portion will be taxable as ordinary income and the after-tax dollar portion will be tax-free.
Which of the following trade T+1?
- Cash Trades
- Corporate Securities
- Municipal Securities
- US Government Securities
- Option Trades
4 and 5 - US Government Securities and Option Trades
When a stock sells ex-rights (similar to ex-dividend), the designated market maker will reduce which orders on his book? 3
Those that were entered below the market:
- Buy limit order
- Sell stop order
- Sell stop-limit orders
What is a straddle?
- An option position in which the investor purchased or sells a call option and a put option on the same underlying stock.
- The expiration month and exercise price of each contract must be the same.
Index options may be used to assisting in reducing what two specific risks that are associated with investing in equity securities?
- The risk associated with the specific industry in which a corporation operates
- The risk associated with how a specific corporation will react to trends in the stock market.
What is a Presale Order?
An order placed for a municipal new issue with a syndicate prior to the time the syndicate actually wins the issue.
What are special assessment bonds?
Revenue bonds that are backed by assessments that are made on those who directly benefit from the facilities.
There is a halt in the trading of a security that underlies option contracts. Who makes the decision to stop trading the option contracts?
Officials of the exchange on which the options trade.