-
OEIC (Open Ended Investment Company)
Corporate structure introduced in 1997. It is a form of collective investment vehicle
-
Offer for Sale
Method for a company to issue shares and come to the market for the first time. Anyone can apply for shares through the publicly available application forms.
-
Offer Price
The price at which a trader or market maker is willing to sell a contract.
-
Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
A government department charged with reviewing commercial activities and trading practices in the UK. They also advise the government on the referral of proposed takeovers to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
-
Open Ended Fund
A fund which can issue new shares or units without limit. Two leading examples are Unit Trusts and Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICS). Compared to closed ended funds.
-
Open interest (options)
The net (i.e. either long or short) amount of outstanding positions in a particular options contract.
-
Opening
A transaction which creates/opens a new position. Compare to closing transactions.
-
Opening purchase (options)
A transaction in which the buyer becomes the holder of an option. This is sometimes described as a long position.
-
Opening sale (options)
A transaction in which the seller of an option becomes the writer and incurs certain liabilities. This is sometimes described as a short position.
-
Option
An equity option is an instrument that gives the holder (buyer) the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of underlying shares at a fixed price on or before a given date. This right is granted by the writer (seller) of the contract, who is obliged to sell or buy those underlying shares at the fixed price if the holder so chooses.
-
Option strategy trades
Recognised strategies which may be traded as a single transaction.
-
Order book
The electronic order book displayed for shares traded via SETS. The order book displays limit orders to buy and sell shares. The best buy and sell prices appear at the top of the order book and represent the yellow strip or touch price.
-
Order driven
A type of trading system where prices are formed from input limit orders rather than market makers' quotes.
-
Out-of-the-money
A call/put option in which the exercise price is above/below the current price of the underlying security, i.e. it has no intrinsic value.
-
Oversubscribed
Where applications for shares in a new issue exceed the number of shares being issued.