Stock market terms starting with S

Shareholding Pattern Corporate Actions, Dividends & Governance % The quarterly disclosure showing how a listed company's shares are distributed across shareholder categories. Test: the filing reports promoter, institutional and public holdings, along with pledged shares and holders above 1%

Shares Outstanding Fundamental Analysis & Valuation shares The total number of a company's shares currently held by all shareholders, including promoters and institutions. Shares Outstanding = Issued Shares - Treasury Shares; also equals Paid-Up Share Capital / Face Value

Sharpe Ratio Risk & Portfolio Management ratio (x, times) Return above the risk-free rate per unit of total volatility. Sharpe Ratio = (Portfolio Return - Risk-Free Rate) / Standard Deviation of Portfolio Returns

Shooting Star Technical Analysis & Chart Patterns qualitative A candlestick with a small body near the bottom of its range and a long upper wick, appearing after an advance. Test: Upper Wick is at least twice the Body, Lower Wick is minimal, and the candle follows an advance

Short Call Derivatives, Futures & Options ₹ A position created by writing a call option, receiving the premium and taking on an obligation to deliver if exercised. Profit at expiry = Premium Received x Lot Size - max(Spot - Strike, 0) x Lot Size; loss is unbounded above the strike

Short Delivery Orders, Execution & Market Structure qualitative A failure to deliver securities to the clearing corporation by the settlement deadline after having sold them. Test: the seller's demat balance is insufficient at pay-in, so the sold quantity is not delivered on the settlement date

Short Position Market Basics & Instruments ₹ A position created by selling a security one does not own, which gains when the price falls and loses when it rises. Profit or Loss = (Entry Price - Exit Price) x Quantity

Short Put Derivatives, Futures & Options ₹ A position created by writing a put option, receiving the premium and taking on an obligation to buy if exercised. Profit at expiry = Premium Received x Lot Size - max(Strike - Spot, 0) x Lot Size; maximum loss when the underlying reaches zero

Short Selling Market Basics & Instruments qualitative Selling a security that is not owned, in the expectation of buying it back later at a lower price. Test: the sale is executed without holding the security in the seller's demat account at the time of sale

Short-Term Borrowings Financial Statements & Accounting ₹ crore Debt repayable within twelve months, typically working capital loans, cash credit facilities and commercial paper. Test: the borrowing is contractually repayable within twelve months of the balance sheet date

Short-Term Capital Gain Indian Market, Regulation & Taxation ₹ A capital gain on an asset held for less than the qualifying period, taxed at a higher rate than a long-term gain. Test: listed equity or equity-oriented fund units held for 12 months or less; other assets have longer qualifying periods

Signal Line Indicators & Oscillators qualitative A moving average of an indicator's own values, plotted alongside it to mark where the indicator turns relative to its own trend. Signal Line = Moving Average of the Indicator's values over a stated period

Simple Moving Average Indicators & Oscillators ₹ A moving average that weights every period in the window equally. SMA = (P1 + P2 + ... + Pn) / n

Slippage Orders, Execution & Market Structure ₹ The difference between the price expected when an order is sent and the price at which it actually executes. Slippage = Actual Average Execution Price - Intended Price (sign adjusted for buy or sell)

Small-Cap Stock Market Basics & Instruments qualitative A share of a company ranked 251st or lower by market capitalisation under India's classification. Rank all listed companies by average market capitalisation; rank 251 onwards is small-cap

Smart Beta Funds, ETFs & Index Investing qualitative A rules-based index strategy that weights constituents by a chosen factor rather than by market capitalisation. Test: constituent weights are determined by a published rule based on a factor such as value, quality, momentum, low volatility or equal weight

Smoothing Period Indicators & Oscillators days The number of periods an indicator averages over, controlling how much noise it removes and how much it lags. Test: increasing the smoothing period reduces the variance of the indicator's output and increases its lag

Social Proof Market Psychology & Behavioural Finance qualitative The tendency to treat the actions of others as evidence about what is correct. Test: the strength of a belief rises with the number of people observed holding it, independent of any new evidence

Soft Landing Economy, Macro & Market Cycles qualitative An outcome in which monetary tightening slows inflation without causing a recession. Test: inflation returns toward target while growth slows but stays positive and unemployment rises only modestly

Sortino Ratio Risk & Portfolio Management ratio (x, times) Return above a minimum acceptable return per unit of downside deviation only. Sortino Ratio = (Portfolio Return - Target Return) / Downside Deviation

Sovereign Gold Bond Bonds & Fixed Income ₹ A government security denominated in grams of gold, paying interest and redeeming at the prevailing gold price. Redemption Value = Grams Held x Average Gold Price over the three business days before maturity

SPAN Margin Derivatives, Futures & Options ₹ The portion of initial margin computed by simulating a portfolio's worst-case loss across a grid of price and volatility scenarios. SPAN Margin = the largest loss the portfolio would suffer across the scenario array tested by the clearing corporation

Special Dividend Corporate Actions, Dividends & Governance ₹ A one-off dividend, usually much larger than the regular payout, arising from an unusual event. Test: the dividend is explicitly designated as non-recurring and is not part of the stated dividend policy

Special Resolution Corporate Actions, Dividends & Governance % A shareholder resolution requiring at least three-quarters of votes cast in favour to pass. Test: votes in favour are at least three times the votes against among members voting

Terms starting with S