Browse All 840 Stock Market Terms A–Z

Open Offer Corporate Actions, Dividends & Governance qualitative A mandatory offer to buy shares from public shareholders, triggered when an acquirer crosses a control threshold. Trigger: acquiring 25% or more of voting rights, or acquiring control; the offer must be for at least 26% of the expanded voting capital

Open Order Orders, Execution & Market Structure qualitative An order that has been accepted by the exchange but not yet executed, cancelled or expired. Test: the order rests in the book with unexecuted quantity remaining and validity not yet lapsed

Open, High, Low, Close Technical Analysis & Chart Patterns ₹ The four prices that summarise a trading period: the first trade, the highest, the lowest and the last. Range = High - Low; Change = Close - Open; True Range also considers the previous Close

Opening Price Market Basics & Instruments ₹ The price at which a security's first trade of the session is executed, determined in India by a pre-open call auction. Opening Price = the price in the pre-open auction that maximises executable quantity

Operating Cash Flow Financial Statements & Accounting ₹ crore The cash generated by a company's core business activities during a period, after working capital movements and taxes paid. Operating Cash Flow = Net Profit + Non-Cash Charges - Increase in Working Capital - Taxes Paid

Operating Expenses Financial Statements & Accounting ₹ crore The costs of running the business that are not direct costs of production, such as employee benefits, selling costs and administration. Operating Expenses = Employee Benefits + Selling and Distribution + Administrative and Other Expenses

Operating Leverage Fundamental Analysis & Valuation ratio (x, times) The degree to which a company's fixed costs amplify the effect of a revenue change on its operating profit. Degree of Operating Leverage = Percentage Change in Operating Profit / Percentage Change in Revenue

Operating Margin Fundamental Analysis & Valuation % Operating profit as a percentage of revenue, showing what the core business keeps before interest and tax. Operating Margin = Operating Profit (EBIT) / Revenue x 100

Operating Profit Financial Statements & Accounting ₹ crore Profit from the core business after all operating costs including depreciation, but before interest and tax. Operating Profit (EBIT) = Revenue - Operating Expenses - Depreciation and Amortisation

Optimism Bias Market Psychology & Behavioural Finance qualitative The tendency to expect better outcomes for oneself than the base rate justifies. Test: personal probability estimates for favourable outcomes exceed the observed frequency in the relevant population

Option Derivatives, Futures & Options qualitative A contract giving its buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying at a set price by a set date. Test: the holder may exercise or let the contract lapse; the writer must perform if the holder exercises

Option Chain Derivatives, Futures & Options qualitative A table listing all available strikes for an underlying and expiry, with prices, volumes and open interest for calls and puts. Test: the display lists every listed strike for one expiry, with call data on one side and put data on the other

Option Intrinsic Value Derivatives, Futures & Options ₹ The value an option would have if exercised immediately, which is never less than zero. Call Intrinsic Value = max(Spot - Strike, 0); Put Intrinsic Value = max(Strike - Spot, 0)

Option Premium Derivatives, Futures & Options ₹ The price paid by an option's buyer to its writer for the rights the contract confers. Premium = Intrinsic Value + Time Value; Total Cost = Premium x Lot Size

Option Writer Derivatives, Futures & Options qualitative The party that sells an option and takes on the obligation to perform if the holder exercises. Test: the party received the premium at inception and must deliver or take delivery at the strike if assigned

Order Book Orders, Execution & Market Structure qualitative The exchange's live record of all unexecuted buy and sell limit orders in a security, ranked by price and then by time. Test: an order rests in the book until it is matched, modified, cancelled, or expires at the session close

Order Matching Orders, Execution & Market Structure qualitative The exchange process that pairs a buy order with a sell order at a compatible price to create a trade. Test: a trade occurs when the best bid price is greater than or equal to the best ask price

Order-to-Trade Ratio Orders, Execution & Market Structure ratio (x, times) The number of orders a participant submits for each trade actually executed, used by exchanges to price message traffic. Order-to-Trade Ratio = Total Orders Submitted (including modifications and cancellations) / Number of Trades Executed

Ordinary Resolution Corporate Actions, Dividends & Governance % A shareholder resolution requiring a simple majority of votes cast in favour to pass. Test: votes in favour exceed votes against among members voting, in person, by proxy or electronically

Oscillator Indicators & Oscillators qualitative An indicator that moves within a bounded range, used to describe the pace of price change rather than its direction. Test: the indicator's output is confined between fixed limits, such as 0 to 100 or -100 to +100

Other Income Financial Statements & Accounting ₹ crore Income earned outside the company's main operations, such as interest, dividends received, rent or gains on asset sales. Other Income = Total Income - Revenue from Operations

Out of the Money Derivatives, Futures & Options qualitative An option that would have no value if exercised immediately. Call: Spot < Strike; Put: Spot > Strike

Outcome Bias Market Psychology & Behavioural Finance qualitative Judging the quality of a decision by how it turned out rather than by the information available when it was made. Test: two identical decision processes are evaluated differently solely because their outcomes differed

Overbought Indicators & Oscillators qualitative A description of an oscillator reading above a conventional upper threshold, such as RSI above 70. Test: oscillator value exceeds its conventional upper threshold, typically 70 for RSI or 80 for stochastics

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