Glossary

J: Fifth letter of a Nasdaq stock symbol specifying the issue is the voting stock of the company.
JM: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for JAMAICA.
JMD: The ISO 4217 currency code for the Jamaican Dollar.
JO: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for JORDAN.
JOD: The ISO 4217 currency code for the Jordanian Dinar.
JP: The two-character ISO 3166 country code for JAPAN.
JPY: The ISO 4217 currency code for the Japanese Yen.
Jasdaq: See: Japanese Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System
JSE: See: Johannesburg Stock Exchange
J-curve: Theory that says a country's trade deficit will initially worsen after its currency depreciates because higher prices on foreign imports will more than offset the reduced volume of imports in the short run.
Jakarta Stock Exchange: Established in 1977, the largest securities exchange in Indonesia.
January effect: Refers to the historical pattern that stock prices rise in the first few days of January. Studies have suggested this holds only for small-capitalization stocks. In recent years, there is less evidence of a January effect.
Japanese Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (Jasdaq): Japanese equivalent of Nasdaq.
Jeep: See: Graduated payment mortgage
Jensen index: An index that uses the capital asset pricing model to determine whether a money manager outperformed a market index. The alpha of an investment or investment manager.
Jobber: A term for a market maker used on the London Stock Exchange.
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE): Established in 1886, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the only stock exchange in South Africa. Gold and mining stocks form the majority of shares listed.
Joint account: An agreement between two or more firms to share risk and financing responsibility in purchasing or underwriting securities, or an account owned jointly by two or more persons at a bank or brokerage house.
Joint and survivor annuity: A type of annuity opened by and intended for two people, that makes payments for the entire lifetime of both beneficiaries, even if one of them dies.
Joint bond: A bond that is guaranteed by the issuer and a party other than the issuer.
Joint clearing members: Firms that clear on more than one exchange.
Joint float: An arrangement by which a group of currencies maintain a fixed relationship relative to each other, but move jointly relative to another currency in response to supply and demand conditions in the exchange market.
Joint stock company: A form of business organization that falls between a corporation and a partnership. The company sells stock, and its shareholders are free to sell their stock, but shareholders are liable for all debts of the company.
Jointly and severally: Municipal bond underwriting in which the account is undivided and syndicate members are responsible for unsold bonds in proportion to their participation, regardless of how many bonds they may have already sold. A firm with 20% of the account is responsible for selling 20% of the unsold bonds even if has already sold 25% of the total debt issue, for example. See: Severally but not jointly.
Joint tax return: Tax return filed by two people, usually spouses.
Joint tenants with right of survivorship: In the case of a joint account, on the death of one account holder, ownership of the account assets is transferred to the remaining account holder or holders.
Joint venture: An agreement between two or more firms to undertake the same business strategy and plan of action.
Jonestown defense: An extreme defensive tactic employed by the management of a target corporation to prevent a hostile takeover. The defensive tactics are so extreme that they typically lead to the destruction of the target corporation. See: Suicide.
Joseph Effect: The tendency for persistent time series (0.50<H<1.00), to have trends and cycles. The term "Joseph Effect" was coined by Mandelbrot in reference to Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream of seven fat years followed by seven lean years.
Jumbo certificate of deposit: A certificate of deposit in increments of $100,000.
Jumbo loan: Loans of $1 billion or more. Or, loans that exceed the statutory size limit eligible for purchase or securitization by the federal agencies.
Jump ball: Used in the context of general equities. (1) Deal in which no trading house has exclusivity (each firm is in direct competition for a piece of business); (2) no preference in picking a particular side (buy/sell) of a stock as profile, indicated during the block call, indicate that the sales force could have the stock either way.
Junior debt (subordinate debt): Debt whose holders have a claim on the firm's assets only after senior debtholder's claims have been satisfied. Subordinated debt.
Junior issue: A debt or equity issue from one corporation over which the issue of another firm takes precedence with respect to dividends, interest, principal, or security in the event of liquidation.
Junior mortgage: A mortgage that will be satisfied only after more senior mortgages have been satisfied. E.g., a first mortgage will be satisfied prior to a second or a third mortgage.
Junior refunding: Issuing of new securities to refinance government debt that matures in one to five years.
Junior security: A security that has a lower-priority claim on a company's assets and income than a senior security. For example common stock is junior to preferred stock.
Junk bond: A bond with a speculative credit rating of BB (S&P) or Ba (Moody's) or lower. Junk or high-yield bonds offer investors higher yields than bonds of financially sound companies. Two agencies, Standard & Poors and Moody's Investor Services, provide the rating systems for companies' credit.
Jury of executive opinion: A method of forecasting using a composite forecast prepared by a number of individual experts. The experts form their own opinions initially from the data given, and revise their opinions according to the others' opinions. Finally, the individuals' final opinions are combined.
"Just me asking": Used in the context of general equities. "Not a customer request for information."
Just-in-time inventory systems: Systems that schedule materials to arrive exactly when they are needed in the production process.
Just title: See: Clear title
Justified price: The fair market price of an asset.

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Campbell R. Harvey's Hypertextual Finance Glossary
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