Jobless Claims
The number of people who are filing or have filed to receive unemployment insurance benefits, as reported weekly by the U.S. Department of Labor. There are two categories of jobless claims- initial, which comprises people filing for the first time, and continuing, which consists of unemployed people who have been receiving unemployment benefits for a while. Jobless claims are an important leading indicator on the state of the unemployment situation and the health of the economy. Average weekly initial jobless claims are one of the 10 components of the Conference Board Leading Economic Index.

Purchasing Managers Index - PMI

An indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector. The PMI index is based on five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment.

Economic Forecasting
The process of attempting to predict the future condition of the economy. This involves the use of statistical models utilizing variables sometimes called indicators. Some of the most well-known economic indicators include inflation and interest rates, GDP growth/decline, retail sales and unemployment rates.

Council of Economic Advisors - CEA

A panel of three noted economists who advise the president of the United States on macroeconomic matters. The council consists of a chairman and two other members, all of whom are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. Its primary goals are interpreting macroeconomic data, formulating economic policy for the White House, and overseeing other parts of the government to ensure all departments promote the current economic agenda.

Past chairman of the CEA include Alan Greenspan, and current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Debt For Bond Swap 

A debt swap involving the exchange of a new bond issue for similar outstanding debt or vice versa. Debt for bond swap transactions are usually executed to take advantage of an interest rate change and/or for tax write-off purposes.

Volcker Rule

A buzzword referring to the rule where short selling of a security is prohibited unless the target stock is on an uptick.

Used by the IRS, it determines whether a person, who is a dual taxpayer, will have to pay taxes in the United States. It is commonly used by aliens to establish residency.

A trading restriction that separates investment banking, private equity, and proprietary trading sections of financial institutions from their consumer lending arms.

A regulation initiated in 1901 stating that every life insurance company doing business in New York was required to abide by New York legislation even if it did business in other states.

Business Definitions

Workout Market
A market maker prediction as to the trading price range that a security will occupy within a reasonable period of time. The characteristics of a workout market are seen prevalently in thin markets.