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Sacrifice Ratio
Describes the extent to which Gross Domestic Product must be reduced with increased unemployment to achieve a 1% decrease in the inflation rate.

Sale and Repurchase Agreements (SRAs)
An open-market operation by the Bank of Canada to offset undesired downward pressure on overnight financing costs.

Seat
A traditional term for membership on a stock exchange.

SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal body established by the United States Congress, to protect investors in the U.S. In Canada there is no national regulatory authority; instead, securities legislation is provincially administered.

Secondary Issue
Refers to the redistribution or resale of previously issued securities to the public by a dealer or investment dealer syndicate. Usually a large block of shares is involved (e.g., from the settlement of an estate) and these are offered to the public at a fixed price, set in relationship to the stock's market price.

Secondary Market
The market where securities are traded through an exchange or over-the-counter subsequent to a primary offering. The proceeds from trades in a secondary market go to the selling dealers and investors, rather than to the companies that originally issued the shares in the primary market.

Securities
Paper Certificates or electronic records that evidence ownership of equity (stocks) or debt obligations (bonds).

Securities Acts
Provincial Acts administered by the securities commission in each province, which set down the rules under which securities may be issued and traded.

Securities Administrator
A general term referring to the provincial regulatory authority (e.g., Securities Commission or Provincial Registrar) responsible for administering a provincial Securities Act.

Securities Eligible for Reduced Margin
Securities which demonstrate sufficiently high liquidity and low price volatility based on meeting specific price risk and liquidity risk measures.

Securitization
Refers in a narrow sense to the process of converting loans of various sorts into marketable securities by packaging the loans into pools. In a broader sense, refers to the development of markets for a variety of debt instruments that permit the ultimate borrower to bypass the banks and other deposit-taking institutions and to borrow directly from lenders.

Segregated Funds
Insurance companies sell these funds as an alternative to conventional mutual funds. Like mutual funds, segregated funds offer a range of investment objectives and categories of securities e.g. equity funds, bond funds, balanced funds etc. These funds have the unique feature of guaranteeing that, regardless of how poorly the fund performs, at least a minimum percentage (usually 75% or more) of the investor's payments into the fund will be returned when the fund matures.

Self-Directed RRSP
A type of RRSP whereby the holder invests funds or contributes certain acceptable assets such as securities directly into a registered plan which is usually administered for a fee by a Canadian financial services company.

Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO)
An organization recognized by the Securities Administrators as having powers to establish and enforce industry regulations to protect investors and to maintain fair, equitable, and ethical practices in the industry and ensure conformity with securities legislation. Canadian SROs include the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association.

Selling Group
Investment dealers or others who assist a banking group in marketing a new issue of securities without assuming financial liability if the issue is not entirely sold. The use of a selling group widens the distribution of a new issue.

Sentiment Indicators
Measure investor expectations or the mood of the market. These indicators measure how bullish or bearish investors are.

Separately Managed Account
A managed product structure whereby individual accounts are created for each investor. In either case, an investment manager is guided by an investment mandate.

Serial Bond or Debenture
See Instalment Debenture.

Settlement Date
The date on which a securities buyer must pay for a purchase or a seller must deliver the securities sold. For most securities, settlement must be made on or before the third business day following the transaction date. For orders executed September 5th, 2017 onwards, the settlement period will change from three to two business days.

Shareholders' Equity
A balance sheet item that represents the excess of the company's assets over its liabilities and shows shareholder's interest in the company. Also referred to as net worth as it represents the ownership interest of common and preferred shareholders in a company.

Short-Form Prospectus Distribution
System This system allows reporting issuers to issue a short-form prospectus that contains only information not previously disclosed to regulators. The short form prospectus contains by reference the material filed by the corporation in the Annual Information Form.

Short Position
Created when an investor sells a security that he or she does not own. See also short sale.

Short Sale
The sale of a security which the seller does not own. This is a speculative practice done in the belief that the price of a stock is going to fall and the seller will then be able to cover the sale by buying it back later at a lower price, thereby making a profit on the transactions. It is illegal for a seller not to declare a short sale at the time of placing the order. See also Margin.

Short-Term Bond
A bond with greater than one year but less than five years to maturity.

Short-Term Debt
Company borrowings repayable within one year that appear in the current liabilities section of the balance sheet. The most common short-term debt items are: bank advances or loans, notes payable and the portion of funded debt due within one year.

Single-Manager Account
A type of fee-based account that is directed by a single portfolio manager who focuses considerable time and attention on the selection of securities, the sectors to invest in and the optimal asset allocation.

Simplified Prospectus
A condensed prospectus distributed by mutual fund companies to purchasers and potential purchasers of fund units or shares.

Sinking Fund
A fund set up to retire most or all of a debt or preferred share issue over a period of time. See also Purchase Fund.

Small Cap
Reference to smaller growth companies. Small cap refers to the size of the capitalization or investments made in the company. A small cap company has been defined as a company with an outstanding stock value of under $500 million. Small cap companies are considered more volatile than large cap companies.

Soft Landing
Describes a business cycle phase when economic growth slows sharply but does not turn negative, while inflation falls or remains low.

Soft Retractable Preferred Shares
A type of retractable preferred share where the redemption value may be paid in cash or in common shares, generally at the election of the issuer.

Sole Proprietorship
A form of business organization that involves one person running a business whereby the individual is taxed on earnings at their personal income tax rate.

SPDRs
An acronym for the Standard & Poor Depository Receipts (a type of derivative). These mirror the S&P 500 Index. They are referred to as "Spiders".

Special Purchase and Resale Agreements (SPRAs)
An open-market operation used by the Bank of Canada to relieve undesired upward pressure on overnight financing rates.

Speculator
One who is prepared to accept calculated risks in the marketplace. Objectives are usually short to medium-term capital gain, as opposed to regular income and safety of principal, the prime objectives of the conservative investor.

S&P/TSX Composite Index
A benchmark used to measure the performance of the broad Canadian equity market.

Split Shares
A security that has been created to divide (or split) the investment attributes of an underlying portfolio of common shares into separate components that satisfy different investment objectives. The preferred shares receive the majority of the dividends from the common shares held by the split share corporation. The capital shares receive the majority of any capital gains on the common shares.

Spot Price
The market price of a commodity or financial instrument that is available for immediate delivery.

Spousal RRSP
A special type of RRSP to which one spouse contributes to a plan registered in the beneficiary spouse's name. The contributed funds belong to the beneficiary but the contributor receives the tax deduction. If the beneficiary removes funds from the spousal plan in the year of the contribution or in the subsequent two calendar years, the contributor must pay taxes on the withdrawn amount.

Spread
The gap between bid and ask prices in the quotation for a security. Also a term used in option trading.

SRO
Short for self-regulatory organization such as the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

Standard Deviation
A statistical measure of risk. The larger the standard deviation, the greater the volatility of returns and therefore the greater the risk.

Standard Trading Unit
A regular trading unit which has uniformly been decided upon by the stock exchanges, in most cases it is 100 shares, but this can vary depending on the price of the stock.

Statement of Cash Flow
A financial statement which provides information as to how a company generated and spent its cash during the year. Assists users of financial statements in evaluating the company's ability to generate cash internally, repay debts, reinvest and pay dividends to shareholders.

Statement of Material Facts
A document presenting the relevant facts about a company and compiled in connection with an underwriting or secondary distribution of its shares. It is used only when the shares underwritten or distributed are listed on a recognized stock exchange and takes the place of a prospectus in such cases.

Stock
Ownership interest in a corporation's that represents a claim on its earnings and assets.

Stock Dividend
A pro rata payment to common shareholders of additional common stock. Such payment increases the number of shares each holder owns but does not alter a shareholder's proportional ownership of the company.

Stock Exchange
A marketplace where buyers and sellers of securities meet to trade with each other and where prices are established according to laws of supply and demand.

Stock Savings Plan
Some provinces allow individual residents of the particular province a deduction or tax credit for provincial income tax purposes on investments made in certain prescribed vehicles. The credit or deduction is a percentage figure based on the value of investment.

Stock Split
An increase in a corporation's number of shares outstanding without any change in the shareholders' equity or market value. When a stock reaches a high price making it illiquid or difficult to trade, management may split the stock to get the price into a more marketable trading range. For example, an investor owns one standard trading unit of a stock that now trades at $70 each (portfolio value is $7,000). Management splits the stock 2:1. The investor would now own 200 new shares at a market value, all things being equal, of $35 each, for a portfolio value of $7,000.

Stop Buy Orders
An order to buy a security only after it has reached a certain price. This may be used to protect a short position or to ensure that a stock is purchased while its price is rising. According to TSX rules these orders become market orders when the stop price is reached.

Stop Loss Orders
The opposite of a stop buy order. An order to sell a security after its price falls to a certain amount, thus limiting the loss or protecting a paper profit. According to TSX rules these orders become market orders when the stop price is reached.

Stop Orders
Orders that are used to buy or sell after a stock has reached a certain price. See Stop Buy Orders, Stop Loss Orders.

Strategic Asset Allocation
An asset allocation strategy that rebalances investment portfolios regularly to maintain a consistent long-term mix.

Street Name
Securities registered in the name of an investment dealer or its nominee, instead of the name of the real or beneficial owner, are said to be "in street name." Certificates so registered are known as street Certificates.

Strike Price
The price, as specified in an option contract, at which the underlying security will be purchased in the case of a call or sold in the case of a put. See also Exercise Price.

Strip Bonds or Zero Coupon Bonds
Usually high quality federal or provincial government bonds originally issued in bearer form, where some or all of the interest coupons have been detached. The bond principal and any remaining coupons (the residue) then trade separately from the strip of detached coupons, both at substantial discounts from par.

Structural Unemployment
Amount of unemployment that remains in an economy even when the economy is strong. Also known as the natural unemployment rate, the full employment unemployment rate, or the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU).

Structured Preferreds
See Equity Dividend Shares.

Structured Product
A passive investment vehicle financially engineered to provide a specific risk and return characteristic. The value of a structured product tracks the returns of reference security known as an underlying asset. Underlying assets can consist of a single security, a basket of securities, foreign currencies, commodities or an index.

Subordinate Debenture
A type of junior debenture. Subordinate indicates that another debenture ranks ahead in terms of a claim on assets and profits.

Subscription or Exercise Price
The price at which a right or warrant holder would pay for a new share from the company. With options the equivalent would be the strike price.

Subsidiary
Company which is controlled by another company usually through its ownership of the majority of shares.

Suitability
A registrant's major concern in making investment recommendations. All information about a client and a security must be analyzed to determine if an investment is suitable for the client in accounts where a suitability exemption does not apply.

Superficial Losses
Occur when an investment is sold and then repurchased at any time in a period that is 30 days before or after the sale.

Supply-Side Economics
An economic theory whereby changes in tax rates exert important effects over supply and spending decisions in the economy. According to this theory, reducing both government spending and taxes provides the stimulus for economic expansion.

Support Level
A price level at which a security stops falling because the number of investors willing to buy the security is greater than the number of investors wishing to sell the security.

Surrender Value
The cash value of an insurance contract as of the date that the policy is being redeemed. This amount is equal to the market value of the segregated fund, less any applicable sales charges or administrative fees.

Suspension of Trading
An interruption in trading imposed on a company if their financial condition does not meet an exchange's requirements for continued trading or if the company fails to comply with the terms of its listing agreement.

Swap
An over-the-counter forward agreement involving a series of cash flows exchanged between two parties on specified future dates.

Sweetener
A feature included in the terms of a new issue of debt or preferred shares to make the issue more attractive to initial investors. Examples include warrants and/or common shares sold with the issue as a unit or a convertible or extendible or retractable feature.

Syndicate
A group of investment dealers who together underwrite and distribute a new issue of securities or a large block of an outstanding issue.

System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI)
SEDI facilitates the filing and public dissemination of insider reports in electronic format via the Internet.

System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR)
SEDAR facilitates the electronic filing of securities information as required by the securities regulatory agencies in Canada and allows for the public dissemination of information collected in the filing process Systematic Risk A non-controllable, non-diversifiable risk that is common to all investments within a given asset class. With equities it is called market risk, with fixed income securities it would be interest rate risk.

Systematic Withdrawal Plan
A plan that enables set amounts to be withdrawn from a mutual fund or a segregated fund on a regular basis.