Stock market glossary
Stock market words, explained in one or two sentences, so you can read our guides and financial news easily.
- AMMC
- The Moroccan Capital Market Authority, which supervises the stock market and protects investors.
- Block market
- Where large trades between institutions take place, outside the central order book.
- Brokerage firm
- A licensed intermediary, the only one allowed to execute orders on the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
- Capital gain
- Profit made when you sell a share for more than you paid.
- Diversification
- Spreading your money across several stocks and sectors to reduce risk.
- Dividend
- Part of the profit paid to shareholders. Our dividends guide.
- ETF
- A fund listed on the stock market that tracks an index.
- Ex-dividend date
- The day the share starts trading without the right to the dividend.
- Free float
- The part of a company’s shares really available for trading.
- IPO
- The first sale of a company’s shares to the public. Our guide.
- Limit order
- An order with a maximum buying price or a minimum selling price.
- Liquidity
- How easily a share can be bought or sold without moving its price much.
- Market capitalisation
- Share price × number of shares: the company’s market value.
- Market order
- An order executed at the best available price, with no price limit.
- Maroclear
- Morocco’s central securities depository, which holds and settles shares.
- MASI
- Moroccan All Shares Index, the index of all shares listed in Casablanca. Our guide.
- MASI 20
- The index of the 20 largest and most liquid stocks.
- Mutual fund (OPCVM)
- A fund that invests the money of many savers in a diversified portfolio.
- Order book
- The list of waiting buy and sell orders for a share, sorted by price.
- PEA
- Morocco’s Share Savings Plan: gains are tax-free after five years. Our tax guide.
- P/E ratio
- Share price divided by earnings per share: how many years of profits the market is paying for.
- Prospectus
- The information document approved by the AMMC, required for an IPO.
- Reference price
- The previous day’s closing price, used to calculate the daily change.
- Securities account
- The account that holds your shares, linked to a cash account.
- Share
- A piece of ownership in a company, giving a right to dividends and to vote.
- Spread
- The gap between the best buying price and the best selling price.
- Volatility
- How much a share price moves. The higher it is, the riskier in the short term.
- Yield
- Yearly dividend divided by the share price, in percent.