Fakeout
What is 'Fakeout' A term used in technical analysis to refer to a situation in which a trader enters into a position in anticipation of a future transaction signal or price movement, but the signal or movement never develops and the asset moves in the opposite direction. Explaining 'Fakeout' The possibility for...
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
What is the 'Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - FDCPA' The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that limits the behavior and actions of third-party debt collectors who are attempting to collect debts on behalf of another person or entity. The law restricts the means and methods by which collectors can contact debtors,...
Falling Knife
What is a falling knife and why should you avoid it A falling knife is a term used to describe a stock that has been plunging in price and is predicted to continue to do so. The reasoning behind this is that it is very difficult to catch a knife when it is falling, and it is even more difficult...
False Market
What is 'False Market' A market where prices are manipulated and impacted by erroneous information, preventing the efficient negotiation of prices. These types of markets will often be marred by volatile swings because the true value of the market is clouded by the misinformation. Explaining 'False Market' When investors use inaccurate information to guide...
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
DefinitionThe Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 is U.S. Federal Government legislation enacted to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of consumer information contained in the files of consumer reporting agencies. It was intended to protect consumers from the willful and/or negligent inclusion of inaccurate information in their credit reports. To that end, the FCRA regulates the...
Free Cash Flow
DefinitionIn corporate finance, free cash flow or free cash flow to firm is a way of looking at a business's cash flow to see what is available for distribution among all the securities holders of a corporate entity. This may be useful to parties such as equity holders, debt holders, preferred stock holders, and convertible security holders when they...
Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS)
What is 'Federal Employee Retirement System - FERS' A system that became effective in 1987 and replaced the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) as the primary retirement plan for U.S. federal civilian employees. Retirement benefits under FERS are accumulated in three ways: a) through Social Security benefits, b) through a basic benefit plan for which the employee...
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)
What is the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and what do they do The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) is a U.S. government organization that develops and recommends policies for the regulation of financial institutions. The Council is composed of five member agencies: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National...
Fair Trade Price
What is 'Fair Trade Price' Fair trade price is the minimum price paid for certain agricultural products imported from developing countries. Fair trade is a movement that believes it is unethical to pay producers in developing countries the market price if that price is too low to provide a sufficient quality of living. Instead, certain importers agree...
Fat Finger Error
DefinitionA fat-finger error is a keyboard input error in the financial markets such as the stock market or foreign exchange market whereby an order to buy or sell is placed of far greater size than intended, for the wrong stock or contract, at the wrong price, or with any number of other input errors. Fat Finger Error What...