Stock Market Dictionary - K

K
Fifth letter of a Nasdaq stock symbol specifying the issue has no voting rights.

KCBT
See: Kansas City Board of Trade

KE
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for KENYA.

KES
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Kenyan Shilling.

KG
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for KYRGYZSTAN.

KGS
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Kyrgyzstan Som.

KH
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for CAMBODIA.

KHR
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Cambodian Riel.

KI
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for KIRIBATI.

KLCE
See: Kuala Lumpur Commodities Exchange

KLOFFE
See: Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange

KLSE
See: Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange

KMF
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Comoros Franc.

KN
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS.

KP
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF.

KPW
The ISO 4217 currency code for the North Korean Won.

KR
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for KOREA, REPUBLIC OF.

KRW
The ISO 4217 currency code for the South Korean Won.

KW
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for KUWAIT.

KWD
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Kuwait Dinar.

KY
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for CAYMAN ISLANDS.

KYD
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Cayman Islands Dollar.

KM
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for COMOROS.

KZ
The two-character ISO 3166 country code for KAZAKSTAN.

KZT
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Kazakhstan Tenge.

Kaffirs
South African gold mining shares that trade on the London Stock Exchange.

Kangaroos
Australian stocks.

Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT)
The U.S.-based futures and options exchange for no. 2 red wheat futures and, options, Value Line Index futures and Mini Value Line futures and options.

Kappa
The ratio of the dollar price change in the price of an option to a 1% change in the expected volatility.

Karachi Stock Exchange
The major securities exchange of Pakistan.

Keiretsu
A network of Japanese companies organized around a major bank. The term is also used outside of Japan to describe how a large corporation with many subsidiaries and associated firms can manipulate revenues. For example, firm A and B are controlled by firm C. Firm A is forced to buy its input from firm B at a high price. As a result, A is unprofitable and B is very profitable.

Keogh plan
A type of pension account in which taxes are deferred. Available to those who are self-employed.

Key industry
An industry that plays a critical role in a nation's economy.

Key man (or woman) insurance
A life insurance policy purchased by a company to insure the life of a key executive. The company is the beneficiary in case of the executive's death.

Keynesian economics
An economic theory of British economist, John Maynard Keynes that active government intervention is necessary to ensure economic growth and stability.

"Kick it out"
Used in the context of general equities. "Liquidate a position (sell a long/cover a short) without regard to price."

Kickback
In the context of finance, refers to compensation of dealers by sales finance companies for discounting installment purchase paper.
In the context of contracts, refers to secret payments made to insure that the contract goes to a specific firm.

Kicker
An additional feature of a debt obligation that increases its marketability and attractiveness to investors.

Kiddie tax
Tax owed for the investment income of children if the amount is more than $1,400.

Killer bees
Those who aid a company in fending off a takeover bid, usually investment bankers who devise strategies to make the target less attractive or more difficult to acquire.

Kiting
Used in banking to refer to the practice of depositing and drawing checks at two or more banks and taking advantage of the time it takes for the second bank to collect funds from the first bank.
Also refers to illegally increasing the face value of a check by changing the numbers on the check.
In the context of securities, refers to the manipulation and inflation of stock prices.

Knock-out option
An option that- is worthless at expiration if the underlying commodity or currency price reaches a specific price level.

Know your customer
An ethical foundation of securities brokers that an adviser who recommends the purchase or sale of any security to a customer, must believe that the recommendation is suitable for the customer, given the customer's financial situation.

Kondratieff Wave
An economic theory of the Soviet economist Kondratieff stating that the economies of the western world are susceptible to major up-and-down "supercycles" lasting 50 to 60 years.

Korea Stock Exchange
The major securities market of Korea.

Kruggerand
A gold coin minted by the republic of South Africa that typically sells for slightly higher prices than the market value of the gold it contains.

Kuala Lumpur Commodities Exchange (KLCE)
The Malaysian commodity exchange for trading futures in crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil, tin, rubber, and cocoa.

Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange (KLOFFE)
Established in 1995, the Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange offers equity derivative products based on underlying instruments traded on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE).

Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE)
Established in 1973, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) is the only stock exchange in Malaysia.

Kurtosis
Measures the fatness of the tails of a probability distribution. A fat-tailed distribution has higher-than-normal chances of a big positive or negative realization. Kurtosis should not be confused with skewness, which measures the fatness of one tail. Kurtosis is sometimes referred to as the volatility of volatility.