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Meaning / Definition of

Stop Order

Categories: Investing and Trading, Brokerages,

You can issue a stop order, which instructs your broker to buy or sell a security once it trades at a certain price, called the stop price. Stop orders are entered below the current price if you are selling and above the current price if you are buying. Once the stop price is reached, your order becomes a market order and is executed.For example, if you owned a stock currently trading at $35 a share that you feared might drop in price, you could issue a stop order to sell if the price dropped to $30 a share to protect yourself against a larger loss. The risk is that if the price drops very quickly, and other orders have been placed before yours, the stock could actually end up selling for less than $30. You can give a stop order as a day order or as a good 'til canceled (GTC) order. You might use a buy stop order if you have sold stock short anticipating a downward movement of market price of the security. If, instead, the price rises to the stop price, the order will be executed, limiting your loss. However, there is a risk with this type of order if the market price of the stock rises very rapidly. Other orders entered ahead of yours will be executed first, and you might buy at a price considerably higher than the stop limit, increasing your loss.

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Definition / Meaning of

Audit Committee

Categories: Accounting, Tax, Business and Management,

The corporate audit committee is the liaison between the company's management, the board of directors, internal and external auditors, and any other accounting experts advising the company on audit issues.In particular, the audit committee is responsible for hiring and managing external auditors. Since 2002, when Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, implementing stringent financial oversight regulations, the role of the audit committee has become increasingly important.An audit committee is composed of a sub-group from the corporation's board of directors. Members of the audit committee must be independent, which means they have no ties to the company's management team. In general they cannot receive any compensation, such as consulting or advisory fees, except for a board of director's fee. They may not be able to own shares in the company, or be affiliated in any other way with the company. Nor can they be affiliated with or have an interest in the external auditing company.

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