Maintenance Requirement
On the NYSE. This is the minimum amount of equity that the margin customer must have in his account. However, since the house requirements are usually higher, it is the house maintenance that is used.

Make a Market
Refers to brokerage firms that buy and sell a particular over-the-counter stock for their own accounts at their own risk.

Management Company
The group of individuals responsible for managing a mutual fund's portfolio.

Management Fee
The amount a fund pays to its investment adviser for its services. The average annual fee industry wide is about one half of one percent of fund assets. A fund's management fee must be listed in its prospectus.

Manager
The Firm that provides the fund with investment research and portfolio management services.

Manager Tenure
How long the portfolio manager has been responsible for a fund's management.

Margin Account
An account in which the firm lends the customer money on purchases or securities on short sales. Customers must have enough equity in the account to pay for purchases by the third business day after trade or meet obligations that may be incurred immediately.

Margin Call
A demand upon a customer to deposit money or securities with the broker when the value of the securities purchased on margin falls.

Margin Department
The department of a brokerage firm that computes the balance their clients need to keep in order to avoid maintenance and margin calls.

Margin Requirement
The percentage of investment that may be financed using borrowed capital.

Marginal Tax Bracket
The range of taxable income that is taxed at a certain marginal tax rate.

Marginal Tax Rate
The tax rate that applies to the next dollar of taxable income. If another dollar of taxable income is received in the same tax year, the number of cents that must be paid in additional income taxes is the same as the percentage of additional income that will be paid in taxes.

Marital Deduction
A tax rule that allows assets to pass between spouses free from federal estate and gift taxes. If either spouse is not a U.S. citizen, however, different rules apply.

Mark-To-Market
Process by which security position values are brought up to their current value. The customer may request the excess equity, or the firm may call for the deposit of additional funds. Either request is a "mark" to the market.

Market Capitalization
Also referred to as "market cap." Market capitalization is a measure of a corporation's value, calculated by multiplying the number of outstanding shares of common stock by the current market price per share. Market capitalization is usually grouped into four main categories: large-cap, mid-cap, small-cap, and micro-cap.

Market Maker
Another term for dealer or specialist. In the interest of maintaining orderly trading, a market maker stands ready to trade against the public and therefore to make a market in an issue.

Market Not Held
Type of market order usually for a sizable amount of stock that gives the floor broker discretion with respect to price and/or timing on execution.

Market Order
An order to be executed at the current market price. Buy market orders accept the current offer, and sell market orders accept the current bid.

Market Risk
The risk created by market conditions that affect all investments of a similar class. For example, the value of a particular common stock may fall based on a decrease in the values of a large group of common stocks. See Investment risk.

Market Timing
Attempting to time the purchase and sale of securities to coincide with ideal market conditions. Mutual fund investors may switch from stock funds to bond funds to money market funds as the strength of the economy and interest rate directions change.

Marry a Put
Form of hedging done by buying the stock and buying a put on the same day.

Maturity
The date on which a loan becomes due and payable when bonds and other debt instruments must be repaid.

Maturity Date
The date on which the principal amount of a bond is to be paid in full.

Maximum Front-End Load
The fee an investor pays when purchasing shares of a fund. A fund has different load breakpoints depending on the purchase total. For example, a fund may charge:4.5% to $100,0004.0% to $250,0003.0% to $500,0002.0% to $1 Million0.0% thereafter

Merger
The combination of two or more companies into one through the exchange of stock.

Micro-Caps
A subset of small-caps. Stocks of companies with a market capitalization of less that $50 million are "micro caps." Micro-caps tend to be new, relatively untested corporations that can offer greater growth potential than larger caps, but also entail greater risk.

Mid-Cap Fund
A fund that invests primarily in the stocks of companies with a medium market capitalization (mid caps).

Mid-Caps
Stocks of companies with a medium market capitalization, usually defined as between $500 million and $3-5 billion. Mid-caps are often considered to offer more growth potential than larger-caps (but less than small caps) and less risk than small-caps (but more than large-caps).

Mini-Refunding
Auctions of Treasury securities occurring in March, June, September, and December.

Minimum Maintenance
Established by the exchanges' margin rules, the level to which the equity in an account may fall before the client must deposit additional equity. It is expressed as a percentage relationship between debit balance and equity or between market value and equity.

Minimum Purchase
The smallest investment amount a fund will accept to establish a new account. Most fund groups also impose a minimum for additional purchases to an existing account.

Minus Tick
An execution price below the previous sale.

Moderate Risk Tolerance
The capacity to reduce assurances regarding the expected rate of return and assurances of maintaining a stable principal in exchange for the possibility of earning a higher return. See Risk tolerance.

Money Market Fund
Money market funds seek to maintain a stable net asset value by investing in the short-term, high-grade securities sold in the money market. These are generally the safest, most stable securities available, including Treasury bills, certificates of deposit, and commercial paper. Money market funds limit the average maturity of their portfolio to 90 days or less. They seek to generate monthly income, and to maintain a stable $1.00 per share net asset value. Some money market funds offer check-writing privileges. No fees are generally charged to purchase or redeem shares in a money market fund. Several different portfolio types are available: Taxable, taxable government securities, and national or state tax-free.

Money Market Instruments
Short-term debt instruments (such as U.S. Treasury bills, commercial paper, and banker's acceptances) that reflect current interest rates and that, because of their short life, do not respond to interest rate changes as longer-term instruments do.

Money Market Securities
Short-term debt, usually issued for 90 days or less.

Money Purchase Pension Plan
A defined-contribution retirement plan into which an employer contributes a specified percentage of each employee's compensation each year.

Mortgage Bond
A debt instrument issued by a corporation and secured by real estate owned by the corporation (such as factories or office buildings).

Mortgage and Other Debt Expenses
Certain living expenses that remain at a fixed level rather than being subject to an assumed inflation factor.

Mortgage-Backed Securities
A collection of mortgages bundled into a single security and retailed to private or institutional investors as a single security.

Municipal Bond
Also known as Muni. A long-term debt instrument issued by a state or local government. It usually carries a fixed rate of interest, which is paid semiannually.

Municipal Bond Fund
A mutual fund that invests in municipal bonds. An investor in a municipal bond fund receives dividends, representing municipal bond interest payments, that generally are exempt from federal income taxes.

Municipal Note
A short-term debt instrument of a state or local government. Most popular are revenue, bond, and tax anticipation notes.

Municipal Securities
Bonds issued by state or local government units.

Mutual Fund
An open-end investment company that combines the money of thousands of people and invests it in a variety of securities in an effort to achieve a specific objective over time. Mutual funds offer the benefits of portfolio diversification (which provides greater safety and reduced volatility), professional management, and stand ready to buy back its shares at the current net asset value. Every fund's prospectus details information on the fund's objectives, fees, the management company, and moreMutual funds, known as open-end investment companies, have portfolios that can grow or be reduced, based upon market conditions and investor investment/redemption patterns. Hence the name: they have limitless numbers of shares outstanding. Closed-end funds, also called unit investment trusts, have a fixed portfolio, and a pre-set number of shares outstanding.

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