Glossary of Investment Terms

NA—not available; information that was not available when the report went to press.

NASDAQ Composite—a market-capitalization weighted average of approximately 5,000 stocks traded electronically in the NASDAQ market.

Net Asset Value(Investment Companies)—the market value of a company's assets less any liabilities divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Net Income—see Net Profit.

Net Interest Income (Bank and Thrift Industries)—the dollar amount of interest received on loans and other investments, less the dollar amount of interest paid on deposits and other borrowings.

Net Interest Margin (Bank Industries)—the difference between interest rates earned (on loans and other earning assets) and interest rates paid (on deposits and other sources of funds) divided by total value of earning assets.

Net Loan Losses (Bank Industries)—loans written off during a period net of recoveries on loans previously written off. Also referred to as net loan charge-offs and net loan write-offs.

Net Profit(or Income)—a company's total profit before nonrecurring gains or losses, but after all other expenses.

Net Profit Margin—net income before nonrecurring gains and losses as a percentage of sales or revenues.

Net Revenues (Advertising Industry)—total commissions and fees received by the agency.

Net Sales—gross volume less returns, discounts, and allowances.

Net Working Capital—working capital less long-term debt, preferred stock at liquidating value, deferred taxes, minority interests, other long-term liabilities, and intangible assets. Occasionally the phrase is used in a less strict sense to mean working capital less long-term debt. See Working Capital.

Net Worth—all the assets shown on the balance sheet, including any intangible assets (i.e., goodwill, debt discount, deferred charges) less current liabilities, long-term debt, and all other noncurrent liabilities. In other words, the sum of common plus preferred stockholders' equity. Generally referred to as shareholders' equity.

New Loan Volume (Thrift Industry)—total of loans originated plus loans purchased in a given period by a thrift.

New York Stock Exchange Composite—a market-capitalization weighted average of all the common stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Nikkei Stock Average—an index of 225 Japanese stocks. A barometer of the Japanese stock market.

NMF—not meaningful. Used when a number or ratio is so large or small that it is not meaningful. For example, a price/earnings ratio of 100 would probably not be meaningful because earnings in a particular period were unusually depressed.

Non-Financial Domestic Debt—the sum of U.S. consumer, business, and government borrowings outstanding.

Non-interest Expense (Bank Industries)—expenses other than interest and loan loss provisions, such as wages and overhead.

Non-interest Income (Bank Industries)—income other than interest income, such as trust fees, other fee income, and gains on securities transactions.

Non-performing Assets (Bank and Thrift Industries)—generally includes loans that are not providing, or are not expected to provide, interest income at the contractual rate. Also includes foreclosed properties.

Nonrecurring Items—various unusual gains or losses excluded from reported earnings by Value Line analysts in order to reflect income from ongoing operations. Nonrecurring items are footnoted by year on the Value Line page.