STREET DOGS

More animals you might come across in the stock market:

Lame ducks

A trader or investor who makes poor trades and ends up with heavy losses or is bankrupted by the market is considered a “lame duck”. The phrase, said to have originated from the London Stock Market during the 1700s, basically describes ineffective traders.

Cats that bounce

As alarming as it may sound for pet lovers, a “dead cat bounce” is slang for a temporary recovery in share prices after a substantial fall, more often caused by speculators buying to cover their positions. The literal meaning of the phrase was explained in one of the Oxford English Dictionary citations via the Washington Post: “If you throw a dead cat against a wall at a high rate of speed, it will bounce, but it is still dead.”

Beaten down dogs

Stocks that are “beaten down” in price are typically called dogs. Some investors believe in buying the “dogs” … clearly these investors are bullish. Other investors believe in shorting the dogs … which means they are bearish on the dogs.

Horses and zebras

“I believe there are two ways to invest,” said Loral Langemeier, the founder of Live out Loud. “Horses and zebras. Horses are obvious. Zebras are obscure. Horses are transparent and simple, not intertwined with other products, not lost in the haze of murky markets, with few layers between investor and asset. Horses are what they are and ain’t what they ain’t. Zebras, on the other hoof, are exotic, extraordinary and often confusing. They may appear to be one thing, eg, a fund that promises highreward, low-risk value investing. But then turns out to be another, eg, a fund that is not wellsupported by a company’s management, research or trades. Zebras are like zero-calorie fudge, too good to be true.”