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Glossary
Investing terms, defined.
Plain-English definitions of the words you will meet on Ophir Markets, from U.S. shares to Kwacha Treasury Bills.
A
- Ask price
- The lowest price a seller is currently willing to accept for a share. When you buy, you pay at or near the ask.
B
- Bid price
- The highest price a buyer is currently willing to pay for a share. When you sell, you receive at or near the bid.
- Bid–ask spread
- The gap between the bid and the ask. Large U.S. stocks and ETFs have very narrow spreads; thinly traded LuSE shares can have wider ones, which is a real cost of trading.
- Buying power
- The amount available for new orders: your U.S. Dollar cash balance plus any Kwacha that can be converted at the live rate.
C
- Cost basis
- What you paid for a holding, including fees. Your gain or loss is measured against it.
- Custodian
- The regulated institution that actually holds your securities. U.S. shares bought through Ophir Markets are held by a U.S. partner broker-dealer; LuSE shares settle through Zambia's central securities depository.
D
- Diversification
- Spreading your money across many securities, sectors and countries so that no single holding can sink the whole portfolio.
- Dividend
- A cash payment some companies make to shareholders out of profits, typically every quarter in the U.S. and once or twice a year on the LuSE.
- Dollar-cost averaging
- Investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule regardless of price. It removes the guesswork of timing the market.
E
- ETF (exchange-traded fund)
- A fund that holds many securities and trades like a single share. VOO, for example, holds the 500 companies in the S&P 500.
F
- Fractional share
- A slice of a single share. It lets you invest $5 in a company whose shares cost $500.
- FX rate
- The exchange rate between Kwacha and U.S. Dollars used when you convert a deposit into dollars or bring proceeds home.
- FX spread
- The small percentage added on top of the mid-market exchange rate when currency is converted. Ophir Markets shows it before you confirm.
G
- Government bond
- A longer-term government security that pays interest on a fixed schedule and repays the principal at maturity.
I
- Index
- A basket of shares used to measure a market: the S&P 500 tracks 500 large U.S. companies; the LuSE All Share Index tracks the Lusaka exchange.
K
- Kwacha (ZMW)
- Zambia's currency. Deposits and withdrawals on Ophir Markets are in Kwacha; U.S. investments are held in dollars.
- KYC (Know Your Customer)
- The identity checks required by law before an account can be funded: NRC, selfie, address and source of funds.
L
- Limit order
- An instruction to buy or sell only at a stated price or better. It fills only if the market reaches your price.
- LuSE (Lusaka Securities Exchange)
- Zambia's stock exchange, where companies such as Zanaco, Zambia Sugar and CEC are listed and traded in Kwacha.
M
- Market capitalisation
- A company's share price multiplied by its number of shares: the market's total valuation of the business.
- Market hours
- U.S. exchanges are open from 09:30 to 16:00 New York time on weekdays, which falls in the late afternoon and evening in Lusaka. The LuSE trades on weekday mornings.
- Market order
- An instruction to buy or sell immediately at the best available price.
- Mobile money
- MTN MoMo, Airtel Money and Zamtel Kwacha wallets, used to fund your account and receive withdrawals.
O
- Order status
- Where an order is in its life: pending (sent to the market), filled (executed), partially filled, cancelled or rejected.
P
- P/E ratio
- Share price divided by earnings per share. A rough gauge of how expensive a stock is relative to its profits.
- Portfolio
- Everything you hold on Ophir Markets: U.S. shares, LuSE shares, Treasury Bills and cash.
R
- Realised and unrealised gain
- A realised gain is profit locked in by selling. An unrealised gain is the paper gain on something you still own.
S
- Settlement
- The moment after a trade when shares and money actually change hands. U.S. stocks settle one business day after the trade; LuSE trades take a few business days.
- SIPC
- The U.S. Securities Investor Protection Corporation. It protects securities held at a member broker, up to $500,000, if that broker fails. It does not cover market losses.
T
- Treasury Bill (T-bill)
- A short-term security issued by the Government of Zambia through the Bank of Zambia, sold at a discount and repaid at face value after 91, 182, 273 or 364 days.
- Two-factor authentication (2FA)
- A second check at login or withdrawal, such as an authenticator-app code or SMS, on top of your password.
V
- Verification tier
- The level of identity verification you have completed. It sets your deposit, withdrawal and trading limits.
- Volatility
- How much a price moves up and down over time. Higher volatility means bigger swings and more risk.
W
- Watchlist
- A list of securities you follow without owning. You can set price alerts on any of them.
Y
- Yield
- The annual return a security pays relative to its price, such as a T-bill's discount rate or a stock's dividend yield.
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