also specify the time at which the principal must be repaid and other details. Contractual Intermediary Holder of an indirect claim through a legal agreement that specifies that the individual must make periodic, fixed payments to the intermediary in exchange for the right to receive payments from the intermediary in the future. Contractual plan A plan in which fixed dollar amounts of mutual fundshares are purchased through periodic investments, usually featuring some sort of additional incentive for the fixed period payments. Contramarket stock In the context of general equities, stock that tends to go against the trend of the market as a whole, such as a commodities-related stock or one in an industry out of favor with investors in a bull market. Contrarian An investment style that leads one to buyassets that have performed poorly and sell assets that have performed well. There are two possible reasons this strategy might work. The first is a mean-reversion argument; that is, if the asset has deviated from its usual level, it should eventually return to that usual level. The second reason has to do with overreaction. Investors might have overreacted to bad news sending the asset price lower than it should be. Contrarian investing Ignoring markettrends by buyingsecurities that the investor considers undervalued and out of favor with other investors. Contributed capital See: Paid-in capital Contribution Money placed in an individual retirement account (IRA), an employer-sponsored retirement plan, or other retirement plan for a particular tax year. Contributions may be deductible or nondeductible, depending on the type of account. Contribution margin The difference between variable revenue and variable cost. Control 50% of the outstanding votes plus one vote. Control Limits The upper and lower limits on the acceptable level of cash that minimizes the sum of the opportunity cost of excessive cash and the cost of marketable security transactions. Control parameters In a nonlinear dynamic system, the coefficient of the order parameter; the determinant of the influence of the order parameter on the total system. See: Order Parameter. Control person See: Affiliated person Control-share Acquisition Laws See Supermajority. Control stock The shares owned by the controllingshareholders of a corporation. Sometimes refers to stock that has voting rights rather than stock that carries no voting rights. In a situation where all stock has voting rights, it sometimes refers to the shareholdings of one investors or a group of investors that effectively control the firm. Controlled commodities Commodities regulated by the Commodities Exchange Act of 1936 in order to prevent fraud and manipulation in commoditiesfuturesmarkets. Controlled disbursement A service that provides for a single presentation of checks each day (typically in the early part of the day). Controlled foreign corporation (CFC) A foreign corporation whose voting stock is more than 50% owned by US stockholders, each of whom owns at least 10% of the voting power. Controller The corporate manager responsible for the firm's accounting activities. Sometimes referred to as the comptroller (which means the same thing). Convenience yield The extra advantage that firms derive from holding the commodity rather than a futureposition. Convention statement An