54 option is at the money. At the opening order In context of general equities, market order or limited price order that is to be executed at the opening (and corresponding price) of the stock or not at all, and any such order or portion thereof not so executed is to be treated as cancelled. Attractor In non-linear dynamic series, an attractor defines the equilibrium level of the system. See: Point Attractor, Limit Cycle, and Strange Attractor. Attribute bias The tendency of stocks preferred by the dividend discount model to share certain equity attributes such as low price-earnings ratios, high dividend yield, high book value ratio, or membership in a particular industry sector. Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) Greece's principal stock exchange. Auction Market Preferred Stock (AMPS) A type of Dutch Auction Preferred Stock (A Merrill Lynch product). Auction markets Markets in which the prevailing price is determined through the free interaction of prospective buyers and sellers, as on the floor of the stock exchange. Auction rate preferred stock (ARPS) Floating rate preferred stock, whose dividend is adjusted every seven weeks through a Dutch auction. Audit An examination of a company's accounting records and books conducted by an outside professional in order to determine whether the company is maintaining records according to generally accepted accounting principles. See: accountant's opinion. Audit trail Resolves the validity of an accounting entry by a step-by-step record by which accounting data can be traced to their source. Auditor's certificate See: Accountant's opinion. Auditor's report A section of an annual report that includes the auditor's opinion about the veracity of the financial statements. Aunt Millie An unsophisticated investor. Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Australia's major securities market, formed when the six state stock exchanges (Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney stock exchanges) were merged in 1987. Autarky Absence of a cross-border trade in models of international trade. Autex Video communication network through which brokerage houses alert institutional investors of their desire to transact block business (a purchase or sale) in a given security. Indications transmit small, medium, and large sizes only, with occasional limits mentioned. Supers are messages with specific size and price included. Both "indications" and "supers" can be only seen by customers (institutional subscribers to Autex). Trade recaps, advertised block trades entered by the dealer/subscribers, are also displayed, but can be seen by both institutions and dealers. See: Expunge, size. Authentication In the context of bonds, refers to the validation of a bond certificate. Authority bond A bond issued by a government agency or a corporation created to manage a revenue-producing public enterprise. The difference between an authority bond and a municipal bond is that margin protections may be incorporated in the authority bond contract as well as in the legislation that enables the authority. Authorized shares Number of shares authorized for issuance by a firm's corporate charter. Autocorrelation The correlation of a variable with itself over successive time intervals. Sometimes called serial correlation. Automated bond system (ABS) The computerized system that records bids and offers for inactively tradedbonds until they are cancelled or executed on the