Schedules 13D and 13G are commonly referred to as a “beneficial ownership reports.” The term "beneficial owner" is defined under SEC rules. It includes any person who directly or indirectly shares voting power or investment power (the power to sell the security).

Although investors sometimes ask the SEC for a list of a company's shareholders, the SEC does not maintain shareholder lists.

Restricted securities are securities acquired in an unregistered, private sale from the issuing company or from an affiliate of the issuer. They typically bear a “restrictive” legend clearly stating that you may not resell them in the public marketplace unless the sale is exempt from the SEC’s registration requirements.

A unit investment trust UIT is one of three basic types of investment companies. The other two types are open-end funds (usually mutual funds) and closed-end funds.

Data tagging, in formats like XBRL or “eXtensible Business Reporting Language,” is gaining popularity as a way to enhance financial reporting.

By using computer codes to "tag" different kinds of data in financial reports, the information companies file with the Commission can be made much easier to find and analyze. For example, specific items in a financial statement, such as net income or gross sales, are given computer-readable labels. At the same time, the task of preparing the reports can be automated for the companies who file them.

An All-Or-None (AON) order is an order to buy or sell a stock that must be executed in its entirety, or not executed at all.  AON orders that cannot be executed immediately remain active until they are executed or cancelled. 

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Unless an investor specifies a time frame for the expiration of an order, orders to buy and sell a stock are “Day” orders, meaning they are good only during that trading day.  Day orders that do not execute during regular trading hours expire and will not automatically carry over into after-hours trading or the next regular trading day.

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A Fill-Or-Kill order is an order to buy or sell a stock that must be executed immediately in its entirety; otherwise, the entire order will be cancelled (i.e., no partial execution of the order is allowed). 

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The term "bid" refers to the highest price a buyer will pay to buy a specified number of shares of a stock at any given time.  The term "ask"  refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock.

The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price.  The difference between the bid price and the ask price is called the "spread." 

Analyst recommendations can have a significant effect on a company’s stock price, especially when the recommendations are widely disseminated through television appearances or other electronic and print media.  The SEC receives a number of complaints about analysts who recommend buying a stock in a company from investors who believe the analyst has a financial stake in the company or some other conflict of interest.