1. Glossary of Financial Terms
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Q ratio or Tobin's Q ratio
Q Market value of a firm's assets divided by replacement
value of the firm's assets.
Quadratic programming
Variant of linear programming whereby the equations
are quadratic rather than linear.
Quality option
Also called the swap option, the seller's choice of
deliverables in Treasury Bond and Treasury note
futures contract. Related: cheapest to deliver issue
Quality spread
Also called credit spread, the spread between Treasury
securities and non-Treasury securities that are
identical in all respects except for quality rating. For
instance, the difference between yields on Treasuries
and those on single A-rated industrial bonds.
Quanto swap
See: differential swap.
Quantos
Currency options with a guaranteed exchange rate that
enable buyers who like the asset, German bonds for
example, but not the asset's pricing currency, to
arrange to be paid in a different currency for a fee.
Quick assets
Current assets minus inventories.
Quick ratio
Indicator of a company's financial strength (or
weakness). Calculated by taking current assets less
inventories, divided by current liabilities. This ratio
provides information regarding the firm's liquidity and
ability to meet its obligations. Also called the Acid
Test ratio.
Quotation
The bid and offered prices a dealer is willing to buy or sell at.