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CATS (Certificates of Accrual on Treasury Securities)are Issues from the U.S. Treasury sold at a deep discount from their face value. They are called Zero Coupon securities because they require no interest payments during their lifetime, but they return the full face value at maturity. They cannot be called away.

A Debenture is an unsecured debt offering by a corporation, promising only the general assets as protection for creditors.

The Face value is sometimes referred to as Par value. The Face Value or Face of a preferred stock is the redemption value appearing on the face of the certificate, unless that value is otherwise specified by the issuing corporation.

A Futures contract is an agreement to make or take delivery of a commodity at a specified Future time and price. The contract is transferable and can be traded like a security. Futures contracts were once limited to commodities, but are now available on financial instruments, currencies and indexes.

A mutual fund Load is a sales charge or commission, usually expressed as a percentage of the amount purchased, paid by the investor for the purchase or sale of certain mutual fund shares. It is considered an up-front charge to get into the fund.

The term Leverage in relation to securities is the principle of increasing return without increasing investment. Buying stock on margin is an example of leverage. In finance, it means the relationship of a firm's debt to its equity, as expressed in the Debt to Equity Ratio. If the company earns a return on the borrowed money greater than the cost of the debt it is successfully applying the principle of leverage.

Maturity value as it relates to securities is the amount an investor receives when a security is redeemed at maturity not including any periodic interest payments. This value usually equals the par value, although on zero coupon, compound interest and multiplier bonds, the principal amount of the security at issuance plus the accumulated investment return on the security is included.

Over the Counter is a market for securities that in most cases are not listed on one of the major stock exchanges. These securities are traded by dealers who act as principals rather than as agents. The over the counter market is the principal market for U.S. government and municipal bonds.

Penny Stocks are a term for low priced, high-risk stocks that usually sell for less than $1 per share. These shares usually require a special margin maintenance requirement, and purchases are often limited to unsolicited orders.