OFFSET is: a. In banking, the deduction by a debtor from a claim or demand of a debt or obligation. Such an offset is based upon a counterclaim against the party making the original claim. Example: Seller makes a claim or files a lawsuit asking for $20,000 from Debtor as the final payment in purchase of a restaurant; as part of his defense Debtor claims an offset of $10,000 for alleged funds owed by Seller for repairs Debtor made on property owned by Seller, thus reducing the claim of Seller to $10,000; b. in accounting, the amount equaling or counterbalancing another amount on the opposite side of the same ledger or the ledger of another account; c. in securities, the elimination of a long or short position by making an opposite transaction. See also OFFSET ACCOUNT.
EARNINGS RETENTION is the proportion of net income that is not paid in dividends. A firm earning $80 million after taxes and paying dividends of $20 million has a retention rate of $60 million/$80 million, or 75%. A high retention rate makes it more likely a firms income and dividends will grow in future years.
EXERCISE, in business or law, to make use of a right available in a legally binding agreement, e.g. to implement the right of the holder of an option to buy (in the case of a call) or sell (in the case of a put) the underlying security.
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