A procedure that temporarily halts trading on all US stock markets for one hour when the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 250 points or more within a trading day. The pause is designed to allow time for the markets to absorb the news that precipitated the decline. Should the average fall another 150 points within the same day, trading would again be halted, this time for two hours.
Clean Development Mechanism
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment (so-called Annex 1 countries) to invest in emission reducing projects in developing countries as an alternative to what is generally considered more costly emission reductions in their own countries. The CDM is supervised by the CDM Executive Board (CDM EB) and is under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties (COP/MOP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Clean price
The price of a bond not including the accrued-interest element.
Clearing
The process of matching, registering and guaranteeing transactions.
Clearing house
An exchange-associated, usually independent organisation through which all contracts are made, offset and delivered.
Clearing margin
Financial safeguards to ensure that clearing members (usually companies or corporations) perform on their customers' open futures and options contracts. Clearing margins are distinct from customer margins that individual buyers and sellers of futures and options contracts are required to deposit with brokers.
Clearing member
A member firm of a clearing house.
Close out
A transaction which leaves the trade with a zero net commitment to the market. A purchase if the initial transaction was a sale and vice versa.
Closed-end mutual funds
A mutual fund that issues a set number of shares, which then are only re-sold on the secondary market exchanges like regular stock shares.
Closing range
The high and low prices at which transactions took place at the end of the day's trading session.
