N   -    A Nasdaq stock symbol specifying that it is the company's third class of preferred shares.

NACHA - National Automated Clearinghouse Association   -   A non-profit membership association charged with overseeing the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system, which operates the largest electronic payment network in the world. 
Most of NACHA's 10,000+ members are depositary institutions and regional payment associations.  Through its supervisory and rule-making functions, NACHA provides the legal foundation for electronic payment systems to operate effectively, while working to update technologies and create new payment systems.

NAD   -   In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Namibia Dollar.

NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement   -   A trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that encourages free trade between these North American countries.

NAIC - National Association of Investors Corporation   -   A non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing investing education that allows individuals to earn positive long-term returns. The association is based in Michigan, and is comprised of investing clubs along with individual investors from around the United States.

NAIC - National Association of Insurance Commissioners   -   A nationwide organization whose main responsibility is to protect the interests of insurance consumers. Some of the main objectives of the NAIC are to provide support to insurance regulators across the country by promoting competitive markets, the improvement of insurance regulations and equitable treatment of insurance consumers.

NAICS - North American Industry Classification System   -   A new business classification system developed through a partnership between the United States, Canada and Mexico. This system allows statistics to be compared for all business activity across North America. All companies are separated into industries defined by businesses that use similar production processes.

NAIFA - National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors   -   A nonprofit group that works on behalf of its members to promote a favorable regulative environment, provide professional education services and ensure ethical professional conduct for insurance and financial advisors.  
The NAIFA also provides its members with sales training, networking facilities and other tools to help them succeed and build their practices. In addition, they lobby on Capitol Hill to promote favorable legislation for the insurance and financial advisory industry.

NAL - Net Advantage to Leasing   -   The total monetary savings that would result from a person or a business choosing to lease an asset, as opposed to purchase it outright. The benefit of leasing is determined by comparing the net present value of purchasing the asset outright to the net present value of leasing it.

NAMB - National Association of Mortgage Brokers   -   An association that represents the interests of mortgage brokers in the United States and promotes professionalism and ethical standards for its members. In addition to mandating that members adhere to a professional code of ethics, NAMB provides mortgage brokers with professional education opportunities and offers rigorous certification programs to recognize members with the highest levels of professional knowledge and education.

NARC - Noon Average Rate Contract   -   A type of currency forward contract that refers to the Bank of Canada's average noon rate for foreign exchange as a benchmark. The contract's negotiated exchange rate is compared to the noon rate and the two parties settle the difference in cash. NARCs usually refer to the USD/CAD exchange rate.

NAREIT - National Association of real Estate Investment Trusts   -   A trade association that represents U.S. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and publicly traded real estate companies. In essence, NAREIT works as a lobbyist for both of these groups when dealing with individuals who legislate the two respective industries.

NASD - National Association of Securities Dealers   -   The NASD was a self-regulatory organization of the securities industry responsible for the operation and regulation of the Nasdaq stock market and over-the-counter markets. It also administrated exams for investment professionals, such as the Series 7 exam.

NASDAQ   -   A computerized system that facilitates trading and provides price quotations on more than 5,000 of the more actively traded over the counter stocks. Created in 1971, the Nasdaq was the world's first electronic stock market.
Stocks on the Nasdaq are traditionally listed under four or five letter ticker symbols.  If the company is a transfer from the New York Stock Exchange, the symbol may be comprised of three letters.

NAV - Net Asset Value   -   A mutual fund's price per share or exchange-traded fund's (ETF) per-share value. In both cases, the per-share dollar amount of the fund is derived by dividing the total value of all the securities in its portfolio, less any liabilities, by the number of fund shares outstanding.
In terms of corporate valuations, the value of assets less liabilities equals net asset value (NAV), or "book value".

NAVPS - Net Asset Value Per Share   -   An expression for net asset value that represents a fund's (mutual, exchange-traded, and closed-end) or a company's value per share. It is calculated by dividing the total net asset value of the fund or company by the number of shares outstanding.
Also referred to as "book value per share".
Calculated as:

NBBO - National Best Bid and Offer   -   A term applying to the SEC requirement that brokers must guarantee customers the best available ask price when they buy securities and the best available bid price when they sell securities.

NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research   -   This private, non-profit, non-partisan research organization's main aim is to promote greater understanding of how the economy works. It disseminates economic research among public policymakers, business professionals and the academic community.

NCAVPS - Net Current Asset Value Per Share   -   A value created by professor Benjamin Graham in the mid-twentieth century to determine if a company was trading at a fair market price. NCAVPS is calculated by taking a company's current assets and subtracting the total liabilities, and then dividing the result by the total number of shares outstanding. 

NCD - Negotiable Certificate of Deposit   -   A certificate of deposit with a minimum face value of $100,000. These are guaranteed by the bank and can usually be sold in a highly liquid secondary market, but they cannot be cashed-in before maturity.

NCIB - Normal-Course Issuer Bid   -   The action of a company buying back its own outstanding shares from the markets so it can cancel them.

NCUA - National Credit Union Administration   -   An agency of the United States federal government that was created to monitor federal credit unions across the country. One of its major responsibilities is running the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), which uses tax dollars to insure the deposits at all federal credit unions.

NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement   -   A legal contract between two or more parties that signifies a confidential relationship exists between the parties involved. The confidential relationship often will refer to information that is to be shared between the parties but should not be made available to the general public.
Also referred to as a 'confidentiality agreement'.

NDF - Non-Deliverable Forward   -   A cash-settled, short-term forward contract on a thinly traded or non-convertible foreign currency, where the profit or loss at the time at the settlement date is calculated by taking the difference between the agreed upon exchange rate and the spot rate at the time of settlement, for an agreed upon notional amount of funds.

NDP - Net Domestic Product   -   An annual measure of the economic output of a nation that is adjusted to account for depreciation, calculated by subtracting depreciation from the gross domestic product (GDP).

NDS - Non-Deliverable Swap   -   A swap that is similar to a non-deliverable forward, with the only difference being that settlement for both parties is done through a major currency. Non-deliverable swaps are used when the swap includes a major currency, such as the U.S. dollar, and a restricted currency, such as the Philippine peso or South Korean won.

NDS - Negotiated Dealing System   -   An electronic trading platform, operated by the Reserve Bank of India, used to facilitate the exchange of government securities and other money market instruments. The negotiated dealing system will also be responsible for hosting new issues of government securities.

NEER - Nominal Effective Exchange Rate   -   The unadjusted weighted average value of a country's currency relative to all major currencies being traded within an index or pool of currencies. The weights are determined by the importance a home country places on all other currencies traded within the pool, as measured by the balance of trade.

NFA - National Futures Association   -   An independent self-regulatory non-profit organization that regulates the futures market.

NFO - New Fund Offer   -   A security offering in which investors may purchase units of a closed-end mutual fund. A new fund offer occurs when a mutual fund is launched, allowing the firm to raise capital for purchasing securities.

NGN   -   In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nigerian Naira.

NH - Not-Held Order   -   A market or limit order that gives the broker or floor trader both time and price discretion to attempt to get the best possible price.

NI - Net Income   -   1. A company's total earnings (or profit). Net income is calculated by taking revenues and adjusting for the cost of doing business, depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses. This number is found on a company's income statement and is an important measure of how profitable the company is over a period of time. The measure is also used to calculate earnings per share.
Often referred to as "the bottom line" since net income is listed at the bottom of the income statement. In the U.K., net income is known as "profit attributable to shareholders".
2. An individual’s income after deductions, credits and taxes are factored into gross income. Deductions and credits are subtracted from gross income to arrive at taxable income, which is used to calculate income tax. Net income is income tax subtracted from taxable income.

NIBCL - Non-Interest Bearing Current Liability   -   A category of debt entered on the liabilities side of a balance sheet under current liabilities. While a NIBCL is debt, representing a sum of money that the company owes and must pay within one year, it does not require interest payments.

NIF - Note Issuance Facility   -   A syndicate of commercial banks that have agreed to purchase any short to medium-term notes that a borrower is unable to sell in the eurocurrency market.

NIM - Net Interest Margin   -   A performance metric that examines how successful a firm's investment decisions are compared to its debt situations. A negative value denotes that the firm did not make an optimal decision, because interest expenses were greater than the amount of returns generated by investments.
Calculated as:

NIMS - Net Interest Margin Securities   -   A type of security that allows holders to access excess cash flows resulting from securitized mortgage loan pools.

NINJA Loan   -   A slang term for a loan extended to a borrower with "no income, no job and no assets". Whereas most lenders require the borrower to show a stable stream of income or sufficient collateral, a NINJA loan ignores the verification process.

NIO   -   In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nicaraguan Cordoba.

NMF   -   An abbreviation for "no meaningful figure". You'll often see this when comparing financial data among companies where a certain ratio or figure isn't applicable.

NMS - National Market System   -   A system with two main functions:
1. To facilitate trading of OTC stocks whose size, profitability, and trading activity meet specific criteria.
2. To post prices for securities on the NYSE and other regional exchanges simultaneously, allowing investors to obtain the best price.

NMS - Normal Market Size   -   A share classification structure based on the number of shares outstanding. This determines the number of shares that a market maker can trade at the quoted price.

NOA - Notice of Assessment   -   An annual statement sent by revenue authorities to taxpayers detailing the amount of income tax they owe. It includes the amount of their tax refund, tax credit and income tax already paid.

NOB - Note Against Bond Spread   -   A spread within futures contracts created by offsetting positions in 30-year treasury bond futures with positions in 10-year treasury note contracts.

NOI / NOL - Net Operating Income - Net Operating Loss   -   A company's operating income after operating expenses are deducted, but before income taxes and interest are deducted. If this is a positive value, it is referred to as net operating income, while a negative value is called a net operating loss (NOL).

NOK   -   In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Norwegian Krone.

NOL - Net Operating Loss   -   A period in which a company's allowable tax deductions are greater than its taxable income, resulting in a negative taxable income. This generally occurs when a company has incurred more expenses than revenues during the period.
The net operating loss for the company can generally be used to recover past tax payments or reduce future tax payments. The reasoning behind this is that because corporations are required to pay taxes when it earns money, it deserves some form of tax relief when it loses money.

NOMAD - NOMinated ADvisor   -   A company that has been approved as a nominated advisor for the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), by the London Stock Exchange. Individuals are not permitted to becoming nominated advisors, and there are certain criteria that must be met by a company before it is approved for membership.

NOPAT - Net Operating Profit After Tax   -   A company's potential cash earnings if its capitalization were unleveraged (that is, if it had no debt). NOPAT is frequently used in economic value added (EVA) calculations.
Calculated as:
NOPAT = Operating Income x (1 - Tax Rate)

NOPLAT - Net Operating Profit Less Adjusted Taxes   -   Total operating profits for a firm with adjustments made for taxes.

NOW - Negotiable Order of Withdrawal Account   -   An interest-earning bank account with which the customer is permitted to write drafts against money held on deposit. Also known as a "NOW account".

NPA - Non-Performing Asset   -   A debt obligation where the borrower has not paid any previously agreed upon interest and principal repayments to the designated lender for an extended period of time. The nonperforming asset is therefore not yielding any income to the lender in the form of principal and interest payments.

NPL - Non-Performing Loan   -   Loans that are in default or close to being in default.

NPR   -   In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nepal Rupee.

NPV - Net present Value   -   The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to analyze the profitability of an investment or project. 
NPV analysis is sensitive to the reliability of future cash inflows that an investment or project will yield.
Formula: