-Bear market a period during which people are selling shares, etc.

rather than buying, because they expect the prices to fall OPP BULL MARKET_ -BULL MARKET: (Finance; Stock Exchange) a long period during which the prices of shares, etc. are rising and people are buying them: Weve been in a 25-year bull market. -record high: the best result or the highest level that has ever been reached; -the stock market: the business of buying and selling shares in companies and the place where this happens; a stock exchange: The company was floatedon the stock market (= its shares were sold to the public) in 2004. to invest in the stock market It is the only company of its type to be listed on the stock market. Pension funds have been hit hard by falling stock markets. US investors suffered big losses in the stock market slump. the stock market closes/opens the stock market falls/rallies/rises a stock market collapse/crash/slump -change hands: change hands (also exchange hands) to pass to a different owner: The company has changed hands several times. The volume of trade was high today, with 1.98 billion shares changing hands. -speculation: 1- (Finance) the activity of buying shares, property, goods, etc. in the hope of making a profit when you sell them, but with the risk of losing money: speculation on the currency markets There has often been a lot of speculation in the companys shares before they announce their results. a property speculation company The company has lost huge amounts on currency speculation.

currency/financial/market/property speculation

2 the act of forming an opinion about something that has happened or might happen without knowing all the facts: There has been press speculation about a possible merger. The move fuelled speculation that a takeover is imminent. Speculation has been mounting over the companys future. The companys share price has slumped, prompting speculation that it could be the target of a takeover bid.

to fuel/increase/lead to/raise/spark speculation speculation grows/increases/mounts to dampen/dismiss/play down/quash speculation -blue chip: chip noun [C, usually pl.] (Stock Exchange, informal) the shares of the best-known companies on the stock market, which are considered to be a safe investment: US blue chips rose 0.2% in morning trade yesterday.

blue-chip adjective [only before noun]: blue-chip companies/shares/stocks blue chip company also blue-chip company FINANCE a well-known, successful company whose shares are a very safe investment : blue chip companies like Shell, BP and Unilever, which have well-defined, long-term business strategies -glut: noun [C, usually sing.] a situation where there is a greater supply of sth than there is demand: Prices fell because of a glut of steel on world markets. a global banana glut SYN SURPLUS OPP SHORTAGE DEARTH an inventory/supply glut verb [+ obj] (-tt-) (usually be glutted) to supply or provide sth, usually a market, with too much of sth: The market was glutted with small cars so production was shut down. SYN SATURATE -quota: quota /; AmE / noun [C]

1 (Economics) the limited number or amount of people or things that is officially allowed: to introduce a strict import quota on grain export quotas a quota system for greenhouse gases to impose/introduce/lift/set quotas to increase/raise/reduce a quota to comply with/exceed quotas

2 a fixed amount of sth that sb can receive or must do; a fixed number of people that are expected or needed:
2

He never takes his full quota of holidays. Our sales quotas were not met last year. Im going home now-Ive done my quota of work for the day. to impose/introduce quotas to increase/raise/reduce a quota to achieve/fill/make/meet/reach a quota -tariff: (Trade) a tax that is paid on goods coming into or going out of a country: New import tariffs have been imposed on a wide range of agricultural products. High tariff barriers protect domestic industry. Thailand has complained that high tariffs on its tuna exports makes it uncompetitive. The latest car industry plan includes tariff exemptions for the local manufacturers.

to impose/set a tariff to place a tariff on sth to abolish/eliminate/lift a tariff high/low/punitive tariffs tariff barriers/protection/walls

2 (Commerce) a list of fixed prices that are charged by a company for a particular service, or by a hotel or restaurant for rooms, meals, etc: a telephone tariff the hotels daily/weekly tariff -warranty: (Commerce; Law) a written agreement in which a company selling sth promises to repair or replace it if there is a problem within a particular period of time: The television comes with a full two-year warranty. Is the car still under warranty? SYN GUARANTEE WARRANTEE, WARRANTOR -franchise: (Commerce) [C,U] a right that sb buys from a company that allows them to do particular business activities, such as selling the companys goods and services in a particular area; formal permission given by a government to sb that wants to operate a public service as a business: They won the franchise to operate outlets in the UK. to operate a business under franchise In the reorganization, Southern Television lost their franchise. to buy/have/hold/lose/own/win a franchise to award/give sb/grant sb/sell a franchise a catering/fast food/rail/television franchise a franchise business/company/operation a franchise agreement/holder/owner 2 (Commerce) [C] a business or service run under franchise: The restaurant chain has 257 franchises across Europe. a burger franchise The store has its own designer range of mens clothing and several in-store franchises. 3 (Marketing) [C] the group of people within a population that buy a particular product or service:
3

The young-male franchise generally consider it to be their brand. We needed to widen the brands franchise. 4 (Marketing) [C] the right to sell a particular film/movie, television show, computer program, etc. and use the name to market other products; the group of products that have the name: They own the Tomb Raider franchise. a new movie in the Harry Potter franchise verb [+ obj] (Commerce) (usually be franchised) to give or sell a franchise to sb: Catering has been franchised (out) to a private company. The group has 9 000 franchised restaurants. franchising noun [U]: They intend to expand through franchising agreements. -dupming: 1-(Economics) the practice of selling large amounts of goods in a particular country at prices that are unfairly low: They claim the dumping of steel below the cost of production is harming the domestic industry. 2 the act of getting rid of sth you do not want, especially dangerous substances: a ban on the dumping of radioactive waste at sea_