Guide to Analysing Companies

Perpetual
Something that goes on for ever. So a perpetual debenture is
a bond that never gets repaid.
Personal identification number
Commonly known as a pin, the number needed by every
plastic cardholder to access the details of their personal financial
account(s) through an automated teller machine. For
obvious reasons, individuals are advised not to write down
their pin and not to store it in the same place as their card.
Pfandbrief
debt instruments issued by German and other European banks.
Although one of the largest of its kind, the 
Pfandbrief market is
little known outside Europe. Most 
Pfandbriefe are backed by
mortgages and are issued by highly rated German banks.
Compared with debt of a similar maturity in the United
States, 
Pfandbriefe often offer a high return for a compara-
tively low level of risk.
PIN
See personal identification number.
P
PIN
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Pink sheet
A daily publication in the United States on which are listed bro-
kerage firms that make markets in over-the-counter stocks
and adrs. Pink sheets are printed on pink paper and can be ob-
tained from most brokerage offices.
Pit
The area on a trading floor where specific types of futures,
options or securities are bought and sold, usually through
open outcry. Perversely, most pits are raised, not sunken. Al-
though pits have been a feature of futures trading for decades,
many are being phased out in favour of electronic, screen-based
dealing.
Pitch
The place where market makers, or dealers, have their
stalls on the floor of a stock exchange.
Placement
A method of selling shares in which blocks of shares are
placed with a small number of large financial institutions, often
at a discount to the market price. A placing is usually done in
private, and because fewer people are involved it is cheaper
than an offer for sale. (See also private placement.)