Sometimes people refer to kids as "ankle biters." There's also a quasi foot fetish thing going on here. And other times, they give the name to small dogs. The phrase could also theoretically provide the title to really tame spin-off of Fifty Shades of Grey. But none of that is the focus here.
In a financial context, ankle biter serves as a nickname for a stock that has a small market cap. More formally, these shares are known as micro-cap stocks.
A market cap, or market capitalization, measures the value of a company's outstanding stock. Multiply a company's current stock price with the number of shares it has outstanding and the result gives you its market cap.
What designates a micro-cap/ankle biter stock is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. In general, it means the market cap is very small, but there's no formal rule as to where the cut off exists. It's like figuring how short a short person is. To LeBron James, almost everyone is short. To a racing jockey, almost no one is.
Typically, if a stock has a market cap below $500 million, it is getting to ankle biter territory. However, most people don't really start to apply the term until it gets below $300 million or lower.
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Finance: What are Pink Sheets?4 Views
Finance a la shmoop what are pink sheets? well they're just white sheets which got [White sheets in a washer]
washed with one new red sock thrown in yeah you know what we're talking about but
they're also a publication by the national quotation Bureau that lists
prices of over the counter or OTC stocks usually shares of delisted that are very
small thinly traded companies that pretty much well nobody cares about [Man underwater wearing snorkle and goggles]
anymore sorry guys just keeping it real other than you know bottom feeder
investors tax loss buyers and well the cardiologists investment Club of Greater
South Milwaukee yeah Bert we're looking at you
well these shares don't need to file papers with the SEC or meet pretty much
any form of registration rules the way that stocks on exchanges do they tend to
be highly illiquid and have maybe a single dealer making a market in them
that is if you want to buy them well you make an appointment for you know a [Man sitting in a waiting room]
see-you-next-tuesday at 11:30 a.m. and negotiate directly with the dealer who
may or may not have a few shares laying around to sell you or to buy from you
thanks to that publication which used to be printed on yes pink paper
pink sheets of papers, see the clever naming there...Trading OTC stocks is
sometimes referred to as trading on the pink sheets if a company's stock symbol
includes the letters PK well it trades on Pink Sheets no word on whether
matching shams or throw pillows are included when you trade those so you'll [A bed with pink sheets appears]
have to look that up on your own
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