| last-sale service | A service that allow real-time access to last-sale information reported by Market Makers. (See last-sale reporting) | |
| last-sale reporting | The electronic notification by a Market Maker to The Nasdaq Stock Market of the price and the number of shares involved in a transaction in a Nasdaq security. The notification must be made within 90 seconds of the execution of an order. | |
| letter of intent | A letter that formalizes the relationship between an underwriter and a company preparing to go public. The letter of intent outlines the underwriter fees, ranges for stock prices, and other terms of the underwriter's agreement. (See underwriter) | |
| limit order | An order to buy or sell a security at a customer-specified price; a customer order to buy or sell a specified number of shares of a security at a specific price. (See stop-loss order) | |
| limit-order file | A file maintained as a feature of Nasdaq's Small Order Execution System that stores customers' unexecuted limit orders. (See limit order) | |
| liquidity | The liquidity of a stock is the ease with which the market can absorb volume buying or selling, without dramatic fluctuation in price. | |
| liquidity ratio | A measure of the trading volume of a security associated with a 1 percent change in its price. The higher the ratio, the more shares that can be traded with little change in price. (See Amivest Liquidity Ratio) | |
| listing and maintenance agreement | A written contract between a securities market and an issuing company. In it, the issuing company agrees to meet and maintain the market's qualitative and quantitative listing standards. | |
| locked or crossed quotations | A temporary and unusual condition where the ask (offer) price of one Market Maker for a security is the same or lower than the bid (buy) price of another Market Maker. Locked or crossed quotations may occur in fast-moving markets. (See ask price, bid price, Market Maker) | |
| locked-in trade | A securities transaction in which all of the terms and conditions of the trade are accepted by the buyer and seller. Once a transaction is locked in, last-sale reporting to Nasdaq and reporting to the clearing corporation are processed electronically. (See last-sale reporting) |
