Accredited investor. Individual accredited investors must satisfy one of the following standards: (a) have a combined net worth with their spouse in excess of $1,000,000; (b) have individual income for the past two years and a reasonable expectation of income for the current year in excess of $200,000, (c) have joint income with their spouse in excess of $300,000 for the past two years and a reasonable expectation of such income for the current year; or (d) be a director or executive officer of the company. Accredited investors also include banks, savings and loan associations, brokers, dealers, insurance companies, and other institutions. Under some circumstances, accredited investors may engage in securities purchases exempted from registration requirements.

Analyst. An employee of a broker-dealer who analyzes, without commercial bias, the performance, prospects, and value of stocks and who provides this information to his or her employer and its clients. Analysts usually specialize in a particular industry or stock type.

Annual meeting. Corporate law and stock exchange rules require public corporations to hold annual shareholder meetings to elect directors and conduct other shareholder business. Often, annual meetings are mainly ceremonial because most shareholders' votes are cast by mail through proxy cards, and the outcome is a foregone conclusion. However, some annual meetings can devolve to proxy fights and verbal attacks against management when an issue is hotly contested.

Annual report. The annual report is issued yearly by public corporations to its shareholders, and contains the detailed financial and business information required by law. The front part of an annual report often contains marketing material such as impressive graphics and narrative highlights about the company's successes over the past year. This term also can refer to the document filed with the SEC containing all the information required of an annual report by the proxy rules, and more.