Account Period Settlement:
The settlement process where the buy and sale transactions done for a particular period (week or fortnight) are aggregated and only the net obligations are settled after the period is over. Indian securities market had weekly account period settlement before rolling settlement.

Allotment:
A letter sent to the successful application about allotment of shares/debentures against his application.
American Depository Receipts (ADRs):
A certificate issued in the United States in lieu of foreign security. ADRs are traded in US markets for all intents and purposes.

American option:
A put or call option that cane be exercised any time before the expiration date.

Asset Management Company:
The company that handles day to day management and operations of a Mutual Fund.

Arbitrage
The process of benefiting out of price differential in the same scrip between two markets or because of price difference in the scrip in the underlying market and futures or derivative markets.
Arbitration:
Settlement of claims differences or disputes between member of a stock exchange and another member and between a member and his clients, sub-brokers, etc., through appointed arbitrators. It is a quasi-judicial process that is faster and an inexpensive way of resolving a dispute. The stock exchange facilitates the process of arbitration between the members and their clients in accordance with the bye-laws of the exchange.

Ask
The price which the seller of the security wants to sell the shares owned by him.

Auction:
An auction is a mechanism utilized by the stock exchange to fulfill its obligation to a counter party member when a member fails to deliver agreed securities or make the payment. Through auction, the stock exchange arranges to buy good securities and deliver them to the buying broker or arranges to realise the cash and pay it to the selling broker.

Investing is a quite a complex exercise. But when it comes to the basic principles, they are amazingly simple. Anyone can become good investor and reach your goals just by following those simple and easy rules. Here is the list of few rules for making investment in mutual funds:

Be a long-term investor:
You should have a long term horizon. Short-term trading will make brokers rich and not investors and the income tax department will also be happy. Mutual funds are diversified and therefore, their gains and losses are likely to be lower than what it would be in case you are investing in an individual security. However, major fluctuations are highly uncommon in mutual funds. So what make sense is to leave your capital in a mutual fund for a long time and let it compound. So the key point is Buy and Hold. It also requires to you do a reality check on yourselves so that you can define your goals and priorities before entering the market.
Start Early:
When you invest in the market is more important than the market timing. Always enter the market with long term thinking. Do proper researches before investing set your priorities and goals, ascertain your risk profile. Also very importantly you should keep yourself abreast with the daily market news. One should not do impulsive purchase allowing emotions overpowering the sense of reason.

Know yourself and then What You Are Buying:
The first step towards achieving your goals would be to know yourself, your risk appetite and accordingly make the investments. Once you have discovered yourself, explore the market and find out the kind of funds available in the market. Firstly, get a hang on the style and strategy followed by a fund by reading the available material. This will help in diversifying the portfolio and also in assessing potential risks. In general, large-cap value funds are less risky than small-cap growth funds.