Distribution

Filed Under » ,
Dictionary Says

Definition of 'Distribution'

1. When trading volume is higher than that of the previous day without any price appreciation.

2. The removal of assets from a retirement account. The assets are then paid to the retirement account owner or beneficiary.

3. A company's payment of cash, stock or physical products to its shareholders.

4. Distributions of income and capital gains that mutual funds make to their investors periodically during a calendar year.
Investopedia Says

Investopedia explains 'Distribution'

1. A market that is in distribution has already hit its apex and is expected to decline.

2. The retirement account owner (or beneficiary) may be required to pay income tax on distributions received during the year. Early-distribution penalties may also apply if the distribution occurs while the retirement account owner is under the age of 59.5. While distributions from IRAs can occur at any time, certain requirements must be met before distributions can occur from qualified plans, 457 plans and 403(b) accounts. Participants must check with their employers regarding the rules of the plan.

3. The income that is generated from an investment trust is given to investors through monthly or quarterly distributions. In this manner, distributions are similar to stock dividends; however, they usually offer much higher yields of up to 10% a year. The distributions received reduce a trust's taxable income and, therefore, little or no income tax is paid.

4. Mutual funds pay out interest and dividend income received from their portfolio holdings as dividends (income distribution) to fund shareholders. In addition, capital gains from the portfolio's trading activities are generally paid out (capital gains distribution) at the end of the year.

Related Definitions

  • Bear

    An investor who believes that a particular security or market is headed downward. Bears attempt to profit from a decline in prices. Bears are generally pessimistic about the state of a ...
    Read More »
  • Bull

    An investor who thinks the market, a specific security or an industry will rise. Investors who takes a bull approach will purchase securities under the assumption that they can be sold ...
    Read More »
  • Mode

    A statistical term that refers to the most frequently occurring number found in a set of numbers. The mode is found by collecting and organizing the data in order to count the frequency ...
    Read More »
    • Consolidation

      In technical analysis, the movement of an asset's price within a well-defined pattern or barrier of trading levels. Consolidation is generally regarded as a period of indecision, which ...
      Read More »
    • Stock Cycle

      The evolution of a stock's price from an early uptrend to a price high and eventually to a downtrend. The stock cycle is a buy-and-sell cycle that occurs over several years and has four ...
      Read More »
    • Individual Retirement Account - IRA

      An investing tool used by individuals to earn and earmark funds for retirement savings. There are several types of IRAs: Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and SEP IRAs. ...
      Read More »
    • Technical Analysis

      A method of evaluating securities by analyzing statistics generated by market activity, such as past prices and volume. Technical analysts do not attempt to measure a security's ...
      Read More »
    • Rollover

      A rollover is when you do the following:1. Reinvest funds from a mature security into a new issue of the same or a similar security. 2. Transfer the holdings of one retirement plan to ...
      Read More »
    • Median

      The middle number in a sorted list of numbers. To determine the median value in a sequence of numbers, the numbers must first be arranged in value order from lowest to highest. If there ...
      Read More »
    • Cash Liquidation Distribution

      The amount of capital that is returned to the investor or business owner when a business is liquidated. Cash liquidation distributions are usually considered a nontaxable return of ...
      Read More »
    • XDIS

      A symbol used specifically upon the consolidated tape to indicate a security trading ex-distribution.
      Read More »

Articles Of Interest

Partner Links