multi-year, multi-month, multiweek + Aussie (Australian dollar)

Wed Jun 13 17:30:36 UTC 2012

I came across an article that mentioned "a multiyear low". Although
completely transparent, this seems to be a deviation from the main sense
of "multiyear" in OED.

> That lasts, takes place over, or is valid for a number of years;
> relating to more than one year.

The quotes that illustrate the definition quite clearly intend the
meaning of "a period of several years" (in adjectival sense). The
"multiyear low" is not something that takes place over a period of
years, but rather the local minimum that is separated from another one
by several years. This is the antipodal phrase from "multiyear high",
which is a bit more common. Perhaps others will try to fit this into the
original definition as simply as slight variant of the original--after
all, we are talking about a high or a low over a period of several
years. I see this a bit differently as the mathematical metaphors that
underlie the two meanings are quite distinct. At the very least, it's a
drift, but I would even view it as a separate gloss. [OT: Am I inventing
a new meaning of "gloss"?]

Google Search without the hyphen gives 50K vs. 65K raw ghits for
"multiyear low/high". With the hyphen, the numbers increase tenfold to
524K vs. 730K.

Both appear to be trading jargon for both stocks and commodities, but
they also spill to other areas, some having to do with financial and
economic statistics (e.g., mortgage interest and volume, employment
numbers), some not (e.g., CDC reporting category numbers, river flow,
etc.). In all cases, the phrase appears to arise in somewhat technical,
jargon-y contexts.

This extends to "multi-month", where there is a tenfold drop in search
results and "multi-week", with the numbers dropping even further. The
former seems to come up in currency trading much more than other
contexts, but the latter is more of a commodities trading term. Mineral
futures trades (particularly oil and gold) and currency trades appear to
have a much shorter attention span than agricultural commodity trades,
stocks, bonds and other securities. So there should be no surprise that
the focus drops to volatility over a period of weeks or months rather
than years.

Examples for all of these are below.

The very last pair of examples for "multi-month" compare the value of
the euro to the "loonie" and the "Aussie". The former is in the OED with
the specific meaning (Canadian dollar). The latter is the corresponding
trade shorthand for Australian dollar that is not given in dictionaries.
(The OED only gives the general "Australian".)

VS-)

*Quotations: multiyear low*

http://goo.gl/2DyPI
> So you’d think the last man standing in the field, Best Buy, the
> world’s top electronics retailer, would be living large right about
> now. Instead, with its stock at a multiyear low, the Richfield (Minn.)
> retailer today announced it will be shutting 50 of its 1,100 stores
> amid a revenue shortfall.

http://goo.gl/y2IuN
> Fire River Gold Corp (CVE:FAU) (PINK:FVGCF) stock price hit a new
> multiyear low after the company announced intentions to do a new
> funding round.

http://goo.gl/xphie
Apartment rents up as vacancies at multiyear low

http://goo.gl/ZPj2w
> The number of outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships
> sailing from U.S. ports is on track to hit a multiyear low this year,
> continuing a downward trend that began several years ago as the
> industry increased prevention efforts.

http://goo.gl/gZrFU
Multiyear low flow of streams in northeastern Kansas

http://goo.gl/dvhoL
Mortgage application volume hits multiyear low
> Mortgage application volume fell last week to its lowest levels in
> nearly eight years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said today.

http://goo.gl/7Hg2C
South African coal trades hit multiyear low

http://goo.gl/J45pH
> Cisco stock this morning in pre-market has hit a multiyear low
> breaking below $15/share to $14.93 and the big question for investors
> is when will the drop stop.

http://goo.gl/3rcQu
February 2010 Federal Tax Withholdings Plunge To Multiyear Low
> February was not an auspicious start to Obama's record budget
> deficit-busting plans. The Daily Treasury Statement for the full month
> of February was just released, and it disclosed that while corporate
> tax withholdings, net of refunds, actually climbed marginally to $3.4
> billion from $(3.4) billion in February 2009, individual tax
> withholdings plunged to a multi-year low of $30.7 billion.

http://goo.gl/WaJSd
Gap Shares Hit Multiyear Low
> Shares of Gap Inc. on Tuesday fell to their lowest intraday trading
> price in more than four years, despite an upgrade of the stock by CL
> King & Assoc.

http://goo.gl/QUalH
> You know, nobody loves a good "buy stocks when they're beaten down"
> diatribe more than I do. And to be honest, I agree with the underlying
> motivation -- the time to buy a stock is when nobody else wants it and
> it's at a multiyear low.

*The "multiyear high":*

http://goo.gl/xbcCb
> Retail stocks began 2012 with a head of steam that continued
> throughout the quarter, with many posting record or multi-year highs
> during the period, amid sentiment that the gains can continue.
> ...
> Target was also among stocks that hit multi-year highs during the
> first quarter.

http://goo.gl/XOm8c
> Shares recently hit a multi-year high of $66.66 and the gain of 0.5%
> has shares at $65.86.
> ...
> Maybe this is just a pause, and it is possible that Wal-Mart is just
> being used as a source of funds between $65 and $66+ as the shares are
> hitting multi-year highs. The all-time high is $70.25 plus or minus a
> few cents.

http://goo.gl/UMNJp
Stocks Hit Multiyear Highs But Reverse Lower
> Stocks reversed lower to a mixed close Tuesday after pushing into new
> highs. But volume was oddly quiet despite news over the long weekend
> that the EU had finally hammered out a deal to rescue Greece.

http://goo.gl/HN5oz
> At&T (NYSE:T) just grinded to a new 52 week high on its own, topping
> at 34.74 on Thursday for a new 52 week and multi-year high (June 2008).

http://goo.gl/uEpSy
> Dressbarn operator Ascena Retail Group (NASDAQ: ASNA) saw its share
> price rise more than 50% to a multiyear high in March, but it has
> pulled back more than 8% since then.
> ...
> The share price of Dillards (NYSE: DDS) is up about 46% year to date,
> putting it in multiyear high territory.
> ...
> While shares of Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) are trading about 73%
> higher year to date, they have tumbled about 36% from a multiyear high
> back in March.
> ...
> Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) is about 38% higher year to date despite
> pulling back more than 4% from a recent multiyear high.

*The "multi-month low":*

http://goo.gl/mTld9
Dollar hits new multimonth low vs euro, pound, yen
> The dollar kept falling on Friday, notching fresh multimonth lows
> against the euro, pound and yen as a warning that Britain's debt level
> may result in its credit rating being cut ricocheted into worries
> about the massive U.S. deficit.

http://goo.gl/u0Igv
Oil at multimonth low on supply fears, data
> Oil futures lost nearly 2% Thursday, hurt by a larger-than-expected
> increase in weekly jobless claims, an unexpected decline in U.S.
> durable-goods orders, and comments from Kuwait that reignited fears of
> increased supplies.

http://goo.gl/fYPsh
> Concerns about Europe also have put a cap on oil use there. Oil was
> off another eight cents and dropped to $92.27, near a multimonth low.

http://goo.gl/Jn6lr
Yen hits multi-month high
> The yen hit fresh multi-month highs against the euro and dollar in
> Asian trade Thursday as nervous traders flocked to the safe haven
> Japanese currency amid worries over Spain’s faltering bank sector.

http://goo.gl/MQER0
Pound Strengthens To Fresh Multi-month High Against Euro
> The pound has been gaining against the euro ahead of the European
> deals on Friday. As of now, the pound is worth 0.8140 per euro, its
> highest level since July 2010.

http://goo.gl/1Qwvz
Euro Advances To New Multi-month High Versus Canadian Dollar
> The European single currency extended its previous session's upward
> trading against the Canadian dollar during New York morning trading on
> Friday. The euro-loonie pair that closed yesterday's North American
> session at 1.3342 edged up to a fresh multi-month high of 1.3450 by
> about 10:40 am ET. At present, the euro is trading at 1.3440 versus
> the Canadian unit.

http://goo.gl/Sn57v
Euro Climbs To New Multi-month High Versus Aussie
> Extending its previous session's uptrend, the European common currency
> advanced further against the Australian dollar in New York late
> afternoon deals on Friday. The euro climbed to a fresh multi-month
> high of 1.2888 versus the Aussie by about 3:25 pm ET from yesterday's
> closing value of 1.2816.

*The "multiweek high":*

http://goo.gl/qJI2A
Metals Stocks: Gold retreats from multiweek high (at MarketWatch)

[Note that the original article lacks this phrasing, but it shows up in
the discussion thread]

http://goo.gl/kqEC9
Oil futures hit fresh multiweek high

http://goo.gl/NnUVW
Gas prices hover at multiweek highs
> Across the state and country, the price of fuel remains at a multiweek
> high, AAA says.

http://goo.gl/w3lyZ
swiss franc jumps to new multiweek high against yen rtt news

[Note: the article is no longer available, but the headline is still
visible and searchable]

http://goo.gl/0MIVE
> The pattern of fewer new highs and more lows as the rally has
> progressed and the very recent expansion of new highs. Yesterday's
> market registered a multiweek high in new highs, suggesting that
> stocks were gaining strength, not topping out here. An expansion of
> new highs above the level registered in early January would suggest
> that the bull market still has good life.

[An interesting somewhat recursive example of a "multiweek high" in the
number of highs in the market]

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