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The webpage https://www.sec.gov/files/aqfsn_1.pdf describe a term M8:

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M8 means 1st through 2nd trimester.Google search shows that trimester is a period of three months.

1st through 2nd trimester = 3+3 = 6

Why it is written as M8 instead of M6?
Even if we use the definition in pregnancy such as in the below webpage:

https://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/pregnancy/trimesters

First Trimester (0 to 13 Weeks),Second Trimester (14 to 26 Weeks):

8 months = 8 * 4 = 32 Weeks  >> 26 Weeks

Maybe we should add a holiday which last 2 months：

The first trimester (3 months) + holiday(2 months) + the second trimester(3 months) = 8 months ?

But no investors in stock market have a two months holiday!

showkey
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  • Trimesters in academic years and pregnancy are defined as three month periods because those only last for 9 months. Honestly I've never heard the term used in finance but it makes sense to me (and fits the M8 definition) to define it as one-third of a fiscal year. – D Stanley Feb 17 '22 at 03:33
  • Why did you delete the answered question? If you disagree with the answer you can add a comment, and can add additional info to your question. – D Stanley Feb 17 '22 at 03:36

2 Answers2

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I have never heard the term "trimester" used in a business context - only school years and pregnancies, both of which last about 9 months, so defining "trimester" as "a third" would equate to three months.

So if M8 is "two trimesters" and we guess that a trimester in this context is 4 months or "a third of a year", that would confirm that two trimesters would be 8 months and fit the "M8" moniker.

It also fits from the available terms that there are three trimesters, just as there are four quarters.

M9, defined as quarters 1-3, would be made up of nine months, which fits this paradigm as well.

D Stanley
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  • Google search never say that trimester is 4 months ,it says 3 months! – showkey Feb 17 '22 at 03:58
  • The first trimester (3 months) + holiday(2 months) + the second trimester(3 months) = 8 months ? – showkey Feb 17 '22 at 04:11
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    @showkey I also can't find trimester being used to mean "one third of a year"; nonetheless, the context of the quote you've given makes it clear that that is the intended meaning here. Note that they give examples "Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4" and "T1 T2 T3", strongly suggesting that those are all the cases – AakashM Feb 17 '22 at 08:39
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I think you stumbled into one of the inaccuracies of the English language.

Just like people can't decide if bimonthly means twice a month or every other month, trimester is always seen in relationship to a pregnancy.

But what does the word mean. Strictly some say a trimester means three months. The other similar word we use in the US is semester. Which means six moons. But in the US we use it to mean a 4 month period of study in College. Made even more confusing by the fact that thee is also a summer session, so that give you three terms in a year. Some colleges use the quarter system and most students attend 3 quarters each year.

So does trimester mean three months or a third of a year? It depends on how the person developed the term for their usage: Was it "I need a word for three months? or was it "I need to divide the year into X-mesters, so this 4 months period is a tri-mester?"

mhoran_psprep
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