Glossary

Beta

Beta measures how much a stock's price swings compared to the overall market. If the market goes up or down 10%, a stock…

Book Value

Book value is what a company would theoretically be worth if it sold all its assets and paid off all its debts today. It…

Cash Flow

Cash flow is the actual money moving in and out of a company's bank account. It's different from profit—a company can lo…

Consensus Earnings (Analyst Estimates)

Consensus Earnings (Analyst Estimates) is the average prediction of what a company will earn per share over a specific p…

Debt-to-Equity Ratio

The Debt-to-Equity Ratio measures how much money a company owes compared to how much it's actually worth to shareholders…

Dilution

Dilution happens when a company issues new shares of stock, which spreads ownership across more shares and reduces what …

Dividend

A dividend is a payment that a company makes to its shareholders—basically, a slice of the company's profits distributed…

Dividend Yield

Dividend Yield is the annual dividend payment a company gives you as a percentage of the stock's current price. Think of…

Earnings Call

An earnings call is a live conference where a company's executives discuss their recent financial results with investors…

EBITDA

EBITDA is a company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are subtracted. In simpler terms, …

Enterprise Value (EV)

Enterprise Value is what it would actually cost to buy an entire company, not just its stock. While a company's market c…

EPS (Earnings Per Share)

EPS is a company's total profit divided by the number of shares (ownership pieces) outstanding. It tells you how much pr…

EV/EBITDA Ratio

The EV/EBITDA ratio compares a company's total value to its annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and am…

Follow-on Offering

A follow-on offering is when a company that's already publicly traded issues and sells new shares to the public. Think o…

Free Cash Flow (FCF)

Free Cash Flow is the actual cash a company generates after paying for the stuff it needs to run and grow—like equipment…

Gross Margin

Gross Margin is the percentage of revenue a company keeps after paying for the direct costs of making its products. Thin…

Gross Profit

Gross Profit is the money a company keeps after paying for the direct costs of making or buying the products it sells. T…

Guidance (Management Outlook)

Guidance is a company's official forecast of its future financial performance, usually shared during earnings calls or p…

Income Statement

An income statement is a financial report showing how much money a company earned and spent over a specific period, endi…

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is when a private company sells shares to the general public for the first time, becomi…

Market Capitalization (Market Cap)

Market capitalization (or market cap) is the total dollar value of a company's stock. You calculate it by multiplying th…

Mega-cap

A mega-cap stock is a company with a market capitalization (total value of all its shares) of $200 billion or more. You'…

Micro-cap

A micro-cap stock is a company with a market capitalization (total value of all its shares) between roughly $50 million …

Mid-cap

A mid-cap stock is a company with a market capitalization (total value of all its shares) between roughly $2 billion and…

Net Income

Net Income is the amount of money a company has left over after paying all its bills. It's calculated by taking total re…

Net Margin

Net Margin is the percentage of revenue a company keeps as profit after paying all its expenses. It's calculated by divi…

Operating Profit

Operating Profit is the money a company makes from actually running its business, after paying for the costs directly ti…

Payout Ratio

The payout ratio is the percentage of a company's earnings that it returns to shareholders as dividends rather than rein…

Penny Stock

A penny stock is a company's share that trades for less than $5, usually on smaller exchanges rather than major ones lik…

Price-to-Book (P/B)

Price-to-Book (P/B) is a ratio that compares a company's stock price to its book value—basically what the company's asse…

Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)

The Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E) is a company's stock price divided by its annual profit per share. It tells you how ma…

Price-to-Sales (P/S)

Price-to-Sales (P/S) is a ratio that compares a company's stock price to its annual revenue per share. It tells you how …

Revenue

Revenue is the total amount of money a company brings in from selling its products or services, before any expenses are …

Revenue Growth

Revenue growth is how much a company's total sales increase from one period to the next, usually measured year-over-year…

ROA (Return on Assets)

ROA (Return on Assets) measures how efficiently a company uses its assets to generate profit. It's calculated by dividin…

ROE (Return on Equity)

ROE (Return on Equity) measures how efficiently a company uses shareholders' money to generate profits. It's calculated …

ROIC (Return on Invested Capital)

ROIC measures how efficiently a company turns the money invested in it into profits. Think of it as a report card for ma…

Secondary Offering

A secondary offering is when a company sells additional shares of stock to the public after its initial public offering …

Share Issuance (Dilution)

Share issuance (dilution) happens when a company creates and sells new shares of stock, spreading ownership across more …

Small-cap

A small-cap stock is a company with a market capitalization (total value of all its shares) between roughly $300 million…

Stock

A stock is a small piece of ownership in a company. When you buy stock, you're buying a share of that business—kind of l…

Stock Split

A stock split is when a company divides its existing shares into multiple new shares, reducing the price per share while…

Tail Risk

Tail risk is the possibility of an extreme, unexpected market event that falls far outside normal trading patterns. You'…

Tangible Book Value

Tangible Book Value is what a company would theoretically be worth if you subtracted all its debts from its physical ass…

Working Capital

Working capital is the money a company has available right now to pay its bills and keep operations running. It's calcul…

52-week High

The 52-week high is the highest price a stock has traded at over the past year. You'll see this number quoted alongside …

52-week Low

The 52-week Low is the lowest price a stock has traded at over the past year. You'll see this number quoted alongside th…

Accumulation/Distribution

Accumulation/Distribution is a technical indicator that measures whether smart money is buying or selling a stock by com…

ADX (Average Directional Index)

ADX is a technical indicator that measures how strong a stock's price trend is, regardless of direction. You'll see it o…

ATR (Average True Range)

ATR measures how much a stock's price typically moves up or down each day. It's calculated by averaging the stock's pric…

Base (Consolidation)

A base, or consolidation, is a period when a stock's price moves sideways within a narrow range instead of trending up o…

Bear Market

A bear market is when stock prices across the market fall 20% or more from recent highs and stay down for a while. You'l…

Bear Trap

A bear trap is a false signal that makes a stock look like it's falling, tricking investors into selling—only to watch t…

Bollinger Bands

Bollinger Bands are three lines plotted on a stock chart that show you when a stock might be overbought (too expensive) …

Breakout

A breakout happens when a stock's price moves decisively above or below a level it's been stuck near for a while. Think …

Bull Market

A bull market is when stock prices are rising and investors feel optimistic about the economy. You'll hear this term con…

Bull Trap

A bull trap is a false signal that makes a stock look like it's about to rise, but then it drops instead. You'll hear th…

Candlestick Pattern

A candlestick pattern is a visual formation created by a stock's price movement over a set time period—usually shown on …

Chandelier Stop

A Chandelier Stop is a dynamic stop-loss level that moves up as a stock's price rises, helping you lock in gains while p…

Cup and Handle

A cup and handle is a chart pattern where a stock's price dips down and recovers (forming a U-shape like a cup), then pu…

Death Cross

A Death Cross happens when a stock's 50-day moving average (the average price over the last 50 days) drops below its 200…

Divergence (Technical)

A divergence occurs when a stock's price moves in one direction while a technical indicator (a mathematical tool that me…

Doji

A doji is a candlestick pattern (a visual representation of a stock's price movement over time) where the opening and cl…

Drawdown

A drawdown is the peak-to-trough decline in a stock's price from its highest point to its lowest point before recovering…

EMA (Exponential Moving Average)

An EMA is a line on a price chart that shows a stock's average price over time, but gives extra weight to recent prices.…

Fibonacci Retracement

Fibonacci Retracement is a charting tool that predicts where a stock price might find support or resistance after it's m…

Gap (Price Gap)

A gap is a jump in a stock's price between one trading day and the next, with no trades happening in between. You'll see…

Golden Cross

A Golden Cross happens when a stock's 50-day moving average (the average price over the last 50 days) crosses above its …

Head and Shoulders

A head and shoulders is a chart pattern that looks like a person's head between two shoulders—three peaks where the midd…

MACD

MACD stands for Moving Average Convergence Divergence—a tool that tracks whether a stock's momentum is building or fadin…

Momentum

Momentum is the speed and strength at which a stock's price is moving in one direction. Think of it like a rolling bould…

Moving Average

A moving average is the average price of a stock over a set number of recent days, recalculated daily as new prices come…

Oversold / Overbought

Oversold and overbought describe when a stock's price has moved to an extreme in one direction, based on momentum indica…

Pocket Pivot

A Pocket Pivot is a bullish chart pattern where a stock's price briefly dips below its 50-day moving average (a line sho…

Pullback

A pullback is a temporary dip in a stock's price after it's been climbing. Think of it like taking a step backward befor…

Relative Strength (RS Rating)

Relative Strength (RS Rating) measures how a stock's price performance compares to the overall market over a set period,…

Resistance

Resistance is a price level where a stock has repeatedly struggled to climb above, as if there's an invisible ceiling ho…

RSI (Relative Strength Index)

RSI is a momentum indicator that measures how fast a stock's price is moving up or down on a scale of 0 to 100. You'll s…

SMA (Simple Moving Average)

A Simple Moving Average (SMA) is the average price of a stock over a set number of recent days. You calculate it by addi…

Stage 1 (Base)

Stage 1 (Base) is the quiet period when a stock builds a foundation after a decline, moving sideways in a relatively nar…

Stage 2 (Advancing)

Stage 2 (Advancing) is when a stock's price is rising steadily after breaking out from a period of consolidation (sidewa…

Stage 3 (Extended)

Stage 3 (Extended) is when a stock that's been rising strongly continues climbing for longer than typical, without pulli…

Stage 4 (Declining)

Stage 4 (Declining) is when a stock's price is falling and momentum is weakening—basically the opposite of growth. You'l…

Stop-loss

A stop-loss is an automatic instruction you set to sell a stock if its price drops to a certain level, protecting you fr…

Support

Support is a price level where a stock has repeatedly stopped falling and bounced back up. Think of it as a floor—buyers…

Trailing Stop

A trailing stop is an automatic sell order that moves up as your stock price rises, but stays fixed if the price falls. …

Trend Line

A trend line is a straight line drawn on a price chart connecting two or more points where a stock's price has touched, …

Volume

Volume is the total number of shares traded in a stock during a specific time period, usually a single trading day. You'…

VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price)

VWAP is the average price a stock traded at throughout the day, weighted by how many shares were bought and sold at each…

Weinstein Stage Analysis

Weinstein Stage Analysis is a method for identifying where a stock is in its price cycle by dividing its movement into f…

10-K (Annual Report)

A 10-K is the official annual report that every public company must file with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commissio…

10-Q (Quarterly Report)

A 10-Q is a quarterly financial report that public companies must file with the SEC (the government agency that oversees…

13D filing (>5% ownership)

A 13D filing is a public disclosure that someone has bought more than 5% of a company's stock. When an investor crosses …

13F filing

A 13F filing is a quarterly report that large investment managers must submit to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commis…

13G filing (passive >5% ownership)

A 13G filing is a public document an investor must submit to the SEC when they own more than 5% of a company's stock and…

8-K (Material Event)

An 8-K is a form that publicly traded companies must file with the SEC (the government agency that oversees stock market…

ATM offering (at-the-market)

An ATM offering is when a company sells new shares directly to the public at whatever the current market price is, rathe…

Beneficial ownership

Beneficial ownership means actually owning or controlling a stock, even if someone else's name is on the official paperw…

CIK number (Central Index Key)

A CIK number is a unique identification code assigned by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) to every company t…

Cluster buying

Cluster buying is when a company's insiders—executives, board members, or major shareholders—all buy shares of their own…

Congress trading (Pelosi tracker)

Congress trading refers to stock trades made by members of Congress and their families, which are publicly disclosed thr…

De-SPAC

De-SPAC is the moment when a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC)—basically a blank-check shell company created to…

Form 4

Form 4 is a document that insiders at a company—like executives, board members, or major shareholders—must file with the…

Going concern warning

A going concern warning is a red flag auditors (independent accountants who review company finances) include in SEC fili…

Going private transaction

A going private transaction is when a company that trades publicly on a stock exchange is bought out and removed from pu…

Insider buying

Insider buying is when a company's executives, directors, or other high-level employees purchase shares of their own com…

Institutional investor

An institutional investor is a large organization—like a pension fund, mutual fund, insurance company, or university end…

Item 1.01 (entry into material agreement)

Item 1.01 is a section in SEC filings (official documents companies submit to regulators) where they announce major busi…

Item 2.02 (results of operations)

Item 2.02 is a section of a company's 8-K filing (an urgent update companies must file with the SEC) where they announce…

Lock-up period

A lock-up period is a set timeframe after a company goes public (IPO) when insiders—like founders, executives, and early…

Material weakness

A material weakness is a serious flaw in a company's internal controls—the systems and procedures it uses to keep its fi…

NT 10-K (Notification of Late Filing)

An NT 10-K is a form a company files with the SEC when it can't meet the deadline to submit its annual 10-K report—the d…

Proxy statement (DEF 14A)

A proxy statement is an official document a company sends to shareholders before its annual meeting, asking them to vote…

Restated financials

Restated financials are corrected versions of a company's financial statements that were previously released. Companies …

Reverse merger

A reverse merger is when a private company buys a public company (one whose stock trades on an exchange) and takes over …

Rule 10b5-1 plan

A Rule 10b5-1 plan is a legal arrangement that lets company insiders (like executives) sell their own stock on a predete…

S-1 filing (IPO prospectus)

An S-1 filing is the official document a private company submits to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) when it…

S-3 filing (shelf registration)

An S-3 filing is a streamlined way for established companies to register securities (stocks or bonds) with the SEC that …

SEC EDGAR

SEC EDGAR is the free online database where publicly traded companies file their official financial documents with the U…

SEC investigation

An SEC investigation is a formal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the government agency that oversees …

Shelf registration

A shelf registration is a document a company files with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) that allows it to s…

SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company)

A SPAC is a shell company—basically an empty corporate vehicle with no real business—created solely to raise money from …

Subsidiary spin-off

A subsidiary spin-off is when a large company separates one of its divisions into an independent, publicly traded compan…

Tender offer

A tender offer is a public invitation for shareholders to sell their stock at a specific price, usually higher than the …

Whale watching (13F tracking)

Whale watching is tracking what large institutional investors (called "whales" because of their size) are buying and sel…

Commodity Cycle

A commodity cycle is the repeating pattern of price ups and downs for raw materials like oil, metals, or agricultural pr…

CPI (Consumer Price Index)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures how much the average price of everyday goods and services—like groceries, gas, a…

Credit Spread

A credit spread is an options strategy where you sell an option (collecting money upfront) and buy a different option to…

Deglobalization

Deglobalization is the reversal of globalization—when countries reduce their economic ties with the rest of the world by…

Dot Plot (Fed Projections)

A Dot Plot is a chart where each Federal Reserve official places a dot showing their prediction for future interest rate…

DXY (Dollar Index)

The DXY, or Dollar Index, measures how strong the U.S. dollar is compared to a basket of other major currencies like the…

Fed Pivot

A Fed Pivot is when the Federal Reserve (the U.S. central bank) shifts its interest rate strategy, usually from raising …

FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee)

The FOMC is a group of Federal Reserve officials who meet roughly every six weeks to decide interest rates and other mon…

Hard Landing

A hard landing is when an economy slows down so sharply and suddenly that it tips into recession—a period of negative gr…

High-Yield Spread

High-Yield Spread is the difference in interest rates between high-yield bonds (riskier corporate debt) and safer U.S. T…

Industrial Policy (CHIPS, IRA)

Industrial policy is when the government actively supports specific industries or sectors through subsidies, tax breaks,…

Inflation

Inflation is when the prices of things you buy—groceries, gas, rent—go up over time, so your money buys less than it use…

Inverted Yield Curve

An inverted yield curve happens when short-term bonds pay higher interest rates than long-term bonds—the opposite of nor…

ISM Manufacturing PMI

The ISM Manufacturing PMI is a monthly survey that measures whether U.S. factory activity is expanding or shrinking. PMI…

Liquidity (Macro Sense)

Liquidity in the macro sense means how easily money and credit flow through the entire economy. Think of it as the finan…

Market Breadth

Market breadth measures how many stocks are participating in a market move—whether most stocks are going up or down toge…

Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP)

Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) is a monthly report showing how many jobs the U.S. economy added or lost, excluding farm workers.…

PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures)

PCE measures the total amount of money Americans spend on goods and services each month. It's one of the most important …

PPI (Producer Price Index)

The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures how much prices are rising or falling at the wholesale level—basically what manu…

Quantitative Easing (QE)

Quantitative Easing (QE) is when a central bank like the Federal Reserve buys large amounts of government bonds and othe…

Quantitative Tightening (QT)

Quantitative Tightening (QT) is when a central bank like the Federal Reserve shrinks its balance sheet by selling bonds …

Recession

A recession is when a country's economy shrinks for at least six months in a row—meaning people are buying less stuff, c…

Reshoring

Reshoring is when a company moves manufacturing or operations back to its home country after previously outsourcing them…

Risk-on / Risk-off

Risk-on and risk-off describe two opposite investor moods that swing based on economic confidence. When investors feel o…

Sector Rotation

Sector rotation is when investors shift their money from one industry group to another based on where they think returns…

Soft Landing

A soft landing is when a central bank (like the Federal Reserve) successfully slows down an overheating economy without …

Supercycle

A supercycle is an unusually long period—typically 10+ years—when demand for a commodity or sector stays consistently hi…

Tariff

A tariff is a tax that a government places on goods imported from other countries. When you buy a foreign product, tarif…

VIX (Volatility Index)

The VIX is a number that measures how much fear or uncertainty exists in the stock market right now. Think of it as the …

Yield Curve

A yield curve is a graph showing the interest rates (or 'yields') the government pays on bonds of different time lengths…

At-the-Money (ATM)

At-the-Money (ATM) describes an option whose strike price—the price at which you can buy or sell the underlying stock—ma…

Call Option

A call option is a contract that gives you the right—but not the obligation—to buy a stock at a set price by a specific …

Cash-Secured Put

A cash-secured put is an options strategy where you agree to buy shares of a stock at a set price (called the strike pri…

Covered Call

A covered call is a strategy where you own shares of a stock and sell someone else the right to buy those shares from yo…

Days to Cover

Days to Cover is a measure of how long it would take short sellers to buy back all the shares they've borrowed and sold.…

Expiry Date

An expiry date is the last day you can buy or sell an options contract (a bet on whether a stock price will go up or dow…

Futures Contract

A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell something at a set price on a specific future date. Unlike stocks, you…

Gamma Squeeze

A gamma squeeze happens when rapid stock price movement forces options traders to buy or sell shares in large quantities…

Implied Volatility (IV)

Implied Volatility (IV) is the market's forecast of how much a stock's price will swing up and down over the next few mo…

In-the-Money (ITM)

In-the-Money (ITM) means an option contract has intrinsic value—it would make money if you exercised it right now. For a…

Iron Condor

An Iron Condor is an options strategy where you simultaneously sell and buy four different option contracts on the same …

LEAPS (Long-Dated Options)

LEAPS are options contracts that expire far in the future—typically 9 months to 3 years out—instead of the weeks or mont…

Leverage

Leverage means borrowing money to invest, so you can control a larger position than your cash alone would allow. You'll …

Margin (Broker)

Margin is borrowed money your broker lends you to buy stocks, letting you invest more than you have in cash. You'll enco…

Naked Options

A naked option is an options contract (a bet on future stock price movement) where the seller doesn't own the underlying…

Open Interest

Open Interest is the total number of active contracts (like options or futures) that haven't been closed or settled yet.…

Options Flow

Options flow is the real-time activity of options being bought and sold in the market—essentially tracking who's betting…

Out-of-the-Money (OTM)

Out-of-the-Money (OTM) means an option contract has no intrinsic value right now—it would be worthless if exercised toda…

PDT Rule (Pattern Day Trader)

The PDT Rule is a regulation that requires brokerage accounts with less than $25,000 to limit day trading—buying and sel…

Put Option

A put option is a contract that gives you the right to sell a stock at a fixed price by a specific date. Think of it as …

Short Interest

Short interest is the total number of shares that investors have borrowed and sold, betting the stock price will fall. Y…

Short Squeeze

A short squeeze happens when a stock price rises sharply, forcing investors who bet the price would fall (called "shorti…

Strike Price

Strike price is the fixed price at which you can buy or sell a stock through an options contract (a bet on future stock …

Theta Decay

Theta decay is the gradual loss of value in an options contract (a contract giving you the right to buy or sell a stock …

Unusual Options Activity (UOA)

Unusual Options Activity (UOA) is when options—contracts that give you the right to buy or sell a stock at a set price—t…

Bitcoin Halving

Bitcoin Halving is an automatic event that cuts the reward miners receive for validating transactions in half, roughly e…

Crypto Cycle (4-Year)

The Crypto Cycle (4-Year) is a recurring pattern in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets where prices tend to surge, peak,…

Crypto Treasury Company

A Crypto Treasury Company is a business that holds cryptocurrency (digital money like Bitcoin or Ethereum) on its balanc…

Custody (Crypto)

Custody in crypto means a third party safely holds and manages your digital assets (like Bitcoin or Ethereum) on your be…

DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

DeFi (Decentralized Finance) refers to financial services—like lending, borrowing, and trading—built on blockchain netwo…

Gas Fees

Gas fees are the costs you pay to process transactions on a blockchain—the digital ledger that records cryptocurrency tr…

Hash Rate

Hash rate measures how fast a computer can solve the complex math puzzles required to validate cryptocurrency transactio…

IPO Token / Fair Launch

An IPO Token or Fair Launch is a cryptocurrency project that releases its token to the public all at once, with no speci…

L2 Scaling

L2 Scaling is a technique that speeds up cryptocurrency transactions by processing them off the main blockchain (called …

Layer 2

Layer 2 is a separate system built on top of a blockchain (the underlying ledger that records crypto transactions) to sp…

Memecoin

A memecoin is a cryptocurrency created as a joke or based on internet memes, rather than solving a real technical proble…

Mining Difficulty

Mining Difficulty is a measure of how hard it is to solve the math puzzles that validate new cryptocurrency transactions…

Proof of Stake

Proof of Stake is a method cryptocurrencies use to verify transactions and create new coins, where validators are chosen…

Proof of Work

Proof of Work is a system that secures cryptocurrency networks by requiring computers to solve difficult math puzzles be…

Smart Contract

A smart contract is a self-executing agreement written in code on a blockchain—a digital ledger that records transaction…

Spot ETF

A Spot ETF is a fund that directly holds actual cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin or Ethereum) and lets you invest in it thro…

Stablecoin

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a consistent price, usually by being backed by a real-world asset …

Staking

Staking is when you lock up your cryptocurrency in a blockchain network to help validate transactions and earn rewards i…

Tokenomics

Tokenomics is the study of how a cryptocurrency is designed and distributed—basically the economic rules that govern a d…

Wallet & Cold Storage

A wallet is a digital tool that stores and manages your cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin or Ethereum), similar to how a phys…