72 Stock Market Terms for New Investors Flashcards
Arbitrage
Arbitrage refers to purchasing an asset from one market and selling it to another market where the selling price is higher than what you paid for it, resulting in profit.
Ask
An ask is the selling price that a trader offers for their shares.
Asset Allocation
Asset allocation is an investment strategy that aims to balance risk and reward by dividing a certain percentage of investments–like stocks, bonds, real estate, cash, etc.–across different assets in an investment portfolio.
Asset Classes
- An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations.
- Equities (e.g., stocks), fixed income (e.g., bonds), cash and cash equivalents, real estate, commodities, and currencies are common examples of asset classes.
- There is usually very little correlation and sometimes a negative correlation among different asset classes.
- Financial advisors focus on asset class as a way to help investors diversify their portfolios.
Averaging Down
Averaging down is an investing strategy that involves buying additional shares of an asset or stock after its price has fallen, resulting in a lower average purchase price.
Bear Market
A bear market is a market condition in which prices are expected to fall. Typically, this entails major indexes or stocks decreasing by 20% or more compared to previous highs.
Beta
Beta is the measure of an asset’s risk in relation to the market. A stock with a beta of 1.5 means that the stock typically moves 50% more than the market in the same direction. Generally, a higher beta indicates a riskier investment–if the market rises 10%, the stock will rise by 15%, but if the market falls by 10%, the stock will fall by 15%.
Bid
The price a trader is willing to pay for shares of a stock or other asset.
Bid-Ask Spread
Bid-ask spread is the difference between what buyers are willing to pay and the price sellers are asking for a stock.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a record-keeping database in which transactions made in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are recorded across multiple computers and distributed across the entire network of those computers.B
Blue-Chip Stocks
Blue-chip stocks are common stocks of well-known companies known for their quality and history of growth.
Bond
A bond is a type of security loaned by an investor to a borrower like a company or government used to fund its operations.
Bull Market
A bull market is a market condition in which prices are expected to rise.
Buyback
A buyback is when a company repurchases outstanding shares to reduce the number of shares on the market and return profits to their investors, resulting in an increased value of the remaining shares.
Capitalization
Also known as market cap, capitalization is the total market value of all a company’s outstanding shares. It’s calculated by multiplying the total number of shares by the current share price.
Capital Gains
Capital gains refers to the profit earned after selling an asset or investment for a higher price than you paid for it.
Common Stock
This is one of the most basic stock market terms to know. Common stock is a type of security that represents ownership in a company. Holders of common stock are able to vote on matters like corporate policies and elect directors within that company.
Current Ratio
The current ratio is a measure of a company’s ability to pay short-term debt. It’s determined by dividing current assets by current liabilities.
Day Trading
Day trading is the practice of buying and selling shares of stock within a single day.
Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Debt-to-equity ratio represents a function of a company’s debt relative to its equity, or the value of its assets minus its liabilities. The ratio is found by dividing total liabilities by total shareholder equity.
Diversification
Diversification is an investment strategy that divides investment funds across a variety of assets in order to minimize overall risk.
Dividend
“Dividend” is one of the most basic terms for the stock market. It’s simply a portion of a company’s earnings paid out to its shareholders.
Dividend Yield
A dividend yield is a dividend expressed as a percentage of its stock price.
Dollar-Cost Averaging
Dollar-cost averaging is an investment strategy in which you invest a fixed amount on a regular basis regardless of the price of the asset.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
Also known as Dow 30, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index consisting of performance of shares among the largest U.S. companies and gauge the overall direction of stock prices.
Earnings per Share (EPS)
Earnings per share is a company’s profit divided by its number of outstanding shares, and is used to measure corporate profitability.
Economic Bubble
An economic bubble is a situation where asset prices surge to significantly higher levels than the fundamental value of that asset.
Equal Weight Rating
An equal weight rating is a measure used by equity analysts to signify how well a stock is performing relative to other stocks. An equal weight rating suggests that a stock will perform similarly with the average of all the stocks being used for comparison.