The ABC's of Investing, stock market terms

Here is a great list of definitions for investors to learn and know courtsey of YoungMoney.com. Also check out their free stock market game.
A
52 Week High - The highest price traded for a stock in the last consecutive 52 week period.
52 Week Low - The lowest price traded for a stock in the last consecutive 52 week period.
Accumulation - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning to increase the number of shares owned because the security is expected to perform better then the market return. (Also know as - Out Perform)
American Depositary Receipts (ADR) - Negotiable receipt that represents ownership of a foreign company's stock that is held in trust by a US bank.
American Depositary Share (ADS) - Similar to an American Depositary Receipt, but the issuance is sponsored by the foreign company that issued the common stock, rather than the bank that holds the share on deposit.
Annual Report - A report that contains financial as well as other information about the company’s performance and future business plans.
Ask - Also known as the offer price. This price is the price at which a market maker offers to sell the stock to a buyer. This is the price that you can buy your stocks.
B
Back-end Load - (Also called a contingent deferred sales charge.) This charge is assessed when you redeem shares of a mutual fund within a relatively short amount of time (like 4-5 years) after purchasing them.
Bear Market - A period when the overall prices of stocks are declining.
Beta - A way of measuring the volatility of a particular stock relative to the overall market. If a stock's beta is 1, it means that its price rises and falls in direct relationship to the movement of the market. If a stock's beta is less than 1, it means that the stock is less volatile than the overall market. If the stock's beta is greater than 1, it means that a stock is more volatile than the overall market.
Bid - Also known as the ask price. This price represents what a market maker is willing to purchase the stock from a seller. This is the price you can sell your stocks.
Blue chip stock - Shares of a large, well established, financially-sound company that has established steady revenues and dividend payments.
Bollinger Bands - Used to determine whether the prices of stocks are high or low on a relative basis. Bands are plotted two standard deviations form a simple moving average and are adjusted to market conditions. The closer the stock prices moved to the upper band, the more overbought the market is. The closer prices move to the lower band, the more undersold the market is.
Bonds - A debt security in which the issuing party (a corporation, a municipality, or the U.S. Government) agrees to pay the holder a fixed rate of interest at regular intervals, usually semi-annually and also promises to pay the face value of the debt security at the time of maturity. The maturity can range from 6 months to 30 years. Also see Zero Coupon Bonds.
Bubble Theory - A market condition where some investors believe that certain stocks have risen so far above their true value that they are going to crash violently, like a bursting bubble.
Bull Market - A period when the overall prices of stocks are rising.
Buy - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning a recommendation to purchase a security for the long term.
C
Call - A security that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to purchase 100 shares of common stock at the strike price on or before the date of expiration. Also see Options and Put, as well as Investment Strategies.
Capital Gain - The profits that result when the amount of the sale of a security are greater than the purchase price of the security.
Certificate of Deposit - (CD) A debt instrument issued by a bank that usually pays interest. Maturities range from a few weeks to several years. Interest rates are determined by competitive forces in the market.
Commission - The fee charged by a stockbroker for completing transactions for a customer.
Coupon - The interest rate on a fixed income security, set at issuance. Expressed as a percentage of par.
D
Date of Record - The date set by the corporate board of directors for the transfer agent to close the agency's books to further changes in the registration of the stock and to identify the recipients of a forthcoming
distribution. (a.k.a. - Record Date)
Declaration Date - The day a company announces how much per share it will pay in dividends for that specific period.
Dividend Amount - The amount that a company agrees to pay its stockholders per outstanding share. Dividends are usually distributed to stockholders quarterly. Also see Dividend Frequency.
Dividend Frequency - The regularity of which dividends are given out by a particular company. Dividends are usually given out on a quarterly basis. Also see Dividend Amount.
Dollar-Cost Averaging - An investment strategy where a person invests consistent amounts of money at regular intervals. When the stocks are trading at a relatively low cost, the person will end up purchasing more shares. This strategy is considered effective if the person believes the underlying stock price will rise over a long period of time.
Dow Jones Industrial Average - (DJIA or Dow) The oldest, most popular, and most widely used indicator of the stock market's performance. It consists of 30 blue chip industrial companies whose stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
E
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) - A measurement of a company's earning ability based on continuing operations.
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) - A measurement used to determine income available to service large debt.
EPS (Earning Per Share) - The amount of profit a company reports in proportion to each outstanding share.
EPS Surprise - A positive or negative difference in EPS from what the consensus ("wall street estimate") was. Negative differences usually have a greater affect on stock prices than a positive EPS Surprise.
Ex-Dividend Date - The date, set by the appropriate exchange, on which the bid price of the stock is reduced by the dividend amount. Anyone purchasing the stock on that date or later will not be eligible to receive the upcoming dividend.
Exchange - The organization on which the underlying stock trades. Common examples of exchanges are the New York Stock Exchange, The NASDAQ, and the American Stock Exchange.
Exercise Price - A fixed price at which a stock can be bought or sold when a call or put is exercised. (Also know as the "Strike Price".)
F
Float - The total number of outstanding shares of a company available in the stock market. For example, a company may have 20 million outstanding shares but only 15 million trade in the market. The 15 millions shares would be the float.
Front-end Load - A sales charge that is applied when an investor buys a mutual fund share.
Futures Contract - An agreement to make or take delivery of a commodity at a specified future date and price. The contracts can be trades like a security.
G
Gray Market - The purchase or sale of eurobonds that occurs before the issue price is finally set.
H
Hold - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning to maintain ownership of a security over a long period of time. The broker is not positive enough to recommend to buy, but is not negative enough to recommend to sell.
I
Index - Statistical indicator that represents the value of the securities for which it represents. This is often used as a benchmark for a given industry, market, or other financial or economic performance.
Investment Club - A club organized by individuals to discuss investment options with the ultimate goal of buying and selling securities. Most investment clubs "sell" shares to their members, and the underlying value of the individual members is determined by how many shares they own. The groups usually meet on a regular basis, whereby the members report on companies they were assigned to research. The group then votes on which stocks to buy and sell.
IPO (Initial Public Offering) - The first time that a company sells its stock to the public.
IRA (Individual Retirement Account) - An retirement savings account allowing investor to save money on a tax-free basis until the specific date of withdrawal. The withdrawal dates are usually when the investor reaches the age of 59 1/2, 62, or 65.
J
Junk Bond - A low quality (rated BB or lower), high risk debt security.
K
L
Large market cap - Large market capitalization stocks that have at least $5 billion in market value.
Last Sale - The price at which the last sale was made.
Limit Order - An order to set a maximum price a buyer is willing to pay or to set a minimum price a seller is willing to accept.
Liquidation - Voluntary or involuntary closing out of a security position.
Load - A sales charge added to the sale or purchase of mutual fund shares. (See Front-end Load, Back-end Load, and No-Load.)
Low - The lowest price the stock has traded on that particular day.
M
MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence) - A technical analysis tool that measures overbought and oversold conditions for a security. Three exponential moving averages are used: a short one, a long one and a third that plots the moving average of the difference between the short and long. One popular MACD is the 8/17/9 MACD. On a daily MACD, the short moving average would be 8 days, the long one would be17 days and the signal line would be 9 days.
Market Capitalization - The market price of an entire company, calculated by multiplying the number of shares outstanding by the price per share.
Market Order - An order that is to be executed immediately at the best available price.
Market Perform - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning the security is expected to perform about the same as the market return.
Micro-cap - Stocks with a market value of less than $350 million.
Most Active - The stocks, given a particular exchange, with the highest volume of shares traded for a particular day.
Most Down - The stocks, for a particular exchange, with the greatest price decrease, relative to percentage lost.
Most Up - The stocks, for a particular exchange, with the greatest price increase, relative to percentage gained.
Mutual Fund - A type of investment designed to pool investors' money and invest them in stocks, bonds and other types of investments. There are two types of mutual funds. First is the open-end, which continuously accepts new investors. The second type is closed-end, which only sells a specific number of shares in the mutual fund and then closes at a specific date.
N
NASDAQ - National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. A computerized trading system that provides up-to-date price information on stocks traded in the over-the-counter market.
Net Change - The amount a stock increased or decreased relative to it’s previous closing price.
Neutral - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning the brokerage has neither a negative nor positive opinion about the security.
No-Load - A pure no-load fund has neither a front-end nor a back-end load. All the investment is used to buy shares of the mutual fund.
O
On-Line Brokers - Internet-based investment companies that offer members the ability to set up an account and trade securities and other investment options on-line.
On-Line Trading - Internet-based trading of securities and other investments.
Open - The price in which the underlying stock began trading for that day.
Options - A contract where the writer agrees to deliver upon demand of the buyer the content of the contract. Also see Call and Put as well as Investment Strategies.
Out Perform - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning to increase the number of shares owned because the security is expected to perform better then the market return. (Also know as - Accumulate)
Over-the-Counter - (OTC) A telephone/computer market where dealers execute trades for customers.
P
Par - The nominal dollar amount assigned to a security. For an equity security, par is usually a small amount that bears no relationship to its market price. For a debt security, par is the amount to be repaid when the bond matures.
Payment Date - The date on which the cash or stock dividends will be paid to and investor who has purchased the stock before the appropriate ex-dividend date.
P/E Ratio (Price to Earnings Ratio) - The stock price divided by the company’s earnings. This gives you a multiple of how many times greater the stock is trading relative to its earnings. For example, a stock trading at $100 with earnings of $2.50 per share has a P/E Ratio of 40.
Preferred Equity Redemption Stock (PERC) - Preferred stock that converts automatically into equity at a stated date. A limit is placed on the value of the shares the investor receives.
Profit Margin - Calculated by dividing the net income by revenues. This calculation indicates what portion of sales contribute to the income of a company. This is often used when comparing companies within an industry. A high profit margin indicates a more profitable company. A smaller profit margin reflects a pricing strategy and/or the impact of competition within the industry.
Previous Close - The price of the last purchase the previous trading day.
PRIDES (Preferred Redeemable Increased Dividend Securities) - High coupon (yield) convertible debt securities which convert to common stock at maturity.
Put - A security that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to sell 100 shares of common stock at the strike price on or before the date of expiration. Also see Options and Call, as well as Investment Strategies.
Q
Quantity - The number of shares of a stock that are bought or sold.
R
Reiteration - (In a Brokerage Recommendation context) To repeat, or say again, the previous recommendation for a specific company stock.
Relative Strength Index (RSI) - A technical analysis indicator used to compare the days that a stock finished up against when it finished down. It measures the stock's overbought/oversold conditions. Its index ranges from 0-100, with ranges above 70-80 indicate an overbought condition. Ranges below 20-30 indicate a possible oversold condition.
Roth IRA - A tax-deferred retirement account. Different from a regular IRA (Individual Retirement Account), contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax-deductible, but there is no tax on withdrawals as long as the taxpayer
is 59 1/2 years of age and the account has been open for 5 years.
S
Security - Any marketable financial instrument indicating ownership or creditorship. This includes stocks, bonds, notes, and mutual funds.
Sector - A distinct subset of an industry or market where the components share similar characteristics.
Sell - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning to sell one's holdings in a security.
Shares Outstanding - The total number of outstanding shares of a company.
Short Selling - An agreement between an investor and their broker, where the investor sells a security that is not owned by the investor. In order to cover their sell, the investor needs to purchase the security at a future date. On a short sell, the investor is expecting the security to decline in value, thereby allowing them the ability to purchase or cover their sell at a lower price. For example, an investor short sells a security at $100 and the price declines to $90. If the investor purchases the security at $90, then they make a profit of $10 per share.
Size Bid/Ask - A proportion of buyers to sellers. A 10x20 bid/ask size means there are 10 buyers for every 20 sellers.
Small cap - Small capitalization stocks that have a market value of less than $500 million. (Sometimes referred to as Red chip stocks.)
Spiders (Standard & Poor's Depository Receipts) - Represents ownership in the SPDR Trust, an investment trust that holds a portfolio of stocks that closely follows the price performance and dividend yield of the S&P 500 Index.
Stochastic Oscillator - Compares where a stock's price closed relative to its price range over a given period of time. The theory is that in an uptrend, prices tend to close near their high, and in a downtrend, prices tend to close near their low.
Stocks - A certificate that represents ownership in a company. This certificate entitles the holder to a claim on the company’s assets, sometimes paid out in dividends. Stocks are subject to volatility and can appreciate or depreciate in value
Stock Split - An increase (or decrease) in the number of a company's authorized shares. The individual's overall value remains the same, but the number of shares owned changes.
Stop Loss Order - An order to set the sell price of a stock below the market price, thus locking in profits or preventing further losses.
Strike Price - A fixed price at which a stock can be bought or sold when a call or put is exercised. (Also know as the "Exercise Price".)
T
Technical Analysis - A market theory indicating that past price movements, if properly interpreted, can predict future movements or patterns.
Tick - The tick refers to the movement or direction of the last trade. This is represented as an up tick (+) or a down tick (-).
Ticker Symbol - A shortened, usually 1 to 5 letter, designation used to represent a publicly traded company.
Time of Last Sale - The last time in which the stock was traded.
Trade - To buy or sell a stock, bond, mutual fund, or commodity contract. A trade is completed when the buyer and seller agree on a price at which the trade will be executed.
Treasury Bill - A US government debt security with a maturity that is less than 1 year. They are issued through a bidding process at a price less than par (face value), so there is no fixed interest payment. (a.k.a. - T-bill)
Treasury Bond - A fixed-interest US government debt security with a maturity date of more than 10 years. (a.k.a - T-bond)
Treasury Note - A fixed-interest US government debt security with a maturity date of between 1-10 years. (a.k.a - T-note)
U
Underperform - A brokerage recommendation generally meaning the security is expected to not perform as well as the market. Not as bad as a "sell" recommendation, but not as positive as a "neutral" recommendation.
V
Volatility - The percentage by which a stock’s price rises or falls during a specific period of time.
Volume - The number of shares traded of a specific stock or exchange for a particular day.
W
Warrant - a security that gives the holder the right to purchase a security
from the issuer at a specific price. These securities are usually long-term
instruments, with expiration dates years in the future.
Whisper Number - An estimate, mostly based upon rumors, of a company's upcoming earnings.
X, Y, Z
Yield - The percentage that an investor is returned on a given amount of capital for a specific period. This usually is expressed as an annual return.
Zero Coupon Bonds - A debt security in which the issuing party (a corporation, a municipality, or the U.S. Government) agrees to pay the holder a fixed rate of interest over a specific amount of time. This ranges from 6 months to 30 years. Unlike most bonds, zero coupon bonds do not pay the holder interest at regular intervals. Instead, they pay the full face value and the accumulated interest at maturity.