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📖 Glossary · Plain English

STOCK MARKET GLOSSARY

Every trading term we use, explained in one plain sentence each — no jargon used to explain jargon. Whether you are brand new or seasoned, this is your quick reference.

Alpha
The extra return a stock earns above what the overall market did, so positive alpha means it beat the market.
Backtest
A test that runs a trading strategy on past price history to see how it would have performed before risking real money.
Beta
A number that shows how much a stock tends to move when the whole market moves, where 1 means it moves about the same.
Calmar Ratio
A score that compares how much a strategy made each year against its worst drop, so a higher number means smoother growth.
Drawdown
How far an investment has fallen from its highest point, usually shown as a percentage of that peak.
Golden Cross
A bullish chart signal that happens when a short-term average price rises above a long-term average price.
Market Cap
The total dollar value of a company, found by multiplying its share price by how many shares exist.
P/E (Price-to-Earnings) Ratio
How many dollars investors pay for each dollar of a company’s yearly profit, which hints at how cheap or pricey the stock is.
Relative Strength
A comparison that shows whether a stock is doing better or worse than the market or its peers over the same time.
RSI
A 0-to-100 momentum gauge where high readings suggest a stock may be overbought and low readings suggest it may be oversold.
Sentiment
The overall mood of investors and the news toward a stock, ranging from very positive to very negative.
Sharpe Ratio
A score that measures how much return a strategy earns for each unit of risk it takes, where higher is better.
Stochastic Oscillator (%K / %D)
A momentum tool that compares a stock’s closing price to its recent price range, with %K the main line and %D its smoothed average.
Stop-Loss
A preset price where you automatically sell to limit your loss if the stock falls too far.
Take-Profit
A preset price where you automatically sell to lock in your gains once the stock rises to your target.
Trend Slope
How steeply a stock’s price line is rising or falling, which shows the strength and direction of its trend.
Volume Surge
A sudden jump in how many shares are being traded, which often signals strong new interest in a stock.
Win Rate
The share of trades that ended in a profit, shown as a percentage of all the trades made.
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