📖 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Stochastic Oscillator (STO) (%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 that price.
- 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.