Financial Terms Glossary

70 terms across fundamentals, technical analysis, derivatives, macroeconomics, and more. Updated daily as new entries are published.

A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V

A

Amortization
Amortization is the systematic reduction of a loan's outstanding principal over time through regular payments that also cover interest. In a
Ask Size
Ask size is the quantity of shares or contracts available for sale at the current best ask price, reflecting the size of the supply at the t
Authority Bias
Authority bias is a cognitive bias where people give disproportionate weight to the opinions or judgments of perceived authority figures. Th
Availability Heuristic
The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut in which people judge the probability of an event based on how easily examples come to mind,

B

Backwardation
Backwardation is a futures-market condition where near-term futures prices are higher than longer-dated futures prices, resulting in a downw
Bollinger Bands
Bollinger Bands are a volatility-based technical indicator that plots a central moving average with upper and lower bands set a specified nu
Book Value Per Share
Book Value Per Share (BVPS) is a financial metric that shows the equity attributable to each outstanding common share, calculated as (Total
Bullish Engulfing
A two-candle candlestick pattern where a smaller-bodied candle is followed by a larger-bodied candle that completely engulfs the first, sign

C

Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) are funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, or maintain physical assets with a useful life beyond one year
Cash Flow From Investing Activities
Cash Flow From Investing Activities (CFI) is the net cash generated or used by a company in its investing activities during a period. It cov
Cash Settlement
Cash settlement is a method of settling a derivatives contract by paying the net cash value at expiration, rather than delivering the underl
Compliance Officer
A compliance officer is a person responsible for ensuring a company adheres to applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies. In many
Consumer Confidence Index
CCI (Consumer Confidence Index) is a monthly macroeconomic indicator published by The Conference Board that measures consumer sentiment by s
Covariance Matrix
A covariance matrix is a square matrix that contains covariances between pairs of asset returns; the diagonal elements are variances and the
Creation Basket
A creation basket is the fixed list of securities (and sometimes cash) that an authorized participant delivers to an ETF sponsor to create n
Credit Spread
The credit spread is the yield premium of a non-government bond over a risk-free benchmark of comparable maturity, representing the extra co

D

Dark Liquidity
Dark liquidity refers to trading activity that occurs on non-displayed venues where order details are not visible to the public order book b
Deferred Tax Assets
Deferred tax assets (DTAs) are balance sheet assets that arise from deductible temporary differences, net operating loss carryforwards, or t
Discretionary Order
A discretionary order is an instruction in which the client authorizes a broker to determine certain execution details, such as price, time,
Dividend Growth
Dividend Growth is an investment style that prioritizes stocks with a history of steadily increasing dividend payments, aiming to provide ri
Donchian Channel
The Donchian Channel is a price-based technical indicator. It plots the highest high and the lowest low over a chosen look-back period, form
Dot Plot
A dot plot is a chart showing policymakers’ projections for the federal funds rate; it is published as part of the Federal Open Market Commi
Downside Risk
Downside risk is the potential for an investment or portfolio to decline in value from its current level due to adverse market conditions.
Drawdown
Drawdown is the decline from a portfolio’s peak value to its subsequent trough before a new peak is reached, typically expressed as a percen

E

Economic Value Added (EVA)
Economic Value Added (EVA) is a measure of a company's economic profit, calculated as after-tax operating profit minus the cost of capital t
Effective Tax Rate
The effective tax rate (ETR) is the average rate at which pretax income is taxed. In corporate reporting, it is typically calculated as inco
Equivalent Yield
Equivalent yield is the standardized annualized return on a fixed-income security, converting its cash flows and compounding into a common b
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is a security that tracks an index, sector, commodity, or other asset basket and trades on a stock exchange li

F

Fill Or Kill (FOK) Order
A Fill Or Kill (FOK) order is an all-or-none order instruction that requires the entire specified quantity to be filled immediately at the c

G

Growth Factor
A growth factor is a style factor used in investing to identify securities with above‑average expected growth in earnings or revenues; it he

H

Head and Shoulders
A head and shoulders is a technical-analysis chart pattern consisting of three peaks: a middle peak (the head) higher than the two outer pea

I

Information Ratio
Information ratio measures a portfolio’s active return per unit of active risk. It is calculated as the active return (portfolio return minu
Inverted Hammer
An inverted hammer is a single-candle candlestick pattern characterized by a small real body near the session's low, a long upper wick, and

L

Load Fund
A load fund is a mutual fund that charges a sales load when shares are purchased or redeemed.

M

Market By Price (MBP)
Market By Price (MBP) is a market data feed that displays the depth of the order book organized by price levels, showing the total quantity
Market On Open (MOO)
Market On Open (MOO) is an order instruction to execute at the market's opening price, typically by participating in the exchange's opening
Modern Portfolio Theory
Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is a framework for constructing portfolios that aim to maximize expected return for a given level of risk, or
Momentum Tilt
Momentum Tilt is an investment style that tilts a portfolio toward assets that have demonstrated stronger price momentum over a recent lookb
Money Supply
The money supply is the total amount of monetary assets available in an economy at a given time, encompassing currency in circulation and va
Mortgage REIT
A Mortgage REIT (mREIT) is a real estate investment trust that primarily invests in mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. It earns

N

Net Lease REIT
A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that owns properties leased under net leases, where tenants are responsible for some or all ongoing op

O

Operating Income
Operating income, also called operating profit, represents the profit a company earns from its core business activities before financing cos

P

Policy Rate
Policy rate is the interest rate set by a country's central bank to influence monetary policy and guide short-term borrowing costs.
Prepayment Risk
Prepayment risk is the risk that borrowers repay principal on a fixed-income security earlier than expected, reducing the instrument's futur
Pro Forma
Pro forma is a term used to describe financial results prepared as if a defined event had occurred or as if certain adjustments were applied
Projection Bias
Projection bias is a behavioral bias in which people assume that their current preferences, needs, or emotions will continue into the future
Putable Bond
A putable bond is a debt security that includes a put option allowing the bondholder to redeem the bond before its scheduled maturity at pre

Q

Quality Premium
The quality premium refers to the extra return historically associated with investing in high-quality companies, typically defined by strong
Quantitative Tightening
Quantitative tightening (QT) is a monetary policy process in which a central bank reduces its balance sheet by allowing maturing asset holdi

R

Real Estate Investment Trust
Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a company that owns, operates, or finances income-producing real estate and must distribute at least
Reinvestment Risk
Reinvestment risk is the risk that cash flows from a fixed-income investment, such as coupon payments or principal repayments, will be reinv
Revenue Recognition
Revenue recognition is the process of recording revenue in financial statements when the entity transfers control of goods or services to a
Reverse Repurchase Agreement
A reverse repurchase agreement (reverse repo or RRP) is a short-term, collateralized financing arrangement in which a market participant buy
Rho
Rho is the rate at which an option's price changes in response to a 1 percentage point change in the risk-free interest rate, holding other
Rising Three Methods
A Rising Three Methods is a bullish continuation candlestick pattern consisting of a long bullish candle followed by several smaller candles
Rule 10b-5
Rule 10b-5 is a provision under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that prohibits fraud in connection with the purchase or

S

Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act
Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires insiders to disgorge profits realized from short-swing trades—purchases and sa
Securities Act of 1933
The Securities Act of 1933, commonly known as the 1933 Act, is a U.S. federal law that governs initial offerings of securities. It requires
Security Market Line
The Security Market Line (SML) is a graphical representation from the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) that shows the relationship between
Slippage
Slippage is the difference between the expected execution price of an order and the price at which the order is actually filled.
Stochastic Oscillator
The stochastic oscillator is a momentum indicator that compares a security's closing price to its price range over a specified number of per

T

T-Bill
A T-Bill, short for Treasury bill, is a short-term U.S. government debt security that matures in one year or less and is issued at a discoun
Target Federal Funds Rate
The target federal funds rate is the Federal Reserve's declared target range for the federal funds rate—the rate banks charge each other for
Term Premium
The term premium is the extra expected return that investors require for holding longer-term bonds. It is the portion of a long-term bond's
Time Value
Time Value is the portion of an option's price that reflects the potential for value to change before expiration, beyond its current intrins
Tokenization
The process of representing ownership rights in real-world or financial assets as digital tokens on a blockchain or distributed ledger.
Trade Matching
Trade matching is the process by which a trading venue pairs compatible bid and ask orders to produce matched trades and determine execution

U

Unsystematic Risk
Unsystematic risk, also known as idiosyncratic risk, is the risk specific to a company or industry that can be mitigated through diversifica

V

Valuation Multiples
Valuation multiples are numeric ratios that relate a company’s market value to a financial performance metric, used to compare how firms are
Vanna
Vanna is the cross-sensitivity of an option’s value to changes in the underlying price and volatility; it is commonly defined as the partial