Basic Glossary Flashcards
(24 cards)
Asset
Something that has the potential to earn money for you. It is something you own that can reasonably be expected to produce something for you. Assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate, and other investments.
Asset allocation
One of the ways to divide up the holdings in your portfolio is to do so by asset class. The idea is that different assets perform opposite to each other, and you can limit some of your risk by allocating your portfolio according to the type of asset you have.
Balance sheet
A statement showing what a company owns, as well as the liabilities the company has, and stating the outstanding shareholder equity.
Bear market
This is a market that is falling. A bear market has a downward trend, and someone who believes the market is headed for a drop is often referred to as a “bear.”
Bid
This is the highest price a buyer is willing to pay when buying an investment. Today, electronic trading makes it possible for ask and bid to be matched up automatically and almost instantly.
Blue chip
You might hear reporters and others refer to “blue chip stocks.” Blue chips are companies that have a long history of good earnings, good balance sheets, and even regularly increasing dividends. These are solid companies that may not be exciting, but they are likely to provide reasonable returns over time.
Bond
This is an investment that represents what an entity owes you. Essentially, you lend money to a government or a company, and you are promised that the principal will be returned plus interest.
Book value
If you take all the liabilities a company has, and subtract them from the assets and common stock equity of the company, what you would have left over is the book value. Most of the time, the book value is used as part of an evaluative measure, rather than being truly related to a company’s market value.
Broker
This is the entity that buys and sells investments on your behalf. Usually, you pay a fee for this service. In the case of an online discount broker, you often pay a flat commission per trade. Other brokers, especially if they also manage your assets as a whole, just charge a perce
Bull market
This is a market that is trending higher, likely to gain. If you think that the market is going to go up, you are considered a “bull.” Additionally, the term, like bear, can be applied to how you feel about an individual investment. If you are “bullish” on a specific company, it means you think the stock price will rise.
Capital gain (or loss)
This is the difference between what you bought an investment for and what you sell if for. If you buy 100 shares of a stock at $10 a share (spending $1,000) and sell your shares later for $25 a share ($2,500), you have a capital gain of $1,500. A loss occurs when you sell for less than you paid. So, if you sell this stock for $5 instead ($500), you have a capital loss of $500).
Diversity
A portfolio characteristic that ensures you have more than one type of asset. It also means choosing to buy investments in different sectors, industries, or geographic locations.
Dividend
In some cases, a company will offer to divide up some of its income among shareholders. Dividends can be paid once, as a special use of them, or they can be paid more regularly, such as monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
Dow jones industrial average
This average includes a price-weighted list of 30 blue chip stocks. While there are only 30 companies included on the list, many people think of the Dow when they here that “the stock market” gained or lost. The Dow is often used as a gauge of the health of the stock market as a whole, even though it is only a very small portion.
Exchange
This is a place where investments, including stocks, bonds, commodities, and other assets are bought and sold. It’s a place where brokers (buyers and sellers) and others can connect. While many exchanges of “trading floors” most orders these days are executed electronically.
Index
A tool used to statistically measure the progress of a group of stocks that share characteristics. This can include a group of stocks, a group of bonds, or a group of other assets.
Margin
This is essentially borrowed money used to make an investment. You can get credit from a broker to buy more than you have actually money for. The hope is that you will make enough money that you will be able to repay the borrowed amount from your earnings.
Market capitalisation
The market cap of a company is figured by multiplying its current share price by the number of shares outstanding. The largest companies have market caps in the billions.
NASDAQ
This is a stock exchange that focuses on trading the stocks of technology companies.
New York stock exchange
One of the most famous stock exchanges is the NYSE, which trades stocks in companies all over the United States, and even includes stocks of some international companies.
P/E ratio
This measure reflects how much you pay for each dollar that company earns. A company often reports profits on a per-share basis. So a company might say that it has earned $5 per share. If that same stock is selling for $75 a share on the market, you divide $75 by $5 to come up with a P/E ratio of 15. The higher a P/E ratio is, the more there is expectations for higher earnings.
RIA
Register investment advisor
A financial investment advisor that has been through certain training, and that agrees to abide by certain rules, including ensuring that recommendations, and trades made on your behalf are in your best interest.
Stock
A stock represents ownership in a company. Companies divide their ownership stakes into shares, and amount of shares you purchase indicates your level of ownership in the company. Stock is bought in the hopes that the company will be successful, and more people will want a stake, so you can sell your stake later at a higher price than you paid.
Yield
This is associated with dividend investing. Your yield represents the ratio between the stock price paid and the dividend paid. A stock trading at $100 per share, with a dividend that amounts to $5 per year, you divide the $5 by $100 and turn it into a percentage. In this case, the yield would be 5%.
