Glossary
The terms behind the headlines, defined without jargon. 12 entries and growing.
- Basis Point Rates & Macro
- One hundredth of a percentage point (0.01%). 100 basis points equal 1%.
- Bid-Ask Spread Markets
- The gap between the highest price a buyer will pay (bid) and the lowest a seller will accept (ask).
- Compound Interest Personal Finance
- Interest earned on both the original principal and the accumulated interest from prior periods.
- Custody Crypto
- The safekeeping of financial assets by a third party on an owner's behalf.
- Diversification Personal Finance
- Spreading investments across many assets so that no single holding can sink the whole portfolio.
- Earnings Per Share Companies
- A company's net profit divided by its number of outstanding shares — profit attributable to each share.
- Expense Ratio Personal Finance
- The annual percentage of assets a fund charges to cover its operating costs.
- Free Cash Flow Companies
- The cash a business generates from operations after subtracting the capital spending needed to maintain or grow it.
- Liquidity Markets
- How quickly and cheaply an asset can be bought or sold without moving its price.
- Margin Personal Finance
- Borrowing money from a broker to buy securities, using the account's assets as collateral.
- Market Maker Markets
- A firm that stands ready to both buy and sell a security, providing liquidity and profiting from the bid-ask spread.
- Yield Curve Rates & Macro
- A line plotting the interest rates of bonds (usually U.S. Treasuries) across maturities, from short-term to long-term.