Depreciation

An accounting practice of spreading out the payment of an asset over time (typically over the course of the asset’s useful life).  For assets like machinery or technical equipment, it’s prudent to spread out the cost of the asset and begin generating...

Appreciation

The rise of the market price of an investment.  The appreciation of an investment is the difference between the price bought at and the price sold at of an investment.  For example, if a stock is bought at $15 per share and rises to $20 per share, the capital...

S & P 500

An abbreviation for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.  It is a free-float weighted measurement stock market index of the 500 largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.  It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices.  It is...

Security

Fungible, tradable financial instruments used to raise capital in public and private markets.  There are three types of securities: equities (which provide ownership rights to holders), debt (loans repaid with periodic payments), and hybrids (which combine debt and...

Trailing Stop-Loss

A form of stop-loss designed to keep profit coming (or prevent loss) as the price of a stock remains moving in an investor’s favor.  Generally opened at the same time as a trade, a long position would put a trailing stop-loss at a price lower than the current...