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...

Parabolic Move

Trading slang referring to an exponential growth in a stock’s price.  The term comes from the appearance of a parabola graph in mathematics.  In a parabolic move, the stock price takes the appearance of a parabolic graph, meaning the price is rising at a rapid...

Market Rotation

A period of time when a stock market sector that had previously been struggling begins outperforming competition and becomes a market leader.  A market rotation can be long or short-term.  These rotations are typically triggered by an external event.  The scale of the...

Market Cap

A figure used by the investment community to determine a company’s size.  It refers to the total dollar market value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock.  The market capitalization (or “market cap”) of the company is calculated by...