US Stocks, Leverage and Commodities Glossary for Indian Traders

MochaLearn is a free course on the US market, its assets, and how to trade them, built for people who already trade Indian markets. This is its glossary: every term the lectures use, defined in one paragraph by the people who teach it, with a link back to the lecture, help article or story that explains it in full.

  • 237 terms
  • 8 rooms
  • 25 letters

The rooms

  1. 01Getting started: US market structure27
  2. 02Macro: what moves US markets37
  3. 03Instruments: US equities & ETFs28
  4. 04Valuation & fundamentals30
  5. 05Orders & trading mechanics24
  6. 06Leverage, margin & derivatives32
  7. 07Commodities with leverage34
  8. 08Perpetual futures25

A to Z

  • 2-year Treasury yieldThe two-year Treasury yield is the bond market's bet on where the Fed will hold rates over the next two years, so it moves hardest on Fed nights and…
  • 8-KAn 8-K is the filing a US company must make within four business days of a material event: a merger, a CEO leaving, a lawsuit, results. It is often…
  • 10-K and 10-QA 10-K is the audited annual report a US listed company files with the SEC; a 10-Q is the unaudited quarterly version. Both are on EDGAR the second…
  • 10-year Treasury yieldThe ten-year Treasury yield is the benchmark long rate that mortgages, company debt and stock valuations are priced off. The Fed does not set it…
  • 13F filingA 13F is the quarterly filing every US institutional manager with over $100 million must make, listing its stock holdings, due 45 days after the…
  • 24/7 trading24/7 trading means a contract keeps trading through nights, weekends and holidays while the underlying exchange is shut. The price you see then is…
  • 52-week high and lowA 52-week high or low is the highest or lowest price a stock has traded at over the past year, the number scanners and headlines count. Counting…
  • ADR (American Depositary Receipt)An ADR is a receipt a US bank issues for shares of a foreign company it holds abroad, so the stock trades in New York in dollars; Infosys and ICICI…
  • AluminiumAluminium is the light industrial metal whose production is mostly electricity, so its price is partly a power price. China makes over half the…
  • Auto-deleveraging (ADL)Auto-deleveraging is the last step when a liquidated position's loss exceeds its margin and the insurance pool: the venue closes part of the most…
  • Average hourly earningsAverage hourly earnings is the wage growth number in the US jobs report. Wages are the bridge from jobs to prices: fast pay growth keeps services…
  • BetaBeta measures how much a stock has moved relative to the market: 1.5 means it has historically moved 1.5% for each 1% in the S&P 500. High-beta…
  • Bid-ask spreadThe bid-ask spread is the gap between the best price to sell (bid) and the best price to buy (ask). Buy at the ask, sell at the bid, and you are…
  • Blue chip US stocksBlue chip US stocks are large, long-established, profitable American companies like Apple, JPMorgan or Johnson & Johnson; the Dow was built as their…
  • Book valueBook value is total assets minus total liabilities on the balance sheet, what shareholders own on paper. For a bank it means something, and a bank…
  • Breakeven inflationBreakeven inflation is the gap between an ordinary Treasury yield and its inflation-protected twin of the same maturity, the inflation rate the bond…
  • Brokerage accountA brokerage account is an account with a registered broker that records the securities you own while a custodian holds the actual shares. It is the…
  • Bull and bear marketA bull market is a sustained rise in prices; a bear market is a fall of 20% or more from a recent high, the convention for the S&P 500. The labels…
  • BuybackA buyback is a company buying its own shares and cancelling them, so the same profit is spread over fewer shares and EPS rises. US companies return…
  • Buying powerBuying power is the position value your free margin can open at the allowed leverage: ₹20,000 at 10x is ₹2,00,000. It shrinks when you open a…
  • Call optionA call option is the right to buy at the strike before expiry. Strike 24,200 and premium 80 means profit only above 24,280, because in the money is…
  • CboeCboe is the Chicago-based exchange group that runs the largest US options market and four US stock exchanges grown out of BATS, an exchange built by…
  • Central bank gold buyingCentral bank gold buying is reserve managers adding gold, about a thousand tonnes a year from 2022 to 2024 per the World Gold Council. It is a buyer…
  • CFTCThe CFTC is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US referee for futures, swaps and anything shaped like a contract on a price. It publishes…
  • Circuit breaker (US)A US circuit breaker halts trading. Market-wide, an S&P 500 fall of 7% or 13% stops all stocks for fifteen minutes and 20% ends the day; single…
  • Closing auction (official close)The closing auction is the single matched trade at 1:30 AM IST, 2:30 AM in winter, that sets each US stock's official closing price, about a tenth…
  • CME FedWatchCME FedWatch turns futures on the overnight rate into a probability for each outcome at every Fed meeting. It is what the market priced before the…
  • CME GroupCME Group is the Chicago exchange where futures on US stock indices, interest rates, gold, oil and copper trade, through COMEX and NYMEX among…
  • COMEXCOMEX is the New York exchange, part of CME Group, where benchmark gold, silver and copper futures trade. Globex runs from about 3:30 AM Monday to…
  • Commitments of Traders (COT) reportThe Commitments of Traders report is the CFTC's weekly breakdown of who holds US futures: producers, dealers, hedge funds. It lands Friday for…
  • Commodity ETFA commodity ETF tracks a commodity either by holding the metal or by holding futures and rolling them. Futures-based oil funds bleed in contango…
  • Commodity tradingCommodity trading is buying and selling the price of raw materials like gold, oil, gas and copper, almost always through contracts rather than the…
  • Consensus estimateThe consensus estimate is the average analyst forecast for a company's earnings or an economic number. Markets price the consensus before the…
  • Contango and backwardationContango is later futures months priced above nearer ones, the normal state when storage costs money; backwardation is the reverse, when the market…
  • Contract rolloverContract rollover is closing an expiring futures month and opening the next to stay exposed. Front at $85.00, next at $84.50, and the reference…
  • CopperCopper is the industrial metal priced three ways: LME in dollars per tonne, COMEX in cents per pound, Shanghai in yuan. China uses more than half…
  • Core CPICore CPI is CPI with food and energy removed, the volatile parts that interest rates cannot fix. The market often trades core over headline because…
  • Cost of carryCost of carry is what it costs to hold a position over time: storage, insurance and interest, minus any income. It is why futures usually sit above…
  • CPICPI, the consumer price index, is the monthly US measure of what a basket of goods and services costs households, published by the BLS. It lands at…
  • Crack spreadThe crack spread is the gap between the price of crude and the products refined from it, petrol and diesel. A refiner earns that gap, not the oil…
  • Cross marginCross margin uses your whole balance as margin for every open position, so a winner props up a loser and liquidation is further away, until one bad…
  • Crude oil (WTI vs Brent)Crude oil trades as two benchmarks: WTI at the Cushing pipeline hub on NYMEX, and Brent at sea on ICE, which prices most of the world's oil…
  • CushingCushing, Oklahoma is the pipeline and tank hub where WTI is delivered, so WTI depends on storage there. When Cushing filled in April 2020 the…
  • CustodianA custodian is the institution that holds securities or assets for a broker's clients, kept apart from the broker's own money. For any claim the…
  • Cyclical vs defensive stocksCyclical stocks earn more when the economy grows and less when it shrinks: discretionary, industrials, materials, energy, financials. Defensive…
  • Dark poolA dark pool is a private trading venue where orders stay hidden until they fill, so a fund can move a large block without showing its hand on the…
  • Day trading and the PDT ruleDay trading is opening and closing a position in the same session. The PDT rule is FINRA's pattern day trader rule: a US margin account under…
  • Debt ceilingThe debt ceiling is the cap Congress sets on total US government borrowing. The Treasury borrows the gap between spending and taxes, so it hits the…
  • Designated market makerA designated market maker is the one firm the NYSE assigns to each listed stock to keep trading orderly and to run its opening and closing auctions.…
  • Direct listing / SPACA direct listing puts existing shares on an exchange with no new shares and no underwriter, so the opening auction sets the first price. A SPAC is a…
  • Dividend aristocratsDividend aristocrats are S&P 500 companies that have raised their dividend every year for at least twenty five years, like Coca-Cola and Procter &…
  • Dividend ETFA dividend ETF holds stocks picked for high or steadily rising dividends, such as SCHD or VYM. Its headline yield rises when prices fall, so read it…
  • Dividend yieldDividend yield is the annual dividend divided by the share price; a $2 dividend on a $50 stock is 4%. It rises when the price falls, so the highest…
  • Dollar index (DXY)The dollar index, DXY, measures the dollar against six major currencies, with the euro about 58% of it. A stronger dollar weighs on gold, oil and US…
  • Dollar-cost averagingDollar-cost averaging is investing a fixed amount at fixed intervals whatever the price, so you buy more units when cheap and fewer when dear. It is…
  • Dot plotThe dot plot is the chart of where each Fed official expects the policy rate to be over the next few years, one dot each, published four times a…
  • Dow Jones Industrial AverageThe Dow Jones Industrial Average is thirty large American companies averaged by share price, not by size, since 1896. A four hundred dollar stock…
  • DrawdownDrawdown is the fall from an account's peak to its trough, in percent. Recovery is lopsided: minus 50% needs plus 100% to get back, minus 80% needs…
  • Dual mandateThe dual mandate is the Fed's job as Congress wrote it: stable prices and maximum employment. The 2% inflation target is the Fed's own reading of…
  • Earnings beat and missA beat is results above the consensus estimate; a miss is below. Most large US companies beat most quarters because guidance is set to be beaten, so…
  • Earnings callThe earnings call is the conference call where management discusses results and takes analyst questions, usually within an hour or two of the…
  • Earnings season / earnings reportEarnings season is the weeks after each quarter ends when most US companies report, starting with the big banks around mid-January, April, July and…
  • EBITDAEBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation: operating profit with debt costs and non-cash charges added back. It…
  • Economic calendarAn economic calendar lists every scheduled release of the week with its time and consensus forecast. Set one to IST once and check it every Sunday…
  • EIA petroleum status reportThe EIA weekly petroleum status report counts US crude and fuel stocks, released Wednesday at 8:00 PM IST, 9:00 PM in winter. A bigger draw than…
  • Enterprise valueEnterprise value is market capitalization plus debt minus cash: the price of buying the whole business, lenders included. EV/EBITDA compares…
  • EPSEPS is earnings per share: net profit divided by shares outstanding. On results day it is compared with the published consensus and the whisper…
  • ETF creation and redemptionETF creation and redemption is how an ETF's price stays near the value of its holdings: large dealers swap baskets of shares for new ETF units, or…
  • ExpectancyExpectancy is the average result per trade: win rate times average win minus loss rate times average loss, usually counted in R, the amount risked.…
  • Expected moveThe expected move is the size of move the options market is pricing for an event: add the at-the-money call and put premiums and divide by the stock…
  • Fed funds rateThe fed funds rate is the target range for overnight lending between US banks, the one rate the Fed sets directly. It anchors the short end of the…
  • Federal ReserveThe Federal Reserve is the US central bank, built in 1913 after the 1907 bank runs were stopped by one banker. It sets the price of money, and its…
  • FINRAFINRA is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, US brokers policing themselves under the SEC. It writes broker rules like the pattern day…
  • FOMCThe FOMC is the Federal Open Market Committee, the twelve voters inside the Fed who set the policy rate at eight scheduled meetings a year. The…
  • FOMC minutesThe FOMC minutes are the written record of a Fed meeting, released three weeks after the decision at 11:30 PM IST, 12:30 AM in winter. They show the…
  • Form 4Form 4 is the SEC filing a company insider must make within two business days of buying or selling the company's shares. It is near real time and…
  • Forward guidance (Fed)Forward guidance is the Fed telling the market roughly what it plans to do next, so rate moves arrive pre-priced. When a chair refuses to give it…
  • Forward P/EForward P/E is the share price divided by the earnings analysts expect over the next twelve months. It is built on a forecast that the company…
  • Fractional sharesFractional shares let you own part of one share, say 0.1 of a $500 stock, through a broker that holds whole shares and splits them on its own books.…
  • FREDFRED is the free St Louis Fed database of every major US economic series going back decades, charts and downloads with no account. When a headline…
  • Free cash flowFree cash flow is the cash a business brings in from operations minus what it spends on equipment and buildings. Accounting shapes earnings; cash…
  • Funding rateThe funding rate is the periodic payment between longs and shorts that keeps a perpetual near the real price: above it, longs pay shorts; below…
  • Funding rate arbitrageFunding rate arbitrage is holding a long on one venue and a short on another in the same asset, with no view on price, to collect the difference in…
  • Futures contractA futures contract is an exchange-traded agreement to buy or sell at a set price on a set date, settled daily against margin. It binds both sides…
  • Gap up and gap downA gap is a price opening far from where it last traded, with nothing in between. US stocks gap at 7:00 PM IST because news lands after the close…
  • GDPGDP is the total value of goods and services an economy produces. The BEA publishes US GDP quarterly, first as an advance estimate and then two…
  • GICS sectorsGICS sectors are the eleven sectors S&P and MSCI use to classify every company: energy, materials, industrials, consumer discretionary, consumer…
  • Gold ETFA gold ETF is a listed fund that holds bars in a vault and issues units that track the gold price. An issuer holds the gold, you hold a claim, and…
  • Gold futuresGold futures are exchange-traded contracts on gold, the benchmark on COMEX in dollars per troy ounce, trading above London spot by the carry. Gold…
  • Gold/silver ratioThe gold/silver ratio is how many ounces of silver buy one ounce of gold. It rises in fear, when gold is bid and industry is not, and falls in…
  • Government shutdownA US government shutdown happens when Congress has not passed spending by the fiscal year start on 1 October, so non-essential agencies close. The…
  • Gross marginGross margin is revenue minus the direct cost of making the product, as a percent of revenue. It shows pricing power, and a falling one on results…
  • Growth vs value stocksGrowth vs value is the split between companies priced for profits far in the future, like most technology, and companies priced cheaply on today's…
  • Guidance (earnings guidance)Guidance is a company's own forecast for the next quarter or year, given with results. The quarter was priced weeks ago; the guide moves the forward…
  • Hard to borrowA hard-to-borrow stock is one where lenders have few shares left, so the borrow fee jumps and shorts can be recalled. On such names a cash-settled…
  • HedgingHedging is taking a second position that loses when your first one wins, to cut risk. Market makers hedge every fill and hold no view. For an Indian…
  • Henry HubHenry Hub is the Louisiana pipeline junction where the US natural gas benchmark is priced, in dollars per million BTU, and traded as NYMEX gas…
  • IEAThe IEA is the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based watchdog for oil-buying countries. Its monthly report forecasts world demand, and it…
  • IEXIEX is the US stock exchange that delays every order by 350 microseconds through a coil of fibre, so it can update its own prices before anyone…
  • Implied volatilityImplied volatility is the volatility an option's price implies, worked backward from the premium: the market's priced expectation of the move. It…
  • Index ETFAn index ETF holds every stock in a published index at the index weights, with no view and a small fee. It buys in the closing auction on the day…
  • Index futures (E-mini S&P 500)Index futures are futures on a stock index, like the E-mini S&P 500 on the CME. They trade almost round the clock, so between the US close and open…
  • Index rebalancingIndex rebalancing is when an index changes members or weights and every fund tracking it must trade the difference, usually in the closing auction…
  • Initial jobless claimsInitial jobless claims is the weekly count of Americans filing for unemployment benefit, released every Thursday at 6:00 PM IST, 7:00 PM in winter.…
  • Initial margin vs maintenance marginInitial margin is the deposit to open a position; maintenance margin is the floor your account must stay above to keep it. The gap between them is…
  • Insurance fundAn insurance fund is the pool a venue uses to cover losses when a liquidated position's margin is not enough, so winners get paid in full. When it…
  • Inverse ETFAn inverse ETF aims for the opposite of an index's daily move, so it rises when the index falls, and it resets daily like a leveraged ETF. It is a…
  • Inverted yield curveAn inverted yield curve is when short-term Treasuries yield more than long-term ones, usually the two-year above the ten-year. It means the market…
  • IPO (US)A US IPO is a company's first sale of shares to the public, registered with the SEC in an S-1 filing. In June 2026 SpaceX raised $75 billion in one…
  • ISM PMIThe ISM PMI is a monthly survey of US purchasing managers; above 50 means activity is expanding, below 50 contracting. Manufacturing lands on the…
  • Isolated marginIsolated margin ties a fixed amount of margin to one position, so that position can only lose what you gave it and the rest of your balance is…
  • IV crushIV crush is the drop in an option's price when the uncertainty it was charging for disappears, typically the morning after results. A ₹150 call can…
  • JOLTSJOLTS is the BLS survey of job openings and labour turnover. Openings against unemployed workers is the Fed's read on how tight hiring is, and quits…
  • Kelly criterionThe Kelly criterion is the bet size that maximises long-run growth given your edge and odds. Bet above it and growth falls fast, at about twice…
  • Last traded priceThe last traded price is the most recent trade on the venue's own book, the one the chart shows. You never trade at it: you buy the ask and sell the…
  • LBMA gold priceThe LBMA gold price is the London benchmark set by electronic auction twice a day, at 3:00 PM and 7:30 PM IST (4:00 PM and 8:30 PM in winter), which…
  • Leverage in tradingLeverage is controlling a position bigger than the money you put up. At 5x, ₹10,000 of margin controls ₹50,000, so a 2% move is 10% of your money…
  • Leverage ratioThe leverage ratio is position value divided by margin: ₹50,000 on ₹10,000 is 5x. One over the ratio is how far the price can move against you…
  • Leveraged ETFA leveraged ETF aims for two or three times an index's daily move and resets every day. Up 10% then down 10% leaves the index at 99 and a 2x fund at…
  • Limit orderA limit order buys or sells only at your price or better. You control the price, the market decides whether you trade, and it can fill partly. In…
  • Limit up-limit downLimit up-limit down is the US single-stock speed limit: a band around the recent price, 5% either side for large stocks and 10% for the rest. If the…
  • Liquidation / forced square-offLiquidation, or forced square-off, is the venue closing a leveraged position because the margin can no longer cover the loss, at a price computed…
  • Liquidation cascadeA liquidation cascade is a chain of forced closes: traders with similar entries and leverage have liquidation prices a few dollars apart, the first…
  • Liquidation priceThe liquidation price is where the venue closes your leveraged position, computed from entry, leverage and margin before you click. Your real stop…
  • LiquidityLiquidity is how much you can trade without moving the price: a tight spread and deep size at each level. US Treasuries are the deepest market on…
  • LMEThe LME is the London Metal Exchange, started in a coffee house in 1877, where copper, aluminium, nickel and zinc are priced in dollars per tonne.…
  • Long and short positionA long position profits when the price rises; a short position profits when it falls. On a contract on the price, going short is one click with no…
  • Lot size and tick sizeLot size is how much one contract covers, like 100 troy ounces for COMEX gold or 1,000 barrels for WTI; tick size is the smallest price step. One…
  • Magnificent 7The Magnificent 7 are Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and Tesla, seven companies that drove most of the S&P 500's gains from 2023.…
  • Maker and taker feesA maker fee is charged when your order rests on the book and adds liquidity; a taker fee when it fills against a resting order. Both are a percent…
  • Margin callA margin call is a broker's demand for more funds when your account falls below the required margin; ignore it and positions are closed. On a venue…
  • Margin interestMargin interest is what a US broker charges, daily, on cash it lends you to buy shares. A perpetual contract has no loan and no margin interest; its…
  • Margin requirementA margin requirement is the minimum collateral for a position as a percent of its value: 10% is the same as 10x leverage. It rises for larger…
  • Margin tiersMargin tiers raise the maintenance margin as a position grows, so maximum leverage falls as size rises and the two stop being separate decisions.…
  • Margin tradingMargin trading is taking a position larger than your deposit, the margin. A US broker lends you cash at interest; on a margined contract nothing is…
  • Mark priceThe mark price is the price a venue judges your position by, for unrealised profit and liquidation, built from the reference price and the order…
  • Market breadthMarket breadth is how many stocks are taking part in a move: advancers against decliners, new highs against new lows, the equal-weight index against…
  • Market cap categories (mega/large/mid/small)Market cap categories group US companies by size: mega above $200 billion, large $10 to $200 billion, mid $2 to $10 billion, small $300 million to…
  • Market capitalizationMarket capitalization is share price times shares outstanding, the market's price for the whole company. Index weights in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100…
  • Market correctionA correction is a fall of 10% to 20% from a recent high, a convention, not a rule. Most start on a rate repricing or a guide that disappoints, the…
  • Market makerA market maker quotes a price to buy and a slightly higher price to sell all day and earns the spread. Since US prices moved to one-cent steps in…
  • Market orderA market order buys or sells immediately at the best price available. It always fills, but at the ask if you buy and the bid if you sell, never at…
  • Max slippageMax slippage is the setting that caps how far from the quoted price a market order may fill; beyond it the order is cut. It trades certainty of fill…
  • MCX vs COMEXMCX is India's commodity exchange, pricing gold in rupees per 10 grams and shut at night and on weekends; COMEX is the New York exchange that sets…
  • Mini and micro contractsMini and micro contracts are smaller versions of a standard futures contract: micro gold is 10 ounces against 100, micro WTI 100 barrels against…
  • NASDAQNasdaq is the American exchange that began in 1971 as one screen showing every dealer quote side by side, the first market with no floor. Most…
  • Nasdaq 100The Nasdaq 100 is an index of the hundred largest non-financial companies listed on Nasdaq, weighted by market value and dominated by technology. It…
  • Natural gasNatural gas moves by pipe, so it has three regional prices, Henry Hub, TTF and JKM, linked only by LNG tankers. Storage fills April to October and…
  • NBBOThe NBBO, national best bid and offer, is the highest bid and lowest ask for a US stock across every exchange at once. Since 1975 the venues have…
  • Negative balance protectionNegative balance protection means you cannot lose more than the money in your account, even when a gap jumps past your liquidation price. On…
  • Net interest incomeNet interest income is what a bank earns on the gap between what it pays depositors and what it charges borrowers. Higher rates lift it while making…
  • Nonfarm payrollsNonfarm payrolls is the BLS count of jobs added in the US last month, released at 6:00 PM IST, 7:00 PM in winter, usually on the first Friday. It is…
  • Notional valueNotional value is the full size of a position, price times quantity, whatever margin backs it: ₹50,000 of exposure on ₹10,000 of margin has a…
  • NYMEXNYMEX is the New York Mercantile Exchange, part of CME Group, home of WTI crude since 1983, Henry Hub gas and platinum. MCX crude settles on a NYMEX…
  • NYSEThe NYSE is the New York Stock Exchange, started in 1792 when twenty four brokers agreed to trade only with each other. Most large, old American…
  • NYSE ArcaNYSE Arca is the fully electronic NYSE exchange where most US ETFs list, around three quarters of ETF assets as of 2026. It is one of the twenty-odd…
  • Oil risk premiumThe oil risk premium is the part of the oil price that pays for the chance the next barrel does not arrive, not for any barrel that is missing. It…
  • OPEC+OPEC+ is OPEC's members plus Russia and other producers, agreeing output quotas: the one cartel that moves a global price. Its monthly report and…
  • Open interestOpen interest is the total size of all open positions in a contract, how much money is in the trade. Rising open interest with a rising price means…
  • Opening auctionThe opening auction is the single trade that starts the US day at 7:00 PM IST, 8:00 PM in winter. Orders collect before the bell, one price is…
  • Operating marginOperating margin is operating profit as a percent of revenue: what is left after making the product and running the company, before interest and…
  • Option open interestOption open interest is the number of option contracts that exist at a strike right now, free on any option chain. The strike above the price with…
  • Options contractAn options contract gives the buyer the right, not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) at a strike before expiry, for a premium. The buyer…
  • Oracle priceThe oracle price is the outside price a perpetual is pulled toward, taken from where the asset really trades. When the US market is shut there is no…
  • Order backlog (remaining performance obligations)An order backlog is money customers have committed but not yet been billed for, called remaining performance obligations in US filings. It is an…
  • Order bookAn order book is the list of every resting buy and sell order, bids on one side and asks on the other, sorted by price. A trade prints the moment a…
  • Overnight financing / swap feeOvernight financing, or a swap fee, is the daily interest a broker charges for holding a leveraged position past the session close, paid to the…
  • Overnight session (24-hour stock trading)The overnight session is US stock trading through the American night, which is the Indian working day, on a handful of venues approved from 2024.…
  • P/E ratioThe P/E ratio is share price divided by the last twelve months of earnings per share; 25 means $25 for each dollar of annual profit. It moves on a…
  • PalladiumPalladium is the metal in petrol car exhausts: over 80% of demand is catalytic converters and Russia mines about two fifths. Its price is a bet on…
  • Partial fillA partial fill is when only part of a limit order executes because not enough size sat at your price; the rest keeps waiting. Ask for 100, find 40…
  • Payment for order flowPayment for order flow is a wholesaler paying a retail broker to send it customer orders, which it fills inside its own system at the national best…
  • Payout ratioPayout ratio is the share of earnings paid out as dividends; $1 paid on $4 earned is 25%. Above 100% the dividend comes from savings or debt. Check…
  • PCEPCE, the personal consumption expenditures price index, is the inflation measure the Fed targets at 2%, published by the BEA. It prices the basket a…
  • PEG ratioThe PEG ratio is P/E divided by expected annual earnings growth in percent, so a P/E of 30 with 30% growth gives a PEG of 1. It rests on a growth…
  • Perpetual futuresPerpetual futures are contracts that track an asset's price with no expiry date. Expiry is what pulls a normal future to the real price, which the…
  • Perpetual premium (basis)The perpetual premium, or basis, is the gap between a perpetual's price and its reference. A positive premium means longs are crowded and will pay…
  • PlatinumPlatinum is a precious metal whose price is a bet on factories and car exhausts: South Africa mines about 70% of it and catalytic converters are its…
  • Position sizingPosition sizing is deciding how much to trade: the rupees you are willing to lose divided by the distance from entry to stop. Size is the output and…
  • PPIPPI, the producer price index, measures the prices businesses receive, which makes it inflation upstream of the shop shelf. It lands from the BLS in…
  • Pre-IPO stocksPre-IPO stocks are shares of private companies before they list, priced in private funding rounds with no public order book. Some venues list…
  • Pre-market and after-hours tradingPre-market and after-hours are the thin sessions around the US day: pre-market from 1:30 PM IST, after-hours until 5:30 AM IST, an hour later from…
  • Price band (discovery bounds)A price band, or discovery bound, is the limit a venue puts on how far a perpetual can move from its last reference price while the real market is…
  • Price-to-sales ratioThe price-to-sales ratio is market value divided by annual revenue, used for companies with no profit yet, where P/E means nothing. Ten means you…
  • Put optionA put option is the right to sell at the strike before expiry, so it gains when the price falls: insurance on a holding, or a short with the loss…
  • QQQ ETFQQQ is the Invesco ETF tracking the Nasdaq 100, technology-heavy and concentrated in a few giants. It sits on the long-dated side of the rates line…
  • Quantitative easingQuantitative easing is the Fed buying Treasuries and mortgage bonds with new reserves to push long-term yields down when the policy rate is already…
  • Quantitative tighteningQuantitative tightening is the Fed shrinking its balance sheet by letting bonds mature without replacing them, draining reserves from banks. Rate…
  • Real yieldA real yield is a bond's return after inflation, read live from inflation-protected Treasuries, called TIPS. It is the first driver of gold: gold…
  • Real-world asset (RWA)A real-world asset is a physical or financial thing, gold, oil, a US share, whose price you can hold a claim on and trade all day from India. An…
  • Reduce-only orderA reduce-only order can only shrink or close an existing position, never open or flip one, so a closing order cannot accidentally open the other…
  • REIT (US)A US REIT is a listed company that owns income-producing property and must pay out at least 90% of taxable income as dividends. It trades like a…
  • Retail salesRetail sales is the Census Bureau's monthly count of what US shops and online stores sold. Consumer spending is about two thirds of the economy, so…
  • RevenueRevenue is the total money a company takes in from sales before any costs, the top line. Growth companies are judged on it first and on the revenue…
  • Risk-reward ratioThe risk-reward ratio compares what you lose if the stop is hit with what you gain at target: risking ₹1,000 to make ₹3,000 is 1:3. Alone it means…
  • ROE (return on equity in trading)ROE in trading is your profit or loss as a percent of the margin you posted, not of the position. At 10x a 1% move is 10% ROE, which makes it a…
  • Round-trip trading costRound-trip cost is everything a trade costs from entry to exit: the spread twice, the fee twice, slippage, and funding for every hour held, all on…
  • Russell 2000The Russell 2000 is about two thousand smaller American listed companies, the standard measure of US small caps. They borrow more at floating rates…
  • S&P 500The S&P 500 is about five hundred of the largest American companies, weighted by market value, and the number money is measured against. Index funds…
  • SECThe SEC is the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the referee Congress built after 1929 exposed how little buyers knew. It can halt a stock, sue…
  • SEC filingsSEC filings are the documents US listed companies must submit: 10-K annual, 10-Q quarterly, 8-K within four business days of a material event, Form…
  • Sector ETFA sector ETF holds one of the eleven GICS sectors, like XLE for energy, XLF for financials or XLK for technology. A number about the economy never…
  • Settlement (T+1 in US)Settlement is when the cash and shares from a trade actually change hands; US stocks settle T+1, the next business day, since May 2024, like India.…
  • Short interestShort interest is the number of a stock's shares sold short and not yet bought back, published twice a month by FINRA. High short interest with few…
  • Short sellingShort selling is selling a borrowed share to buy it back cheaper. The loss is open-ended if the price rises, the borrow costs a fee, and when…
  • Short squeezeA short squeeze is a fast rise forced by short sellers buying back to cap losses, which pushes the price higher and forces out the next ones. It…
  • Silver futuresSilver futures are contracts on silver, mainly on COMEX in dollars per troy ounce. More than half of silver goes into industry, solar most of all…
  • SlippageSlippage is the gap between the price you expected and the price you got. It comes from the spread, from a thin book your order walks through, and…
  • Spot price vs futures priceThe spot price is for delivery now; the futures price is for delivery later, and the gap is the cost of carry, which closes to zero at expiry. COMEX…
  • SPY ETFSPY is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, the first US-listed ETF (1993) and one of the most traded securities on earth, so its price is effectively the live…
  • Stock split (US)A stock split divides each share into several, so a 10-for-1 split turns one $1,000 share into ten $100 shares at the same company value; Nvidia…
  • Stop-limit orderA stop-limit order becomes a limit order, not a market order, at its trigger. It refuses a bad fill in a gap, and that is also its danger: the price…
  • Stop-loss orderA stop-loss order turns into a market order when the price reaches a trigger, to cap a loss. It is a request, not a guarantee: in a gap it fills…
  • Stop-out levelThe stop-out level is the margin level at which a venue closes your positions for you, at whatever the book gives. It is the venue's trigger, not…
  • Strait of HormuzThe Strait of Hormuz is the stretch of water between Iran and Oman that carried about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil and gas before the 2026…
  • Strategic petroleum reserveA strategic petroleum reserve is oil a government stores for emergencies; the US holds the largest. A coordinated release adds supply the market did…
  • Strike price and expiryThe strike price is where an option pays; expiry is when a contract ends. Expiry is what ties a future to the real price, which is why the gap goes…
  • Take-profit orderA take-profit order closes a position automatically when the price reaches your target, usually as a limit order so the exit is at your price or…
  • TariffA tariff is a tax on imports. In the US the president can set many of them alone, effective the moment they are announced, which is why one post can…
  • Term premiumThe term premium is the extra yield investors demand to lend for ten years instead of rolling short bills, for the risk that rates or inflation…
  • TestnetA testnet is the practice copy of a real venue: real prices, fake money. Every mechanical lecture ends on it, because reading about a liquidation…
  • Ticker symbolA ticker symbol is the short code an exchange gives a listed security: NVDA for Nvidia, AAPL for Apple. Nasdaq tickers usually run four letters and…
  • TP/SL (take profit and stop loss)TP/SL is a take profit and a stop loss attached to a position, closing it at a target or a limit you set at entry. Writing both before the click is…
  • Trading haltA trading halt freezes a US stock on every exchange at once. A news halt lets everyone read an announcement before anyone trades on it; a limit…
  • Trailing stop orderA trailing stop moves the stop trigger behind the price by a fixed amount or percent as a trade goes your way, and stays put when it turns. It locks…
  • Treasury yieldA Treasury yield is the annual return on a US government bond at today's market price; when the price falls, the yield rises. Treasuries trade over…
  • Troy ounceA troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, the unit gold, silver, platinum and palladium are priced in, about 10% heavier than an ordinary ounce. MCX quotes…
  • Unemployment rateThe unemployment rate is the share of the US labour force that wants work and has none, from the same BLS release as payrolls. A rising rate pulls…
  • Unrealised P&LUnrealised P&L is the profit or loss on an open position at the mark price; it becomes realised when you close. Where unrealised profit counts as…
  • UraniumUranium is reactor fuel sold mostly on long-term contracts with no exchange spot market, so its price is a broker-published indicator moved by…
  • US ETFA US ETF is an exchange-traded fund on a US exchange that holds a basket, usually an index, and trades all day like one share. Most list on NYSE…
  • US TreasuryThe US Treasury is the government's borrower and the oldest name on the US market map: it issues bonds to cover the gap between what Congress spends…
  • USD/INRUSD/INR is the price of one dollar in rupees. Every dollar-priced asset you hold is also a bet on it, chosen or not: the dollar moved, so the rupee…
  • Volatility / VIXVolatility is how much a price swings. The VIX is Cboe's index of how far the S&P 500 is expected to move over thirty days, priced from options; 20…
  • VolumeVolume is how many shares or contracts changed hands in a period. About half of US stock volume is filled off exchange by wholesalers, and on a…
  • Whisper numberThe whisper number is the unofficial earnings figure traders actually expect, usually above the published consensus for a popular stock. A company…
  • Yield curveThe yield curve is the line of Treasury yields from three months to thirty years, normally sloping up because longer loans pay more. The short end…