Stock Market Glossary
Not sure what a stock market term means? Browse clear, practical definitions covering shares, company earnings, dividends, valuation, trading, technical analysis and risk management. Use the A–Z glossary to quickly find the term you need and understand how it works in real market situations.
ADR
An ADR is a US-traded receipt for a non-US company’s shares, priced and settled in dollars while a depositary bank holds...
July 15, 2026Acquisition
An acquisition is when one company buys control of another, paying in cash, shares or both, with price, approvals and in...
July 16, 2026Alerts
Alerts are customised notifications that fire when prices, news or account conditions meet your rules, helping you react...
July 16, 2026Alpha
Alpha is the slice of return not explained by the market or a portfolio’s beta, showing how much a strategy beat or lagg...
July 16, 2026Amortisation
Amortisation spreads the cost of an intangible asset over its useful life, or the repayment of a loan’s principal across...
July 17, 2026Annual general meeting (AGM)
An AGM is a company’s yearly meeting where shareholders vote on directors, pay, auditors and dividends, receive the acco...
July 17, 2026Arbitrage
Arbitrage means buying and selling the same or equivalent asset in different markets to lock in a price gap, usually qui...
July 17, 2026Ask
The ask is the lowest price a seller is quoting right now. It sits opposite the bid and together they form the spread yo...
July 17, 2026Asset classes
Asset classes are broad groups of investments that behave alike, such as shares, bonds and cash, used to diversify portf...
July 18, 2026Assets
Assets are resources a person or business controls that are expected to deliver future benefits, from cash and property...
July 18, 2026At the money
At the money describes an option with a strike near the current price of the underlying. It has no intrinsic value yet c...
July 18, 2026Auction
An auction is a batch-matching process where buyers and sellers submit orders and a clearing price is set to execute the...
July 19, 2026Automated trading
Automated trading uses coded rules to place and manage orders without manual clicks, from simple stops to full strategie...
July 19, 2026Averaging down
Averaging down means adding to a losing long position at lower prices to reduce the average entry cost, bringing breakev...
July 19, 2026Base currency definition
The base currency is the first currency in a pair and the currency your account may be denominated in, shaping pricing,...
July 19, 2026Base rate definition
The base rate is a central bank’s policy interest rate that anchors borrowing and saving costs, shapes bond yields and o...
July 20, 2026Basis point definition
A basis point is one hundredth of a per cent used to quote rate moves, yields, spreads and fees with precision, so 25 bp...
July 20, 2026Bear definition
A bear expects prices to fall. The term can mean a pessimistic investor, a downward phase in a market, or positions desi...
July 20, 2026Bear market definition
A bear market is a broad, extended fall in prices, often defined as a drop of about 20% from a recent peak across a majo...
July 21, 2026Bearish definition
Bearish means holding a negative view on an asset or market, expecting prices to drop. It can describe sentiment, analys...
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