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Technical Analysis Glossary
American Option
A put or call that can be exercised at any time prior to expiration.
Most listed stock options, including those on European exchanges, are
American-style options.
Analysis
The examination and evaluation of the relevant information to select the
best course of action from among various alternatives.
Analyst
Generally an employee of a bank, brokerage, advisor, or mutual fund that
studies companies and makes buy and sell recommendations, often
specializing in a single sector or industry. An analyst may also be
called a financial analyst or security analyst.
Ask (a.k.a. Offer)
The lowest price that any investor or dealer has declared that he/she
will sell a given security or commodity for.
Bid
The highest price any buyer is willing to pay for a given
security at a given time; also called bid price.
Bounce
A sudden rebound in the market (or an individual stock) typified
by a strong upward move directly after a strong downward move.
Buy
To obtain ownership of a security or other asset in exchange for
money or value.
Call
This is a contract that gives the holder the right to buy a
certain quantity (usually 100 shares) of an underlying security
from the writer of the option, at a specified price (the strike
price) up to a specified date (the expiration date).
Close
The price at which a security closed for trading on a given day
or moment.
Closeout
To closeout a position is to buy or sell against it in order to
end up with a neutral position.
Concurrent Volume Signals
This is when there are several large increased in the VMA
over several days. The combination of these volume signals cause
the market to change direction if the sum of these concurrent
volume signals is greater than or equal to the last volume
signal that cause the previous change in market trend.
Cover
To "cover" a position is to buy stock to closeout a short
position.
Critical Volume
This when volume has met or exceeded the volume necessary to
cause the market to change it's directional trend. Critical
volume could either be a large singe increase in the VMA or the
combination of several concurrent volume signals.
Day Order
An order that remains live and executable until the end of the
trading day, after which, it will be automatically canceled.
Day Trading
Buying or selling the same security within the same day. Day
trading usually involves closing out all positions by the end of
the day.
Diamonds
Shares in a trust representing all 30 stocks in the Dow Jones
Industrial Average. Traded on the American Stock Exchange.
Symbol DIA.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
Measure of the performance of the collection of 30 "blue-chip",
considered the leaders of the market.
European Option
An option that can only be exercised at the end of its life.
Expiration Date
The date on which an option, futures trading contract, rights or
warrant expires, and becomes worthless if not exercised. It is
also, the date on which an agreement is no longer in effect.
Flat
Being flat means that a trader has no open positions.
Futures
A term used to designate all contracts covering the sale of
financial instruments or physical commodities for future
delivery on a commodity exchange.
Fundamental Analysis
A method of valuating a stock that takes into account the sales,
earnings, assets and other fundamental measures of the company's
performance.
Future Contract
A standardized, exchange-traded agreement to buy or sell a
particular type and grade of commodity for delivery at an
agreed-upon place and time in the future. futures trading
contracts are transferable between parties.
Futures Market
A continuous auction market in which participants buy and sell
contracts for delivery of specific commodities on a specified
future date. Trading is carried on through open outcry and hand
signals in a trading pit or ring. GLOBEX
A global after-hours electronic trading system.
High
The 'high' is the highest execution price of a trade that day.
Historical Data
Past information about a company, used to help forecast the
future price of a stock or index futures trading contract; for
example, historical price and historical volume.
HOLDRs
Investment platforms designed to provide investors with a
flexible, cost-effective way to diversify their investment in a
particular industry through a single, exchange-listed security.
Like symbol HHH, traded on AMEX, for 20 largest Internet stocks.
Index
A benchmark against which financial or economic performance is
measured, such as the Dow Jones Industrial, S&P 100, S&P 500,
NASDAQ 100, NASDAQ Composite or the Consumer Price Index.
Index Shares
Index-based investment products that let you buy or sells shares
of entire portfolios of stock in a single security. Such as
Diamonds, Spyders, QQQQ, HHH.
Index Option
An option whose underlying security is an index. An example is
the S&P 500 option, which is based on the S&P 500 index.
Indicator
Data which provide information about or predict the overall
health of the economy or the financial markets; examples are
inflation, interest rates, employment, volume, and insider
trading.
Inside Bid
The highest price at which someone is willing to buy a security.
Inside Offer
The lowest price at which someone is willing to sell a security.
Invest
Use money to make more money, usually with the understanding
that risk is something to be avoided unless adequately
compensated for.
Keynesian
Economics
Named for economist John Maynard Keynes, Keynesian Economics is
an economic theory that advocates government intervention, or
demand-side management of the economy, to achieve full
employment and stable prices. This is accomplished by
controlling the money supply and interest rates.
Last Trade
The price at which the last trade was executed; after the market
close, this is the closing price for the day.
Level
The increment a stock moves in (this differs for each stock).
Easily visible as the price difference between underlying bids
or offers.
Limit Order
An order to buy or sell at a specific price or better. Limit buy
orders are executed at or below the specified order price. Limit
sell orders are executed at or above the specified order price.
Liquidity
The ability of an asset to be converted into cash quickly and
without any price discount.
Long
To be 'long' is to actually own a security, contract, or
commodity. This is sometimes also called a long position and is
the opposite of a short position.
Long Squeeze
A situation in which investors who hold long positions feel the
need to sell into a falling market to cut their losses. This
pressure to sell usually leads to a further decline in market
prices. This situation is less common than the opposite, a short
squeeze.
Low
The 'low' is the lowest execution price of a trade that day.
Market
Whenever MarketVolume™ refers to the "market", we are
generally referring to the S&P 500, S&P 100, Russell 1000,
Russell 3000, and Dow Jones Industrials indexes. The NASDAQ
Composite and NASDAQ 100 indexes also follow the trend of these
indexes, but the support and resistance levels may differ
slightly.
Market Capitalization
The market capitalization of a company is the total dollar value
of all outstanding shares of that company at any given time.
Computed as the number of outstanding shares times the current
market price. This is a measure of the value that the stock
market places on a company at any moment and is a measure of
corporate size.
Market Indicators
Market indicators are various indexes that give a value and
usually a net daily change for a specific market.
Market Maker
A stock exchange member who is responsible for insuring a liquid
market for a particular security by buying and selling for his
own account when the public is not buying and selling. In
exchange for this responsibility, the market maker has the
benefit of knowing the bid and asks positions of all the traders
lined up to buy or sell that security.
Market Stage
When MarketVolume talks about an up-trend or a down-trend in
it's Market Commentary on the members home page, we are talking
about the market's trend over days to, sometimes, several
months. We do not give the the trend for daytrading, i.e., we
don't tell you that the market will be up for an hour and then
down for 2 hours. What we do give you is information on what the
overall direction of the market will be over several days or
months. So when we say 'downtrend', that means the market is
moving generally down when you look at it on a 5-day, 15-day,
30-day, or 60-day view. The best view to see how our Market
Commentary correlates with the market, we suggest using a 30 day
chart with a 1-day VMA (Volume Moving Average). By knowing the
general trend of the market, you can make greater profits then
if you only knew where the market will go in the immediate
short-term.
Market Trend
The general direction of the market at any period in time. See
Market Stage and Market for more information.
Market Order
An order that is executed as quickly as possible at the best
price available.
Momentum
The strength behind an upward or downward movement in price. It
is often heavily affected by trading volume.
Moving Average (MA)
Used in charts and
technical analysis, the average of security,
index or commodity prices constructed in a period as short as a
few minutes or as long as several years and showing trends for
the latest interval. As each new variable is included in
calculating the average, the last variable of the series is
deleted.
NASDAQ
NASDAQ stands for the National Association of Securities Dealer
Automated Quotations system for over-the-counter stock trading.
Founded in 1971, the NASDAQ exchange is the world's first
electronic stock market. There are over 5000 companies listed on
the NASDAQ exchange.
NASDAQ Composite Index
A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on
NASDAQ.
NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock
The NASDAQ-100 Index Share of largest 100 NASDAQ stocks. This
index share can be traded on the American Stock Exchange. The
symbol is QQQQ.
Net Change
The amount and direction of a security's price change since its
previous day's closing price.
Offer (a.k.a. Ask)
This is the price at which someone is willing to sell a
security.
Open
This is the price at which a security opened for trading on a
given day (or some other interval).
Option
A contract bearing the right, but not the obligation, to buy
(for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount
of a given stock, commodity, currency, index, or debt, at a
specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of
time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares.
Out-of-the-Money
A call option whose strike price is higher than the market price
of the underlying security, or a put option whose strike price
is lower than the market price of the underlying security.
Panic
A sudden, widespread fear of economic or market collapse,
leading to massive bank deposit withdrawals and/or falling stock
prices
Position
A position refers to security holdings in an account or an
obligation to repay or return a security holding to a lender (as
in a short position).
Put
An option contract that gives the holder the right to sell a
certain quantity of an underlying security to the writer of the
option, at a specified price (strike price) up to a specified
date (expiration date). This is also called a put option. Put
also refers to the act of exercising a put option. A put is the
opposite of a call.
Quantitative Analysis
The process of determining the value of a security by examining
its numerical, measurable characteristics.
Resistance
Level
A price at which a particular stock or index may tend to stop
its momentum when moving upward.
Sell
Sell refers to the selling of a security.
Sell Short
The act of selling stock that you don't own in the hope that the
price will go down and you can replace it with stock purchased
at a lower price. In essence, the stock is borrowed from a
brokerage firm for delivery to the buyer and must be bought back
at a future date. If it is purchased at a lower price, the
short-seller will make money.
Short Position
When a trader has "sold short" a stock and still holds the
position. A short position reflects an obligation to return the
stock to the lender by buying it sometime in the future.
Short Squeeze
A situation in which the price of the stock rises and investors
who sold short rush to buy it to cover their short position and
cut their losses. As the price of the stock increases, more
short sellers feel compelled to cover their positions. More
common than the opposite, long squeeze.
Spider (SPDR)
These are shares of a security designed to track the value of
the S&P 500. Spiders trade on the American Stock Exchange under
the symbol SPY. One SPDR unit is valued at approximately
one-tenth of the value of the S&P 500. Dividends are distributed
quarterly, and are based on the accumulated stock dividends held
in trust, less any expenses of the trust. These are also called
SPDRs. Symbol SPY.
Spike
A large, quick, temporary rise or fall in price.
Speculation
The act of taking risks, especially with respect to trying to
predict the future. Speculation can also refer to gambling, in
the hopes of making quick profit.
Speculator
One who engages in speculation.
Spread
The incremental difference (in price) between the bid and the
offer for a particular stock. Each stock has its own spread
which may fluctuate during the course of the trading day.
Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500)
The S&P500 is a market value weighted index of 500 blue-chip
stocks, considered to be a benchmark of the overall stock
market.
Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipt (SPDR)
Securities representing ownership in a long-term unit investment
trust designed to mirror the S&P 500's performance. Traded on
the AMEX. also called Spider.
Stock Index
An Index of market prices of a particular group of stocks, such
as the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite Index.
Support Level
A price at which a particular stock may tend to stop its
momentum when moving downward. This type of technical indicator
exists for varying reasons and is specific to each individual
stock or index.
Swing
A dramatic reversal in either the market or a trader's
profit/loss. Swing also refers to mid-term trading as in swing
trading.
Symbol
A code (usually 1 to 5 letters), used to designate a security
for trading on an exchange.
Technical
Analysis
A method of evaluating securities by relying on the assumption
that market data, such as charts of price, volume, and open
interest, can help predict market trends.
Technical Analyst
Someone who invests based on technical analysis. also called
technician.
The Market
Term used to identify the current inside (best/highest) bid and
(best/lowest) offer. Example: 127.25 x 127.20.
Tick
The minimum price fluctuation available in a marketplace,
expressed in terms of points or fractions of a point of the
price or rate. Also called Minimum Price Fluctuation. A movement
by a market maker is called also called a "tick."
Ticks Down
The market maker moves away from current best market bid, thus
lowering their desired buying price.
Ticks Up
The market maker has moved its bid closer the market bid, thus
raising their desired buying price.
Triple Witching Day
The day on which triple witching hour occurs.
Triple Witching Hours
The final hour of the stock market trading session on the third
Friday of March, June, September, and December, when option
contracts and futures contracts expire on market indexes used by
program traders. The simultaneous expirations often set off
heavy trading of options, futures and the underlying stocks,
which can cause large fluctuations in the value of their
underlying stocks.
Underlying Bid
The bid or bids that are listed in the Level II NASDAQ market
but are not the best (highest) bid price.
Volume
The number of shares, traded during a given period, for a
security or an entire index or exchange. This is also called
trading volume. The analysis of volume is essential in technical
analysis. Volume provides evidence of intensity with a given
price move. As volume often leads price, it is a valuable
indicator, especially for price peaks.
Volume Moving Average (VMA)
The average of volume over a certain period determined by
the user. This period can be anywhere from 5-minutes to several
days. By using a VMA in your charts, you smooth out any
non-relevant spikes in volume and are able to get a better
picture of the volume as a whole. With this information you can
determine with accuracy the support & resistance level of the
market on both short-term and long-term levels.
Volatility
A measurement of how much an underlying stock or index
fluctuates over a period of time.
Writer
The seller of an option who collects the premium payment from
the buyer.
X or XD
This is a symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is
trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest,
or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
Yield
The annual rate of return on an investment, expressed as a
percentage.
Yield Curve
Shows the relationship between yields at different maturity
dates for a set of similar bonds, usually Treasuries, at a given
point in time. Zero-Sum Game
A situation or interaction in which one participant's gains
result only from another's equivalent losses.
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