Learn & glossary
Plain-language explanations for stock, crypto and forex investors.
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Financial glossary
- Basis point (bp)
- One hundredth of a percentage point. A 25 bp rate hike lifts a rate by 0.25 percentage points.
- Bear market
- A fall of 20% or more from a recent high in a market or index.
- Bull market
- A sustained rise in prices, usually 20% or more from a recent low.
- CAGR
- Compound annual growth rate: the steady yearly rate that would turn a starting value into an ending value over a period.
- CPI
- Consumer price index: a measure of the change in prices of a basket of goods and services, used to track inflation. "Core" CPI leaves out food and energy.
- Dividend yield
- The yearly dividend per share divided by the share price, shown as a percentage.
- EMI
- Equated monthly instalment: the fixed monthly payment on a loan, covering interest and part of the principal.
- EPS
- Earnings per share: a company's net profit divided by the number of shares outstanding.
- ETF
- Exchange-traded fund: a fund that trades on an exchange like a share and usually tracks an index, sector or commodity.
- Fed funds rate
- The target interest rate the US Federal Reserve sets for overnight lending between banks. It influences borrowing costs across the economy.
- Futures contract
- An agreement to buy or sell an asset at a set price on a future date. Commodity prices on StockPil are front-month futures.
- GDP
- Gross domestic product: the total value of goods and services an economy produces over a period.
- Halving
- A scheduled cut in new Bitcoin issuance that happens roughly every four years.
- Index
- A basket of securities tracked as one number, such as the S&P 500 or Nifty 50, used to measure a market or sector.
- IPO
- Initial public offering: when a private company first sells shares to the public on a stock exchange.
- Leverage
- Using borrowed money to increase exposure. It magnifies both gains and losses.
- Liquidity
- How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving its price much.
- Market breadth
- The number of stocks rising compared with those falling. Broad gains are usually seen as healthier than gains led by a few large names.
- Market cap
- Share price multiplied by total shares outstanding.
- Moving average
- The average closing price over a set number of periods, such as 20 or 200 days, used to smooth out short-term swings.
- P/E ratio
- Price-to-earnings ratio: share price divided by earnings per share. It shows how much investors pay for each unit of profit.
- Pip
- The smallest standard price move in a currency pair, usually 0.0001 (0.01 for yen pairs).
- RSI
- Relative strength index: a momentum gauge from 0 to 100. Readings above 70 are often called overbought, below 30 oversold.
- Short selling
- Selling borrowed shares in the hope of buying them back later at a lower price.
- SIP
- Systematic investment plan: investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, usually monthly, into a fund or stock.
- Spread
- The gap between the price buyers are willing to pay (bid) and the price sellers ask (ask).
- Stablecoin
- A cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar, such as USDT or USDC.
- Volatility
- How widely an asset's price swings over a period of time.
- Yield
- The income an investment returns, shown as a percentage of its price. Bond yields rise when bond prices fall.
Frequently asked questions
Is StockPil market data real-time?
No. Prices refresh every few minutes from third-party market-data feeds. Stock and index quotes can be delayed by 15 minutes or more depending on the exchange, and crypto prices come from CoinGecko.
Is the content on StockPil investment advice?
No. StockPil publishes news, market data and educational content for information only. Speak to a licensed adviser before making investment decisions.
Which markets does StockPil cover?
News on US and global stocks, business, the economy, forex and crypto, plus live data for 18 world indices, 16 large-cap stocks, the top 20 cryptocurrencies, 9 currency pairs and 8 commodities.
How are StockPil articles produced and corrected?
Our editorial guidelines, fact-checking policy and corrections policy explain how stories are sourced, written, reviewed and corrected. Links to all three are in the footer.
How can I publish a press release on StockPil?
Email the newsroom through our Contact page. Accepted press releases are published with a clear press-release label and are not written or verified by our editorial team.