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The ratio of put trading volume divided by the call trading volume. For example, a put/call ratio of 0.74 means that for every 100 calls bought, 74 puts were bought. It is a contrary indicator. A reading of 1.0 or more is very bullish as most people think the market is going down. When the majority thinks the market is going to move a certain direction, it usually does the opposite.

Common and preferred stocks, which represent a share in the ownership of a company.

After tax 12-month’s earnings divided by the number of shares outstanding. 

Bottom line (after tax) earnings divided by sales.

Earnings before interest and taxes. Also known as operating income. 

Trades based on signals from computer programs. These are usually entered directly from the traders computer to the market’s computer system. Program trading accounts for an increasingly larger and larger portion of all trades throughout the day. Additionally, these large trades may be hedged by an offsetting position in index futures.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adds these items back to reported earnings to more accurately reflect real cash earnings of company. Similar to operating cash flow, except operating cash flow also considers changes in levels of inventories and receivables.

A legal document describing securities being offered for sale to the public. It must be prepared in accordance with provincial securities commission regulations. Prospectus documents usually disclose pertinent information concerning the company’s operations, securities, management and purpose of the offering.

Electronic Communication Network. ECNs are expected to supplement or even replace conventional stock exchanges over the next one to two years.

If there are several orders competing for a stock at the same price, a priority determines when one of these orders will be filled before any other at this price. Priority is based on the time at which the order is received into the system.