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An investor involved in financing a company’s operations before going public in exchange for an ownership percentage.

When the market or security tends to vary often and wildly in prices, it is said to be volatile.

The measurement of how much an underlying security fluctuates over a period of time.

Volume is the daily number of shares of a security that are traded. Volume is one of the most important indicators we watch. Its relation with price movements tells us 90% of the story behind a stock?s movement and future movements. At its simplest, increased volume on increasing prices shows accumulation. Increased volume on lower prices shows distribution. There are many variations on this theme, and we spend a great deal of time poring over price/volume relations to determine which way a stock will move.

A group of stocks or funds that you are tracking, but don’t currently own.

Occurs when the security has been listed and posted for trading, but the certificate representing the security itself is not yet issued and available for settlement. The exchange bulletin issued on listing of the security indicates if the trading will be done on a when-issued basis. In this case, the issuance of the security is guaranteed and the delay in issuance is often due to factors relating to the printing and distribution of the security. The period for when-issued trading is usually less than one week.

Analysts publish earnings forecasts for companies they follow. Sometimes analysts publish a lower number than they really believe to reduce chances of a negative surprise, but they supposedly “whisper” what they really think to their best friends. Most whisper numbers you see on the Web are simply the analysts’ consensus forecasts plus the average of the most recent two or three earnings surprises. 

Current assets minus current liabilities. 

The unique, 3-digit number assigned to each Participating Organization and Member to identify it for market transparency.

A trading range occurs when a stock or average moves up and down between a consistent high and low for an extended period of time (days, to weeks, to months). The bottom of the range becomes fairly solid support as the top becomes fairly solid resistance the more times either holds. We play stocks within the trading ranges if they are loose enough to give us some room to maneuver, e.g., a 5 point range or more. A tight trading range is one that is significantly narrower than a particular stock?s usual trading fluctuations. A tight trading range on low volume is usually a very good indicator that a move up is coming.