Glossary of Stock Market Terms (S – Z)

Glossary of Stock Market Terms and Definitions

Individuals who are new to trading tend to feel a bit overwhelmed. Our goal is to provide you with the information necessary to study the stock market by making it as easy as possible. Below is a trader’s glossary of stock market terms to assist individual investors who may be new to trading. You can also learn about additional financial terms in other postings in this site including the Stock Market Glossary listing, the Stock Trading Terminology post, the Stock Market Trading Terms listing, and the Stock Market Definitions posting, in addition to this glossary of stock market terms.

Glossary of Stock Market Terms S-Z

Simple moving average (SMA)
Adding prices together and smoothing the price data to obtain an average. ‘Moving’ is added because each day the new price information is added to the number, dropping the oldest data.

Stochastics
An oscillator measuring the position of closing prices compared to the trading range over a set period of time. %K refers to the fast stochastic, %D refers to the slow stochastic.

Stock Options awards the holder the right (but not an obligation) to buy or sell particular shares of stock for a set price within a fixed time period. They can be traded in very much the same way as their underlying stocks.

Stop Loss
Pre-determined price where you will exit a position if that price is reached.

Stop Order
A stop loss order is used to instruct your broker to close a position when it hits a predetermined price.

Stock
Owning shares of a stock with rights to ownership on the company’s earnings and assets.

Strike price
In options, a specific pre determined price where you can buy or sell the shares.

Short
Sell a stock to which you do not own the underlying security.

Support level
Level where buyers are known to step in and hold prices above that level.

Tick volume
The number of trades occurring during a specific time interval.

Trend
A price’s prevalent direction.

Trend-line
A line that can be drawn along a series of highs or lows. The  more points that can be connected, the more strength.

Support
A technical analysis term used to identify a floor(or level) lower than the current price of the stock, where previous demand ‘supported’ and price did not go past this point. The anticipation is that history will repeat itself and the price will stop declining at this level. (Not only is this term explained in this glossary of stock market terms, but it will also be addressed in the technical analysis section of this site).

Underlying Security
The stock an option taker has the right to buy or sell if they choose to exercise their option.

Volatility
Measurement of an underlying stock is expected to vary or fluctuate in a given time period

Volume
The number of transactions that took place within a trading day, indicating the number of buyers and sellers.

Weighted moving average
Another moving average where the most recent data is given greater value over the oldest data. (See additional different types of moving averages)

Traders have their own language and our listings of financial terms will have you speaking the lingo in no time! This glossary of stock market terms includes terms that are used in greater detail in our Japanese Candlesticks Category, our Technical Analysis Category, and illustrations in our Daily Market View.

 

 Stock Market Glossary (A-B)    Stock Market Terminology (C-E)
Stock Market Trading Terms (F-L)    Stock Market Definitions (M-R)
Glossary of Stock Market Trading Terms (S-Z)