A - G, Glossary

Candlesticks

Written by / Last Updated: August 15, 2025

A point on a candle stick chart representing a specific time period (a day, an hour, a minute, etc) in which the underlying stock price has moved. Candlesticks will have a body and usually two wicks – one on each end. For a white (could also be green) candlestick, the bottom of the body represents the opening price and the top of the body represents the closing price. For red candlesticks, it is just the other way around. The top and bottom tips of each wick are the day’s highest and lowest price respectively.

Glossary, N - T

Shadows

Written by / Last Updated: February 18, 2016

A small line (like a candle wick) found at the top or bottom of an individual candle in a candlestick chart.

Beginner Charts and Analysis

Understanding Candlestick Charts: A Beginner’s Guide

Written by / Last Updated: February 3, 2025

The most basic skill needed for investing is the ability to read a stock chart and then understand how that data can aid your investing success. One of the biggest mistakes of today’s investors is overlooking this basic skill and shooting from the hip. This article explains the importance of candlesticks which are the smallest building block of stock charts.

Current Events

Gold Investors Bloodied !

Written by / Last Updated: February 9, 2016

On Friday, gold opened below the $1,550 resistance line which tripped a massive number of stop losses. That was just the beginning of the carnage.

A - G, Glossary

Fundamentals

Written by / Last Updated: February 28, 2025

The qualitative and quantitative information that contributes to the economic well-being and the subsequent financial valuation of a company, security or currency. Analysts and investors analyze these fundamentals to develop an estimate as to whether the underlying asset is considered a worthwhile investment. For businesses, information such as revenue, earnings, assets, liabilities and growth are considered some of the fundamentals.

Glossary, H - M

Momentum Investors

Written by / Last Updated: February 27, 2025

An investment strategy that aims to capitalize on the continuance of existing trends in the market. The momentum investor believes that large increases in the price of a security will be followed by additional gains and vice versa for declining values.

Glossary, N - T

Resistance Line

Written by / Last Updated: August 15, 2025

A point or range in a chart that caps an increase in the price of a stock or index over a period of time. An area of resistance, resistance line or resistance level indicates that the stock or index is finding it difficult to break through it, and may head lower shortly. The more times that the stock or index tries unsuccessfully to break through the resistance line, the stronger that area of price resistance becomes.

Glossary, N - T

Price to Sales Ratio (P/S Ratio)

Written by / Last Updated: February 28, 2025

The price-to-sales ratio (Price/Sales or P/S) provides a simple approach: take the company’s market capitalization (the number of shares multiplied by the share price) and divide it by the company’s total sales over the past 12 months. The lower the ratio, the more attractive the investment.

Books

Beating the Street: Peter Lynch’s Legendary Investment Strategies

Written by / Last Updated: February 27, 2025

An important key to investing, Lynch says, is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets. There’s a company behind every stock and a reason companies — and their stocks — perform the way they do.

Books

Spotting Price Swings & Seasonal Patterns: Techniques for Precisely Timing Major Market Moves

Written by / Last Updated: August 15, 2025

The proof is in the patterns – and so are the trading profits! Being able to precisely time your market moves by reading cycles and patterns is the key to sustained trading success.

Books

Technical Analysis: Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets

Written by / Last Updated: August 15, 2025

How to profit in Bull and Bear markets with technical analysis. This groundbreaking work discusses all the major technical indicators and shows how to put the indicators together in order to provide excellent buy and sell signals in any market. One of the best-written, most accessible books on technical analysis ever published.

Glossary, N - T

Stagflation

Written by / Last Updated: February 9, 2016

High inflation and high unemployment occurring simultaneously.

Current Events

Indications of a Market Pullback: Recognizing Early Warning Signs​

Written by / Last Updated: February 28, 2025

Today, you can find many articles warning of an imminent market pull back. As a new investor, it is helpful to understand how the various indicators contribute to these forecasts so that you will be forewarned and can make appropriate alterations to your portfolio before a bottom drops out. Those who are unprepared often pay a large penalty.

Current Events

Obama Mortgage Rules: Ignoring Risks That Led to Crisis

Written by / Last Updated: February 26, 2025

Long-awaited government rules aimed at “tightening” home lending standards to head off another mortgage crisis are not as tough as the Obama administration is advertising. What’s not required is any minimum down payment or credit score, which studies show are the two most important factors for predicting the ability of a borrower to pay back a home loan.

Current Events

Eurozone Crisis Countries: Which Will Unravel the Euro Zone?

Written by / Last Updated: February 26, 2025

Cyprus’s president says that country’s economic crisis is now contained, and it won’t need to leave the euro. But even if you believe him, that hardly means Europe is out of the woods.

Current Events

Labor Market Challenges: Beyond the Surface

Written by / Last Updated: February 26, 2025

The ADP National Employment Report announced Wednesday that private employers hired 158,000 new workers in March — the smallest gain in five months and far below the 200,000 forecast by economists.

Glossary, H - M

Inflation-Indexed Securities

Written by / Last Updated: February 9, 2016

A security with a guarantee of a return rate that is higher than the rate of inflation if it is held to maturity

A - G, Glossary

Commission

Written by / Last Updated: August 16, 2022

The fee charged by a broker or investment advisor in exchange for investment advice and/or handling the purchase or sale of a security. Commissions vary from brokerage to brokerage.

A - G, Glossary

Brokerage Account

Written by / Last Updated: June 18, 2024
A - G, Glossary

Fibonacci Ratios

Written by / Last Updated: February 27, 2025

Fibonacci numbers are a sequence of numbers where each is the sum of the two preceding numbers (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 and so forth). This sequence of numbers forms various ratios including the infamous “Golden Ratio” which is .618.