Index Futures

Index futures are futures contracts based on stock market indices (such as the S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq 100 Index, Hang Seng Index, etc.) as the underlying assets. Investors buy and sell these contracts to predict the price of the index at a specific point in the future.

Quantum Computing

Quantum computing is an area of computer science that uses the principles of quantum theory. Quantum theory explains the behavior of energy and material on the atomic and subatomic levels.Quantum computing uses subatomic particles, such as electrons or photons. Quantum bits, or qubits, allow these particles to exist in more than one state (i.e., 1 and 0) at the same time.Theoretically, linked qubits can "exploit the interference between their wave-like quantum states to perform calculations that might otherwise take millions of years."Classical computers today employ a stream of electrical impulses (1 and 0) in a binary manner to encode information in bits. This restricts their processing ability, compared to quantum computing.

Gross Profit Margin

Gross profit margin refers to the ratio between a company's gross profit and its sales revenue. Gross profit margin can be used to evaluate a company's profitability and operational efficiency. A higher gross profit margin means that a company is able to produce products or provide services at lower costs and generate higher profits from sales. Changes in gross profit margin can reflect changes in a company's profitability and market competitiveness.

Exchange-Traded Funds

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are open-ended funds that are traded on an exchange and can be bought and sold like stocks. The investment portfolio of an ETF usually tracks a specific index and has lower management fees and trading costs. ETF trading is more flexible compared to other investment products because it can be bought and sold on an exchange at any time.

ADR

An American Depositary Receipt (ADR) is a financial instrument that represents shares in a foreign company and trades on U.S. financial markets. ADRs are issued by U.S. banks and can be traded on U.S. stock exchanges or over-the-counter markets. Each ADR typically represents a specific number of shares in the foreign company. ADRs allow U.S. investors to invest in foreign companies conveniently without having to purchase foreign stocks directly. ADRs provide foreign companies with access to U.S. capital markets while offering U.S. investors a wider range of investment opportunities.

CPI

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an index that measures changes in prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services that may include transportation, food and medical care. It is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them. The CPI is one of the main indicators used to measure inflation. Generally, inflation above 3% is considered noticeable, and above 5% as relatively severe. CPI is often an important reference indicator for market economic activities and governmental monetary policy.

Research and Development Expense Ratio

The Research and Development Expense Ratio (R&D Expense Ratio) is the percentage of a company's total revenue that is spent on research and development over a specific period. This metric is used to gauge the extent of a company's investment in R&D activities and its strategic focus on innovation and technology development. A higher R&D expense ratio typically indicates a strong emphasis on technological innovation and product development, but it may also impact short-term profitability.

Yield

Yield is the income returned on an investment, such as the interest received from holding a security. The yield is usually expressed as an annual percentage rate based on the investment's cost, current market value, or face value. An investor can look at yield as gross yield, which does not deduct taxes and expenses, or as net yield, which deducts those expenditures.Yield may be considered known or anticipated depending on the security in question, as certain securities may experience fluctuations in value.Yield is forward-looking. Furthermore, it measures the income, such as interest and dividends, that an investment earns and ignores capital gains. This income is taken in the context of a specific period and is then annualized with the assumption that the interest or dividends will continue to be received at the same rate.

Fundamentals

Fundamentals include the basic qualitative and quantitative information that contributes to the financial or economic well-being of a company, security, or currency, and their subsequent financial valuation. Where qualitative information includes elements that cannot be directly measured, such as management experience, quantitative analysis (QA) uses mathematics and statistics to understand the asset and predict its movements.

PE

The price-earnings ratio refers to the ratio between the market price of a stock and its earnings per share. The price-earnings ratio is one of the important indicators for evaluating stock investment, used to measure a company's profitability and investment value. A lower price-earnings ratio may indicate that the stock is undervalued, while a higher price-earnings ratio may indicate that the stock is overvalued. The price-earnings ratio can also be used to compare stock valuations between different companies or industries.

Margin

In finance, the margin is the collateral that an investor has to deposit with their broker or exchange to cover the credit risk the holder poses for the broker or the exchange. An investor can create credit risk if they borrow cash from the broker to buy financial instruments, borrow financial instruments to sell them short, or enter into a derivative contract.Buying on margin occurs when an investor buys an asset by borrowing the balance from a broker. Buying on margin refers to the initial payment made to the broker for the asset; the investor uses the marginable securities in their brokerage account as collateral. In a general business context, the margin is the difference between a product or service's selling price and the cost of production, or the ratio of profit to revenue. Margin can also refer to the portion of the interest rate on an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) added to the adjustment-index rate.

Interest-Rate Cuts

Interest rate cut is one of the monetary policy measures taken by the central bank, which refers to the reduction of interest rates. Through interest rate cuts, the central bank aims to stimulate economic growth, promote investment and consumption. Interest rate cuts can lower borrowing costs and encourage businesses and individuals to increase borrowing activities, thereby stimulating economic activities. In addition, interest rate cuts can also increase asset prices, increase investment returns, and promote the activity of the capital market.

WACC

Weighted average cost of capital (WACC) represents a firm’s average after-tax cost of capital from all sources, including common stock, preferred stock, bonds, and other forms of debt. WACC is the average rate that a company expects to pay to finance its assets.WACC is a common way to determine required rate of return (RRR) because it expresses, in a single number, the return that both bondholders and shareholders demand to provide the company with capital. A firm’s WACC is likely to be higher if its stock is relatively volatile or if its debt is seen as risky because investors will require greater returns.

Nasdaq Composite Index

The Nasdaq Composite Index is a market capitalization-weighted index of more than 2,500 stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It is a broad index that is heavily weighted toward the important technology sector. The index is composed of both domestic and international companies. The Nasdaq Composite Index is a highly-watched index and is a staple of financial markets reports.

Ethereum

Ethereum is a decentralized global software platform powered by blockchain technology. It is most commonly known by investors for its native cryptocurrency, ether (ETH), and by developers for its use in blockchain and decentralized finance application development.Anyone can use Ethereum—it's designed to be scalable, programmable, secure, and decentralized—to create any secured digital technology. Its token is designed to pay for work done supporting the blockchain, but participants can also use it to pay for tangible goods and services if accepted.

Close Position

Closing a position refers to executing a security transaction that is the exact opposite of an open position, thereby nullifying it and eliminating the initial exposure. Closing a long position in a security would entail selling it, while closing a short position in a security would involve buying it back. Taking offsetting positions in swaps is also very common to eliminate exposure prior to maturity.Closing a position is also known as "position squaring."

Nasdaq 100 Index

The Nasdaq 100 Index is a collection of the 100 largest, most actively traded companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The index includes companies from diverse industries like manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and others. The index excludes those in the financial sector, like commercial and investment banks.

Alpha

Alpha (α) is a term used in investing to describe an investment strategy's ability to beat the market, or its "edge." Alpha is thus also often referred to as “excess return” or the “abnormal rate of return” in relation to a benchmark, when adjusted for risk. Alpha is often used in conjunction with beta (the Greek letter β), which measures the broad market's overall volatility or risk, known as systematic market risk.Alpha is used in finance as a measure of performance, indicating when a strategy, trader, or portfolio manager has managed to beat the market return or other benchmark over some period. Alpha, often considered the active return on an investment, gauges the performance of an investment against a market index or benchmark that is considered to represent the market’s movement as a whole.The excess return of an investment relative to the return of a benchmark index is the investment’s alpha. Alpha may be positive or negative and is the result of active investing. Beta, on the other hand, can be earned through passive index investing.

United States Treasury

UST is the abbreviation for the United States Treasury, the federal government division that manages U.S. finances. UST is commonly used to reference debt that is issued by the United States.

Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company for a multitude of businesses, including GEICO and Fruit of the Loom. It's run by chair and CEO Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.Originally, it was a company comprised of a group of textile milling plants. Buffett assumed control of the struggling New England company in 1965. Since that time, Berkshire has grown to be one of the largest companies in the world, based on market capitalization. Today, it is one of the world's largest companies by market capitalization.

Purchasing Power

Purchasing power is the value of a currency expressed in terms of the number of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. It can weaken over time due to inflation. That's because rising prices effectively decrease the number of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is also known as a currency's buying power.In investment terms, purchasing or buying power is the dollar amount of credit available to a customer based on the existing marginable securities in the customer's brokerage account.