English For The Stock Market
Category: Language Training | 2018-08-31
The stock market can be a confusing thing, especially if you’re making your first foray into investing or just starting out with Business English. However, it’s such an important part of the economy that it’s useful to know a few of the common terms and what they mean.
Whether you’re a seasoned trader, or just looking into the market for the first time, below you will find some of the English words you need for the stock market.
English Words You Need for the Stock Market
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Stock Market Vocabulary
Bond – It’s likely that you’ve heard about “stocks and bonds” before. A bond is quite simply a certificate of a certain value issued by a company (or a government) to their lenders.
Capital – Capital is the money needed by someone or a group of people used to start a company, or the money and property of a company that they use to conduct their business.
Dividend – Dividends are the amount of money shareholders receive from a company. Usually on a quarterly or annual basis.
Equity – Equity is either the value of stocks and shares, or the net value of a mortgaged property.
Insider – An insider is someone who has access to inside information about a company. If you’ve heard the phrase “insider trading,” that’s when these insiders use their knowledge about the workings of the company to make trading decisions on the stock market. Insider trading is what Martha Stewart went to prison for.
Liabilities – Liabilities are the debts and obligations that a company or an individual has. You definitely don’t want to have liabilities, but sometimes they can be hard to avoid!
Mutual Fund – If you want to trade on the stock market, you don’t have to always go it alone. A mutual fund might be right for you. That is a savings fund from a large pool of savers that is used to buy stocks, bonds, or real estate.
Portfolio – Have you ever heard the sentence, “you need to diversify your portfolio?” A portfolio is the complete collection of securities held by an individual or institution. When trading on the stock market, it’s important to not put all your eggs in one basket, and instead invest in numerous things, such as stocks, bonds, properties, gold, cryptocurrencies, etc. So, if you need to diversify your portfolio, it’s time to look for different things to invest in.
Share/Stock – Companies traded on the stock market are divided up into shares (also called stocks). If you own one or more of these shares, you are entitled to a portion of the profit that the company makes.
Stockbroker – Stockbrokers are licensed professionals who buy and sell stocks and shares for other people in return for a commission (a fee).
Shareholder – A shareholder (also called a stockholder) is someone who owns a share or a stock in a company.
Trading session – The period during the day in which the Stock Exchange is open for trading. Outside of this period, the stock market is closed for business.
Venture capital – Venture capital is money raised by companies to finance new ventures. It is usually raised by selling percentages of ownership (stocks and shares) to other people.
Yield – A yield is the return on investment in a company, and is shown as a percentage.
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Putting it All Together
If you’re ever reading up on the stock market or paying attention to the news about it, you’re very likely to hear some, or all, of these words come up. Next time you’re reading the paper, check out the stocks section and highlight these words to see them in context!
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About the Author
Erin Duffin
Erin Duffin is a writer, teacher, and yoga instructor. Her love of languages inspired her to move to Germany and to share language with others. You can find her work on the MacPherson Language Institute, Bespeaking, and erinduffinyoga.com.