Basis Point (bp): One hundredth of one percent, or 0.01%. 

Bank of England (BoE): The central bank of the United Kingdom, the BoE oversees the nation's monetary policy and issues its currency. It also regulates banks, financial institutions, and payment systems. It is the UK equivalent of the Federal Reserve in the US. 

Bank of Japan (BOJ): the central bank of Japan, responsible for maintaining price and financial system stability through monetary policy and issuing currency. Established by the Bank of Japan Act, the BOJ provides settlements and clearing services, handles government treasury funds, and conducts economic research and analysis to inform its policies. 

Bank Reserves: The cash minimums that financial institutions must have on hand in order to meet central bank requirements. This is real paper money that must be kept by the bank in a vault on-site or held in its account at the central bank. Cash reserves requirements are intended to ensure that every bank can meet any large and unexpected demand for withdrawals. 

Bear Market: A financial market experiencing prolonged price declines, generally of 20% or more. 

Beige Book: Officially the “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by the Federal Reserve District,” a report published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis. 

Big Tech: The most dominant and largest technology companies in their respective sectors. 

Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index: The Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Index covers the USD-denominated long-term tax-exempt bond market. The index has four main sectors: state and local general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, insured bonds, and prerefunded bonds. 

Bloomberg US Agg Bond: The Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based flagship benchmark that measures the investment grade, US dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market. The index includes Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, MBS (agency fixed-rate pass-throughs), ABS, and CMBS (agency and non-agency). 

Breakeven Rate: The difference in yield between the nominal debt and inflation-protected debt of the same maturity. If the breakeven rate is positive, it suggests traders are betting the economy may face inflation in the near future. 

Building Permits: This concept tracks the number of permits that have been issued for new construction, additions to pre-existing structures or major renovations. These statistics are based on the number of construction permits approved.  

Budget Deficit: Occurs when government spending exceeds government revenue during a defined period. 

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): A division of the US Department of Commerce responsible for producing economic statistics. These statistics are used by government, businesses, researchers, and the public to track and understand the performance of the U.S. economy. The BEA's data helps inform economic policy decisions and provides insights into various aspects of the economy.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): A US government agency that gathers, analyzes, and publishes data on labor market activity, working conditions, and prices in the economy. It serves as a primary source of information for the public, employers, researchers, and government agencies.

Capital Expenditures (CapEx): Funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, and maintain physical assets such as property, plants, buildings, technology, or equipment. CapEx is often used to undertake new projects or investments by a company in an effort to grow revenue and profits. 

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX): A real-time market index representing the market’s expectations for volatility over the coming 30 days. Investors use the VIX to measure the level of risk, fear, or stress in the market when making investment decisions. 

Census Bureau: A federal statistical agency within the Department of Commerce responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. 

CME FedWatch: A tool created by CME Group, a leading derivatives marketplace, to track the probability of changes to the federal funds rate. 

Core Inflation: An inflationary measure that leaves out energy and food, focusing only on items that have predictable price movements.  

Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI): Leading indicators include economic variables that tend to move before changes in the overall economy. These indicators give a sense of the future state of an economy. 

Congressional Budget Office (CBO): A federal agency that provides Congress with objective, nonpartisan, and timely analysis of economic and budgetary information. Its main function is to provide Congress with the data and information needed to make informed decisions about the federal budget. 

Consumer Price Index (CPI): An index that measures the monthly change in prices paid by US consumers. 

Consumer Spending: Consumer spending refers to the total amount of money individuals and households spend on goods and services. It's a crucial component of economic growth and a major driver of demand. 

Core Goods: physical products other than food and energy.  

Customs and Border Protection: The largest federal law enforcement agency in the nation, responsible for securing US borders and facilitating international travel and trade. CBP's mission includes preventing illegal entry of people and goods, and protecting US agriculture and economic interests from harmful pests, diseases, and intellectual property theft.  

Department of Commerce: A cabinet-level executive department responsible for promoting economic growth, job creation, and sustainable development within the United States. It focuses on trade, business, and ensuring the U.S. economy's competitiveness. The department is headed by the Secretary of Commerce, a presidential cabinet post.  

Durable Goods Orders: This concept tracks the value of new orders received during the reference period. Orders are typically based on a legal agreement between two parties in which the producer will deliver goods or services to the purchaser at a future date. 

Earnings per Share (EPS): A financial metric that represents the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. It's a key indicator of a company's profitability and is used to gauge the value of its stock. EPS is calculated by dividing the company's net income (profit) by the number of outstanding shares of common stock. 

EPS Surprise: The difference between a company's reported earnings per share (EPS) and the expected EPS, which is usually a consensus estimate from Wall Street analysts. A positive earnings surprise means the company's actual EPS is higher than expected, while a negative earnings surprise means the actual EPS is lower than expected. 

European Central Bank (ECB): The central bank for the Eurozone, the group of 19 European Union member countries that use the euro as their common currency. Its primary objective is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone, primarily by setting key interest rates and controlling the Eurozone's money supply. 

European Commission: The executive branch of the European Union. It is responsible for proposing new EU laws and policies, ensuring that said laws are implemented correctly by member states, negotiating international agreements, and managing the EU budget. 

Eurozone (euro area): A geographic and economic region that consists of all the European Union countries that have fully incorporated the euro as their national currency. The eurozone consists of 20 countries in the European Union (EU): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. 

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF): An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an investment fund that holds multiple underlying assets and can be bought and sold on an exchange, much like an individual stock. ETFs can be structured to track anything from the price of a commodity to a large and diverse collection of stocks. 

Existing Home Sales: This concept tracks the sales of previously owned homes during the reference period. Total existing home sales include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops. All sales are based on closings from Multiple Listing Services. Foreclosed homes are only counted in the inventory if the bank is working with a realtor. Foreclosed homes that sell via auction (or other closings outside of the Multiple Listing Services) are not included. 

Federal Funds Rate: The interest rate at which banks lend reserve balances to each other overnight. It's essentially the rate banks charge each other for short-term loans to meet their reserve requirements. The Federal Reserve sets a target range for this rate, which influences a wide range of other interest rates in the economy.

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC): The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is the branch of the Federal Reserve System that determines the direction of monetary policy in the United States by directing open market operations. The committee is made up of 12 members, including seven members of the Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four of the remaining 11 Reserve Bank presidents, who serve on a rotating basis.

Federal Reserve (Fed): The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States of America. 

Final Sales to Domestic Purchasers: Gross domestic purchases less change in private inventories. 

Forward Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio: A valuation metric that uses a company's projected earnings for the next 12 months to determine how much investors are paying for each dollar of future earnings. It's calculated by dividing the current stock price by the estimated earnings per share (EPS) for the upcoming year.  

G7: The Group of Seven (G-7) is an informal intergovernmental economic and political forum comprised of seven of the world's advanced economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with the European Union as a "non-enumerated member". The leaders of these nations meet annually at the G7 Summit to discuss and address key global economic and geopolitical issues. 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country’s economic health. 

Guidance: A company's own best estimates to shareholders of its upcoming earnings, it is usually published immediately after earnings for the past quarter and is the focus of discussion at a meeting between company executives and analysts. Earnings guidance is used by investors and analysts to adjust their expectations for a company's share price. 

Housing Starts: Housing (or building) starts track the number of new housing units (or buildings) that have been started during the reference period.  

ICE US Dollar Index: The U.S. Dollar Index is a geometrically-averaged calculation of six currencies weighted against the U.S. dollar: the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona, and Swiss franc.  The U.S. Dollar Index originally was developed by the U.S. Federal Reserve in 1973 to provide an external bilateral trade-weighted average value of the U.S. dollar as it freely floated against global currencies. 

iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX): The iShares Semiconductor ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S.-listed equities in the semiconductor sector. 

Labor Force Participation Rate: The percentage of working-age (16 and older) people who are employed or are actively seeking work. 

Magnificent Seven: A group of seven mega-cap technology stocks that have dominated recent market returns and are considered leaders in the tech industry. These companies include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla. 

Market Capitalization (market cap): The current market value of all of a company's outstanding stock shares. Market cap is often used to indicate a company's size and worth in comparison to its peers. 

MOVE Index: An index that tracks the implied volatility in the market for US Treasuries. I.e., a number that conveys interest rate volatility. 

MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI): The MSCI ACWI captures large and mid-cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries. With 2,528 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the global investable equity opportunity set.

MSCI EAFE: The MSCI EAFE Index is a free-float weighted equity index. The index was developed with a base value of 100 as of December 31, 1969. The MSCI EAFE region covers DM countries in Europe, Australasia, Israel, and the Far East.  

MSCI EM: The MSCI EM (Emerging Markets) Index is a free-float weighted equity index that captures large and mid-cap representation across Emerging Markets (EM) countries. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country. 

Multinational Corporation: A company based in one country that actively operates and earns revenue in one or more other countries through foreign subsidiaries or branches. 

Nasdaq Composite Index: 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 technology sector. The index is composed of both domestic and international companies. The highly-watched index and is a staple of financial markets reports. 

National Association of Homebuilders: The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is one of the largest trade associations in the United States,[1] representing the interests of home builders, developers, contractors, and associated businesses. 

National Association of Realtors (NAR): The world's largest trade association, representing over 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the US real estate industry. 

National Economic Council: A U.S. government agency that serves as the primary forum for the President to consider domestic and international economic policy matters. It acts as a policy-making and advisory body within the Executive Office of the President.  

New Home Sales: This concept tracks sales of newly constructed homes during the reference period. The Implicit US index is computed by taking the number of houses sold in the US and dividing it by the seasonally adjusted number of houses sold in the US.

Nikkei 225: The leading and most-respected index of Japanese stocks, it is a price-weighted index composed of Japan's top 225 blue-chip companies traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Nikkei is equivalent to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Index in the United States. 

Nonfarm Payroll: A measurement of the number of workers in the United States except those who work in farming, private households, nonprofits, and sole proprietorships or self-employment, as well as those who are active military service members. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveys private and government entities throughout the US to obtain information about their payrolls. The nonfarm payroll numbers are reported monthly to the public through the closely followed employment situation summary. 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): A political and military alliance of 31 countries from North America and Europe. NATO was created after World War II to provide collective defense against potential aggression, originally focusing on the Soviet Union.  

OPEC: The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental organization of major oil-producing nations that aims to coordinate and unify petroleum policies to stabilize global oil markets. The organization sets production targets and limits for member countries, which helps influence oil prices and ensure a steady supply. 

OPEC+: a loosely affiliated entity consisting of 12 OPEC members and 10 of the world’s major non-OPEC oil-exporting nations. OPEC+ came into existence, in part, to counteract other nations’ capacity to produce oil, which could limit OPEC’s ability to control supply and price. 

People’s Bank of China (PBOC): The central bank of China, responsible for implementing monetary policy, regulating financial institutions, and maintaining financial stability in the country. 

Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index: A measure of inflation that tracks the change in prices of goods and services purchased by consumers in the United States. It's considered a broader measure of inflation than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) because it includes more types of consumer spending and broader coverage of goods and services. 

Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio: A measure of a company's share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS). Often called the price or earnings multiple, the P/E ratio helps assess the relative value of a company's stock. It is utilized to compare a company's valuation against its historical performance, against other firms within its industry, and/or the overall market. 

Price-to-Sales (P/S) Ratio: A valuation ratio that compares a company’s stock price to its revenues. It is an indicator of the value that financial markets have placed on each dollar of a company’s sales or revenues. 

Producer Price Index (PPI): An economic indicator published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that measures the average change in selling prices received by domestic producers for their goods and services over time. The index focuses on prices at the wholesale/producer level. 

Rare Earth Elements: A set of 17 metallic elements that are essential components of many high-tech devices. 

Real GDP: An inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year. 

Reciprocal Tariff: A tax or trade restriction imposed by one country on another in response to similar actions taken by that country. It aims to create balance in trade by mirroring the tariff levels or trade restrictions imposed by another nation. Essentially, if one country raises tariffs on goods from another, the affected country might respond by imposing its own tariffs on imports from the first country. 

Retail Sales: Retail sales (also referred to as retail trade) track the resale of new and used goods to the general public, for personal or household consumption. This concept is based on the value of goods sold.  

Revenue Surprise: The difference between a company's reported revenue (sales) and the expected revenue, which is usually a consensus estimate from Wall Street analysts. A positive revenue surprise means the company's actual revenue is higher than expected, while a negative revenue surprise means the actual revenue is lower than expected. 

Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS): An ETF offers equal weight exposure to the “Magnificent Seven” stocks – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. 

Russell 2000: The Russell 2000 Index is a stock market index that measures the performance of the 2,000 smaller companies included in the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 2000 is managed by London's FTSE Russell Group, widely regarded as a bellwether of the U.S. economy because of its focus on smaller companies in the U.S. market. 

Russell 2500: The Russell 2500 is a market-cap-weighted index that includes the smallest 2,500 companies covered in the broad-based Russell 3000 sphere of United States-based listed equities. All 2,500 of the companies included in the Index cover the small- and mid-cap market capitalizations. 

Russell 3000: The Russell 3000 Index is part of the FTSE Russell that provides exposure to the U.S. stock market. Its date of inception was Jan. 1, 1984. The index measures the performance of the largest 3,000 U.S. companies (give or take) representing approximately 96% of the investable U.S. equity market. 

S&P/ASX 200: The main stock market benchmark in Australia.  

S&P 500: The S&P 500® is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities and serves as the foundation for a wide range of investment products. The index includes 500 leading companies and captures approximately 80% coverage of available market capitalization. 

S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices: A set of benchmark indices that track changes in the value of single-family homes in the United States and in various metropolitan areas. They are widely used as leading indicators of residential real estate market trends.  

Savings Rate: The percentage of disposable personal income that a person or group of people save or invest rather than spend on consumption. 

Sectoral Tariffs: Tariffs that target imports within particular industries or sectors of the economy, rather than applying to all goods across the board. These tariffs are often imposed to protect domestic industries, promote specific economic objectives, or respond to perceived unfair trade practices in other countries. 

Soft Data: Qualitative information that is subjective, interpretative, and often based on opinions, experiences, perceptions, or surveys. It contrasts with hard data, which is quantitative and objective. 

Stagflation: An economic situation characterized by both high inflation and slow economic growth, often accompanied by high unemployment. It's essentially a combination of "stagnation" (slow or no economic growth) and "inflation" (rising prices). 

Summary of Economic Projections: The SEP, released by the Federal Reserve, is a document that outlines the economic forecasts of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants. It provides projections for key economic indicators like GDP growth, unemployment rate, inflation, and the federal funds rate, covering the current year, the next two years, and the longer run. 

Tariff: A tax imposed by a government on imported goods, typically calculated as a percentage of the value of the goods. It's a trade barrier that increases the price of imported goods, potentially protecting domestic industries and generating revenue for the government.  

Tariff Stacking: The application of multiple import duties or tariffs on the same product. This can occur when a product is subject to a standard tariff rate plus additional tariffs, the cumulative effect of which can significantly increase the overall cost of production for importers. 

Technology Sector: Companies engaged in the design, development, and support of computer operating systems and applications. This sector also includes companies that provide computer technology consulting services and companies engaged in the manufacturing of computer equipment, data storage products, networking products, semiconductors, and components. 

Total Addressable Market (TAM): The total market demand for a product or service, assuming 100% market share and no competition. It represents the maximum revenue opportunity available for a product or service within a specific market. Essentially, it's the total market size if a company were to capture every potential customer.  

Trade Deficit: A trade deficit occurs when a country's imports exceed its exports during a specific period. 

Trade Surplus: A trade surplus occurs when a country's exports exceed its imports during a specific period. 

Treasury Department: The Treasury Department is a government agency responsible for managing federal finances, collecting taxes, and managing currency, government accounts, and public debt. It also enforces finance and tax laws. In essence, it's the government's financial arm, handling both revenue and spending. 

University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI): A monthly survey that measures how consumers feel about the economy, their personal finances, and their expectations for the future. It's essentially a gauge of consumer confidence and is used as an indicator of potential future spending and economic activity. 

West Texas Intermediate (WTI): A light, sweet crude oil that is easy to refine and acts as one of the three global oil benchmarks. Sourced primarily in inland Texas, WTI is one of the world's highest-quality oils and is the main oil benchmark for North America, as it is sourced from the United States. 

White House Press Secretary: A senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government. The press secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and issuing the administration's reactions to developments around the world. The press secretary interacts with the media and the White House press corps on a daily basis, generally in a daily press briefing. 

Yield to Maturity (YTM): The internal rate of return (IRR) that equates all future cash flows of a bond to its current price. YTM assumes the bond is held until maturity and that an investor can reinvest at the same yield.