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Clear filtersFloat and Shares Outstanding
Shares outstanding is every share in existence. Float is the portion actually available to trade, and the gap between the two explains a great deal of unusual price behaviour.
Bonds: Coupon, Par, Price and Yield
A bond is a loan cut into tradable pieces. Its price and its yield move in opposite directions by arithmetic necessity, and that single fact drives most of what happens in fixed income.
The Treasury Yield Curve
The curve plots what the US government pays to borrow across every maturity. Its level, its slope and its changes are the most watched picture in macro.
Foreign Exchange and the Dollar
Currencies are quoted in pairs, so every quote is a ratio between two things that both move. For equity traders the dollar is the pair that matters most.
How Commodities Trade
Commodities trade mostly as futures with delivery dates, which introduces a cost of carry that equities simply do not have.
OTC Markets and the Tiers Beneath the Exchanges
Thousands of securities trade without an exchange listing, under tiers that differ enormously in how much a buyer is entitled to know.
Short Selling, Borrow and Short Interest
Selling short means selling borrowed stock. The borrow, the cost of carrying it and the disclosure schedule together explain most of what makes crowded shorts behave the way they do.
Options: Calls, Puts, Strikes and Expiry
An option is a right with a deadline. Because it expires, its value decays with time as well as moving with price, which is what makes it behave unlike a share.
Dilution, Offerings and Reverse Splits
Companies that need cash sell shares, and every new share issued shrinks the claim attached to the existing ones. All of it is disclosed, usually before it happens.
ADRs and Foreign Listings
A way of holding a foreign company through a US-listed security. The wrapper introduces a ratio, a fee, a currency exposure and a sponsor.
Circuit Breakers and Halts
Mechanisms that stop trading, at the market level and at the individual security level. They pause the market rather than preventing the move.
Settlement and Clearing
A trade is agreed in an instant and completed a day later. What happens in between involves a clearing house that stands between the two sides.
How an Index Is Built
An index is a set of rules about what to include and how to weight it. Those rules determine what the index measures and produce mechanical flows when they change.
Going Public: IPO, Direct Listing and SPAC
Three routes to a public listing, with different mechanics, different disclosure and different consequences for the shares that arrive on the market.