Glossary

* An area of the economy in which businesses share the same or a related product or service.
* A group of securities in the same industry or market.

The general name for stocks and shares of all types. A security is a financial instrument that shows that you own shares in a company (by owning stocks), have loaned money to a company, government, or municipality (by investing in bonds), or have rights to future ownership (as with options or warrants).

The bars that extend above and below the real body on a candlestick are called the upper and lower shadows. They indicate the high and low of the price for the period being depicted.

A candlestick with no lower shadow. A bottom reversal signal with confirmation the next trading bar.

A candlestick with no upper shadow. A bullish pattern during a downtrend and a bearish pattern during an uptrend.

Short refers to a bearish trading situation with the following implications:

* If you already have a short position you may consider holding or accumulating.
* If you already have a long position you may consider closing it out.
* If you don't have a position you may consider taking a short position.

Also known as taking a short position this is the process of selling a stock with the hope of buying it back at a lower price. Short sellers believe the price will decline. The uptick rule requires short sellers to sell only on an uptick (the sale must be executed at a price higher than the last trade). This is to prevent short sellers from driving down the price and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Short selling involves borrowing stock (usually from a broker) to sell short and then using margin to finance the borrowing. If the price of the stock in question rises too far, the short seller will receive a margin call and be required to put up more money. A short squeeze occurs when the price advances so fast that short sellers are forced to cover their positions (buy the stock back), which drives prices even higher.

This is a Technical Analysis category. Some Technical Analysis represent the confirmation that a short-term pattern has formed. Short-term patterns are based on the shape and relationship of the candlestick(s) or price bar(s) representing one or multiple consecutive trading days. This includes patterns such as the Hanging Man and the Gap Up. The Technical Analysis is the confirmation that the pattern has formed in the price bar(s). These Technical Analysis are useful for suggesting possible short-term price movement. They are also useful for supporting or refuting the possible price movement suggested by classic patterns. Short-term patterns are often considered as supplementary information.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. A numbering system established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that identifies companies by industry. SIC codes are used to group companies and to promote the comparability of economic factors from various areas of the U.S. economy.

A candlestick pattern with a long upper shadow, long lower shadow and small real body. One long shadow represents some form of a reversal. The small body shows little movement from open to close, and the shadows indicate that both bulls and bears were active during the session. Even though the session opened and closed with little change, prices moved significantly higher and lower during the session.

A technical momentum indicator that compares the magnitude of recent gains to recent losses in an attempt to determine overbought and oversold conditions of an asset. A trader using RSI should be aware that large surges and drops in the price of an asset will affect the RSI by creating false buy or sell signals. The RSI is best used as a valuable complement to other stock-picking tools.

A situation in which an analyst or investor uses a systematic form of analysis to conclude that a particular stock will make a good investment and, therefore, should be added to his or her portfolio. The position can be either long or short and will depend on the analyst or investor's outlook for the particular stock's price.

An order placed with a broker to sell a security when it reaches a certain price. It is designed to limit an investor's loss on a security position.

The price level which, historically, a stock has had difficulty falling below. It is thought of as the level at which a lot of buyers tend to enter the stock. Often referred to as the "support level". Acts like a floor.

A rating of the symmetry of specific classic patterns. The rating ranges from 0 to 100 with 100 being a perfectly symmetrical pattern. Some experts consider the symmetry of a pattern to be important.