bear marketA time of falling stock prices and gloomy investors. Generally, a broad index has fallen 20 percent or more over at least two months.
brokerA person or firm that trades for a customer. A broker carries out a customer's orders to buy and sell.
bull marketA time of rising stock prices and hopeful investors. Generally, a broad index has risen 20 percent or more over at least two months.
dividendA payment to shareholders out of profits. A company that pays dividends usually does so on a fixed schedule.
indexA number that tracks a chosen group of stocks. An index lets investors compare today's prices with past prices.
investorSomeone who puts money to work hoping for a profit. To invest is to put money at risk in order to make a profit.
portfolioAll of the investments one investor holds. A portfolio may hold stocks, bonds and other investments.
shareOne equal unit of a company's stock. Someone with 10 of a company's 1,000 shares owns 1 percent of it.
shareholderAn owner of at least one share of a company's stock. Most stocks give shareholders a vote on who sits on the board of directors.
stockA claim to part of a company and its profits. Owning stock makes a person a part owner of the company.
stock exchangeA regulated place or network where stocks trade. U.S. national exchanges are registered with a federal agency, the SEC.
stock marketAll trading in stocks, taken as a whole. Trading happens on exchanges and on computer networks.
Show all 36 terms (24 more)
Buying and selling 12
askThe least a seller will take for a share right now. The ask is also called the offer.
bidThe most a buyer will pay for a share right now. The bid is almost always lower than the ask.
capital gainThe profit when a stock sells above what it cost. A share bought for $40 and sold for $55 brings a capital gain of $15.
closing priceThe last price a stock traded at in the day. Regular trading on many U.S. markets ends at 4:00 in the afternoon, Eastern Time.
initial public offeringThe first time a company sells stock to the public. It is called an IPO for short.
limit orderAn order to trade only at a set price or better. A limit order to buy at $20 can be filled only at $20 or less.
market orderAn order to trade at once at the current price. The price paid may differ from the price the investor expected.
quoteA listing of the current prices for a stock. A quote shows the bid and the ask.
spreadThe gap between the bid and the ask. With a bid of $20.00 and an ask of $20.05, the spread is 5 cents.
ticker symbolA short code of letters that names a stock. In the United States a ticker symbol has from one to five letters.
volatilityHow much and how fast a price swings up and down. A stock whose price changes little from day to day has low volatility.
volumeThe number of shares traded in a period of time. Volume is commonly reported for one day.
Funds, bonds and risk 12
bondAn IOU that pays the lender interest. The issuer of a bond promises to repay the amount lent when the bond matures.
commissionA fee paid to a broker for making a trade. A commission may be charged both for buying and for selling.
diversificationSpreading money across many kinds of investments. The saying about not keeping all your eggs in one basket describes it.
exchange-traded fundA fund bought and sold on a stock exchange. It is called an ETF for short.
index fundA fund built to match a market index. An index fund holds the stocks or bonds that are in its index.
market capitalizationShare price times the number of shares. A company with 1 million shares at $20 each has a market capitalization of $20 million.
mutual fundA pool of many investors' money run by a manager. Each share of a mutual fund is a part ownership of everything the fund holds.
prospectusA document telling buyers about a fund or stock. A mutual fund's prospectus lists its goals, risks and costs.
public companyA company whose shares trade on the open market. A company becomes public through an offering of its shares.
returnWhat an investment earns or loses in a period. A share bought for $50 that is worth $55 a year later has returned 10 percent.
riskThe chance that an investment loses value. As risk rises, investors look for a higher return.
securityAn investment, like a stock, that can be traded. Stocks and bonds are both securities.
How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-11. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the entry for the term in the Glossary of Investor.gov, published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary): Stock, Stock Market, National Securities Exchange, Broker, Invest, Dividend, Portfolio, Bull Market, Bear Market, Market Index, Bid Price, Ask Price, Ticker, Stock Quotes, Market Order, Limit Orders, Initial Public Offering (IPO), Capital Gain, Closing Price, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Index Fund, Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), Diversification, Risk, Security, Commissions, Public Company, Market Capitalization and Prospectus. Every term was checked a second time against the English Wikipedia article on the term (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Stock, Share (finance), Shareholder, Stock market, Stock exchange, Stockbroker, Investor, Dividend, Portfolio (finance), Market trend, Stock market index, Bid price, Ask price, Bid-ask spread, Ticker symbol, Financial quote, Volume (finance), Order (exchange), Initial public offering, Capital gain, Volatility (finance), Bond (finance), Mutual fund, Index fund, Exchange-traded fund, Diversification (finance), Financial risk, Rate of return, Security (finance), Commission (remuneration), Public company, Market capitalization and Prospectus (finance). Share, shareholder, volume, volatility and return have no entry of their own in the glossary and rest on those articles; spread is defined in its entry Bid Price. The sums in the examples were worked out and checked a second time. The example after each meaning is our own. Licence: own work
How it works
This stock market vocabulary worksheet is a vocabulary list to match: twelve terms down the left, such as share, dividend, broker, portfolio and index, and their meanings in another order down the right. The answer key prints as the last page.
Read the full guide
A stock market vocabulary list worksheet in three sets
In Set, Buying and selling has bid, ask, spread, ticker symbol, quote, volume, market order, limit order, initial public offering, capital gain, volatility and closing price. Funds, bonds and risk has bond, mutual fund, index fund, exchange-traded fund, diversification, risk, return, security, commission, public company, market capitalization and prospectus.
The vocabulary list under the worksheet
Under the tool every term stands with its meaning and an example. The meanings were checked against the investor glossary of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and, where it has no entry, against Wikipedia.
These sheets explain words only: they give no advice about investing and name no company or index.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between a bull market and a bear market?
In a bull market stock prices are rising and investors are hopeful; in a bear market prices are falling. By the usual measure, each is a move of 20 percent or more in a broad index over at least two months.
What is the difference between a stock and a bond?
A stock is a share of ownership in a company. A bond is a loan to a company or a government: the issuer pays interest and repays the amount lent when the bond matures.
What is a dividend?
A part of a company's profit that is paid out to its shareholders. Companies that pay dividends usually pay on a fixed schedule; a payment outside the schedule is called a special dividend.
Is there a stock market vocabulary worksheet PDF?
The page has no PDF file to download. Print the worksheet and pick Save as PDF where the print window asks for a printer; the answer key goes into the same file.