Glossary
Plain-language explanations of terms used throughout KabuDo and in financial news generally.
- Sentiment
- A read on whether a news story's coverage of a company is favorable, unfavorable, or unclear. On KabuDo, sentiment is generated automatically from the article text and shown as Positive, Negative, or Neutral. It reflects the tone of the writing, not a prediction of where the stock price will actually go.
- Sector impact
- The industry or industries a story is likely to affect — for example "Energy" or "Financials." This is derived from the specific companies mentioned in an article; a story about an oil producer's earnings, for instance, gets tagged with the Energy sector.
- Ticker symbol
- The short code used to identify a publicly traded company on a stock exchange, such as AAPL for Apple Inc. or 7203 for Toyota on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Different countries and exchanges have different ticker formats.
- Exchange
- The marketplace where a company's shares are bought and sold, such as the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange), NASDAQ, or the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A single company is usually listed on one primary exchange, though large companies sometimes have secondary listings elsewhere.
- Market capitalization
- Often shortened to "market cap." The total value of all of a company's outstanding shares, calculated as share price multiplied by the number of shares. It's a common way to compare the overall size of companies to one another.
- Dividend
- A portion of a company's profit paid out directly to shareholders, usually on a quarterly or annual schedule. A long, consistent history of dividend payments is often used as a signal of stable cash flow.
- Price-to-book ratio (P/B)
- A company's share price divided by its book value (net assets) per share. A P/B above 1.0 means the market values the company at more than its accounting net worth; a P/B below 1.0 means the market values it at less — which can reflect either an undervalued stock or a business the market has lost confidence in.
- Reverse stock split
- A move that reduces the number of a company's outstanding shares while proportionally increasing the share price, so the company's total market value doesn't change. Often used by companies with a low share price to meet exchange listing requirements, and sometimes viewed as a signal of a struggling stock.
- Breaking news
- A story flagged as urgent or highly time-sensitive, typically because it was published very recently and concerns a significant, market-moving development.
- Basis point
- A unit equal to one hundredth of a percentage point (0.01%), commonly used to describe changes in interest rates. A central bank raising rates by "25 basis points" means a 0.25 percentage point increase.
- Central bank
- A country or region's monetary authority — such as the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, or the Bank of Japan — responsible for setting interest rates and managing the money supply. Central bank decisions are among the most consistent market-moving news events.
- Volatility
- How much and how quickly a stock or market's price moves over a given period. Higher volatility means larger, more frequent price swings in either direction, not necessarily a decline.
- Earnings call
- A scheduled conference call, usually quarterly, where a public company's management discusses financial results with investors and analysts. Earnings calls frequently move a stock's price, especially when results differ from what analysts expected.
- Related news
- Other recent stories on KabuDo that share a theme, sector, or company with the article you're currently reading, surfaced to give broader context on an unfolding situation.