Glossary
Financial terms and definitions used across AlphaVistaAI reports and analytics.
A
- Allocation
- The distribution of a portfolio's total value across different holdings, sectors, or asset classes. Proper allocation helps manage risk and align investments with goals.
B
- Bear Market
- A market condition where prices fall 20% or more from recent highs, typically accompanied by widespread pessimism and negative investor sentiment.
- Beta
- A measure of a stock's volatility relative to the overall market. A beta of 1.0 means the stock moves with the market; above 1.0 indicates higher volatility, below 1.0 indicates lower volatility.
- Bull Market
- A market condition where prices are rising or expected to rise, typically characterized by a 20% increase from recent lows and sustained optimism.
- Bollinger Bands
- A volatility indicator consisting of a moving average and two standard deviation bands above and below it. Prices near the upper band may indicate overbought conditions; near the lower band, oversold.
- Bearish Sentiment
- A negative outlook on a stock or the market, indicating expectations that prices will decline. Measured through analyst ratings, news tone, social media, and options activity.
- Bullish Sentiment
- A positive outlook on a stock or the market, indicating expectations that prices will rise. Often reflected in high put/call ratios, positive news coverage, and analyst upgrades.
C
- Crossover
- A signal that occurs when two indicators or moving averages intersect. For example, a bullish crossover happens when a shorter-term moving average crosses above a longer-term one (golden cross).
- Confidence Score
- A percentage assigned by AlphaVistaAI's AI agents representing the strength of an analysis signal. Higher scores indicate greater alignment among indicators.
D
- Dividend Yield
- The annual dividend payment divided by the stock price, expressed as a percentage. It shows how much income an investment generates relative to its price.
- Debt-to-Equity Ratio
- A measure of financial leverage calculated by dividing total liabilities by shareholder equity. A high ratio indicates more debt financing, which can amplify both gains and losses.
- Diversification
- The practice of spreading investments across different assets, sectors, and geographies to reduce the impact of any single holding's poor performance on the overall portfolio.
- Diversification Score
- AlphaVistaAI's proprietary 0-100 metric measuring portfolio concentration. It blends individual holding concentration (60%) with sector concentration (40%) using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index.
E
- ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)
- A pooled investment security that tracks an index, sector, commodity, or other asset. ETFs trade on exchanges like individual stocks and offer diversification at low cost.
- EPS (Earnings Per Share)
- A company's net profit divided by the number of outstanding shares. It indicates how much money a company makes for each share and is a key driver of stock price.
- ETF Overlap
- When multiple ETFs in a portfolio track the same or similar index, resulting in redundant exposure. Identified by AlphaVistaAI's overlap detection to help reduce unnecessary duplication.
F
- Free Cash Flow
- Cash generated by a company's operations after deducting capital expenditures. Positive free cash flow means the company can fund dividends, buybacks, or growth without additional borrowing.
G
- Gross Margin
- Revenue minus cost of goods sold, divided by revenue, expressed as a percentage. It shows how efficiently a company produces its goods or services.
H
- HHI (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index)
- A measure of concentration calculated by summing the squares of each holding's portfolio weight. Used in AlphaVistaAI's diversification score to assess how concentrated a portfolio is.
I
- Insider Trading (Legal)
- The buying or selling of a company's stock by its officers, directors, or significant shareholders. Tracked publicly through SEC filings and used as a signal of insider confidence.
M
- Market Capitalization
- The total market value of a company's outstanding shares, calculated by multiplying the share price by the total number of shares. Categories include large-cap (>$10B), mid-cap ($2-10B), and small-cap (<$2B).
- MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence)
- A trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two moving averages of a stock's price. The MACD line crossing above the signal line is considered bullish.
- Moving Average (SMA/EMA)
- A calculation that smooths price data over a specified period. SMA (Simple) weights all periods equally; EMA (Exponential) gives more weight to recent prices. Common periods are 20, 50, and 200 days.
- Master Signal
- AlphaVistaAI's composite signal combining Technical Analysis (40%), Fundamental Analysis (30%), and Sentiment Analysis (30%) into a single bullish-to-bearish rating.
O
- Overbought
- A condition where a stock's price has risen significantly and rapidly, suggesting it may be due for a pullback. Typically identified when RSI exceeds 70.
- Oversold
- A condition where a stock's price has fallen significantly and rapidly, suggesting it may be due for a bounce. Typically identified when RSI drops below 30.
- OHLC (Open, High, Low, Close)
- The four key price points for a stock during a trading period. Open is the first trade price, High and Low are the extremes, and Close is the final trade price.
P
- P/E Ratio (Price-to-Earnings)
- The ratio of a company's stock price to its earnings per share. A higher P/E suggests investors expect higher future growth; a lower P/E may indicate the stock is undervalued or the company is facing challenges.
- Put/Call Ratio
- The ratio of put option volume to call option volume. A high ratio suggests bearish sentiment; a low ratio suggests bullish sentiment. Used as a contrarian indicator.
R
- RSI (Relative Strength Index)
- A momentum oscillator ranging from 0 to 100 that measures the speed and magnitude of price movements. Values above 70 suggest overbought conditions; below 30, oversold.
- Revenue Growth (YoY)
- The percentage change in a company's revenue compared to the same period in the prior year. Consistent revenue growth is a key indicator of business health.
- ROE (Return on Equity)
- Net income divided by shareholder equity, expressed as a percentage. It measures how effectively a company uses equity investments to generate profit.
S
- S&P 500
- A stock market index tracking the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States, widely regarded as the best gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.
- Sector
- A segment of the economy containing companies with similar business activities. Common sectors include Technology, Health Care, Financials, Energy, Consumer Discretionary, and Utilities.
- Support and Resistance
- Price levels where a stock historically tends to stop falling (support) or stop rising (resistance). Breakouts through these levels often signal significant moves.
- Stochastic Oscillator
- A momentum indicator comparing a stock's closing price to its price range over a given period. Values above 80 suggest overbought; below 20, oversold.
- Short Interest
- The total number of shares sold short that have not yet been covered. High short interest relative to average volume can signal bearish sentiment or potential for a short squeeze.
- Sector Concentration
- When a disproportionate share of a portfolio's value is allocated to a single sector. AlphaVistaAI flags concentrations above 50% as a risk factor.
- Signal Dashboard
- A summary table in each AlphaVistaAI report listing individual indicator signals (Bullish, Bearish, or Neutral) and aggregating them into an overall signal rating.
V
- Volume
- The number of shares traded during a given period. High volume often confirms the strength of a price move, while low volume may suggest uncertainty.
- VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price)
- The average price a stock has traded at throughout the day, weighted by volume. Institutional traders often use VWAP as a benchmark for trade execution quality.
W
- Weighted Beta
- The portfolio-level beta calculated by weighting each holding's beta by its share of total portfolio value. It estimates the portfolio's overall sensitivity to market movements.