One of the best parts about the Blossom community is how open everyone is sharing knowledge and experiences. To make things easier for anyone just starting their investing journey, here’s a simple glossary to help understand and simplify various terms. Common Terms: Dividend: A share of a company’s profits paid to shareholders, usually quarterly. Ex-Dividend Date: The cutoff date by which you must own a stock to receive its next dividend. ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): A fund that holds multiple stocks or bonds, traded like a single stock. Covered Call ETF: An ETF that owns stocks and sells call options to generate extra income (higher yield, limited / capped upside). Earnings Report: A company’s quarterly financial performance summary. EPS (Earnings Per Share): A company’s profit divided by its number of shares. Market Cap: A company’s total value (share price × number of shares). ACB: The total amount you’ve paid for an investment, including the purchase price plus any fees or commissions. Book Value: The value of a company according to its financial statements (assets minus liabilities). Yield: Annual dividend as a percentage of the stock/ETF price. Liquidity: How easily an asset can be bought or sold without impacting its price. Volatility: The degree of price fluctuations in a stock or market. Index: A benchmark of stocks (e.g., S&P 500, Nasdaq, TSX). Bull Market: A period of rising stock prices and optimism. Bear Market: A period of declining stock prices and pessimism. False Breakout: When a stock’s price moves above (or below) a key level, making it look like a new trend is starting, but then quickly reverses back. P/E Ratio: Price-to-earnings ratio (stock price ÷ EPS), used to assess valuation. Blue Chip: Well-established, financially strong companies with a track record of stability. Diversification: Spreading investments across assets to reduce risk. Broker: A platform or firm that facilitates buying and selling investments. Limit Order: An order to buy/sell a stock at a specific price or better. Market Order: An order to buy/sell a stock immediately at the current market price. Bid/Ask Spread: The difference between the highest price buyers offer and the lowest price sellers accept. Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA): Investing a fixed amount regularly to reduce the impact of market swings. Capital Gain/Loss: Profit or loss from selling an investment for more/less than its purchase price. IPO: When a company first sells shares to the public. Index Fund: A fund designed to mirror the performance of a market index. Short Selling: Selling borrowed shares, hoping to buy them back cheaper. Margin: Borrowing money from a broker to buy investments, which amplifies gains and losses. Margin Requirement: The minimum amount of your own money (equity) you must maintain in a margin account to open or keep a leveraged investment position. Margin Call: A demand from your broker to deposit more funds or sell assets because your account equity has fallen below the required margin level. Time Horizon: The length of time you plan to hold an investment before needing the money. Short horizons = more risk-sensitive, long horizons = more room to ride out volatility. Stock Split / Reverse Split: A split increases the number of shares (e.g., 2-for-1) while lowering the price per share. A reverse split reduces the number of shares (e.g., 1-for-10) while raising the price per share. Your overall value doesn’t change just the math. Long (Being Long): Buying a stock or asset because you expect the price to go up. Short (Being Short): Selling a stock you don’t own because you expect the price to go down, so you can buy it back cheaper later. TER: The total yearly cost of owning a fund, including the management fee plus other costs like administration, audits, and legal fees. MER: The annual cost that a fund charges for management (includes any leverage costs if used). Management Fee: A portion of the MER that goes directly to the fund managers for running the fund. Withholding Tax: A tax deducted on dividends/distributions from foreign investments (e.g., U.S. dividends to Canadian investors face a 15% withholding in TFSA/Non-Registered accounts). Total Returns: The full picture of an investment’s performance, including both price gains and dividends/distributions. CAGR: The average yearly growth of an investment over time. NAV: The price of one share of a fund (stock or etf) NAV Depreciation: When the fund’s share price goes down over time. Mutual Fund: A pool of money from many investors used to buy a mix of stocks, bonds, or other assets. Bond: A loan you give to a company or government, and they pay you back with interest. Asset: Anything valuable you own that can generate money. Portfolio: Your collection of investments. Option: A contract that gives you the right (but not the obligation) to buy or sell a stock at a set price. Future: A contract to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date. REIT: A company that owns real estate and pays investors income from rent. Alpha: A measure of how much better (or worse) an investment did compared to the market. Beta: A measure of how much an investment moves compared to the market. Sharpe Ratio: A way to see if returns are worth the risk taken. Hedging: Protecting your investments from risk. Rebalancing: Adjusting your portfolio back to your target mix of assets. FCF: Free Cash Flow Understanding these terms makes investing far less intimidating. If anyone feels other terms should be included, please share in the comments. I’ll update this post so we can build a complete beginner-friendly resource together! *Sorry tagged a few etfs for reach 🫣
Big week ahead! Are you ready? I hope you guys are enjoying your weekend, we’ve been taking a beating in the market and I want to talk to you guys on the KimiK3 model that’s going to be released from China. I’ll speak more on it this week. Google, Tesla, Intel Lots of action happening like always I’ll keep you guys posted!
Tomorrow at 1 pm EST, I’ll be live with @maxstocks and Global X for a conversation on: • SpaceX • Satellite communications • Defence and space technology • Public vs. private space companies • The evolving space economy • Opportunities and risks investors should be watching And more! https://m.youtube.com/live/nkNkEU4Jmrs
Here are some of the ETF categories that attracted the strongest inflows this past week: 📈 U.S. Large Cap • $VOO • $QQQ • $VUG 💵 Income & Options Strategies • $JEPI • $SPYI • $JEPQ 🌍 Emerging Markets • $EWT • $IEMG • $VWO 🌎 Global Equity • $VT • $ACWI • $VXUS This week’s inflows suggest investors are still favoring large-cap U.S. stocks while also looking for income and broader international diversification ETF inflows don’t guarantee future performance, but they can provide insight into where institutional and retail investors are directing capital. If you could own just one ETF for the next 10 years, which would you choose?
Thanks again @perryf for leading this event ! and @paulsantori it was nice for you to visit Winnipeg! We will now expect you to come visit at least once a year lol 😃😜 Met lovely folks yesterday, so nice to hear their own journey and continue to learn from each other! ❤️ Taisa @montai we started with a lunch for Perry's retirement in 2023 and now we're both so happily retired as well! Love our journey and thank you Blossom 🌸
$SPY: The tech selloff has pushed the index below its 20 and 50 daily moving averages. Considering the bearish crossover in the oscillator, this suggests further declines ahead. The previous two bounces occurred with a more reset oscillator, which is not the case today.
Separate from my weekly margin updates — this one's just me, my charts, and how I'm reading $SPY and $QQQ , $TQQQ , $TQQQ . Trend, volatility, and the macro backdrop behind a choppy week. Not financial advice — this is my personal read on the charts, not a signal to buy or sell. 📺 youtu.be/M5xaNGyK4mM
