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The words, explained.
Every term we use on this site, in plain English, with an example and where to see it in action.
- 01BetaHow much a share or index tends to move when the market moves.
- 02Bid and offerThe best price a buyer will pay right now, and the best price a seller will accept.
- 03Cents (ZAc)JSE shares are quoted in cents; this site shows rand.
- 04Closing auctionThe period at the end of the JSE day when the closing price of each share is set.
- 05Day tradeA trade opened and closed in the same session, so nothing is held overnight.
- 06Delayed pricesPrices shown some minutes behind the live market.
- 07Dividend yieldThe dividends paid over the last year as a percentage of today’s share price.
- 08DrawdownHow far a price fell from its peak before it recovered.
- 09Ex-dividend dateThe first day a share trades without its next dividend.
- 10Free floatThe shares that are available to trade, leaving out stakes held by founders, governments or parent companies.
- 11IndexOne number that tracks a basket of shares, so you can see how a whole market or sector is doing.
- 12JSE Top 40 (SA40)An index of the 40 largest companies on the JSE by market value: the market’s headline number.
- 13LiquidityHow easily a share trades without moving its price.
- 14Market value (market capitalisation)The share price times the number of shares: what the market says the whole company is worth.
- 15Payout ratioThe share of its profit a company pays out as dividends.
- 16Position sizeHow much goes into a trade, chosen so that hitting the stop costs an amount you are prepared to lose.
- 17Price to earnings (P/E)The share price divided by the profit per share: how many years of today’s profit you pay for.
- 18RebalancingResetting an index’s members and weights on a fixed timetable.
- 19SpreadThe gap between the bid and the offer.
- 20StopThe price at which a losing trade is closed, set before the trade is placed.
- 21Trading statementA warning a JSE company must publish when its results will differ by at least 20% from the previous period.
- 22VolatilityHow much a price swings around, usually as a yearly percentage.
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