Like most other industries, the stock market has developed its own technical jargon. Many of the terms used in business newspapers or magazines are quite imaginative and can sometimes cause confusion among “stock market beginners.” However, anyone who takes a little time to familiarize themselves with these terms will soon understand what they mean. The frequently used word “performance” refers to the price trend of a market or a security. When “stock market insiders” say “sluggish,” they mean that trading volumes were low.
The descriptions of price trends are quite vivid. For example, you often read about bulls and bears. In stock market jargon, “bullish” refers to rising prices over a longer period of time (“The bull is the stock market animal that uses its horns to drive prices sky-high.”). The French term for this is “hausse.” The opposite of this, “bearish” or “baisse,” refers to falling prices (“The bear is the stock market animal that drives prices down with its paws.”). “Crash” refers to extreme price plunges. “Unchanged,” “stable,” or “flat” means prices that remain the same or have barely changed. “Strong,” “firm,” or “rebounding” describes prices that are going upward.
