10-year Treasury: The benchmark 10-year government bond issued by the United States Department of the Treasury. It is widely watched by global markets as it serves as a baseline indicator for long-term mortgage rates, corporate borrowing costs, and overall market confidence.
ADP (ADP National Employment Report): A private-sector jobs report released by ADP Research a couple of days before the official Nonfarm Payrolls number from the BLS. It is built from actual payroll data covering tens of millions of U.S. workers. Markets treat it as an early read on hiring, not as a substitute for the government print. It has missed badly before. Use it as context, not as gospel.
API (Application Programming Interface): A set of protocols and tools that allows different software applications to communicate and exchange data with each other. In finance, traders use APIs to connect automated trading bots directly to a broker’s execution platform.
Basis Point (bp / bps): One hundredth of a percentage point. A 25-basis-point rate hike means the policy rate rises by 0.25 percentage points.
BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis): The U.S. agency that produces GDP, personal income, and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE). BLS owns the jobs report and CPI. BEA owns the numbers the Fed actually targets. Mixing the two sources without naming them is how sloppy market commentary gets written.
BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics): The principal fact-finding agency for the US government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics, responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes.
Bond Selloff: A market phenomenon where investors aggressively sell bonds, causing bond prices to fall. Because bond prices and interest rates move in opposite directions, a bond selloff directly triggers a rise in market yields and borrowing costs.
Book (Trading Book): The set of open positions in an account at a given moment — what is actually held, not the wish list. “Selling the book” means closing every live position, not liquidating the brokerage relationship.
Brent Crude: A major trading classification of sweet light crude oil that serves as one of the primary global price benchmarks for oil purchases. It is sourced and refined from oil fields in the North Sea between the United Kingdom and Norway.
Brokerage: The fee or commission charged by a broker or investment platform to execute buy or sell orders for securities on behalf of an investor.
Buy-and-Hold: Buying an asset (or index) with the intention of holding it for years rather than days or weeks. Transaction costs are minimal, time spent is low, and the main risks are opportunity cost and the investor’s own behaviour. For most people it remains the higher-probability path compared with day trading or swing trading.
Capital income: Perfect for explaining the fundamental structural gap between income from employment (inkomst av tjänst) and income from capital (inkomst av kapital), such as dividends and capital gains.
CNN Fear & Greed Index: A 0–100 sentiment gauge published by CNN. It averages seven equally weighted market indicators — momentum, breadth, new highs versus new lows, put/call activity, junk-bond demand, safe-haven demand, and the VIX — into one number meant to show whether investors look fearful or greedy.
Rough reading:
0–24 Extreme Fear
25–44 Fear
45–55 Neutral
56–75 Greed
76–100 Extreme Greed
It is a mood ring, not a traded index and not a timing system. Extreme fear has often marked good long-term entry zones after the fact. Extreme greed has often marked a crowded tape. Treat it as context, not as a reason to size up.
Cost-Push Inflation: Price increases driven by higher production costs — energy, freight, raw materials — rather than hotter consumer demand. An oil shock is the textbook case.
Core Inflation: A measure of inflation that excludes volatile food and energy prices. Policymakers use it to judge whether price pressure is spreading beyond a temporary energy shock.
Core PCE (Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index): The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge with food and energy stripped out. Headline PCE is what households feel. Core PCE is what the FOMC uses to judge whether price pressure is spreading or fading. The official 2 percent target is on headline PCE over time, but the meeting-to-meeting argument almost always runs through the core print.
CPI (Consumer Price Index): A macroeconomic indicator that measures the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. It is the primary metric used to calculate a country’s official inflation rate
CPIF (Consumer Price Index with a Fixed Interest Rate): The primary inflation metric used by Sweden’s central bank (the Riksbank) to guide monetary policy. Unlike standard CPI, CPIF holds mortgage interest rates constant, preventing changes in central bank interest rates from directly distorting the core inflation data.
CPI Weights: The percentage values assigned to different categories of goods and services within the Consumer Price Index basket. These weights reflect average consumer spending patterns and determine how much a price change in a specific item (like coffee) impacts the overall official inflation rate.
Day Trade: A position opened and closed within the same trading day. The goal is to capture small intraday moves. In practice it is one of the faster ways for a retail account to lose money. Spreads, commissions, slippage and the attention it demands usually erase any edge before the trade can pay for itself. Most people who try it lose. An ISK makes the tax side simple — no capital-gains reporting per trade — but it does not turn a negative-expectancy activity into a positive one.
Demand-Pull Inflation: Price increases driven by too much spending chasing too few goods. Rate hikes are built for this. They are a blunt tool against a closed strait.
Depot: A traditional investment or brokerage account used to hold, trade, and manage financial securities like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
Dividends: The core concept of the entire piece. Linking this to a glossary page that breaks down dividend yield, payout ratios, and how dividend taxation works in Sweden is an absolute must.
Dot Plot: A chart released by the Federal Reserve four times a year (March, June, September, and December) as part of the Summary of Economic Projections. Each FOMC participant anonymously places a dot showing where they expect the federal funds rate to be at the end of the current year, the next two years, and in the longer run. Markets watch the median and the scatter more than the rate decision itself.
Dow (Dow Jones Industrial Average): A price-weighted index of 30 large U.S. companies. It is what headlines mean when they say “the Dow dropped 600 points.” It is not the broad market; the S&P 500 is.
Dual Mandate: The Federal Reserve’s two statutory goals: maximum employment and price stability. When they collide, the Fed has to decide which risk is more urgent.
Edge: A repeatable advantage that is expected to produce a profit after costs. A thesis is not an edge. If brokerage, FX fees, and slippage eat the expected gain before the idea can work, there is no edge on that ticket size.
Excise Tax: A specific legislated tax levied on the sale, production, or consumption of targeted goods and services within a country, such as fuel, alcohol, and tobacco. Unlike general sales tax, it is usually factored directly into the retail shelf price or the price at the pump.
Federal Funds Rate: The overnight interest rate U.S. banks charge each other for reserve balances. It is the Fed’s main policy rate and the number markets mean when they talk about a “Fed hike.”
F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early): is a financial movement and lifestyle strategy focused on aggressive saving and investing to achieve financial independence far earlier than traditional retirement age.
The core philosophy revolves around decoupling your time from a traditional 9-to-5 job by building a portfolio of income-producing assets (such as stocks, index funds, or real estate) that can cover your living expenses permanently.
Fiscal Policy: The use of government spending and taxation to influence a nation’s economy. Unlike monetary policy run by central banks, fiscal policy is managed by politicians and can directly affect consumer prices through tax cuts or subsidies.
Flash CPI: An early, preliminary estimate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate for a specific month. Released by statistical bureaus ahead of the final, comprehensive data, it provides markets and policymakers with an immediate, real-time snapshot of price trends.
FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee): The committee within the Federal Reserve System that is responsible for making key decisions regarding US monetary policy, interest rates, and open market operations.
Futures: Financial contracts that obligate the buyer to purchase an asset, or the seller to sell an asset (such as crude oil or stock indices), at a predetermined future date and price. They allow institutional investors and traders to speculate on or hedge against price movements before physical markets reopen.
FX (Foreign Exchange Fee): A percentage-based fee charged by financial platforms or banks for converting currency when buying or selling foreign assets.
Hawks (Hawkish): A term used in finance and economics to describe monetary policymakers or investors who favor higher interest rates to keep inflation under control, even if it potentially slows down economic growth.
Headline Inflation: The full consumer inflation rate, including food and energy. It is what households feel at the pump and the grocery store, even when core inflation looks calmer.
Holding Period: The length of time a position is kept open. A maximum holding period is a rule that forces an exit after a set number of days so a small live account does not quietly turn into an unpaid mini-fund.
Human Raters: Contractors and analysts who review, grade, and correct AI-generated responses during the fine-tuning process to train the system on preferred behavioral patterns.
Income Statement: A core financial statement that summarizes a company’s revenues, expenses, and profits or losses over a specific period. It shows a business’s ability to generate revenue, manage expenses, and produce net income.
ISK: A Swedish tax-sheltered investment account introduced in 2012. Instead of paying a 30% capital gains tax on realized profits and dividends, users pay an annual flat-rate tax based on the account’s total value and the government borrowing rate. It simplifies tax reporting and is the standard choice for Swedish retail investors.
Jackson Hole: The Federal Reserve’s annual late-August symposium in Wyoming. Markets treat the Chair’s speech there as the unofficial test for the policy path into autumn: whether inflation is moving toward 2 percent clearly enough, and fast enough, to justify holding or cutting.
JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey): The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It tracks monthly changes in job vacancies, hirings, and separations (including quits and layoffs). Financial markets closely watch this data as a leading indicator of labor market strength and wage inflation pressures, which heavily influences the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions.
Labor Force Participation Rate: A macroeconomic metric that measures the section of the working-age population (typically aged 16 and older) that is either currently employed or actively seeking employment.
Market Cap (Market Capitalization): The total market value of a publicly traded company’s outstanding shares. It is calculated by multiplying a company’s total shares by the current market price of one share, and it is used by indexes to determine a company’s size and ranking.
Mitaca: A secondary, mid-year coffee harvest common in certain tropical producing countries like Colombia, occurring between the main annual harvests. It helps maintain a steady global supply of coffee beans throughout the year.
MoM (Month-over-Month): The change from one month to the next, usually shown as a percentage or as a raw number of jobs. Most inflation and employment headlines are MoM first, then YoY. A hot MoM print can move futures even when the yearly rate looks boring. Do not confuse it with YTD.
Monetary Policy: The actions undertaken by a nation’s central bank to control the money supply and achieve sustainable economic growth. Its primary tools include adjusting interest rates (policy rates) and managing currency reserves.
Monetary Policy Lag: The delay between a central-bank rate change and its full effect on the economy. Markets reprice in days. Spending, hiring and inflation take longer — often a couple of quarters to show up and closer to a year to finish. Milton Friedman called these lags long and variable. The lag does not shrink because the calendar is inconvenient.
Nominal vs. Real: A nominal price is the number on the receipt. A real price is that number adjusted for inflation, so you can compare it with an older peak in today’s money.
Nonfarm Payrolls: A key economic indicator released monthly by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures the total number of paid workers in the United States, excluding farm workers, government employees, private household employees, and non-profit organization staff.
Overnight Risk (Gap Risk): The possibility that price jumps between the close and the next open, skipping your stop or target. Day traders avoid it by being flat overnight. Swing traders accept it. A gap can turn a planned 2 % risk into a 5–8 % loss before the market even reopens.
P&L (Profit and Loss): A financial metric used to track the net revenue generated over a specific period by subtracting total expenses, losses, and transaction costs from total gains. It reflects the ongoing financial performance of an investment account or portfolio.
Paper Trading (Demo): Trading with simulated money to test a process, rules and execution before risking real capital. It removes the emotional and financial cost of being wrong while you learn. It does not replicate real slippage, fills or the pressure of live money, but it is still the only sensible first step.
PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index): The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. It covers a broader set of household spending than CPI and is the series the FOMC officially targets at 2 percent.
Policy Rate: The official interest rate set by a central bank to influence monetary conditions, control inflation, and stabilize the national currency. It serves as the baseline for commercial banks’ lending and deposit rates.
Position: A live holding in a security: the instrument, the side (long or short), the size, and the average price. Opening a position is a fill. Closing it is an exit. The book is the sum of all open positions.
Position Sizing: How much of the account is risked on a single trade. A common rule is to risk no more than 1 % of equity per idea. Without sizing, a stop-loss only limits the percentage loss on that one ticket; it does not stop a string of losses from emptying the account. Sizing matters more than entry timing.
PPI (Producer Price Index): A macroeconomic indicator that measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their goods and services. It captures inflation earlier in the supply chain than CPI and is closely watched for pressure in energy, freight, and wholesale costs before those prices reach consumers.
Price Appreciation: The increase in the market value of an asset or investment over time, separate from any income generated by the asset through dividends or interest.
Raw Model: The foundational, unaligned version of an artificial intelligence model after its initial training on massive datasets, before any safety constraints or human tuning are applied.
Reduction Mandate: A Swedish climate policy regulation requiring fuel suppliers to mix a specific percentage of biofuels into petrol and diesel to lower greenhouse gas emissions. It is a highly debated political topic due to its direct impact on fuel prices at the pump.
REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust): A company that owns, operates, or finances income-producing real estate. Modeled after mutual funds, REITs historically pool capital from numerous investors. By law in many jurisdictions (like the US), they must distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends, making them popular for income investors.
Risk Premium: The investment return an asset is expected to yield in excess of the risk-free rate of return. In commodity markets, a geopolitical risk premium is an extra cost factored into the price (such as oil prices) to compensate for potential supply disruptions or regional instability.
ROT Deductions: A Swedish tax deduction scheme for home renovations, repairs, and maintenance work. It allows homeowners to deduct a percentage of the labor cost directly from their income tax, up to a set annual cap per person.
RUT Deductions: A Swedish tax deduction scheme for domestic services such as cleaning, gardening, and babysitting. It allows individuals to deduct a portion of the labor cost directly from their income tax to encourage formal employment in the service sector.
September Effect: A historical market anomaly where stock market returns have statistically been weaker or negative during the month of September. It is considered a seasonal market curiosity rather than a reliable modern trading strategy.
S&P 500: A stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 of the largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is widely regarded as one of the best representations of the US equities market.
Safety Layer: A secondary set of filters, system prompts, and reinforcement loops engineered by AI developers to prevent a model from generating harmful, biased, or public-relations-damaging outputs.
Sandbox: A separate, isolated testing environment that allows developers or investors to run programs, execute strategies, or test automated systems without risking real-world production assets or affecting larger, interconnected financial portfolios.
Scalping: Opening and closing positions within minutes (sometimes seconds) to harvest tiny price ticks. It is day trading with the volume and costs turned up. Spreads and slippage dominate almost every outcome. For a retail account it is almost always a transfer of money to the broker and the market makers.
Second-Round Effects: The follow-on rise in other prices and wages after an initial shock. A one-off diesel spike is a first-round hit. Persistent freight and pay demands are the second round.
Slippage: The difference between the price you expected and the price you actually received. It is largest on fast moves, thin stocks, market orders and large size relative to the book. On short-term trades it is often the silent cost that turns a paper win into a real loss.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program): A federal assistance program in the United States, formerly known as food stamps, that provides low-income individuals and families with financial subventions to purchase eligible food at authorized retail stores.
Spread: The gap between the best bid and the best ask. Every round-trip trade pays the spread (plus commission and slippage). The tighter the intended holding period, the more the spread eats the expected edge.
Stop / Stop-Loss: An order or rule that closes a position when the price moves against it by a set amount. It is the floor: it limits how much one trade can take from the account. A floor without a matching ceiling still leaves profits uncapped and costs free to compound.
Swing Trade: A position held from a few days to a few weeks to catch part of a larger price move. It requires less screen time than day trading but carries overnight gap risk. Costs are lower than day trading, yet the majority of retail swing traders still underperform a simple buy-and-hold index approach after fees and friction. Many planned swing trades quietly become ordinary long-term holdings when the expected move fails to appear.
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families): A federally funded, state-administered grant program in the United States designed to provide temporary financial assistance and work opportunities to low-income families with dependent children.
Target / Take-Profit / Profit Target: An order or rule that closes a position when the price moves in its favor by a set amount. It is the ceiling. On a small ticket, the target is what has to clear brokerage and FX before the trade can add to the pile rather than just pay the fee line.
Tariff: A tax on imported goods. It raises the landed cost of consumer products and industrial inputs, which can feed into consumer prices faster than a policy-rate change. Used as industrial policy it collides with the fight against imported inflation.
The Fed (Federal Reserve): The central bank of the United States. Its primary mandates are to foster maximum employment and maintain price stability (control inflation) by adjusting US monetary policy and interest rates.
Time-based exit (Time stop): A rule that closes a position after a fixed number of bars, days or minutes, regardless of profit or loss. A price stop answers “how wrong can I be about direction?”. A time stop answers “how long should this take?”. It kills trades that go nowhere, frees capital and enforces that a thesis has an expiry date. It does not create an edge by itself and is usually best used together with a price stop or target. A position that has done nothing by the deadline is usually better closed than nursed.
Time-Weighted Return: A method of calculating the compound rate of growth in a portfolio that eliminates the distorting effects of external cash inflows and outflows (such as new deposits or withdrawals), making it the standard metric to measure a manager’s true investment performance.
VAT (Value Added Tax): A consumption tax levied on goods and services at each stage of the supply chain where value is added. In Sweden, different rates apply depending on the product, such as a reduced rate for food and domestic transport.
VIX (Cboe Volatility Index): A real-time estimate of the market’s expected 30-day volatility in the S&P 500, calculated by Cboe from the midpoints of S&P 500 (SPX) option quotes. Only puts and calls with more than 23 days and less than 37 days to a Friday expiration go into the mix; those prices are then interpolated into a constant 30-day number. The printed level is an annualized standard deviation — a VIX of 16 prices roughly a ±16 percent move over a year at one standard deviation, not a call on direction.
It usually rises when stocks sell off and falls when the tape is quiet. That inverse relationship is a habit, not a rule. You cannot buy the index itself. Futures, options, and volatility ETNs sit on top of it and carry their own roll costs.
There is no official band. The long-run average sits near 19–20. Calm markets often live in the low-to-mid teens. Readings below about 12 are unusually quiet. 20–30 is elevated. Above 30 is fear. Crisis prints have closed above 80 (82.69 on 16 March 2020; 80.86 on 20 November 2008), with an all-time intraday high near 89.53 in October 2008. High VIX means insurance is expensive. Low VIX means it is cheap. Neither number tells you which way the S&P 500 will go.
WTI (West Texas Intermediate): A specific grade of crude oil that serves as one of the primary global benchmarks for oil pricing, alongside Brent Crude. It is sourced mainly from fields in the United States, primarily Texas, and is the underlying commodity for the New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures contracts.
XIRR (Extended Internal Rate of Return): A financial formula used to calculate the internal rate of return for a series of cash flows that occur at irregular intervals, making it a highly accurate metric for measuring the actual performance of a personal investment account with erratic deposits and withdrawals.
Yields: The earnings generated and realized on an investment over a specific period, expressed as a percentage. In fixed income and bonds, yields move inversely to bond prices and reflect the market’s expectations of inflation and interest rates.
YTD (Year-to-Date): A financial term that refers to the period beginning from the first day of the current calendar year up to the current date. It is used to track the performance and growth of a portfolio or asset within the ongoing year.