Newcomers to the stock market are most easily confused by various terminology; I was initially clueless myself. Today, I will organize for everyone the most common stock market terms, so you don't have to ask around like I did.

Let's start with the trading aspect. In the stock market, there are concepts like retail investors, big players, and market makers, which are actually categorized by capital size and influence. Retail investors are ordinary investors like us, with smaller funds and less say. Big players and market makers are institutions that operate with large funds and can directly influence stock price movements. There's also a very painful term called "leeks," referring to retail investors who follow the trend and end up getting "cut" (losing money).

Market trends are divided into bull markets and bear markets. A bull market is when stock prices are rising happily, with a promising outlook; a bear market is the opposite, with falling prices and pessimism. During this process, bullish investors buy in when optimistic, while bearish investors sell when pessimistic. Another concept is short squeeze, which occurs when short sellers predict the stock will fall, but instead the price surges, forcing them to cover or buy more, which in turn pushes the price even higher.

There are many operational terms in trading. Chasing the rise means buying when the stock price is going up; panic selling means selling quickly when the price drops. Bottom fishing is predicting the stock has bottomed out and rushing to buy; missing the boat refers to missing the upward trend. There's also "cutting positions" (also called "cutting meat"), which means selling at a low price to prevent further losses when the stock price falls. Main forces often perform "shakeouts" and "support" operations: shakeouts involve lowering the stock price to shake out retail investors, while support involves buying stocks to stabilize the market.

Limit-up and limit-down are price limits set by the exchange, such as a maximum 10% increase or decrease per day, after which trading stops. Trading halts occur due to major news or events, with the exchange suspending trading to protect investors.

Regarding stock classification, blue-chip stocks are those of large, stable companies with strong performance, relatively safe. Growth stocks are companies with rapid sales and profit growth, with potential but higher risk. Junk stocks refer to companies with poor prospects. Leading stocks can represent the trend of the entire sector. Large-cap and small-cap stocks are categorized based on circulating market value.

On the technical side, there are many stock terms. Moving averages (MA) include 5-day, 10-day, 20-day lines, used to judge trends. Golden cross occurs when a short-term MA crosses above a long-term MA, indicating potential rise; death cross is the opposite, indicating potential decline. Support levels are prices where the stock tends not to fall below; resistance levels are prices where it struggles to go higher. Indicators like RSI, KD, MACD are used to analyze overbought and oversold conditions.

Financial metrics are also essential stock terms. Earnings per share (EPS) shows how much profit a company makes per share. Price-to-earnings ratio (PE) is the stock price divided by EPS; a higher PE suggests a bubble or overvaluation. Price-to-book ratio (PB) is the stock price divided by net asset value per share; lower PB stocks are generally less risky. Return on equity (ROE) indicates how much profit is generated from invested capital; higher ROE means stronger profitability.

Risk management is also crucial. Systematic risk affects the entire market, such as policy changes or interest rate adjustments. Unsystematic risk pertains to individual companies or industries. Volatility measures the intensity of stock price fluctuations; high volatility means higher risk. Stop-loss is setting a loss threshold; when the stock hits that price, it automatically sells, which is an important risk control method.

There are also other operational terms to understand. Margin trading and short selling involve borrowing money or stocks from brokers. IPO subscriptions (initial public offerings) allow participation in new stock offerings; if successful, you can buy at the issue price before listing. Dividends are returns paid to shareholders by listed companies, in cash or stock dividends.

In fact, stock terminology is much more extensive, but these are the most commonly used in trading. Mastering these basic concepts will help you communicate more smoothly with other investors and make more rational trading decisions. Most importantly, understanding these terms can help you avoid many rookie pitfalls.