Plain-language investing terms
You do not need these terms to use the site, but they help you read the page with more confidence.
Terms used on this site
- Completed bar
- A candle whose time period has fully closed. A daily bar is complete after the US session settles; a weekly bar is complete after the week’s last trading session.
- Support
- A price area where buyers have previously stepped in. It is a reference point, not a guarantee that the price will stop falling.
- Resistance
- A price area where sellers have previously appeared. A close above it can suggest strengthening demand; a rejection can suggest the opposite.
- Moving average
- The average closing price over a set number of sessions. The 20-, 50-, and 200-day averages are common ways to describe short-, medium-, and long-term trend.
- 52-week range
- The lowest and highest prices over the last year. The position inside that range helps put today’s price in context.
- Volume profile
- A histogram of how much volume traded at each price. POC is the price with the most volume; VAH and VAL are the top and bottom of the value area.
- ATR
- Average True Range. A measure of how much a ticker typically moves in a session. A higher ATR means a wider normal swing.
- Relative volume
- Today’s volume divided by a recent average. A reading above 1 means more activity than usual.
- Trend
- The general direction of price over a period. TickerLevels describes it as up, down, or sideways using price versus its moving averages.
- WaveTrend
- A momentum oscillator shown in the lower pane. It highlights overbought and oversold conditions; it is not a standalone buy or sell signal.
- SMI
- Stochastic Momentum Index. Another momentum measure that compares the close with its recent range.
- Fair value gap
- A price gap left by a strong move. Some traders watch these gaps as potential support or resistance; they are not guarantees.
- AI-assisted analysis
- Text drafted by a language model from supplied data and news. It is a writing aid, not an independent analyst or a fiduciary.
- Delayed data
- Prices that are older than the live market. Delayed data is still useful for a post-close read, but it should not be used for execution.
Educational technical analysis. Not financial advice. Market data may be delayed or incomplete.