Thursday, July 30, 2009

What's Everyone Talking About?

Photo courtesy of sandeeee
The Global financial crisis has brought a whole lot of words and terms into popular use. Now, we try to bust some of the jargon:

Correction - a short term drop in share market prices. The term arose from the notion that during a correction, over-priced shares are reverted back to their 'correct' values.

Credit crunch - the situation created when banks stop lending to each other. This results in more expensive loans for ordinary people.

Dead cat bounce - a phrase long used on share market trading floors to describe a short-lived recovery of share market prices in a falling stock market.

Bear market - a market in which the trend is for prices to decrease. This is the opposite of a bull market where prices go up.

Recession - a period of negative economic growth, technically over two consecutive quarters.

Toxic debt - a debt that is unlikely to be paid back.

Spivs - a term popularized in World War II for flashy gamblers involved in the 'black market.' It is now being used to describe market traders who play for high stakes.

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