Glossary

This glossary defines the key terms and industry jargon used throughout Reading Financial News Without Getting Lost. Whether you're decoding an earnings announcement, parsing an economic report, or evaluating a market commentary, these definitions will help you understand what journalists, economists, and analysts really mean. Each entry includes a working definition and a real-world example to show the term in context.

Adjusted EPS

Earnings per share (EPS) with one-time or non-recurring items removed to show operational performance.

Many companies report two versions of earnings: the official "GAAP" number required by accounting rules, and an "adjusted" version that strips out one-time charges (severance packages, asset write-downs, legal settlements) or gains. A company might report GAAP EPS of $2.10, but adjusted EPS of $2.50 because restructuring costs reduced the headline number. Financial news articles often emphasize the adjusted figure because it better reflects the underlying business, but investors need both to see the full story.

See also: GAAP, EPS, Beat (earnings).

Affiliate link

A hyperlink embedded in an article that generates commission revenue for the publisher if readers click and buy through that link.

Business and personal-finance publishers sometimes use affiliate links in article text — linking to a brokerage platform, credit-card offer, or investment product — and earn a percentage of any transaction that results. This creates a financial incentive that may bias coverage toward certain products. Professional financial news sites (Reuters, Bloomberg, WSJ) typically disclose affiliate relationships in a sidebar or footer or avoid them altogether to preserve editorial independence.

See also: Sponsored content, Paywall.

After-hours trading

Buying or selling stocks outside regular market hours (typically 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time for U.S. markets), usually with lower volume and wider price swings.

When a company reports earnings after the 4 p.m. close, traders often react immediately in the after-hours market. A stock might surge 5% in after-hours trading before the regular open, then settle differently once regular trading resumes. After-hours quotes are real but less reliable than daytime prices because fewer traders are participating, so bid-ask spreads widen and prices are more volatile. Financial news often mentions after-hours moves, but investors should understand that those prices may not stick.

See also: Pre-announcement, Earnings call.

Anchoring bias

The tendency to rely too heavily on an initial piece of information (an "anchor") when making subsequent judgments, even after learning new data.

If a stock closed yesterday at $50, investors often anchor to that price and interpret any movement relative to it. Financial journalists sometimes anchor readers to historical highs or previous CEO commentary, which can bias interpretation of new news. For example, a analyst might anchor readers to a 52-week high of $75, then report today's $55 price as "well below" that level — which feels more negative than saying "up 40% over three years."

Annualized rate

A single-period figure (monthly, quarterly, or weekly data) scaled up mathematically to project what it would be over a full 12-month year.

The U.S. economy grew 0.7% in one quarter, but news reports annualize this as roughly 2.8% (0.7% × 4). Unemployment dropped 0.2 percentage points in one month; annualized, that would be 2.4 percentage points over a year, though the calculation is illustrative, not predictive. Annualizing is useful for comparing one quarter to long-term trends, but readers should remember it assumes the rate stays constant — it often doesn't.

See also: QoQ, YoY, MoM.

Anonymous source

A person quoted in a news story who is not named, usually because they are providing sensitive information and requested confidentiality.

A reporter might write: "One senior Treasury official said the administration is reviewing tariff policy," without naming the person. Anonymous sourcing protects whistleblowers and lets insiders speak candidly, but it also allows unverifiable claims into the news. Strong financial reporting requires multiple anonymous sources on major claims and discloses why they asked for anonymity. A single anonymous source making extraordinary claims should raise skepticism.

Attribution

Explicitly naming the source of a quote or factual claim in a news story.

Proper attribution reads: "According to the Federal Reserve," or "CEO Sarah Chen told investors." Attribution establishes credibility and lets readers evaluate the source's bias or expertise. Financial news without clear attribution ("earnings grew last quarter") is weaker than news with it ("the company reported that earnings grew 15% last quarter"). The best financial journalism attributes facts to primary sources (official filings, press releases, management statements) rather than relying on secondary interpretation.

See also: Anonymous source, On the record, Quote.

Availability bias

The tendency to overestimate the likelihood or importance of events that are easy to recall, usually because they are recent, vivid, or widely reported.

After a market correction makes headlines, investors often overestimate the risk of another crash, because that scenario is fresh in memory. A financial journalist covering the same crash repeatedly across multiple articles unconsciously amplifies its perceived importance. For example, a dramatic 10% market drop might receive 50 articles, while a steady 8% gain might receive 5, leaving readers with a distorted sense of volatility.

Background (off-record)

Information provided by a source on "background," meaning it can be used in the story but not attributed to that person by name or title.

A Treasury spokesperson might say "on background" that the department is concerned about inflation; the journalist can report the concern exists within the department without naming the speaker. Background sourcing is common in financial reporting because it lets officials float trial balloons without official attribution. However, background quotes are less rigorous than on-the-record statements, so readers should weight them accordingly.

Basis point (bps)

One hundredth of a percent (0.01%). Used to describe interest-rate changes and bond yields where precision matters.

When the Federal Reserve raises rates by 25 basis points, that is a 0.25% increase. If mortgage rates are at 6.50%, a rise of 50 basis points brings them to 7.00%. Financial journalists use basis points instead of percentages when covering rate changes because it avoids confusion: saying "rates rose by 0.25%" might be misheard as "rates rose to 0.25%" (a much bigger jump). Always check whether a headline is talking about basis points or percentage points.

See also: FOMC, Forward guidance.

Beat (earnings)

When a company reports earnings per share (EPS) or revenue that exceed analyst consensus estimates.

If analysts expected $2.00 EPS and the company reported $2.15, that is a "beat." A beat often triggers a same-day stock rally, though it can fade within days if guidance is weak. Financial news treats beats as positive, but context matters: a company might beat a low forecast because analysts were too pessimistic, not because the company performed spectacularly. The opposite of a beat is a "miss."

See also: Miss, Consensus estimate, Guidance, Earnings call.

Beige Book

A quarterly Federal Reserve report on economic conditions in the U.S., published before each Federal Open Market Committee meeting, based on interviews with business contacts.

The Beige Book is written in plain language (unlike the technical FOMC meeting minutes) and reads like a collection of business anecdotes: "retailers in the Southeast report steady demand, while manufacturers cite supply-chain delays." Financial journalists use it to forecast the Fed's next rate decision and to gauge regional economic health. Each of the 12 Federal Reserve banks contributes a section.

See also: FOMC, Dot plot, Forward guidance.

Buyback

A company's purchase of its own outstanding shares, which reduces share count and can boost earnings per share (EPS) mathematically, even if total profit doesn't grow.

Apple might spend $10 billion buying back Apple shares at $150 per share. This shrinks the share count by roughly 67 million shares. If the company's total profit stays flat, each remaining share gets a bigger slice of that profit — EPS rises without any improvement in the underlying business. Buybacks are legal and common, but they can mask stagnant growth, so financial reporting should flag whether EPS growth is driven by buybacks or by revenue and profit gains.

See also: EPS, Adjusted EPS, In-line.

Byline

The line at the top or bottom of a news article that credits the author or reporter.

"By Sarah Chen" or "Sarah Chen and James Liu" — the byline establishes who wrote the article. In financial journalism, checking the byline helps readers judge bias: a reporter with a history of favorable coverage of a particular company should be evaluated with that context in mind. Some publications run stories without a byline, often for wire-service content or syndicated columns.

See also: Wire story, Opinion piece.

Capex

Short for "capital expenditures" — a company's spending on long-term assets like factories, equipment, and research facilities.

A semiconductor manufacturer might spend $5 billion on capex to build a new fab (manufacturing plant). Capex is a real cash outflow, but accountants don't deduct it all in one year — it is capitalized and depreciated over time. Financial analysts track capex because it signals management's confidence in future growth, but high capex can also signal a mature, declining industry racing to cut costs. The opposite is low capex, which might mean a company is harvesting profits rather than investing in the future.

See also: Non-GAAP, GAAP.

CAGR

Compound Annual Growth Rate — the rate at which an investment or metric grows per year over a multi-year period, smoothing out year-to-year volatility.

If a company's revenue was $100 million five years ago and $160 million today, the CAGR is roughly 10% (compounding at 10% annually from year 1 to year 5 reaches $160 million). CAGR is useful for comparing long-term trends, but it masks one-year dips: a stock that fell 50% one year and then rallied 100% the next has a much higher CAGR than its actual volatility would suggest. Financial news often cites CAGR as a headline, but investors should check the endpoints — a high CAGR starting from a market crash looks better than it deserves.

See also: YoY, MoM, Annualized rate.

Cherry-picking

Selectively presenting only the data, examples, or time periods that support a particular argument while omitting contradictory evidence.

A financial article might highlight the years when a stock outperformed the market (cherry-picked good years) while omitting the years it underperformed, creating a false impression of consistent outperformance. Or a company press release might feature one strong metric (user growth) while downplaying a weak metric (profitability). Professional financial journalism explicitly presents counterarguments and adverse data, not just evidence that supports a thesis.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms a pre-existing belief or hypothesis, while dismissing contradictory evidence.

An investor convinced that tech stocks are overvalued will notice and remember every article forecasting a tech downturn, while overlooking tech earnings beats. A financial journalist covering a company can fall into the same trap, writing multiple stories that emphasize one narrative (the company is in decline) while downplaying contrary data (improving margins, new customer wins). Readers should actively seek counterarguments to their own investment thesis.

Consensus estimate

The average forecast from sell-side analysts for a company's upcoming earnings, revenue, or other metrics.

If 20 analysts forecast that a company will earn $2.50 per share next quarter, and their estimates range from $2.20 to $2.80, the consensus might be $2.50. Financial news uses consensus as a benchmark: beating consensus triggers stock gains, missing consensus triggers declines. However, consensus can be anchored to stale guidance, so a beat against a low consensus isn't always impressive. Analysts also tend to cluster around management's own guidance, so consensus is not purely independent.

See also: Beat (earnings), Miss, Whisper number.

Correction

A decline of 10% or more from a recent market high, larger than a typical daily or weekly pullback but smaller than a "bear market" (typically defined as <20% decline).

After a stock rally from $50 to $75, a decline to $67.50 is a 10% correction. A correction is a normal, healthy market phenomenon that happens roughly once a year in major indices. Financial media often breathlessly cover corrections as if they are rare disasters, when in fact they are routine. Understanding that corrections are typical helps investors avoid panic selling during these inevitable drawdowns.

See also: Pivot, Truncated axis.

Cost-push inflation

Inflation driven by rising production costs (wages, raw materials, energy) that suppliers pass on to consumers, rather than by excess demand.

Supply chains disrupted during the 2020–2021 period, pushing shipping costs and raw material prices higher. Companies raised prices to maintain margins, causing inflation even though consumer demand wasn't unusually strong. Cost-push inflation is harder for central banks to manage with rate hikes alone because the root cause is supply, not demand. Financial journalists should distinguish cost-push inflation from demand-pull inflation (too much money chasing too few goods).

See also: FOMC, Dot plot, Non-farm payrolls.

Dot plot

A Federal Reserve chart showing the rate-hike or rate-cut expectations of individual FOMC members, published every six weeks with dots representing each voting member's forecast.

The dot plot shows how many rate hikes Fed leaders expect over the next year, two years, and three years. If the median dot forecasts three more hikes and investors expected five, the market often sells off. The dot plot is one of the most scrutinized economic releases because it signals where the Fed thinks rates should go. Financial journalists parse dot-plot changes as signals of the Fed's confidence and economic outlook.

See also: FOMC, Forward guidance, Beige Book.

Earnings call

A conference call (usually quarterly) in which a company's management discusses financial results, answers analyst questions, and provides guidance for future periods.

A company reports earnings after the market close, then hosts a one-hour call where analysts ask questions. Management's tone, forward guidance, and how they sidestep tough questions are all watched closely. Earnings-call transcripts are published within hours and provide more detail than press releases. Financial journalists often quote earnings calls to understand management's confidence and strategy.

Earnings guidance

Management's forecast of future earnings, revenue, and other financial metrics, typically provided quarterly or annually.

A CEO might tell analysts: "We expect FY2025 revenue between $5.0 and $5.2 billion." This guidance anchors analyst estimates and investor expectations. If the company later beats guidance, it looks even better; if it misses, it looks worse. Some companies provide precise, conservative guidance ("surprise to the upside"), while others provide wide ranges to avoid missing. Financial journalists track whether management consistently beats, misses, or matches its own guidance as a sign of credibility.

See also: Guidance, Forward guidance, Beat (earnings).

Embargo

An agreement that a reporter or media outlet will not publish information until a specific time, allowing coordinated release of news across multiple outlets.

A company agrees to give reporters early access to earnings results on the condition that they cannot publish before 4 p.m. This ensures fair and simultaneous coverage. Embargoes are standard in financial news; they level the playing field so large outlets don't scoop smaller competitors before they've had time to write. Breaking an embargo damages a journalist's credibility and can result in losing future early access.

See also: Attribution, Press release.

EPS

Earnings per share — a company's net income divided by the number of outstanding shares, a key profitability metric.

A company with $1 billion profit and 400 million shares outstanding has EPS of $2.50 ($1B ÷ 400M). Investors and analysts obsess over EPS because it ties company earnings to shareholder value directly. EPS can grow because profit grows (good) or because share buybacks reduce the denominator (less impressive). Financial journalism should distinguish between these drivers.

See also: Adjusted EPS, Buyback, Beat (earnings).

FinTwit

The financial Twitter community (now X), informal networks of investors, traders, and market commentators who share analysis and opinions in real time.

FinTwit influencers with large followings can move stock prices or cryptocurrency valuations through viral posts, even when their analysis is thin or biased. Some FinTwit traders share legitimate research; others pump and dump. Financial journalists increasingly monitor FinTwit sentiment as a sign of retail investor mood, but they should note that FinTwit is not representative of the broader investing public.

See also: Pump and dump, Sponsored content.

FOMC

The Federal Open Market Committee — a 12-member board of Federal Reserve officials that meets roughly every six weeks to set monetary policy and interest rates.

The FOMC decides whether to raise, lower, or hold short-term interest rates. Its decisions ripple through the economy: lower rates encourage borrowing and spending, higher rates cool inflation but risk recessions. Financial journalists obsess over FOMC meetings because they often trigger large market moves. The Fed publishes meeting minutes three weeks after each decision, and financial news covers them extensively.

Forward guidance

Public statements by central banks (like the Federal Reserve) about their likely future monetary policy, signaling where interest rates are headed.

The Fed might say "we expect to hold rates steady for the next six months" — that is forward guidance. It helps investors and borrowers plan ahead. Forward guidance can be hawkish (signaling rate hikes) or dovish (signaling rate cuts). Financial journalists closely parse forward guidance from central banks because it influences bond yields, currency markets, and stock valuations long before any actual rate decision.

See also: FOMC, Basis point (bps), Dot plot.

GAAP

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles — the standardized rules that U.S. companies use for financial reporting, enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

GAAP requires companies to record expenses in a consistent way so investors can compare companies fairly. However, GAAP can include one-time charges that don't reflect ongoing business performance, which is why companies also report "adjusted" (non-GAAP) earnings. Professional financial journalism reports both GAAP and adjusted numbers, explaining why they differ.

See also: Non-GAAP, Adjusted EPS.

Guidance

Any public statement by a company or forecasting organization about future performance, typically earnings, revenue, or economic metrics.

Guidance can be precise ("we expect $2.50 EPS next quarter") or vague ("we expect modest growth"). Good financial journalism explains what the guidance implies and compares it to prior guidance and analyst expectations. Guidance that declines quarter-over-quarter is a red flag, even if absolute numbers still look strong.

Hedge word

A qualifier used in writing to soften claims, reduce liability, or signal uncertainty — words like "may," "could," "possibly," or "appears to."

A financial article might say: "The company may face regulatory headwinds," instead of "The company faces regulatory headwinds." Hedge words are standard in financial journalism to avoid defamation claims and to acknowledge legitimate uncertainty. However, too many hedge words can make a story sound wishy-washy or evasive. Strong financial writing uses precise language and saves hedging for genuine uncertainty.

See also: Attribution, Quote.

Hindsight bias

The tendency, after an event has occurred, to see it as having been predictable or inevitable, even if it was surprising when it first happened.

After a market crash, many people claim "I saw it coming," even though no forecast beforehand predicted it. Financial journalists fall prey to hindsight bias when they write post-mortems on market events, framing them as obvious in retrospect when they were not. Good financial analysis acknowledges that the past is easier to explain than the future.

In-line

Meeting expectations — when a company reports results that match consensus estimates, neither beating nor missing.

An "in-line beat" describes earnings that beat consensus slightly. "In-line miss" means a modest shortfall. "In-line earnings growth" means growth that matches historical patterns. In-line results are the least exciting for financial news, so they receive lighter coverage than big beats or misses, even when they matter as much to the underlying business.

See also: Beat (earnings), Miss, Consensus estimate.

Lead paragraph

The first paragraph (typically one to two sentences) of a news article, designed to convey the main point and answer the reader's primary question.

A good lead for a financial story reads: "The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday, surprising some investors who expected a cut." Readers often scan just the lead to understand the headline news. Financial journalists craft leads to be specific, clear, and quotable — if the lead is vague, readers skip the article.

See also: Byline, Lede, Attribution.

MoM

Month-over-month — comparing a metric (revenue, employment, inflation) in one month to the prior month, useful for spotting short-term trends.

If unemployment in May is 4.0% and in April it was 4.2%, the MoM change is -0.2 percentage points. MoM data is volatile and noisy, so financial journalists should highlight both MoM and YoY trends. A metric can be down MoM but still up YoY, which provides a more complete picture.

See also: YoY, QoQ, Annualized rate.

Miss

When a company reports earnings per share (EPS) or revenue that fall short of analyst consensus estimates.

If consensus expected $2.00 EPS and the company reported $1.85, that is a miss. A miss often triggers an immediate stock decline, though it can recover if guidance is strong. Financial news sometimes frames a small miss (off by a penny) as a non-event, while a big miss (5%+) triggers sharp coverage. Context matters: a miss can occur because the business deteriorated, or because analysts were too optimistic.

NAIRU

The Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment — the unemployment rate at which inflation is stable, neither rising nor falling.

Economists estimate NAIRU at around 4.0–4.5% in the U.S. If actual unemployment falls below NAIRU, the theory predicts inflation will accelerate. If unemployment is above NAIRU, inflation should slow. Central banks use NAIRU to estimate how tight the labor market is. Financial journalists cite NAIRU to explain whether the Fed should raise or lower rates.

Narrative fallacy

The human tendency to construct a coherent story to explain random or complex events, attributing causation where none may exist or oversimplifying.

A stock rises 2% and financial headlines declare "Tech stocks rally on AI enthusiasm," even though AI was not unusual news that day — the rise might have been random. Or a market crash is explained as caused by "trade war fears" when the true driver was technical selling. Good financial journalism resists neat narratives and acknowledges complexity and uncertainty.

Non-GAAP

Financial metrics that do not follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, often excluding one-time charges to show "core" or "adjusted" operating performance.

A company's GAAP profit might be $50 million, but non-GAAP (adjusted) profit is $100 million because it adds back stock-based compensation and excludes a one-time restructuring charge. Non-GAAP measures give management more control over the narrative. Financial journalists should report both GAAP and non-GAAP figures and question whether adjustments are truly one-time or recurring.

See also: GAAP, Adjusted EPS.

Non-farm payrolls

The number of people employed in the U.S. outside of agriculture, published monthly by the Department of Labor — a key economic indicator tracked by the Federal Reserve and financial markets.

When the Labor Department reports that 200,000 non-farm payroll jobs were added in a month, financial markets often move sharply on that single number. Stronger job growth can signal an overheating economy (leading the Fed to raise rates), while weaker growth signals recession risk. Financial journalists interpret payroll data alongside wage growth and labor-force participation to understand the full employment picture.

See also: FOMC, Cost-push inflation, NAIRU.

On the record

Information provided by a source with explicit permission to attribute it by name and title in a news story.

A CEO saying "on the record" takes full responsibility for her words. On-the-record quotes are stronger than off-the-record or background information because readers know who is speaking and can evaluate their credibility. Financial news that relies heavily on background sources and few on-the-record quotes should raise caution.

Opinion piece

A signed article expressing the writer's personal viewpoint or analysis, as opposed to straight news reporting that aims for objectivity.

An opinion piece in the financial press might argue "Energy stocks are oversold" or "The Fed should cut rates now." Opinion pieces are labeled as such and attributed to a named columnist, allowing readers to know they are reading viewpoint, not reporting. Many financial outlets run both news and opinion; readers should distinguish between them. Some FinTwit posters label content as opinion when it is actually meant to persuade without transparency.

See also: Byline, Attribution.

P/E ratio

Price-to-earnings ratio — a stock's current price divided by its earnings per share (EPS), a basic valuation metric.

A stock trading at $100 per share with $4 EPS has a P/E ratio of 25. A higher P/E suggests the market is paying more per dollar of earnings, often because of growth expectations. A lower P/E suggests the market is discounting the stock, either due to lack of growth or risk. Financial journalists use P/E ratios to compare valuations across stocks and sectors, but P/E alone is not a buy or sell signal.

See also: EPS, Adjusted EPS, Beat (earnings).

Paywall

A digital barrier that requires readers to pay a subscription fee (or register) to access articles, used by publishers to generate recurring revenue.

The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Financial Times all use paywalls. Some outlets offer a limited number of free articles per month, then require payment; others are hard paywalls that require paid access to everything. Paywalls affect which readers see which stories and can create information asymmetry: people paying for premium financial news may be better informed than free-tier readers. This can also bias coverage toward wealthy or professional audiences.

See also: Affiliate link, Sponsored content.

Pivot

A significant shift in company strategy, product focus, or business model, often in response to market conditions or competitive pressure.

A software company might pivot from selling directly to enterprises to building a self-serve consumer product. Pivots are common in startups but also occur in mature companies. Financial journalists track pivots closely because they signal management's view of market opportunity. A major pivot can confuse investors and temporarily hurt stock performance even if the new direction is sound.

See also: Guidance, Earnings call.

PMI

Purchasing Managers' Index — a monthly survey of manufacturing and services managers asking whether they expect their business to expand or contract, published in many countries.

The PMI is an early indicator of economic health, published before official GDP data. Readings above 50 signal expansion, below 50 signal contraction. A PMI of 52 suggests moderate growth, while 42 signals recession risk. Financial journalists watch PMI releases carefully because they move currency and bond markets quickly. PMI is useful because it is forward-looking (based on manager expectations) rather than backward-looking.

Pre-announcement

An advance disclosure by a company that it will miss or beat guidance, typically released after market close to warn investors before official earnings release.

A company realizes midway through the quarter that it will miss its guidance and issues a press release warning investors. A pre-announcement can soften the blow of bad news (the market has time to adjust) or can be a form of guidance management. Financial journalists treat pre-announcements with skepticism because they are often preceded by insider selling.

Press release

An official statement issued by a company, government agency, or organization to announce news and control the message before journalists write their own coverage.

A company releases earnings results via press release before the earnings call. The press release includes prepared quotes from management, financial tables, and context. Financial journalists use press releases as a starting point but dig deeper with their own reporting, asking follow-up questions that the press release doesn't address. Good journalism makes clear what comes from the official press release versus independent reporting.

See also: Attribution, Embargo, Earnings call.

Pump and dump

A scheme in which participants buy a stock (often secretly), promote it heavily to drive the price up ("pump"), then sell their shares at the inflated price ("dump"), leaving other investors with losses.

A trader might quietly buy 100,000 shares of a penny stock, then post enthusiastic FinTwit messages about the company's potential, driving retail investors to buy. Once the stock price doubles, the original trader sells his shares, the price crashes, and retail investors lose money. Pump-and-dump schemes are illegal, but they are difficult to prove and prosecute. Financial journalists should be skeptical of heavily promoted microcap stocks without fundamental support.

See also: FinTwit, Sponsored content.

QoQ

Quarter-over-quarter — comparing a metric (revenue, earnings, employment) in one quarter to the prior quarter, useful for spotting medium-term trends.

If a company's revenue was $1.0 billion in Q2 and $1.1 billion in Q3, that is QoQ growth of 10%. QoQ changes smooth out some monthly noise but don't remove seasonal effects. A company with strong summer sales will naturally show QoQ growth in Q3. Financial journalists should highlight both QoQ and YoY trends to avoid misleading seasonal patterns.

See also: YoY, MoM, Annualized rate.

Quote

A verbatim excerpt from a speech, press release, earnings call, or interview, attributed to a specific speaker and enclosed in quotation marks.

Quotes make articles more credible and lively than paraphrasing. A strong quote reveals new information or shows emotion. A weak quote just repeats what was already said. Good financial journalism includes direct quotes from primary sources (company executives, government officials, economists) rather than relying only on paraphrasing. Quotes can also be cherry-picked to misrepresent context.

See also: Attribution, Hedge word, Byline.

Recency bias

The tendency to overweight recent events when making judgments, giving them more importance than older, perhaps more relevant information.

If a stock has risen sharply in the last month, investors often overestimate the likelihood that the trend will continue, ignoring the long-term average. A financial journalist covering a strong earnings beat might overstate its significance because it is fresh in mind, not acknowledging that the company has beaten earnings for five straight quarters. Recency bias is one of the most powerful biases affecting both investors and financial coverage.

Reuters

A major international news agency and provider of financial data, owned by Thomson Reuters, founded in 1851 and known for rigorous financial and political reporting.

Reuters is one of the "big three" news agencies (Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse) that provide financial reporting to thousands of outlets worldwide. Many financial articles you read were written or based on Reuters reporting. Reuters has a reputation for breaking important financial news quickly and accurately. It is also one of the leading providers of financial data terminals (Eikon) used by traders and analysts.

See also: Wire story, Attribution.

Sources say

A journalistic phrase indicating that one or more unidentified sources have provided information, typically used when on-the-record attribution is not available.

"Sources say the company is exploring a sale" means one or more people have told the journalist this, but they won't be named. This phrasing is weaker than specific attribution but stronger than pure speculation. Financial journalists should disclose how many sources confirm a story and what their roles are (executive, analyst, customer?) so readers can evaluate credibility.

Survivorship bias

The tendency to overlook or underestimate the failures and losses in a dataset because only the survivors are visible.

A financial article highlighting the top-performing mutual funds of the past decade ignores the funds that closed or merged due to poor performance. An investor studying only the companies in today's S&P 500 overlooks the hundreds of companies that failed and were delisted. Financial journalists should adjust for survivorship bias by examining a complete dataset, including both successes and failures.

TLDR

Short for "too long; didn't read" — an internet convention where a brief summary is provided at the top or end of a long article for readers who don't have time for the full text.

Some financial newsletters open with "TLDR: The Fed held rates steady and signaled future cuts," then expand on that summary. TLDR is useful for skimming, but it can oversimplify complex financial news. Readers should use TLDR as a jumping-off point and read the full article if the topic affects their finances.

See also: Lead paragraph, Lede.

Truncated axis

A graph or chart where the vertical axis does not start at zero, exaggerating small changes and distorting the visual impression of data.

A stock chart showing price movement over one month might have a vertical axis from $95 to $100 instead of $0 to $100, making a 5% move look like a 50% move. Financial news outlets and companies sometimes use truncated axes to exaggerate positive trends or make bad news look better. Good financial journalism uses axes that start at zero for most comparisons or clearly notes when axes are truncated.

See also: Cherry-picking, Correction.

Whisper number

An unofficial earnings forecast, usually lower than official guidance or consensus estimates, shared among traders and investors as speculation about what a company will actually report.

Official consensus might be $2.00 EPS, but the whisper number circulating on trading desks is $1.95, suggesting experienced traders expect the company to miss. If the company beats the whisper number but misses consensus, the stock might rise because it beat where insiders expected. Whisper numbers are not official and are often wrong, but they represent market skepticism about official numbers.

Wire story

A news article written by a major news agency (Reuters, AP, Bloomberg) and distributed to many outlets, which republish it with or without edits.

A Reuters article on quarterly inflation data is republished by 100 news outlets simultaneously. Wire stories provide baseline coverage of major financial announcements. Many outlets republish wire stories verbatim because they are trustworthy and save reporting resources. Financial readers will encounter many wire stories under different bylines, but the original reporting came from the wire agency.

See also: Reuters, Byline, Attribution.

YoY

Year-over-year — comparing a metric (earnings, revenue, employment) in one period to the same period a year ago, useful for removing seasonal effects.

If revenue was $100 million in Q2 2024 and $120 million in Q2 2025, that is 20% YoY growth. YoY comparisons smooth out seasonal patterns (summer businesses will always show QoQ gains in summer), so YoY is often more meaningful than QoQ. Financial journalists track both metrics, but YoY trends are usually more reliable for understanding real growth.

See also: QoQ, MoM, Annualized rate.

Adjusted EPS​

Affiliate link​

After-hours trading​

Anchoring bias​

Annualized rate​

Anonymous source​

Attribution​

Availability bias​

Background (off-record)​

Basis point (bps)​

Beat (earnings)​

Beige Book​

Buyback​

Byline​

Capex​

CAGR​

Cherry-picking​

Confirmation bias​

Consensus estimate​

Correction​

Cost-push inflation​

Dot plot​

Earnings call​

Earnings guidance​

Embargo​

EPS​

FinTwit​

FOMC​

Forward guidance​

GAAP​

Guidance​

Hedge word​

Hindsight bias​

In-line​

Lead paragraph​

MoM​

Miss​

NAIRU​

Narrative fallacy​

Non-GAAP​

Non-farm payrolls​

On the record​

Opinion piece​

P/E ratio​

Paywall​

Pivot​

PMI​

Pre-announcement​

Press release​

Pump and dump​

QoQ​

Quote​

Recency bias​

Reuters​

Sources say​

Sponsored content​

Survivorship bias​

TLDR​

Truncated axis​

Whisper number​

Wire story​

YoY​

End of Book 3 — Reading Financial News Without Getting Lost​