Financial Glossary
Gold, currency, crypto, stock market and economy terms used across the site — A to Z, with short definitions.
0-9
- 52-Week Range
- The lowest and highest prices an asset has traded at over the past 52 weeks; shows where the current price sits historically.
A
- Altcoin
- The collective name for all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (e.g. Ethereum, BNB, XRP).
- Amortization Schedule
- A table breaking each loan installment into principal, interest and remaining balance.
- Ask Price
- The price sellers are willing to accept for an asset; the rate a dealer or bank applies when selling to you.
- Ata Gold Coin
- A Republic coin type bearing Atatürk's portrait; the standard full Ata weighs about 7.2 grams.
B
- Balance Sheet
- The financial statement showing a company's assets, liabilities and equity at a specific date.
- Basis Point
- One hundredth of a percentage point (0.01). Used to express rate changes; 100 basis points equal 1%.
- Bear Market
- A market period of sustained falling prices and prevailing pessimism, typically a 20%+ decline from the peak.
- Beta
- A stock's volatility relative to the market index; above 1 means more volatile than the market, below 1 calmer.
- Bid Price
- The price buyers are willing to pay for an asset; the rate a dealer or bank applies when buying from you.
- BIST 100
- The main index covering the 100 largest companies on Borsa Istanbul; the benchmark for Turkish equities.
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- The first and largest cryptocurrency, launched in 2009, with supply capped at 21 million coins.
- Block
- A data package of confirmed transactions added to the blockchain, produced roughly every 10 minutes on Bitcoin.
- Blockchain
- A distributed ledger technology recording transactions immutably in blocks; the infrastructure behind cryptocurrencies.
- Bond
- A debt instrument issued by governments or companies, paying the holder interest (coupons) until maturity.
- Book Value
- A company's equity value in its accounts, found by subtracting liabilities from assets.
- Brent Crude
- North Sea crude oil serving as the main price benchmark for Europe and much of the world.
- BSMV (Banking and Insurance Transactions Tax)
- The Banking and Insurance Transactions Tax: a 15% tax on loan interest in Turkey (mortgages are exempt).
- Bull Market
- A market period of sustained rising prices and prevailing optimism.
- Bullion Trade
- The jeweler market where gold coins and bullion are traded; the source of this site's ziynet prices.
- Buy Pressure
- The dominance of buyers over sellers in the market, measured by the share of buy orders in order flow.
C
- Candlestick Chart
- A chart type showing each period's open, close, high and low as a single candle shape.
- Central Bank
- The institution managing monetary policy, setting rates and safeguarding price stability (CBRT in Turkey, the Fed in the US).
- Closing Price
- The last traded price of an asset at the end of a trading day or session; daily change is measured against it.
- Commodity
- Standardized basic goods traded on exchanges, such as oil, natural gas, copper and wheat.
- Compound Interest
- Interest added to principal so that interest itself earns interest, compounding returns over time.
- Consumer Confidence Index
- A survey index of households' outlook on the economy and their finances; above 100 signals optimism.
- Core Inflation
- Inflation calculated excluding volatile items like food and energy; reveals the persistent price trend.
- COT Report
- The weekly Commitments of Traders report showing large players' positions in US futures markets, used to read market expectations.
- Coupon
- The periodic interest a bond pays its holder; on fixed-coupon securities the rate stays constant until maturity.
- CPI (Consumer Price Index)
- The Consumer Price Index measures price changes in a household goods-and-services basket; in Turkey, TurkStat publishes it monthly.
- Cross Rate
- An exchange rate between two currencies calculated through a third currency, usually the US dollar.
- Crypto Wallet
- Software or hardware storing the keys to crypto assets, in online (hot) and offline (cold) forms.
- Cryptocurrency
- A digital currency secured by cryptography and independent of any central authority.
- Currency Basket
- The average lira value of half a dollar plus half a euro (½USD+½EUR), used to track the lira's overall strength.
- Currency Pair
- The exchange ratio between two foreign currencies (e.g. EUR/USD).
- Current Account Deficit
- When a country's foreign-currency earnings fall short of its outflows; financing it requires external funds and can pressure the exchange rate.
D
- Decentralized Exchange (DEX)
- A crypto exchange where users trade directly from their wallets without intermediaries; its volume reflects DeFi activity.
- DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
- Lending, trading and yield applications running on smart contracts without banks.
- Deposit Rate
- The annual interest banks pay on time deposits; the return reference for savings.
- Diversification
- Spreading investments across different asset classes to reduce risk.
- Dividend
- The portion of profit a company distributes to shareholders, paid in cash or shares.
- Dividend Yield
- Annual dividend as a percentage of the share price; shows a stock's cash return power.
E
- Earnings Per Share (EPS)
- Net income divided by the number of shares; profitability measured per share.
- EBITDA
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; shows core operating profitability.
- Economic Calendar
- A calendar listing release dates of key economic data with forecasts and prior values; a herald of market volatility.
- Exchange Rate
- The value of one currency in terms of another (e.g. USD/TRY: the lira price of one dollar).
- Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
- A fund tracking an index or asset basket that trades on an exchange like a stock.
F
- Fine Gold
- Gold of 99.9%+ purity (24 karat); the base reference for gram gold prices.
- Free Cash Flow
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures; shows a company's true cash-generating power.
- Free Market Rate
- Prices formed by supply and demand independent of official rates; in Turkey it refers especially to Grand Bazaar gold and currency prices.
- Full Gold Coin
- A 22-karat Turkish coin of about 7 grams, also known as a full lira.
- Futures
- Contracts to buy or sell an asset at a future date for a price agreed today.
G
- GDP
- Gross Domestic Product: the total value of all goods and services produced in a country over a period; growth is its change.
- Gold Bullion
- Investment gold in bar form, usually 24-karat pure, with lower craftsmanship cost than jewelry coins.
- Gold Ounce
- The international unit for gold pricing; 1 troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams, tracked globally as XAU/USD.
- Government Domestic Debt Securities
- The collective name for bonds, bills and lease certificates issued domestically by the Turkish Treasury.
- Gram Gold
- The price of one gram of fine gold; Turkey's basic gold investment unit, derived from the ounce price and the USD rate.
- Gremse Gold
- A large traditional gold piece of about 17.5 grams, customarily given at weddings.
H
- Half Gold Coin
- A 22-karat Turkish coin of about 3.5 grams — twice the size of a quarter coin.
- Halving
- The halving of Bitcoin's block reward roughly every four years; it cuts new supply and is historically linked to price cycles.
- Hamit Gold Coin
- A historic Ottoman gold coin from the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II, traded with a collectible premium.
- Hash Rate
- The network's total mining computation per second (EH/s); a rising hash rate signals stronger network security.
- House Price Index
- A CBRT index tracking changes in housing prices; comparing nominal growth with inflation yields the real change.
I
- Income Statement
- The financial statement showing a company's revenue, expenses and profit over a period.
- Index
- An indicator summarizing the joint performance of a group of stocks or assets in a single number (e.g. BIST 100, S&P 500).
- Inflation
- A sustained rise in the general price level, eroding money's purchasing power over time.
- Inflation Expectations
- The inflation market participants expect over the next 12-24 months, measured by central bank surveys and shaping pricing behavior.
- Installment
- The monthly repayment amount of a loan, made up of principal and interest components.
- Interest Rate
- The cost of borrowing money or the return on savings, usually expressed as an annual percentage.
- IPO (Initial Public Offering)
- A company's first sale of shares to the public, after which the stock starts trading on an exchange.
K
- Karat
- The measure of gold purity: 24K is pure gold, 22K is 91.6%, 18K is 75% and 14K is 58.5%.
- KKDF (Resource Utilization Support Fund)
- The Resource Utilization Support Fund: a 15% levy charged on consumer loan interest in Turkey.
L
- Lease Certificate (Sukuk)
- A debt instrument based on lease income from assets rather than interest, compliant with Islamic finance principles and also issued in Treasury auctions.
- Lightning Network
- A second-layer scaling solution on Bitcoin for fast, low-fee payments.
- Liquidity
- How easily an asset can be bought or sold quickly without significantly moving its price.
- Lot
- The trading unit on an exchange; on Borsa Istanbul, 1 lot equals 1 share.
M
- Market Capitalization
- The total value of a company or cryptocurrency, calculated as unit price multiplied by the number of units in circulation.
- Market Depth
- The distribution of buy and sell orders across price levels in the order book; shows how much large orders would move the price.
- Maturity (Term)
- The total period over which a loan is repaid or a deposit is held, usually expressed in months.
- Mempool
- The pool of pending transactions waiting to enter a block; its size drives network congestion and fee levels.
- Mining
- The process of validating transactions and producing new blocks with computing power in exchange for rewards; it secures the Bitcoin network.
- Mining Difficulty
- An automatic adjustment keeping block production near every 10 minutes, recalculated every 2016 blocks.
- Money Supply
- The total amount of money in the economy, measured in tiers from narrow M1 to broad M3.
- Moving Average
- The average price of the last N days (e.g. 50 or 200); a technical indicator used to read trend direction.
- Mutual Fund
- A collective vehicle pooling investors' money into professionally managed assets like stocks, bonds and gold; in Turkey funds trade on the TEFAS platform.
N
- Net Income
- Profit remaining after all expenses, interest and taxes; the company's bottom line.
- Nisab
- The minimum wealth threshold at which zakat becomes obligatory, calculated as 80.18 grams of gold or its equivalent.
- Nonfarm Payrolls
- The monthly change in US employment outside agriculture; one of the most market-moving data releases globally.
O
- OHLC
- Open, High, Low, Close — the four price points that form the basic data unit of charts.
- On-Chain Data
- Metrics read directly from the blockchain (hash rate, mempool size, fees, etc.), providing raw data for market analysis.
- Opening Price
- The first traded price of an asset at the start of a trading day or session.
P
- P/B Ratio
- Market value divided by book value; below 1 means the stock trades under its book value.
- P/E Ratio
- Share price divided by annual earnings per share; measures how expensive a stock is relative to its earnings.
- Pension Fund
- A long-term fund type investing contributions from the private pension system (BES).
- Policy Rate
- The central bank's benchmark rate applied to banks; the reference for loan and deposit rates.
- Portfolio
- The complete set of assets an investor holds, such as gold, currencies, stocks and crypto.
- PPI (Producer Price Index)
- The Domestic Producer Price Index measures price changes at the producer stage and is seen as a leading indicator of consumer inflation.
- Principal
- The base amount borrowed or invested, excluding interest.
- Profit Margin
- Profit as a percentage of revenue, broken down into gross, operating and net margins.
- Purchasing Power
- The amount of goods and services a sum of money can buy; it shrinks as inflation rises.
Q
- Quarter Gold Coin
- A traditional Turkish 22-karat coin of about 1.75 grams; popular for gifts and small savings.
R
- Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER)
- The lira's inflation-adjusted value against trading partners' currencies; above 100 signals an overvalued, below 100 an undervalued lira.
- Real Return
- Return adjusted for inflation; shows an investment's true gain in purchasing power.
- Real Sector Confidence Index
- A CBRT index measuring manufacturers' production, order and investment expectations; above 100 indicates an optimistic outlook.
- Recession
- A contraction in economic activity, technically defined as two consecutive quarters of shrinking GDP.
- Redemption
- The repayment of a debt security's principal at maturity; in the auction calendar it marks the security's final date.
- Rent Index
- An index measuring rent changes in newly leased homes; tracks the current course of the rental market.
- Republic Gold Coin
- The general name for official 22-karat gold coins minted by the Turkish State Mint, issued in two types: ziynet and Ata.
- Reşat Gold Coin
- A historic Ottoman gold coin from the reign of Sultan Mehmed V Reşad, valued also as a collectible.
- Resistance
- A price level where rising prices tend to stall due to selling pressure; watched as a ceiling in technical analysis.
- Return on Equity (ROE)
- Net income as a percentage of equity; measures how efficiently a company uses shareholder capital.
S
- Satoshi
- The smallest unit of Bitcoin; 1 BTC equals 100 million satoshis.
- Short Selling
- Selling borrowed shares expecting a decline, to buy them back cheaper later.
- Silver
- The most invested precious metal after gold, priced per gram and ounce, with industrial demand influencing its price.
- Spot Market
- A market where assets are traded for immediate delivery at the current price, as opposed to futures.
- Spread
- The difference between the bid and ask price. A narrow spread signals high liquidity; a wide spread signals low liquidity or higher risk.
- Stablecoin
- A cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset such as the US dollar (e.g. USDT, USDC).
- Stock (Share)
- A security representing ownership in a company's capital, potentially granting dividends and voting rights.
- Stock Exchange
- An organized market where stocks and other securities are regularly bought and sold.
- Stop-Loss
- An order that automatically closes a position when the price falls to a set level, limiting losses.
- Support
- A price level where falling prices tend to pause due to buying interest; watched as a floor in technical analysis.
T
- Target Price
- The price level analysts project for a stock over a given horizon.
- TLREF
- The Turkish Lira Overnight Reference Rate, calculated from repo trades on Borsa Istanbul and used as the base for floating-rate contracts.
- Total Value Locked (TVL)
- The total capital locked in DeFi protocols; a key gauge of the ecosystem's size.
- Trade Balance
- The difference between exports and imports: a surplus when exports exceed imports, a deficit otherwise.
- Trading Session
- The time window when an exchange is open for trading; pre-market and after-hours periods are tracked separately.
- Transaction Fee (sat/vB)
- The fee paid to miners for including a transaction in a block, measured on Bitcoin in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB).
- Treasury Auction
- An auction where the government sells bonds, bills and lease certificates to banks and institutional investors through rate bids; the resulting rate reflects the state's borrowing cost.
- Treasury Bill
- A government debt security with a maturity under one year, usually sold at a discount without coupons.
U
- Unemployment Rate
- The share of the labor force seeking but unable to find work; a core gauge of economic health.
V
- Value Date
- The date a transaction takes financial effect; in auctions, the day the security is issued and starts accruing interest.
- Volatility
- The intensity of price fluctuations over a period. Higher volatility increases both risk and return potential.
- Volume
- The total amount of an asset traded over a given period; a gauge of market interest and the strength of a move.
- Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP)
- The average price weighted by trading volume; an intraday fair-value reference.
W
- WTI Crude
- The US crude oil benchmark (West Texas Intermediate); with Brent, one of the two main global price references.
Y
- Yield Curve
- A plot of bond yields across maturities; short-term yields exceeding long-term ones (inversion) has historically signaled recession.
Z
- Zakat
- An annual Islamic obligation for Muslims whose wealth exceeds the nisab, typically at 2.5% (1/40) of qualifying assets.
- Ziynet (Ornamental) Gold
- The general name for traditional Turkish coin and ornament gold such as quarter, half and full coins, standardized at 22 karat.