Trading Glossary
Key terms for active traders — catalysts, dark pools, options flow, AI signals, and more.
After-Hours Trading
Stock trading that occurs outside of regular market hours (9:30am–4pm ET), typically from 4pm–8pm ET. Most major earnings reports and catalyst events are released in after-hours, making this session critical for catalyst traders.
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Block Trade
A privately negotiated, large-volume securities transaction executed outside the public order book to minimize market impact.
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Catalyst Family
A grouping of related catalyst types that tend to produce similar market behaviors. Used in TMS scoring to apply sector-appropriate historical patterns when classifying new events.
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Dark Pool
A private exchange where institutional investors trade large blocks of shares without public visibility before execution.
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Earnings Surprise
The difference between a company's reported earnings and the Wall Street consensus estimate. Positive surprises drive stock gains; negative surprises drive declines.
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Float (Shares Available for Trading)
The number of a company's shares that are actually available for trading by the public, excluding locked-up insider and institutional holdings.
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Gap Up
When a stock opens significantly higher than its previous closing price, creating a price "gap" on the chart with no trading occurring at the intermediate prices.
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Implied Volatility (IV)
A forward-looking metric derived from options prices that reflects the market's expectation of future price movement magnitude.
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Insider Buying
Open-market stock purchases by company executives, directors, or 10%+ shareholders, disclosed via SEC Form 4. Considered a bullish signal reflecting informed confidence in the company's prospects.
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IV Spike (Implied Volatility Spike)
A sudden increase in the implied volatility of a stock's options, indicating that the options market expects a large price move in the near future.
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Market Capitalization
The total market value of a company's outstanding shares. Market cap determines which "tier" a stock falls into (micro-cap, small-cap, mid-cap, large-cap) and drives liquidity and volatility characteristics.
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Market Catalyst
An event or announcement that triggers a significant price movement in a stock.
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Options Flow
The real-time stream of options market activity, tracked to identify unusual buying or selling patterns that indicate institutional positioning.
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Options Sweep
A large, aggressive options order that fills across multiple exchanges simultaneously, indicating urgency and institutional conviction.
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PDUFA Date
The FDA-set deadline for completing its review of a New Drug Application, representing the scheduled date of the binary approval or rejection decision for a drug candidate.
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Premarket Gap
A significant difference between a stock's previous closing price and its current premarket trading price, typically caused by overnight catalysts.
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Price Momentum
The tendency of stocks that have moved significantly in one direction to continue moving in that direction over the near term.
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Put/Call Ratio
A sentiment indicator calculated by dividing options put volume by call volume, used to gauge bearish versus bullish positioning in a stock or the broader market.
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Reaction Window
The brief period immediately following a catalyst event during which the initial price discovery occurs and the largest, fastest price moves happen.
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Short Squeeze
A rapid price increase triggered when short sellers are forced to cover their positions simultaneously, creating self-reinforcing buying pressure.
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TMS Score (Trade Momentum Score)
TradeAI News's proprietary 0–100 composite AI score measuring the strength and actionability of a trading signal.
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Trading Halt
A temporary suspension of trading in a stock, ordered by the exchange or the SEC, typically due to pending news, extreme volatility, or regulatory concerns.
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Unusual Options Activity (UOA)
Options trading volume or characteristics that deviate significantly from a stock's historical norms, often interpreted as a signal of institutional directional positioning.
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Volume Spike
An abnormal increase in trading volume that often precedes or confirms a significant price movement in a stock.
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