Learn it, then see it

Revenue · 3 min

Revenue: how much money comes in

Revenue is the size of a business, not its success.

Compare Amazon, Walmart and Costco

Profit · 3 min

Profit: how much money is kept

Profit is what survives after every cost of doing business.

Compare Apple, Microsoft and Coca-Cola

EPS · 3 min

EPS: profit sliced per share

Earnings per share is the profit attached to one single share.

Compare Nvidia, AMD and Intel

Market cap · 3 min

Market cap: the price of the whole company

Share price times share count — the market's price tag on the business.

Compare Apple, Nvidia and Ford

P/E · 4 min

P/E: the years-of-profit price tag

A P/E of 20 means you pay $20 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Compare Amazon, Walmart and Costco

Margins · 4 min

Margins: how much of each dollar survives

Margin is profit as a share of sales — the quality of the revenue.

Compare Microsoft, Walmart and Delta

FCF · 4 min

Free cash flow: the money actually left over

Cash left after paying to run and maintain the business.

Compare Apple, Tesla and Boeing

ROE · 4 min

ROE: what the owners' money earns

Return on equity is profit measured against shareholders' stake.

Compare Apple, Johnson & Johnson and McDonald's

ROIC · 5 min

ROIC: the fairest test of a business

Return on all the capital used — debt included, so borrowing can't flatter it.

Compare Visa, Coca-Cola and General Motors

Debt · 4 min

Debt: the thing that decides survival

Borrowing magnifies good years and can end a company in bad ones.

Compare Nvidia, Home Depot and Carnival

Moving averages · 4 min

Moving averages: the trend, with the noise removed

An average of recent prices that smooths daily jitter into a direction.

Open Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft charts

RSI · 4 min

RSI: is the move getting tired?

A 0–100 speedometer for how one-sided recent trading has been.

Compare Nvidia, Tesla and Coca-Cola

MACD · 5 min

MACD: when momentum changes gear

The gap between a fast and a slow average — a shift-in-momentum detector.

Open Nvidia, Amazon and Pfizer charts

Support · 3 min

Support: the price where buyers keep showing up

A level the price has repeatedly bounced from.

Open Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia charts

Resistance · 3 min

Resistance: the ceiling price keeps hitting

A level where sellers have repeatedly taken over.

Open Nvidia, Tesla and Amazon charts

Volume · 3 min

Volume: how much conviction is behind a move

The number of shares traded — the volume knob on any price move.

Compare Nvidia, Apple and Ford

P/E · 5 min

P/E in practice: comparing like with like

A P/E only means something next to history, peers and growth.

Compare Costco, Walmart and Target

PEG · 4 min

PEG: putting growth into the price tag

P/E divided by growth rate — a fairer test for fast growers.

Compare Nvidia, Microsoft and Coca-Cola

P/S · 4 min

P/S: valuing companies with no profit yet

Price against revenue — the fallback when there are no earnings.

Compare Nvidia, Amazon and Dollar General

DCF basics · 5 min

DCF basics: what a business is actually worth

Value = all the future cash, discounted back to today's money.

Compare Apple, Nvidia and PepsiCo

Start here · 3 min

What you actually own when you buy a share

A share is a slice of a real business, not a betting slip.

Start here · 4 min

Why a $10 stock isn't cheaper than a $500 one

Price per share tells you nothing on its own. Ratios do.

Building up · 5 min

How to read an earnings report without panicking

Surprises move prices far more than the actual numbers do.

Building up · 4 min

Why one great company is riskier than ten decent ones

Spreading money out removes the risk you're not paid to take.

Going deeper · 5 min

Charts vs. financials: what each one can and can't tell you

One describes the crowd, the other describes the company.