What Wall Street’s Buy, Hold, Sell Ratings Actually Mean
Buy/Hold/Sell scales aren’t standardized. Here’s how sell-side analysts build ratings, derive price targets, and why the consensus beats any one call.
Market Education
Learn how stocks, bonds and capital markets work. Explore plain-English explanations, worked examples and charts, then follow related coverage to connect market concepts with current events. Find your way around ECMSource.
SpaceX Lockup Expires Aug 6: 912M Shares Come Free
SpaceX’s (SPCX) 180-day IPO lockup ends Aug 6, freeing ~912 million insider shares two days after a bruising first earnings report.
CPI vs Core CPI vs PCE: How the Fed’s Inflation Gauges Differ
Why the Fed targets PCE inflation at 2%, how CPI and PCE differ in formula, scope, and weights, and what June 2026’s readings actually show.
The Wheel Strategy Explained: How the Options Cycle Works
The wheel strategy in plain English: sell a cash-secured put, take assignment, sell covered calls, get called away, repeat. Mechanics, math, mistakes.
How to Read an Earnings Report: Beats, Misses, Guidance
A step-by-step guide to a public company’s earnings report — the three statements, beats vs misses, GAAP vs non-GAAP, and what guidance really tells you.
Stock Splits Explained: Forward, Reverse, and What They Do
How stock splits work, why NVIDIA and Chipotle did them, and when a reverse split signals distress. Real numbers, no jargon.
WACC Explained: The Weighted Average Cost of Capital
WACC is the blended hurdle rate a company must earn on its investments. Learn the formula, a worked example, and the mistakes that break the number.
Poison Pill Explained: How Shareholder Rights Plans Work
What is a poison pill? How the flip-in, flip-over, and trigger thresholds work — plus the Twitter, Airgas, and Household cases every investor should know.
Price-to-Book Ratio Explained: When Book Value Matters
P/B compares stock price to the accounting value of a company’s net assets. How to calculate it, why it works for banks, and when book value misleads.
Iron Condor Explained: How the 4-Leg Trade Actually Works
A plain-English guide to iron condors: the four legs, breakevens, max profit and loss, a worked example, and when the trade blows up.