New here? Start with the terms.
A plain-language glossary for anything on this site you might not recognize — from options basics to the macro terms in Market Intel. Written for beginners; if you’re already deep in the Discord, most of this will be familiar.
Strategy & Portfolio
The building blocks referenced on the Strategy pageSleeve
One of the distinct strategies inside the portfolio — Growth, Dividend/Income, YieldMax, or Covered Calls — tracked and sized separately so no single approach can sink the whole book.
Growth
Stocks held for price appreciation rather than income. Higher potential upside, higher volatility.
Dividend / Income
Established stocks held mainly for their recurring dividend payments — the steadiest sleeve, meant to anchor the portfolio through volatility.
YieldMax
A family of ETFs that generate high monthly income by selling options against an underlying stock (like TSLA or NVDA) and distributing the premium collected as a dividend. Yields are often very high, but that income usually comes at the cost of capped upside and gradual erosion in the fund’s price — see NAV decay below.
Covered Call
An options strategy where an investor holding shares sells a call option against them, collecting a premium in exchange for capping the position’s upside if the stock rises past the strike price.
Regime (Bull / Choppy / Bear)
A read on the market’s current character, used to decide overall portfolio posture: Bull (trending up), Choppy/Rate-sensitive (range-bound, driven by rate expectations), or Bear (trending down).
Benchmark
A reference index or fund — like the S&P 500 — that portfolio performance is measured against, so returns can be judged in context rather than in isolation.
Sector Rotation
Shifting portfolio weight from one sector or style (say, growth tech) to another (say, value or defensives) based on where the market cycle suggests capital will perform best next.
Options Basics
The mechanics behind covered calls and the YieldMax sleeveCall Option
A contract giving the buyer the right (not the obligation) to buy a stock at a fixed price (the strike) before a set date (expiration). Buyers profit if the stock rises above the strike; sellers (like in a covered call) collect a premium up front in exchange for that obligation.
Put Option
A contract giving the buyer the right to sell a stock at a fixed strike price before expiration. Buyers profit if the stock falls below the strike — puts are often used as portfolio insurance against a decline.
Premium
The price paid by the buyer (and collected by the seller) for an options contract. This is the income covered-call writers and YieldMax funds are collecting.
Strike Price
The fixed price at which an option can be exercised — the line in the sand that determines whether an option ends up profitable.
Expiration
The date an options contract becomes void. After this date, the contract no longer exists.
Position & Performance
What the numbers on a portfolio dashboard actually meanCost Basis
What was originally paid for a position, used as the reference point to calculate gain or loss.
Net Liquidity (Net Liq)
The current market value of a position or account — what it would be worth if closed out right now.
P&L: Open vs. Day
Open P&L is the unrealized gain or loss on a position since it was first opened. Day P&L is just the change from today’s session.
Macro & Market
The terms behind the Market Intel dashboardVIX
The CBOE Volatility Index — a measure of expected S&P 500 volatility over the next 30 days. Often called the market’s “fear gauge”: higher VIX means the market expects bigger swings.
10-Yr Treasury (Yield)
The yield on the U.S. 10-year government bond. A key benchmark interest rate that influences borrowing costs, mortgage rates, and how stocks (especially growth stocks) get valued.
Fed Funds Rate
The interest rate the Federal Reserve sets for banks lending to each other overnight. It’s the primary lever the Fed uses to cool down or stimulate the broader economy.
FOMC
The Federal Open Market Committee — the Fed’s policy-making body, which meets roughly eight times a year to set interest rate policy. Source: federalreserve.gov.
CPI (Consumer Price Index)
The government’s primary measure of inflation, tracking price changes for a basket of everyday goods and services. Released monthly by the BLS.
PPI (Producer Price Index)
Measures price changes at the wholesale/producer level — often watched as a leading indicator for where consumer inflation (CPI) is headed next.
PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures Index)
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, distinct from CPI and used directly in the Fed’s own 2% inflation target.