The Motley Fool

The "Mag 7" are a group of huge, high-profile technology companies: Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla.

There are many kinds of derivatives of varying complexity, including options, futures and forwards, swaps and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

Yields (return on investment) for government and other types of bonds can rise due to interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

According to the Institute of Business & Finance, there were recently about 6,800 mutual funds in the U.S. — down from a peak of about 8,000.

Poison pill plans can successfully fend off takeovers. But they're not without risks.

If the market rises or falls by 10%, so will the stock (roughly). A beta below 1.0 reflects lower volatility, and a beta above 1.0 reflects higher volatility.

Remember that long-term investors aim to stay invested in promising stocks for years, riding out temporary downturns.

Shareholders can lose out when a company's capital is not allocated effectively.

If you're interested in a company that cut its payout, research it to see whether you have confidence in an upcoming turnaround.

It's one way to measure a company's worth. You might think that a company's market capitalization reflects its total value, as it's the value of all outstanding shares.