The Policy & Markets Glossary
Every term you need to trade what Washington does — executive orders, tariffs, federal contracts, FDA and Fed catalysts — in plain English, with the tickers each one moves. 50 terms, free.
Executive Order
A presidential directive that steers federal agencies and can shift entire sectors overnight without Congress.
Government MechanicsFederal Register
The federal government's official daily journal where every proposed and final rule, notice, and order is published.
Government MechanicsAppropriations
The congressional bills that actually hand out federal money, deciding which agencies and programs get funded.
Government MechanicsContinuing Resolution
A stopgap that keeps the government funded at prior-year levels when Congress misses its appropriations deadline.
Government MechanicsGovernment Shutdown
A funding lapse that furloughs federal workers and pauses non-essential operations until Congress acts.
Government MechanicsDebt Ceiling
The statutory cap on how much the U.S. Treasury can borrow, a recurring source of default-risk theater.
Government MechanicsReconciliation
A fast-track budget process that lets the Senate pass fiscal bills with 51 votes, bypassing the filibuster.
Government MechanicsSole-Source Contract
A federal award handed to one company without competition because it is deemed the only viable supplier.
Government MechanicsIDIQ Contract
An indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity vehicle that lets agencies order goods or services as needed up to a ceiling.
Government MechanicsUSASpending
The federal government's open database of every contract, grant, and award, a goldmine for tracking who gets paid.
Government MechanicsNDAA
The annual defense policy law that authorizes weapons programs and sets Pentagon priorities Congress will fund.
Government MechanicsForeign Military Sale
A government-to-government arms deal where the U.S. sells American-made weapons to allied nations.
Trade & TariffsTariff
A tax on imported goods used to protect domestic industry or pressure trading partners, reshaping supply chains.
Trade & TariffsSection 232
A trade statute letting the President impose tariffs on imports deemed a threat to national security.
Trade & TariffsSection 301
The trade tool for retaliating against unfair foreign practices, the legal engine behind major China tariffs.
Trade & TariffsDe Minimis
The duty-free threshold for low-value imports that lets cheap parcels skip tariffs and formal customs.
Trade & TariffsSanctions
Financial and trade penalties that cut targeted countries, firms, or people out of the U.S. system.
Trade & TariffsExport Controls
Rules restricting which technologies U.S. firms can ship abroad, central to the chip and AI trade war.
Trade & TariffsEntity List
A Commerce Department blacklist barring U.S. firms from supplying named foreign companies without a license.
Trade & TariffsBuy American
Federal rules requiring government purchases to favor U.S.-made goods, steering procurement dollars home.
Markets & Filings8-K
The SEC filing companies must file within days to disclose material events markets need to know now.
Markets & Filings13F
The quarterly filing revealing what large institutions bought and sold, a lagging window into smart money.
Markets & FilingsForm 4
The near-real-time disclosure of insider stock buys and sells by executives, directors, and big holders.
Markets & FilingsPDUFA Date
The FDA's target deadline to decide on a drug application, a binary catalyst that can double or halve biotechs.
Markets & FilingsFDA Approval / Recall
The FDA's green light to sell a product, or its order to pull one, both swing healthcare stocks hard.
Markets & FilingsAntitrust Action
DOJ or FTC challenges to mergers or market power that can block deals or force breakups.
Markets & FilingsConsent Decree
A court-approved settlement where a company agrees to conditions to resolve a government enforcement case.
Fed & MacroFOMC
The Fed committee that sets U.S. interest-rate policy, its meetings are the market's biggest scheduled catalysts.
Fed & MacroFederal Funds Rate
The Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate that anchors borrowing costs across the entire economy.
Fed & MacroQuantitative Tightening
The Fed shrinking its balance sheet by letting bonds roll off, draining liquidity from markets.
Fed & MacroYield Curve
The plot of Treasury yields across maturities whose shape signals growth, inflation, and recession odds.
Sector CatalystsCHIPS Act
Federal law funding domestic semiconductor manufacturing with grants and tax credits to reshore chip supply.
Sector CatalystsIRA Tax Credits
Inflation Reduction Act clean-energy credits like 45Q and 45X that subsidize domestic energy manufacturing.
Sector CatalystsSPR
The U.S. emergency oil stockpile whose releases and refills swing crude prices and energy stocks.
Sector CatalystsLNG Export Permit
Federal authorization to export liquefied natural gas, a gate on U.S. gas producers' access to global prices.
Sector CatalystsNRC License
Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval to build or operate reactors, the key gate for the nuclear revival.
Sector CatalystsSpectrum Auction
FCC sales of wireless airwaves that determine carrier network capacity and require big capital outlays.
Sector CatalystsDrug Price Negotiation
Medicare's authority to negotiate prices on top drugs, a structural headwind for branded pharma revenue.
Sector CatalystsHALEU
The enriched uranium fuel advanced reactors need, whose scarce domestic supply is a federal priority.
Sector CatalystsRare Earths / Critical Minerals
Strategic minerals for magnets, batteries, and defense whose supply security drives federal support and price swings.
Sector CatalystsJones Act
The law requiring goods shipped between U.S. ports to move on American-built, -crewed, -flagged vessels.
Investing ConceptsCatalyst
A specific event expected to move a stock, the trigger that converts a thesis into a price change.
Investing ConceptsPriced In
When the market has already discounted an expected event, so the actual outcome moves the stock little.
Investing ConceptsEvent-Driven
A strategy that trades around specific corporate or policy events rather than long-term fundamentals.
Investing ConceptsSector Rotation
Shifting money between sectors as the economic cycle or policy regime changes leadership.
Investing ConceptsThematic ETF
A fund bundling stocks tied to a single trend or policy theme for one-click exposure to a catalyst.
Fed & MacroQuantitative Easing
The Fed buying bonds to inject liquidity and push down long rates, a tailwind for risk assets.
Trade & TariffsAntidumping Duty
A targeted tariff on imports sold below fair value, protecting a specific domestic industry from underpricing.
Government MechanicsCost-Plus Contract
A federal contract that reimburses a contractor's costs plus a fee, shifting overrun risk to the government.
Markets & FilingsS-1 / IPO Filing
The SEC registration a company files to go public, revealing financials and risks ahead of its IPO.
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