Learn the markets

• What Is Inflation (CPI) Data? — Plain-English guide to the Consumer Price Index: what CPI measures, when it is released and why it moves stocks, bonds and the dollar.
• What Is the Nonfarm Payrolls Report? — What the US jobs report (nonfarm payrolls) measures, when it comes out and how it moves the stock market and interest-rate expectations.
• What Is the Fed Funds Rate? — How the Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate works, who sets it, and why every rate decision moves stocks, bonds, mortgages and the dollar.
• What Is the Yield Curve and Why Does Inversion Matter? — A simple explanation of the Treasury yield curve, the 10-year minus 2-year spread, and why an inverted curve is watched as a recession warning.
• What Is GDP and How Does It Affect Markets? — What Gross Domestic Product measures, how often it is reported, and how GDP surprises move stocks and bonds.
• What Is RSI (Relative Strength Index)? — Beginner guide to the RSI momentum indicator: how the 0-100 scale works, what overbought and oversold mean, and its limits.
• What Are the 50-Day and 200-Day Moving Averages? — How moving averages smooth price data, what the golden cross and death cross mean, and why investors watch the 200-day line.
• What Is an ETF and How Do You Judge One? — What exchange-traded funds are, how they differ from mutual funds, and the key things to check: cost, size, liquidity and holdings.