Same-store Sales: Also referred to as “comps,” a statistic used in retail industry analysis. Same-store sales measure percentage changes in revenue for retailers’ stores that have been open for more than a year. This statistic allows investors to determine what portion of new sales has come from sales growth and what portion from the opening of new stores. This analysis is import because, although new stores are good, a saturation point – where future sales growth is determined by same store sales growth – eventually occurs.

Source: Investopedia, Fool.com

Sell in May and Go Away: A well-known adage amongst stock traders, this idiom warns investors to sell their stock holdings in May to avoid the seasonal decline in equity markets. The commonly held belief that contributes to this adage is that the investor who sells their holdings in May and returns to the equity market in November will benefit by avoiding the often volatile months of June-October.

Source: Wikipedia, Investopedia

Sell-off: A sell-off is the rapid selling of stocks, bonds or commodities, such as oil. The increase in supply leads to a decline in the value of the security.

Source: Investopedia

Shoulder Season: The time between highs and lows in growth for an industry or sector. Plotted on a graph, the high resembles a head and the lows resemble shoulders. In the natural gas industry, a shoulder season occurs before consumers use their air conditioning in the spring and then again before they turn on their heat in the fall.

Source: Wikitionary

Small Cap: Small-capitalization stocks typically have a market capitalization (number of shares outstanding multiplied by the stock price) of $1.5 billion or less. Since they are less established, small-cap stocks are usually more volatile than larger, S&P 500 companies.

Source: Ferguson Wellman

Smart Money: Cash invested by those considered to be experienced, well-informed, “in the know” or all three. Because insiders and better-informed speculators typically invest more, smart money can sometimes be spotted by greater than usual volume, especially when little or no public data exists to justify it.

Source: Investopedia

Smartphone: A cellular telephone with access to the Internet and built-in applications. Text messaging, email, web browsing and still/video cameras are examples of other features. Smartphones can run multiple applications, transforming a “single-minded” cell phone into a computer.

Source: pcmag.com

Super Bowl Indicator: an indicator based on the superstition that a Super Bowl win for a team from the old AFL (now AFC division) foretells a bear market (down market) for the coming year, and a win for a team from the old NFL (NFC division) means it will be a bull market (up market). It was “discovered” by sportswriter Leonard Koppett in the 1970s

Sources: Investopedia, Wikipedia, Business Dictionary

Sword of Damocles: A metaphor based on Greek legend of the constant fear present in the lives of those with great responsibility. Damocles was a courtier for King Dionysis. After constantly praising Dionysis’ great fortune, Damocles was offered the chance to switch roles with Dionysis. When Damocles became king a sword appeared over his head suspended by only a single horse hair. The fear that the sword would fall proved too much for Damocles. He begged Dionysis to let him return to his role as a courtier.

Source: Wikipedia

Syriza Party: also known as the Coalition of the Radical left, a left-wing political party in Greece, made up of left-wing and radical left parties. Originally comprised of 13 groups and independent politicians including democratic socialists, left-wing populist, green populist, Maoist, Trotskyist and eurocommunists. Syriza is considered an anti-establishment party. It is the second largest political party in Greece and recently became its most popular as well.

Source: Wikipedia