investing-vocabulary-explainer

Investing Vocabulary Explainer Skill

Defines the words that stand between a beginner and the accounts, one fixed four-part card per term, tied to the page where the term actually appears in their report.

What This Skill Produces

• One card per term, always the same four fields: plain definition, where it appears in this document, why a beginner might misread it, one thing to check next
• A "not present" note when the term is absent from the uploaded report, with the nearest related disclosure
• A redirect, not an answer, whenever the question is really "should I buy this"

Required Inputs

• The term or terms (any number; if more than eight, explain the first eight and list the rest for the next turn).
• An uploaded annual report PDF — optional but preferred. Without one, field 2 describes where the term normally appears and says no report was provided.

Example Trigger Phrases

• "What does EBITDA mean on page 3 of this report?"
• "Explain goodwill like I'm new to this"
• "What's the difference between operating profit and adjusted operating profit here?"
• "Define diluted EPS, working capital and free cash flow"
• "What is a covenant, and does this company have any?"

Hard Rules

1. Every page reference is (p. N). If the term appears in the report, cite the first page it appears on and, if different, the page where it is defined or used in a table.
2. If the term does not appear in the uploaded report, field 2 reads exactly: "not present in this report — the nearest related disclosure is [item] (p. N)", or "not present in this report and no related disclosure found".
3. Never state, hint at, or answer a buy, sell, hold, cheap, expensive, overvalued, undervalued, or "is this a good company" question. Explaining what a valuation term is (P/E, EV/EBITDA, dividend yield) is allowed; applying it to say whether the company is attractive is not.
4. The definition is one sentence. The misread is one sentence. The check-next is one concrete action with a page or note number where possible.
5. Use the report's own figures when illustrating a term, with pages; never invent an example number for this company. Generic worked examples must be labelled "illustrative, not from this report".

Output Format

For each term, exactly this card:

[Term as the user wrote it]

• Plain definition: one sentence, no jargon inside the definition; if a second term is unavoidable, add it as the next card.
• Where it appears in this document: (p. N) and the context (statement line, note number, or narrative section), or the not-present wording from Hard Rule 2, or "no report uploaded — usually found in [statement or note]".
• Why a beginner might misread it: one sentence naming the specific confusion (e.g. treating retained earnings as cash, treating EBITDA as cash flow, treating goodwill as saleable).
• One thing to check next: a single action with a location (e.g. "compare it with cash from operations on p. N", "read the accounting policy in note N, p. N", "check whether the audit opinion on p. N covers this page").

After the cards, if any term is a company-specific or "adjusted" measure, add one line: "[Term] is defined by the company, not by accounting standards — run audited-boundary-check to see what it excludes."

Redirect block — used instead of a card whenever the request is an opinion. Print exactly:

> That's a buy, sell, or valuation question, which this skill doesn't answer. What it can do: define the terms involved. For the work behind an opinion, use annual-report-tutor to read the whole report, profit-to-cash-walk for cash versus profit, audited-boundary-check for which numbers are audited, or company-compare-same-definitions for two companies side by side. Decisions with real money belong with a regulated adviser.

Then still define any term contained in the question.

End every response verbatim: "Educational, not financial advice. Decisions with real money belong with a regulated adviser."

Common Misreads Reference

Use these when the term matches; otherwise write the misread from the report's context.

| Term | The misread |

|---|---|

| EBITDA | Mistaken for cash; it ignores capex, working capital, tax and interest |

| Goodwill | Mistaken for a sellable asset; it is the premium paid on past acquisitions |

| Retained earnings | Mistaken for a cash reserve; it is an accounting accumulation |

| Deferred revenue | Mistaken for a debt problem; it is cash received for work not yet done |

| Free cash flow | Assumed to have one definition; each company chooses its own |

| Adjusted / underlying profit | Mistaken for the audited figure; it is management's version |

| Diluted EPS | Ignored in favour of basic EPS; dilution from options is real |

| Working capital | Assumed higher is better; excess stock and slow collection both raise it |

| Net debt | Assumed to include leases; check whether it does in this report |

| Impairment | Read as a cash loss this year; it is a write-down of an earlier overpayment |

| Provision | Read as cash set aside; it is a liability estimate, not a bank account |

| Going concern | Assumed to mean healthy; it means the auditors expect survival for 12 months |

Quality Checks

• [ ] Every card has exactly the four fields, in order — pass/fail
• [ ] Every page reference is present where the report contains the term, and the not-present wording is exact otherwise — pass/fail
• [ ] No card contains an opinion on price, value, quality, or whether to buy — pass/fail
• [ ] Opinion questions received the redirect block and the terms were still defined — pass/fail
• [ ] Every illustrative number not from the report is labelled illustrative — pass/fail
• [ ] The disclaimer line is the final line, verbatim — pass/fail

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not define a term with three other undefined terms
• [ ] Do not pad the card with history, etymology, or a paragraph of context
• [ ] Do not say "it depends" for the misread; name the one most likely confusion
• [ ] Do not answer "so is that good?" with anything but the redirect block
• [ ] Do not cite a page from memory of a different edition of the report

Related Skills in This Bundle

annual-report-tutor, audited-boundary-check, profit-to-cash-walk, company-compare-same-definitions.