Volatility
Categories: Stocks, Managed Funds, Derivatives, IPO, Trading
Ups and downs (in the finance world, it's referring to the market).
Sometimes, volatility is called beta and is measured in numbers. If the market moves 2% and your stock moves 4% on average, it's beta is 2, roughly.
Example
Here's a volatile stock chart. And here's one that's (relatively) a dead man's pulse.
Why the diff? Well, Netflix has more ups and downs because investors are less sure about the company. The company doesn't pay a dividend and it has monster competitors. GM, on the other hand, is a slowly dying-ish company. It has relatively steady (albeit scant) earnings, and it pays a dividend, which keeps its stock price stable.
For a better encapsulation of volatility, we suggest Real Housewives.