Glossary

ETF (exchange-traded fund)

A fund that trades on an exchange like a stock and tracks an index or a basket of assets (SPY, QQQ, gold ETFs). A common vehicle for unleveraged, long-term exposure.

With an ETF you invest in hundreds of stocks in a single trade, and management fees are low. Leveraged and inverse ETFs (3x, -1x) rebalance daily, so over the long run they produce results different from what you'd expect.

For a trader, ETFs usually represent the investing side, while futures and CFDs represent the active trading side.

Related terms

Where it appears in the guides

Guides whose text uses this term; most frequent first.