10 Most Searched Financial Terms by U.S. Investors

The world is awash in abbreviations, not least when it comes to investments. For retail investors, the plethora of abbreviations can be overwhelming and for many discouraging. Money.co.uk, a free online comparison service that allows you to compare thousands of financial products, wanted to find out which financial abbreviations Americans understand least, based on the ones they search for most online. "Understanding financial terms is of the utmost importance when navigating investments that will undoubtedly involve many documents and contracts," Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk, said in a statement. "Americans' searches show a desire to expand their knowledge and get to grips with some of the more complex financial terminology, which will allow them to capitalize on investment opportunities." Researchers at money.co.uk compiled a seed list of some 300 commonly used financial terms and their abbreviations via trusted online sources, including CNBC.com, TheMuse.com, AKG.co.uk and Investors.natwestgroup.com. They then used GoogleAdWords, an online analytics tool, to calculate the U.S. average online yearly searches of each individual abbreviation, collecting data on Dec. 1. In addition to the term itself, they accounted for alternate online search variations of each abbreviation and omitted some terms because of differing search intent. In one case, the researchers provided the United Kingdom's definition of an abbreviation, which ThinkAdvisor adjusted to reflect both the U.S. term for this abbreviation and its U.K. reference. See the gallery for the 10 investment abbreviations Americans understand the least, judging from what they searched for the most.