Glossary — U.S. public-data terms, made plain

Companies & investing (SEC)

SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that regulates securities markets and requires public-company disclosures.

EDGAR

SEC's electronic system for filing and publishing company disclosures; anyone can read public companies' filings.

CIK

The Central Index Key — the identifier SEC EDGAR assigns to each filer (company, etc.).

8-K (current report)

A "current report" filed on an as-needed basis to disclose material events (major contracts, M&A, results, executive changes).

10-K (annual report)

A public company's most detailed annual report (business, financials, risks), filed once a year.

10-Q (quarterly report)

A quarterly financial report; less detailed than the 10-K.

DEF 14A (proxy statement)

A proxy statement describing shareholder-meeting agenda, executive pay, and director elections.

20-F

The annual report filed by foreign companies listed in the U.S. (the 10-K equivalent).

S-1 (registration)

The registration statement filed to register securities, e.g. for an IPO.

Ticker symbol

A stock's market symbol (e.g., MSFT, LMT).

Government spending & defense

Entity ID (UEI)

The Unique Entity ID assigned to organizations in U.S. federal procurement (SAM.gov). It replaced DUNS in 2022 and works like a government-side company ID; one brand can hold several UEIs across legal entities.

USAspending

The U.S. government's open-data site for federal spending (contracts, grants), under the DATA Act.

PIID (contract ID)

The Procurement Instrument Identifier — the ID of a federal procurement contract.

Definitive contract

A finalized contract with settled terms (as opposed to an undefinitized action).

DoD

The U.S. Department of Defense, overseeing the Army, Navy, Air Force, and more.

DARPA

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which funds cutting-edge defense R&D.

FMS (Foreign Military Sales)

Foreign Military Sales — the program by which the U.S. sells/transfers defense equipment to allies.

SSBN

A ballistic-missile nuclear submarine — a core of nuclear deterrence.

ICBM

An intercontinental ballistic missile — the land-based leg of the nuclear triad.

Cybersecurity

CVE

A common identifier assigned to each vulnerability (e.g., CVE-2026-48027), managed by MITRE.

CVSS

The Common Vulnerability Scoring System — a 0–10 measure of a vulnerability's severity.

KEV

CISA's catalog of vulnerabilities Known to be Exploited in the wild.

NVD

NIST's National Vulnerability Database, which enriches CVEs with CVSS and other data.

CISA

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

CWE

The Common Weakness Enumeration — a taxonomy of vulnerability types.

Economy & energy

FRED

Federal Reserve Economic Data, the St. Louis Fed's economic data service.

BLS

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes jobs and price data.

CPI

The Consumer Price Index — a key gauge of inflation in consumer goods and services.

PCE

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

PPI

The Producer Price Index — prices of goods and services as sold by producers.

JOLTS

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey — job openings, quits, and turnover.

GDP

Gross Domestic Product — the total value added in an economy; the headline measure of size.

EIA

The U.S. Energy Information Administration, which publishes energy statistics.

WTI

West Texas Intermediate — a benchmark price for U.S. crude oil.

Brent

Brent — an international crude-oil price benchmark (North Sea).

Places & trade

Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau, producing population, economic, and trade statistics.

ACS

The American Community Survey — an annual survey estimating population, income, housing, etc.

Median

The middle value when data are ordered; unlike the mean, it resists outliers.

Trade balance

Exports minus imports; positive is a surplus, negative a deficit.

YTD (year-to-date)

Year-to-date — the cumulative total from the start of the year; through December = the full year.

USMCA

The free-trade agreement among the U.S., Mexico, and Canada (the successor to NAFTA).

Law & policy

Federal Register

The U.S. government's official journal for rules, notices, and executive orders.

Executive order

A directive issued by the President to the executive branch; not a law but carries strong effect.

Bill

A proposed law under consideration by Congress; becomes law (a public law) once passed and signed.

Health & bio

openFDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's open-data API (recalls, etc.).

Recall class (I/II/III)

The FDA's recall severity tiers; Class I is the most serious (high risk of harm).

ClinicalTrials.gov

The NIH/NLM registry and database of clinical trials.

NCT number

The identifier ClinicalTrials.gov assigns to each trial (e.g., NCT06827132).

AI & research

NSF

The U.S. National Science Foundation, which funds basic research.

arXiv

A preprint server for physics, math, computer science, and more.

Preprint

A paper made public before peer review; its content may still change.

Federal agencies

HHS

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing health, public health, and welfare.

DHS

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, overseeing borders, immigration, disaster response, and cyber.

USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, overseeing farming, food safety, forests, and rural development.

HUD

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, overseeing housing and urban development.

FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, regulating drugs, devices, and food safety.

NIH

The U.S. National Institutes of Health — the hub of medical research and the largest public funder.

CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overseeing disease control and public health.

CMS

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, running public health-insurance programs.

NOAA

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (under Commerce), overseeing weather and oceans.

NIST

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (under Commerce), setting measurement and technical standards.

FAA

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (under Transportation), regulating aviation safety.

NHTSA

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (under Transportation), overseeing vehicle safety and recalls.

OSHA

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (under Labor), regulating workplace safety.

IRS

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (under Treasury), administering federal tax collection.

OFAC

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (under Treasury), administering economic sanctions.

FBI

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (under Justice), handling federal investigations and counterintelligence.

CBP

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (under Homeland Security), handling borders and customs.

TSA

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (under Homeland Security), handling transport security.

FEMA

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (under Homeland Security), handling disaster response.

EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the independent agency for environmental regulation.

NASA

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, for space exploration and aeronautics.

FERC

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, regulating interstate electricity and gas.

NRC

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, regulating civilian nuclear safety.

FCC

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, regulating communications and spectrum.

FTC

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, for consumer protection and competition.

SBA

The U.S. Small Business Administration, supporting small businesses.

FDIC

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, insuring bank deposits.

OPM

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, managing the federal civil service.

USTR

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, leading trade negotiations and policy.

Terms are added over time. Definitions are summaries; the authoritative meaning is as defined by each official source.