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).

NAICS

The North American Industry Classification System — standard industry codes.

SIC

The Standard Industrial Classification — the legacy U.S. industry taxonomy SEC uses for company sectors.

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.

Budget authority

The legal amount Congress authorizes an agency to commit to spending — the ceiling for obligations and outlays, and the best single measure of an agency's size.

Obligations

Amounts the government has legally committed to pay (contracts, grants, etc.) — the step before actual cash outlays, and a gauge of how much budget authority has been used.

IDV

An Indefinite Delivery Vehicle — an umbrella contract without fixed quantities or timing; its ceiling is large and actual spending is usually only a fraction.

Budget function

A classification of federal spending by purpose (defense, health, Social Security, interest on the debt) rather than by agency.

Object class

A classification of spending by economic character (personnel, contractual services, grants, asset acquisition).

Mandatory spending

Spending required by existing law (Social Security, Medicare, net interest); hard to cut in annual budgeting.

Discretionary spending

Spending whose amounts Congress sets each year through appropriations (defense, agency operations).

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.

Zero-day

A vulnerability exploited (or disclosed) before a patch exists — defenders have "zero days" to prepare.

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).

TIPS

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities — U.S. government bonds whose principal adjusts with inflation; the coupon looks low because it is before the inflation adjustment.

Treasury reporting rates

The official quarterly rates U.S. agencies use to convert foreign-currency amounts into dollars for financial reporting — not live market rates.

Year-over-year (YoY)

Change versus the same period a year earlier (same month or quarter); smooths seasonality to show growth in prices, wages, or output.

Seasonally adjusted annual rate

The rate if a quarter's pace continued for a full year; used for quarterly GDP growth and similar series.

Percentage points (pp)

The unit for the difference between two rates (e.g., 4%→5% is "up 1 pp"); distinct from a percent change.

Federal funds rate

The Fed's target for the overnight interbank rate — the main U.S. policy rate.

Yield curve / inversion

The curve of Treasury yields by maturity; an "inversion" (short rates above long) is seen as a recession warning.

U-6 unemployment

A broader jobless rate that adds marginally attached and involuntary part-time workers to the official U-3.

Seasonal adjustment

A statistical procedure that removes regular seasonal swings (holiday shopping, summer power demand, school-year effects) so month-to-month changes show the underlying trend.

Yield

The annual return earned relative to the amount invested. Bond yields move opposite to prices: when prices fall, yields rise.

Real GDP

GDP adjusted for price changes — it measures the real volume of output, as distinct from nominal GDP, which includes inflation.

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).

HS code

The Harmonized System — the international classification for traded goods; the first two digits are the "chapter".

SDN list

OFAC's list of Specially Designated Nationals; U.S. persons are generally barred from dealing with them.

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.

Public law

A bill that has passed Congress and been signed by the President, cited by Congress number and sequence (e.g., Public Law 119-21).

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).

Medicare

The federal health-insurance program mainly for people 65+ and some people with disabilities — one of the largest items of federal spending.

Medicaid

Public health coverage for low-income people, jointly funded by the federal and state governments and administered by each state — the largest stream of federal assistance.

TRICARE

The health-care program for active-duty and retired service members and their families.

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.

Federal Reserve

The U.S. central banking system, responsible for monetary policy and bank supervision.

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