outperform

Analysts have been saying they expect “expect emerging markets to outperform in 2020” so what does that mean? Well, I’m sure you understand the meaning of “to perform” which is to accomplish something or obtain results. The prefix (i.e. the bit you put in front of a word) OUT has a sense here of doing something comparatively better than others. So, putting the two meanings together, to outperform logically means to get better results or to do something better than others have done. In other words, some analysts think emerging markets will obtain better economic results than other developed markets.

If you have every tried to buy anything on eBay then maybe you have felt frustrated because someone “outbid” you – in other words, you offered let’s say €1,500 for a second hand scooter but someone else placed a higher bid, or offer, of €1,550 and so bought it instead of you.

Once you have grasped (or understood) the concept of OUT then you can appreciate the meaning of the sentence ” although Thiem’s performance in the Australian Open final was impressive he was eventually outplayed by Nadal.”

In future we’ll be looking at other prefixes that give extra sense to the meaning of a base word, but for the moment I’m off as I’ve “outstayed my welcome”.

bullish

Nobody really knows the origin of this word, however it is one that financiers love to hear as a bullish market is one which is optimistic or upbeat, one which is going up. “The market is bullish owing to the positive economic climate.”

Investors who are optimistic and believe that a stock, index or market will rise are known as bulls.

Its opposite (or antonym if you want to impress) is bearish.

You’ll probably recognise the suffix ( or bit added to the end of the word) ISH on the end of some nationalities such as English, Danish, Spanish, but did you know that it can also mean “vaguely or approximately” ? That means you can say “the company is thirtyish”, ” the colour is yellowish “, or “it’s half past two ish “.

And now I have to leave you as I’m running lateish.

In the wake of….

This expression first appeared a lot “in the wake of the financial crisis ” meaning following and possibly as a consequence of the financial crisis. A more recent context is ” in the wake of Brexit” as in “requests for Irish nationality increased in the wake of Brexit”.

Unfortunately, the most frequent current use of the expression is shown here

Italy suspends mortgage payments in the wake of coronavirus outbreak’s economic impact on families and small businesses.

Daily Mail April 1 2020

jittery

Sometimes you hear the expression that the market is “jittery” or that investors “got the jitters” which is just another way of saying that the market is nervous and so volatile. As the Financial Times said in September 2019

“the UK pound is very jittery as investors attempt to make sense of British politics.”

Japan shares end flat, down 8% for week on economic jitters

Reuters April 3, 2020

upbeat

Upbeat is currently a frequently used word to describe an optimistic economic outlook

“analysts are upbeat about the company’s future dividend payment”

“ECB tone upbeat on eurozone growth before coronavirus struck”

Financial Times February 20, 2020

The opposite is, no prizes for guessing this, downbeat which therefore means pessimistic or unenthusiastic.

“Remainers’ assessments of the UK’s prospects in the wake of Brexit are downbeat.”

AUD/USD extends recovery gains despite downbeat Australian trade numbers

FXSTREET:COM April 7 2020

Up and down can be combined with nouns to refer a direction, for example,

“the economy experienced a downturn at the end of the year” or

“short selling is forbidden in some jurisdictions if the last price movement was a downtick”.

But now I’m upping sticks, I’m off out of here.