Background: Business English podcast 011 : Here we discuss investments and uranium

stocks. What do you think will be a good investment in the next few years? Tell us what you
think on the discussion forum here. Discussion forum

Reading Passage
Uranium stocks were soaring earlier in the year and have suffered a
huge pullback as of late. Many investors areheading to the
exits and dumping their remaining holdingsbefore its too late. The more
confident investors are adding to their positions. They claim that
the fundamentals are still strong and this is only a temporary setback.
They believe the high price of oil, the world’s increasing energy demands,
and the need for cheap alternative energy due to global warming will all
help to get the stock prices heading north again in the near future. They
also see that many government leaders and the general public have a
better attitude towards nuclear energy, which is certainly
another bullish sign.

Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

Uranium: This is a type of element that can be used to make a lot of energy. Uranium can
be used for destructive things like building a bomb, but can also be used to make energy to
heat and light our homes among other things.
Pullback: If stocks “pullback” it means their price becomes lower than it was before. Often
when stocks rise quickly, they will experience a pullback in the future. This might not
indicate a problem, but could just indicate that the price was getting a little too high and
some investors wanted to take out some profit.
Heading to the exits: This phrase means “leaving or getting away”. In the case of stocks, if
you head for the exits it means you plan to sell your stocks.
Dumping: In this case “dumping” just means selling. The word dumping here gives the
feeling of selling quickly because you really don’t want what you have. Dumping is how we
treat garbage or things we don’t like, so you get the idea.
Holdings: Your “holdings” just refers to which stocks you have. Another way of saying you
own a particular stock is to say you are “holding” it.
Positions: In finance, your “position” is just your commitment to buy or sell stocks. If you
are increasing your position in Uranium, it means you are going to buy more Uranium
stocks. If you are decreasing your position in the bond market, it means you will sell some
bonds.
Fundamentals: This is information about the economic health of a company. If you look at
how much debt a company has, how much money the company has, and how their sales
have been lately, then you are looking at the fundamentals. The fundamentals are actual
facts based on real numbers. The smart investors know how to look at the fundamentals of
a company and decide whether or not they want to buy it.
Heading North: We sometimes think of “north” as “up” and “south” as “down” for some
reason. If a stock is heading north it means that the price is increasing. On the other hand,
if it is heading south we know the price is decreasing.
Nuclear energy: This is energy released from the inside of the nucleus of an atom. Atoms
are the small particles that everything is made of. If you can spit the center of the atom (the
nucleus), or make two come together, then a lot of energy is released. The famous equation
E=MC2 should give you an idea of what nuclear energy is about.
Bullish: A “bull market” is a market that is doing very well and increasing rapidly in value. If
someone says they are bullish on internet stocks, it means they think internet stocks will do
very well. The opposite is a “bear market”. If someone says they are bearish on Oil, it
means they think the price of oil will go down.