Lingo every investor should know

Don't be confused: TTM isn't a cable channel showing old movies. It can give you a clearer picture of your investment, however. TTM stands for trailing twelve months. Generally, that means it measures the performance of your company over the most recent four quarters, regardless of whether they're in the same fiscal year.

TTM can measure things such as sales, profits and the P-E ratio. It's especially helpful if you're checking on a company whose operations may have sharp seasonal swings -- the most recent quarterly report might not provide an accurate picture.

"Typically we use TTM in discussions with clients when we’re reporting on performance, and want to base our performance valuations on longer periods of time," says Rimel.