Finance and markets

Finance vocabulary in Japanese is close to transparent once the kanji are known: 株(かぶ) is a share, so 株価(かぶか) is a share price and 株主(かぶぬし) a shareholder. Two distinctions matter more than they look. 利息(りそく) is the interest actually paid in money, while 金利(きんり) is the rate. 利益(りえき) is profit after costs, 収益(しゅうえき) what a business earns before that question is asked. And 為替(かわせ) is a word whose reading cannot be worked out kanji by kanji.