Investopedia API: Define finance term
Explains a finance, business, or investing term using its Investopedia dictionary article.
Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Investopedia.
Inputs
Values from the run on Oct 23, 2026, shown under Output.
- Term, required
term Finance, business, or investing word or phrase to define, for example EBITDA.
P/E ratio
Input as JSON
{ "term": "P/E ratio" }Output
{ "term": "Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio" , "author": "Jason Fernando", "example": "Let's clarify this with an example, looking at FedEx Corporation ( FDX ). We can calculate the P/E ratio for FDX as of Aug. 8, 2025, when the company's stock price closed at $228.05. The company's EPS for the TTM was $16.81. Therefore, FDX's P/E ratio was as follows: $228.05 / $16.81 = 13.57 Let's l…" , "article_link": "https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price-earningsratio.asp" , "key_takeaways": [ "The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is the proportion of a company's share price to its earnings per share (EPS)." , "A high P/E ratio could mean that a company's stock is overvalued or that investors expect high growth rates." , "Companies with no earnings or that are losing money don't have a P/E ratio because there's nothing to put in the denominator." ], "related_terms": [ { "link": "https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/businesscycle.asp" , "name": "business cycles" }, { "link": "https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/forwardpe.asp" , "name": "forward P/E" }, { "link": "https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/trailingpe.asp" , "name": "trailing P/E" } ], "full_explanation": "What Is the Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio?\n\nThe price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio measures a company's share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS). Often called the price or earnings multiple, the P/E ratio helps assess the relative value of a company's stock. It's handy for comparing a company…" , "short_definition": "The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio measures a company's share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS). Often called the price or earnings multiple, the P/E ratio helps assess the relative value of a company's stock." , "last_reviewed_or_updated_date": "2026-04-15"}Code
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"investopedia.com/define_term","input":{"term":"P/E ratio"}}' # Save as fous.py, then run: python3 fous.pyimport json, os, timefrom urllib.error import HTTPErrorfrom urllib.request import Request, urlopenAPI = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" KEY = os.environ["FOUS_API_KEY"]HEADERS = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json" ,}def call(url, body=None): data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body else None request = Request(url, data, HEADERS) try: with urlopen(request, timeout=120) as r: return r.status, json.load(r) except HTTPError as error: message = json.load(error)["error"]["message"] raise RuntimeError(message) from errorstatus, run = call(API, { "method": "investopedia.com/define_term" , "input": { "term": "P/E ratio" }})# 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while status == 202: time.sleep(2) status, run = call(f"{API}/{run['id']}")print(json.dumps(run["data"], indent=2))// Save as fous.mjs, then run: node fous.mjsconst api = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" ;const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FOUS_API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" ,};let response = await fetch(api, { method: "POST", headers, body: JSON.stringify({ "method": "investopedia.com/define_term" , "input": { "term": "P/E ratio" } }), signal: AbortSignal.timeout(120_000),});let run = await response.json();// 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while (response.status === 202) { await new Promise((done) => setTimeout(done, 2_000)); response = await fetch(`${api}/${run.id}`, { headers }); run = await response.json();}if (!response.ok) throw new Error(run.error.message);console.log(run.data);# Connect your agent to Fous once, over MCP (Streamable HTTP):# https://api.fous.com/mcp# Set FOUS_API_KEY first: create a key at https://app.fous.com/keys.# Claude Codeclaude mcp add \ --scope user \ --transport http fous https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Codexcodex mcp add fous \ --url https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --bearer-token-env-var FOUS_API_KEY# Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline and morenpx -y add-mcp https://api.fous.com/mcp -g -n fous \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Then ask your agent:# "Use Fous to run investopedia.com/define_term# with {"term":"P/E ratio"}"Over HTTP, the answer’s data holds the output. A run still going after 30 seconds answers 202 with its id: ask GET /v1/runs/{id} until it ends.
Schema
Input schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "term" ], "properties": { "term": { "type": "string", "description": "Finance, business, or investing word or phrase to define, for example EBITDA." } }, "additionalProperties": false}Output schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "term", "short_definition", "full_explanation", "key_takeaways", "example", "related_terms", "author", "last_reviewed_or_updated_date", "article_link" ], "properties": { "term": { "type": "string", "description": "Term as titled in the article." }, "author": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "Article author, if credited." }, "example": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "Article example, if one is present." }, "article_link": { "type": "string", "description": "Link to the Investopedia article." }, "key_takeaways": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Main points from the article." }, "related_terms": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "name", "link" ], "properties": { "link": { "type": "string" }, "name": { "type": "string" } }, "additionalProperties": false }, "description": "Up to 10 linked terms from the article." }, "full_explanation": { "type": "string", "description": "Plain-text article explanation, up to 4000 characters." }, "short_definition": { "type": "string", "description": "The first one or two sentences of the article's definition." }, "last_reviewed_or_updated_date": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "Last updated date, YYYY-MM-DD, if available." } }, "additionalProperties": false}- Price
- 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free.
- Method
investopedia.com/define_term- Returns
- term, short definition, full explanation, key takeaways, example, related terms, author, updated date, article link
Use it from your agent
Give your agent this line. It reads SKILL.md, gets a Fous API key and connects the Fous MCP server. Its run then takes the method investopedia.com/define_term with the inputs above.
Ask your agent
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