Glossary
Asian central banks
Refers to the central banks or monetary authorities of Asian countries. These institutions have been increasingly active in major currencies as they manage growing pools of foreign currency reserves arising from trade surpluses. Their market interest can be substantial and influence currency direction in the short-term.
B
Basis point
A unit of measurement used to describe the minimum change in the price of a product.
Bid / asked spread
The difference between the bid and the ask (offer) price.
Bid price
The price at which the market is prepared to buy a product. Prices are quoted two-way as Bid/Ask. In FX trading, the Bid represents the price at which a trader can sell the base currency, shown to the left in a currency pair.
Broker
An individual or firm that acts as an intermediary, bringing buyers and sellers together for a fee or commission. In contrast, a dealer commits capital and takes one side of a position, hoping to earn a spread (profit) by closing out the position in a subsequent trade with another party.
Buy
Taking a long position on a product.
C
Cable
The GBP/USD (Great British Pound/U.S. Dollar) pair. Cable earned its nickname because the rate was originally transmitted to the US via a transatlantic cable beginning in the mid 1800s when the GBP was the currency of international trade.
CAD
The Canadian dollar, also known as Loonie or Funds.
Candlestick chart
A point at the end of an extreme trend when traders who are holding losing positions exit those positions. This usually signals that the expected reversal is just around the corner.
Central bank
A government or quasi-governmental organization that manages a country’s monetary policy. For example, the US central bank is the Federal Reserve and the German central bank is the Bundesbank.
CFDS*
A Contract for Difference (or CFD) is a type of derivative that gives exposure to the change in value of an underlying asset (such as an index or equity). It allows traders to leverage their capital (by trading notional amounts far higher than the money in their account) and provides all the benefits of trading securities, without actually owning the product. In practical terms, if you buy a CFD at $10 then sell it at $11, you will receive the $1 difference. Conversely, if you went short on the trade and sold at $10 before buying back at $11, you would pay the $1 difference.
Closed position
Exposure to a financial contract, such as currency, that no longer exists. A position is closed by placing an equal and opposite deal to offset the open position. Once closed, a position is considered squared.
Closing price
The price at which a product was traded to close a position. It can also refer to the price of the last transaction in a day trading session.
Commission
A fee that is charged for buying or selling a product.
Contract
The standard unit of forex trading.
Counter currency
The second listed currency in a currency pair.
Cross
A pair of currencies that does not include the U.S. dollar.
Currency
A currency in the most specific sense is money in any form when in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money (monetary units) in common use, especially for people in a nation.
D
Dealer
Refers to someone who trades either on their own account or on behalf of a client in the over-the-counter market.Broker-dealer is a natural person,company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers.
Dealing spread
The difference between the buying and selling price of a contract.
Deposit rate
The deposit rate is the interest rate paid by commercial banks or financial institutions on cash deposits of account holders. Deposit accounts include certificates of deposit (CD), savings accounts, and other investment accounts.
Devaluation
Devaluation is the deliberate downward adjustment of the value of a country’s money relative to another currency, group of currencies, or currency standard. … It is often confused with depreciation and is the opposite of revaluation, which refers to the readjustment of a currency’s exchange rate.
E
European Monetary Union
An umbrella name for the group of policies that aims to coordinate economic and fiscal policies across EU Member States.
European session
07:00 – 16:00 (London)
Equity
Equity, typically referred to as shareholders’ equity (or owners’ equity for privately held companies), represents the amount of money that would be returned to a company’s shareholders if all of the assets were liquidated and all of the company’s debt was paid off in the case of liquidation. In the case of acquisition, it is the value of company sales minus any liabilities owed by the company not transferred with the sale.
F
Flat
Flat, in the securities market, is a price that is neither rising nor declining. Under fixed income terminology, a bond that is trading without accrued interest is said to be flat.
Forex
The foreign exchange (also known as FX or forex) market is a global marketplace for exchanging national currencies.
Forward
A forward market is an over-the-counter marketplace that sets the price of a financial instrument or asset for future delivery.
I
Introducing broker
A person or corporate entity which introduces accounts to a broker in return for a fee.
Index fund
An index fund is a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) with a portfolio constructed to match or track the components of a financial market index, such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500).
L
Leverage
Also known as margin, this is the percentage or fractional increase you can trade from the amount of capital you have available. It allows traders to trade notional values far higher than the capital they have. For example, leverage of 100:1 means you can trade a notional value 100 times greater than the capital in your trading account.
Liability
Potential loss, debt or financial obligation.
Liquid market
A market which has sufficient numbers of buyers and sellers for the price to move in a smooth manner.
Lot
A unit to measure the amount of the deal. The value of the deal always corresponds to an integer number of lots.
M
Margin call
A request from a broker or dealer for additional funds or other collateral on a position that has moved against the customer.
O
Offer / ask price
The price at which the market is prepared to sell a product. Prices are quoted two-way as Bid/Offer. The Offer price is also known as the Ask. The Ask represents the price at which a trader can buy the base currency, which is shown to the right in a currency pair.
Open order
An order that will be executed when a market moves to its designated price. Normally associated with good ’til cancelled orders.
Open position
An active trade with corresponding unrealized P&L, which has not been offset by an equal and opposite deal.
Overnight position
A trade that remains open until the next business day.
P
Pair
The forex quoting convention of matching one currency against the other.
Pips
The smallest unit of price for any foreign currency, pips refer to digits added to or subtracted from the fourth decimal place, i.e. 0.0001.
Position
The net total holdings of a given product.
Profit
The difference between the cost price and the sale price, when the sale price is higher than the cost price.
R
Rate
The price of one currency in terms of another, typically used for dealing purposes.
Real money
Traders of significant size including pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies, etc. They are viewed as indicators of major long-term market interest, as opposed to shorter-term, intra-day speculators.
Realized profit / loss
The amount of money you have made or lost when a position has been closed.
Risk management
The employment of financial analysis and trading techniques to reduce and/or control exposure to various types of risk.
Rollover
A rollover is the simultaneous closing of an open position for today’s value date and the opening of the same position for the next day’s value date at a price reflecting the interest rate differential between the two currencies.
S
Spread
The difference between the bid and offer prices.
Stop / loss order
This is an order placed to sell below the current price (to close a long position), or to buy above the current price (to close a short position).
Swap
A currency swap is the simultaneous sale and purchase of the same amount of a given currency at a forward exchange rate.
U
Unrealized gain / loss
The theoretical gain or loss on open positions valued at current market rates, as determined by the broker in its sole discretion. Unrealized gains/losses become profits/losses when the position is closed.
X
XAG/USD
Symbol for Silver Index.
XAU/USD
Symbol for Gold Index.
Y
Yield
The percentage return from an investment.
Yuan
The yuan is the base unit of currency in China. The renminbi is the name of the currency in China, where the Yuan is the base unit.
