Trading
Glossary
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See the meaning of all trading terms in our glossary.
Account Balance
The total amount of funds available in a trading account
ADX (Average Directional Index)
An indicator measuring the strength of a trend
Alpha
The total amount of funds available in a trading account
Altcoin
Any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin
Arbitrage
The simultaneous buying and selling of an asset in different markets to profit from price differences
Ask Price
Lowest price at which a seller is willing to sell an asset
Backtesting
Testing a trading strategy on past data to see how it would perform
Bear Market
A market condition where prices are falling or expected to fall
Beta
The total amount of funds available in a trading account
Bid Price
Highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset
Bid-Ask Spread
The difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
Black Swan Event
An unpredictable event with potentially severe consequences
Blockchain
A decentralized ledger technology that records transactions across many computers
Blue-Chip Stock
Shares in a large, well-established company with a solid financial history
Breakout
A price movement through a support or resistance level, signaling a potential new trend
Broker
A person or firm that executes buy and sell orders on behalf of traders
Bull Market
Market condition where prices are rising or expected to rise
Candlestick Chart
A type of price chart used in technical analysis, showing the open, high, low, and close of an asset
Capital Gain
The profit made from selling an asset for more than it was bought
CBOE VIX Index
A key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility based on S&P 500 stock index option prices
CFD (Contract for Difference)
A derivative product where traders speculate on price movements without owning the asset
Circuit Breaker
A mechanism to temporarily halt trading during significant market declines
Commission
The fee charged by a broker for executing trades
Consolidation
A period of sideways price movement where the market is indecisive
Copy Trading
A feature allowing traders to copy trades of more experienced investors
Correction
A short-term drop in stock prices of 10% or more from a recent high
Crypto Market Timings
The trading hours for cryptocurrency markets, which are open 24/7
CTrader
An advanced trading platform with powerful charting and execution features
Currency Trading
The act of buying and selling different currencies
Day Trading
Buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
Financial applications built on blockchain that allow peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries
Demo Account
A trading account that simulates real trading without risking actual money
Derivatives
Financial instruments whose value is derived from an underlying asset
Diversification
Spreading investments across different assets to reduce risk
Dividend
A portion of a company’s earnings paid to shareholders
Dow Jones Industrial Average
An index of 30 large, publicly traded U.S. companies
Drawdown
The peak-to-trough decline in the value of an investment
EPS (Earnings Per Share)
A company’s profit divided by the outstanding shares of its common stock
Equity
The value of an account, including cash and securities
ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)
A type of investment fund traded on exchanges, holding assets like stocks or commodities
Expiration Date
The date on which an options or futures contract expires
FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee)
U.S. government body that sets monetary policy
Forex (FX)
Foreign exchange market where currencies are traded
Forex Brokers
Companies providing platforms for retail traders to trade forex
Forex Commodity
Commodities like oil and gold that can also be traded in the forex market
Forex Economic Calendar
A calendar listing major economic events that can impact financial markets
Forex Market Holidays
Days when major financial markets are closed
Forex Market Timings India
The hours during which the forex market is open in India
Forex Pip Calculator
A tool to determine the monetary value of a pip for a given trade size
Forex Session Times
Different trading hours for various forex markets, such as London and New York
Forex Swap
The interest fee a broker may charge to hold a position overnight
Forex Times
The operational hours of different forex markets worldwide
Front-Running
A practice where a broker or trader buys or sells a security for their account before executing orders for a client
Fundamental Analysis
Evaluating an asset based on economic indicators and financial statements
Futures Contract
An agreement to buy or sell an asset at a future date at a predetermined price
FX Swap
A currency exchange where two parties exchange currencies and agree to reverse the trade at a future date
Golden Cross
A bullish signal in chart analysis when a short-term moving average crosses above a long-term moving average
Hedging
A strategy used to reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an asset
HFT (High-Frequency Trading)
Algorithmic trading involving the execution of a large number of orders at rapid speeds
ICO (Initial Coin Offering)
A fundraising method where new cryptocurrencies are sold to investors
Index
A measurement of the performance of a group of assets, like the S&P 500
Index Trading
Trading on the price movements of a stock market index like the S&P 500 or Dow Jones
IPO (Initial Public Offering)
The first sale of a company’s stock to the public
Leverage
Borrowing capital to increase the size of your trades
Leverage Trading
Trading with borrowed funds to increase potential returns
Limit Order
Buy or sell an asset at a specific price or better
Liquidity
The ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without affecting its price
Liquidity Pool
A pool of assets used to provide liquidity in decentralized finance (DeFi) or trading environments
Liquidity Provider
A market participant who makes buy and sell orders to ensure a liquid market
Liquidity Risk
The risk that an asset cannot be quickly converted into cash without a loss in value
Long Position
Buying an asset expecting its price to rise
Lot Size
Measurement of quantity in trading, especially in forex, such as micro, mini, or standard
Lot Size Forex
The number of currency units in a forex trade
MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence)
A trend-following momentum indicator showing the relationship between two moving averages
Margin
A deposit required to open a leveraged position
Margin Call
A broker’s demand for more funds when a margin account falls below the required level
Market Order
Buy or sell an asset immediately at the current market price
Market Sentiment
The overall attitude of investors toward a particular market or asset
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
A popular trading platform for forex and CFDs
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
Advanced version of MT4 with additional features for trading various assets
MetaTrader APK Download
Download file for mobile versions of MT4 and MT5
MetaTrader Download
The process of downloading MT4 or MT5 for forex trading
Mining
The process of validating and recording transactions on the blockchain
Moving Average
A trend-following indicator that smooths out price data by creating a constantly updated average price
My Forex Funds
A company that offers funding for forex traders
New York Session Forex Time
The hours when the New York forex market is open for trading
Options
Contracts that give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a specific price
Order Book
List of buy and sell orders for an asset arranged by price
OTC Trading
Trading that occurs directly between two parties, bypassing an exchange
Over-the-Counter (OTC)
Trading of securities outside of formal exchanges, often done directly between two parties
P/E Ratio (Price-to-Earnings)
A ratio used to value a company by comparing its current share price to its earnings per share
Penny Stock
A low-priced, small-cap stock, typically considered highly speculative and risky
Pip
Smallest price movement in currency pairs
Pip Calculator
Tool to calculate the pip value for various currency pairs
Platform
The software or interface used for trading online
Portfolio
A collection of investments owned by an individual or institution
Position Sizing
Determining the amount of money to invest in a particular trade
Proof of Stake (PoS)
A consensus mechanism where participants validate transactions and create new blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold and are willing to “stake,” offering a more energy-efficient alternative to PoW
Proof of Work (PoW)
A consensus mechanism where participants solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions and add new blocks
Prop Firms
Companies that fund traders with capital, often offering higher leverage than retail brokers
Prop Trading (Proprietary Trading)
Trading using a firm’s own money in the financial markets rather than client funds
Pump and Dump
A scheme to artificially inflate the price of a stock to sell it at a profit, after which the price crashes
Recovery
A period of increasing prices or economic growth after a decline
Resistance Level
A price level where an asset tends to stop rising and start falling
Risk Management
Strategies to minimize financial loss in trading
ROA (Return on Assets)
A financial ratio indicating the profitability of a company relative to its total assets
ROE (Return on Equity)
A measure of financial performance, calculated by dividing net income by shareholders’ equity
RSI (Relative Strength Index)
A momentum indicator that measures the speed and change of price movements
S&P 500
An index of 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S.
S&P 500 VIX Index
A volatility index based on the S&P 500
S&P VIX Index
A real-time market index representing the market’s expectation of 30-day forward-looking volatility
Scalper Trader
A trader who specializes in making small, frequent trades
Scalping
A trading strategy that aims for small profits through quick trades
Scalping Strategy
A fast-paced trading strategy aimed at profiting from small price changes
Short Selling
Selling a security you don’t own, hoping to buy it back at a lower price
Slippage
The difference between the expected price and the actual price of a trade
Slump
A significant decline in an asset’s price or market activity
Smart Contract
A self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement directly written into code
Smart Order Routing
An automated process for finding the best possible prices for orders across multiple venues
Social Trading
A type of trading where investors follow or copy the trades of others
Spread
Difference between the ask and bid price
Spread Betting
Speculating on price movements without owning the asset
Stablecoin
A type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, often pegged to a fiat currency
Stochastic Oscillator
A momentum indicator comparing a particular closing price of an asset to a range of its prices over a certain period
Stop Order
An order to buy or sell a security once its price moves past a certain point, triggering a market order
Stop-Loss Order
Sell an asset to prevent further loss when it hits a preset price
Strike Price
The set price at which an options contract can be exercised
Supply and Demand Zones
Price areas where buying or selling pressure is concentrated
Support and Resistance Levels
Important price levels that indicate possible market reversals or breakouts
Support Level
A price level where an asset tends to stop falling and start rising
Swing Trading
A short-term trading strategy where positions are held for several days to weeks
Take-Profit Order
Sell an asset when it reaches a preset profit level
Technical Analysis
Studying past market data, primarily price and volume, to predict future price movements
Tokenization
Converting physical or digital assets into tokens on a blockchain
Top 10 Forex Brokers
The leading forex brokerage firms globally, ranked by various criteria like reputation, service, and fees
Trade Volume
The total number of shares or contracts traded for a particular security
Trading Risk Management
The process of managing financial losses in trading through strategies like position sizing and stop-losses
Trading Strategy
A plan for making trades to achieve financial goals
Tradingview
A web-based charting and trading platform widely used for market analysis
TradingView Paper Trading
A feature that allows users to simulate trading on the TradingView platform without risking real money
Tradingview Subscription
Paid version of the TradingView platform with advanced features and tools
Trailing Stop
A stop order that adjusts as the price of an asset moves in the investor’s favor
Trendline Trading
Using trendlines to determine market direction and place trades
Volatility Index (VIX)
A measure of market volatility, often referred to as the “fear index”
Volatility Trading
A strategy that profits from fluctuations in asset prices
Wallet
A digital tool used to store cryptocurrencies
XAUUSD Market Open Time in India
The opening times for trading gold
Yield
The income return on an investment, often expressed as a percentage
Yield Curve
A graph that shows the relationship between interest rates and the maturity dates of debt securities