Trading Glossary
The language of the markets, decoded. 606+ terms across 14 categories: technical analysis, risk, options, forex, crypto and market structure. Search, filter, learn.
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Bull Market
A sustained period of rising prices, typically defined as a 20%+ gain from a recent low. Optimism and buying pressure dominate.
BeginnerBear Market
A sustained decline in prices of 20% or more from a recent high. Pessimism and selling pressure dominate.
BeginnerLong Position
Buying an asset expecting its price to rise. You profit when the price goes up; you lose when it goes down.
BeginnerShort Position
Borrowing shares and selling them, hoping to buy them back cheaper. Profit when the price falls; loss when it rises.
IntermediateBid-Ask Spread
The gap between the highest price a buyer will pay (bid) and the lowest price a seller will accept (ask). Crossing it is the minimum cost of an immediate trade.
BeginnerLeverage
Using borrowed capital to increase position size — amplifying both gains and losses beyond your own equity.
IntermediateStop-Loss
A pre-set price level at which a losing trade is closed to cap the damage before it grows larger.
BeginnerRisk-Reward Ratio
The ratio of potential profit to potential loss on a single trade. A 1:2 R:R means you risk $1 to make $2.
BeginnerCandlestick Chart
A price chart that draws each period as a candle — body between open and close, wicks to the high and low — showing the session's battle at a glance.
Beginner606 terms
ABCD Pattern
The simplest harmonic structure — a four-point zigzag where BC is a Fibonacci retracement of AB and CD equals AB in length and time.
IntermediateAbandoned Baby
A rare three-candle reversal: a trend candle, then a Doji that gaps away from it on both sides, then a reversal candle — the Doji is completely isolated.
IntermediateAccrued Interest
The coupon interest earned on a bond since the last payment date, owed by the buyer to the seller when a bond is purchased between coupon dates.
IntermediateAccumulation
A period where informed buyers are quietly building positions without driving price significantly higher — a potential precursor to an uptrend.
AdvancedAccumulation/Distribution Line
Running total of volume adjusted for where the close falls within each bar's range; divergence with price highlights accumulation or distribution.
IntermediateAfter-Hours Trading
Stock trading that occurs after the official 4:00 PM ET close. Lower liquidity and wider spreads; major news like earnings often hits here.
IntermediateAgricultural Commodities
Farm-produced goods traded on futures exchanges — grains (corn, wheat, soybeans), oilseeds, and livestock — with prices driven by weather and seasonal crop cycles.
BeginnerAll or None (AON)
An order that must fill completely or not at all, but unlike FOK it can wait for a full match.
IntermediateAmerican vs European Option
Exercise style: American options can be exercised any time before expiry (most single-stock options); European options only at expiry (most cash-settled index options like SPX).
IntermediateAnalysis Paralysis
The inability to pull the trigger on a valid setup because you keep analysing, adding indicators, and waiting for more confirmation.
IntermediateAnchoring Bias
Fixating on an arbitrary reference price — like your entry or an old high — and letting it distort your current trading decisions.
IntermediateAroon
Trend-detection indicator showing how recently the n-period high and low were set; near-100 Aroon Up signals a strong uptrend.
IntermediateAscending Triangle
A coiling pattern with a flat upper resistance line and rising lower trendline, typically resolving in a bullish breakout.
BeginnerAsk Price
The lowest price a seller is willing to accept right now. You buy at the ask.
BeginnerAsset
Anything with economic value that can be owned, traded, or used to generate returns — stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, crypto.
BeginnerAsset Allocation
How you divide your portfolio across asset classes — stocks, bonds, cash, alternatives — to balance risk and return.
BeginnerAssignment
The process by which an option seller is required to fulfil their obligation — delivering or buying the underlying — when the buyer exercises.
IntermediateAsymmetric Risk
A trade or strategy where the potential reward significantly outweighs the potential loss — the core of every high-quality setup.
IntermediateAt the Money (ATM)
An option whose strike price equals (or is very close to) the current spot price of the underlying.
IntermediateAverage Directional Index (ADX)
Non-directional trend-strength gauge (0–100); readings above 25 indicate a trending market, below 20 suggest a range.
IntermediateAverage True Range (ATR)
Volatility measure averaging the greatest of: current high–low, current high–prior close, or current low–prior close over n periods (default 14).
IntermediateAverage True Range Stop
A stop-loss level set at a multiple of the Average True Range to account for normal market volatility and avoid premature stop-outs.
IntermediateAwesome Oscillator
Bill Williams momentum oscillator measuring the difference between 5- and 34-period SMA of midpoints; histogram colour changes signal momentum shifts.
IntermediateBack Month
Any futures contract month beyond the front month; typically less liquid and used for hedging or spread strategies.
BeginnerBackwardation
A futures market where near-term contracts trade at a premium to deferred contracts, generating positive roll yield and signalling near-term supply tightness.
AdvancedBag Holder
Someone stuck holding a position that has collapsed in value, usually because they didn't cut the loss when the thesis broke.
BeginnerBar Chart
A chart showing each period's open, high, low, and close as a vertical bar with left and right tick marks.
BeginnerBase Metals
Industrial metals — copper, aluminum, zinc, nickel, lead, tin — that trade primarily on the LME and are closely tied to global industrial output.
BeginnerBasis (Futures)
The price difference between the spot (cash) price of an underlying and its corresponding futures price.
IntermediateBasis Convergence
The tendency of a futures price and its underlying spot price to meet as expiration nears, forcing the basis to zero at settlement.
IntermediateBasis Point
One hundredth of one percentage point (0.01%) — the standard unit for quoting changes in interest rates, yields, and credit spreads.
BeginnerBat Pattern
A harmonic XABCD pattern with a deep AB retracement and a D point near 88.6% of XA — offering a tight stop and favorable risk/reward.
AdvancedBear Flag
A sharp downward pole followed by a tight, slightly upward-drifting channel — a continuation setup that resolves lower once the flag breaks.
BeginnerBear Market
A sustained decline in prices of 20% or more from a recent high. Pessimism and selling pressure dominate.
BeginnerBearish Engulfing
A large bearish candle that completely wraps the prior bullish candle's body — supply takes control — a reversal warning at the top of an uptrend.
BeginnerBearish Harami
A large bullish candle followed by a small bearish candle inside the first — upside momentum is fading at the top of an uptrend.
BeginnerBelt Hold
A single long candle with no wick on the opening side — either a bullish open at the low or a bearish open at the high — an early-session dominance signal.
BeginnerBenchmark
A standard index or rate used to evaluate investment performance — the S&P 500 is the most common equity benchmark.
BeginnerBenchmark Price
A widely accepted reference price for a commodity that other grades, contracts, or products are priced against — WTI, Brent, Henry Hub, and COMEX gold are key examples.
BeginnerBeta
A measure of a stock's volatility relative to the market. Beta > 1 means it moves more than the index; Beta < 1 means it moves less.
IntermediateBid Price
The highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a security right now. You sell at the bid.
BeginnerBid-Ask Spread
The gap between the highest price a buyer will pay (bid) and the lowest price a seller will accept (ask). Crossing it is the minimum cost of an immediate trade.
BeginnerBid-to-Cover Ratio
Total bids received at a Treasury auction divided by the amount sold — a key gauge of demand strength for government debt.
AdvancedBlack Swan
An extreme, unpredictable, high-impact event that falls outside the range of normal expectations and is rationalised as predictable only in hindsight.
IntermediateBlack-Scholes Model
The foundational closed-form formula for pricing European options from spot, strike, time, interest rate, and volatility.
AdvancedBlock Trade
A single large transaction — typically 10,000+ shares or $200,000+ in value — usually executed privately to minimize market impact.
AdvancedBlue-Chip Stock
Shares of a large, well-established company with a long track record of stable earnings and often consistent dividends.
BeginnerBollinger Bands
Volatility envelope drawn 2 standard deviations above and below a 20-period SMA; bands widen in volatile markets and contract during consolidation.
BeginnerBollinger Bandwidth
Measures the percentage width of Bollinger Bands relative to the middle band; extreme lows signal a volatility squeeze preceding a large move.
IntermediateBond
A debt instrument in which the issuer borrows money from the buyer and promises to pay periodic interest plus return the principal at maturity.
BeginnerBond Yield
The return an investor earns by holding a bond — driven by its price, coupon, and time to maturity. Moves inversely with price.
BeginnerBook Value
Total assets minus total liabilities on the balance sheet — what shareholders would theoretically receive if the company were liquidated today.
IntermediateBracket Order
A single entry order packaged with a take-profit and a stop-loss; when one exit fires, the other is automatically canceled.
BeginnerBreak-Even
The price at which a trade neither profits nor loses — or the point at which a stop is moved to entry cost after partial gains.
BeginnerBreakdown
Price moving decisively below key support, signalling that sellers have overwhelmed buyers at that level.
BeginnerBreakeven Inflation Rate
The inflation rate at which a nominal Treasury and a same-maturity TIPS deliver equal returns — the market's priced-in inflation expectation.
AdvancedBreakout
Price moving decisively above a key resistance level or the top of a range, often on expanding volume.
BeginnerBreakout Retest
Price returning to test the former breakout level after the initial break — a resistance-turned-support confirmation and lower-risk entry point.
BeginnerBrent Crude
The global benchmark crude oil grade produced from the North Sea, priced in $/barrel and the reference for roughly two-thirds of the world's oil trade.
BeginnerBroadening Formation
Expanding price swings with higher highs and lower lows, forming a megaphone shape — signals increasing volatility and often precedes a sharp reversal.
AdvancedBroker
An intermediary who executes buy and sell orders on your behalf. Modern brokers are typically electronic platforms.
BeginnerBudget Deficit
When government spending exceeds tax revenue in a given year, the gap must be financed by issuing new debt — adding to the national debt.
BeginnerBull Flag
A sharp upward pole followed by a tight, slightly downward-drifting consolidation channel — a high-probability continuation setup in strong uptrends.
BeginnerBull Market
A sustained period of rising prices, typically defined as a 20%+ gain from a recent low. Optimism and buying pressure dominate.
BeginnerBullish Candle
A candle where the close is higher than the open, indicating net buying pressure during the period.
BeginnerBullish Engulfing
A large bullish candle that completely wraps the prior bearish candle's body — a strong demand-takes-control reversal signal at the bottom of a downtrend.
BeginnerBullish Harami
A large bearish candle followed by a small bullish candle inside the first — downside momentum is stalling at the bottom of a downtrend.
BeginnerBusiness Cycle
The recurring sequence of economic expansion, peak, contraction, and trough that drives sector rotation, earnings cycles, and asset class returns.
IntermediateButterfly Pattern
A harmonic XABCD pattern where D extends beyond X — identifying extreme reversals at the end of large moves.
AdvancedButterfly Spread
A 3-leg defined-risk options strategy: buy 1 lower-strike, sell 2 middle-strike, buy 1 higher-strike — all at the same expiry. Max profit if price pins the middle strike.
IntermediateBuy Limit
A limit order to buy at or below a specified price — placed below the current market to enter on a pullback.
BeginnerBuy Stop
A stop order placed above the current price that triggers a market buy when price rises to the stop level — used to enter breakouts.
BeginnerCL (Crude Oil Futures)
NYMEX futures on West Texas Intermediate crude oil. 1,000 barrels per contract, $0.01/barrel tick, physically delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma.
IntermediateCME FedWatch
A CME tool that converts 30-day Fed Funds futures prices into market-implied probabilities of Fed rate moves at upcoming FOMC meetings.
IntermediateCalendar Spread
A spread trade that is simultaneously long one contract month and short another month of the same futures product.
IntermediateCalendar Spread (Options)
Sell a near-dated option and buy a longer-dated option at the same strike. Profits from faster near-term theta decay and favorable IV term structure.
IntermediateCall Option
An options contract giving the buyer the right to purchase the underlying asset at the strike price before or on expiration.
BeginnerCallable Bond
A bond the issuer can redeem early at a set call price, usually after rates fall — capping the holder's upside and adding reinvestment risk.
IntermediateCalmar Ratio
A risk-adjusted return measure dividing annualized return by maximum drawdown, rewarding strategies that grow without deep equity dips.
IntermediateCandlestick Chart
A price chart that draws each period as a candle — body between open and close, wicks to the high and low — showing the session's battle at a glance.
BeginnerCapital Gain
The profit made when you sell an asset for more than you paid. Short-term and long-term gains are taxed differently.
BeginnerCapital Preservation
The principle of protecting trading capital above all else — because you cannot trade without capital, survival is the first objective.
BeginnerCapitulation
The emotional point where holders give up and sell en masse — often the true bottom, right before the recovery most of them miss.
IntermediateCarry (Rates)
In fixed income, the net income earned by holding a bond position after financing costs — positive carry means the bond yields more than its funding rate.
AdvancedCarry / Cost of Carry
The net cost of holding a physical commodity position — storage, insurance, and financing minus any income or convenience yield.
AdvancedCash Settlement
A settlement method where no physical asset changes hands at expiration — the contract settles to a final index or reference price in cash.
BeginnerCash-Secured Put
Selling a put while setting aside enough cash to buy the shares if assigned — collecting premium with the willingness to own the stock at the strike.
IntermediateCentral Bank
A national institution that manages monetary policy, controls money supply, and acts as a lender of last resort to the banking system.
BeginnerChaikin Money Flow
Volume-weighted measure of buying/selling pressure over 20–21 periods; positive values suggest accumulation, negative values distribution.
IntermediateChannel
Two parallel trendlines containing price action — an upper resistance line and a lower support line defining the trend's corridor.
BeginnerCheapest to Deliver (CTD)
The specific deliverable bond a short Treasury-futures holder will choose to deliver because it is the least costly to source net of the invoice received.
AdvancedChoppiness Index
Measures whether a market is trending (low values near 38.2) or range-bound / choppy (high values near 61.8) using ATR and the highest-high/lowest-low range.
IntermediateCircuit Breaker (Market-Wide)
An exchange-wide trading halt triggered by a sharp S&P 500 drop, pausing all US stock trading to curb panic selling.
AdvancedClearinghouse / Central Counterparty (CCP)
The entity that steps between buyer and seller in every cleared trade, becoming counterparty to both and guaranteeing performance so neither faces the other's default.
IntermediateCognitive Bias
A systematic error in thinking that distorts perception, judgement, and decision-making — markets are full of them.
IntermediateCommitment of Traders (COT)
A weekly CFTC report showing the aggregate positions of commercial hedgers and non-commercial speculators in US futures markets — a key sentiment gauge.
IntermediateCommodity
A raw material or primary agricultural product that is interchangeable with others of the same grade and traded on organized exchanges.
BeginnerCommodity Channel Index (CCI)
Oscillator measuring how far price deviates from its statistical mean; above +100 is strong momentum, below −100 suggests oversold.
IntermediateCommodity Index (GSCI / BCOM)
A rules-based basket of commodity futures — the S&P GSCI is production-weighted and energy-heavy; the Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCOM) is diversified with per-commodity caps.
AdvancedCommon Stock
The standard class of share that gives holders voting rights and variable dividends. Most publicly traded shares are common stock.
BeginnerConditional Value at Risk (CVaR)
The average loss in the worst-case tail beyond the VaR threshold; it answers how bad losses are when VaR is breached, not just how often.
AdvancedConfirmation Bias
The tendency to seek out information that supports a trade idea you already hold and dismiss evidence that contradicts it.
IntermediateConfluence
The overlap of two or more independent technical signals at the same price level, strengthening the case for a trade.
IntermediateConsolidation
A period of tight, low-volatility price action — typically a pause within a trend before the next directional move.
BeginnerConsumer Confidence
A survey-based measure of households' optimism about the economy — a leading indicator of consumer spending, which drives ~70% of U.S. GDP.
BeginnerConsumer Price Index (CPI)
Tracks changes in the price of a fixed basket of consumer goods and services — the most closely watched inflation gauge.
BeginnerContango
A market structure where futures prices are higher than the current spot price, creating negative roll yield for long futures holders.
AdvancedContinuation Pattern
Any pattern that forms mid-trend and resolves in the same direction as the prior move — flags, pennants, and triangles are the most common.
BeginnerContinuous Contract
A synthetic price series stitching together successive front-month contracts to produce an unbroken historical chart for analysis.
IntermediateContract Month / Delivery Month Codes
The single-letter codes futures exchanges assign to each calendar month, appended to a root symbol with a year to identify a specific contract.
BeginnerContract Multiplier
The dollar amount assigned to each index point (or unit) of a futures contract, converting price moves into P&L.
BeginnerContract Size
The fixed quantity of the underlying asset controlled by one futures contract, set by the exchange.
BeginnerConvenience Yield
The implicit benefit of holding physical inventory of a commodity rather than a futures contract — what justifies backwardation.
AdvancedConvexity
The curvature in the price-yield relationship of a bond — measuring how duration itself changes as yields move, improving accuracy of price change estimates.
AdvancedConviction
Confidence in a trade idea grounded in evidence and process — distinct from stubbornness, which is confidence without that grounding.
IntermediateCopper
The leading base metal and economic bellwether, nicknamed "Dr. Copper" for its ability to signal global economic health via demand from construction and manufacturing.
IntermediateCoppock Curve
Long-term momentum oscillator that sums a 14- and 11-month ROC then smooths with a 10-period WMA; designed to identify major bear market lows.
AdvancedCore PCE
The Fed's preferred inflation gauge: the PCE price index excluding food and energy — the gauge the Fed watches to track its 2% inflation goal.
IntermediateCorporate Bond
Debt issued by a company to raise capital, paying a coupon above Treasuries to compensate investors for credit risk.
BeginnerCorrective Wave
A counter-trend three-wave (A-B-C) structure within Elliott Wave Theory that retraces part of the prior impulse before the trend resumes.
AdvancedCorrelation
A measure of how closely two assets move together, ranging from −1 (perfectly opposite) to +1 (perfectly in sync).
IntermediateCounterattack Line
Two opposite-coloured candles that close at the same price — bulls and bears fought to a draw — a potential reversal warning.
IntermediateCoupon
The fixed annual interest payment made by a bond issuer to the bondholder, expressed as a percentage of face value.
BeginnerCovered Call
An options strategy where the holder of a long stock position sells a call option against it, generating income at the cost of capping upside.
IntermediateCrab Pattern
The most extreme harmonic pattern: D extends to a 161.8% XA projection, marking deep reversal zones at market extremes.
AdvancedCrack Spread
The price difference between crude oil and refined petroleum products (gasoline, diesel), representing the refining margin.
AdvancedCredit Default Swap (CDS)
A derivative that pays out if a borrower defaults — effectively insurance on a bond, with its premium acting as a live market price of credit risk.
AdvancedCredit Rating
A graded assessment by agencies like Moody's, S&P, and Fitch of an issuer's ability to repay debt — the standardized scale for default risk.
BeginnerCredit Spread
The yield difference between a corporate (or other non-government) bond and a Treasury of the same maturity — the market's price for credit risk.
IntermediateCrush Spread
The price difference between soybeans and their processed products (soybean meal and oil), representing the processing margin for soy crushers.
AdvancedCup and Handle
A rounded bowl-shaped base followed by a small downward drift (the handle) — a bullish continuation pattern preceding a breakout to new highs.
IntermediateCurrent Account
Broadest measure of a country's transactions with the world — trade in goods, services, income, and transfers — and a key driver of long-run currency valuation.
IntermediateCurrent Yield
A bond's annual coupon payment divided by its current market price — a simple but incomplete measure of yield that ignores capital gain or loss.
IntermediateCurve Flattening
When the yield spread between long- and short-term Treasuries narrows — short yields rising faster than long yields, or long yields falling faster.
AdvancedCurve Steepening
When the yield spread between long- and short-term Treasuries widens — usually as long yields rise faster than short yields, or short yields fall faster.
AdvancedDaily Settlement Price
The official closing price established by the exchange each session, used to calculate mark-to-market P&L and margin requirements.
IntermediateDark Cloud Cover
Two-candle bearish reversal: a bullish candle followed by a bearish candle that opens above the prior high and closes below the midpoint of the first body.
BeginnerDark Pool
A private, off-exchange trading venue where large institutional orders are matched anonymously without pre-trade transparency.
AdvancedDay Order
An order that expires at the end of the current trading session if not filled.
BeginnerDay Trading
Opening and closing all positions within the same trading session — no overnight exposure. Requires focus, discipline, and strict risk management.
IntermediateDay-Trading Margin
A reduced intraday margin rate offered by retail brokers for futures positions opened and closed within the same session.
IntermediateDays to Cover
Short interest divided by average daily volume. Estimates how many trading days it would take all short sellers to buy back their shares.
IntermediateDeath Cross
The 50-day moving average crossing below the 200-day moving average — a widely-watched long-term bearish signal.
IntermediateDefault Risk
The probability that a bond issuer will fail to make scheduled interest or principal payments — the core credit risk in fixed income.
IntermediateDeflation
A sustained fall in the general price level — the opposite of inflation — that can signal a collapsing demand environment.
IntermediateDelta
The rate of change in an option's price for a $1 move in the underlying. Ranges from 0 to 1 for calls and −1 to 0 for puts.
IntermediateDerivative
A financial contract whose value is derived from the price of an underlying asset such as a stock, index, commodity, or currency.
IntermediateDescending Triangle
A coiling pattern with flat lower support and a declining upper trendline, typically resolving in a bearish breakdown.
BeginnerDetrended Price Oscillator
Removes the long-term trend from price to expose shorter cycles; useful for timing cyclical highs and lows in range-bound conditions.
AdvancedDiamond Hands
Slang for holding a position through severe volatility and drawdowns with conviction — the opposite of paper hands, for better or worse.
BeginnerDiamond Pattern
A broadening formation that then contracts into a symmetrical triangle, creating a diamond shape — a rare but reliable reversal pattern.
AdvancedDirectional Movement Index (DMI)
System of +DI and −DI lines measuring upward and downward price movement; the gap between them, normalised as ADX, quantifies trend strength.
AdvancedDiscipline
The ability to execute your trading plan without deviation, even when emotions scream at you to do something different.
BeginnerDiscipline Slippage
The gradual erosion of trading rules over time — small exceptions that compound into a completely undisciplined approach.
IntermediateDiscount Rate
The interest rate the Federal Reserve charges commercial banks for direct short-term borrowing from the Fed's discount window.
IntermediateDisinflation
A slowdown in the rate of inflation — prices still rise, just more slowly — distinct from deflation, where prices actually fall.
IntermediateDistribution
A period where large holders are quietly selling into strength — a potential precursor to a downtrend.
AdvancedDivergence
Price making a new high/low while a momentum indicator fails to confirm — a warning that the current move may be losing steam.
IntermediateDiversification
Spreading capital across uncorrelated assets to reduce risk. When one position falls, others cushion the blow.
BeginnerDividend
A cash (or stock) payment a company makes to shareholders from its profits, typically on a quarterly schedule.
BeginnerDividend Payout Ratio
The share of earnings paid out as dividends. A low ratio leaves room to grow the dividend; a very high one signals fragility.
IntermediateDividend Yield
Annual dividend per share divided by stock price, expressed as a percentage. Shows income return relative to current price.
BeginnerDoji
A candle with virtually no real body — open and close are equal or near-equal — signalling market indecision.
BeginnerDonchian Channel
Breakout envelope plotting the highest high and lowest low over the past n periods (typically 20); the midline is their average.
IntermediateDouble Bottom
Two consecutive troughs at approximately the same price level, forming a "W" shape, signalling support and potential upside reversal.
BeginnerDouble Top
Two consecutive peaks at roughly the same price level, separated by a pullback, signalling exhaustion and potential trend reversal downward.
BeginnerDovish
A monetary policy stance favouring lower interest rates and easier financial conditions to support growth and employment — the opposite of hawkish.
IntermediateDow Jones Industrial Average
A price-weighted index of 30 major US blue-chip companies. The oldest US stock index, widely covered in media but less representative than the S&P 500.
BeginnerDowntrend
A market structure defined by lower highs and lower lows, reflecting sustained selling pressure.
BeginnerDragonfly Doji
A Doji with a long lower wick and no upper wick — open, high, and close near the same level — a bullish rejection signal.
BeginnerDrawdown
The peak-to-trough decline in account equity from a high point to the subsequent low before a new high is reached.
BeginnerDrawdown Tolerance
Your genuine psychological capacity to endure account drawdowns without deviating from your strategy — different from what you think you can handle.
IntermediateDunning-Kruger Effect
The pattern where beginners overestimate their competence and experts underestimate theirs — dangerous at both ends, but especially at the start.
BeginnerDuration
A measure of a bond's sensitivity to interest rate changes — the approximate percentage price change for a 1% move in yield.
AdvancedE-mini
CME Group's electronically traded futures contracts at one-fifth the size of the original floor-traded standard contracts.
BeginnerEPS (Earnings Per Share)
Net income divided by shares outstanding. EPS is the single most-watched earnings metric for valuing a stock.
BeginnerES (E-mini S&P 500)
The world's most liquid equity index futures contract — tracks the S&P 500, $50 per point, expires quarterly.
BeginnerETF
A basket of securities that trades on an exchange like a single stock. ETFs give instant diversified exposure to an index, sector, or theme.
BeginnerEarnings Beat
When a company reports EPS or revenue above the analyst consensus estimate. Often triggers a stock price increase.
BeginnerEarnings Gap
The overnight price jump or drop a stock makes between the prior close and the open after an earnings report.
IntermediateEarnings Miss
When a company reports EPS or revenue below the analyst consensus estimate. Typically triggers a sharp stock decline.
BeginnerEarnings Report
A company's official quarterly disclosure of revenue, earnings, margins, and guidance. The biggest recurring event in single-stock trading.
BeginnerEarnings Season
The 4–6 week window each quarter when most public companies report results. Runs approximately January, April, July, and October.
BeginnerEdge
A statistically demonstrable advantage in a specific market setup — the reason your strategy should make money over a large sample.
IntermediateElder Ray Index
Measures the power of bulls (high minus EMA) and bears (low minus EMA) relative to an exponential moving average to gauge trend and momentum together.
AdvancedElliott Wave Theory
A fractal model of market cycles: price moves in five waves with the trend and three corrective waves against it, repeating at every time frame.
AdvancedEmotional Trading
Making buy or sell decisions based on how you feel rather than on pre-defined rules and objective market conditions.
BeginnerEnergy Complex
The collective term for energy-related commodities — crude oil, natural gas, refined products (gasoline, heating oil, diesel) — and the markets and instruments around them.
BeginnerEnterprise Value (EV)
The total cost to acquire a business outright: market cap plus net debt. The true takeover price, capital-structure-neutral.
IntermediateEquity
Ownership value in an asset after all debts are subtracted. In markets, "equity" usually means stocks.
BeginnerEquity Curve
A chart plotting account balance over time across all trades, showing the overall trajectory and drawdown periods of a trading strategy.
BeginnerEuphoria
The dangerous overconfidence that follows a strong winning streak — the feeling that you can do no wrong, right before a major loss.
IntermediateEvening Star
A three-candle bearish reversal: a long bullish candle, a small indecision candle gapping higher, then a large bearish candle reclaiming the midpoint.
BeginnerEx-Dividend Date
The cutoff date to own shares and qualify for the next dividend payment. Buy on or after this date and you miss the dividend.
IntermediateExchange
An organized marketplace where buyers and sellers trade securities. NYSE and NASDAQ are the two largest US stock exchanges.
BeginnerExecution
The process of completing a trade — from order submission through matching and confirmation. Execution quality affects real-world returns.
BeginnerExercise
The act of an option holder invoking their right to buy (call) or sell (put) the underlying at the strike price.
IntermediateExpectancy
The average dollar amount you expect to make per dollar risked, calculated from your win rate and average win/loss sizes.
IntermediateExpiration
The date on which a futures contract reaches the end of its life and is either cash-settled or triggers physical delivery.
BeginnerExpiration Date
The last date on which an option can be exercised; after this date the contract ceases to exist.
IntermediateExponential Moving Average (EMA)
Moving average that weights recent closes more heavily via an exponential multiplier, reacting faster to price changes than the SMA.
BeginnerFOMC
The Federal Open Market Committee — the Fed body that sets U.S. monetary policy, meeting eight times per year to vote on the federal funds rate target.
IntermediateFOMO
The anxiety that everyone else is profiting while you sit on the sidelines, driving impulsive entries at the worst possible price.
BeginnerFUD
Negative sentiment — often spread deliberately — that shakes weak hands out of positions before the real move higher.
BeginnerFace Value (Par)
The nominal value of a bond that the issuer promises to repay at maturity — typically $1,000 for U.S. bonds.
BeginnerFair Value (Futures vs Index)
The theoretical futures price implied by the spot index, cost of carry, and expected dividends until expiration.
AdvancedFalling Three Methods
Bearish continuation: a long bearish candle, three small bullish candles inside its range, then another large bearish candle — the downtrend resumes.
IntermediateFalling Wedge
Two converging downward-sloping trendlines where the upper line falls faster — a bullish pattern indicating downside momentum is fading.
IntermediateFalse Breakout
A breakout that fails: price pushes past a key level, fails to follow through, then snaps back inside the range — trapping breakout traders.
IntermediateFear
The emotional response to risk that causes premature exits on winning trades or paralysis when a valid setup appears.
BeginnerFederal Funds Rate
The overnight interest rate at which U.S. banks lend reserve balances to each other — the primary policy rate the Fed targets to steer the economy.
IntermediateFederal Reserve
The U.S. central bank — its rate decisions and forward guidance move global markets more than any other single institution.
BeginnerFibonacci Extension
Fibonacci-derived levels projected beyond a swing's origin to identify potential profit targets after a breakout or trend continuation.
IntermediateFibonacci Retracement
Horizontal levels derived from Fibonacci ratios (23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, 78.6%) that highlight potential pullback support or resistance zones.
IntermediateFill
A confirmed execution of an order — the trade happened, shares changed hands at a specific price and time.
BeginnerFill or Kill (FOK)
An order that must be filled in its entirety immediately or canceled outright — no partial fills, no waiting.
IntermediateFirst Notice Day
The first date on which a futures contract seller can issue a delivery notice for physical settlement; long holders must exit before this date.
IntermediateFiscal Policy
Government spending and taxation decisions that expand or contract the economy, independent of the central bank's monetary levers.
BeginnerFlag
A brief rectangular consolidation against the prior trend, bounded by parallel trendlines — a high-frequency continuation setup.
BeginnerFloat
The number of shares freely available for public trading, excluding insider-held and restricted shares.
IntermediateFlow State
A state of peak performance where trading feels effortless and intuitive — pattern recognition is sharp, execution is clean, and distraction disappears.
IntermediateForce Index
Combines price direction, magnitude of move, and volume into a single oscillator; crosses above zero signal buying force, below signal selling force.
IntermediateForward Contract
A private, over-the-counter agreement to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price on a specified future date.
IntermediateForward Guidance
Management's public forecast for future revenue, earnings, or margins. Often moves the stock more than the reported quarter itself.
IntermediateFree Cash Flow
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures. The actual cash a business generates after maintaining and growing its assets.
IntermediateFront Month
The nearest-expiry futures contract with the highest liquidity and trading volume at any given time.
BeginnerFutures Contract
A standardized, exchange-traded agreement to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price on a set future date, settled daily via mark-to-market.
BeginnerFutures Curve
The graph of futures prices across successive delivery months for a commodity, revealing whether the market is in contango or backwardation.
IntermediateGC (Gold Futures)
COMEX gold futures. 100 troy ounces per contract, $0.10/oz tick ($10/tick). Physically deliverable at approved COMEX vaults.
IntermediateGambler's Fallacy
The false belief that a series of losses makes a win 'due' — as if random markets keep track of what they owe you.
IntermediateGamma
The rate of change of delta per $1 move in the underlying — it measures how fast delta itself accelerates.
AdvancedGap
A price jump between one period's close and the next period's open, leaving a void on the chart with no trades executed.
IntermediateGap Risk
The risk that a market reopens far from its prior close — jumping past your stop — so the actual exit is much worse than the level you set.
IntermediateGartley Pattern
A five-point harmonic pattern (XABCD) using specific Fibonacci retracements that marks high-probability reversal zones.
AdvancedGlobex
CME Group's electronic trading platform — the venue where ES, NQ, CL, GC, and virtually all CME futures trade electronically, 23 hours/day.
BeginnerGold
The premier precious metal and safe-haven asset, priced in $/troy oz on COMEX and driven by real interest rates, dollar strength, and risk sentiment.
BeginnerGold/Silver Ratio
The number of silver ounces required to buy one ounce of gold — a measure of relative precious metal valuation that traders use to rotate between the two.
IntermediateGolden Cross
The 50-day moving average crossing above the 200-day moving average — a widely-watched long-term bullish signal.
IntermediateGood 'Til Canceled (GTC)
An order that stays active until it fills or you manually cancel it — it does not expire at day end.
BeginnerGrade / Quality Spec
The standardized quality specifications a commodity must meet to be deliverable against a futures contract — API gravity and sulphur content for crude oil, purity for metals.
IntermediateGreed
The emotional drive to squeeze every last tick out of a trade, often turning winners into losers by refusing to take profit.
BeginnerGross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country in a given period — the headline measure of economic size and growth.
BeginnerHalt (LULD)
A mandatory pause in trading when a stock's price moves too far, too fast. LULD bands are set as a percentage of the prior reference price.
AdvancedHammer
A single candle with a small body near the top and a long lower wick — buyers rejected a sharp intra-session sell-off — a bullish reversal signal.
BeginnerHanging Man
A Hammer-shaped candle appearing at the top of an uptrend — the long lower wick hints that selling pressure is creeping in — a bearish warning.
BeginnerHarami
A two-candle pattern where the second candle's body is fully inside the first candle's body — momentum is losing steam and a pause or reversal may follow.
BeginnerHard Landing
The painful outcome when aggressive monetary tightening overcorrects and tips the economy into recession.
IntermediateHarmonic Pattern
Any of the XABCD patterns (Gartley, Bat, Butterfly, Crab) that use precise Fibonacci ratios to identify Potential Reversal Zones.
AdvancedHawkish
A monetary policy stance favouring higher interest rates and tighter financial conditions to combat inflation — the opposite of dovish.
IntermediateHead and Shoulders
A three-peak reversal pattern where the middle peak (head) is tallest, flanked by two shorter peaks (shoulders), signalling a trend top.
BeginnerHeating Oil
A distillate fuel oil used for space heating and as a diesel proxy, traded on NYMEX in $/gallon and a key component of crack spread calculations.
IntermediateHedger
A market participant using futures to offset price risk in an existing exposure — the opposite of a speculator.
IntermediateHedging
Opening an offsetting position to reduce the net risk of an existing trade or portfolio against adverse price movements.
IntermediateHeikin Ashi
A modified candlestick chart that uses averaged OHLC values to filter noise and make trends easier to see — at the cost of losing real-time price accuracy.
IntermediateHerd Mentality
Following the crowd into a trade because "everyone else is doing it" rather than because your own analysis supports it.
BeginnerHidden Order
A limit order whose full quantity is invisible to other market participants — only the fill is reported post-execution.
AdvancedHigh-Yield Bond
Bonds rated below investment grade (BB+/Ba1 or lower) — offering higher yields to compensate for elevated default risk.
IntermediateHigher High
A peak that exceeds the prior swing high — one half of the structural definition of an uptrend.
BeginnerHigher Low
A trough that forms above the prior swing low — the second structural requirement of a defined uptrend.
BeginnerHindsight Bias
The belief, after the fact, that the outcome was obvious all along — distorting post-trade reviews and inflating false confidence.
IntermediateIORB
The rate the Fed pays banks on reserves held at the Fed — its primary administered tool for steering the fed funds rate within target.
AdvancedIPO
The first time a private company sells shares to the public on a stock exchange, raising capital and creating a tradable market for the stock.
IntermediateIceberg Order
A large order split so only a small visible portion shows in the order book; the rest is hidden and refreshes automatically as each slice fills.
AdvancedIchimoku Cloud
All-in-one Japanese trend system with five lines that define support, resistance, momentum, and trend direction simultaneously.
AdvancedImmediate or Cancel (IOC)
An order that executes as much as possible immediately, then cancels any unfilled portion.
IntermediateImplementation Shortfall
The total cost of executing a trade measured against the price when the decision was made — the gap between paper and realized performance.
AdvancedImplied Volatility
The market's forward-looking expectation of volatility, derived by solving the options pricing model for the volatility that matches the observed premium.
AdvancedImpulse Wave
A five-sub-wave structure (1-2-3-4-5) that moves in the direction of the larger Elliott Wave trend — the core engine of directional moves.
AdvancedIndex
A benchmark measuring the performance of a selected group of securities — the S&P 500 tracks 500 large US companies.
BeginnerIndex Futures
Futures contracts whose underlying is a stock market index — settled in cash against the final index value at expiration.
BeginnerInflation
The rate at which the general price level of goods and services rises, eroding purchasing power over time.
BeginnerInitial Margin
The minimum deposit required to open one futures contract, set by the exchange clearing house (CME, CBOT, NYMEX).
BeginnerInside Bar
A candle whose entire high-to-low range is contained within the prior candle's range — consolidation and a potential breakout setup.
BeginnerInter-Commodity Spread
A spread trade that is long one futures product and short a related but different product — e.g., long ES / short NQ.
AdvancedInterest Rate
The cost of borrowing money, set or influenced by central banks — the single most powerful lever in macroeconomics.
BeginnerIntrinsic Value
The immediate exercise value of an option — how much in the money it is right now, ignoring time and volatility.
IntermediateInventory Build
A week-over-week increase in reported commodity stockpiles — typically bearish for price as it signals supply outpacing consumption.
IntermediateInventory Draw
A week-over-week decline in reported commodity stockpiles — typically bullish for price as it signals consumption outpacing supply.
IntermediateInverse Head and Shoulders
A three-trough reversal pattern at a downtrend bottom: the middle trough is deepest, flanked by two shallower troughs, signalling a trend floor.
BeginnerInverted Hammer
A small body near the bottom with a long upper wick — buyers attempted to push higher during the session — a tentative bullish reversal signal after a downtrend.
BeginnerInverted Yield Curve
When short-term Treasury yields exceed long-term yields — historically the most reliable leading indicator of U.S. recession.
IntermediateInvestment Grade
Bonds rated BBB-/Baa3 or above by major rating agencies — considered low enough default risk for institutional investors and pension funds.
IntermediateIron Condor
A four-leg options strategy that sells an OTM call spread and an OTM put spread simultaneously, profiting when the underlying stays range-bound.
AdvancedIsland Reversal
A price cluster isolated by two gaps on either side — a sharp reversal signal where the gap-up and gap-down create a gap island.
IntermediateKelly Criterion
A formula that calculates the theoretically optimal fraction of capital to risk per trade to maximise long-run account growth without ruin.
AdvancedKeltner Channel
Volatility envelope using a 20-period EMA as midline and ATR multiples (typically 2×) as upper and lower bands.
IntermediateKicker Pattern
Two candles of opposite colour that open at the same price with a gap — the most powerful two-candle reversal, signalling an abrupt and complete shift in sentiment.
IntermediateLEAPS
Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securities — listed options with expirations longer than one year. Used for longer-horizon directional bets or low-cost covered-call strategies.
IntermediateLagging Indicator
An economic measure that confirms a trend after it has already begun — useful for validating cycle phases but not for anticipating them.
IntermediateLarge Cap
Companies with a market capitalization generally above $10 billion. Large caps are the most liquid, most-analyzed tier of the stock market.
BeginnerLast Trading Day
The final session in which a futures contract can be traded before it expires and moves to settlement or delivery.
BeginnerLead Month
The futures contract month with the highest current open interest and volume — synonymous with front month.
BeginnerLeading Indicator
An economic data point that tends to move before the broader economy — useful for anticipating turning points before they show up in lagging hard data.
IntermediateLevel 2 Data
The full order book showing all visible bids and asks beyond the best inside quote, including size at each price level.
IntermediateLeverage
Using borrowed capital to increase position size — amplifying both gains and losses beyond your own equity.
IntermediateLeverage (Futures)
The ratio of a futures contract's full notional exposure to the margin posted, amplifying both gains and losses on the capital committed.
IntermediateLimit Order
An order to buy or sell only at a specified price or better. Guarantees price but not execution.
BeginnerLimit Up / Limit Down
Exchange-imposed maximum daily price move for a futures contract. Trading halts or is restricted when the price hits the limit.
IntermediateLine Chart
A chart connecting closing prices with a continuous line — the simplest representation of price history over time.
BeginnerLiquidation
The forced closure of a futures position by the broker when account equity falls below margin requirements.
IntermediateLiquidity
How easily you can enter or exit a position without moving the price. High liquidity = tight spreads, deep order books, fast fills.
BeginnerLong Futures
Buying a futures contract — agreeing to take delivery (or cash settlement) at expiry, and profiting as the price rises.
BeginnerLong Position
Buying an asset expecting its price to rise. You profit when the price goes up; you lose when it goes down.
BeginnerLoss Aversion
The psychological reality that losses hurt roughly twice as much as equivalent gains feel good — distorting risk decisions across the board.
IntermediateLower High
A rally peak that fails to reach the prior swing high — the second structural requirement of a defined downtrend.
BeginnerLower Low
A trough that undercuts the prior swing low — one half of the structural definition of a downtrend.
BeginnerMACD
Trend-following momentum indicator built from the difference between a 12- and 26-period EMA, with a 9-period signal line and histogram.
BeginnerMaintenance Margin
The minimum equity level a futures account must maintain; falling below triggers a margin call demanding top-up to initial margin.
BeginnerMaker
A trader whose limit order rests in the order book, adding liquidity and typically earning a fee rebate on maker-taker exchanges.
IntermediateMaker-Taker Fees
A two-sided fee model where liquidity providers (makers) earn rebates and liquidity takers pay fees.
AdvancedMargin
Funds deposited as collateral to open a leveraged position. If losses erode your margin, your broker may issue a margin call.
IntermediateMargin Call
A broker demand to deposit more funds immediately because account equity has fallen below the required maintenance margin level.
BeginnerMargin-to-Tick Ratio
Initial margin divided by tick value — the number of adverse ticks required to wipe out all posted margin on one contract.
AdvancedMark-to-Market
The daily revaluation of open futures positions to the settlement price, with gains and losses settled in cash each session.
IntermediateMarket Capitalization
The total market value of a company's outstanding shares. Market Cap = Share Price × Shares Outstanding.
BeginnerMarket Depth
The volume of open buy and sell orders at various price levels — a measure of how much size the market can absorb without large price movement.
IntermediateMarket Impact
The adverse price movement caused by your own order consuming liquidity — buying pushes price up, selling pushes it down.
AdvancedMarket Maker (Equities)
A firm or individual that continuously quotes buy and sell prices for a stock, providing liquidity and enabling smooth trading.
AdvancedMarket Order
An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price. Guarantees execution but not the fill price.
BeginnerMarket-on-Close (MOC) Order
A market order that executes in the official closing auction at the day's closing price. Used to guarantee a close print; large MOC imbalances can move price into the bell.
IntermediateMarket-on-Open / Market-on-Close (MOO/MOC)
Auction orders that execute at the official opening (MOO) or closing (MOC) price — guaranteeing the auction print but not a specific price.
IntermediateMarketable Limit Order
A limit order priced at or through the current best opposite quote — it acts like a market order but protects against extreme fills.
IntermediateMarubozu
A full-bodied candle with no wicks — open equals low (or high) and close equals high (or low) — pure, uninterrupted directional conviction.
BeginnerMaturity
The date on which a bond's principal must be fully repaid to the bondholder, ending the life of the debt instrument.
BeginnerMax Pain
The strike price at which the largest dollar value of options (calls + puts combined) would expire worthless — the theory being that price gravitates there into expiry as dealers delta-hedge.
AdvancedMaximum Adverse Excursion (MAE)
The furthest a trade moves against you before it either recovers and wins or hits the stop-loss.
AdvancedMaximum Drawdown
The largest peak-to-trough equity decline recorded over a strategy's full history — the worst-case loss an investor would have experienced.
IntermediateMaximum Favorable Excursion (MFE)
The furthest a trade moves in your favour before it either closes at the target or reverses into a loss.
AdvancedMean Reversion
The tendency of price to return toward its historical average after an extreme deviation — the foundation of counter-trend trading.
IntermediateMeasured Move
A technique projecting a price target by duplicating a prior swing move from a breakout or consolidation point.
BeginnerMental Capital
The finite reservoir of cognitive energy, emotional resilience, and focus available for trading — when it runs out, decision quality collapses.
IntermediateMicro Futures
CME contracts at one-tenth the size of E-mini equivalents — designed for fine-grained position sizing and smaller accounts.
BeginnerMid Cap
Companies with a market capitalization roughly between $2 billion and $10 billion — the "sweet spot" for growth with established business models.
BeginnerMomentum
The rate of change of price — how fast and with what force price is moving in a given direction.
BeginnerMomentum Indicator
Measures the absolute change in price over n periods; positive and growing values confirm trend strength, declining values warn of exhaustion.
BeginnerMonetary Policy
Central bank actions — rate changes, asset purchases, reserve requirements — designed to control inflation and support employment.
BeginnerMoney Flow Index (MFI)
Volume-weighted RSI that measures buying and selling pressure; above 80 is overbought, below 20 oversold, over a 14-period default.
IntermediateMoney Management
The set of rules governing how capital is allocated, how large positions are, and how losses are limited across a portfolio of trades.
BeginnerMoney Supply
The total stock of money in circulation — tracked via M1, M2, and M3 aggregates — a key input to inflation and liquidity analysis.
IntermediateMoneyness
The relationship between an option's strike price and the current price of the underlying — ITM, ATM, or OTM. Directly drives intrinsic value and delta.
BeginnerMorning Star
A three-candle bullish reversal: a long bearish candle, a small indecision candle gapping lower, then a large bullish candle recovering above the midpoint.
BeginnerMortgage-Backed Security (MBS)
A bond backed by a pool of home mortgages, passing borrower payments through to investors — and a key target of Fed QE.
AdvancedMoving Average
The average closing price over N periods, updated each bar — smooths noise and exposes the underlying trend direction.
BeginnerMulti-Timeframe Analysis
The practice of reading price action across multiple timeframes to align the higher-degree trend with lower-timeframe entries.
IntermediateMunicipal Bond
Debt issued by U.S. states and local governments, whose interest is typically exempt from federal (and sometimes state) income tax.
IntermediateNBBO
The highest bid and lowest ask for a stock across all U.S. exchanges combined — the consolidated quote your broker must benchmark fills against.
IntermediateNQ (E-mini Nasdaq-100)
CME E-mini futures on the Nasdaq-100 index. $20 per point, 0.25-tick. Tracks the top 100 non-financial Nasdaq companies.
BeginnerNYSE
The world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization, located at 11 Wall Street in New York City.
BeginnerNasdaq Composite
A market-cap-weighted index of all ~3,000+ companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange, with heavy weighting toward technology.
BeginnerNational Debt
The total accumulated stock of government borrowing — the sum of all past budget deficits minus surpluses, financed through outstanding bonds.
IntermediateNatural Gas
A hydrocarbon energy commodity priced in $/MMBtu on NYMEX, known for extreme seasonal volatility driven by heating and cooling demand.
IntermediateNeckline
The support or resistance level connecting the lows (or highs) of a reversal pattern — the line whose break confirms the pattern.
BeginnerNominal Yield
A bond's stated yield without adjusting for inflation — the face-value return before accounting for the erosion of purchasing power.
IntermediateNon-Farm Payrolls (NFP)
Monthly count of new U.S. jobs added outside the farm sector — the most volatility-generating data release on the macro calendar.
BeginnerNotional Value
The full economic exposure of a futures position: Futures Price × Contract Multiplier (or Contract Size).
IntermediateOHLC (Open-High-Low-Close)
The four prices that summarize a trading period — open, high, low, and close — the raw data behind every candlestick and bar chart.
BeginnerOPEC
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — a cartel of major oil producers that coordinates production levels to influence global crude prices.
IntermediateOdd Lot
Any order for fewer than 100 shares (a round lot). Odd lots are executed differently by some exchanges and historically excluded from certain quotes.
BeginnerOn-Balance Volume (OBV)
Cumulative volume indicator that adds volume on up days and subtracts it on down days to reveal whether volume is confirming a price trend.
BeginnerOn-the-Run vs Off-the-Run
On-the-run is the most recently auctioned, most liquid Treasury at each maturity; off-the-run are older issues that trade at a slightly higher yield.
AdvancedOne Cancels the Other (OCO)
A pair of orders where filling one automatically cancels the other — used to set simultaneous upside and downside exits.
BeginnerOpen Interest
The total number of outstanding futures contracts that have not been settled, delivered, or offset. A measure of market participation.
IntermediateOpen Interest (Options)
The total number of outstanding (unclosed) option contracts at a given strike and expiry. Rising OI confirms new money entering; it gauges liquidity and where positioning is concentrated.
IntermediateOperating Margin
Operating income as a percentage of revenue. Shows how much profit the core business earns before interest and taxes.
IntermediateOptions Chain
The quoted matrix of all available calls and puts for a given underlying, organized by strike and expiration date, showing bid/ask, IV, volume, and open interest.
BeginnerOptions Contract
A contract giving the buyer the right — but not the obligation — to buy or sell an underlying asset at a set price before or on expiration.
BeginnerOrder Book
The real-time record of all outstanding buy and sell limit orders for an asset, organized by price level.
BeginnerOrder Flow
The stream of incoming buy and sell orders hitting the market — analysis of order flow reveals who is aggressive and where price is likely headed next.
AdvancedOrder Types
The instructions that tell a broker how to execute a trade — chiefly market, limit, and stop orders, plus their conditions and time-in-force.
BeginnerOutside Bar
A candle that engulfs the prior candle's entire range — high-to-low — showing a sudden expansion of volatility and a potential directional shift.
BeginnerOverconfidence Bias
Systematically overestimating the accuracy of your analysis, the reliability of your edge, or your ability to control trade outcomes.
IntermediateOvernight Margin
The full exchange-minimum initial margin required to carry a futures position through the close into the next session.
IntermediateOvertrading
Taking too many trades — either too frequently or too large — beyond what your edge and account size can support.
BeginnerP/E Ratio
Share price divided by earnings per share. The P/E tells you how many dollars investors pay for each dollar of earnings.
BeginnerPEG Ratio
P/E ratio divided by the expected annual EPS growth rate. Adjusts valuation for growth — a PEG near 1.0 is often seen as fair value.
IntermediatePaper Hands
Slang for a trader who sells at the first sign of trouble — exiting on minor weakness or fear rather than holding to the original thesis.
BeginnerParabolic SAR
Trend-following stop-and-reverse indicator that plots dots above (downtrend) or below (uptrend) price, accelerating as the trend matures.
IntermediatePartial Fill
When only part of an order is executed — common with large orders or low-liquidity conditions.
BeginnerPatience
Waiting for your exact setup before pulling the trigger — the skill of doing nothing when conditions are not right.
BeginnerPayment for Order Flow (PFOF)
Compensation a broker receives for routing customer orders to a wholesaler, who fills them internally and pays the broker for the flow.
IntermediatePennant
A pole followed by a small symmetrical triangle — a tight continuation coil that resolves in the direction of the prior thrust.
BeginnerPenny Stock
Stocks trading below $5 per share, often in tiny companies. Highly speculative, illiquid, and prone to manipulation.
BeginnerPerformance Anxiety
The inability to execute trades normally due to fear of loss, often causing hesitation, over-analysis, or complete freezing at key moments.
IntermediatePhysical Delivery
Settlement method where the seller of a futures contract must deliver the actual underlying commodity to the buyer at expiration.
IntermediatePiercing Line
Two-candle bullish reversal: a bearish candle followed by a bullish candle that opens below the prior low and closes above the midpoint of the first body.
BeginnerPin Bar
A candle with a small body and a long wick on one side — a sharp price-rejection signal widely used in price-action trading.
BeginnerPit Session vs Electronic
The comparison between historical open-outcry floor trading (the "pit") and the now-dominant electronic Globex/ICE trading sessions.
BeginnerPivot Point
A calculated average of the prior period's high, low, and close used as a benchmark level for the current session.
IntermediatePivot Points
Price levels calculated from the prior period's high, low, and close that act as projected support (S1–S3) and resistance (R1–R3) for the next session.
BeginnerPoint Value
The dollar P&L impact of a full one-point move in a futures contract. Equal to the contract multiplier.
BeginnerPortfolio
The complete collection of investments you hold — stocks, bonds, cash, and other assets together.
BeginnerPortfolio Heat
The total percentage of account capital currently at risk across all open positions simultaneously.
IntermediatePosition Limit
The maximum number of futures contracts a single trader or entity may hold, set by the CFTC and/or the exchange to prevent market manipulation.
AdvancedPosition Sizing
Calculating exactly how many shares, contracts, or lots to trade so that a stop-out costs no more than your chosen risk percentage.
BeginnerPosition Trading
Holding trades for weeks to months based on longer-term trends. Lower frequency, bigger targets, less screen time.
IntermediatePost-Only Order
A limit order that is automatically canceled if it would execute immediately — ensuring it rests in the book and earns maker status.
AdvancedPre-Market Trading
Trading before the 9:30 AM ET open, typically from 4:00 AM to 9:30 AM ET. Used to react to overnight news, data, and earnings.
IntermediatePrecious Metals
Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium — rare, durable metals with monetary history and industrial uses, traded as safe-haven assets and inflation hedges.
BeginnerPreferred Stock
A hybrid share class with fixed dividends and liquidation priority over common stockholders, but usually no voting rights.
IntermediatePremium
The price paid by the option buyer to the option seller for the rights granted by the contract.
IntermediatePrice Action
The study of raw price movement — candlestick patterns, swings, and structure — without relying on lagging indicators.
BeginnerPrice Improvement
A fill at a better price than the prevailing NBBO — buying below the national ask or selling above the national bid.
IntermediatePrice Oscillator
Percent difference between two moving averages of price; equivalent to MACD scaled by the longer MA so it is comparable across different-priced assets.
IntermediatePrice-Yield Inverse Relationship
The fundamental bond market law: when yields rise, bond prices fall; when yields fall, bond prices rise — always and mechanically.
BeginnerPrice-to-Book (P/B) Ratio
Share price divided by book value per share. Shows how much you pay per dollar of accounting net worth.
IntermediatePrice-to-Sales (P/S) Ratio
Market cap divided by annual revenue. A valuation multiple that works even when a company has no earnings.
IntermediatePrimary Dealer
An elite bank or broker-dealer authorized to trade directly with the Fed and required to participate in every Treasury auction.
AdvancedProbabilistic Thinking
Thinking in distributions and expected value rather than in certainties — accepting that any single trade can lose while the strategy still wins overall.
IntermediateProcess vs Outcome
Evaluating trades by whether you followed your rules — not by whether they made money — because good process produces good outcomes over time.
IntermediateProducer Price Index (PPI)
Measures price changes at the wholesale/producer level — a leading indicator of consumer inflation since input costs roll into retail prices.
IntermediateProfit Factor
Gross winning trades divided by gross losing trades. A profit factor above 1.5 indicates a reliable positive edge.
BeginnerPullback
A temporary counter-trend retracement within an ongoing trend, offering a lower-risk entry in the direction of the trend.
BeginnerPurchasing Managers Index (PMI)
A monthly survey of business activity across manufacturing and services — a leading indicator that moves markets before hard data arrives.
IntermediatePut Option
An options contract giving the buyer the right to sell the underlying asset at the strike price before or on expiration.
BeginnerPut-Call Parity
The no-arbitrage relationship linking the prices of a European call and put at the same strike and expiry: C − P = S − K·e^(−rT).
AdvancedQuadruple Witching
Like triple witching but adds the expiration of single-stock futures — the four simultaneous derivative expirations on quarterly expiry Fridays.
IntermediateQuantitative Easing
A Fed policy of purchasing Treasury bonds and MBS to inject liquidity, lower long-term yields, and stimulate the economy when short rates are near zero.
IntermediateQuantitative Easing (QE)
A central bank's large-scale asset purchases that inject liquidity into the system and push down long-term interest rates.
IntermediateQuantitative Tightening
The Fed's policy of shrinking its balance sheet by allowing bonds to mature without reinvesting the proceeds — the reverse of QE.
AdvancedQuantitative Tightening (QT)
A central bank's deliberate shrinkage of its balance sheet by allowing bonds to mature without reinvestment, draining liquidity from the system.
AdvancedR-Multiple
A trade's result expressed as a multiple of initial risk. A trade that earns 2× the amount risked is a +2R winner.
IntermediateRBOB Gasoline
Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending — the US benchmark unleaded gasoline futures contract traded on NYMEX in $/gallon.
IntermediateRTY (E-mini Russell 2000)
CME E-mini futures on the Russell 2000 small-cap index. $50 per point — same multiplier as ES but tracks 2,000 US small-cap stocks.
IntermediateRange
A sideways price structure bounded by identifiable support and resistance where neither buyers nor sellers dominate.
BeginnerRate of Change (ROC)
Percent change between the current close and the close n periods ago; positive values confirm upward momentum, negative values confirm selling pressure.
BeginnerReal Body
The rectangular portion of a candle between the open and close prices — the core visual measure of session conviction.
BeginnerReal Interest Rate
The nominal interest rate minus expected inflation — the true, inflation-adjusted return on lending or cost of borrowing.
IntermediateReal Yield
A bond's nominal yield minus expected inflation — the true inflation-adjusted return a bondholder earns for lending money.
AdvancedRecency Bias
Overweighting recent events when forecasting future price action, as if the last few candles predict the next hundred.
IntermediateRecession
A significant economic contraction — commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth — that hits corporate earnings and risk assets hard.
BeginnerRectangle Pattern
Price oscillates between two horizontal parallel levels — a neutral consolidation that resolves in either direction, often continuing the prior trend.
BeginnerRelative Strength (vs Index)
How a stock or sector is performing compared to a benchmark index like the S&P 500. Outperforming the index = positive relative strength.
IntermediateRelative Strength Index (RSI)
Momentum oscillator (0–100) that flags overbought conditions above 70 and oversold below 30 over a default 14-period lookback.
BeginnerRepo
A repurchase agreement — a short-term (often overnight) collateralized loan where securities are sold and agreed to be repurchased, serving as the plumbing of money markets.
AdvancedResistance
A price level where selling pressure has historically halted or reversed an upward move.
BeginnerRetail Sales
Monthly measure of consumer spending at the register — a direct read on whether households are putting their money to work.
BeginnerRetracement
A partial price reversal within a larger trend, measured as a percentage of the preceding impulse move.
BeginnerReturn on Equity (ROE)
Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Measures how efficiently a company turns shareholder capital into profit.
IntermediateReturn on Investment (ROI)
Net profit as a percentage of the capital invested. The universal yardstick for comparing investment performance.
BeginnerRevenge Trading
Taking impulsive, oversized trades immediately after a loss in an attempt to win the money back — almost always making things worse.
BeginnerRevenue
The total income a company generates from its business activities before any costs are deducted. The "top line" of the income statement.
BeginnerReversal
A sustained change in the direction of the prevailing trend, not just a temporary counter-move.
IntermediateReversal Pattern
Any pattern that signals a change in the prevailing trend direction — Head and Shoulders, Double Tops/Bottoms, and wedges at extremes are classic examples.
BeginnerReverse Repo
The Fed's tool for absorbing excess reserves from money markets — the counterparty sells Treasuries to the Fed overnight, draining liquidity from the system.
AdvancedReverse Stock Split
When a company consolidates shares, reducing the count and raising the price per share proportionally. Often a warning sign.
IntermediateRho
The sensitivity of an option's price to a 1-percentage-point change in the risk-free interest rate.
AdvancedRising Three Methods
Bullish continuation: a long bullish candle, three small bearish candles contained within its range, then another large bullish candle — the uptrend resumes.
IntermediateRising Wedge
Two converging upward-sloping trendlines where the lower line rises faster — a bearish pattern signalling that upside momentum is exhausting.
IntermediateRisk Capital
Money explicitly set aside for speculation that the trader can afford to lose in its entirety without affecting their financial wellbeing.
BeginnerRisk Per Trade
The percentage or dollar amount of your account you are willing to lose on a single trade. Typically 0.5–2% for most traders.
BeginnerRisk Tolerance
The maximum level of financial loss and psychological discomfort a trader can absorb without deviating from their strategy.
BeginnerRisk of Ruin
The statistical probability that a trader will lose enough capital to be forced out of trading entirely, given their edge and risk per trade.
AdvancedRisk-Off
A market sentiment regime where investors flee to safety — selling equities and high-yield assets in favor of government bonds, gold, and haven currencies.
BeginnerRisk-On
A market sentiment regime where investors favor higher-risk assets — equities, high-yield credit, commodities, and EM — over safe havens.
BeginnerRisk-Reward Ratio
The ratio of potential profit to potential loss on a single trade. A 1:2 R:R means you risk $1 to make $2.
BeginnerRoll Date
The session when volume and open interest migrate from the expiring futures contract to the next contract month.
IntermediateRoll Yield
The gain or loss generated when rolling a futures position from an expiring contract into the next one, driven entirely by the shape of the futures curve.
AdvancedRollover
Closing a near-expiry futures position and simultaneously reopening it in the next contract month to maintain exposure without taking delivery.
IntermediateRounding Bottom
A gradual, semicircular base where selling pressure slowly transitions to buying — a long-term bullish reversal pattern.
IntermediateS&P 500
A market-cap-weighted index of 500 large US companies. The most widely used benchmark for US stock market performance.
BeginnerSOFR
Secured Overnight Financing Rate — the benchmark short-term interest rate based on actual overnight Treasury repo transactions, replacing LIBOR.
AdvancedSPAN Margin
Standard Portfolio Analysis of Risk — the CME's risk-based margin system that calculates required margin across a portfolio of futures and options.
AdvancedSafe-Haven Asset
An asset expected to retain or gain value during market turmoil — gold, US Treasuries, and the Swiss franc are the classic examples.
BeginnerScaling In
Adding to a position in increments as price moves in your favour, building size only when the trade is proving itself right.
IntermediateScaling Out
Exiting a position in pieces as price advances, locking in partial profits while letting the remainder run toward a larger target.
IntermediateScalping
An ultra-short-term trading style that takes many small positions over seconds to minutes, harvesting tiny price moves with tight risk and high frequency.
BeginnerSeasonality
Recurring, calendar-driven price patterns in commodities caused by predictable cycles in supply (harvest) and demand (weather-driven consumption).
IntermediateSecondary Offering
A new share issuance by an already-public company, or a large block sale by existing shareholders. Dilutive if the company issues new shares.
IntermediateSector
A broad grouping of companies with similar business activities. The S&P 500 uses 11 GICS sectors such as Technology, Financials, and Energy.
BeginnerSector Rotation
The movement of institutional money between sectors of the economy as the business cycle evolves. One sector's outperformance often comes at another's expense.
AdvancedSecurity
A tradable financial instrument — stocks, bonds, options, and ETFs are all securities. If it trades on an exchange, it is a security.
BeginnerSelf-Sabotage
Unconsciously undermining a good strategy through rule-breaking, oversizing, or quitting at the worst possible time.
IntermediateSell Limit
A limit order to sell at or above a specified price — placed above the current market to exit on strength or short into resistance.
BeginnerSell Stop
A stop order placed below the current price that triggers a market sell when price falls to the stop level — the standard stop-loss mechanism for long positions.
BeginnerSettlement Price
The official price used at expiration (or daily) to resolve all outstanding contracts — either cash-settled or as the delivery benchmark.
IntermediateShare
One indivisible unit of ownership in a company. Your ownership percentage equals your shares divided by total shares outstanding.
BeginnerShare Buyback
When a company uses its cash to purchase its own shares on the open market, reducing shares outstanding and boosting EPS.
IntermediateShares Outstanding
The total number of a company's shares currently held by all shareholders, including insiders and institutions.
BeginnerSharpe Ratio
Return per unit of total risk — how much reward you earn for each unit of volatility taken. Higher is better.
IntermediateShooting Star
A small body near the bottom with a long upper wick at the top of an uptrend — buyers were rejected at the high — a bearish reversal warning.
BeginnerShort Futures
Selling a futures contract — agreeing to deliver (or cash settle) at expiry, and profiting as the price falls.
BeginnerShort Interest
The total number of shares currently sold short and not yet covered. Reported bi-weekly; high short interest can signal a crowded bet or squeeze risk.
IntermediateShort Position
Borrowing shares and selling them, hoping to buy them back cheaper. Profit when the price falls; loss when it rises.
IntermediateShort Selling
Borrowing shares and selling them, hoping to buy them back cheaper later. Profit = sell price minus buy-back price.
IntermediateShort Squeeze
A rapid price surge that forces short sellers to cover at a loss, which drives the price even higher in a self-reinforcing feedback loop.
AdvancedSilver
A precious and industrial metal priced in $/troy oz on COMEX, with dual drivers: safe-haven demand and industrial demand (solar panels, electronics).
IntermediateSimple Moving Average (SMA)
Arithmetic mean of the last n closing prices — the simplest smoothing tool and anchor for countless other indicators.
BeginnerSlippage
The difference between the expected fill price and the actual fill price. Positive slippage benefits you; negative slippage costs you.
BeginnerSmall Cap
Companies with a market capitalization roughly between $300 million and $2 billion. Higher growth potential but also higher risk than large caps.
IntermediateSmart Order Routing
Automated logic that scans multiple trading venues to find the best price, fee, and fill quality for each order.
AdvancedSoft Landing
The ideal macro outcome: the central bank tames inflation through rate hikes without triggering a recession — rare but market-moving when achieved.
IntermediateSofts
Agricultural commodities that are grown rather than mined or extracted — primarily coffee, sugar, cocoa, cotton, and orange juice, traded on ICE Futures.
IntermediateSortino Ratio
A Sharpe variant that divides excess return only by downside deviation, ignoring upside volatility as a "risk".
AdvancedSpeculator
A market participant who takes on futures risk with no underlying physical exposure, seeking to profit from price moves.
BeginnerSpinning Top
A small real body with long wicks on both sides — buyers and sellers battled but neither gained ground — an indecision candle.
BeginnerSpot Price
The current market price at which a commodity can be bought or sold for immediate delivery.
BeginnerSpot-Futures Basis
The difference between the spot price and a futures price for the same commodity — the numerical expression of carry, storage, and convenience yield.
IntermediateSpread
The gap between the bid and ask price. A tighter spread means lower transaction costs and better liquidity.
BeginnerSpread Trade (Commodities)
A trade that goes long one commodity contract and short a related one — exploiting price relationships between grades, delivery months, or related products.
IntermediateStagflation
The toxic combination of high inflation and stagnating economic growth — the worst macro environment for central banks and equity markets.
IntermediateStandard Deviation
Statistical measure of price dispersion around a mean; rising values indicate increasing volatility, falling values a tightening range.
IntermediateStar (candlestick)
A small-bodied candle that gaps away from the prior candle in the direction of the trend — a mid-pattern indecision signal that frames reversal setups.
BeginnerStochastic Oscillator
Momentum oscillator comparing a closing price to its high-low range over 14 periods; values above 80 are overbought, below 20 oversold.
BeginnerStochastic RSI
RSI of RSI — applies the Stochastic formula to RSI values for a hyper-sensitive oscillator that generates more signals than either parent indicator.
IntermediateStock
A unit of ownership in a company. Buy stock and you own a slice of the business, with rights to a share of earnings and assets.
BeginnerStock Split
When a company divides each existing share into multiple new shares, lowering the price per share while total value stays the same.
BeginnerStop Order
An order that becomes a market order once the asset trades at or through a specified stop price.
BeginnerStop-Limit Order
A two-stage order: a stop price triggers the order, then a limit price caps the worst acceptable fill.
IntermediateStop-Loss
A pre-set price level at which a losing trade is closed to cap the damage before it grows larger.
BeginnerStop-Loss Order
A stop order placed to exit a position at a loss before it grows larger. The primary tool for managing downside risk.
BeginnerStorage Cost
The fees paid to store a physical commodity — tank rental for crude, vault charges for gold — a key driver of contango in storable markets.
IntermediateStraddle
An options strategy involving the simultaneous purchase (or sale) of a call and a put at the same strike and expiration, betting on large moves (or low volatility).
AdvancedStrangle
An options strategy buying (or selling) an OTM call and OTM put at different strikes but the same expiration, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger move to profit.
AdvancedStrike Price
The fixed price at which the option holder can buy (call) or sell (put) the underlying asset if they choose to exercise.
BeginnerSunk Cost Fallacy
Holding a losing trade because of how much you've already lost in it — as if the market cares what you paid.
BeginnerSuperTrend
ATR-based trailing stop-and-trend indicator that flips above or below price to define bull and bear regimes; clean, actionable signals.
IntermediateSupply and Demand Balance
The net difference between commodity production and consumption in a given period — a surplus weakens prices; a deficit strengthens them.
IntermediateSupport
A price level where buying pressure has historically halted or reversed a downward move.
BeginnerSurvivorship Bias
Only hearing about the traders who made it — and not the far larger number who failed — leading to overestimation of how achievable trading success actually is.
IntermediateSwap
An OTC derivative in which two parties exchange streams of cash flows over time, such as fixed-for-floating interest payments.
AdvancedSwing High
A candle or bar whose high is higher than both the preceding and the following candle's highs — a local price peak.
BeginnerSwing Low
A candle or bar whose low is lower than both the preceding and the following candle's lows — a local price trough.
BeginnerSwing Trading
Holding positions for days to weeks to capture a directional "swing" in price. Balances active trading with manageable time commitment.
IntermediateSymmetrical Triangle
Converging trendlines with lower highs and higher lows, signalling a coil of indecision that typically breaks in the direction of the prior trend.
BeginnerSystematic Risk
Risk that affects the entire market or a broad asset class and cannot be eliminated through diversification.
IntermediateT-Bill
Short-term U.S. Treasury debt maturing in 4, 8, 13, 26, or 52 weeks, sold at a discount to face value rather than paying coupon interest.
BeginnerT-Bond
Long-term U.S. Treasury debt with 20- or 30-year maturities — the most sensitive to interest rate changes among Treasuries.
IntermediateT-Note
U.S. Treasury notes with maturities of 2, 3, 5, 7, or 10 years, paying semi-annual coupon interest — the most widely traded government securities.
IntermediateTIPS
U.S. Treasury bonds whose principal adjusts with CPI, so the investor is repaid in inflation-protected dollars and earns a real yield.
IntermediateTRIX
Momentum oscillator showing the percent change in a triple-smoothed EMA; the extra smoothing filters minor fluctuations and cycles below the signal period.
IntermediateTWAP Order
An execution algorithm that splits an order into equal slices released at even time intervals, targeting the time-weighted average price.
AdvancedTail Risk
The risk of rare, extreme outcomes in the far ends of a return distribution — events that standard models greatly underestimate.
AdvancedTake-Profit
A target price at which a winning trade is automatically closed to lock in gains before a reversal can erode them.
BeginnerTake-Profit Order
A limit order placed above a long entry (or below a short) to automatically lock in gains when a target price is reached.
BeginnerTaker
A trader whose order immediately executes against a resting limit, removing liquidity from the book and typically paying a fee.
IntermediateTapering
The gradual reduction in the pace of a central bank's asset purchases — a step toward tightening that precedes rate hikes and signals the end of QE.
IntermediateTasuki Gap
A three-candle continuation: two same-direction candles with a gap, then a reversal candle that partially fills the gap but does not close it — trend resumes.
IntermediateTerm Premium
The extra yield investors demand to hold longer-term bonds instead of rolling short-term bills — compensation for duration, inflation uncertainty, and supply risk.
AdvancedThe Greeks
The collective name for the sensitivity measures — delta, gamma, theta, vega, rho — that describe how an option's price responds to changes in market variables.
IntermediateTheta
The daily rate of time value erosion in an option's price, assuming all else stays constant. Usually negative for long options.
IntermediateThree Black Crows
Three consecutive large bearish candles each closing near their low — sustained selling pressure — a powerful downtrend initiation signal.
BeginnerThree Drives Pattern
Three symmetrical price drives toward a reversal point, each drive an equal Fibonacci extension — signals exhaustion of the dominant trend.
AdvancedThree Inside Up / Three Inside Down
A three-candle reversal that adds a confirmation candle to a Harami — a stalling move inside the prior body, then follow-through that seals the turn.
IntermediateThree Outside Up / Three Outside Down
A three-candle reversal that adds a confirmation candle to an Engulfing pattern — the engulf flips control, the third candle proves it sticks.
IntermediateThree White Soldiers
Three consecutive large bullish candles with small wicks, each closing near its high — sustained buying pressure — a powerful uptrend initiation signal.
BeginnerThrowback
A post-breakout pullback to the broken resistance level, which now acts as new support — a common re-entry opportunity in trending markets.
BeginnerTick
The minimum price increment a futures contract can move, set by the exchange in its contract specification.
BeginnerTick Size
The numeric value of the minimum price increment for a given futures contract (e.g. 0.25 index points for ES).
BeginnerTick Value
The dollar P&L impact of one minimum price move in a futures contract. Tick Size × Contract Multiplier.
BeginnerTicker Symbol
The unique letter code that identifies a publicly traded security on an exchange — AAPL for Apple, TSLA for Tesla.
BeginnerTilt
A state of emotional destabilisation — borrowed from poker — where recent losses drive irrational, increasingly reckless trading behaviour.
IntermediateTime Value
The portion of an option's premium beyond its intrinsic value, reflecting the probability that the option moves further in the money before expiry.
IntermediateTime and Sales
The chronological record of every executed trade in a security — price, size, and timestamp — also called reading the tape.
IntermediateTime in Force
The instruction attached to an order specifying how long it remains active before it is canceled if unfilled.
BeginnerTimeframe
The duration each candle represents — from 1-minute to monthly — defining the granularity at which price action is analysed.
BeginnerTrade Balance
The difference between a country's exports and imports — a surplus means more exports; a deficit means more imports, affecting GDP and currency.
IntermediateTrade Journal
A systematic record of every trade including entry, exit, size, reasoning, and outcome — the primary tool for improving a trading edge.
BeginnerTrading Journal
A systematic record of every trade with entry rationale, outcome, and emotional state — the most underused tool in most traders' arsenals.
BeginnerTrading Plan
A written document that defines your entry criteria, exit rules, position sizing, and daily loss limits before the market opens.
BeginnerTrailing Stop
A stop-loss that automatically moves in your favor as price advances, locking in profit while capping downside.
IntermediateTreasury
U.S. government debt securities issued by the Department of the Treasury — the global benchmark for risk-free rates and the deepest bond market in the world.
BeginnerTreasury Auction
The regular process by which the U.S. government sells new Treasury securities to investors via competitive and non-competitive bidding.
IntermediateTreasury Futures
CBOT futures on US government bonds — including 2-year, 5-year, 10-year notes and 30-year bonds — used to trade interest rate risk.
IntermediateTreasury Security
Debt issued by the U.S. federal government through the Treasury Department — the benchmark risk-free asset in global finance.
BeginnerTrend
The persistent directional bias of price over a defined timeframe — up, down, or sideways.
BeginnerTrend Following
A strategy that enters in the direction of the established trend and rides it until structural evidence of a reversal appears.
IntermediateTrendline
A straight line drawn through successive swing highs (downtrend) or swing lows (uptrend) to visualise the trend's slope.
BeginnerTriple Bottom
Three tests of the same support level that all hold, signalling firm demand and a likely bullish breakout above the intervening peaks.
BeginnerTriple Top
Three failed tests of the same resistance level, indicating sellers are firmly in control and a bearish breakdown is likely.
BeginnerTriple Witching
The quarterly expiration of stock index futures, stock index options, and individual stock options simultaneously on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December.
IntermediateTweezer Bottom
Two consecutive candles with matching lows at the bottom of a downtrend — the shared low was rejected twice, hinting at a floor.
BeginnerTweezer Top
Two consecutive candles with matching highs at the top of an uptrend — the shared high was rejected twice, hinting at a ceiling.
BeginnerUltimate Oscillator
Momentum oscillator that averages buying pressure across 7-, 14-, and 28-period timeframes to reduce false signals from a single period.
IntermediateUnemployment Rate
The share of the labor force actively seeking work but unable to find it — a key input to central bank employment mandates.
BeginnerUnsystematic Risk
Company- or sector-specific risk that can be reduced through diversification across uncorrelated assets.
IntermediateUptrend
A market structure defined by a sequence of higher highs and higher lows, signalling persistent buying pressure.
BeginnerVWAP
The average price weighted by volume traded throughout the session — the institutional benchmark for execution quality.
IntermediateVWAP Order
An execution algorithm that slices a large order across the session to track the volume-weighted average price, minimizing footprint.
AdvancedValue at Risk (VaR)
The maximum loss not expected to be exceeded over a given time horizon at a chosen confidence level, e.g. 95% or 99%.
AdvancedVariation Margin
The daily cash transfer that settles mark-to-market gains and losses on open futures positions, paid to the clearinghouse and credited to winners.
IntermediateVega
The sensitivity of an option's price to a 1-percentage-point change in implied volatility.
AdvancedVertical Spread
An options strategy involving the simultaneous buy and sell of two options of the same type and expiration but at different strikes, limiting both risk and reward.
IntermediateVolatility
The degree of price variation over time. High volatility means bigger swings — more opportunity and more risk.
IntermediateVolatility Skew
The pattern in which implied volatility varies across strikes at the same expiration, usually with OTM puts pricing higher IV than OTM calls.
AdvancedVolatility-Based Sizing
Adjusting position size inversely to market volatility so that each trade has a consistent dollar risk regardless of how much the asset moves.
IntermediateVolume
Total number of shares (or contracts) traded in a given period. Volume confirms price moves — no volume, no conviction.
BeginnerVolume Oscillator
Percent difference between a fast and slow EMA of volume; above zero means short-term volume exceeds long-term average, signalling heightened activity.
BeginnerVolume Profile
A histogram of traded volume at each price level over a period, revealing where the market has done the most and least business.
AdvancedVortex Indicator
Trend indicator measuring upward and downward vortex movement; VI+ crossing above VI− signals a new uptrend, below signals a downtrend.
IntermediateWASDE Report
The USDA's monthly supply-demand report for major US and world crops and livestock — the single biggest scheduled catalyst for grain and oilseed futures.
IntermediateWTI Crude
West Texas Intermediate crude oil — the US benchmark grade traded on NYMEX, priced in $/barrel and settled at Cushing, Oklahoma.
BeginnerWedge
Two converging trendlines that both slope in the same direction — the Rising Wedge is bearish, the Falling Wedge is bullish.
BeginnerWeighted Moving Average (WMA)
Moving average that linearly weights recent closes more than older ones — more responsive than SMA but smoother than raw price.
BeginnerWick
The thin lines above and below a candle's real body, marking the session's high and low extremes beyond the open/close range.
BeginnerWilliams %R
Inverted Stochastic oscillator (0 to −100) identifying overbought (above −20) and oversold (below −80) conditions over a 14-period window.
BeginnerWin Rate
The percentage of trades that close at a profit. High win rate does not guarantee profitability without a favourable risk-reward ratio.
BeginnerWindow (gap)
A gap between two consecutive candles where no trading occurred — in Japanese candlestick theory, windows act as support/resistance the market tends to return to.
BeginnerWolfe Wave
A five-wave price structure where the fifth wave overshoots a channel, signalling a sharp snap-back to the 1-4 trendline.
AdvancedYM (E-mini Dow)
CBOT E-mini futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. $5 per point, 1-point tick. The smallest-notional major US index future.
BeginnerYield
The income generated by an investment expressed as a percentage of its price. Used for bonds, dividends, and savings.
BeginnerYield Curve
A graph of Treasury yields across all maturities — from 3 months to 30 years — that maps the term structure of interest rates at a given moment.
IntermediateYield to Maturity
The total annualized return an investor earns if they hold a bond to maturity — accounting for coupon payments, price paid, and time remaining.
IntermediateYield to Worst (YTW)
The lowest yield a bond can deliver across all its possible redemption scenarios — the conservative return assumption for callable bonds.
Intermediate