FX Blogger

A
After-Hours Trading:
After-hours trading refers to stock trading outside the traditional trading hours of the major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. The traditional or regular trading hours have been for some time from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

AutoTrader
A semi or fully automated forex trading software program that requires little user intervention after setting up trades. Also called an Autopilot, Forex Autotrading. An example is GOMEGA XRAY released in late March 2009 and probably sold out
B
Bid Rate
The current price at which a broker/dealer is willing to buy the first-named of a currency pair. e.g. buying GBP/USD means buying Pounds and simultaneously selling Dollars. See Ask Price.

Broker
An individual or company that acts as an intermediary, putting together buyers and sellers for a fee or commission. A Broker is a ‘middle man’ (sometimes a bank) acting as a ‘negotiator’ for both customer (the trader) and supplier (the main market players like commercial or national banks and financial institutions. Bearing in mind that forex lots are typically $100,000 small investors need brokers to manage their online trades and trading account. Where trades are small or happen quickly, certain brokers handle the buying and selling ‘in house’. This is more likely to be the case with ‘mini’ or ‘demo’ accounts. Although price changes are claimed to be the same as ‘the market’ it is possible that some brokers may delay or otherwise manipulate prices using their proprietary software to end a trade when it may be more advantageous to themselves than their customers. Choosing a reputable bank or broker is an important aspect of successful forex trading.

Broker Affiliate
A trader or other individual who is paid by a broker or dealer to refer new clients. Commission can be earned from introducing new accounts or a percentage of the profit from trades made through these new trading accounts.

C
Commission – a fee charged or received by a bank, dealer, broker or other party as payment for a service. Can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the value of the transaction.

Cross Rate
From a US perspective, this refers to a pair of ‘foreign’ currencies e.g. GBP/JPY, EUR/GBP or ‘minors’ and ‘exotics’ (pairs less traded than the ‘majors’). However in the respective countries these pairs would be considered as primary currency pairs.

Candlestick Chart
A more informative form of bar chart showing price movement using blocks of different colours or shades called ’sticks’ and extended lines above and below them called ‘candles’. The top of the candle shows the highest price for the chart division and lower one the lowest price. The colour of the stick and the lengths of both sticks and candles indicate the strength or size of the price movement.

D
Depreciation
A weakening or reduction of a currency, caused by lower market demand. See Appreciation.

Derivative
A contract that changes its value in relation to price movements of a related security, future or other financial instrument. Options are the most common form of derivative.
E
Exchange Rate Risk
The exposure/potential loss a company faces from a movement in exchange rates.

Exchange Traded Funds
An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a fund which tracks a selection or ‘basket’ of related securities within a stock market index such as the S&P 500, NASDAQ or FTSE and which can be traded on an exchange like a stock or share. Learn how to trade ETFs profitably. ETFs can be used to boost an IRA too.
F
Forex
A contraction or abbreviation of ‘foreign exchange’ – foreign currency trading.

Footsie
A British company (not part of a stock exchange) owned by the Financial Times newspaper and the London Stock Exchange that specialises in a constantly updated index calculation e.g. the FTSE 100, created in 1984 with a base of 1,000 and containing the 100 largest UK companies by market capitalisation.

Futures Contract Trading
A standardised, transferable, exchange-traded contract that requires delivery of a commodity, bond, currency lot or stock index, at a specified price, at a specified future date

Forex
A contraction or abbreviation of ‘foreign exchange’ – foreign currency trading.

Forex Affiliates are people (including market traders) who earn extra income and/or reduce their trading losses by affiliating or partnering with forex and stock market product publishers to sell on commission with virtually no outlay or risk of loss.

Footsie
A British company (not part of a stock exchange) owned by the Financial Times newspaper and the London Stock Exchange that specialises in a constantly updated index calculation e.g. the FTSE 100, created in 1984 with a base of 1,000 and containing the 100 largest UK companies by market capitalisation.

Fundamental Analysis
Analysis or forecasting of currencies, stocks or economies based on economic and political factors and events.

Futures Contract Trading
A standardised, transferable, exchange-traded contract that requires delivery of a commodity, bond, currency lot or stock index, at a specified price, at a specified future date