If Done Order |
An “If Done” order is a combination of two orders and should be ideal if you are unable to watch the market all the time but want to participate in a market move in your favour and/or exit a move against you. |
Illiquidity |
The difficulty of changing your assets in cash because of a lack of demand for whatever it is you're trying to sell. See Liquidity. As a market maker the spread betting company provide liquidity by constantly quoting a bid and offer spread. |
IMF - International Monetary Fund |
An organization set up by Bretton Woods to overlook the fixed exchange rate regime (now ceased) and to provide borrowing facilities to allow corrective action to be taken, alleviating exchange rate pressure in deficit countries. Now also used as an arbiter of world economic affairs. |
Index |
A statistical indicator providing a representation of the value of the securities which constitute it. Indices often serve as barometers for a given market or industry and benchmarks against which financial or economic performance is measured. |
Inflation |
A steady rise in the general prices of consumer goods and services, resulting in a decrease in a currency’s purchasing power. Inflation rises with increases in money supply and credit, and is widely gauged through the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI). Most central banks strive to maintain inflation in the 2-3% range. |
Initial Margin |
A deposit required by a broker before clients can transact margin deposit trading. |
Initial margin requirement |
Amount needed on deposit or credit in order to place a trade. For example the June FTSE requires 200 multiplied by your stake. |
Initial Public Offering (IPO) |
The offering of shares prior to a market debut. |
Insider dealing |
The use of confidential, price sensitive information prior to it becoming publicly known, for financial gains. It is a criminal offence that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail and unlimited fines. |
Interbank Rates |
FX rates quoted by large international banks to transact with other large international banks. |
Interest Rate |
The interest paid on borrowed funds (or received on funds loaned), expressed as an annualized percentage. There are many different interest rates quoted for each country, but the rate most relevant to FX traders is the overnight borrowing rate as determined by each country’s central bank. In the US, the Federal Reserve committee meets every few months to set the Federal Funds rate. The overnight lending rates not only determine how much interest is earned or owed on currency positions held overnight, but also impact currency valuations, as higher yielding currencies (all else held constant) attract more capital. |
Interim dividends |
The company's distribution of profits to shareholders halfway through the financial year. |
Interim report |
All companies quoted on the stock exchange must release an interim report after the first 6 months of the financial year. It tends to concentrate on profitability, and may or may not be used to justify an interim dividend. |
IPE |
A recognised investment exchange trading energy futures, such as Brent Crude futures. |
Jawboning |
A country’s Central Bank periodically comments publicly on monetary policy and on its outlook towards its own currency, in an attempt to influence market sentiment and by extension, its currency exchange rates. |
Last Day of Dealing |
The last day on which you can open or close a trade in a relevant market. |
Leverage |
Also known as gearing, leverage is the realisation that a large return can be obtained from a relatively small outlay with risks attached. |
Leveraging |
Borrowing funds in order to increase the potential return on investment. FX trading providers typically allow 1:100 leverage. |
LIBOR |
The London Interbank Offered Rate, the rate charged by one bank to another for lending money. |
Limit (up or down) |
The maximum price advance or decline from the previous closing price permitted by exchange rules. |
Limit Order |
An order to buy or sell a share at a specific price. The order will only be carried out by the broker at that price, or a better one. If the broker can't fulfil the limit order, it lapses. |
Liquid Market |
A liquid market is one where there is a high number of bids and offers, resulting in a tight bid-ask spread. Within liquid markets, buyers and sellers can easily trade in and out of positions, without worrying about not finding a counterparty to their intended transaction. The FX market is the world’s most liquid financial market. |
Liquidity |
Refers to how easy it is to trade in a stock. Liquid markets are those where there are a large number of people holding equities and a high volume of shares in the public domain. |
London Metal Exchange (LME) |
UK derivatives exchange that trades base metal futures and options. |
Long/Go Long |
Placing a trade if you think the market price will rise. |
MACD - Moving Average Convergence/Divergence |
is a technical indicator that measures a FX pair’s exchange rate swings. The MACD uses (in its calculation) two exponentially smoothed moving averages of the FX pair’s historical price, and usually spans over a period of time. The MACD is often compared to its own moving average, providing traders signals on when the FX pair might rise or fall. |
Margin |
The deposit/available credit needed on your account in order to open your positions open |
Margin Call |
Demand that a customer deposit additional money or securities to bring a margin account back up to the initial margin or minimum maintenance requirements. If a customer fails to respond, securities in the account may be liquidated. |
Margin in the context of FX & CFDs |
A cash deposit provided by clients as collateral to cover losses (if any) that may result from the client’s trading activities. |
Margin Requirements |
Investors are asked to deposit a small percentage of the overall cost that would be required if they were to purchase the equivalent shares in the physical market. Even though the CFD investor's outlay is small in comparison to the equivalent physical trade, the investor will still be exposed to the same potential profit and loss. This means that your potential Return on Investment is magnified. |
Market Capitalisation / Mkt Cap |
Market capitalisation is the number of shares in issue multiplied by the share price at the time the market capitalisation was calculated. |
Market Order |
A market order is an order to buy or sell at the current market price. A trader specifies the currency pair and the deal size and is given a two-way price (bid and ask price) on which to deal. |
Marketmaker |
A firm or individual whose main responsibility is to create a market in a currency pair by providing firm two-way quotes (bid and ask). Marketmakers compete with each other for order flow by reducing the spread between their quotes. |
Mark-to-market |
The daily adjustment of an account to reflect accrued profits and losses often required to calculate variations of margins. |
Merger |
When two companies form one entity and share assets, clients, debts etc. |
Mid Price |
The mid point of the bid / offer spread quoted by the market makers. The price shown in the share price pages and market reports within the financial media, but not the price at which you could necessarily expect to conclude a deal to buy or sell. The price at which you buy will be higher and the price at which you sell will be lower than the mid price in almost all circumstances. |
Indices
