Trading Glossary

The currency in which account balance, equity, margin, profit or loss, and account charges are displayed or converted.

The price at which an instrument can be bought. The ask is normally shown alongside the bid, and the difference between them is the spread.

The cash value of a trading account after closed trades and account transactions, excluding floating profit or loss on open positions or any credit applied to the account.

The first currency in a forex pair. In EUR/USD, EUR is the base currency and USD is the quote currency.

The price at which a market can be sold. The bid is normally lower than the ask price, but can often be the same price when trading with TabTrade on major FX as zero spreads are common.

A pending order to open a buy trade if the market price reaches or goes below the specified order price. Buy limits must be set below the current market price.

A pending order to open a buy trade once price moves above a specified stop level above the current market price.

A derivative contract where the trader and broker agree to exchange the difference in value of an instrument, between the opening and closing time, without requiring ownership of the underlying asset.

A separate transaction fee charged on some account types (such as FX and metals on TabTrade's Edge and VIP accounts) or instruments (Cryptocurrency and Shares), calculated proportionally by lots or notional volume traded.

A CFD based on a commodity market such as gold, silver, oil, natural gas, or agricultural products.

The notional amount represented by one lot or contract of an instrument. Contract size affects pip value, margin, and exposure.

Platform details for an instrument, such as contract size, trading sessions, margin settings, swap rates, tick size, and volume limits.

A feature where one account can copy trades from another account or strategy provider, subject to platform settings and account permissions.

A CFD based on cryptocurrency price movement. It gives exposure to price changes without holding the underlying cryptocurrency or trading on its blockchain.

A trading platform used for charting, order entry, account monitoring, and strategy tools where supported by the broker.

A conversion applied when profit or loss, margin, commission, swap, or other account values are in a different currency from the account currency.

A trading style where positions are usually opened and closed within the same trading day, without aiming to hold overnight or through end of day rollover.

The completed execution of an order, including the filled price, volume and time.

A practice account that uses virtual funds to explore platform features, order entry, and market behaviour without risking real money.

A view of available bid and ask interest at multiple price levels where the platform or market data source provides it.

An account adjustment that may apply to some share or index CFDs around dividend events, depending on the instrument and position direction. This ensures the CFD passes on events in the underlying market.

A net floating loss on open positions or a decline from a previous equity or strategy peak to a lower value, usually measured in money or percentage terms.

Pricing model based on aggregated external liquidity sources, often using variable spreads and a separate commission structure.

A schedule of economic releases, central bank events, holidays, and other announcements that may affect market volatility and liquidity.

Account balance plus or minus floating profit or loss from open positions, and including the value of any credit on the account. Equity changes as open positions move.

A forex pair that includes at least one less commonly traded or emerging-market currency, often with wider spreads, higher swap rates and lower liquidity than majors.

An automated trading program used in MetaTrader 5 to analyse markets or place and manage orders according to defined rules.

The amount of market risk represented by open positions, often described by direction, instrument, notional value, or total account sensitivity.

A protocol used for electronic trading messages over a dedicated connection, commonly associated with institutional or advanced trading infrastructure.

The current profit or loss on open positions before they are closed and moved into account history.

The market for trading currency pairs, where one currency is exchanged against another.

Funds not currently tied up as required margin. Free margin can absorb floating losses or support new positions, subject to account rules.

Analysis that considers economic data, interest rates, company information, policy decisions, and other external factors that may affect markets.

A rate used to calculate overnight financing or swap adjustments for an instrument, which may differ for long and short positions.

A price move where the market jumps from one level to another with no trading between those prices, often around news or market open.

The risk that a market opens or moves through levels without trading at each intermediate price, causing orders to fill away from intended prices.

Holding positions intended to offset some exposure in another position. Hedge behaviour depends on platform settings and account rules.

A CFD based on the value of a stock index, usually a group of shares representing a market or sector such as the Nasdaq 100.

The margin required to open a leveraged position before any later changes to equity, price, or margin settings.

The delay between a price, order, or platform request and the response or execution that follows. Usually this is dependent on the trader's location relative to the server.

A mechanism that allows a trader to control a larger notional position than the cash amount posted as margin. Leverage magnifies both gains and losses.

An order type that triggers execution at a specified price or better. Execution is not guaranteed if the market does not reach the price.

The availability of buy and sell interest in a market. Liquidity can affect spread, depth, and execution quality.

A bank, non-bank market maker, venue, or other participant that provides executable prices or tradeable liquidity to a broker or platform.

A position that gains value if the market price rises, and loses value if the market price falls, before costs and adjustments.

A standardised trade size used by trading platforms. Lot size affects notional exposure, pip value, margin, and trade cost. A lot is a trade size in the amount of the Contract Size.

The minimum margin or equity condition needed to keep leveraged positions open before a margin call, margin closeout, or stop-out may occur.

A heavily traded forex pair that includes the US dollar and another major currency, typically with higher liquidity than minor or exotic pairs.

The amount of account equity set aside to open or maintain a leveraged position. Margin is not a fee, but it is unavailable for other uses while required by open trades.

A warning or account state that occurs when margin level falls to a defined threshold, indicating insufficient available equity relative to required margin.

A percentage comparing equity with used margin. It is calculated as equity divided by used margin, multiplied by 100.

A measure of how much account equity or available margin is committed to required margin for open positions.

An execution method where an order is filled at the next available market price at the time it reaches execution, which may differ from the displayed price.

A participant that continuously quotes buy and sell prices and to provide liquidity and pricing.

An order to buy or sell immediately at the next available market price, subject to liquidity and execution conditions.

A trading platform used for charting, order entry, account monitoring, automated trading, and instrument specifications.

A forex pair that does not include the US dollar, often combining two major currencies and usually trading with less liquidity than major pairs.

An account feature that may limit losses from exceeding deposited funds where available and applicable. Availability depends on account terms and jurisdiction.

The full underlying value represented by a leveraged position before considering the smaller margin amount reserved to hold it.

An opening trade that has been executed and remains active in the account until it is closed manually, by an order, or by platform account controls.

A platform response where an order cannot be accepted or executed because required conditions are not met.

Trading arranged away from a central exchange between counterparties, which is the way CFD products are traded in most cases.

A funding adjustment applied when a position is held past the daily rollover time. It may be a debit or credit depending on the instrument and direction.

An instruction that waits in the platform until a specified price or condition is reached instead of executing immediately.

A common unit for measuring price movement in many forex pairs. The exact pip value depends on the pair, lot size, and account currency.

The monetary value of one pip of movement for a specific position size and instrument.

A smaller price increment equal to one tenth of a pip, often shown as the extra decimal place on modern forex quotes.

The trade volume or notional amount selected for a position, which determines exposure, margin requirement, pip value, and risk.

A trading style that studies broader market themes and may hold positions for longer periods than day or swing trading.

A displayed market price, normally including bid and ask prices, that shows where an instrument can currently be sold or bought.

The second currency in a forex pair. In EUR/USD, USD is the quote currency.

Profit or loss from closed trades after they move from open positions into account history, before or after account-specific adjustments.

The amount of equity that must be reserved to open or maintain a position, based on instrument, trade size, price, leverage, and account rules.

A response where the originally requested price is no longer available and a different price is offered or requested before execution.

A planning concept that defines the amount or percentage of account equity that could be lost if a trade reaches its predefined exit.

A comparison between the planned potential profit of a trade and the amount that could be lost if the trade reaches its predefined exit.

The daily time when positions held open may receive overnight financing, swap, or other rollover adjustments. This occurs at 5pm New York time at TabTrade, or 00:00 server time in MT5.

A short-term trading style that studies small price movements and frequent entries or exits. It is sensitive to spread, commission, latency, and execution.

A pending order to sell when the market price reaches or exceeds a specified price. Sell limits must be set above the current market price.

A pending order to sell at market once price reaches a specified stop level below the current market price.

A CFD based on the price movement of an individual listed company share, without owning the underlying share.

A position that gains value if the market price falls and loses value if the market price rises, before costs and adjustments.

The difference between the requested price and the executed price. Slippage can be positive or negative and may occur during fast or thin markets.

The current price for immediate or near-term delivery, distinct from a futures or forward price for a later date.

The difference between the bid and ask price. Spread is one way trading costs can appear in a quoted market.

An increase in the bid-ask spread that can occur during volatile, illiquid, news-driven, or market open and close conditions.

An order that becomes active when the market reaches a specified stop price. Stop orders may be used to enter or exit positions.

An order that uses a stop price as a trigger and then submits a limit order, which means execution can be controlled by price but is not guaranteed.

An order intended to close a position if price reaches a specified level. The final execution price can differ during gaps or fast markets.

An account protection mechanism where positions may be closed automatically once margin level falls to a specified threshold.

An execution model where orders are routed electronically without manual dealing intervention.

A daily financing adjustment applied to positions held past rollover. Swap can be a debit or credit depending on the instrument, direction, and rates.

An account setting designed to avoid overnight interest-based swap adjustments where available and approved.

A trading style that studies multi-session price moves and may hold positions for several days or weeks, depending on the setup.

An order intended to close a position once a specified price is reached. Execution still depends on market conditions.

Analysis based on price charts, trend structure, support and resistance, indicators, volatility, and other market data.

A single minimum price movement or quoted price update for an instrument, depending on the platform and market context.

The smallest permitted price increment for an instrument, shown in the contract specification or platform symbol details.

The monetary value of one tick of price movement for a defined contract size, lot size, and account currency.

A record of trade ideas, entries, exits, conditions, observations, and review notes used to study trading process over time.

A charting and market analysis platform that can be used for technical analysis and, where supported, broker connectivity.

A stop order setting that moves as the market moves by a defined amount, depending on platform rules and connectivity.

A common convention where three days of swap may be applied to some forex positions held past Wednesday rollover to account for weekend settlement, and where other instruments such as Index markets have that triple rate applied over the weekend.

The market or asset whose price a CFD references, such as a currency pair, index, commodity, share, or cryptocurrency.

The portion of account equity currently reserved as required margin for open positions.

The degree of price movement in a market over time. Higher volatility can affect spreads, margin, slippage, and order execution.

A hosted server environment that can run trading platforms or automated tools closer to trading infrastructure, subject to setup and provider terms.