Alphabet R
Rally - A recovery in price after a period of decline.
Range - When a price is trading between a defined high and low, moving within these two boundaries without breaking out from them.
Rate - The price of one currency in terms of another, typically used for dealing purposes.
RBA - Reserve Bank of Australia, the central bank of Australia.
RBNZ - Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the central bank of New Zealand.
Real money - Traders of significant size including pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies, etc. They are viewed as indicators of major long-term market interest, as opposed to shorter-term, intraday speculators.
Realized profit / loss - The amount of money you have made or lost when a position has been closed.
Resistance level - A price that might act as a ceiling. The opposite of support.
Retail investor - An individual investor who trades with money from personal wealth, rather than on behalf of an institution.
Retail sales - Measures the monthly retail sales of all goods and services sold by retailers based on a sampling of different types and sizes. This data provides a look into consumer spending behavior, which is a key determinant of growth in all major economies.
Revaluation - When a pegged currency is allowed to strengthen or rise as a result of official actions; the opposite of a devaluation.
Rights issue - A form of corporate action where shareholders are given rights to purchase more stock. Normally issued by companies in an attempt to raise capital.
Risk - Exposure to uncertain change, most often used with a negative connotation of adverse change.
Risk management - The employment of financial analysis and trading techniques to reduce and/or control exposure to various types of risk.
Rollover - A rollover is the simultaneous closing of an open position for today's value date and the opening of the same position for the next day's value date at a price reflecting the interest rate differential between the two currencies.
In the spot forex market, trades must be settled in two business days. For example, if a trader sells 100,000 Euros on Tuesday, then the trader must deliver 100,000 Euros on Thursday, unless the position is rolled over. As a service to customers, all open forex positions at the end of the day (5:00 PM New York time) are automatically rolled over to the next settlement date. The rollover (or swap) adjustment is simply the accounting of the cost-of-carry on a day-to-day basis.
Round trip - A trade that has been opened and subsequently closed by an equal and opposite deal.
Running profit / loss - An indicator of the status of your open positions; that is, unrealized money that you would gain or lose should you close all your open positions at that point in time.
RUT - Symbol for Russell 2000 Index.
Alphabet S
SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sector - A group of securities that operate in a similar industry.
Sell - Taking a short position in expectation that the market is going to go down.
Settlement - The process by which a trade is entered into the books, recording the counterparts to a transaction. The settlement of currency trades may or may not involve the actual physical exchange of one currency for another.
SHGA.X - Symbol for Shanghai A Index.
Short position - An investment position that benefits from a decline in market price. When the base currency in the pair is sold, the position is said to be short.
Short squeeze - A situation in which traders are heavily positioned on the short side and a market catalyst causes them to cover (buy) in a hurry, causing a sharp price increase.
Short-covering - After a decline, traders who earlier went short begin buying back.
Shorts - Traders who have sold, or shorted, a product, or those who are bearish on the market.
Sidelines, sit on hands - Traders staying out of the markets due to directionless, choppy, unclear market conditions are said to be ‘on the sidelines’ or ‘sitting on their hands’.
Simple Moving Average (SMA) - A simple average of a pre-defined number of price bars. For example, a 50 period daily chart SMA is the average closing price of the previous 50 daily closing bars. Any time interval can be applied.
Slippage - The difference between the price that was requested and the price obtained typically due to changing market conditions.
Slippery - A term used when the market feels like it is ready for a quick move in any direction.
Sloppy - Choppy trading conditions that lack any meaningful trend and/or follow-through.
SNB - Swiss National Bank, the central bank of Switzerland.
Sovereign names - Refers to central banks active in the spot market.
Spot market - A market whereby products are traded at their market price for immediate exchange.
Spot price - The current market price. Settlement of spot transactions usually occurs within two business days.
Spot trade - The purchase or sale of a product for immediate delivery (as opposed to a date in the future). Spot contracts are typically settled electronically.
Spread - The difference between the bid and offer prices.
Square - Purchase and sales are in balance and thus the dealer has no open position.
SPX500 - A name for the S&P index.
Sterling - Nickname for GBP/USD. Also known as Pound or British Pound.
Stock exchange - A market on which securities are traded.
Stock index - The combined price of a group of stocks - expressed against a base number - to allow assessment of how the group of companies is performing relative to the past.
Stop loss hunting - When a market seems to be reaching for a certain level that is believed to be heavy with stops. If stops are triggered, then the price will often jump through the level as a flood of stop-loss orders are triggered.
Stop order - A stop order is an order to buy or sell once a pre-defined price is reached. When the price is reached, the stop order becomes a market order and is executed at the best available price. It is important to remember that stop orders can be affected by market gaps and slippage, and will not necessarily be executed at the stop level if the market does not trade at this price. A stop order will be filled at the next available price once the stop level has been reached. Placing contingent orders may not necessarily limit your losses.
Stop entry order - This is an order placed to buy above the current price, or to sell below the current price. These orders are useful if you believe the market is heading in one direction and you have a target entry price.
Stop loss order - This is an order placed to sell below the current price (to close a long position), or to buy above the current price (to close a short position). Stop loss orders are an important risk management tool. By setting stop loss orders against open positions you can limit your potential downside should the market move against you. Remember that stop orders do not guarantee your execution price – a stop order is triggered once the stop level is reached, and will be executed at the next available price.
Stops building - Refers to stop-loss orders building up; the accumulation of stop-loss orders to buy above the market in an upmove, or to sell below the market in a downmove.
Strike price - The defined price at which the holder of an option can buy or sell the product.
Support - A price that acts as a floor for past or future price movements.
Support levels - A technique used in technical analysis that indicates a specific price ceiling and floor at which a given exchange rate will automatically correct itself. Opposite of resistance.
Suspended trading - A temporary halt in the trading of a product.
Swap - A currency swap is the simultaneous sale and purchase of the same amount of a given currency at a forward exchange rate.
SWISSIE - The nickname for USD/CHF.
Alphabet T
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T/P - Stands for “take profit.” Refers to limit orders that look to sell above the level that was bought, or buy back below the level that was sold.
Takeover - Assuming control of a company by buying its stock.
Technical analysis - The process by which charts of past price patterns are studied for clues as to the direction of future pr