Forex Glossary

When trading Forex online its very important to know the ins-and-outs of the trade. This glossary will help you get up to speed on the financial trading terminology and make your eToro trading experience one that you’ll never forget!

Social FX Trading terms

Ask Price

The ask price (right quote display) is the price at which traders can buy the base currency. If you think that the EUR value will increase then you can choose to buy it for USD at the price displayed in the ask quote. See also Bid Price

Aussie

Dealer slang for the AUD/USD currency pair. See also Currency Pair

Base Currency

The base currency is the first currency listed in any currency pair. Its value is determined against the counter currency’s value. For example, if the rate of the EUR/USD pair is 1.3525, then the EUR is the base currency and it is worth 1.3525 USD. See also Counter Currency, Currency Pair, Rate

Bear

A Bear market is a pessimistic market with declining prices. See also Bull

Bid Price

The bid price (left quote display) is the price at which traders can sell the base currency. If you think that the EUR value will decrease then you can choose to sell it for USD at the price displayed in the bid quote. See also Ask Price

Bull

A Bull market is an optimistic market with rising prices. See also Bear

Buy Price

See Ask Price

Cable

Also known as Sterling. Dealer slang for the GPB/USD currency pair. See also Currency Pair, Counter Currency

Copy Trading

A new form of trading whereby traders within a social investment network set their accounts to automatically copy the trading activity of other traders, while retaining complete control of their activity (unlike Mirror Trading). Copy Trading paves the way for traders to build “people-based” portfolios. See also People Based Portfolios

Counter Currency

The counter currency is the second currency in any currency pair. Its value is determined against the base currency’s value. For example, in the following currency pair EUR/USD, the counter currency is USD. See also Base Currency

Cross Rate

A price quote consisting of any currency quoted against a currency that is not the USD. The quote is made up of the individual exchange rates of the two currencies against the USD.

Currency Pair

The two currencies that the exchange rate is comprised of. One of the currencies is bought, and the other is sold at the same time. See also Base Currency, Counter Currency

Day Trading

The practice of opening and closing positions within the same trading day, so that at the end of the day the trader has no open positions.

Fed

The Fed is short for Federal Reserve, which is the central banking system of the United States. The Fed issues announcements regarding U.S. monetary policy which can have significant effect on the Forex market. See also Fundamental Analysis

Forex

Forex, or FX, stands for Foreign Exchange. Forex is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Since you purchase money with money, there are two transactions (buying and selling) happening at the same time.

Fundamental Analysis

This type of analysis focuses on the macroeconomic factors that influence the value of a country’s currency. Traders open positions based on how they think changes in these factors are bound to affect different economies. See also Technical Analysis

Gold Trading

The activity of buying or selling holdings in the gold commodity market, known for its stability and lucrativeness. Gold is traded against the USD currency. See also Silver Trading, Oil Trading

Guru Finder

A tool on the eToro OpenBook social trading network, enabling traders to search the network for trading gurus that fit their specified parameters, such as risk, trade size, frequency of trades etc. See also Guru Program, eToro OpenBook, Trading Guru, Trading Platforms

Social Guru Program

A reward program designed to remunerate trading gurus in a social trading network, usually based on the extent of their copier base or the amount of copy trading action derived from the guru’s trading activity. See also Guru Finder”>, eToro OpenBook, Trading Guru, Trading Platforms

Hedging

The practice of opening several positions at once where one position minimizes the risk of another position. See also Leverage, Margin

Investment Network

An online network that facilitates the sharing of information between private retail investors. Investment networks have varying features that mostly focus on enabling traders to analyze the shared information and to apply it to their own account. See also Social Trading

Kiwi

Dealer slang for the NZD/USD currency pair. See also Currency Pair

Leverage

Leverage is a loan from your broker, which enables you to trade with a small amount of capital. It can increase your potential profit, but it can also increase See also Margin

Long Position

Going long means opening a position in which the trader buys currency in hopes that this currency’s value will increase (buy low, sell high). See also Short Position

Loonie

Dealer slang for the USD/CAD currency pair. See also Currency Pair

Lot

The standard unit of trading. One standard lot equals 100,000 units of the base currency, a mini lot equals 10,000 units, and a micro lot equals 1,000 units. eToro’s standard trade volume is the mini lot. See also Leverage

Margin

The minimal cash deposit that you have to put up for the transaction. Trading Forex on margin increases your buying power, but it can also increase your losses. See also Leverage

Mirror Trading

A form of trading made popular in the early 2000s, whereby an investor selects a trading strategy, based on either automated algorithms or human traders, and then has the broker set his/her account to copy or “mirror” the trades suggested by the algorithm or executed by the mirrored trader. See also Copy Trading

Mobile Trader

eToro’s trading application for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android and other smart phones. The Mobile Trader brings all the essential features of the eToro WebTrader and eToro OpenBook to a mobile environment, allowing users to trade on the go. See also WebTrader, eToro OpenBook

Offer Price

See Ask Price

Oil Trading

The activity of buying or selling holdings in the oil commodity market, known for its volatility and close reflection of political events. Oil is traded in barrels against the USD currency. See also Silver Trading, Gold Trading

eToro OpenBook

eToro’s groundbreaking social trading network which enables traders to share information via live feeds, follow their favorite traders, copy individual trades and even set their accounts to automatically copy the trading activity of other traders. See also Trading Platforms, WebTrader

People Based Portfolios

People-based portfolio – A copy trading portfolio, wherein traders manage the people they copy and the percentages of their account dedicated to copying them, rather than build a traditional portfolio based on market investment instruments. See also eToro OpenBook, Investment Network

Pip

Pip is the smallest price increment in the last digit in the rate – usually the fourth digit after the decimal point (apart from the USD/JPY).

Pip Currency

See Counter Currency

Point

See Pip

Price Trend

A consistent movement of currency prices in a certain direction. Traders try to spot trends in order to capitalize on their potential. See also Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis

Quote Currency

See Counter Currency

Rate

Rate or quote, is the price of one currency in terms of another. See also Base Currency,

Counter Currency

Risk Capital

The amount of money that a trader can afford to risk, the potential loss of which would not affect their lifestyle. See also Leverage, Margin, Hedging

Risk Management

A strategy aimed at minimizing the investor’s exposure to market volatility while still attempting to maximize profit potential. Risk management usually involves using low leverages, opening long term positions, and portfolio diversification.

Sell Price

See Bid Price

Short Position

Going short means opening a position in which the trader sells currency in hopes that this currency’s value will decrease (sell high, buy low). See also Long Position

Silver Trading

The activity of buying or selling holdings in the silver commodity market, known for its stability and relative affordability as opposed to gold. Silver is traded against the USD currency. See also Gold Trading, Oil Trading

Social Trading

Trading that takes place in the context of a social investment network. This kind of trading specifically involves the sharing of trading information between network members, and even the automatic application of this information, as in the case of Copy Trading. See also Copy Trading, Investment Network

Spread

The spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price. See also Bid Price, Ask Price

Stop Loss

A trade order which automatically closes an open position at a specific price in order to prevent losses in case the market moves against your position. See also Take Profit

Swissy

Dealer slang for the USD/CHF currency pair. See also Currency Pair

Take Profit

A trade order which automatically closes an open position at a specific price realizing a specific amount of profit. Use this order to realize your gains. See also Stop Loss

Technical Analysis

This type of analysis focuses on chart patterns of currency movements. It assumes that a currency’s future movements can be predicted by looking at past behavior. See also Fundamental Analysis, Price Trend

Trading (Social) Guru

A social trading term referring to a highly successful trader who has gathered a large base of followers/ copiers, thus in fact serving as a guru to the investors in the network. See also Guru Finder, Social Guru Program

Trading Platforms

Software applications developed by financial brokers to enable investors to execute trading orders and manage their trading account through a software interface, without direct contact with the broker himself. See also eToro OpenBook, WebTrader

Virtual Balance

Your current potential account balance that can be realized by closing all your open trades. For example, if your actual account balance is $525 and you have an open trade for $50 with a $25 profit, your virtual account balance will show $600.

WebTrader

eToro’s web based trading platform, designed to grant traders easy access to a wide array of financial trading tools, as well as synchronizing the trader’s social trading actions with his/her live trading account. See also eToro OpenBook, Trading Platforms