Lingo topic · 69 terms
Orders and execution
Every way to get in and out of a trade, and what happens in between.
A
- AggressorThe trader who hits an existing price to make a deal happen right now, instead of waiting for someone to come to them.
- All-or-None OrderAn order that must be filled in full or not at all: no partial fills allowed.
- AskThe price at which the market will sell to you, so it is the price you pay when you buy.
- Asymmetric SlippageWhen a broker passes price moves that hurt you through to your fill, but keeps the moves that would have helped you.
- At BestAn instruction to buy or sell straight away at the best price currently available.
- At or BetterAn order to trade at a set price or a more favourable one, never worse.
B
C
- Central Limit Order BookA single shared list of all buy and sell limit orders on a venue, matched by price and then by time.
- Closed PositionA trade that has been exited, so its profit or loss is now locked in.
- CoverTo close a short position by buying back what you sold.
- Cover on a BounceClosing a short position once price starts rebounding, rather than waiting to see how far the bounce goes.
- Cover on ApproachClosing a short as price nears a level where it is expected to bounce, instead of waiting for the level to be hit.
D
- Deal BlotterA running log of all trades made by a trader or desk during the day.
- Deal TicketThe record, or order window, that holds a trade's details: instrument, direction, size, price and time.
- DetailsThe information two parties swap after agreeing a deal so it can be settled: names, rates, dates and payment instructions.
- Direct Market AccessA setup where your orders go straight into a market's order book, letting you see and trade on live prices yourself.
E
F
- FillWhen your order is executed and the trade actually happens.
- Fill or Kill OrderAn order that must be filled immediately and completely, or cancelled entirely.
- Fill PriceThe actual price at which your trade was executed.
- Fill RatioThe share of orders that actually get executed, out of all the orders sent.
- Firm QuoteA price a dealer is committed to trade at, for a stated size, if you accept it.
- First In, First OutA rule, required for US retail forex accounts, that the oldest open position in a pair must be closed first.
- FlatHaving no open positions. Also describes a market that is barely moving.
G
- GapA jump between one candle's close and the next one's open, where no trading happened at the prices in between.
- Good Till CancelledAn order that stays active until it is filled or you cancel it, rather than expiring at the end of the day.
- GunningPushing price toward a level where many stop orders sit, to trigger them and profit from the burst of orders.
H
I
L
- Last LookA brief window in which a liquidity provider can reject an order on its quoted price after seeing it.
- LatencyThe delay between sending an order or price and it arriving where it needs to go, measured in milliseconds or less.
- Limit orderAn order to buy below the current price or sell above it, filled only if the market reaches your chosen price.
- LongBuying something because you expect its price to rise. In forex, going long a pair means buying the base currency.
M
O
- Offsetting TransactionA trade that cancels out an existing position, such as selling what you previously bought.
- One Cancels OtherA pair of linked orders where, as soon as one fills, the other is automatically cancelled.
- One Triggers OtherA linked order where a second order only goes live after the first one fills.
- Open OrderAn order you've placed that hasn't been filled or cancelled yet.
- Open PositionA trade that has been entered and not yet closed, so it's still gaining or losing as price moves.
- OrderAn instruction to your broker to buy or sell, now or when certain conditions are met.
- Order BookThe live list of all waiting buy and sell orders at each price for a market.
- Overnight PositionA trade held open past the daily cutoff, usually 5 p.m. New York time, so it gets rolled over and charged or paid swap.
P
- Passive OrderAn order that waits in the book for someone else to trade against it, instead of grabbing an existing price.
- PositionYour stake in a market: what you've bought or sold and haven't yet closed.
- Price VariationThe gap between the price you expected when you placed an order and the price you actually got.
Q
R
S
- Same Day TransactionA currency trade that settles on the same day it is agreed, instead of the usual two business days.
- ShortSelling something because you expect its price to fall, aiming to buy it back cheaper later.
- SlippageThe difference between the price you expected and the price your order was actually filled at.
- Smart Order RoutingSoftware that automatically sends each order to whichever venue or liquidity provider offers the best price and fill.
- SpreadThe gap between the bid and ask price. It is the cost of getting in and out of a trade, paid the moment you open one.
- Stop Limit OrderAn order that becomes a limit order once a trigger price is hit, so it won't fill beyond the limit you set.
- Stop orderAn order to buy above the current price or sell below it, triggered once the market moves through your chosen level.
- Stop-lossAn order that automatically closes your trade at a set price to cap how much you can lose.
T
- Take-profitAn order that automatically closes your trade at a set price to lock in a profit.
- Time-Weighted Average PriceAn execution method that splits a big order into equal slices spread evenly over a set time period.
- Top of BookThe best available buy price and best available sell price in an order book right now.
- Trailing StopA stop-loss that automatically follows price as a trade moves in your favour, locking in profit while giving the trade room to run.
- Transaction DateThe day a trade is agreed and executed, which may differ from when it settles.
- Two-Way PriceA quote that shows both a bid and an ask, so you can either buy or sell.
V
W
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