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Glossary of Financial Terms

This glossary is your go-to resource for understanding over 300 essential terms and acronyms used across our Saving, Investing, and Trading courses. Each definition is concise and easy to understand, designed to clarify key concepts and help you build a solid foundation in financial literacy.

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Floor Pivots

A technical analysis tool used to identify potential intraday support and resistance levels, calculated based on the previous trading session's high, low, and close prices, with the central pivot point serving as a reference for market sentiment.

Forex

Foreign Exchange Market - A global decentralized market for trading currencies, where participants buy, sell, and exchange currencies at current or determined prices.

Front-Running

The unethical practice of executing orders for a security based on advance knowledge of pending transactions that will affect its price.

Fundamental Analysis

A method of evaluating an asset’s intrinsic value by examining related economic, financial, and qualitative factors—such as a company’s earnings, revenue, growth potential, management, and industry conditions—to determine whether it is overvalued or undervalued.

Fungible

Refers to assets that are interchangeable and identical in value, meaning one unit can be easily replaced by another of the same kind, such as stocks, bonds, or currency. For example, one share of Apple (AAPL) is identical to any other share of AAPL, making it fully interchangeable.

Futures

Financial contracts obligating the buyer to purchase, or the seller to sell, an underlying asset (such as commodities, currencies, or indices) at a predetermined price and date, commonly used for hedging or speculative purposes.

G

GDP

Gross Domestic Product - The total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders over a specific time period, used to measure economic performance.

Gamma

A measure of the rate of change in an option's delta relative to a one-point change in the price of the underlying asset, indicating the option’s sensitivity to price movements.

Gamma Scalping

A trading strategy that involves adjusting a delta-neutral options position to profit from changes in an option’s gamma as the underlying asset's price fluctuates.

Golden Cross

A bullish technical pattern that occurs when a short-term moving average (typically the 50-day) crosses above a long-term moving average (typically the 200-day), signaling potential upward momentum and a possible trend reversal to the upside.

Good 'Til Cancelled (GTC) Order

An order to buy or sell a security that remains active until it is either executed or manually canceled by the trader.

Growth Investing

An investment strategy focused on buying stocks or assets of companies expected to grow at an above-average rate compared to others in the market.

Growth Stock

Stock of a company expected to grow at an above-average rate.

H

HELOC

Home Equity Line of Credit - A revolving line of credit secured by the equity in a homeowner's property, allowing them to borrow funds as needed up to a set limit.

HFT

High-Frequency Trading - A type of algorithmic trading that uses powerful computers to execute large numbers of orders at extremely high speeds, often within fractions of a second.

HOD

High of Day - The highest price that a financial asset reaches during the current trading session.

HTF

Higher Time Frame – Refers to charts with longer time horizons (daily, weekly, monthly) used to identify overall market context and trend direction.

Hedge

An investment to reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an asset.

High-Yield Savings Account

A savings account that offers a higher interest rate than traditional savings accounts, allowing funds to grow faster.

I

IB (Initial Balance)

Initial Balance - The price range established during the first hour of trading, used by traders to identify key support and resistance levels, as well as potential breakout or reversal points for the trading day.

IB (Interactive Brokers)

Interactive Brokers - A global brokerage firm that provides a trading platform for a wide range of financial instruments, including stocks, options, futures, and forex, known for its low-cost trading, advanced tools, and broad market access.

IBAN

International Bank Account Number - A standardized international system of identifying bank accounts across national borders, facilitating international money transfers.

IP

Intellectual Property - A legal concept that refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce, granting the creator exclusive rights to use and exploit their creations.

IPO

Initial Public Offering - The process by which a private company offers shares to the public for the first time, allowing it to raise capital from public investors.

IRA

Individual Retirement Account - A tax-advantaged savings account designed to encourage individuals to save for retirement, with various types including Traditional IRA and Roth IRA.

IRR

Internal Rate of Return - The discount rate that makes the net present value (NPV) of all cash flows from an investment equal to zero, used to evaluate the profitability of potential investments.

Immediate or Cancel (IOC) Order

An order that must be executed immediately, but any portion that cannot be filled will be canceled.

Implied Volatility (IV)

A metric that reflects the market's expectations of the future volatility of a security's price, often used in options pricing.

In-the-Money (ITM) Option

An option that has intrinsic value, meaning for a call option, the current price of the underlying asset is above the strike price; for a put option, it is below the strike price.

Index

A statistical measure that tracks the performance of a group of assets, such as stocks or bonds, often used to represent a specific segment of the market (e.g., S&P 500, Nasdaq 100).

Index Fund

A mutual fund or ETF designed to track the performance of a specific index.

Inflation

The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises over time, leading to a decrease in purchasing power. It reflects how much more expensive goods and services have become, typically measured by indices like the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Inside Day

A candlestick pattern where the entire price range of a trading day (the high and low) is within the range of the previous day, indicating a period of consolidation.

Interest Compounding

The process by which interest earned on an investment is reinvested to generate additional interest over time, leading to exponential growth of the principal amount.

Interest Rate

The percentage at which interest is charged or paid on borrowed or invested money, typically expressed on an annual basis.

Intraday

Referring to the trading activity that occurs within a single trading day, often involving the buying and selling of financial instruments before the market closes.

Investment Portfolio

A collection of financial assets, such as stocks, bonds, and cash, held by an individual or institution to achieve specific investment objectives.

Investment Vehicles

Financial instruments or assets used to grow wealth, such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, real estate, or alternative investments.

Investor

An individual or entity that allocates capital with the expectation of generating income or profit, typically over a longer horizon than traders.

Isolated Pivot

A specific point on a price chart where a high or low stands out distinctly from previous and following price bars, often indicating potential reversal or key support/resistance levels in technical analysis.

J

Judas Swing

A false breakout move that occurs early in the trading session, intended to mislead traders by running stops or creating a sense of direction before sharply reversing in the true direction of the day’s move.

K

KT

Kangaroo Tail - A powerful single-candle reversal pattern defined by a long wick (about two-thirds of the entire candle) and a small body within the previous candle’s range, signaling a sharp rejection of price in one direction and a potential reversal when confirmed by the next candle. Also referred to as a “Pin Bar” in some trading literature.

KT (Long)

A bullish reversal setup where the candle closes green near the top of its range, with the body contained within the previous candle’s range and a lower wick that makes up roughly two-thirds of the entire candle, signaling strong buyer rejection of lower prices.

KT (Short)

A bearish reversal setup where the candle closes red near the bottom of its range, with the body contained within the previous candle’s range and an upper wick that makes up roughly two-thirds of the entire candle, signaling strong seller rejection of higher prices.

L

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