Cable
Trader jargon for the British pound sterling referring to the sterling/US dollar exchange rate (term began due to the fact that the rate was originally transmitted via a transatlantic cable starting in the mid-1800s).
Candlestick Chart
A chart that indicates the trading range for the day as well as the opening and closing price. If the open price is higher than the close price, the rectangle between the open and close price is shaded. If the close price is higher than the open price, that area of the chart is not shaded.
Capital Markets
Markets for medium to long-term investment, usually over one year. (These tradable instruments are more international than the ‘money market’, i.e., Government Bonds and Eurobonds.)
Chartist
An individual who uses charts and graphs and interprets historical data to find trends and predict future movements, also referred to as Technical Trader.
Clearing
The process of settling a trade.
Client Agreement
Entails all the Terms and Conditions for the Services offered by the Company.
Closed Position
Exposures in Foreign Currencies that no longer exist. The process to close a position is to sell or buy a certain amount of currency to offset an equal amount of the open position. This will “square” the position.
Commission
A transaction fee charged by a broker.
Commodity
Commodities are goods of standardised quality and quantity that are traded over an exchange. Commodities fall into two broad categories: hard commodities such as crude oil, gold, silver and platinum that are extracted from the earth, and soft commodities such as wheat, corn, coffee and sugar that are cultivated and harvested. The standardisation of commodities, also known as a basis grade, ensures that regardless of where a commodity originates from, it will be of a standard quantity and above a minimum quality so as to make it interchangeable with the same product from all other producers trading on a given exchange.
Confirmation
A document exchanged by counterparts to a transaction that confirms the terms of said transaction.
Contract
The standard unit of trading.
Counter party
The participant, either a bank or customer, with whom the financial transaction is made.
Cross Rate
An exchange rate between two currencies. The cross rate is said to be non-standard in the country where the currency pair is quoted. For example, in the US, a GBP/CHF quote would be considered a cross rate, whereas in the UK or Switzerland it would be one of the primary currency pairs traded.
CPI
Consumer price index is a monthly economic indicator that tracks the changes in the price of goods and services purchased by consumers. Consumer prices account for most of the inflation a country experiences. CPI is therefore an important indicator of changing currency values because rising prices can lead to central banks raising interest rates in order to counter-balance inflationary pressures. When CPI comes in lower than expected this tends to be good for the currency in question.
Currency
Any form of money issued by a government or central bank and used as legal tender and a basis for trade.
Currency Pair
The two currencies that make up a foreign exchange rate (for example, EUR/USD).
Currency Risk
The risk of incurring losses resulting from an adverse change in exchange rates.