Trading glossary

The price at which the market is willing to sell an instrument · the higher side of the bid/ask quote. You buy at the ask.

Average True Range · a volatility indicator that measures the average size of price movement over a chosen number of candles. Used for setting stop-loss distance.

Automated trading executed by a coded strategy (an Expert Advisor on MT5). Removes emotional decision-making and trades 24/5.

The Tokyo trading window · approximately 00:00–09:00 UTC. JPY pairs see their highest activity. Generally lower volatility than London/NY.

The price at which the market is willing to buy an instrument · the lower side of the bid/ask quote. You sell at the bid.

The first currency in a pair (e.g. EUR in EUR/USD). Quotes show how much of the quote currency one unit of the base buys.

Moving a stop-loss to the entry price after the trade moves in your favour by a fixed amount. Locks in zero risk.

Bitcoin · the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Quoted as BTCUSD on most CFD brokers. Trades 24/7.

Contract For Difference · a derivative that pays the difference between the open and close price of an instrument. No physical delivery.

A fixed fee charged per lot traded on an ECN/raw-spread account · in exchange for tighter spreads. OFinancial Premier = $3.00 per lot per side.

Consumer Price Index · the headline measure of inflation. Drives central-bank rate expectations and currency moves.

Digital asset CFDs (BTC, ETH, SOL, etc.) traded 24/7 against USD. Funded continuously with no overnight swap.

Going long a high-yielding currency vs short a low-yielding one. Earns daily swap. Reverses on risk-off shocks.

Direct Market Access · client orders are routed straight to liquidity providers without intermediary intervention.

The peak-to-trough decline in an account balance during a losing streak. Measured in percentage or currency.

US Dollar Index · a basket of USD against EUR (57.6%), JPY, GBP, CAD, SEK, CHF. Strong DXY = USD strength against majors.

A central-bank stance that favours lower rates or looser policy. Typically weakens the currency.

Electronic Communication Network · an execution model where retail orders match against an institutional liquidity pool. Tight spreads, commission per side.

Expert Advisor · an algorithmic strategy script that runs on MT5 and trades autonomously based on user-defined rules.

The real-time value of your account = balance + floating P/L. Drives margin level and forced liquidation.

Oil and gas CFDs (WTI, Brent, natural gas). Tracked via underlying futures · sensitive to OPEC decisions and inventory data.

Federal Open Market Committee · the US central-bank body that sets interest rates. Statements drive global FX.

The market for trading currency pairs. The largest, most liquid market in the world · roughly $7T daily volume.

Standardised contracts for delivery on a future date. Index, energy and metal CFDs are typically priced off the underlying futures.

A discontinuity in price between two candles · typically over the weekend or around news. Stop-loss orders may fill below their level on a gap.

Quoted as XAUUSD · 1 lot = 100 oz. Safe-haven asset · inversely correlated with US real yields.

Holding offsetting long + short positions on the same or correlated instruments to reduce net exposure. Allowed on OFinancial accounts.

A central-bank stance that favours higher rates or tighter policy. Typically strengthens the currency.

Equity index CFDs · NAS100 (Nasdaq), SP500, GER40 (DAX), UK100 (FTSE), JPN225 (Nikkei). Track futures pricing.

Swap-free trading account designed to comply with Sharia (no riba). Available on the Classic account only · FX and Gold for up to two weeks per position.

The ratio between your margin and the position size you control. OFinancial offers up to 1:1000 on FX majors, dynamic by equity level.

Standard FX position size = 100,000 units of base currency. Mini lot = 10,000, micro lot = 1,000.

An order to buy below the current price or sell above it. Fills only at the limit price or better. Used for breakouts and pullback entries.

The depth of the order book. Higher liquidity = tighter spreads, lower slippage. Peaks during London×NY overlap.

The deposit required to open and maintain a leveraged position. Equity ÷ Margin = Margin Level (%).

A warning when margin level falls below 100%. Triggers a request to deposit more funds or close positions.

An order to buy or sell at the next available price. Fills immediately · subject to slippage on illiquid markets.

MetaTrader 5 · the institutional standard trading platform. Desktop, web, mobile · supports algo trading via MQL5.

Non-Farm Payrolls · monthly US jobs report. Released the first Friday at 13:30 UTC. The most volatile FX event of the month.

Non-intermediated execution model · orders are routed straight to tier-1 liquidity providers with no broker interference.

The list of resting buy and sell orders at each price level. Indicates support and resistance from real market participants.

One-Cancels-Other · pairs two pending orders so when one fills, the other is auto-cancelled. Useful for breakout setups.

Interest debited or credited for holding a position past midnight UTC. Zero on Islamic accounts. Triple swap on Wednesdays.

Percentage In Point · the smallest standard price increment. For most FX pairs = 0.0001. For JPY pairs = 0.01. For XAU = $0.01.

An order that sits in the book until triggered. Types: limit (better than current), stop (worse than current), OCO.

Purchasing Managers' Index · forward-looking measure of business activity. Above 50 = expansion, below 50 = contraction.

The second currency in a pair (e.g. USD in EUR/USD). The quote tells you how much of it one unit of the base buys.

A market regime where price oscillates between defined support and resistance levels. Mean-reversion strategies work best.

Cashback paid back to clients of an introducing broker (IB), typically computed per lot traded. Reduces effective cost per trade.

Interest · forbidden under Sharia. Eliminated on OFinancial Islamic accounts (zero overnight swap).

A short-timeframe strategy aiming for small wins on many trades. Requires tight spreads and fast execution · suits ECN accounts.

The difference between expected fill price and actual fill price. Usually negative on market orders during high volatility.

The gap between the bid and ask price. Tightest on FX majors (0.0–1.0 pips), widest on exotics and crypto.

A pending order that auto-closes a position at a pre-set loss level. The single most important risk-management tool.

Same as overnight swap · interest on held positions. Triple swap on Wednesday (rolls Sat/Sun forward).

A pending order that auto-closes a position at a pre-set profit level. Removes the need to monitor the market.

The smallest possible price movement of an instrument. For MT5, every tick triggers an EA's OnTick handler.

A market regime where price moves directionally over time. Trend-following strategies use moving averages and momentum filters.

The magnitude of price movement over a period. Higher vol = wider spreads, larger candles. Best measured via ATR.

The number of lots traded over a period. CFD volume is broker-internal; index futures volume is exchange-level.

The thin line above or below a candle body · marks the high and low. Long wicks indicate failed pushes / rejection.

The interest rate paid on a sovereign bond. The 10Y US Treasury yield is the single most important macro variable for FX and gold.