- E -
Easing - Modest decline in price.
Economic Indicator - A statistics which indicates current economic growth rates and trends such as retail sales and employment.
ECU - European Currency Unit.
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange.
Effective Exchange Rate - An attempt to summarize the effects on a country's trade balance of its currency's changes against other currencies.
EFT - Electronic Fund Transfer.
EMS - European Monetary System.
European Monetary System - A system designed to stabilize if not eliminate exchange risk between member states of the EMS as part of the economic convergence policy of the EU. It permits currencies to move in a measured fashion (divergence indicator) within agreed bands (the parity grid) with respect to the ECU and consequently with each other.
Exchange control - Rules used to preserve or protect the value of a countries currency.
Exotic - A less broadly traded currency.
Exposure - In foreign exchange, a potential for gain or loss because of movement in foreign exchange rate. There are three primary types of exposure:
1. Economic: The change in future earning power and cash flow arising from a change in exchange rates. In effect, it represents a change in the value of a company holding foreign currency.
2. Transnational: A potential gain or loss arising from transactions that will definitely occur in the future, are currently in progress, or could have already been completed. A signed but not shipped sales contract, a receivable or foreign currency payment collected but not converted to local currency would all be examples of transaction exposure.
3. Translation: The potential for change in reported earnings and/or the book value of the consolidated company equity accounts, as the result of a change in foreign exchange rates used to translate the foreign currency statements of subsidiaries and affiliates known as accounting exposure.
- F -
Fast market - Rapid movement in a market caused by strong interest by buyers and/or sellers. In such circumstances price levels may be omitted and bid and offer quotations may occur too rapidly to be fully reported.
Fed Fund Rate - The interest rate on Fed funds. This is a closely watched short term interest rate as it signals the Feds view as to the state of the money supply.
Fed - The United States Federal Reserve. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Membership is compulsory for Federal Reserve members. The corporation had deep involvement in the Savings and Loans crisis of the late 80s.
Federal Reserve System - The central banking system in the United States.
Fill or Kill - An order which must be entered for trading, normally in a pit three times, if not filled is immediately canceled.
Fisher Effect - The relationship that exists between interest rates and exchange rate movements, so that in an ideal situation interest rate differentials would be exactly off set by exchange rate movements. See interest rate parity.
Fixed exchange rate - Official rate set by monetary authorities. Often the fixed exchange rate permits fluctuation within a band.
Flexible exchange rate - Exchange rates with a fixed parity against one or more currencies with frequent revaluation's. A form of managed float.
Floating exchange rate - An exchange rate where the value is determined by market forces. Even floating currencies are subject to intervention by the monetary authorities. When such activity is frequent the float is known as a dirty float.
FOMC - Federal Open Market Committee, the committee that sets money supply targets in the US which tend to be implemented through Fed Fund interest rates etc.
Foreign Exchange - The purchase or sale of a currency against sale or purchase of another.
Forex - Term commonly used when referring to the foreign exchange market.
Forex Club - Groups formed in the major financial centers to encourage educational and social contacts between foreign exchange dealers, under the umbrella of Association Cambiste International.
Forward margins - Discounts or premiums between spot rate and the forward rate for a currency. Normally quoted in points.
Forward Operations - Foreign exchange transactions, on which the fulfillment of the mutual delivery obligations is made on a date later than the second business day after the transaction was concluded.
Forward Outright - A commitment to buy or sell a currency for delivery on a specified future date or period. The price is quoted as the Spot rate minus or plus the forward points for the chosen period.
Forward Rate - Forward rates are quoted in terms of forward points , which represents the difference between the forward and spot rates. In order to obtain the forward rate from the actual exchange rate the forward points are either added or subtracted from the exchange rate. The decision to subtract or add points is determined by the differential between the deposit rates for both currencies concerned in the transaction. The base currency with the higher interest rate is said to be at a discount to the lower interest rate quoted currency in the forward market. Therefor the forward points are subtracted from the spot rate. Similarly, the lower interest rate base currency is said to be at a premium, and the forward points are added to the spot rate to obtain the forward rate.
Free Reserves - Total reserves held by a bank less the reserves required by the authority.
Front Office - The activities carried out by the dealer , normal trading activities.
Fundamentals - The macro economic factors that are accepted as forming the foundation for the relative value of a currency, these include inflation, growth, trade balance, government deficit, and interest rates.
FX - Foreign Exchange.
- G -
G7 - The seven leading industrial countries, being US , Germany, Japan, France, UK, Canada, Italy.
G10 - G7 plus Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden, a group associated with IMF discussions. Switzerland is sometimes peripherally involved.
Gap - A mismatch between maturities and cash flows in a bank or individual dealers position book. Gap exposure is effectively interest rate exposure.
Going long - The purchase of a stock, commodity, or currency for investment or speculation.
Going short - The selling of a currency or instrument not owned by the seller.
Gold Standard - The original system for supporting the value of currency issued. The was that where the price of gold is fixed against the currency it means that the increased supply of gold does not lower the price of gold but causes prices to increase.
Good until canceled - An instruction to a broker that unlike normal practice the order does not expire at the end of the trading day, although normally terminates at the end of the trading month.
Grid - Fixed margin within which exchange rates are allowed to fluctuate.
Gross Domestic Product - Total value of a country's output, income or expenditure produced within the country's physical borders.
Gross National Product - Gross domestic product plus " factor income from abroad" - income earned from investment or work abroad.
- H -
Hard currency - Any one of the major world currencies that is well traded and easily converted into other currencies.
Head and Shoulders - A pattern in price trends which chartist consider indicates a price trend reversal. The price has risen for some time, at the peak of the left shoulder, profit taking has caused the price to drop or level. The price then rises steeply again to the head before more profit taking causes the the price to drop to around the same level as the shoulder. A further modest rise or level will indicate a that a further major fall is imminent. The breach of the neckline is the indication to sell.
Hedge - The purchase or sale of options or futures contracts as a temporary substitute for a transaction to be made at a later date. Usually it involves opposite positions in the cash or futures or options market.
Hedged position - One open buy position and one open sell position in the same currency.
Hit the bid - Acceptance of purchasing at the offer or selling at the bid.
- I -
IMF - International Monetary Fund, established in 1946 to provide international liquidity on a short and medium term and encourage liberalization of exchange rates. The IMF supports countries with balance of payments problems with the provision of loans.
IMM - International Monetary Market part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that lists a number of currency and financial futures Implied volatilityA measurement of the market's expected price range of the underlying currency futures based on the traded option premiums.
Implied Rates - The interest rate determined by calculating the difference between spot and forward rates.
Indicative quote - A market-maker's price which is not firm.
Inflation - Continued rise in the general price level in conjunction with a related drop in purchasing power. Sometimes referred to as an excessive movement in such price levels.
Initial margin - The margin required by a Foreign Exchange firm to initiate the buying or selling of a determined amount of currency.
Inter-bank rates - The bid and offer rates at which international banks place deposits with each other. The basis of the Interbank market.
Interest Arbitrage - Switching into another currency by buying spot and selling forward, and investing proceeds in order to obtain a higher interest yield. Interest arbitrage can be inward, i.e. from foreign currency into the local one or outward, i.e. from the local currency to the foreign one. Sometimes better results can be obtained by not selling the forward interest amount. In that case some treat it as no longer being a complete arbitrage, as if the exchange rate moved against the arbitrageur, the profit on the transaction may create a loss.
Interest parity - One currency is in interest parity with another when the difference in the interest rates is equalized by the forward exchange margins. For instance, if the operative interest rate in Japan is 3% and in the UK 6%, a forward premium of 3% for the Japanese Yen against sterling would bring about interest parity.
Interest rate Swaps - An agreement to swap interest rate exposures from floating to fixed or vice versa. There is no swap of the principal. It is the interest cash flows be they payments or receipts that are exchanged.
Internationalization - Referring to a currency that is widely used to denominate trade and credit transactions by non residents of the country of issue. US dollar and Swiss Franc are examples.
Intervention - Action by a central bank to effect the value of its currency by entering the market. Concerted intervention refers to action by a number of central banks to control exchange rates.
- K -
Kiwi - Slang for the New Zealand dollar.
- L -
Leading Indicators - Statistic that are considered to precede changes in economic growth rates and total business activity, e.g. factory orders.
Liability - In terms of foreign exchange , the obligation to deliver to a counterparty an amount of currency either in respect of a balance sheet holding at a specified future date or in respect of an un-matured forward or spot transaction.
Limit order - A request to deal as a buyer or seller for a foreign currency transaction at a specified price, or at a better price, if obtainable.
Liquidation - Any transaction that offsets or closes out a previously established position.
Liquidity - The ability of a market to accept large transactions
Maintenance margin - The minimum margin which an investor must keep on deposit in a margin account at all times in respect of each open contract.
Make a market - A dealer is said to make a market when he or she quotes bid and offer prices at which he or she stands ready to buy and sell.
Managed float - When the monetary authorities intervene regularly in the market to stabilize the rates or to aim the exchange rate in a required direction.
Margin call - A claim by one's broker or dealer for additional good faith performance monies usually issued when an investor's account suffers adverse price movements.
Margin - The amount of money or collateral that must be, in the first instance, provided or thereafter, maintained, to ensure against losses on open contracts. Initial must be placed before a trade is entered into. Maintenance or Variation margin must be added to initial to maintain against losses on open positions. Sometimes herein the amount that needs to be present to establish or thereafter maintained is sometimes herein referred to as necessary margin.
Mark to market - The daily adjustment of an account to reflect accrued profits and losses often required to calculate variations of margins.
Market maker - A market maker is a person or firm authorized to create and maintain a market in an instrument.
Market order - An order to buy or sell a financial instrument immediately at the best possible price.
Micro economics - The study of economic activity as it applies to individual firms or well defined small groups of individuals or economic sectors.
Mid-price or middle rate - The price half-way between the two prices, or the average of both buying and selling prices offered by the market makers.
Minimum price fluctuation - The smallest increment of market price movement possible in a given futures contract.
Monetary Base - Currency in circulation plus banks' required and excess deposits at the central bank.
Moving Average - A way of smoothing a set of data, widely used in price time series.
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07-28-2006, 03:45 PM
Forex Terminology Glossary (E -M)
B E S T 
Linear Mode
