Glossary of trading terms

A unique code generated by the API provider, granting users or applications access to specific actions. It serves as an authentication method for different scopes of access such as view, trade, perform payment operation, and admin access.

The currency you choose when opening a trading account with Deriv. All trading activities, including profits, losses, deposits, and withdrawals are done in the account currency.You can select your account currency upon sign-up, which can either be in fiat or cryptocurrencies.

These are maximum amount of money or trading assets that you're allowed to trade within a specific period. These limits are set by default.

A Deriv business partner who introduces Deriv to potential new clients. Affiliates earn commissions based on the relevant plans they have subscribed to.

American Indices replicate the performance of the leading publicly traded companies within a particular sector or segment of the US economy.

A trading strategy that involves taking advantage of price discrepancies in different markets or between different instruments to earn a profit.

Asian Indices replicate the performance of the leading publicly traded companies in the financial markets in Asia and Oceania.

The price a seller is willing to sell an asset to a buyer in open trades. It is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for an asset at a given time.

Any financial instrument that holds value and can be traded such as forex, commodities, stocks, and indices, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, and derived indices.

Also known as an asset group, it refers to a category of financial instruments. It consists of groups of similar assets that share similar characteristics and behave in the same way in a portfolio.

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Deriv offers a range of asset classes on our platforms, including:

• Forex currency pairs
• Commodities
• Stocks and stock indices
• Cryptocurrencies
• Derived indices, consisting of basket indices, synthetic indices, and derived FX

Also known as the ASX 200 (Australian Securities Exchange 200 Index), Australia 200 tracks the performance of the largest and most actively traded companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The first currency listed in a currency pair. It shows how much the base currency is worth as measured against the quote currency.

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For more information, check out this blog article.

The benchmark interest rate set by a central bank or monetary authority of a country. The base rate serves as the foundation for the interest rates charged by commercial banks when they lend money to customers.

A unit of measurement used in finance to describe changes in interest rates or other financial percentages. One basis point is equal to 0.01%, or one hundredth of a percentage point.

A bear trader is someone who believes that the market or a particular asset is going to experience a decline in value. This view is known as bearish, and it typically involves selling assets that the trader owns or short selling an asset in anticipation of a market decline.

A market condition in which prices of assets are falling, and investor confidence is low. It is generally characterised by a consistent decline in market prices, typically by 20% or more, over an extended period of time, often several months or longer.The term "bear" comes from the metaphor of a bear swiping its paws downward to attack its prey, as the downward trend of the market resembles the bear's movement.

The price at which a buyer is willing to purchase an asset from a seller. The bid price in trading is the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset at a given time.

The difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay (the "bid") and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept (the "ask") for a financial asset. The bid-ask spread represents the cost of trading and reflects market liquidity, with narrower spreads typically indicating more liquid markets.

A technical analysis indicator used to assess the volatility and potential price levels of a financial instrument. It help traders identify periods of high or low volatility, potential trend changes, and potential breakout points in the price chart.

The price level at which your position's profit and loss are equal. In other words, the trade has paid for itself and there are no net profits or losses.

Breakout in trading refers to a price movement of a trading asset beyond a significant level of support or resistance.

A person or a firm that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of financial instruments. Brokers facilitate trades by connecting buyers and sellers and executing trades on behalf of their clients.

Our bug bounty programme that offers rewards to individuals who identify and report bugs on our platforms. Rewards are based on the impact and severity of the reported bug.

A bull trader is someone who believes that the market or a particular asset is going to experience an increase in value. This view is known as bullish, and it typically involves buying assets that the trader believes will increase in price.

A market condition in which prices of assets are rising or expected to rise over a prolonged period, and investor confidence is high. The term "bull" comes from the metaphor of a bull attacking its prey by thrusting its horns up into the air.

The act of purchasing a financial instrument with a buy order, with the expectation that its value will increase in the future. When you buy an asset, you are taking a long position in that asset.

A pending order to buy a trading asset at a price lower than the current market price. Buy limit orders give you control over your entry points and help prevent you from overpaying for assets. However, the fulfilment of the order depends on market conditions and the availability of sellers willing to sell at or below the specified limit price.

The price at which a buyer is willing to purchase an asset. Buy price is also known as the ask price, and it is typically displayed on the right side of a quote.

The amount you pay to open a trade position. With options, you won’t ever lose more than this amount. Also known as a premium, it’s the price you pay to purchase an options contract. Factors that influence the buy price, including the asset price, strike, expiry time, market volatility, and interest rates.

A stop order that triggers a market buy order when the price trades at or above a specified stop price level. It is used to either close out short positions or enter new long positions if the price rises to the predefined trigger level.

A conditional order that combines a stop price and a limit price. When the market reaches the stop price, the order becomes a limit order to buy at or at better than the specified limit price, allowing you to control both the entry price and execution conditions.

A type of chart used to display the price movements of an asset. For more information, check out this blog article.

The amount of money that is available for trading.

A financial institution that is responsible for managing a country's monetary policy and regulating its banking system.

A closed position is when you complete a trade by conducting an opposite transaction, which terminates your exposure, eliminating any further potential risk or profit or loss associated with the trading asset.

Also known as close price, this refers to the last traded price of an asset at the end of a trading session. The closing price is often used as a key parameter in technical analysis.

The fee we charge for executing a trade on our trading platforms. The amount we charge depends on the asset, market conditions, and other factors.

A commodity is a basic raw material that can be bought, sold, and traded on exchanges around the world.When trading commodities such as metals and energy on Deriv, you'll predict the commodity prices without owning the underlying asset.

This refers to a period of price movement in which the price of a financial asset remains within a defined price range, without making significant moves in either direction.

This index is an economic indicator that evaluates inflationary trends in the market, measuring changes in the prices of goods and services over time. It is used to track market inflation and to understand the purchasing power of consumers. As the prices of goods and services increase over time, the CPI will also rise, indicating a decrease in the purchasing power of each currency unit.

A type of trading that allows you to speculate on the rise or fall of an underlying asset and profit from the difference between the contract's entry price and exit price without actually owning the asset.

The standardised quantity or volume of a financial instrument that is traded in a single contract.

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For more information, check out our trading specifications.

The exchange rate used by a payment processor to convert funds from one currency to another, similar to currency exchange.

An account that is opened and maintained by a company, to manage trading accounts and activities.

These synthetic indices are designed to produce an average of one price drop (crash) or spike (boom) event in a series of 500 ticks.

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A "boom" market is when the price of the underlying asset is expected to rapidly increase, while a "crash" market is when the price of the underlying asset is expected to rapidly decrease.

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You can trade multipliers and CFDs on these indices.

In trading, cryptocurrencies are digital assets that can be bought and sold on cryptocurrency exchanges. Unlike traditional currencies, they operate on decentralised, peer-to-peer networks, which means that they are not controlled by any central authority or government.

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Cryptocurrency trading on Deriv involves speculating on the price movements of various digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, without owning the underlying asset.

The act of converting unrealised profits or losses into actual realised profits or losses by selling the assets.

Currency appreciation is when one currency gains value in relation to another currency in the foreign exchange market. This results in the ability of one unit of the appreciating currency to purchase more units of the other currency than before.

Currency depreciation happens when a currency loses its value compared to another currency in the foreign exchange market. This means that it requires more of the depreciating currency to buy one unit of the other currency than it did before.

A currency pair is the quotation of two different currencies, with the value of one currency being expressed in terms of the other.

This refers to the current stake amount of a trade contract based on the current total profit/loss.

The deadline by which a trade must be executed or submitted for processing within a specific trading day for it to be considered for that day's trading activities. The cut-off time may vary depending on the financial market traded.

A type of order in financial trading that instructs a broker to buy or sell a financial instrument at a specified price during regular trading hours on a particular trading day. The order is valid for that day only and will expire at the end of the trading day if not executed.

A trading strategy in which traders buy and sell trade within the same day, with the aim of profiting from short-term price movements. Day traders don't hold any trade positions overnight, and all trades are closed before the market closes for the day.

A trading deal is a transaction that is executed on the platform when an order is filled.

A multipliers feature that allows you to cancel trade contracts within a chosen time frame without losing your stake. We charge a small fee for this.

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When deal cancellation is active:

• Stop loss and take profit won’t be available. They will only be available once the deal cancellation period expires.
• If the market price reaches the stop-out level before the deal cancellation's period expires, we’ll cancel your position and return your stake without profit or loss.

The time frame in which you can cancel a trade contract without losing your stake.

A fee we charge for the deal cancellation feature with multipliers. This fee may vary for every trade contract. You can see the fee amount when you choose deal cancellation before opening a position.

A trading account that allows you to practise trading on Deriv using virtual funds. It is also referred to as virtual account.

The action of transferring money from a payment account to the main trading account. Access your cashier to make a deposit.

The minimum and maximum deposit limits set for a specific payment method that you can use to transfer funds into your Deriv trading account.Visit our payment methods page to learn more on the different minimum and maximum deposit limits for each payment method.

The Deriv Application Programming Interface (API) gives you access to all trading functionalities of our Deriv Trader platform and allows you to build your own trading application using the programming language of choice. You can earn commission on trades and payments performed by your clients via the apps you create with Deriv API.

The official trading blog of Deriv, providing market insights, trading tips, educational content, and updates on the platform.

A popular multi-asset CFD trading platform, developed by MetaQuotes, that gives you access to the forex, stocks & indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, ETFs, and derived indices markets. Visit the Deriv MT5 page to learn more about its features.

Deriv Prime is a division of the institutional trading services of Deriv Group, offering liquidity solutions and global market access through a single integration point for institutional clients.

A powerful yet easy-to-use trading platform, giving you access to the forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and indices market. Visit the Deriv Trader page to know more about it.

A financial contract whose value is derived from the underlying asset or security, such as stocks, commodities, currencies, or market indices. With this type of contract, you can speculate the price movements of these financial instruments without owning them.

Derived indices is a market category that consists of Deriv's in-house developed trading assets like Synthetic Indices. These indices have asset prices derived from simulated markets.

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‍Explore derived indices available on Deriv.

Divergence is a situation where the price of an asset moves in a different direction than an indicator or oscillator that is commonly used to analyse the asset's price movements.

A risk management technique that involves trading a variety of assets or securities in order to reduce the overall risk of a trading portfolio.

A distribution of a portion of a company's profits to its shareholders. It is usually paid out in cash or additional stock shares.

The fee applied to Deriv trading accounts that have been inactive for a year. If the account remains inactive after the initial deduction, a fee will be charged every six months until the account is active again.

A market condition where an asset's price is consistently decreasing over a period of time.

A measure of how risky an investment is by looking at how much it goes down. It shows, in percentages, how much a trading account or portfolio loses from its highest value to its lowest.

Energy refers to the commodities used to generate power, such as crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, and heating oil.Deriv offers Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate for trading. Explore the commodities available on Deriv.

The market price when you open a position. It is the first tick at or after the start time of your trade contract.

A state of balance between the supply and demand of a particular trading asset.

In trading, equities refer to stocks that are publicly traded on a stock exchange. They represent ownership in a company and are bought and sold on exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ. View the stocks available on Deriv.

The current value of your CFD trading account in Deriv MT5. It is the sum of the account's balance and any floating profit or loss on open trades.

The Europe 50 (also known as the EURO STOXX 50 Index) tracks the performance of the 50 largest and most liquid companies listed in 18 European countries that use the euro as their currency.

European indices replicate the performance of the leading publicly traded companies in the financial markets across Europe. View the European indices available on Deriv.

In trading, an exchange is a marketplace where financial assets, such as stocks, indices, and currencies, are bought and sold.

Exchange rate is a currency value expressed as the value of another currency.

Also known as ETFs, exchange-traded funds are a type of investment fund traded on a stock exchange designed to track the performance of a specific index or basket of assets, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or currencies. View the ETFs available on Deriv.

The process of completing a trade once an order to buy or sell a financial instrument has been submitted. It is carried out by a trading broker.

A situation where asset price movement becomes unstable, signalling an imminent trend reversal.

The market price when you close a trade position. It is the last tick at or before the end time of your trade contract.

The time at which an option contract is closed.

The time at which a pending order will be cancelled if it has not been executed.

A type of moving average that is calculated by placing greater weight and significance on recent price data, making it more responsive to recent price changes than other moving averages.

The Fed refers to the Federal Reserve Bank, the central bank of the US, or the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee). This is the central banking system of the US that is responsible for implementing monetary policy, supervising and regulating banks, maintaining stability in the financial system, and providing certain financial services to the U.S. government.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is a committee within the US Federal Reserve that implements monetary policy and influences the supply of money and credit in the economy.

A trading account with fiat currency as the account currency.

A currency issued by central banks and governments, whose value is determined by the country's economic stability. For example, the US dollar, euro, and Japanese yen.

A technical analysis tool used in trading to identify potential levels of support and resistance in a financial asset's price movement. It is based on the idea that after a price move, prices tend to retrace a predictable portion of that move before continuing in the original direction.

The execution of a trade order at a specified price. When an order has been completed, it is often referred to as ‘filled’. There is no guarantee that every trade will become filled.

An assessment to evaluate your financial health and performance. It involves analysing your source of income and wealth to determine your net worth and overall financial position.

A type of trading asset that holds the potential to generate future cash flows or other valuable economic benefits. This can include stocks, commodities, forex, and other assets.

A trading marketplace where buyers and sellers come together to trade financial instruments such as stocks, commodities, and derivatives.

A type of exchange rate system where the value of a country's pricing system is determined by the supply and demand in the foreign exchange market. It is also known as flexible exchange rate.