The safe keeping of the deposited securities by a custodian.

South African Reserve Bank.

In Forex, this is the currency that the investor pays with or receives when trading. For example, in EURUSD the variable currency is USD, that is, one unit of EUR is worth a variable amount of USD. When you buy EUR, you pay with USD, and when you sell EUR you receive USD. The other currency (EUR in the example above) is called the base currency.

The market is made up of share transactions, which do not involve the company that issued the shares concerned. The primary market is where companies sell their shares to the public to raise capital.

A secondary order(s) of a Three-way or If Done contingent order will not become active market orders unless the Primary order is executed.

A share of a company, which is well managed and has good markets, but does not have the financial muscle or history of profits of the blue chips. These are sometimes referred to as "growth" stocks, because they have the potential to become blue chips at some future stage. You should expect a secondary share to double its market price within the next 2 to 3 years, and for this reason they form an important middle area in your portfolio between blue chips and speculative shares.

See Intermediate trend

A grouping of all shares in the same industry usually represented by a sector index.

Any investment instruments, other than insurance policies or fixed annuities, issued by a corporation, government, or other organization. Securities are typically Stocks and bonds.

Securities on which a fixed rate of interest is paid each year.

A limit order to sell at the current Bid Price.

Price at which a dealer is prepared to sell shares on the market.

A period of extraordinary volume which comes at the end of a rapid and comprehensive decline which exhausts the margin reserves of many speculators or patience of investors.

The mood of the market. The way that investors as a group perceive a share sector or the market as a whole - are they bullish or bearish?

The date on which a trade is settled i.e. monies flows to pay for the instrument bought / receive income on instrument sold.

A situation where many scared investors exit their positions due to unfavorable news or uncertainty regarding the stock or industry. The dot-com bust was characterized by numerous shakeouts causing many to abandon their dot-com positions, often at great losses.

Capital of a company represented by different kinds of shares.

Document issued to a shareholder by a company certifying ownership of a stipulated part of the assets of the company.

A unique code will be assigned to each listed security. The code will be up to 6 characters in length.

Increase in the number of authorized and issued shares in a company without an increase in the capital. The number of shares held by each investor increases in direct proportion to the overall increase in the issued share capital without any change in the total nominal value. (Share splits usually take place when a company's shares reach a price level that puts them beyond the reach of the average investor.)

Financial instruments that represent partial ownership of a company. They are also known as Stocks or equities.

The result of a trader having sold more than he has bought in any particular market/commodity/instrument/contract.

In Forex trading, going short is to buy the price currency of the Forex currency pair. For example, if you were going short on GBPUSD, you would be buying USD by selling GBP. For equities, going short is selling a security without owning it, as opposed to going long where you are taking ownership of the security by buying it. A short position benefits from a decline in market prices.

Slight, continuing up and down movements in share prices, with no definite trend evident.

An If Done order consisting of two orders: a primary order that will be executed as soon as market conditions allow it, and a secondary order that will be activated only if the first order is executed.

Buying and selling solely in the hope of making a profit, rather than doing so for business-related motives.

Broking member of a Stock Exchange who must be nominated by a company seeking a listing to act as a liaison between the company and the listings department or committee.

A direct trade on a market price with a standard settlement date (Value date) of two business days from the trade date.

The part of the market calling for spot settlement of transactions. The precise meaning of spot depends on local custom for a commodity, security or currency. In the UK, US and Australian foreign-exchange markets, spot means delivery two working days hence.

The difference between the Bid price at which you can sell the trading instrument and the Ask price at which you can buy the trading instrument.

Person who applies for shares in a new company with the object of selling them immediately dealings commence (hopefully at a profit).

Person who has held shares longer than anticipated because they have not reached the price at which he hoped to sell.

A tax paid by the transferee on registration of shares in his/her name.

Licenced market for the buying and selling of listed securities.

Licence issued by the government to an institution which operates for the sole purpose of marketing securities in public companies. It must be renewed annually.

Financial instruments that represent partial ownership of a company. Also known as equities or shares.

A buy stop is an order to buy at a specific price higher than the current market price, and a sell stop is a stop to sell at a specific price below the current market price. Traders often refer to stop-loss orders, which are stops that are placed below the market when the trader is long, and above the market when the trader is short. These orders are triggered when the market price reaches them to prevent further losses in the trader's position. Stop orders are not always executed at exactly the price specified, as the market may be too volatile.

Stop orders are commonly used to exit positions and to protect against trading losses. Stop orders to sell are placed below the current market level and are executed when the Bid price hits or breaches the price level specified. Stop orders to buy are placed above the current market level and are executed when the Ask price hits or breaches the price level specified. If the Bid price for sell orders (or the Ask price for buy orders) is hit or breached, the order becomes a market order and is filled as soon as possible at the price obtainable in the market. Note that this price may differ from the price you set for the order

Forex stop orders are commonly used to exit positions and to protect investments in the event that the market moves against an open position. Stop orders to sell are placed below the current market level and are executed when the Bid price hits or breaches the price level specified. Stop orders to buy are placed above the current market level and are executed when the Ask price hits or breaches the price level specified.

Stop-if-Bid orders are commonly used to buy the specified instrument in a rising market. If the price level specified is actually bid on the market, the order will be filled at the price offered by the bank. For example, if you sold GBPUSD at 1.4280, with a Stop Bid at 1.4330, the position would be closed (GBPUSD would be bought) if the Bid price hits or breaches 1.4330. We recommend the use of Stop-if-Bid orders only to buy Forex positions. The use of Stop-if-Bid to sell Forex positions can result in positions being prematurely closed if a market event causes the Bid/Ask spread to widen for a short duration.

Stop-if-Offered orders are commonly used to sell the specified instrument in a falling market. If the price level specified is actually offered in the market, the order will be filled at the price bid by the bank. For example, if you bought USDJPY at 132.00, with a Stop Offer at 131.50, your position would be closed (USD vs. JPY would be sold) if the Offer price hits or breaches 131.50 (in other words, if 131.50 is offered). We recommend the use of Stop-if-Offered orders only to sell Forex positions. The use of Stop-if-Offered to buy Forex positions can result in positions being prematurely closed if a market event causes the Bid/Ask spread to widen for a short duration.

In Futures trading, a stop-limit order is a variation of a stop order, with a lower/higher limit price to suspend trading if the price falls/rises too far before the order is filled. This effectively restricts trading to a defined price range.

This is a stop order that will execute and close a position to limit losses in case of an adverse market movement. When a stop order is executed, it becomes a market order and is filled as soon as possible at the price obtainable on the market. Note that this price may differ from the price you set for the order.

This is when your order is routed directly to the exchange.

The instrument price specified for an Option contract. The specified price (together with other factors such as the Option duration and the market volatility) will affect the price for the Option contract.

Also known as a share split, a sub division involves an increase in the number of shares held by each member, with a proportionate reduction in their value so that there is no change in the total value of the shareholding. Breaking each share down into smaller pieces does this. The effect is to bring the shares within reach of smaller investors. This normally results in a greater demand for the shares.

A company at least 30% of whose issued shares is held directly or indirectly by a holding company.

The combined trading status and activity for your account(s), that is, your account value, securities and equity, net positions, and the closing amount (total profit and loss over all your positions). The available margin and the margin required for your open positions are also found here, as is an overview of your open positions.

Amount of stock available at a given price

The price level at which the fall of a price is expected to slow or turn when market participants begin to buy the instrument. The opposite of support is resistance.

The troughs or levels where declining prices are halted. This represents a price level or area under the chart where buying pressure or demand overcomes selling pressure or supply. As a result a price decline is halted and prices turn up again.

A share that has been suspended from trading for a period of time. Usually, this occurs where some material event is about to occur which will drastically effect the share price. Until this information is made public, trading is suspended to prevent insiders from buying or selling the shares illegally.

An order to spot trade (for example, buy) a Forex instrument as well as to conduct the opposite transaction (for example, sell) at a fixed price on a later date. If the first transaction is on a future date, the transaction is a forward-forward contract. Other variations are overnight and tomorrow/next day (tom/next) swaps.

A price adjustment, added to the opening price of the position, for forwarding a Forex trade beyond the original value date. It is a function of the interest rate differential between the two trading currencies, and may be in your favour or against you.

A combination of letters used to uniquely identify a traded instrument. This is also called the ticker symbol. For example: for the Forex instrument dollar-yen, the symbol is USDJPY.

A sideways chart pattern between two converging trendlines in which the upper trendline is declining and the lower trendline is rising. This pattern represents an even balance between buyers and sellers, although the prior trend is usually resumed. The breakout through either trendline signals the direction of the price trend.

This is a fashionable word to denote gains made in addition to the sum total of the parts when two business concerns are jointed. The basis of the concept is the experience that in some mergers the net advantages that accrue to one firm need not come at the expense of the other: both parties may gain