Forex Trading Abbreviations and Trading Terms

February 22, 2018 12:30

To me, the Forex market is magic. But for the majority of non-traders, Forex may be a mystery. So before we delve deeper into the magic and mystery of Forex trading, let me explain in a simple way how it all began, and then outline the popular abbreviations and Forex trading terms that we, traders, use.

The Origins of Forex Market

For those unfamiliar with the term, FOREX (Foreign Exchange Market) refers to an international exchange market where currencies are bought and sold.

Forex is a somewhat unique market for a number of reasons. Firstly, many of the Forex currency pair markets can be said with very few qualifications that it is free of external controls and that it cannot be manipulated. The only exception to this is some currency pairs where Central Banks intervene (known as "dirty float") by buying and selling their reserve currencies to maintain a certain exchange rate against major currencies (also known as "peg").

But traders simply don't like to use full words for anything related to the Forex market, yet there are many different terms within the Forex trading industry that you need to be fully aware of and understand. One of these is being able to instantly tell which currencies have been paired together, when you are planning to trade one currency against another.

You are probably already aware of the acronyms for the major worldwide currencies, such as US Dollar, Euro, and Sterling Pound. But what about a wider array of other currencies? In Admiral Markets' Trader's Glossary, you can read the meanings, abbreviations and acronyms behind a huge number of terms whenever you choose.

But that's not all. In this post, you will find an alphabetical list of the most important abbreviations, slang, and shorthand in Forex. Below, you will find a list of the most widely used Forex abbreviations:

Indices, Instruments, and Currencies:

10 Yr – US 10-Year Note
30 Yr – US 30-Year Bond
AUD – Australian Dollar (ISO code)
CAD – Canadian Dollar (ISO code)
CFD – Contract For Difference
CHF – Swiss Franc (Confederation Helvetia Franc)
CNY – Chinese Yuan (ISO code)
DJIA – Dow Jones Industrial Average
EUR – Euro (ISO code)
GBP – Great Britain Pound Sterling (ISO code)
JPY – Japanese Yen (ISO code)
NASDAQ – National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation
NYSE – New York Stock Exchange
NZD – New Zealand Dollar (ISO code)
USD – United States Dollar (ISO code)
USDX – United States Dollar Index (ISO code)
XAG – Silver (ISO code)
XAU – Gold (ISO code)

Common Currency Pairs:

Traders also often simplify currency pair names using nicknames. The use of jargon is common amongst professionals that deal with something everyday, or even every hour and minute. It's a simplification and familiarisation – like when I am talking to my friend Christopher as Chris.

EUR/USD – Euro, or Fiber
EUR/JPY – Yuppy
GBP/USD – Pound, or Cable
AUD/USD – Aussie, or Ozzie
EUR/GBP – Chunnel
USD/CAD – Caddy, Loonie, The Funds, or Beaver
USD/CHF – Swissy
USD/JPY – Yen, or Ninja
GBP/JPY – Geppy, Dragon, or Beast
NZD/USD – Kiwi

Common terms:

ADX – Average Directional Index (technical indicator)
ATR – Average True Range (technical indicator)
BB – Bollinger Bands (technical indicator)
BE – Breakeven
BoC – Bank of Canada
BoE – Bank of England
BoJ – Bank of Japan
BP – Basis Point
CBOT – Chicago Board of Trade
CCI – Commodity Channel Index (technical indicator); also Consumer Confidence Index (economic indicator)
CFA – Chartered Financial Analyst
CFTC – Commodity Futures Trading Commission (regulatory)
CME – Chicago Mercantile Exchange
COT – Commitments of Traders (market report)
CPI – Consumer Price Index (economic indicator
CSI – Commodity Selection Index (technical indicator)
CTA – Commodity Trading Advisor
DD – Drawdown, also Due Diligence, also Dealing Desk (see NDD)
EA – Expert Advisor
ECB – European Central Bank
ECN – Electronic Communication Network, also Electronic Currency Network
EMA – Exponential Moving Average (technical indicator)
ETF – Exchange Traded Fund
EW – Elliott Wave (theory)
FA – Fundamental Analysis
FCM – Futures Commission Merchant
FDM – Forex Dealer Member
Fed – Federal Reserve System
FF – Forex Factory
FIFO – First In, First Out
FOMC – Federal Open Market Committee
FX – Foreign Exchange
GDP – Gross Domestic Product (economic indicator)
GMT – Greenwich Mean Time
HH – Higher High (chart)
HL – Higher Low (chart)
IB – Introducing Broker, also Interbank, also Interactive Brokers, also Inside Bar
IMF – International Monetary Fund
ISO – International Organization for Standardization
LONG – A position purchasing a particular currency against another currency
LH – Lower High (chart)
LL – Lower Low (chart)
LWMA – Linearly Weighted Moving Average (technical indicator)
MT4 – MetaTrader Version 4.00 (trading platform)
MA – Moving Average (technical indicator)
MACD – Moving Average Convergence Divergence (technical indicator)
MM – Market Maker, also Money Management
MTF – Multiple Time Frame
NDA – Non-Disclosure Agreement
NDD – Non-Dealing Desk
NFA – National Futures Association (regulatory)
NFP – Nonfarm Payroll (economic indicator)
OCO – One-Cancels-the-Other (order type)
OHLC – Open, High, Low, Close (chart)
OTC– Over-the-Counter
P&F – Point and Figure (chart)
PA – Price Action
PB – Pin Bar abbreviation of Pinocchio Bar (chart)
PIP – Price Interest Point, also Performance Index Paper
PP – Pivot Point
PPI – Producer Price Index (economic indicator)
PPZ Price Pivot Zone
PSAR – Parabolic Stop and Reversal (technical indicator)
Quant – Quantitative Analysis
R/R – Risk/Reward (ratio)
RSI – Relative Strength Index (technical indicator)
RVI – Relative Vigor Index (technical indicator)
SAR – Stop and Reversal
SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission (regulatory)
SHORT – To sell a currency
SL – Stop-Loss (order)
SMA – Simple Moving Average (technical indicator)
SMMA – Smoothed Moving Average (technical indicator)
S&P – Standard & Poor's
S/R – Support/Resistance
Stoch – Stochastic Oscillator (technical indicator)
STP – Straight Through Processing
TA – Technical Analysis
TF Time Frame
TL – Trend Line
TP – Take Profit (order)
TS – Trailing Stop (order)
TSI – True Strength Index (technical indicator)
UTC – Universal Time, Coordinated
WB – World Bank

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