Glossary
Financial Education Glossary
Every term used across our articles and guides, defined in plain language. If a definition is unclear, tell us and we will rewrite it.
A
- Ask
- The price at which a seller is willing to sell an asset.
B
- Bear Market
- An extended period of broadly falling prices and weak sentiment.
- Bid
- The price at which a buyer is willing to buy an asset.
- Bull Market
- An extended period of broadly rising prices and positive sentiment.
C
- Candlestick
- A chart element showing the open, high, low, and close of one time period.
- Central Bank
- The institution responsible for a nation's monetary policy and currency stability.
- Commodity
- A basic good, such as gold or oil, that is interchangeable with others of the same type.
D
- Drawdown
- The decline from a peak value to a subsequent low, usually expressed as a percentage.
F
- Federal Reserve
- The central bank of the United States, responsible for U.S. monetary policy.
- Futures
- A standardised contract to buy or sell an asset at a set price on a future date.
I
- Inflation
- A sustained rise in the general price level that reduces purchasing power.
L
- Leverage
- Using borrowed capital to increase exposure; it magnifies both gains and losses.
- Liquidity
- How easily an asset can be bought or sold without materially moving its price.
M
- Margin
- Collateral required to hold a leveraged position.
- Market Order
- An instruction to transact immediately at the best available price.
P
- Position Size
- The quantity of an asset held, calculated from a predefined risk limit.
R
- Resistance
- A price area where selling interest has previously slowed or stopped an advance.
- Risk Management
- The practice of limiting potential loss through sizing, exits, and written rules.
S
- Spot Gold
- Gold for immediate settlement, quoted as XAU/USD.
- Spread
- The difference between the bid and ask price; a cost of transacting.
- Stop Loss
- A pre-set exit level intended to limit loss on a position.
- Support
- A price area where buying interest has previously slowed or stopped a decline.
T
- Trend
- A sustained directional bias in price over a chosen timeframe.
- Troy Ounce
- The standard unit for weighing precious metals, about 31.10 grams.
V
- Volatility
- The degree of variation in price over time.
X
- XAU/USD
- The U.S. dollar price of one troy ounce of gold.