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AG: Annual General Meetin

Alternative Investment Market (AIM: A UK trading market used by smaller companies looking to raise finance. AIM listed shares avoid full compliance with LSE rules

American Depository Receipts (ADR): Certificates issued in the US representing the right to ownership in a UK company

Auction: Many auctions occur in the financial markets, however the most common is the post market auction on the FTSE 100. This occurs from 1630 to 1645 and then the official settlement is declared

Authority to deal: Authorising someone to spread bet on your behalf. For this we would require your written notification

Backwardatio: This occurs when the bid price exceeds the offer price for a stock. This is a market distortion usually when stock is suspended or under a share repurchase scheme

Bank of Englan: The UK's central bank that is responsible for setting interest rates via the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

Base Rat: The rate at which the Bank of England lends to the Retail Banks

Basis: The difference between the price of a futures contract and that of the underlying

Bear: Opposite of a bull. A 'bear market' is a term used to describe a falling market, or one that is expected to fall

Blue chip stock: Generic term given to a company that is regarded as traditional and not technical. Blue chip companies are almost certainly large, profitable, conservatively managed and well established. The term is American in origin and refers to the highest valued poker chip

Bobl: Medium term German Government debt

Call: A financial derivative instrument used in options trading. A 'call' would give an investor the right, but not the obligation, to buy shares at a fixed price up to a predetermined date. The opposite of a 'call' is a 'put'

Commodity: A raw material or metal traded on a commodities market

CME: Chicago Mercantile Exchange

COMEX: Commodities Exchange in New York

CSCE: Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, New York. Opening times can be viewed in our market information sheets

Discount: Opposite of a premium, anything selling below its normal price is said to be trading at a discount, for example, the amount by which a bond's par exceeds its market price

Dividend: A cash payment per share held. All cash dividends are paid to shareholders net of tax, which for UK equities is at a rate of 10%. Spread Betting clients are not entitled to dividends; the dividend paid will be reflected in the price

DJIA: The Dow Jones Industrial Average; the index that highlights the performance of the top 30 blue chip US equities

EDS: Exchange delivery settlement price. This is the average traded price over a set period that determines the futures settlement contract price

Equity: An alternative name for stocks and shares

Expiry Date: Date at which a contract can no longer be traded

Fair Value: The theoretical price at which a futures contract should trade

Fill: Execution of a stop loss or limit order

Flotation: When a company's shares are offered to investors and quoted on a market exchange for the first time

FSA: Took over from the SFA on 29th of April 2000. The Financial Services Authority enforces strict rules in regards to all aspects of Spread Betting

FTSE: Financial Times Stock Exchange

UK100: Index that highlights the performance of the UK's top 100 companies

UK All Share: Covers about 800 stocks and shares which represent 98% of market value and has indices for sectors as well

UKMid 250: The index of the 250 companies below the top 100 as measured by their market capitalisation

UK350: The index of the top 350 companies by market capitalisation. It is a combination of the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 stocks

Futures trading: Buying/selling of a product at a fixed price for a date in the future

Gap through: If the market trades through the level specified by the client in an order, without actually trading at that given level

Gearing: When a company's debts are expressed as a percentage of its equity capital. A high gearing would signify debts are high in relation to equity capital. Gearing is also known as leverage

Gilts: Government issued bonds, so called because once upon a time the certificates were gilt edged

GLOBEX: A screen trading system developed by the CME and other quote vendors

GFD: Good For the Day, an order that can only be filled on the day the order is received, if it is not executed that day it is deleted

GTC: Good Till Cancelled, an order which if not filled on the day will be carried forward indefinitely until it is either traded or cancelled by the client

Grey Market: Term for a group of markets that we offer that are not actually listed on any exchange, for example IPOs and political bets

Growth Stocks: Shares in companies in expanding sectors that have high rates of growth and therefore high P/E ratios

Guaranteed Stop loss: An order that protects one's stop order in the scenario the markets gap through your stop order

Hedging: A strategy of protecting an open position, this can be done by 'short selling' or trading other derivatives

Hostile takeover: Where one company tries to buy another company against the latter's wishes

Inflatio: A period of rising prices, it is mainly kept in check by the movement of interest rates

Insider dealing: The use of confidential, price sensitive information prior to it becoming publicly known, for financial gains. It is a criminal offence that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail and unlimited fines

Interim dividends: The company's distribution of profits to shareholders halfway through the financial year

Interim report: All companies quoted on the stock exchange must release an interim report after the first 6 months of the financial year. It tends to concentrate on profitability, and may or may not be used to justify an interim dividend

IPE: A recognised investment exchange trading energy futures, such as Brent Crude futures

Initial Public Offering (IPO: The offering of shares prior to a market debut

Last Day of Dealing: The last day on which you can open or close a trade in a relevant market

Leverage: Also known as gearing, leverage is the realisation that a large return can be obtained from a relatively small outlay with risks attached

Libo: London Inter Bank Offer rate, this is the rate at which you are paying or being paid in order to trade rolling shares, plus or minus our commission

Limit orders: Instructions to deal that stipulate the minimum or maximum price at which you want to buy or sell your shares

Limit (up or down): The maximum price advance or decline from the previous closing price permitted by exchange rules

Liquidity: Refers to how easy it is to trade in a stock. Liquid markets are those where there are a large number of people holding equities and a high volume of shares in the public domain

London Metal Exchange (LME: UK derivatives exchange that trades base metal futures and options

Long/Go Long: lacing a trade if you think the market price will rise

Margin: The deposit/available credit needed on your account in order to pen your positions open
Margin level: If your Margin Level is at or below the Margin Close Out Level, we may close all or any of your Open Positions in markets that are open immediately and without notice at the next available Our Price.You should not expect to receive a margin call or warning prior to closure. We therefore strongly recommend that you strictly monitor your margin level.
Margin requirement: Amount needed on deposit or credit in order to place a trade. For example the June FTSE requires 200 multiplied by your stake

Market capitalisation: The number of shares in an issue multiplied by the share price

Market maker: Quote a two-way spread of prices for the securities in which they deal. The bid (price the investor will sell at) is lower than the offer (price the investor will buy at). The difference between the two prices is the market maker's profit. When dealing in heavily traded shares, the margin may be less than 1%, although for less liquid shares, the margin may be 5% or more because of the risk taken due to lack of liquidity and volume

Merger: When two companies form one entity and share assets, clients, debts etc

NASDAQ: A smaller composite index than the DJIA or S&P 500, it reflects the performance of high tech stocks, for example Microsoft and Intel. It stands for the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System

Normal Market Size: Calculated on the previous year's average daily turnover of each individual stock, this is currently 2.5% of the total volume of shares for each company. Market makers are not obliged to give a quote for a transaction above normal market size

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: An open outcry market allowing for equity trades to be dealt in a liquid environment

OFEX: An unregulated 'off exchange' market for small UK companies to raise finance. Due to lack of liquidity, it is often the case that if you want to sell an OFEX stock, there must be someone prepared to buy it, known as dealing on a matched bargain basis

Offer price: Sometimes referred to as the ask price; it is the price at which an investor can buy from the market

Open Positions: As viewed next to the Internet trading platform online, giving you the ability to view all your open trades

Options: Financial derivative instruments that allow investors to speculate on future movements of the underlying stocks. If you buy an option, you buy the right but not the obligation to buy/sell the shares at a fixed price on or before a pre-determined date

Order book: A term used for the SETS system employed in London. Orders to buy and sell are allowed to collect on an order book where they can match and execute against one another

Our Quote: The order level specified is being quoted by a Financial Spreads Dealer

Par value i.e. face valu: In the case of a bond, it means that the bond is trading at the same price as its face value, which is one hundred pounds

Penny shares: Term used to describe shares priced below one pound, deemed as speculative investments. Many stocks on smaller exchanges such as AIM are penny shares

Premium: Opposite of a discount, refers to the increase in price of a newly issued stock. If used in the context of futures and options, the premium is the lump sum payable when purchasing a contract

Profits Warning: Usually in the form of a surprise announcement with respect to a company's balance sheet

Put: A financial derivative instrument used in options trading. A 'put' would give an investor the right, but not the obligation, to sell shares at a fixed price up to a predetermined date. The opposite of a 'put' is a 'call'

Quote: Price Stop Stop/limit orders, this can be left basis our quote. This means that if our relevant buy or sell quoted price reaches your order level, you will be filled

Rights Issue: A privilege allowing existing shareholders to buy shares shortly before they are offered to the public at a specified and usually discounted price and usually in proportion to the number of shares already owned

Rollover: Transferring a trade that is near expiry into the next contract period

S&P 500: Broader index showing the performance of the US top 500 shares. 'S&P' stands for 'Standard and Poors', an international credit rating company

Screen Price Stop: Stops/limits can be left basis screen. This means that if the buy or sell in the market reaches your order, you will be filled at our quote at that time

Stock Exchange Automated Quotations (SEAQ): Used for the UK equity market. Screens are continually updated for prices and trade reports

Securities: The general name given to stocks and shares issued by the company to investors (also referred to as 'equities')

Sell/Go Short: Placing a trade if you think the market price will fall

Stock Exchange Electronic Trading System (SETS): Order driven electronic trading system employed to deal in the FTSE 100, ex FTSE 100 and reserve UK equities

Shares: Also known as equities, stocks, holdings or securities, indicate ownership of part of a company

Spread: Difference between the buy and sell prices

Stake: Bet size per tick on any of the financial markets that we offer

Stop loss orders: Stops placed to cap the amount one is prepared to lose on an investment

Tick size: The minimum point movement in each market, for example 'the FTSE has moved 10 ticks' this equates to a 10 index point move in the FTSE

Volatility: Describes the propensity of a share to change price rapidly.

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