Glossary
Terms, defined plainly
- AskMarkets
- The lowest price a seller is currently willing to accept. You buy at the ask.
- Lesson: Exchanges, brokers, and the order book
- CandlestickTechnicals
- A bar showing open, high, low and close for one period; the body and wicks reveal who won the session.
- Lesson: Reading candlesticks
- Cash flow statementFundamentals
- Reconciles reported profit to the cash that actually moved during the period.
- Lesson: The three financial statements
- Dealing rangeSMC
- A chosen swing low-to-high range used to define premium, discount and equilibrium.
- Lesson: Premium, discount and the dealing range
- DivergenceTechnicals
- Price and an indicator disagreeing, such as a higher price high with a lower RSI high.
- Lesson: RSI and momentum
- Equal highs / equal lowsSMC
- Two or more swings within a small tolerance of each other; treated as an obvious liquidity pool.
- Lesson: Liquidity pools, equal highs/lows and sweeps
- Fair value gap (FVG)SMC
- A three-candle imbalance: candle 3's low above candle 1's high (bullish) or the mirror (bearish).
- Lesson: Displacement and fair value gaps
- Free cash flowFundamentals
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditure: cash genuinely available to owners and creditors.
- Lesson: Cash flow and free cash flow
- Liquidity poolSMC
- A price area where resting stop and breakout orders are presumed to cluster, such as above obvious highs or below obvious lows.
- Lesson: Liquidity pools, equal highs/lows and sweeps
- Maintenance marginFutures
- The minimum equity required to keep a position open; falling below it can trigger a margin call or liquidation.
- Lesson: Margin is not risk
- Point of interest (POI)SMC
- A pre-marked zone (FVG, OB, liquidity) where a trader plans to look for lower-timeframe confirmation.
- Lesson: Multi-timeframe narrative
- Premium / discountSMC
- The upper and lower halves of a dealing range. A geometric location, not a valuation.
- Lesson: Premium, discount and the dealing range
- Swing lowSMC
- A candle whose low is below the lows of N candles either side; only confirmed N candles later.
- Lesson: Market structure and swing points
- Trailing drawdownFutures
- A provider-specific rule where the loss floor follows the account's peak at a fixed distance.
- Lesson: Funded-account (prop firm) rules: examples, not standards
- UptrendTechnicals
- A sequence of higher swing highs and higher swing lows.
- Lesson: Trend structure and volume confirmation