Forex and crypto trading glossary

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109 terms

%B (Bollinger)

Where price sits inside the Bollinger Bands: (price − lower band) ÷ (upper band − lower band). 1 is the upper band, 0 the lower. Read the article

+DI / −DI

The two lines that come with ADX. +DI measures upward movement and −DI downward; the higher line shows which side is stronger. Read the article

ADX (Average Directional Index)

Measures how strong a trend is on a 0–100 scale, not its direction. Below about 20 suggests a weak trend or range; above about 25 suggests a trend. Read the article

ATR (Average True Range)

The average size of each bar's True Range, usually over 14 bars with Wilder's smoothing. It measures how much price swings, not where it is going. Read the article

ATR%

ATR ÷ price × 100. It lets you compare volatility across markets or coins with very different prices. Read the article

Averaging down · Averaging down (ถัวขาดทุน)

Adding to a losing position so the average entry price moves closer to the current price. It makes small wins frequent but piles up the loss if the trend keeps going. Read the article

Backtest · Backtest (ทดสอบย้อนหลัง)

Running a trading system on past price data to see how it would have performed. Live results usually come in lower than the backtest. Read the article

Balance

The money in the account counting only closed trades. It ignores the profit or loss of positions that are still open. Read the article

Balance drawdown · Balance DD

The fall in Balance from its peak, counted only when trades close. It can show 0% while open trades were deep in loss along the way. Read the article

Bid / Ask

Bid is the price you can sell at; Ask is the price you can buy at. The Ask is always higher, and the gap between them is the spread. Read the article

Bollinger Bands

A 20-period SMA with bands 2 standard deviations above and below it. The bands widen when price swings more and narrow when it calms down. Read the article

Break-even stop · เลื่อน Stop loss ไปจุดเข้า (Break-even)

Moving the Stop loss to the entry price once a trade is in profit. It removes the loss on that trade but can cut winners that would have run. Read the article

Break-even win rate · Break-even win rate (Win rate คุ้มทุน)

The win rate at which total profit equals total loss: 1 ÷ (1 + RR). Spread and other costs push the real figure higher. Read the article

Breakout · Breakout (การเบรกกรอบ)

Price moving past a recent high, low or range edge. Most breakouts don't follow through, so breakout systems rely on wide enough stops and a few big winners. Read the article

Candlestick · แท่งเทียน (Candlestick)

A bar showing one period's Open, High, Low and Close (OHLC). The body is the span between open and close; the wicks reach to the high and low. Read the article

Chikou Span

Ichimoku's lagging line: the latest close plotted 26 bars back. It compares today's price with price 26 bars ago. Read the article

Cloud (Kumo)

The area between Ichimoku's Senkou Span A and B, plotted 26 bars ahead. Price above the cloud is read as bullish, below as bearish, inside as unclear. Read the article

Cross margin

A futures margin mode where the whole account backs every position. It pushes liquidation further away but puts the whole account at risk. Read the article

Daily loss limit · Daily loss limit (เพดานขาดทุนรายวัน)

A cap on how much you allow yourself to lose in one day, set in advance. Once it is hit you stop trading until the next day. Read the article

Demand zone

A tight price base followed by a strong move up. The zone's edges come from the base candles, and traders watch it for buying when price returns. Read the article

Demo account · บัญชี Demo

A practice account with virtual money and real prices. It copies prices, not the fear of real money or real order fills. Read the article

Divergence (regular) · Divergence (แบบปกติ)

Price and an oscillator such as RSI disagree at swing points, for example price makes a higher high while the indicator makes a lower high. It suggests momentum is slowing, not that price must turn. Read the article

Doji

A candle whose body is very small, often defined as 10% of the range or less. Open and close are almost equal, so it has no direction on its own. Read the article

Donchian Channel

Lines at the highest high and lowest low of the last N bars, plus a midline between them. A close beyond the channel marks a new N-bar high or low. Read the article

Drawdown (DD)

How far the account falls from its previous peak, in money or percent. It shows how much you must sit through along the way. Read the article

Economic calendar · ปฏิทินเศรษฐกิจ (Economic calendar)

A schedule of economic news with Actual, Forecast and Previous columns. Markets react to the gap between Actual and Forecast, not to the number alone. Read the article

EMA (Exponential Moving Average)

A moving average that gives more weight to recent prices, so it reacts faster than an SMA of the same length. Read the article

Engulfing pattern · Engulfing

A two-candle pattern where the second body covers the first. Bullish: a red candle, then a green one opening at or below its close and closing at or above its open. Read the article

Equity

Balance plus the profit or loss of open positions: what the account is worth if you closed everything now. Read the article

Equity drawdown · Equity DD

The fall in Equity from its peak, including open losses. It is what really happened to the money, so lot size should be planned from it. Read the article

Expectancy · Expectancy (ค่าคาดหวัง)

The average profit or loss per trade over many trades: chance of winning × profit − chance of losing × loss − costs. It can also be written in R. Read the article

Fair Value Gap (FVG)

An ICT term for the gap left by three candles in a row: in an up move, the space between candle 1's high and candle 3's low. ICT holds that price often comes back to it. Read the article

Fibonacci Extension

Levels beyond the end of a swing, such as 1.272 and 1.618, used to set profit targets. Read the article

Fibonacci Retracement

Levels inside a swing, such as 0.382, 0.5, 0.618 and 0.786, where traders watch for a pullback to stop. They work partly because many people watch the same levels. Read the article

Free margin

Equity minus used margin: the money still available to open new positions or absorb losses. Read the article

Funding rate

Payments longs and shorts make to each other at set intervals on perpetual futures. When the perp price is above the index price (an average of spot exchanges), the rate is positive and longs pay shorts. Read the article

Gap · Gap (ราคากระโดด)

A jump between one price and the next with no trading in between, common at the weekly open. A Stop loss can fill well past its level in a gap. Read the article

Grid trading · Grid

Opening orders at fixed price steps, often adding more as price moves against you. It wins often in ranges but one long trend can wipe out the account. Read the article

Hidden divergence

Price and indicator disagree in the trend's favour, for example price makes a higher low while the indicator makes a lower low in an uptrend. It is read as a pause before the trend continues. Read the article

Hindsight bias

The feeling, after the fact, that a move was obvious. On past charts every reversal seems to sit on a line, which makes tools look better than they are. Read the article

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo

A five-line indicator set built from midpoints of the highest high and lowest low over 9, 26 and 52 bars, with a cloud plotted ahead of price. Read the article

In-sample / out-of-sample · In-sample / Out-of-sample

In-sample is the data used to choose a system's settings; out-of-sample is data not touched during the choice. In-sample results always look better than reality. Read the article

Inside bar

A candle whose high is below and low is above the previous candle's (the mother bar). It shows price pausing inside the prior range. Read the article

Isolated margin

A futures margin mode where each position has its own margin. If it is liquidated you lose only that margin, but the liquidation price is closer. Read the article

Kijun-sen

Ichimoku's base line: (26-bar highest high + 26-bar lowest low) ÷ 2. It is the most-used Ichimoku reference line. Read the article

Leverage

The ratio that lets a small account open a large position, written as 1:100 or 1:500. It changes how much margin is set aside, not the profit or loss per pip. Read the article

Limit order

A pending order to buy below or sell above the current price (Buy Limit, Sell Limit). It is used to enter on a pullback. Read the article

Liquidation price

The price at which the exchange force-closes a leveraged futures position. For an isolated long it is roughly entry × (1 − 1/leverage) ÷ (1 − MMR), where MMR is the maintenance margin rate. It moves closer as leverage rises. Read the article

Liquidity sweep

An ICT term: price pushes just past an old high or low, takes out the Stop losses resting there, then comes back into the range. Also called a stop hunt. Read the article

Losing streak · Losing streak (แพ้ติดกัน)

Several losing trades in a row. Even a sound system will have long streaks, and the length to expect can be worked out from the win rate. Read the article

Lot

The size of an order. One standard lot of a currency pair is 100,000 units of the first currency; 0.01 lot is a micro lot. Read the article

MACD

The 12-period EMA minus the 26-period EMA, with a 9-period EMA of that line as the signal line and the gap between them as the histogram. It describes momentum that has already happened. Read the article

Margin (used margin) · Margin (Margin ที่ใช้)

Money set aside as collateral while a position is open: contract size × lots × price ÷ leverage. It is not a fee and returns when the position closes. Read the article

Margin call

A warning level for margin level, often 100%. The platform alerts you and usually blocks new positions, but open ones stay open. Read the article

Margin level

Equity ÷ used margin × 100. The lower it falls, the closer you are to a margin call and stop out. Read the article

Mark price

A fair-value price that futures exchanges use to value positions and decide liquidation, instead of the last traded price, so a brief spike is less likely to trigger it. Read the article

Market order

An order to buy or sell immediately at the current price. The fill is almost certain, the exact price is not. Read the article

Market regime · Market regime (สภาพตลาด)

A phase in which the market behaves a certain way, such as trending or ranging, calm or volatile. A system that works in one regime can break in another. Read the article

Market Structure Shift (MSS)

An ICT term: after a sweep, price breaks the most recent minor swing point in the opposite direction. It is the first sign the direction may be changing. Read the article

Martingale

Increasing the lot, often doubling it, after each loss so one win recovers everything. A long enough losing streak wipes out the account. Read the article

Morning star

A three-candle bullish pattern: a long red candle, a small candle, then a green candle closing above the midpoint of the first candle's body. Read the article

Moving average (MA)

The average price over the last N bars, recalculated each bar. Common types are SMA, EMA, WMA, SMMA and HMA. Read the article

Multi-timeframe analysis

Reading several timeframes top-down: the higher one for direction, the middle for the setup, the lower for the trigger. Timeframes about 4–6× apart work well. Read the article

Optimal Trade Entry (OTE)

An ICT term for the 62–79% pullback zone of a swing, measured with the Fibonacci tool. 70.5% is the popular midpoint. Read the article

Overbought / oversold · Overbought / Oversold

Oscillator readings near the top or bottom of their scale, such as RSI above 70 or below 30. In a strong trend price can stay there for a long time. Read the article

Overfitting

Tuning a system's settings until the backtest looks great because they fit chance details of past data. The result rarely repeats on new data. Read the article

Pending order · Pending order (คำสั่งค้าง)

An order left on the broker's server to open a trade if price reaches a set level. Limit, Stop and Stop Limit orders are pending orders. Read the article

Perpetual futures

Futures contracts with no expiry date, the most traded product in crypto. Funding payments keep their price close to spot. Read the article

Pin bar / hammer · Pin bar / Hammer

A candle with a long wick and a small body. A bullish pin bar (hammer) has a lower wick at least 2× the body and an upper wick no bigger than the body; the bearish mirror is the shooting star. Read the article

Pip

The unit for how far price moves. On most pairs it is the 4th decimal place, on yen pairs the 2nd, and many brokers count 0.10 dollar as a pip on gold. Read the article

Pip value · Pip value (มูลค่าต่อ pip)

How much money one pip is worth at a given lot size. On pairs ending in USD, 1 lot is about 10 dollars per pip. Read the article

Pivot point

A level from the previous period's high, low and close: P = (H + L + C) ÷ 3, with R1 = 2P − L and S1 = 2P − H in the Classic version. The levels depend on the day cut-off used. Read the article

Plateau vs peak · Plateau vs Peak

When tuning settings, a plateau is a range of values whose neighbours also work; a peak is one value that works alone. A plateau is less likely to be luck. Read the article

Policy rate · ดอกเบี้ยนโยบาย (Policy rate)

The interest rate a central bank sets. Currencies and gold react to the gap between the decision and what was expected, not just to the number. Read the article

Position sizing · Position sizing (คำนวณขนาด lot)

Working out the lot from the money you accept to lose and the Stop loss distance: lot = money at risk ÷ (stop distance in pips × pip value of 1 lot). Read the article

Profit factor

Gross profit ÷ gross loss. Above 1 means the system made money; a higher number is not automatically better if total profit shrinks. Read the article

R-multiple

A trade's result divided by its planned risk (1R = the loss if the Stop loss is hit). A trade that made twice its risk is +2R. Read the article

Real ticks

The MT5 Strategy Tester mode that uses the broker's recorded tick history. It is the closest to reality; if no real ticks exist, MT5 quietly simulates them. Read the article

Resistance · แนวต้าน (Resistance)

A price area where price rose before and was pushed back down. It is best drawn as a zone, not a single line. Read the article

Revenge trading · Revenge trading (เทรดเอาคืน)

Trading to win back a loss right away, often with a bigger lot or without a setup. It is a fast way to turn one bad day into a broken account. Read the article

Risk per trade · Risk per trade (ความเสี่ยงต่อไม้)

The share of the account you accept to lose if one trade hits its Stop loss. Many traders keep it around 1% so a long losing streak doesn't break the account. Read the article

Risk:Reward (RR)

The profit of a winning trade compared with the loss of a losing one. RR 1:2 means risking 1 to make 2, often written as RR = 2. Read the article

Role reversal

When price closes clearly through a level, old resistance often acts as support next time, and old support as resistance. Read the article

Rollover

The broker's daily server day change, when swap is charged and spreads often widen for a while. Read the article

RSI (Relative Strength Index)

Wilder's momentum oscillator from 0 to 100, comparing average gains with average losses, usually over 14 bars: RSI = 100 − 100 ÷ (1 + RS). Read the article

Senkou Span A / B

Ichimoku's leading spans. A = (Tenkan + Kijun) ÷ 2; B = midpoint of the 52-bar high–low. Both are plotted 26 bars ahead and form the cloud. Read the article

Slippage

The difference between the price you asked for and the price you got. It usually happens when price moves fast and can make a loss bigger than planned. Read the article

SMA (Simple Moving Average)

The plain average of the last N closes, with every bar weighted equally. Read the article

Spread

The gap between the Ask and the Bid, paid on every trade whether it wins or loses. It widens at rollover, in thin markets and around news. Read the article

Squeeze (Bollinger)

A period when the Bollinger Bands are unusually narrow. It often comes before a fast move but doesn't say which way. Read the article

Stochastic Oscillator

Shows where the close sits inside the recent range: %K = (Close − lowest low) ÷ (highest high − lowest low) × 100, with %D as an SMA of %K. Common settings are 5,3,3 and 14,3,3. Read the article

Stop Limit order

An MT5 pending order that, once price reaches the stop level, places a Limit order at a second price instead of filling at market. Read the article

Stop loss (SL)

An order that closes a trade at a set price to cap the loss. It is not a guaranteed price: in a fast move or a gap it can fill worse. Read the article

Stop order

A pending order to buy above or sell below the current price (Buy Stop, Sell Stop). It is used to enter when price breaks a level. Read the article

Stop out

The margin level at which the platform starts closing positions automatically, often 50% but sometimes 30%, 20% or lower depending on the account. Read the article

Strategy Tester

MT5's backtesting tool. Its modes (real ticks, every tick, 1 minute OHLC, open prices only) simulate price inside each bar differently and can give very different results. Read the article

Supply zone

A tight price base followed by a strong move down. Traders watch it for selling when price comes back up to it. Read the article

Support · แนวรับ (Support)

A price area where price stopped falling and bounced before. It is best drawn as a zone, not a single line. Read the article

Swap

Overnight interest charged or paid on positions held through the broker's day change. It comes from the rate gap between the two currencies plus a broker markup, and can be negative on both sides. Read the article

Swing high / swing low · Swing high / Swing low

A swing high is a bar whose high is above the bars on both sides; a swing low has a low below them. Support, resistance and many tools start from these points. Read the article

Take profit (TP)

An order that closes a trade at a set price to lock in profit. Too near wins often but pays little; too far rarely gets hit. Read the article

Tenkan-sen

Ichimoku's conversion line: (9-bar highest high + 9-bar lowest low) ÷ 2. Read the article

Timeframe

The length of time one bar covers, such as M1, M15, H1, H4 or D1. Smaller timeframes move less per bar while the spread stays the same. Read the article

Trading journal · Trading journal (บันทึกการเทรด)

A record of the plan and result of every trade, winners and losers. It shows whether a system has an edge and what breaking the rules cost. Read the article

Trading session · Session (ช่วงตลาด)

The main forex market hours: Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York. Overlaps between sessions are usually the busiest hours. Read the article

Trailing stop

A Stop loss that follows price as a trade moves in your favour, keeping a set gap such as a multiple of ATR. It never moves back against the trade. Read the article

Triple swap

The night set in the contract specification, usually Wednesday, when swap is charged three times to cover the weekend. Read the article

True Range

The largest of high − low, |high − previous close| and |low − previous close|. It counts gaps that a plain high − low would miss. Read the article

Win rate

The share of trades that close in profit. On its own it doesn't show whether a system makes money; compare it with the break-even win rate. Read the article