Glossary of Foreing Exchange Terms: S - Z

- S -

Same day transaction - A transaction that matures on the day the transaction takes place.

Selling rate - Rate at which a bank is willing to sell foreign currency.

Settlement date - The date upon which foreign exchange contracts settle.

Settlement Risk - Where a payment is made to a counter party before the counter value payment has been made. The risk is that the counter party's payment will not be received.

Short sale - The sale of a specified amount of currency not owned by the seller at the time of the trade. Short sales are usually made in expectation of a decline in the price.

Short-term interest rates - Normally the 90 day rate.

Sidelined - A major currency that is lightly traded due to major market interest being in another currency pair.

Slippage - Refers to the negative (or depreciating) pip value between where a stop loss order becomes a market order and where that market order may be filled.

Soft Market - More potential sellers than buyers, which creates an environment where rapid price falls are likely.

Spot - (1) The most common foreign exchange transaction. (2) Spot or Spot date refers to the spot transaction value date that requires settlement within two business days, subject to value date calculation.

Spot next - The overnight swap from the spot date to the next business day.

Spot price/rate - The price at which the currency is currently trading in the spot market.

Spread - (l)The difference between the bid and ask price of a currency. (2) The difference between the price of two related futures contracts.

Square - Purchase and sales are in balance and thus the dealer has no open position.

Squawk Box - A speaker connected to a phone often used in broker trading desks.

Squeeze - Action by a central bank to reduce supply in order to increase the price of money.

Stable market - An active market which can absorb large sale or purchases of currency without major moves.

Standard - A term referring to certain normal amounts and maturities for dealing.

Sterilization - Central Bank activity in the domestic money market to reduce the impact on money supply of its intervention activities in the FX market.

Sterling - British pound, otherwise known as cable.

Stocky - Market slang for Swedish Krona.

Stop-Loss order - Order to buy or sell at the best available price when a given price threshold has been reached.

Support levels - When an exchange rate depreciates or appreciates to a level where (1) Technical analysis techniques suggest that the currency will rebound, or not go below; (2) the monetary authorities intervene to stop any further down ward movement. See resistance point.

Swap price - A price as a differential between two dates of the swap.

Swap - The simultaneous purchase and sale of the same amount of a given currency for two different dates, against the sale and purchase of another. A swap can be a swap against a forward. In essence, swapping is somewhat similar to borrowing one currency and lending another for the same period. However, any rate of return or cost of funds is expressed in the price differential between the two sides of the transaction.

Swissy - Market slang for Swiss Franc.

- T -

Technical Correction - An adjustment to price not based on market sentiment but technical factors such as volume and charting.

Thin market - A market in which trading volume is low and in which consequently bid and ask quotes are wide and the liquidity of the instrument traded is low.

Thursday/Friday Dollars - A US foreign exchange technicality. If a foreign bank buys dollars on Tuesday for Thursday delivery. If the bank leaves the funds overnight and transfers them on Friday by means of a clearing house cheque then clearance is not until Monday, the next working day. Higher interest rates for this period are thus available.

Tick - A minimum change in price, up or down.

Today/Tomorrow - Simultaneous buying of a currency for delivery the following day and selling for the spot day, or vice versa. Also referred to as overnight.

Tomorrow next (Tom next) - Simultaneous buying of a currency for delivery the following day and selling for the spot day or vice versa.

Trade date - The date on which a trade occurs.

Tradeable amount - Smallest transaction size acceptable.

Transaction date - The date on which a trade occurs.

Transaction - The buying or selling of currencies resulting from the execution of an order.

Two Tier market - A dual exchange rate system where normally only one rate is open to market pressure, e.g. South Africa.

Two-Way quotation - When a dealer quotes both buying and selling rates for foreign exchange transactions.

- U -

Uncovered - Another term for an open position.

Under-valuation - An exchange rate is normally considered to be undervalued when it is below its purchasing power parity.

Up tick - A transaction executed at a price greater than the previous transaction.

- V -

Value Date - For a spot transaction it is two business banking days forward in the country of the bank providing quotations which determine the spot value date. The only exception to this general rule is the spot day in the quoting centre coinciding with a banking holiday in the country(ies) of the foreign currency(ies). The value date then moves forward a day.

Value Spot - Normally settlement for two working days from today. See value date.

Volatility - A measure of the amount by which an asset price is expected to fluctuate over a given period.

Vostro Account - A local currency account maintained with a bank by another bank. The term is normally applied to the counterparty's account from which funds may be paid into or withdrawn, as a result of a transaction.

- W -

Wash trade - A matched deal which produces neither a gain nor a loss.

Whipsaw - Term for where a trader takes a position, then has to move against it triggering stop loss limits and liquidation of positions, then having to move in the original direction. Normally occurs in volatile markets.

Working day - A day on which the banks in a currency's principal financial centre are open for business. For FX transactions, a working day only occurs if the bank in both financial centre's are open for business (all relevant currency centers in the case of a cross are open).