Miscellaneous Terms

Trade Finance
The science that describes the management of money, banking, credit, investments and assets for international trade transactions.
Companies involved with trade finance include importers and exporters, financiers, insurers and other service providers.

Forex Scalping
A trading strategy used by forex traders to buy a currency pair and then to hold it for a short period of time in an attempt to make a profit. A forex scalper looks to make a large number of trades and earn a small profit each time. Forex scalping generally involves large amounts of leverage so that a small change in a currency equals a respectable profit. Forex scalping system strategies can be manual or automated. A manual system involves a trader sitting at the computer screen, looking for signals and interpreting whether to buy or sell. In an automated trading system, the trader "teaches" the software what signals to look for and how to interpret them. It is thought that automated trading takes human psychology out of trading, which is important in forex scalping because the fast-paced environment can be hard for traders to stomach.

Trading Desk
A desk where transactions for buying and selling securities occur. Trading desks can be found in most organizations (banks, finance companies, etc.) involved in trading investment instruments such as equities, fixed-income securities, futures, commodities and foreign exchange. A trading desk provides traders with access to instantaneous trade executions. Also known as "dealing desk".

White Candlestick
A point on a candle stick chart representing a day in which the underlying price has moved up. Candlesticks will have a body and usually two wicks on each end. The bottom of the white body represents the opening price and the top of the body represents the closing price. The top and bottom tips of each wick are the day's highest and lowest price respectively. Also known as an “open candlestick.”
Candlestick charts are primarily used by technical traders because of how quick a day's price movement is conveyed. There are many formations which can be used as a buy, sell or hold indicator. Red/black candlesticks represent a downward movement for the day, which are opposite of white candle sticks. Most charting software will allow you to change the colors of these candles. Even though white is the common color for this type of candlestick, any color can and is used by traders.

Universal Banking
Banking that includes investment services in addition to services related to savings and loans. This is more common in European countries because there are generally more restrictions in North America as to what services financial institutions can offer.