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| Back Office |
The departments and processes related to the settlement of financial transactions (i.e. written confirmation and settlement of trades, record keeping). |
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| Backwardation |
Term referring to the amount that the spot price exceeds the forward price. |
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| Band |
The range in which a currency is permitted to move. |
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| Bank line |
Line of credit granted by a bank to a customer, also known as a "line."
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| Bank rate |
The rate at which a central bank is prepared to lend money to its domestic banking system. |
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| Balance |
Amount of money in an account |
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| Base currency |
The currency in which the operating results of the bank or institution are reported.
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| Basis |
The difference between the cash price and futures price. |
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| Basis Point |
One hundredth of a percent |
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| Basis trading |
Taking opposite positions in the cash and futures market with the intention of profiting from favorable movements in the basis.
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| Bear |
An investor who believes that prices/the market will decline |
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| Bear Market |
market distinguished by a prolonged period of declining prices accompanied with widespread pessimism |
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| Bid |
The price that a buyer is prepared to purchase at; the price offered for a currency. |
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| Big Figure |
Dealer phrase referring to the first few digits of an exchange rate. These digits rarely change in normal market fluctuations, and therefore are omitted in dealer quotes, especially in times of high market activity. For example, a USD/Yen rate might be 109.50/109.55, but would be quoted verbally without the first three digits i.e. "50/55". |
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| Book |
In a professional trading environment, a book is the summary of a trader`s or a desk`s total positions.A total of the assets and liabilities. |
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| Broker |
An individual, or firm, that acts as an intermediary, putting together buyers and sellers usually for a fee or commission. In contrast, a `dealer` commits capital and takes one side of a position, hoping to earn a spread (profit) by closing out the position in a subsequent trade with another party. |
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| Bull |
An investor who believes that prices/the market will go high |
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| Bull Market |
A market distinguished by a prolonged period of rising prices. (Opposite of bear market) |
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| Bundesbank |
Central Bank of Germany |
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| Buying Rate |
Rate at which the market and a market maker in particular is willing to buy the currency. Sometimes called bid rate. |
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