Trading Industry Definitions

Back Office

The department in a financial institution that processes and deals and handles delivery, settlement and regulatory procedures.

Limit Move

See Locked Limit

Small Traders

Traders who hold or control positions in futures or options that are below the reporting level specified by the exchange or the CFTC.

Limit (Up or Down)

The maximum price advance or decline from the previous day’s settlement price permitted during one trading session, as fixed by the rules of an exchange. In some futures contracts, the limit may be expanded or removed during a trading session a specified per

Slippage

Broadly speaking, slippage refers to a failure to meet expectation with regard to the execution of an order. Slippage reflects the extent to which an orders fill price differs negatively from the price level at which it was entered. For example if a sell stop loss

Audit Trail

The record of trading information identifying, for example, the brokers participating in each transaction, the firms clearing the trade, the terms and time or sequence of the trade, the order receipt and execution time and, ultimately, and when applicable, the customers in

The Financial Services Authority

The FSA, an independent non-governmental body, is the United Kingdom’s leading independent financial regulatory organization. The FSA is responsible for overseeing trading activity on UK stock and commodity exchanges, with the overall aim ‘to promote efficient, orderly and fair markets a

Eligible Contract Participant

An entity, such as a financial institution, insurance company, or commodity pool, that is classified by the Commodity Exchange Act as an eligible contract participant based upon its regulated status or amount of assets. This classification permits these persons to engage in transactions (su

At-the-Market

An order to buy or sell a contract of a security at whatever price is obtainable when the order reaches the trading facility. See also: Market Order

Associated Person (AP)

An individual who solicits or accepts (other than in a clerical capacity) orders, discretionary accounts, or participation in a commodity pool, or supervises any individual so engaged, on behalf of a Futures Commission Merchant, an Introducing Broker, a Commodity Trading A