[ Reference ]
The vocabulary that makes order types click — every term this site leans on, defined in one or two sentences. Search it, read the entry beside it, and come back whenever a word trips you up.
[ The dictionary ]
Grouped the way you meet them in practice: the basics, the costs, the order types, execution, then risk. Type to narrow the list, then read the entry beside it — nothing navigates away, so you can look a word up without losing your place.
The smallest standard price move in most currency pairs, usually the fourth decimal place (0.0001). For JPY pairs it is the second decimal place. On EUR/USD one pip is about $10 on a standard lot — the figure behind every cost quoted on this site.
The smallest standard price move in most currency pairs, usually the fourth decimal place (0.0001). For JPY pairs it is the second decimal place. On EUR/USD one pip is about $10 on a standard lot — the figure behind every cost quoted on this site.
[ Commonly confused ]
Every expensive mistake in order placement starts with mixing up two terms. Here is the one line that separates each pair, in plain words you can hold onto.
Takes the next price available in the market. Speed is the whole point — the price you clicked is a reference, not a promise.
Waits until the market comes to you. Your worst price is locked in, but nothing guarantees the market ever arrives.
Ask which one you would rather give up: the moment, or the level. Getting in today matters more than the last pip — market. The level is the reason for the trade — limit.
Triggers at your level, then becomes a market order. You are out of the position, but the fill can land well past the trigger in a fast move.
Triggers at your level, then places a limit order. You will never fill worse than your limit — and in a gap, you may not fill at all.
The question to ask before you place either: which failure can I live with — a worse price, or a position I could not exit?
The standing gap between bid and ask. You know the number in advance, and it is charged on every market order you send.
The gap between the price you expected and the price you got. It only exists once quotes move faster than your order travels.
Do not add one to the other. When the spread widens in a fast market, that extra cost is already sitting inside your slippage figure.
Sits at one price and stays there, hit or moved by you. It caps how much a single bad trade can cost.
Keeps a fixed distance behind price and only ever moves in your favour. It ratchets forward and never back.
A stop-loss protects the money you started with. A trailing stop protects the profit you have already built — and can cost you a little of it when price reverses.
[ Next step ]
Every term on this page shows up in a real fill — the spread you pay, the slippage you didn't plan for, the margin behind the position. Watch them happen in sequence.