Trading Glossary: E

These are common terms used in the financial services industry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Economic driver: Change in the economy that leads to changes in the market price of investments, such as shares, commodities or property.
Economic indicator: A government-issued statistic that indicates current economic growth and stability. Common indicators include employment rates, gross domestic product (GDP), inflation and retail sales.
Electronic Currency Network (ECN): A virtual exchange for FX transactions.
Elliott wave theory: Developed by RN Elliott, the Elliott Wave theory is a method of technical analysis based on the assumption of predictability, by identifying a certain flow and structure to the price movement of financial instruments.
Equity: A stock or share representing an ownership interest.
Euro: The monetary unit of the eurozone, currently used by 19 European Union countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
Ex-dividend date: The first trading day on which the buyer of a share is no longer entitled to payment of the current dividend.
Exchange: A marketplace in which securities, commodities, derivatives and other financial instruments are traded. The core function of an exchange - such as a stock exchange - is to ensure fair and orderly trading, as well as efficient dissemination of price information for any securities trading on that exchange. Exchanges give companies, governments and other groups a platform to sell securities to the investing public. An exchange may be a physical location where traders meet to conduct business or an electronic platform.
Execute and eliminate order: A limit order to execute at the current market price or worse. If the order is not filled in its entirety down to the specified order level then any remaining balance will be cancelled.
Execution-only stockbroker: Stockbroker who offers clients an inexpensive trading facility without advice, research or recommendations pertaining to investment style or policy.
Expiration date: The last date that a particular contract can be traded.
Expiration/ Expiry: Some CFD markets have a fixed duration. For example futures contracts will expire at a pre-specified date and time in the future. At this point a futures contract is said to have expired and is awaiting settlement. Settlement is when the expired contract is closed at a level normally relating to the market at the time of expiry.
Exposure: The level of an investment which is at risk. The higher the exposure, the bigger the potential loss or gain.