Terminology forex : S


Standard and Poor’s ( S&P ) is currently one of the Big Three players in the credit rating industry.
In 1941 Standard Statistics ( publisher of sovereign debt and bonds ratings ) merged with Henry Varnum Poor, the publisher of “History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States,” which is one of the first attempts at compiling financial details of the U.S. railroads.Today, S&P is not only known for its ratings, it’s also closely watched for its ratings on market indices ( ex. S&P 500, S&P/Case-Shiller home price index ).









Safe haven

These are Assets that are considered relatively low-risk investments and are usually bought up in times of uncertainty. They are typically low-paying but are deemed stable by market participants.
Two of the most popular safe haven assets in the forex market are the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. Oftentimes, when risk aversion is in play, these two currencies rally against their counterparts.









  Same day transaction

A transaction in which the transaction matures in the same trading day.





  Sao Tome, Principe Dobras

The currency of Sao Tome, Principe. Currency code ( STD )












Scalping or short-term trading involves making dozens or hundreds of trades a day, trying to scalp a small profit from each trade by exploiting the bid-ask spread.Scalping works because not all currency pairs remain on the move at all times. Scalpers generate profits from these non-moving pairs or turn around and sell for a profit those pairs that fluctuate in the positive direction. This way, they receive a small profit. This profit quickly adds up.Some advantages to scalping include less exposure to risk ( because it doesn’t have the time in one position to be effected ), easier-to-obtain moves and more opportunities to realize a small profit. Of course, there are no perfect strategies. Many Forex trading platforms prohibit scalping and will charge a fee for making more than ten trades in a one day. Therefore, it would benefit the trader to find out if this practice is allowed on their particular platform.However, for a short-term trading strategy to be profitable, it requires larger capital. Leverage is also necessary to magnify profits from small price moves.It is important to have an exit strategy set up before trying to scalp, as it would only take one large loss to eliminate an entire day’s positive profits. Utilizing a one-minute chart will give the trader a better idea of what trades to make and which to shy away from.













Seborga Luigini

The currency of Seborga. Currency code ( SPL )









Services PMI – United Kingdom

Release schedule : 8:30 ( GMT ); monthly, on the first working day after the reporting month.
Revisions schedule : Minor revisions are made monthly, going back 2 or 3 months.
Source of report : Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and NTC Research
Web Address : http://www.cips.org
Address of release : http://www.cips.org/Page.asp?PageID=177&CatID=42











  Settlement Period

Time allotted in which it takes the two parties of a transaction to satisfy the transaction’s obligations.









Seychelles Rupees

The currency of Seychelles. Currency code ( SCR )











Sharpe ratio

Derived by William Sharpe in 1966, the Sharpe ratio describes how much excess return you receive for the added volatility that you tolerate for holding on to a risky asset.
It is calculated this way:
x = investment
rx= ave. rate of return of x
Rf= best available rate of return of a risk-free security ( ie. Currencies )
StdDev ( x ) = standard deviation of rx
Robopip uses the Sharpe ratio to measure the risk tolerance of a system.
It helps him solve for the additional compensation above a certain level that the system should yield for each additional unit of risk. Basically, the higher the ratio, the better the system is.














Spot Trade

The transaction of a currency or commodity for immediate delivery.










  Spinning Top

Candlesticks that have small bodies with upper and lower shadows that exceed the length of the body. A very good reversal signal and can be any color. Spinning tops signal indecision. The smaller the body, the less direction the market has.














Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is located in Southwestern Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay, and Pyrenees Mountains.In 1999 Spain joined the European Monetary Union ( EMU ) and adopted the euro in place of its former currency, the peseta.

Spain hasthe fourth largest economy in the euro zone and the 13th largest in the world.
The Spanish economy is highly dependent on its services and industry sector. Germany and France are Spain’s largest import and export partners.
In late 2007 a significant decline in consumer spending and an oversupply in the housing market took its toll on the construction industry. After almost 15 years of positive GDP growth, Spain officially entered into a recession in Q2 2008.The government tried to revive the economy through stimulus spending, extended unemployment benefits, and loan guarantees. Unfortunately, the efforts only resulted to a government budget deficit more than three times the size of the euro zone’s limit. It also didn’t prevent the unemployment rate from rocketing above 20%. Spain soon became vulnerable to debt contagion from other financially troubled euro zone economies.Meanwhile, the Spanish banks’ high exposure to the collapsed real estate market also took its toll on Spain’s growth prospects. The government restructured the savings bank sector and provided capital to institutions, but in Q2 2012 the Spanish government was left with no choice but to formally ask the European Union for bailout money for the banking sector.
Financial Leaders
Head of State: King Juan Carlos I
President of the Government: Mariano Rajoy
Minister of Economy and Competitiveness: Luis de Guindos
Minister of Finance and Public Administration: Cristobal Montoro
Bank of Spain Governor: Luis Maria Linde












  South Korean Won

The currency of South Korea. Currency code ( KRW )








Somalia Shillings

The currency of Somalia. Currency code ( SOS )










Society for Worldwide Interbank Telecommunications

Belgian-based company that provides the global electronic network for settlement of most forex transactions. Also known as SWIFT.










SNB Quarterly Monetary Policy Assessment

Release schedule : Whenever the bank feels like it
Source of report : Swiss National Bank
Web Address : http://www.snb.ch/e/index3.html
Address of release : http://www.snb.ch/e/publikationen/publi.html









  Singapore Dollars

The currency of Singapore. Currency code ( SGD )











Shōichi Nakagawa

The current Minister of Finance of Japan
Shōichi Nakagawa was born in Hokkaidō, Japan in 1953. He graduated from the law faculty of the University of Tokyo in 1978. Nakagawa has previously held the posts of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.










Short position

A position in which the base currency is sold. It is beneficial when a price declines.










When referring to candlesticks:
The thin lines poking above and below the body display the high/low range and are called shadows. The top of the upper shadow is the “high”. The bottom of the lower shadow is the “low”.









Settlement Risk
The chance that one of the two parties of a transaction cannot fulfill the terms of the transaction. May lead to principal risk.










Actual physical exchange of one currency for another.











Sentiment Analysis
























 Saudi Arabia Riyals

The currency of Saudi Arabia. Currency code ( SAR )














Samoa Tala

The currency of Samoa. Currency code










  Saint Helena Pounds

The currency of Saint Helena. Currency code ( SHP )








  Sadakazu Tanigaki

Sadakazu Tanigaki is the Japan Finance Minister, taking office on September 20th, 2004.
Mr. Tanigaki has previously held positions as the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and Industrial Revival minister in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s previous cabinet.












Shooting Star


Hammer except that it is bearish. A shooting star can mark a top but is often retested.














Short Squeeze

A short squeeze happens when there is excess demand and a lack of supply for a particular financial security.What happens is that due to the excess demand, prices continue to rise rapidly. Traders holding short positions try to cover their positios ( i.e. close their positions ), which can only be done by by buying. With more and more traders looking to buy, we normally see an extended rally as prices go higher and higher. In this sense, all the “shorts” are squeezed.In the forex market, a short squeeze normally happens after a strong sharp move and we see a reversal.For example, EUR/USD went on a long term down trend. At a certain point, some traders may feel that the euro is undervalued, making it a good investment. As more and more buyers enter the market, traders holding short euro positions decide it would be best to close out their positions or potentially suffer losses. This leads to more and more traders buying the euro, and all the short positions getting squeezed out of the market.











Sierra Leone Leones

The currency of Sierra Leone. Currency code ( SLL


























Slovenia Tolars

The currency of Slovenia. Currency code ( SIT )












SNB Three-Month Target Libor Rate

Release schedule : Whenever the bank feels like it
Source of report : Swiss National Bank
Address of release : http://www.snb.ch/e/geldpolitik/geldpol.html













Solomon Islands Dollars

The currency of the Solomon Islands. Currency code ( SBD )












South African Rand


The currency of South Africa. Currency code ( ZAR )












Sovereign Debt

Sovereign debt is a financial liability of a national government. Sovereign debt usually refers to bonds which are denominated in foreign currencies. National governments are usually forced to take on sovereign debt when inflation is high or when exchange rates are unstable. Because the debt needs to be paid in a foreign currency, there is the risk that the national government cannot pay the debt come repayment time, which makes the yield of sovereign debt expensive.













In the financial world, speculating can be described as the act of making an investment in a financial asset, hoping to make a profit when the asset appreciates ( or depreciate, when short selling )over time. In layman’s terms, a speculator will aim to “buy low and sell high ( or sell high and buy back at a lower price when shorting! ).
In the forex markets, retails traders are speculating when they try to make profit when one currency appreciates versus another currency.












Spot price

Also known as the current market price.














Spread betting

Spread betting is a type of speculation on the outcome of an event that involves betting on the price movement of an asset. A spread betting broker quotes prices for the bid and offer/spread, traders bet whether the underlying stock price will be lower than the bid or higher than the spread. In spread betting the investor doesn’t own the underlying stock, he just speculates on the price movement of the stock.













Sri Lanka Rupees

The currency of Sri Lanka. Currency code ( LKR )











Sovereign Debt














Slang for the British Pound. Currency code ( GBP )














Stochastic is an indicator used in technical analysis. Stochastic compares closing prices in a market to the high and low prices for that market over a certain period of time.Stochastic is calculated by taking the lowest low price and the highest high price for a number of previous trading periods, usually fourteen. The difference between the current closing price and the lowest low is divided by the difference between the highest high and lowest low, and the result is multiplied by 100. The product, expressed as a percentage, is considered to be the stochastic oscillator. Three varieties of this oscillator exist–fast, slow, and full–each applying a different transformation to the value of the basic stochastic oscillator.Stochastic can be used to determine when a market is overbought or oversold. According to technical analysis, when the stochastic oscillator rises above 80%, the market is overbought, and when the oscillator drops below 20%, the market is oversold. Thus stochastic can be thought of as strong selling or buying signals, respectively.When using stochastic, foreign exchange traders need to take into account the fact that the forex market, being a twenty-four hour market, has no closing prices. Forex traders typically use the price at the time of the New York Stock Exchange’s close as the forex market’s closing price, since the volume of trading drops off shortly after the close of the NYSE.










Stop order

An order sent to a broker which becomes a market order when the market reaches the specific price stated. In volatile ( or fast ) markets, slippage may occur.Stop orders are normally used to take the trader out of a trade in the event the market goes against his/her position.










  Sudan Dinars

The currency of Sudan. Currency code ( SDD )












A level at which a currency has trouble falling below.














Support levels

Indicates a certain price high and low at which a given exchange rate will correct itself.










Excess in the balance of trade, balance of payments, or government budgets.









SVME Manufacturing PMI

Release schedule : 7:30 ( GMT ); monthly, on the first business day of the following month
Revisions schedule : Revisions for the past few releases usually occur every month.
Source of report : Swiss Association of Purchasing and Materials Management
Web Address : http://www.svme.ch/
Address of release : Unknown










  Survey of Manufacturing – Canada

Source of Report : Statistics Canada
Web Address : http://www.statcan.ca/start.html
Address of Release : http://www.statcan.ca/english/Release/index.htm









  Suriname Guilders

The currency of Suriname. Currency code ( SRG )






  Supply and Demand

Supply refers to the amount of an asset that is available while demand is the quantity of an asset that people are willing to buy.As supply of an asset increases, its value declines. Conversely, as supply of an asset decreases, its value rises. As demand for an asset increases, its value rises. Conversely, as demand for an asset decreases, its value declines.Since this principle applies to the currency market, plenty of traders look at supply and demand for a particular currency at a given point in time to figure out whether that currency’s value will rise or decline.One way to gauge supply and demand is to picture a seesaw with all the fundamental factors affecting that currency. For example, when an economic report either increases demand or reduces supply for the US dollar, place that fundamental factor on the left side of the seesaw. When an economic event either decreases demand or increases supply for the US dollar, place that fundamental factor on the right side of the seesaw. If there are more factors on the left side, then the seesaw would tilt upwards and the US dollar’s value should rise. On the other hand, if there are more factors on the right side, then the seesaw would tilt downwards and the US dollar’s value should drop.
This way, traders are able to take note of all the recent fundamental factors that are affecting a particular currency. This is helpful in assessing whether that currency is performing relatively well.







Strategists are traders who anticipate upcoming reports and their impact on price action. They usually trade the news and come up with trade setups based on whether they think the actual figures will come in worse or better than expected. Because of that, strategists are a good source of trade ideas, especially for short-term trades.









Stop-loss order

A limit order in which a trade is closed when a specified price is reached causing a loss. Used to limit amount of losses in trades.




Stocks or equities refer to partial ownership of a company’s assets and profits. If you own a stock of a particular company, you are entitled to a proportional share of its profits. Stocks of companies can be bought and sold in stock markets, such as the New York Stock Exchange.









Stick Sandwich












As the name suggests, stagflation is a period in time when there is a combination of high inflation and economic stagnation. In essence, it is characterized by rising unemployment and declining business production while the prices of goods and services get higher. Both stagnation and inflation magnify each other, causing economic conditions to worsen further.Currency Impact One of the worst things that can occur to a currency is the effect of stagflation. It leaves very little room for central banks to move because it cannot raise interest rates enough to combat rising prices. When prices rise disproportionately to interest rates, the value of the domestic currency depresses. This, in turn, reduces the purchasing power of consumers. As such, foreign exchange markets usually see stagflation as negative for the domestic currency.






Squawk box

A speaker connected to a phone on a broker’s desk.








Swaziland Emalangeni

The currency of Swaziland. Currency code ( SZL )








The process of converting Profits and Losses in another currency into U.S. dollars at the end of each trading day.









Slang for the Swiss franc. Currency code ( CHF )







Swiss Industrial Production

Release schedule : 7:15 ( GMT ); quarterly
Revisions schedule : Revisions can be significant
Source of report : Swiss Federal Statistical Office
Web Address : http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index.html







Symmetrical Triangle

A Symmetrical Triangle is a method of pattern trading based on a continuation pattern. Continuation patterns also include Ascending Triangles, Descending Triangles, Wedges, Flags, Rectangles and Pennants and are essentially technical patterns that are expected to lead to the continuation of an existing trend. Continuation patterns are considered a powerful trading tool as they usually result in extremely low risk trading opportunities and spectacular returns.A Symmetrical Triangle is most often known as a bullish continuation pattern whose technical targets are derived by adding the largest vertical height of the triangle to the ultimate breakout level, however Symmetrical Triangles can also be regarded as neutral. The Symmetrical Triangle in reverse ( or downtrend ) would be classed as bearish.Generally a Symmetrical Triangle results when there is an area of indecision within the marketplace where buyers are attempting to push prices higher but are met with resistance by sellers, the market reaches a pause as the direction of prices is questioned, typically because the forces of both sellers and buyers are equal.A series of rallies and sell-offs continues, each one smaller than the last and the triangle gradually eases upward. Eventually the area of indecision is resolved and the formation explodes, usually with an increase in volume.










Syria Pounds

The currency of Syria. Currency code ( SYP )







  Swiss National Bank












Swiss Francs

The currency of Switzerland. One of the major currencies traded. Currency code ( CHF )








Swing Trading

Traders who can react quickly to market changes, including at-home and day traders, benefit from swing trading, which is a trade strategy that involves holding a position for longer than a day. If a trade seems to be going sour, swing traders can exit the market before losing too much money.Swing traders usually maintain a position for 3-10 days, taking advantage of any positive swings in the market. They flow with the market, taking little trades here and there.In fact, swing trading sits squarely in the middle between day trading and trend trading in terms of the length of time invested in a position. These traders stick around just long enough to see how the wind will blow before deciding to stay and see a trend through or go on to more profitable pastures.














The simultaneous buying and selling of the same amount of a given currency at a forward exchange rate.








Swedish Kronor

The currency of Sweden. Currency code ( SEK )






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