Though trading slang words are not typically considered professional or conventional, they are still used extensively by traders worldwide. You, too, should build your trading vocabulary as you go further with your trading efforts, so you can communicate like a pro.
In the beginning was the word
Human activity is endless. There are countless areas where we apply our intellectual and physical abilities. Often, fields of occupation require a specific language – a jargon. This is a way for those involved to communicate quickly and effectively.
Trading is no exception. There are many finance idioms and terms that market players use extensively. Knowing stock investment terminology is crucial for anyone who is serious about trading.
Below, we will give you the most popular trading expressions you can use to make the best of your everyday trading.
Slang from all over the place
Where do finance idioms come from? The short answer is, from everywhere. This is not an exaggeration. As you will see, these terms are inspired by multiple sources: nature, geography, cultural stereotypes, space, history, pop culture, and even fairy tales. Some may seem out of place or downright weird, but as soon as you learn their meaning and reference, you’ll see that they make perfect sense.
Welcome to the jungle
The market can get scary and ruthless, just like a wilderness full of relentless predators. That is why investment terminology has so many animal terms —bulls, bears, hawks, doves, and so on. Most commonly, animal-related trading terms refer to different styles of market behavior.
For instance, a bear trader is a pessimist, whereas a bull has a more positive outlook. The same approach applies to the market environment: a bearish market with poor perspectives or a bullish one with an upward trend.
Relationship stuff
Most things in life come in pairs. This is 100% true for the Forex market, where currencies get together in pairs and make you anxious as they shift in value. It makes sense that traders have come up with a bunch of substitutions for the world’s biggest currency pairs.
Here’s what you may come across when trading Forex pairs:
Aussie (Ozzie) and Matie for AUDUSD.
Cable for GBPUSD.
Barney for USDRUB.
Betty for EURRUB.
Loonie for USDCAD.
Ninja for USDJPY.
Swissy for USDCHF (Swiss franc).
While not a currency pair term, Kiwi is what traders often call the New Zealand dollar.
To the moon and back
Now it’s about time we found out what specific terms traders use to describe various market movements. There are at least five phrases you will hear a lot while trading.
To the moon or mooning describes an often very quick, shockingly high spike in an asset’s price.
Tanking is the opposite. This term is used when a price drops fast and deep. Not something any investor would want to witness, but these things happen.
A short squeeze happens when many bet against a stock, but then its price suddenly soars. In this case, short sellers try to close out their positions ASAP.
A long squeeze is when an asset’s price suddenly drops, pushing long holders to sell their assets to avoid potential losses.
Finally, traders can get themselves jigged out by reading the market movements wrong. This means that a trader leaves the market just before the market takes a sudden positive turn.
