Federal Reserve (Fed)

The Central Bank for the United States.

First In First Out (FIFO)

Open positions are closed according to the FIFO accounting rule. All positions opened within a particular currency pair are liquidated in the order in which they were originally opened.

Flat/square

Dealer jargon used to describe a position that has been completely reversed, e.g. you bought $500,000 then sold $500,000, thereby creating a neutral (flat) position.

Foreign Exchange – (Forex, FX)

The simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another.

Forward Points

The pips added to or subtracted from the current exchange rate to calculate a forward price.

Forward

The pre-specified exchange rate for a foreign exchange contract settling at some agreed future date, based upon the interest rate differential between the two currencies involved.

Fundamental Analysis

Analysis of economic and political information with the objective of determining future movements in a financial market.

Futures Contract

An obligation to exchange a good or instrument at a set price on a future date. The primary difference between a Future and a Forward is that Futures are typically traded over an exchange (Exchange-Traded Contracts - ETC), versus forwards, which are considered Over The Counter (OTC) contracts. An OTC is any contract NOT traded on an exchange.

FX

Foreign Exchange.