Sample expectancy · Forex
The average result in a stated sample of completed cases under a consistent unit and cost convention.
Example: Invented results +4, +2, −3 and 0 total +3 across four cases, giving a sample mean of +0.75.
Keep in mind: This describes that sample, not the next trade or a guaranteed future average.
Scalping · Forex
A holding-style label commonly used for very short intraday positions seeking small price movements. Exact duration and execution rules must be stated.
Example: A teaching specification may define a case lasting minutes rather than using the label alone.
Keep in mind: The label does not make costs small or execution safe.
Seed phrase (recovery phrase) · Crypto
An ordered set of words used by a compatible wallet to derive recovery keys. A BIP 39 wallet may also require its exact passphrase; multisig recovery may require other keys. Treat recovery material as secret.
Example: A recovery backup is closer to a master access secret than a customer account number. Its words, order and any additional recovery requirements matter; never give it to someone claiming to be support.
Sentiment · Forex
An opinion or attitude measured by a specified survey or indicator, with its population and method identified.
Example: A survey counts positive opinions; a holdings report records positions. Those are different measurements.
Keep in mind: Opinions, account counts and position quantities cannot be treated as interchangeable probabilities of a price move.
Session overlap · Forex
A period when the normal business hours of two financial centres overlap. The actual UTC window depends on the date and local clocks.
Example: Two shops in different time zones can be open at the same time for part of the day.
Keep in mind: An overlap is not a promise of a profitable or inexpensive trade.
Short position · Forex
A position that sells the base currency and buys the quote currency of a pair. Its price exposure benefits from a fall in the pair, before costs.
Example: It reverses the direction of the long-position idea: a later lower buy-back price would be favourable before costs.
Keep in mind: Do not confuse selling a pair with selling both currencies.
SIM swap · Crypto
A fraud in which a criminal takes control of your phone number by persuading or bribing your mobile provider to move it to a SIM card they hold.
Example: A criminal persuades a mobile provider to redirect your number to another SIM. They may then receive text verification codes; SMS access is not the same as secure control of your recovery material.
Simple moving average · Forex
The equal-weight arithmetic mean of observations in a rolling window. When the window moves, the oldest observation leaves and the newest enters.
Example: Invented prices 10, 12 and 14 have a three-observation average of 12.
Keep in mind: The chosen input, timeframe and window matter; an average is not a forecast.
Slashing · Crypto
A penalty in proof of stake that destroys part of a validator's deposit when it provably breaks the rules, for example by voting for two conflicting blocks.
Example: A referee penalises a participant for a specific rule violation. In Ethereum staking, conflicting signed votes can trigger slashing; ordinary downtime penalties are a different mechanism.
Keep in mind: The two retained source contexts overlap. Network specific rules decide the penalty and validator exit; ordinary downtime is not necessarily slashable.
In Ethereum proof of stake, a penalty for specified conflicting block proposals or votes that destroys some staked ETH and forces the validator to exit. Other networks have their own offences, penalties and exit rules.
Slippage · Crypto
The difference between an expected or quoted execution outcome and the outcome actually obtained. It may be favourable or adverse; compare compatible price and quantity references.
Example: An invented quote estimates 100 tokens received, but execution produces 98. The difference must be checked against the quote and its stated terms.
Keep in mind: Slippage tolerance is an execution limit, not a guaranteed final outcome.
Slippage · Forex
The difference between a reference or expected execution price and the actual fill, which can be favourable or adverse.
Example: A checkout price differs from the earlier shelf price; the receipt records the price actually accepted.
Keep in mind: Actual-fill P&L already reflects the fill: do not deduct the same execution difference again.
Smart contract · Crypto
A blockchain program whose rules execute when called under the network conditions. It can move assets or update records, but may contain bugs or depend on administrator permissions, upgrades and external data.
Example: A programmed vending rule checks an input before updating records. The rule can still contain a mistake or administrator powers, so automatic operation is different from guaranteed safety.
Social proof · Forex
Treating other people’s apparent approval or behaviour as evidence when making a judgment. It can influence choices without verifying a claim.
Example: A queue outside a restaurant suggests popularity, but does not prove every meal suits your needs.
Keep in mind: Followers, testimonials and agreeing messages are not a complete trading-performance record.
Speculation · Forex
Taking a position mainly because you expect its price to change in your favour, rather than because you need it for an immediate practical use.
Example: A traveller converts money for a hotel bill. Someone buying currency only to sell it after a hoped-for rise has a different purpose.
Keep in mind: Purpose matters; the same currency can be used in different ways.
Spot exchange · Forex
An exchange arranged for settlement under the market’s spot convention, rather than a separately agreed future delivery date. The exact timing depends on the transaction.
Example: Someone arranges currency for a near-term supplier payment instead of fixing a rate for a payment several months away.
Keep in mind: Spot does not always mean instant delivery; retail price contracts may have different terms.
Spread · Crypto
The difference between the highest price a buyer is offering (best bid) and the lowest price a seller is asking (best ask).
Example: An invented best bid is USD 99 and best ask is USD 101. The spread is USD 2; fees and the available quantity can add further execution costs.
Spread · Forex
The ask minus the bid at a stated moment. It is often quoted in pips. The spread is not a separate bill in every pricing model, but it is an inherent difference between the two quoted sides.
Example: An invented 1.1000/1.1002 EUR/USD quote has a 0.0002 spread: two pips under the stated convention.
Keep in mind: The spread is a difference between sides, not necessarily a separately billed fee.
Stablecoin · Crypto
A crypto token designed to hold a steady value against a reference, usually a national currency such as the US dollar. Stablecoins aim to hold a peg; they carry no guarantee and are not bank deposits.
Example: A token aims to stay near one US dollar. If it trades at USD 0.94, the reference remains one dollar but the market price has moved away from it.
Standard lot · Forex
A conventional Forex position-size label often representing 100,000 units of the base currency. Actual contract specifications must be checked.
Example: Think of a labelled bulk package: the label describes quantity, not the deposit required to hold it.
Keep in mind: A standard lot is not the same as 100,000 units of required margin.
Stochastic oscillator · Forex
An indicator locating a selected close within the recent high-to-low range, often with additional smoothing.
Example: With low 10, high 20 and close 15, a basic illustrative %K is 50: (15−10)/(20−10) × 100.
Keep in mind: A zero-width range needs special handling; record the selected version and smoothing rules.
Stop distance · Forex
The stated price distance between an entry reference and a stop or invalidation reference, using the applicable direction and quote sides.
Example: An invented long entry at 1.1000 and exit reference at 1.0980 are 20 conventional 0.0001 pips apart.
Keep in mind: A distance is not a cash amount or a guarantee that an ordinary stop fills at the reference price.
Stop-limit order · Forex
An instruction that activates a limit order after a separate trigger, combining an activation condition with an acceptable-price boundary.
Example: An alert tells a shopper to start looking, but the shopper still refuses to pay above a written limit.
Keep in mind: Price control can leave the order unfilled while existing exposure continues.
Stop-loss order · Forex
An exit instruction intended to reduce exposure after adverse movement. Its trigger and execution behaviour depend on the chosen order and product.
Example: A demo learner writes an adverse-movement exit condition before entering a position.
Keep in mind: An ordinary stop-loss is not a guarantee that losses cannot exceed a planned amount.
Stop order · Forex
An instruction activated by a stated trigger. A conventional stop-market order then seeks market execution under the applicable rules.
Example: A water-level alarm says when to respond; it does not hold the water at the alarm mark.
Keep in mind: The trigger price and eventual fill price can differ.
Stop-out · Forex
A provider-defined condition allowing or requiring forced closure of exposure under its margin or liquidation rules.
Example: A demo account reaches a specified closure condition and the provider begins closing positions under its documented process.
Keep in mind: A stop-out is not your ordinary stop-loss instruction, and closure prices or order may differ from expectations.
STP · Forex
Straight-through processing: a label commonly used for automated transaction processing or routing. It does not by itself define the customer’s legal counterparty.
Example: An online order can move automatically between systems instead of someone retyping each detail.
Keep in mind: Automated routing is not proof that you trade directly with an outside bank.
Stress scenario · Forex
A deliberately stated adverse set of assumptions used to examine potential effects, rather than a prediction or guaranteed worst case.
Example: If two hypothetical account-currency position results are −4 and −6 in the same scenario, their combined result is −10 before any omitted items.
Keep in mind: State conversion, costs and execution assumptions; more adverse outcomes may still be possible.
Structure break · Forex
A move through a selected structure reference under a stated price, timeframe and confirmation rule.
Example: A worksheet identifies a prior confirmed low and requires a later completed close below it to label a break.
Keep in mind: The chart classification does not establish an available fill, a permanent trend or a guaranteed return.
Sunk-cost fallacy · Crypto
Treating money, time or effort already spent as a reason to keep going, even though that past cost cannot be recovered by continuing.
Example: A prepaid cinema ticket tempts you to stay even when you feel unwell. The past payment cannot decide whether staying is the best choice now.
Sunk-cost fallacy · Forex
Treating an unrecoverable past commitment as a reason to commit more now, instead of assessing the current decision on relevant future consequences.
Example: I spent two hours studying this case, so I must enter it, ignores whether it meets the current rule.
Keep in mind: Time already spent cannot make a false condition true or remove present risk.
Supply cap · Crypto
A stated upper supply limit under an asset’s current rules. Bitcoin’s current issuance rules limit newly created BTC to about 21 million units. A cap is different from circulating supply and does not guarantee demand or value.
Example: A Bitcoin learner separates the supply rule from market demand. A finite supply does not make any particular future price certain.
Keep in mind: The Bitcoin supply statement refers to its current consensus rules. A cap does not guarantee value, liquidity or future demand.
Support · Forex
A chosen price area where earlier declines paused or turned upward in a stated chart record.
Example: A learner marks a zone around several earlier lows and watches what later prices actually do.
Keep in mind: The label describes a reference area, not a floor that must hold.
Swing high · Forex
A local high selected using an explicit comparison or turning-point rule. Its confirmation time depends on that rule.
Example: In an invented 10, 12, 11 sequence, 12 is a local high under a one-neighbour-on-each-side rule after 11 is observed.
Keep in mind: If the rule needs later bars, the swing was not confirmed at the high itself.
Swing low · Forex
A local low selected using an explicit comparison or turning-point rule. Its confirmation time depends on that rule.
Example: In an invented 10, 8, 9 sequence, 8 is a local low under a one-neighbour-on-each-side rule after 9 is observed.
Keep in mind: Changing the rule or timeframe changes which lows are selected.
Swing trading · Forex
A holding-style label commonly used for positions lasting several days, with exact entry and exit rules defined separately.
Example: An observation exercise tracks a fictional case across several daily periods.
Keep in mind: Longer holding can add overnight, weekend, financing and event exposure.