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Last Trading Day |
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Day on which trading ceases for the maturing (current) delivery month. |
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Leverage |
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The potential to increase financial gains as a percentage of an investment. In futures trading, one speaks of the leverage afforded by margin deposits - often representing only 5 to 10 percent of the market value of the futures contract - made as performance bonds. Leverage gives a trader the benefit of price movement on the full contract. |
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Leveraged Contract |
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A standardized agreement calling for the delivery of a commodity with payments against the total cost spread out over a period of time. Principal characteristics include: Standard units and quality of a commodity and of terms and conditions of the contract; payment and maintenance of margin; close out by offset or delivery (after payment in full); and no right to or interest in a specific lot of the commodity. Leverage contracts are not traded on exchanges. |
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Leverage Transaction Merchant (LTM) |
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The firm or individual through whom leverage contracts are entered. Must be registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. |
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Life of Contract |
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Period between the beginning of trading in a particular future and the expiration of trading in the delivery month. |
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Limit Order |
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An order given which has restrictions upon its execution, where the client may specify a price and the order can be executed only if the market reaches that price. |
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Limit Move |
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A price that has advanced or declined the limit permitted during one trading session as fixed by the rules of a contract market. |
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Limit Only |
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The definite price, stated by a customer to a broker, restricting the execution of an order to buy for not more than or to sell for not less than that stated price. |
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Limit Order |
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An order in which the customer sets a limit on either price or time of execution, or both, as contrasted with a Market Order, which implies that the order should be filled at the most favorable price as soon as possible. |
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Liquidate |
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To sell (or purchase) futures contracts of the same delivery month purchased (or sold) during an earlier transaction or make (or take) delivery of the cash commodity represented by the futures market. |
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Liquidity |
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Refers to the least cost at which one can enter and then close out a position |
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Liquid Market |
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A market in which selling and buying can be accomplished with ease, due to the presence of a large number of interested buyers and sellers willing and able to trade substantial quantities at small price differences. |
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Long Position |
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A market position where the Client has bought a currency he previously did not hold own. Normally expressed in base currency terms, e.g., long Dollars (short D.Marks). |
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Loan Program |
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Primary means of government agriculture price-support operations, in which the government lends money to farmers at pre-announced rates with the farmers' crops used as collateral. Default on these loans is the primary method by which the government acquires stocks of agricultural commodities. |
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Long |
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(1) One who has bought futures contracts or the cash commodity (depending upon the market under discussion) and has not yet offset that position. (2) ("Going Long") the action of taking a position in which one has bought futures contracts (or the cash commodity) without taking the offsetting action. For example, if you had no position and you bought five contracts, you would be long. However, if your previous position was one of having sold five contracts (i.e., "being short five"), and you then bought five contracts to offset that position, your second action would not be referred to as going long because your position when the second action is concluded would be zero. Long is also used with similar meanings as an adjective or adverb. |
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Long Hedge |
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Buying futures contracts to protect against possible increasing prices of commodities. See also Hedging. |
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Lagging Economic Indicators |
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A composite of seven economic measurements that tend to trail developments in the economy as a whole. Those indicators are duration of unemployment, ratio of inventories to sales, index of labor costs per unit of output, average prime rate, outstanding commercial and industrial loans, ratio of outstanding consumer installment credit to personal income and consumer price index for services.
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Leading Economic Indicators |
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A composite of 11 economic measurements developed to help forecast likely changes in the economy as a whole. The components are average work, unemployment claims, orders for consumer goods, slower deliveries, plant and equipment orders; building permits, durable order backlog, material prices, stock prices, M2 money supply and consumer expectations. |
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LEAPS |
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Options that won't expire for up to three years. Acronym for long-term equity anticipation securities. |
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Level I |
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Level 1 (sometimes called Quick Quote) is trade and quote data that only shows current bid, ask, last trade value and volume and some daily summary information. You do not see who is buying and selling nor do you know the number of shares for sale at all price levels |
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Listed Stock |
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The stock of a company which is traded on a securities exchange. |
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Long Bond |
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Slang for a 30-year bond issued by the U.S. Treasury. It is considered a key indicator, or benchmark, of trends in long-term interest rates.
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