Short, plain-English definitions — no jargon explained with more jargon. If a coach review mentions something you don't recognise, it's on this page.
48 terms
A contract to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date — traders use them to bet on price going up or down.
You never actually take delivery of anything here. You open a position, price moves, and you close it for a profit or a loss.
You make money if price goes UP.
Example: Buy at 20,000 and sell at 20,050 → you gained 50 points.
You make money if price goes DOWN.
In futures, selling first is completely normal — you're not borrowing anything, you're just taking the other side of the contract.
A point is 1.00 of price movement on the Nasdaq index. A tick is the smallest step price can move (0.25 points).
Profit and Loss — how much money the trade made or lost.
The part of the trading day you're in. Each one behaves differently: the New York open is fast and violent, lunch is slow and choppy.
Knowing the session tells you what to expect. Fast sessions need wider stops and smaller size; quiet sessions punish impatience.
The full-size Nasdaq-100 futures contract. Each point is worth $20.
Big moves, big money. A 10-point move is $200 per contract — in either direction.
The micro Nasdaq-100 contract — same chart as NQ, but each point is worth $2.
Exactly one tenth the size of NQ. Ideal while you're learning: every mistake (and every win) is 10× smaller.
How many contracts you trade at once — it multiplies both your profit and your loss.
Size is your personal choice and it doesn't make a trade right or wrong. It only decides how loud the outcome is.
Futures contracts expire every three months, so traders move to the next one — that switch is called rollover.
The price where you get into the trade.
A price where you automatically get out if you're wrong, so a small loss can't turn into a big one.
Put it where the idea is genuinely proven wrong — usually just past a recent high or low — not at a random distance that just feels comfortable.
The price where you automatically cash out with a profit.
Aim it at the nearest realistic obstacle — a previous high/low or a busy price area — not at a round number you'd like to hit.
How much you stand to make compared to how much you risk. 1:2 means risking 1 to make 2.
With 1:2 you can be wrong more often than you're right and still make money. Below 1:1 you need to win most trades just to break even.
Example: Risk 20 points to make 60 points → that's 1:3.
The actual money you lose if the stop is hit: points risked × point value × contracts.
Example: 20 points × $2 (MNQ) × 1 contract = $40 at risk.
Choosing how many contracts to trade so one bad trade can't wreck your account.
The professional habit: decide the dollar amount you're willing to lose first, then let the stop distance decide the size — never the other way around.
The price level that proves your idea was wrong. Your stop belongs just beyond it.
Whether your approach makes money over many trades. Any single trade can go either way.
One block on the chart showing where price opened, closed, and the highest and lowest it went in that time period.
How much time each candle covers. On a 5-minute chart, every candle is 5 minutes of trading.
Switching timeframe doesn't change the market — it only changes how the same price data is grouped together.
The thin line above or below a candle — price went there briefly and got rejected. Wicks are what knock out stops that are too tight.
Average True Range — roughly how far price travels in a typical candle. Think of it as the market's normal step size.
The coach measures your stop and target in ATR. A stop under 0.5 ATR is inside normal wiggle; a target over 2.5 ATR is asking for something unusual.
How big the swings are right now. High volatility = bigger, faster moves in both directions.
The general direction price is heading. Bullish = up, bearish = down, ranging = sideways.
The pattern of highs and lows. Higher highs and higher lows = uptrend; lower highs and lower lows = downtrend.
Price areas where the market has repeatedly stopped. Support is a floor underneath, resistance is a ceiling above.
A price area where a big move started — buyers or sellers were waiting there, and they often are again.
Clusters of resting orders, usually just above obvious highs or below obvious lows. Price is often drawn there to trigger them.
A gap left behind by a fast move where trading barely happened. Price often comes back to fill it.
The last candle before a strong move — often where big players positioned themselves.
Volume Weighted Average Price — the average price paid so far today, weighted by how much traded there. Many traders treat it as fair value.
A temporary move back against the trend. Buying a dip in an uptrend is a classic pullback trade.
Price pushing out of a range or past an obvious level, hoping the move continues.
Price breaks a level, grabs everyone who chased it, then snaps back the other way. The trade is to fade it, not follow it.
A quick spike past a high or low to trigger stops, followed by a reversal in the opposite direction.
The moment the pattern of highs and lows flips — often the first clue a trend is changing.
Betting that price stretched too far from its average and will snap back toward the middle.
In a sideways market, selling near the top of the range and buying near the bottom of it.
Waiting for the chart to actually prove the idea (a closing candle, a retest) before entering, instead of guessing early.
Deciding the chart isn't clear enough and sitting out. It's a real skill, and the coach scores it.
The price area where a setup is actually worth taking. Getting in outside it means paying a worse price for the same idea.
Jumping in after price has already run past the good entry. Your stop gets wider, your reward gets smaller.
Maximum Favourable Excursion — the best the trade ever looked, in points. Shows whether your target was reachable.
Maximum Adverse Excursion — the worst the trade ever looked. Shows whether your stop had enough breathing room.
A good plan can lose and a bad plan can win. The coach grades the decision, not the result.
A ceiling the coach puts on your score when something serious went wrong — like risking more than you could win.
Setting entry, stop, and target before you press Play — and then leaving them alone.
How far your account has fallen from its highest point.
