Financial Spread Betting Words: A-C

Account limit - The maximum Pound per point that can be taken in relation to one's account size. For example, if an account is funded with say £1,000 it would not be possible to trade a spread bet at £100 a point, unless more money was deposited or a higher credit limit was approved

After hours trading - Spread bet firms will often make a market on different products even after the relevant cash market has closed, or before it is open (often referred to as pre-market). For example the London Stock Exchange closes at 4.30pm, but it is possible with many spread firms to trade Vodafone up until 9pm

• Note: Currently IG Index offers 24 hour trading on most financial spread bets including the FTSE 100

Back month - The month or months available to trade that aren't the front month

Basis Point (bp) - 0.01%. For example, if an interest rate rises from 6% to 6.5%, it is said to have increased by 50 basis points. All short interest rate contracts are traded in basis points

Bearish - Bear, expecting prices to fall

Bet size - The amount of money bet per point

Bid - The only price that a spread betting client can sell either way to cover a long position or to go short. All spread bets are quoted in a two-way price, bid and offer - For further information click here

Bid-Ask Spread - The difference between the bid price and the offer price, the best to trade are normally those which have a tight bid-offer spread because cost of doing business is cheaper. For further information click here

Binary Bet - A fixed payout/loss bet similar to High Street bookmakers but translated into a price between 0-100. See the LearnMoney section on Binary Betting for a detailed explanation - Click here

Bullish - Bull, expecting prices to rise

Bund - The European bond contract often referred to as the German Bund. Further details here. For further information on the Bund click here

Cash price - The underlying product that is traded on a recognised Exchange such as Vodafone on the London Stock Exchange

Charting - A visual method of trading or analysis of the markets using price information to form a picture of previous price movements. Also called technical analysis

Closed position - A long or short position that has been liquidated

Commissions - The cost that a broker will charge a client for buying/selling a financial product. Spread Bet brokers never charge commissions or fees of any kind

Controlled risk bet - See Guaranteed stop loss

Cover - To sell a long position or buy back a short position as in 'I've covered my Vodafone position'. For further information Click Here