What does 'Work' or 'Working Mean'?

• The terms to 'work' or 'working' an order are easy to understand
• Work basically means you're giving an order to your broker which will not be filled at that present time, but maybe in the future
• For example, if the FTSE 100 index spread bet is trading at 4200-4206 and you place a limit buy order at 4190 you may well say to your broker;

'Can you work a limit buy order for £1 of FTSE at 4,190'

What Does 'Cover' Mean?

To 'cover' a spread simply means that you've taken a profit or loss and the trade is now finished. If you had bought the FTSE 100 index at 4250 and sold it at 4260, you could say that you 'covered it at 4260' instead of saying 'sold it at 4260'.

And the same goes for covering a short position. If you sold short the FTSE 100 at 4300 and the market rallied against you, in order to take your loss you might have 'covered it at 4325'.

Finally, the word cover does not imply either a profit or a loss in the trade. A client may have bought gold at $350 and covered this position at $348, losing $2 multiplied by his stake. Or he may well have covered the long position at $375 for a profit.