Trading Glossary

18 CONCEPTS

Every concept explained in plain English, with why it matters and a real NQ example — no jargon walls. Deeper dives live in the free Academy.

Fair Value Gap (FVG)

A three-candle imbalance where price moved so fast it left a gap between the first candle's high and the third candle's low.

A quick push through an obvious high or low that triggers resting stops, immediately followed by a reversal back through the level.

An impulsive, high-energy move — a candle or series of candles far larger than recent ranges, signaling institutional participation.

The last opposite-direction candle before a strong displacement move — a zone where institutions built positions.

The pool of buy stops resting above obvious highs — fuel the market often seeks before reversing.

The pool of sell stops resting below obvious lows — the mirror image of buy-side liquidity.

The 62%–79% retracement zone of an impulsive leg — entering the pullback instead of chasing the move.

The moment price breaks its pattern of higher-lows or lower-highs, signaling a possible trend change.

Two or more swing points at nearly the same price — an unusually rich liquidity pool and a common draw for price.

Where price sits within a range: above the midpoint is premium (favoring sells), below is discount (favoring buys).

A deliberate push into a stop-loss cluster to trigger forced orders before the real move begins.

What one full point of movement is worth per contract: $20 on NQ, $2 on MNQ.

Profit or loss measured in units of your initial risk — the honest way to score trades.

Moving your stop-loss to your entry price once a trade has moved favorably — converting risk to a free shot.

The prop-firm loss limit that follows your equity peak — the rule that fails more evaluations than any other.

Volume-Weighted Average Price — the session's true average price, weighted by volume, and an institutional benchmark.

The three times of day when futures liquidity and volatility change character — and why time-of-day is an edge.

A defined window of session time — like 9:30–11:00am ET — where a strategy's setups are statistically strongest.