What Is the Ask? The Lowest Price Sellers Will Accept Right Now
The ask is the best price standing on the sell side of the order book. Buying immediately means paying it — so the ask, not the last traded price, sets your entry cost.
Read definitionGlossary
Clear explanations of the market, macro, and trading terms used across MyTrade Academy.
What Is the Bid-Ask Spread? Why Trading Costs Widen When Liquidity Fades
The bid-ask spread is the gap between the highest price a buyer will pay and the lowest price a seller will accept. It is one of the most immediate costs of trading.
Read definitionWhat Is the Bid? The Highest Price Buyers Are Offering Right Now
The bid is the best price standing on the buy side of the order book. Selling immediately means accepting it — which is why the bid, not the last traded price, values your position.
Read definitionWhat Is the Momentum Factor? Cross-Sectional Relative Strength
The momentum factor sorts assets by past relative performance, buying historical outperformers and selling underperformers across a defined investment universe.
Read definitionWhat Is the Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)?
The price-to-earnings ratio compares a share price with earnings per share. P/E needs context from history, peers, growth, and earnings quality before it can be called high or low.
Read definitionWhat Is the Put/Call Ratio?
The put/call ratio compares put activity with call activity using volume or open interest. It describes options-market structure but does not translate directly into bullish or bearish direction.
Read definitionWhat Is the Spot Market?
The spot market is where assets or commodities are bought and sold for near-term delivery, making it especially useful for reading immediate physical tightness.
Read definitionWhat Is the Trading Decision Loop? From View to Review and Back
The trading decision loop runs from market view to sizing to entry to exit to review, then feeds the next view. It is the process the plan's steps form when they run together.
Read definitionWhat Is the Value Factor? Systematic Valuation Discounting
The value factor ranks assets by valuation multiples such as book-to-market, P/E, or cash flow yield, capturing systematic long-term risk premia across baskets.
Read definitionWhat Is the VIX?
The VIX is a Cboe index designed to measure 30-day expected volatility from S&P 500 option prices. Its 'fear gauge' nickname is useful shorthand but can be misleading.
Read definitionWhat Is Tick Data? Granular Trade-by-Trade Microstructure
Tick data records every single executed transaction with exact timestamps, price, and volume, providing the foundation for microstructure and execution analysis.
Read definitionWhat Is Time-in-Force (TIF) in Trading? Day, GTC, IOC, and FOK Orders
Time-in-force is an order parameter that specifies how long an order remains active before expiring or being canceled.
Read definitionWhat Is Tracking Error? The Gap Between a Fund and Its Index
Tracking error measures how closely a fund's return matches its index. Fees, sampling, currency, and rebalancing create the difference.
Read definitionWhat Is Trade Attribution?
Trade attribution separates an outcome into strategy, sizing, execution, discipline, and random components for review.
Read definitionWhat Is Trading Expectancy?
Trading expectancy estimates the average profit or loss per trade from win probability, average gain, and average loss.
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