American Options
Options which can be exercised at any time prior to expiration.

Annual Charts
See Yearly Charts.

At-The-Money Strike
The strike price which is closest to the underlying price.

Available Data
Each contract or issue has intraday data and may also have historical data and/or options data.

Bar Average
The Bar Average can be used in the evaluation of technical analyses. The Bar Average is the (High - Low - Close)/3.

Bar Charts
Bar Charts are constructed of the Opening, Highest, Lowest, and Closing price that occurred during the Time Interval of the bar.

For Example, on a 30-Minute Bar Chart:

• The Opening Price for a given 30-minute time interval appears as a dash on the left side of a bar.
• The Highest Price reached during the 30-minute interval appears as the top of the bar.
• The Lowest Price reached during the 30-minute interval appears as the bottom of the bar.
• The Last Price or Closing Price at the end of the 30-minute interval appears as a dash on the right side of the bar.

Candlestick Charts
Candlestick charts are based on a Japanese charting method. Candlestick charts use the same data points as bar charts for each time interval. The difference lies in the way the data is represented.

The thick part of the Candlestick line is called the real body. It represents the range between that bar's opening price and closing price. An Up Candlestick occurs when the close is higher than the open; a Down Candlestick occurs when the close is lower than the open.

The thin lines above and/or below the real body are the shadows. These shadows represent the bar's price extremes. The peak of the upper shadow is the high of the bar and the bottom of the lower shadow is the low of the bar.

The real body is the essential price movement. The shadows are usually considered as extraneous price fluctuations. For additional information see Available Candlestick Formations.

Chart Highs/Lows
Chart highs/lows are determined from the bars on each chart.

Close
The Daily Close is the official daily settlement from the exchange.

The Bar Close is the last price trade at the end of each time interval.

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Continuation Charts
Continuation Charts contain data for more than one contract. They follow the current lead contract through expiration, then follow the new lead contract.

Contract Specific Charts
Contract Specific Charts contain data for only one contract. They display price data for just the specified contract through expiration.

CQG Symbols.
Each future or option contract, as well as each stock issue on the system, has a unique symbol. The foundation of these unique symbols is displayed in the CQG Symbols List.

CQG has established these symbols to represent each issue traded at the various international exchanges. When possible CQG symbols correspond to those used by the individual exchanges. However, exchange symbols may conflict with symbols and data formats used by other exchanges. When this occurs, alternative CQG symbols are used.

Enablements
Enablements control the services that are available on each system. They include system defaults, exchanges, optional services, and screen allocation information.  The enablements for each system are determined by the agreements made with your CQG marketing representative.

European Options
Options which may only be exercised at expiration.

Exchanges
The term Exchanges refers to the Exchanges and Data Contributors that are available on each system. A list of the currently available exchanges can be found by selecting Exchanges and Data Contributors in the CQG Symbols List.

Exercise
The process by which the holder of option notifies the seller of his/her intention to take/make delivery of the underlying contract.

Expiration
The date and time after which an option may no longer be exercised.

High
The Daily High is the highest price received during the trading day. It normally reflects the highest price that occurred during all trading sessions for the day.

The Bar High is the highest price received during each time interval.  The True High indicates either the current bar's high or the previous bar's close, whichever is higher.

Implied Volatility
The volatility level at which the theoretical value calculated by an options pricing model would be the same as the current option price.

In-The-Money Strike
An exercise price that has intrinsic value now. For calls, that would include all strikes with less than the underlying price. For puts, it would encompass all strikes with a strike higher than the price of the underlying instrument.

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Interest Rate
Refers the to risk-free interest rate as indicated by the yield on three-month U.S. Treasury securities.

Intraday Charts
The term Intraday is used to describe those charts that are constructed of less than Daily Bars. These would include 1-minute, 5-minute, 60-minute, etc.

Each Intraday Bar contains the Open, High, Low, and Close by time interval that occurred during each trading day.

Intrinsic Value
The amount by which an option is in-the-money. Out-of-the-money options have no intrinsic value.

Line Charts
Line Charts are created by connecting a specified price for each time interval displayed. A typical line chart would display a line that connects the closing price for each time interval.

Lognormal Distributions of Price
If prices were "normally" distributed, future prices from the current price would be distributed in the shape of the familiar "bell curve". However, because market prices can never go negative, the distribution curve for future prices is said to be lognormal.

Low
The Daily Low is the lowest price traded during the trading day. It normally reflects the lowest price that occurred during all trading sessions for the day.

The Bar Low is the lowest price received during each time interval.

The True Low is the lesser of the current bar's low or the previous bar's close.

Market Profile
Market Profile Charts use alphabetical characters to plot the price activity that occurs during each 30-minute time interval (default).

The Market Profile assigns successive letters to each 30-minute time interval. The assigned letter is plotted on the Market Profile chart at each price traded during the 30-minute period. The resulting price distribution, and distributions for other trading days can be analyzed to determine market strength and weakness. For additional information, see the Market Profile Window in the Tutorial Advisor.

Midpoint
The midpoint of a bar can be used in the evaluation of technical analysis studies. The midpoint is the (High - Low)/2.

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Month Codes
The following codes are used to identify the individual contract months, cash, and spot contracts that are available on the system:

Ex: USZ06 indicates -

US = U.S. Treasury Bond (Chicago Board of Trade), Z = December, and 06 = 2006

Ex: US? indicates -

US = U.S. Treasury Bond (Chicago Board of Trade), ? = Lead Month Contract

Using the ? with a symbol eliminates the need to update chart and quote setups each time a contract expires. The system automatically displays the lead contract.

Monthly Charts
The term monthly is used to describe charts that are constructed of monthly bars.

Each monthly bar contains the Open, High, Low, and Close that occurred during each trading day.

Normal Distribution
A probability density function which characterizes many random processes. The normal curve has the form:

Where,
µ= The mean value of the observations
s= The standard deviation of the observed values

Number of Iterations
The number of times a calculation is performed. Generally, increasing the number of iterations improves the accuracy of a model but increasing the iterations also tends to make the total calculation slower.

Open
The Daily Open is the first price received at the beginning of the first trading session of the trading day.
The Bar Open is the first price received at the beginning of each Time Interval.

Options (Euronext liffe) - A guide to trading strategies.

Option Class
All options of the same type, i.e. all calls or all puts, on the same underlying instrument with the same expiration date.

Option Type
The designation of an option as either a call or a put.

Out-Of-The-Money-Strike
A strike that has currently has no intrinsic value. For calls, that would include strikes greater the than the current value of the underlying instrument. For puts, it would include all strikes less than the current value of the underlying.

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Optional Services
Optional Services are those services that are available beyond the basic services or system enablements. They include supplemental CQG features and third party services such as news and market commentaries.

Contact your local CQG Sales representative for an explanation of the currently available Optional Services.

Period
Period usually refers to the number of bars used in the calculation of technical analysis studies.

Point & Figure Charts
Point & Figure charts display price activity by plotting a column of X's on the chart at each price traded until a specified reversal amount occurs.

At the reversal price, the Point & Figure chart shifts to the left and begins plotting a column of O's on the chart at each price traded until a specified reversal amount occurs.

The process of alternately plotting X's and O's continues until the reversal amount is reached in each direction.

The resulting formation of X and O columns can be analyzed to determine market strength and weakness.

For additional information: See Point & Figure charts in CQGSTUDY.HLP.

Portfolio
Portfolios contain the issues to which conditions are applied. A portfolio can be an individual issue or a list of specific issues.

Prices
The following Prices can be used in Formulas and Technical Analyses:

• Open
• High
• Low
• Close
• Midpoint (HL/2)
• Bar Average (HLC/3)
• True High
• True Low
• Range / True Range
• Quarterly Charts
  • The term Quarterly is used to describe those charts that are constructed of quarterly bars.

Each quarterly bar contains the Open, High, Low, and Close that occurred during each quarter.

Quarterly charts are also available on selected government and industry reports. These reports may contain only one value for each quarter.

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Range / True Range
The Range is the distance the market moves from the current high to the current low.

The True Range is the greatest distance of:

• Current High to Current Low
• Previous Close to Current High
• Previous Close to Current Low

Retransmission
CQG retransmits past market data each evening. The retransmitted data is used to construct the charts on the CQG system. By retransmitting the data, each user is assured of receiving updated and accurate information.

CQG retransmits the data in the form of 5-minute, 30-minute, 60-minute, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly bars. The type and quantity of the retransmitted data varies from contract to contract. The more active contracts typically receive the most transmitted data.

The Time & Sales data files are relatively large since they contain each trade for each contract on the system. For this reason, the amount of Time & Sales data that is available at any given time may be limited to several days.

The duration of the charts that are constructed from Time & Sales data (1-9 Minute Bars) is limited by the amount of Time & Sales data available in the system. For example: With two days of Time & Sales data in the system, a 1-minute chart can display enough bar data to scroll through several screens; whereas a 9-minute chart may display only 1/9th of the number of bars.

Semi-Annual Charts
The term Semi-Annual is used to describe those charts that are constructed of semi-annual bars.

Each semi-annual bar contains the Open, High, Low, and Close that occurred during each 6-month time interval.

Signals
A Signal can be an individual condition or it can be a combination of Conditions, Bar Values, Study Operators, Mathematical Operators, and Boolean Operators.

Strike Price (exercise price)
The price at which the underlying can be bought (calls) or sold (puts).

Theoretical Value
The value of an option according to a mathematical model.

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Time Interval Codes
A Time Interval Code can be appended to a contract symbol to display a specific time interval.

,5  5-minute 
,60  60-minute 
,xx  xx-minute (where xx=1 to 120 minutes 
,D  Daily (Contract Specific Chart) 
,DC  Daily (Continuation Chart) 
,W  Weekly (Continuation Chart) 
,M  Monthly (Continuation Chart) 
,Q  Quarterly (Continuation Chart) 
,S  Semi-Annual (Continuation Chart) 
,A  Annual (Yearly) (Continuation Chart) 
,Y  Yearly (Annual) (Continuation Chart) 

Example:    USZ99,D indicates -

          US = U.S. Treasury Bond (Chicago Board of Trade),
          Z = December
          99 = 1999 and
          D = Daily Chart

A time interval code can be entered without specifying a symbol. When this occurs, the system defaults to the currently displayed symbol.

Examples:

• ,5 would display a 5 Minute Chart for the currently displayed symbol.
• ,D would display a daily chart for the currently displayed symbol.

For intervals greater than daily, entering the time interval code twice designates a contract-specific chart instead of a continuation chart.
Examples:

• ,WW would display a contract specific chart, where
• ,W would display a continuation chart.

Time Until Expiration
The time remaining until an option expires. Measured in days or years.

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Trading Day
Most securities and commodities trade for a single session, lasting several hours each day, while others are traded during multiple sessions lasting many hours. Exchange trading systems, such as GLOBEX from the CME, offer around-the-clock trading for an increasing number of contracts.

CQG displays the trading day for each market, beginning with the morning opening in each market's primary trading location or beginning with the Exchange's established opening time. For selected contracts traded through the GLOBEX system, the CME has established an opening time coinciding with the opening of the Far Eastern markets.

For example: The CME has established that the opening time for Eurodollars is 14:00 CT, (2:00 PM CT). Therefore, the CQG daily chart for Eurodollars contains data from 14:00 to 13:59 (the close of the primary session) the following "day."

True Highs/Lows
True Highs are defined as the maximum of either the current bar's high or the previous bar's close.

True Lows are defined as the minimum of either the current bar's low or the previous bar's close.

Type
Type usually refers to the type of moving average used in technical analysis calculations.
Type can be Simple, Smoothed, Centered, or Exponential.

Underlying Asset
The specific stock, future or other contract to be delivered, when, and if, the option is exercised.

Underlying Contract Type
The type of instrument covered by the option. Currently three types of options are available:

• Equity
• Currency
• Futures

Underlying Price
The price of the instrument which could be delivered upon exercise.

Volatility of the Underlying Asset
The variance of price around the mean. Generally, measured on an annual basis.

Volatility Smile
Represents the notion that options usually have implied volatilities that are highest for deep in-the-money calls and puts, and lowest for those derivatives that are approximately at-the-money. As a result, the graph of implied volatility vs. strike price often appears as slightly U-shaped. This is commonly referred as the "volatility smile."

Weekly Charts
The term Weekly is used to describe those charts that are constructed of weekly bars.

Each weekly bar contains the Open, High, Low, and Close that occurred during that week.

Year Codes
The last two digits of the year are used to identify the individual contracts that are available on CQG Systems.

The Year Code should be entered if contracts for more than one year are on the system. The system assumes the current year if a Year Code is not specified.

The Year Code should be included when accessing an option to eliminate any confusion between the Year Code and the Strike Price.

Ex:  USZ96 indicates the following:

US = U.S. Treasury Bond (Chicago Board of Trade)

Z = December and

06 = 2006

Yearly or Annual Charts
The term "yearly" or "annual" is used to describe those charts that are constructed of annual bars.

Each annual bar contains the Open, High, Low, and Close that occurred during each one-year time interval.

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