Belka tax
The colloquial name for Poland's tax on capital gains. Details depend on the account type and the instrument — always check the rules in force.
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Broker
An intermediary that gives you market access. Compare KNF supervision, spread costs, execution quality and client-money protection, not account promos.
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Call option
An option giving the right (not the obligation) to buy an instrument at the strike before expiry. The buyer pays a premium; the loss is capped at it.
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CFD
Contract for Difference — a derivative at a broker that tracks the price of an underlying market without requiring you to own the underlying instrument.
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Chart pattern
A repeatable configuration of price (and sometimes volume) used in technical analysis — a flag, a double top — always with a definition of invalidation.
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Contango and backwardation
Contango is a term structure in which futures prices rise with maturity; backwardation is the opposite shape. It is a carry cost, not a price forecast.
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Contract roll
Closing a futures position in the expiring month and opening it in the next one. The cost depends on the shape of the term structure and on commissions.
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Correlation
The degree to which two assets move together. Correlated positions are one exposure to a shared factor — risk adds up instead of diversifying.
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Delta
The option Greek that measures how much the contract price changes when the underlying moves by one unit — essential when hedging.
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Dividend
A share of company profit paid out to shareholders. On the ex-date the share price is adjusted by its value — buying for the dividend is not free money.
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Drawdown
The fall in equity from a local peak to the following trough. A key metric for strategy survival — plan your tolerance before a losing streak.
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ETF
A fund listed on an exchange that usually tracks an index or a basket of assets. Compare TER, replication method and liquidity before buying units.
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Expectancy
The expected value of a single trade given your win rate and average wins and losses — positive expectancy is the condition for having an edge.
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Fibonacci (retracements)
Retracement levels (for example 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%) used as potential reaction zones within a trend — a context tool, not an oracle.
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Funding rate
A periodic payment between longs and shorts on perpetual futures that keeps the contract price close to spot. An extra cost or income for the position.
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Futures
A standardised contract for future settlement of an underlying instrument. It requires margin and has an expiry date — unlike CFDs and stocks on the GPW.
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Implied Volatility (IV)
Implied volatility — the volatility the market has priced into an option. High IV raises the premium; a fall in IV can lower the value of a long option.
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IV crush
The drop in implied volatility after an event such as an earnings release. It hits the premiums of options bought before it, once uncertainty is gone.
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KNF
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) — Poland's financial-market regulator. Check a broker's licence in the KNF register before depositing.
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Leverage
A mechanism that controls larger exposure with a smaller deposit (margin). It scales profits and losses proportionally — and it demands risk management.
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Limit order
An order with a price limit: buy no higher / sell no lower than the level you specify. Price control at the cost of execution risk.
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Lot
The unit of position size on forex. A standard lot is usually 100,000 units of the base currency; mini and micro lots are fractions of it.
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MACD
An indicator built on the relationship of two moving averages and a momentum histogram. It helps confirm the pace of a move — signals need trend context.
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Margin
The collateral a broker requires to hold a leveraged position. The higher the exposure, the more margin is required to keep it open.
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Margin call
A broker's demand to top up your deposit when a loss pushes equity towards the required margin. Failing to pay can lead to forced liquidation.
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Market order
An order executed at the current available market price. Speed and certainty of a fill at the cost of price control — slippage risk when liquidity is thin.
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Moving average
A moving average smooths price over time. It helps read the trend direction and dynamic support/resistance zones — it does not predict the move itself.
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Option premium
The option price the buyer pays the seller at the open. For a long option it is the maximum possible loss, whatever the market does.
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Perpetual futures
A futures contract with no expiry date, held in line by the funding rate. Leverage and margin — with liquidation risk on a hard move against you.
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Pips
The standard unit of price movement on the forex market. On most pairs quoted to four decimal places, one pip equals 0.0001.
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Put option
An option giving the right to sell an instrument at the strike before expiry. The buyer pays a premium; profit grows as the market falls below it.
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R-multiple
A trade result expressed as a multiple of the risk you defined (1R). It makes setups comparable regardless of position size in PLN.
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Range
A price consolidation between horizontal support and resistance with no lasting HH/HL structure. Range strategies need different logic from trend trading.
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Round-trip cost
The full cost of entering and exiting a position: spread, commission, swap and expected slippage. Measure it in a fraction of R, before judging a strategy.
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RSI
Relative Strength Index — a momentum oscillator measuring the strength of gains against losses. Overbought depends on trend context, not on the number.
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Slippage
The difference between the expected and the actual execution price of an order. Common with market orders, thin liquidity and around major news.
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Spread
The difference between the bid and the ask price at a broker. It is an immediate cost of entering a position — it matters a lot in scalping.
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Stablecoin
A cryptocurrency designed to hold a constant value against a currency, usually the US dollar, through reserves or an algorithm. De-pegging can be abrupt.
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Stock
A share of ownership in a company listed on an exchange. The return comes from price growth and dividends; it is not the same as a CFD on the stock.
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Stop-loss
An order that closes a position once a loss level is reached. A risk-management tool — not a guarantee of the exit price (gaps, slippage).
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Support and resistance
Areas on a chart where demand (support) or supply (resistance) has historically stopped price. A level becomes stronger after repeated tests.
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Swap (overnight)
The cost or income of holding a position overnight (rollover): the interest-rate difference between currencies on forex, or CFD leverage financing.
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Theta
The option Greek that measures how quickly value is lost as time passes (time decay). Long options lose theta every day — especially close to expiry.
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Trend
A directional price move: an uptrend prints higher highs and higher lows, a downtrend the reverse. Identifying the trend starts technical analysis.
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Vega
The option Greek measuring the contract price's sensitivity to a change in implied volatility. High vega means IV strongly affects the option value.
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