CFTC Glossary

A Guide to the Language of the Futures Industry

T

Taker: The buyer of an option contract.

TAS: See Trading at Settlement.

T-Bond: See Treasury Bond.

Technical Analysis: An approach to forecasting commodity prices that examines patterns of price change, rates of change, and changes in volume of trading and open interest, without regard to underlying fundamental market factors. Technical analysis can work consistently only if the theory that price movements are a random walk is incorrect. See Fundamental Analysis.

Ted Spread: (1) The difference between the interest rate on three-month U.S. Treasury bills and three-month LIBOR; (2) traditionally, the difference between the price of the three-month U.S. Treasury bill futures contract and the price of the three-month Eurodollar time deposit futures contract with the same expiration month (Treasury Over Eurodollar).

Tender: To give notice to the clearing organization of the intention to initiate delivery of the physical commodity in satisfaction of a short futures contract. Also see Retender.

Tenderable Grades: See Contract Grades.

Terminal Elevator: An elevator located at a point of greatest accumulation in the movement of agricultural products that stores the commodity or moves it to processors.

Terminal Market: Usually synonymous with commodity exchange or futures market, specifically in the United Kingdom.

TIBOR (Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate): A daily reference rate based on the interest rates at which banks offer to lend unsecured funds to other banks in the Japan wholesale money market (or interbank market). TIBOR is published daily by the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA). See EURIBOR, LIBOR.

Tick: Refers to a minimum change in price up or down. An up-tick means that the last trade was at a higher price than the one preceding it. A down-tick means that the last price was lower than the one preceding it. See Minimum Price Fluctuation.

Time Decay: The tendency of an option to decline in value as the expiration date approaches, especially if the price of the underlying instrument is exhibiting low volatility. See Time Value.

Time-of-Day Order: This is an order that is to be executed at a given minute in the session. For example, "Sell 10 March corn at 12:30 p.m."

Time Spread: The selling of a nearby option and buying of a more deferred option with the same strike price. Also called Horizontal Spread.

Time Value: That portion of an option's premium that exceeds the intrinsic value. The time value of an option reflects the probability that the option will move into-the-money. Therefore, the longer the time remaining until expiration of the option, the greater its time value. Also called Extrinsic Value.

Total Return Swap: A type of credit derivative in which one counterparty receives the total return (interest payments and any capital gains or losses) from a specified reference asset and the other counterparty receives a specified fixed or floating cash flow that is not related to the creditworthiness of the reference asset. Also called total rate of return swap, or TR swap.

To-Arrive Contract: A transaction providing for subsequent delivery within a stipulated time limit of a specific grade of a commodity.

Trade Option: A commodity option transaction in which the purchaser is reasonably believed by the writer to be engaged in business involving use of that commodity or a related commodity.

Trader: (1) A merchant involved in cash commodities; (2) a professional speculator who trades for his own account and who typically holds exchange trading privileges.

Trading Ahead: See Front Running.

Trading Arcade: A facility, often operated by a clearing member that clears trades for locals, where e-locals who trade for their own account can gather to trade on an electronic trading facility (especially if the exchange is all-electronic and there is no pit or ring).

Trading at Settlement (TAS): An exchange rule which permits the parties to a futures trade during a trading day to agree that the price of the trade will be that day’s settlement price (or the settlement price plus or minus a specified differential).

Trading Facility: A person or group of persons that provides a physical or electronic facility or system in which multiple participants have the ability to execute or trade agreements, contracts, or transactions by accepting bids and offers made by other participants in the facility or system. See Many-to-Many.

Trading Floor: A physical trading facility where traders make bids and offers via open outcry or the specialist system.

Transaction: The entry or liquidation of a trade.

Transfer Trades: Entries made upon the books of futures commission merchants for the purpose of: (1) transferring existing trades from one account to another within the same firm where no change in ownership is involved; (2) transferring existing trades from the books of one FCM to the books of another FCM where no change in ownership is involved. Also called Ex-Pit transactions.

Transferable Option (or Contract): A contract that permits a position in the option market to be offset by a transaction on the opposite side of the market in the same contract.

Transfer Notice: A term used on some exchanges to describe a notice of delivery. See Retender.

Treasury Bills (or T-Bills): Short-term zero coupon U.S. government obligations, generally issued with various maturities of up to one year.

Treasury Bonds (or T-Bonds): Long-term (more than ten years) obligations of the U.S. government that pay interest semiannually until they mature, at which time the principal and the final interest payment is paid to the investor.

Treasury Notes: Same as Treasury bonds except that Treasury notes are medium-term (more than one year but not more than ten years).

Trend: The general direction, either upward or downward, in which prices have been moving.

Trendline: In charting, a line drawn across the bottom or top of a price chart indicating the direction or trend of price movement. If up, the trendline is called bullish; if down, it is called bearish.