(1) The activity of buying and selling financial instruments or commodities for profit. Individuals or entities may engage in trading either strictly on their own behalf or for current or future transactions with customers. Trading profits may come from market price changes but may also come from the spreads between bid and asked prices or from customer markups. Trading is distinct from investing, although trading activities are not always easy to distinguish from investing activities. In trading, the profit goal is almost always short term. Unlike trading, investing is generally longer term and may even include the intent to hold the instrument to maturity. A common misconception is that trading activities are speculative while investing activities are not. Trading may indeed include highly speculative transactions. However, trading may also include relatively low-risk transactions such as matched trading or arbitrage. Like investing, trading may involve either cash or derivative instruments. Trading transactions may involve cash and/or futures positions.
(2) One of three defined categories established in FAS 115 for the classification of financial instruments held as assets on the books of an investor. Trading securities are those owned by investors engaged in trading activities including short-term speculation. Under FAS 115, trading assets must be reported at their market values. FAS 115 also includes provisions that restrict investors' ability to transfer assets from the trading category to available-for-sale ( AFS ) or held-to-maturity ( HTM). Also see available-for-sale, FAS 115 and held-to-maturity
————
buying and selling securities. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary
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trading trad‧ing [ˈtreɪdɪŋ] noun [uncountable]
1. COMMERCE the activity of operating as a business and buying and selling goods and services:
• national policy on industry, energy, and trading
• Prices are set by the market and reflect international trading conditions.
when companies do business and compete in a legal and moral way:
• We will look closely at mergers in the brewing industry under the fair trading legislation
— see also horse-trading 2. FINANCE buying and selling activity on a financial market or
Commodities Market (= one for oil, metals, farm products etc);
= dealing Bre:
• Shares were weak from the outset of London trading.
• British government bond prices surged in brisk trading.
— see also cross-trading 1. when many shares,
Commodities (= oil, metals, farm products etc) are being bought and sold:
• Stock prices rose in active trading of 170.3 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
2. when a company's shares are being bought and sold on a stockmarket, and have not been Suspended (= prevented from being traded by the authorities):
• The company's shares return to active trading today after a three-week suspension.
ˌafter-hours ˈtrading also ˌoff-hours ˈtrading FINANCE
buying and selling shares, bonds etc after a financial market has officially closed for the day;
= after-hours dealing Bre:
• Shares in the Internet Service Provider fell about 14 percent in after-hours trading.
ˌday ˈtrading
FINANCE when people buy and sell shares quickly using the Internet, which allows them to take advantage of small price changes
eˈmissions ˌtrading
FINANCE the activity of buying and selling
emission credit S (= a tax credit which a company that does not send harmful gases or other substances into the air can sell to a company that does ) or
Emission Units
(= an official right allowing a company to send a specific amount of harmful gases or other substances into the air )
when there is a lot of buying and selling on a stockmarket:
• In Hong Kong, shares staged a powerful surge in extremely heavy trading.
when someone uses knowledge of a particular company, situation etc that is not available to other people in order to buy or sell shares. Insider trading is illegal:
• Shares in both banks jumped 20% two weeks before confirmation of their merger, which led to an insider trading inquiry being opened.
word focus - inˌsider ˈtrading
Insider trading involves an
insider (= someone who works for a particular company ) making a profit by using confidential information to buy or sell stock or other securities. By doing this, the insider is guilty of the
misappropriation of private
information (= dishonestly using it for their own purposes ) or a
breach of fiduciary duty (= failing to protect the interests of the shareholders whose assets they are managing ) . In the US, the
Securities and Exchange Commission (
SEC) is responsible for checking that illegal trading is not taking place. Many different countries have introduced laws to stop insider trading, for example the
Financial Services Act and the
Markets Act in the UK and the
Insider Trading Sanctions Act in the US.
when prices on a financial market go up and down, without a clear movement in either direction:
• In mixed trading the Dow Jones average struggled to hold recently won high ground.
when the amount of buying and selling on the stockmarket is neither very large nor very small:
• Stock prices closed higher in moderate trading on London's Stock Exchange.
• Off-board trading rules are less strict in some circumstances.
the buying and selling of shares etc when dealers buy and sell shares etc directly between themselves using telephones and computers;
= over-the-counter dealing Breˌprincipal ˈtrading also proˌprietary ˈtrading FINANCE
when a financial institution buys and sells investments for its own profit, rather than for its clients:
• Some 41% of program trading reflected firms' trading for their own accounts, or principal trading, while 44.7% involved trading for customers.
1. trading that is done by computers automatically when prices reach particular levels. Some people think that programme trading is responsible for big price changes and may cause markets to
crash (= an occasion when prices fall very quickly by a very large amount):
• Heavy computer-driven programme trading pushed prices down.
2. when there is a large order to buy or sell a number of different shares etc in large quantities:
• By market close, program trading activity amounted to 14 buys and 7 sells, with a net effect of adding 538.73 points to the Dow.
a type of
insider dealing in which someone who receives secret information from another person passes it to a third person, who then uses it to gain a financial advantage
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trading UK US /ˈtreɪdɪŋ/ noun [U]
► COMMERCE »
The retail sector showed signs of improvement following better than expected Christmas trading.
»
China has quickly become one of Africa's largest bilateral trading partners.
»
The luxury goods group's results were particularly notable given the tough trading conditions.
»
disappointing/poor/good trading
»
illegal trading
»
Sunday/24-hr trading
► FINANCE,
STOCK MARKET afternoon/early/morning trading »
The stock rose $3.50 to $16.375 on Nasdaq in afternoon trading.
»
If we receive your order after the close of trading, you will pay the next business day's price.
»
electronic/internet/online trading
»
busy/hectic/light trading
»
commodity/currency/equity trading
»
bond/share/stock trading
→
See also ACTIVE TRADING(
Cf. ↑
active trading),
AFTER-HOURS TRADING(
Cf. ↑
after-hours trading),
CARBON TRADING(
Cf. ↑
carbon trading),
CROSS-TRADING(
Cf. ↑
cross-trading),
DAY TRADING(
Cf. ↑
day trading),
E-TRADING(
Cf. ↑
e-trading),
EMISSIONS TRADING(
Cf. ↑
emissions trading),
FAIR TRADING(
Cf. ↑
fair trading),
HEAVY TRADING(
Cf. ↑
heavy trading),
HORSE TRADING(
Cf. ↑
horse trading),
INSIDER TRADING(
Cf. ↑
insider trading),
MIXED TRADING(
Cf. ↑
mixed trading),
MODERATE TRADING(
Cf. ↑
moderate trading),
NON-TRADING(
Cf. ↑
non-trading),
OFF-BOARD TRADING(
Cf. ↑
off-board trading),
OVER-THE-COUNTER(
Cf. ↑
over-the-counter),
PROGRAMME TRADING(
Cf. ↑
programme trading),
PROPRIETARY TRADING(
Cf. ↑
proprietary trading),
ROGUE TRADING(
Cf. ↑
rogue trading),
TIPPEE TRADING(
Cf. ↑
tippee trading)