At the money (ATM) is a term used to describe an options contract with a strike price that is identical to the underlying market price. At the money, options see a lot of trading activity, because they are so close to becoming profitable.

An asset is an economic resource that can be owned or controlled to return a profit or a future benefit. In financial trading, the term asset relates to what is being exchanged on markets, such as stocks, bonds, currencies or commodities.

An asset class is a category of financial instruments - these can be physical assets or financial assets. The instruments are grouped into asset classes based on whether they show similar characteristics, behave in the same way on the market, or are governed by the same laws and regulations.

The ask refers to the price at which you can buy an asset or security from a seller. It can be variously referred to as ask, the ask, or asking price.

An annual general meeting (AGM) is a yearly gathering between the shareholders of a company and its board of directors. Generally, this is the only time that the directors and shareholders will meet throughout the year, so it is a chance for the directors to present the company’s annual report.

Auction market - a platform that promotes competition between buyers and sellers. During the auction, buyers specify the maximum price that they are willing to pay for an asset, while sellers express the lowest price that they would be comfortable to accept.

IG alerts - so-called trading alerts - is the ability to set specific criteria and be notified as soon as these indicators are reached. There are three main types: financial alerts, price alerts, and indicator alerts.

Alpha is a definition of the efficiency of an investment portfolio concerning a benchmark - for example, a stock market index. In other words, it is the degree to which the trader has managed to "beat" the market for a certain time. Depending on its proximity to the market, the alpha index can be positive or negative.

When a trader redeems an asset, the price falls, and if the trader buys more, this is considered a down-average.

This is called an averaging down because the average price of an asset or a trading instrument has been lowered. As a result, the point at which trading becomes profitable has also been reduced.

Automated trading – commonly defined as computational trade – is the use of algorithms to organize transactions.

Amortization is the method used to allocate loan repayments or the price of an intangible property over a defined period of time. It is generally a certain number of months or years, based on conditions set by banks or copyright agencies. Depreciation often relates to the payment of interest, which is set at the discretion of the creditor.

American Depositary Receipt (or ADR, for short). This is a way of allowing shares of foreign companies to be traded in the USA. In this case, the use of their local stock exchanges is not required.

For ADRs to be traded on U.S. exchanges, just like U.S. shares, a financial institution (usually a U.S. bank) buys in bulk a large number of shares of a particular company and then reissues them on the stock exchange.

Acquisitions of companies are made by other companies, usually for growth purposes.

This is done in two ways: aggressive or friendly.

The aggressive way is when one company buys out most of the shares of another company (controlling interest).
Whereas a friendly way is to sell by appointment.

Absolute return is the return that an asset gets over a specified period of time.

Arbitrage is the simultaneous buying and selling of an instrument to profit from an imbalance of the price.

Accretion is gradual growth of assets’ price and earnings to business expansion. 

Annual return is the return that an investment provides over a year. 

Accrue is the ability to accumulate over time. It is most commonly used when referring to interest, income, or expenses of an individual or business.

Accruals are revenues earned or expenses endured even when money in question has not yet changed hands. 

The accumulation area on a chart is mostly sideways stock price motion and is seen as a potential buying opportunity.