Spread Betting Lingo

	Junk bond
	a high-risk bond because the bond issuer has a poor credit rating (BB or lower) and therefore, is more likely to default. Due to the risk involved, junk bond usually has a high yield. As opposed to an investment-grade bond.
	Last Dealing Day
	The last day in the contract month in which a Trader may deal in the product.
	Leverage
	the degree to which an investor or business uses borrowed money. In spreadbetting, traders are highly leveraged because they put up a margin on the trade and their spread bet firm effectively lends them the rest. See gearing.


	LIBID
	London Inter Bank Bid Rate. The rate that one bank pays to another for a deposit.
	LIBOR
	London Inter Bank Offer Rate - The rate that one bank charges to another for lending money. LIBOR is the lending rate for all major currencies up to one-year set at 11am each day by the British Bankers Association. It is also used as a benchmark for price derivatives and other market transactions. In other words, LIBOR (i.e. London inter-bank offered rate) is a short-term interest rate set by the Bank of England often used by spread betting firms as a base for calculating finance charges for futures style bets.
	LIFFE
	London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange. The three largest UK futures markets. Acquired by Euronext in 2001.
	Limit order
	an order to do a trade, either to buy or sell, when the price for the product you are interested in hits a certain price. A limit order is often placed when you want to do a trade but at a better price than the current quote.
	Limit price move, Limit Up or Limit Down
	for some futures contracts the exchanges specify the maximum amount by which a price can change in one day. A market which has increased by this amount is Limit up. This then is known as locked limit up which means no more buying can take place for that day. Limit down is the opposite. If a price is locked limit up or down you can still trade the opposite side. i.e. sell if limit up or buy if limit down.
	Limit up
	when a financial market has risen to a level where, temporarily, no further buy orders are permitted.
	Listed company
	A company whose shares have been listed and are dealt on the Stock Exchange.
	Liquid/illiquid market
	a liquid market has enough volume of two-way business for trading to occur without moving prices unduly. It will normally have narrow bid-offer spreads. An illiquid market normally does not have enough volume of two-way business for trading so a small amount of business results in disproportionate price movements. It will normally have wide bid-offer spreads.
	Liquidation
	The conversion of assets into cash.
	Liquidity
	the ability of an asset to be converted into cash quickly and without any price discount. In spread betting and share dealing, it refers to how easy it will to trade a share. A stock's liquidity mainly relies on the number of shares available to the public (i.e. on free float) and the market capitalization of the company.
	Loan stock
	Stock bearing a fixed rate of interest. Unlike debenture stock it need not be secured by assets.
	Longs
	When used in connection with stocks it refers to long-dated stocks with maturity dates of fifteen years and more.
	Long, going long, taking a long position
	having an 'up bet' in a market. A strategy of buying a share, spread bet or other derivative in the belief that the price, or the price of the underlying share, will increase. By going long, you hope to sell the share, spread bet or derivative at a higher price than you bought at - and, therefore, make a profit.
	Long bond
	another term for the US 20-year government bonds.
	Long gilt
	another term for the UK 10-year government bonds.