| Packs |
The simultaneous purchase or sale of an equally weighted, consecutive series of four futures contracts, quoted on an average net change basis from the previous day's settlement price. Packs provide a readily available, widely accepted method for executing multiple futures contracts with a single transaction. |
| PAR |
1 - The standard delivery point or points. 2 - The quality of commodity represented in the contract that is deliverable at contract price. Serves as a benchmark upon which to base discounts or premiums for varying quality.3- For debt securities, including U.S. Treasury securities, the face value of the instrument. |
| Partner clearing house |
A derivatives clearing organization or a clearing house that has agreed to act in concert with the exchange to facilitate clearance of Security Futures Products as defined herein: A Partner clearing house shall be considered a Clearing Member for purposes of the Rules except to the extent otherwise provided in an agreement between the exchange and the Partner clearing house. |
| Performance bond |
The amount of money or collateral deposited by a client with his broker, or by a clearing firm with CME Clearing on open futures or options contracts before a customer can trade. The performance bond is not a part payment on a purchase.1. Initial performance bond is the total amount of margin per contract required by the broker when an account is opened, or when the equity in the account falls below CME Clearing minimum maintenance requirements.2. Maintenance performance bond is a sum which must be maintained on deposit at all times. If a customer's equity in any futures position falls below the maintenance level because of adverse price movement, the broker must issue a margin call to the minimum CME Clearing initial margin requirement to restore the customer's equity. Consult the Contract Specifications for margin requirements of specific contracts. |
| Performance bond call |
1 -- A request from a brokerage firm to a customer to bring performance bond deposits up to minimum levels. 2 --A request by CME Clearing to a clearing firm to bring clearing performance bonds back to levels required by the Exchange Rules. Most exchanges refer to this as a "margin call." |
| Performance Bond to Clearing House |
The minimum dollar deposit required by CME Clearing from clearing members in accordance with their positions. |
| Phase (market) |
Sub-unit of a session, where consistent actions take place (e.g., pre-opening, no-cancel, opening, continuous trading, etc.). |
| Pit |
The place where futures and options are traded on the floor of a commodity exchange. |
| Plain Vanilla Swap |
An individual simultaneously buys and sells the same amount of the same currency with the same counterparty, with the two legs of the transaction maturing on different dates and trading at different exchange rates. |
| Point and figure chart |
A graph of prices charted with Xs for price increases and Os for price decreases, used by the chartist for buy and sell signals. |
| Point Change |
The difference between the last price and the previous day’s settlement price multiplied by the factor that eliminates decimal points. Traders use this point calculation to quickly determine their profit or loss (points x $value per point = profit or loss). |
| Points |
The units of price quoted, based on the minimum price unit. A $1.00 price movement may be called 100 basis points. |
| Portal |
A term, generally synonymous with gateway, for a web site that is or proposes to be a major starting site for users when they get connected to the Web, or that users tend to visit as an anchor site. |
| Position |
An obligation to perform in the futures or options market. A long position is an obligation to buy. A short position is an obligation to sell. See also call option and put option. |
| Position account |
The alpha-numeric firm ID under which a firm's trades will clear. |
| Position adjustment |
The position adjustment may increase or decrease a firm's position in a given contract and origin by equal quantities long and short to correct discrepancies in position reporting. The adjustment is made to reconcile out of balance trade conditions between clearing records and book records. |
| Position change submission (PCS) |
Process by which clearing firms report the effect of the day's trades on previous or incoming positions. Clearing firms transmit this position information, along with spread position information, via a computer to computer link. Based on position and spread information, CME Clearing calculates each firm's open interest and performance bond requirements. (Frequently referred to as PCS.) |
| Position limit |
An exchange established limit on positions held by one person or entity. (Also called trading limits). |
| Position trader |
A trader who takes a position in the market and might hold that position over a long period of time. |
| Posting indicator, or posting action |
Part of the clearing data. |
| Preceding Day or Previous Day |
Preceding business or trading day. |
| Premium |
1 --The price paid by the purchaser of an option to the grantor (seller). 2 --The amount by which a cash commodity price trades over a futures price or another cash commodity price. |
| Price |
Price to which the given instrument should be traded in an order or a trade. Also called limit. |
| Price Infraction |
A sale, quotation or outcry that is out of line with existing bids or offers. |
| Price limit |
The maximum daily price fluctuations on a futures contract during any one session, as determined by the Exchange. (Also known as limit). |
| Price order |
An order to sell or buy at a certain price or better. |
| Price Transparency |
Price Transparency |
| PRS |
Price Reporting System. |
| Purchase and sale (P&S) statement |
A statement issued by an FCM to a customer when his or her futures or options position has changed, showing the number of contracts involved, the prices at which the contracts were bought or sold, the gross profit or loss, the commission charges, and the net profit or loss on the transactions. |
| Purchase date |
The date on which a long position, used to assign agricultural deliveries, is established on a clearing firm's books. |
| Pure hedger |
A person who places a hedge to lock in a price for a commodity. He or she offsets the hedge and transacts in the cash market simultaneously. |
| Put |
An option to sell a commodity, security or futures contract at a specified price at any time between now and the expiration of the option contract. |
| Put option |
A contract that provides the purchaser the right (but not the obligation) to sell a futures contract at an agreed price (the strike price) at any time during the life of the option. A put option is purchased in the expectation of a decline in price. |
| Put value |
At expiration, equal to the strike price minus the futures price. |