Active Month – The nearest base contract month that is not the current delivery month.

Ask – A motion to sell. The same as offer.

At the Market – An order to buy or sell a futures contract at whatever price is obtainable when the order reaches the trading floor. Also called a market order.

Bear Market – A market in which prices are in a declining trend.

Bid - A motion to buy a futures or option contract at a specified price. It is the opposite of offer.

Business Day – The business day begins at 6:00AM for a 24-hour period.

Bull Market – A market in which prices are in an upward trend.

Cap – A supply contract between a buyer or a seller, whereby the buyer is assured that he will not have to pay more than a given maximum price.

Central Appalachian Coal– (see map) - For the NYMEX futures market, coal contracts specify delivery by seller to the buyer at barge terminals on two limited sections of river located in Central Appalachia, near the confluence of the Big Sandy and the Ohio Rivers. The sections are a 12-mile stretch of the Ohio River and the adjoining Big Sandy River (where coal barge terminals are within the lowermost 9 miles). The actual origins of the coal are not defined, but the coal must meet a set of specifications as to heat, ash, moisture, sulfur, volatile matter, hardness/grindability, and sizing and must be delivered in 1,550 ton trading units.

Charting – The use of charts and/or graphs in the analysis of market behavior.

Contract – A unit of trading for a commodity futures or option; an agreement to buy or sell a specified commodity detailing the amount or grade of product, the date of contract maturity, and when deliverable.

Delivery Month – The month specified in a given futures contract for the delivery of the actual physical spot or cash commodity.

Expiration Date – The date and time after which trading in an options contract terminates and after which all rights or obligations become null and void.

Futures Contract – A supply contract between a buyer and a seller, whereby the buyer is obligated to take delivery and the seller is obligated to provide delivery of a fixed amount of a commodity at a predetermine price at a specified location.

Hedge – The initiation of a position in a futures or options market that is intended as a temporary substitute for the sale or purchase of the actual commodity. The sale of futures contracts in anticipation of future sales of cash commodities as a protection against possible prices declines, or the purchase of futures contracts in anticipation for the sale or purchase of cash commodities as a protection against the possibility of increasing costs.
Last trade day – The final trading day of a particular delivery month futures contract or an options contract.

Nominal Price – The declared price for a futures month sometimes used in place of a closing price.

Offer – A motion to sell a futures or options contract at a specified price. Opposite of bid.

Option – A contract which gives the holder the right, not the obligation, to purchase or to sell the underlying futures contract at a specified price with a specified period of time in exchange for a one-time premium payment.

Open Interest – The number of open or outstanding contracts for which an individual or entity is obligated to the Exchange because the individual or entity has not yet made an offsetting sale or purchase, an actual contract delivery, or in the case of options, exercised the option.

Settlement or Settling Price – The price established at the close of each trading session as the official price used the clearinghouse in determining gains or losses, margin requirement, and the next day’s price limit.

Spot Month – The futures contract closest to maturity. The nearby deliver month.

Trading Hours – Open outcry trading is conducted between hours of 10:30AM-2:00PM Eastern Standard Time.

Trading Month – 24 to 26 consecutive months based on a quarterly schedule. As contracts expire, the 26th month will roll forward until it becomes the 23th month. At that point the new 24th, 25th, and 26th month contracts will be added.

Trading Symbol - QL

Trading Unit or Contract Delivery Unit – The seller shall deliver 1,550 tons of coal per contract. A loading tolerance of 60 tons or 2%, whichever is greater, over the total number of contracts delivered is permitted.

Trade Volume – The number of contracts that changed hands during a specified period of time.