Market nicknames explained
Traders give their favourite markets nicknames. Here's what they mean, and why.
| Nickname | Market | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The yellow metal | Gold | Its colour. Gold has been used as money for over 5,000 years. |
| Poor man's gold | Silver | It behaves a bit like gold but costs far less per ounce. |
| Black gold | Crude oil | Black, and valuable. It moves on world events, tankers and storms. |
| Cable | Pound / Dollar | Prices were once sent between London and New York by a cable under the Atlantic. |
| Fiber | Euro / Dollar | The most traded currency pair. Possibly named after the fibre-optic cables that replaced the telegraph cable. |
| The Greenback | US Dollar | The green ink on the back of US banknotes since the 1860s. |
| The Ninja | Dollar / Yen | A nod to Japan. It often moves on news from Tokyo's central bank. |
| The Footsie | FTSE 100 | The UK's 100 biggest companies in one number. |
| The Spoos | S&P 500 | America's 500 biggest companies; traders' slang for its futures. |
| Dr. Copper | Copper | It's in everything from houses to phones, so its price is said to "diagnose" the world economy. |
Learn it by playing, with pretend money.
PLAY HOGLET ▶Free games for ages 8 to 18, and parents too. Not betting, not gambling.