Trade (financial instrument)

In finance, a trade is an exchange of a security (stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, derivatives or any valuable financial instrument) for "cash", typically a short-dated promise to pay in the currency of the country where the 'exchange' is located. Trading implies attempting to profit from short-term fluctuations in a security's price as opposed to buying it for use or for income via methods such as dividends or interest. Trading is similar to speculation and investing, but differs in that the position in the security is intended to be held for a very short time, generally less than a week; however 'trades' are used to implement any investing strategy.

See also Day trading