The central bank of the United States and the most powerful financial institution in the world. The Federal Reserve Bank was founded by the U.S. Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safe, flexible and stable monetary and financial system. It is based on a federal system that comprises a central governmental agency (the Board of Governors) in Washington, DC and 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks that are each responsible for a specific geographic area of the U.S. The Federal Reserve Bank is considered to be independent because its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or any other government official. However, it is still subject to Congressional oversight and must work within the framework of the government’s economic and financial policy objectives. Often known simply as “the Fed".

A hawkish is a policymaker or advisor who is predominantly concerned with interest rates as they relate to fiscal policy. A hawk generally favors relatively high interest rates in order to keep inflation in check. In other words, hawks are less concerned with economic growth than they are with recessionary pressure brought to bear by high inflation rates.

Dove refers to an economic policy advisor who promotes monetary policies that involve low interest rates, based on the belief that low interest rates increase employment. Statements that suggest that inflation has few negative effects are called dovish.

A recession is a significant decline in activity across the economy, lasting longer than two consecutive quarters. It is visible in industrial production, employment, real income and wholesale-retail trade. The technical indicator of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by a country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling. Central banks attempt to limit inflation, and avoid deflation, in order to keep the economy running smoothly.

(NFP) - Nonfarm payroll, is a monthly report generated and reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics intended to represent the total number of paid U.S. workers of any business. Despite the name nonfarm payroll, the report excludes workers from general government jobs, private household jobs, employees of nonprofit organizations and farm employees.

The report is considered to be the month’s most important economic data that is coming out of the USA. The report usually brings big impacts to the markets, especially the Forex, Stocks and commodities markets.

(GDP) - Gross domestic product is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period. Though GDP is usually calculated on an annual basis, it can be calculated on a quarterly basis as well. GDP includes all private and public consumption, government outlays, investments and exports minus imports that occur within a defined territory.

Leverage is the use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital, such as margin, to increase the potential return of an investment.

A bull market is a financial market of a group of securities (assets), in which prices are rising or are expected to rise. The term "bull market" is most often used to refer to the stock market, but can be applied to anything that is traded, such as bonds, currencies and commodities. The sentiment in a “bull market” is usually positive.

A market condition in which the prices of securities are falling, and widespread pessimism causes the negative sentiment to be self-sustaining. As investors anticipate losses in a bear market and selling continues, pessimism only grows.

An asset is a resource with economic value that an individual, corporation or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefit. An asset could be a stock such as “Apple” for example, a Commodity such as “Silver” or a currency such as “EUR”.

A stock is a type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporation's assets and earnings. Also known as a “share” or “equity”.

Any kind of money that is in public circulation. Includes both coins (hard money) and paper money (soft money. Currency refers to money that is legally designated by the governing body, and sometimes can refer to any object that perceived to have value and can be exchanged for other objects.

The charge one takes for borrowing money to other party. Typically expressed in annual percentage rate. Could also mean – the amount of ownership a holder has in a company, expressed as a percentage.

A firm or an individual which acts as an intermediary between a buyer and a seller usually charging some kind of commission for his service. A license is required for security and other reasons.