Basic terms

A price pattern in candlestick charting that occurs when a security trades significantly lower than its opening, but rallies later in the day to close either above or close to its opening price. This pattern forms a hammer-shaped candlestick.

UK's government scheme that means you could move home with a deposit as low as 5%. With property prices still high, saving up a 20% deposit may seem like an impossible task. The government has recognised this, and has created a scheme to help those  without a large deposit either purchase their first property or move to a new home.

Change in the number of newly constructed homes sold. A new home sale is considered to be any deposit or contract signing either in the year the house was built or the year after it was built. In the US it is known only as New Home Sales and is released by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau. It includes both quantity and price statistics. It is considered to be a lagging indicator of demand in the market and to affect mortgage rates.

A broad measure of the movement of single-family house prices in the U.S. Apart from serving as an indicator of house price trends, the House Price Index (HPI) provides an analytical tool for estimating changes in the rates of mortgage defaults, prepayments and housing affordability.

The number of new residential construction projects that have begun during any particular month. The New Residential Construction Report, commonly referred to as "housing starts," is considered to be a critical indicator of economic strength. Housing start statistics are released on or around the 17th of each month by the U.S. Commerce Department. The report includes building permits, housing starts and housing completions data. Surveys of homebuilders nationwide are used to compile the data.

A key monthly survey that measures the business climate in Germany. The Ifo Business Climate Survey is based on approximately 7,000 monthly survey responses from firms in manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail. Firms included in the Ifo business climate survey are asked to submit their assessments of current business conditions and expectations for the next six months. The balance value of the current business situation is the difference in the percentages of the "good" and "poor" responses, while the balance value of the expectations is the difference in the percentage of the responses marked "more favorable" and "more unfavorable." The business climate is a transformed mean of the balances of the current business situation and expectations.

The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling. Central banks attempt to stop severe inflation, along with severe deflation, in an attempt to keep the excessive growth of prices to a minimum.

Interest rate: The amount charged, expressed as a percentage of principal, by a lenderto a borrower for the use of assets. Interest rates are typically noted on an annual basis, known as the annual percentage rate (APR). The assets borrowed could include, cash, consumer goods, large assets, such as a vehicle or building. Interest is essentially a rental, or leasing charge to the borrower, for the asset's use. In the case of a large asset, like a vehicle or building, the interest rate is sometimes known as the "lease rate". When the borrower is a low-risk party, they will usually be charged a low interest rate; if the borrower is considered high risk, the interest rate that they are charged will be higher.

A survey done by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics to help measure job vacancies. It collects data from employers including retailers, manufacturers and different offices each month. Respondents to the survey answer quantitative and qualitative questions about their businesses' employment, job openings, recruitment, hires and separations. The JOLTS data is published monthly and by region and industry.to help measure job vacancies. It collects data from employers including retailers, manufacturers and different offices each month. Respondents to the survey answer quantitative and qualitative questions about their businesses' employment, job openings, recruitment, hires and separations. The JOLTS data is published monthly and by region and industry.

Though the ECB's main refinancing operations (MRO) are from repo auctions with a (bi)weekly maturity and monthly maturation, the ECB now conducts long-term refinancing operations (LTROs), maturing after three months, six months, 12 months and 36 months.In 2003, refinancing via LTROs amounted to 45 bln euros—about 20% of overall liquidity provided by the ECB.

A measure of money supply that includes M2 as well as large time deposits, institutional money market funds, short-term repurchase agreements and other larger liquid assets. The M3 measurement includes assets that are less liquid than other components of the money supply, and are more closely related to the finances of larger financial institutions and corporations than to those of businesses and individuals. These types of assets are referred to as “near, near money.”

NAB Business Confidence: A key measure of business confidence in Australia, published monthly and quarterly by National Australia Bank. The NAB Business Confidence Index is a component of the bank's business survey, which covers hundreds of Australian companies to assess business conditions in the nation. The index is closely watched to gauge the overall condition of the Australian economy.

An entity that borrows more than it saves or lends out. A net borrower could be a company, country, government, group or individual. Borrowing can take the form of debt by acquiring goods and/or services under the stipulation of future payments, borrowing funds, or by issuing debt, such as bonds. Net borrowing occurs when the monetary summation of these borrowing activities exceeds the monetary amount of funds and assets lent/saved. Also known as "net debtor".

The amount of extra funds that a sector has available to provide for either direct and indirect lending purposes to other similar counter-parts. The net lending of the total economy is the sum of the net lending or borrowing of the institutional sectors. It corresponds to the net resources that the total economy has available to supply to the rest of the world.

The number of domestically produced units of cars, SUVs, mini-vans and light trucks that are sold. Motor vehicle sales are an economic indicator that records the reported sales by individual manufacturers on the first business day of every month.