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Whale Trading

Trading Concepts Glossary: Getting the Big Picture in One Place

This glossary brings together the core terms
you’ll see again and again in the BCWhale trading curriculum.

The goal here is not to build a full dictionary, but to:

  • highlight the key concepts used across Trading,
  • explain them in clear, simple language,
  • help you build a high-level map of what matters.

Each entry gives a short definition + why it matters.
Whenever you want more detail, you can jump to
the related article (Trading...) listed for each topic.

1. Candlesticks

A candlestick shows, for one time period (e.g. 1h, 4h, 1d):

  • Open,
  • High,
  • Low,
  • Close

as a single “candle” on the chart.
See Candlestick Basics.

Key parts:

  • Body: the rectangle between open and close,
  • Wicks (Shadows): lines up to the high and low,
  • Bullish candle: close > open (up candle),
  • Bearish candle: close < open (down candle).

Candles let you see
how buyers and sellers fought in that period
at a glance, so they are the base of most chart analysis.

2. Support & Resistance (S/R)

Support:
a price zone where price has repeatedly stopped falling
and bounced back up. Buyers are strong there.

Resistance:
a price zone where price has repeatedly failed to rise further,
and turned down. Sellers are strong there.
See Support & Resistance Basics.

In real trading, S/R is rarely a single line.
It’s more realistic to think in terms of zones.

At S/R, traders usually think in two ways:

3. Swings vs Corrections

A swing is a strong move in the direction of the trend.

A correction is a pullback or pause after that swing.
See Swings vs Corrections.

In an uptrend, for example:

  • Upward swing: fast move higher,
  • Downward correction: temporary pullback against the uptrend.

We care about this distinction because:

  • swings often fit trend-following trades,
  • corrections often fit mean-reversion / pullback trades.

4. Indicators

An indicator is a calculation based on
price and/or volume data,
drawn on or under the chart. See Indicators.

Broad categories:

  • Trend indicators
    Trend Indicators

    • Moving Average (MA):
      the average price over a given period, shown as a line.
      Moving Average
    • MACD:
      uses the difference between two MAs to show trend strength
      and momentum shifts.
      MACD
    • Ichimoku Cloud:
      a multi-line system that combines trend and S/R.
      Ichimoku Cloud

  • Oscillators
    Oscillators

    • RSI:
      compares recent gains vs losses
      to show “overbought/oversold” conditions.
      RSI

  • Volatility indicators
    Volatility Indicators

    • ATR (Average True Range):
      measures the average price range over a period,
      i.e., “how much the market typically moves right now.”
      ATR

Indicators don’t replace price.
They are tools to help you read price behavior more clearly.

5. Patterns

A pattern is a recurring shape or structure
in price movement. See Patterns.

Two main groups:

  1. Candlestick Patterns
    Candlestick Patterns

    • Hammer, Shooting Star,
    • Engulfing, Doji, etc.
      These are 1–3 candle formations
      that hint at a potential shift in control.

  2. Chart Patterns
    Chart Patterns

    These structures give hints about
    whether a trend might continue or reverse.

Instead of treating patterns
as magic tools that predict the future,
it’s more realistic to see them as:

pictures of where buying vs selling pressure
is building or fading.

6. Risk Management

Risk management is the set of rules and structures
that prevent one mistake from destroying your account.
See Risk Management.

Key ideas:

  • 1R (Risk per Trade)
    Risk/Reward

    • the planned amount you are willing to lose on one trade.
    • Example: with a 10,000 USD account,
      risking 1% per trade means 1R = 100 USD.

  • R-Multiple

    • expresses outcomes in “R”: +2R, −1R, −0.5R, etc.

  • Max Loss Rule
    Max Loss Rule

    • your maximum allowed loss for a day or week.
    • Example: −3R per day, −8R per week → stop trading when reached.

  • Drawdown
    Drawdown

    • how far your equity has fallen from its peak, in %.
    • acts as a gauge of how much pain your system and psychology can handle.

Risk management is less about
“How can I make the most?” and more about
“How can I avoid blowing up?”

7. Trading as a Probability Game

Trading is a probability game.
See Probability in Trading.

  • Every system has both winners and losers.
  • No setup works 100% of the time.
  • What matters is the average result
    over many trades    .

Core concepts:

  • Win rate:
    percentage of winning trades.
  • Average win / average loss:
    how many R you typically make on winners
    and lose on losers.
  • Expectancy:
    (win rate × average win) − (loss rate × average loss).

The goal is not a “perfect single trade,”
but a decent edge repeated hundreds of times
with consistent risk.

If you now have a big-picture understanding of:

  • candles,
  • S/R,
  • swings vs corrections,
  • indicators,
  • patterns,
  • risk management,
  • probability,

then as you go through:

you’ll more easily think,
“Right, this connects back to that glossary concept.”

Feel free to come back here anytime
to refresh the terms,
and gradually rewrite these ideas
in your own words as your experience grows.