Glossary
Words we use on the desk.
Short definitions in plain language. If you want a fuller walkthrough of a specific article, open it and use Need a hand? to copy a prompt for ChatGPT, Claude, or similar.
39 terms · Click a term for a quick definition overlay
- Desk toolsAgentic
Robinhood's dedicated account type for agentic trading tools.
Place/cancel via Trading MCP only when agentic_allowed is true. Primary brokerage accounts stay read-only for place/cancel on that path.
Also see: Trading MCP
- Options & Wheelassigned
Being required to buy (or sell) the shares from a short option.
For a short put, assignment means paying strike × 100 and owning the stock. Plan for that before you sell the put.
- Options & Wheelat the money · at-the-money
At the money: strike near the current stock price.
ATM options usually carry more premium and more assignment risk than far OTM strikes. Income desks often prefer OTM short puts with a chosen delta instead.
- Setups & tapeaverage true range
Average True Range: a measure of typical price movement.
Used to size targets and cuts in units of volatility (for example, take-profit near a fraction of 5m ATR). Micro-ATR days often mean noise, not edge.
- Options & WheelBTC · buy to close · buy-to-close
Buying back a short option to close the position (not Bitcoin).
On the Wheel desk, BTC often means taking profit near ~50% of credit, or closing by a time stop such as ≤21 DTE left. It frees the cash collateral that was locking the short put.
Also see: Cash-secured put (CSP), DTE, OTM
- Discipline
Being flat is an active choice, not empty time.
You are allocating to safety when your playbook says wait. Missing a runner that never cleared your rules is not the same as failing.
- Options & WheelCSP · cash-secured put · cash secured put
Short put collateralized by cash equal to strike × 100.
You keep the credit if the put expires worthless or you buy it back cheaper. Assignment can turn cash into 100 shares.
Also see: Wheel, Assignment, DTE, Delta, Buy to close (BTC)
- Options & WheelCC · covered call
Short call against 100 shares you already own.
Often the second step of a Wheel after assignment. Caps upside in exchange for premium.
- Disciplineinvalidation · structural cut
The price or time where the trade thesis is wrong.
Structural cuts sit beyond a swept extreme, not inside the obvious stop cluster. Time cuts end the idea when the clock says so.
Also see: Liquidity sweep
- Disciplineloss stop
A session loss limit that ends new risk for the day.
Once tagged, disconnect place/cancel if you use automation. Revenge is not a plan.
- Options & WheelΔ
How much an option's price tends to move when the stock moves $1.
Short puts around 0.20-0.30 delta are a common income target: not lottery far OTM, not deep ITM.
- Options & Wheeldays to expiration
Days to expiration.
Wheel-style desks often prefer roughly 30-45 DTE to open, and manage by about 21 DTE remaining.
- Setups & tapeEOD · power hour · end of day
Late-session window, often mid-afternoon into the close.
Continuation and late push setups live here on some desks. Fresh ideas after a late cutoff are usually manage-only.
- Market structureEastern Time · eastern time
Eastern Time: the clock most US equity desk rules use.
Hard flats and opening-range windows on this site are written in ET unless noted otherwise.
- Disciplinefear of missing out
Fear of missing out: chasing because price already moved.
Usually shows up as mid-reclaim entries, size-ups after winners, or trading past your hard flat. The antidote is a written trigger, not more screen time.
Also see: Mid-reclaim, Sit / skip
- Discipline
A clock when you must exit and stop adding risk.
Example: 15:55 ET for afternoon equity scalps, or 11:00 ET for morning OR work. Research can continue. New risk cannot.
- Options & Wheelin the money · in-the-money
In the money: the option already has intrinsic value.
A short put is ITM when the stock is below the strike. That raises assignment risk into shares unless you buy to close first.
Also see: OTM, ATM, Assignment, Buy to close (BTC)
- Options & Wheelimplied volatility
Implied volatility: the market's priced expectation of movement.
Higher IV often means richer option premiums and wider expected swings. Earnings and event weeks can inflate IV and change whether short premium is worth the risk.
- Setups & tapestop hunt
A quick run through obvious stops to grab resting orders.
Often looks like a wick beyond a prior low or high. Many playbooks buy the reclaim after the sweep, not the mid-range bounce.
Also see: Sweep-reclaim, Opening range (OR)
- Setups & tape
Moving Average Convergence Divergence: trend/momentum from moving averages.
The histogram is a common desk check (for example, requiring it non-negative or improving before a late-day push). Soft MACD is a size-down or skip cue, not a green light by itself.
- Setups & tapemaximum adverse excursion
Maximum adverse excursion: how far price went against you.
Useful for judging whether your cut was realistic. Parking a hard stop inside an obvious sweep zone often inflates MAE.
- Setups & tapemid reclaim
Buying after only a partial reclaim, with poor R:R.
Looks confirmed, but entry is far from the true swept low versus a tight target. Playbooks usually skip or wait for a retest.
- Setups & tapeOR · opening range
The high/low mapped in the first minutes after the open (often 09:30-09:45 ET).
Used as a structure map for morning scalps. Hard flat clocks often apply later in the morning session.
- Options & Wheelout of the money · out-of-the-money
Out of the money: the option has no intrinsic value yet.
A short put is OTM when the stock is above the strike. Many Wheel manages hope the put expires OTM so collateral frees without assignment.
- Disciplinereward to risk · reward-to-risk
Reward to risk: how much you hope to make versus how much you risk.
If your entry is far from the invalidation level, and your take-profit is close, R:R is poor even if the story sounds good.
Also see: Take-profit (TP), Cut / invalidation
- Market structure
The broad character of the market that day: trend and volatility.
Bull, bear, mixed, or chop. Regime decides which setups are allowed. Trading a momentum plan in the wrong regime is a mismatch, not bravery.
Also see: VWAP, Relative strength (RS)
- Market structureRS · relative strength
A name holding up better than the index on a weak day.
On bear days, some desks only allow RS longs (or cash). Chasing green names against a red tape is a common tilt.
- Desk toolsreview before place
Show the order preview, get a human yes, then submit.
Default posture until rules are stable. Auto-execute only with hard caps outside the chat.
- Setups & taperelative strength index
Relative Strength Index: a momentum oscillator, often on a 0-100 scale.
Not the same as relative strength versus an index. Desk notes often watch 5m RSI for extension (for example, skipping when RSI is already stretched on a big day).
Also see: MACD, Relative strength (RS)
- Market structureregular trading hours
Regular trading hours (US equities: typically 09:30-16:00 ET).
Premarket and after-hours have different liquidity and spreads. Many desk rules only allow new risk in RTH.
Also see: ET
- Setups & taperelative volume
Relative volume versus a typical day.
High RVOL means unusual participation. Useful for spotting names that are actually moving, not just flickering.
- Disciplinesit · skip · sit list
A logged decision to not trade.
Publishable on this site. Empty sessions with clear skip reasons are evidence of process, not failure.
Also see: Sitting on your hands
- Disciplinesit on your hands
Choosing not to trade when conditions do not match your plan.
Cash is allowed. A quiet day with zero trades and zero losses can still be a good day when the tape is wrong for your setup.
Also see: Cash is a position, Regime, Sit / skip
- Disciplinewin stop
A session profit threshold where you stop adding.
You may manage opens, but you do not invent a second idea to keep playing.
- Setups & tapesweep reclaim
Price sweeps a level, then reclaims it in your direction.
Entry grammar on the desk often waits for that reclaim with a cut beyond the swept extreme. Mid-reclaim chases are a common skip.
- DisciplineTP · take-profit · take profit
A planned profit exit written before you enter.
Limits or targets you set while calm. Hope is not a take-profit.
- Desk toolsMCP · Model Context Protocol
Robinhood's Model Context Protocol trading interface for desk tools.
Lets connected clients research, scan, and (on Agentic) place or cancel with review. It is a bounded desk tool, not a blank check.
- Market structurevolume-weighted average price
Volume-weighted average price for the session.
A common reference for whether price is trading rich or cheap versus the day's average paid. Many desk rules check price versus VWAP.
- Options & Wheelthe Wheel
CSP → possible assignment into shares → covered call, then repeat.
Income process, not a lottery. Earnings, collateral fit, and tape still gate whether you open a new short put.
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