Pound against dollar, an old-world name:an undersea cable is whence it came.
A slang term for the GBP/USD currency pair, originating from the transatlantic telegraph cable laid in the 19th century that was used to transmit exchange rates between London and New York.
In plain words
Cable is the dealing-room nickname for the pound against the US dollar, GBP/USD. The name goes back to the nineteenth century, when the rate was sent between London and New York along a telegraph cable laid across the Atlantic.
See it move
Stage 2 of 3: Atlantic cable
Why it matters
The word appears in market commentary and news without explanation. Knowing that it means GBP/USD, with the pound as the base currency, avoids misreading a headline.
Worked example
An example only. The figures are round and invented for the arithmetic: they are not market prices.
A commentary says “cable rose 50 pips to 1.2550” (an invented figure).
- 1Cable is GBP/USD, so the pound is the base currency
- 2Rate before the move = 1.2550 − 0.0050 = 1.2500
- 3On one standard lot50 pips × 10 = 500 US dollars
The pound rose against the dollar from 1.2500 to 1.2550, a change of 500 US dollars per standard lot.
A common mistake
Cable is sometimes taken to mean the pound in general. It refers only to the pound against the US dollar; EUR/GBP, for example, is not cable.
Check yourself
Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.