# Cable (foreign exchange)

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Slang term for GBP/USD exchange rate

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The term **cable** is a slang term used by [foreign exchange](/source/Foreign_exchange) traders to refer to the exchange rate between the [pound sterling](/source/Pound_sterling) and [US dollar](/source/US_dollar).[1] The term originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate between the US dollar and sterling began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a [submarine communications cable](/source/Submarine_communications_cable).

The first [Transatlantic Cable](/source/Transatlantic_telegraph_cable) was laid under the Atlantic Ocean in 1858, but it failed after only about a month of fitful service. The first truly successful cable across the Atlantic was completed in July 1866, reliably transmitting currency prices between the [London](/source/London) and [New York City](/source/New_York_City) Exchanges. The first such exchange rate to be published in *[The Times](/source/The_Times)* appeared in their issue of 10 August 1866.

Transatlantic communications are now mainly carried by [optical fibre](/source/Optical_fibre) cables, supplemented to a small degree by [satellites](/source/Satellites), but forex traders' nickname for the sterling/dollar pair still harks back to the old days of copper telegraph cables.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Barrett, Claer; Aglionby, John (November 12, 2014). ["Traders' forex chatroom banter exposed"](https://www.ft.com/content/47c32ec4-6a34-11e4-8fca-00144feabdc0). *[Financial Times](/source/Financial_Times)*. A trader from HSBC visits multiple chatrooms in an attempt to manipulate the 4pm WMR fix, declaring he is a net seller in "cable" (a slang term for GBP/USD currency pairing)

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