Posts Tagged ‘Pip’
Forex Pips & Spreads
Have you ever wondered what is a PIP and I am not talking about a PIP in a olive or something like that. A pip is the name given to the smallest measure of price move used in Forex market. For example, if the currency pair GBP/USD is trading at 1.6410 and then changes to 1.6415 that means that the pair has moved by 5 pips.
According to the text book definition a PIP is an acronym for Percentage in Point (pip), or basically the movement of the fourth digit after the decimal point. It is important to note that in most currencies a PIP is the movement of the fourth digit after the decimal point but in Yen crosses it is the movement of the second digit after the decimal point.
The spread is the difference between the bid and ask price that your broker quotes you. For example if your broker is quoting you a 1.6410-1.6412, then you are paying a commission of 2 pips. In other words you are paying a spread of 2 PIPS.
In Forex market you will find that brokers do not normally charge their commission via a percentage based format, either they charge you just the spread. A spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price for any currency being traded. The broker will either deduct the spread from your account balance or from your position when opening a new trade.
How low can they go?
Well, it really depends with whom you are trading with. Obviously you are going to want the lowest spreads possible no? Well, most brokers will give you their best spreads according to the type of account you open or according to the amount of volume you trade (how many trades you open).
The reason for this is because they profit from the spread, so the more you trade the more they profit. Fractional spreads Some brokers add another digit onto the bid/ask price allowing them to charge fractional spreads. For example you might see a broker give you a quote on the GBP/USD that looks like the following 1.64645-1.6465.
This basically means that the spread is only half a pip. Sounds good no? Well most brokers that provide fractional pips do not normally give a fixed spread, this basically means that the spread will tend to fluctuate according to the market’s activity. So you might see your spread at 0.5 pips and then a second later at 5 pips.
That is a big increase and a high commission to pay. Remember that spreads affect the returns trades enormously, especially if you are day trading, trying to only grab a few pips at a time. If you are only in for a quick trade and are interested in only profiting 20 pips a day, a 5 pip commission would shrink your profits dramatically.
Choose a Low Spread Forex Broker As mentioned above spreads can vary based on the currencies you’re trading and what type of account you open. Most brokers will be offering different spreads for different currencies. For the major currency pairs like the EUR/USD or USD/JPY you will tend to get tighter spreads as are classed as more liquid currencies. For more exotic currencies your spreads will normally be quite high. To find out which brokers we recommend with the best services and spreads simply ask for a recommendation on our site Dodjit.com
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What is a Forex “PIP” and Why is it Important for Trading?
PIPs are very important in the forex market. If you’re new to forex, it’s a word you’ll be hearing often; as it’s that one little word which literally makes to forex world turn; but what does it mean?
PIP is short for percentage in point, and refers to the smallest shift a price can make on the trading market. It is generally the last decimal place you see on a typical forex quote. In most currencies, a PIP is 0.0001. There are some currencies like Japanese Yen however, that have two decimal places, so having a currency pair with Yen as the quote currency means that the PIP is equal to 0.01.
PIPs look like they have no real value at first glance, but looks can be deceiving. Try to take into consideration that the bigger amount you trade, the more PIPs there will be. If it’s looked at this way, you should be able to see how PIPs become the basis for determining your profit and loss.
Their value varies, fluctuating with the exchange rates with the exception of the United States Dollar (USD) as your quote currency, where one PIP is equal to one PIP. With this in mind, how do you determine their value?
To get the value of a PIP in a currency pair where USD is the base currency, all you need to do is to divide one PIP by the exchange rate. For example, if you have USD/EUR at 1.4285, dividing one PIP (0.0001) by 1.4285 will give you 0.0007. I know that number may sound insignificant, but try to keep in mind that with the more you trade, the greater increase to your overall profits.
If there is a price change in PIPs, you can determine how much you can profit by. You simply multiply the PIP value by the amount of money you’re going to be investing, and the result will be how much you can make per PIP. Using the example show above; if you invested $1000, you would be making around about $0.07 per PIP change.
Although they’re small on their own, PIPs prove to us that there really is strength in numbers. Once you’ve got the hang of multiplying tiny PIP values by the more moderate price changes, you’ll be able to see the potential of forex currency trading.
Forex Pips and Profits. How Does it Work?
As more automated forex robots are released on to the market we are seeing people who are not familiar with trading looking at buying them as a way to earn passive income.
Yes I agree that this can happen however you will not always make the profits that are advertised. Why, because you will be trading in different Lot sizes and this will affect the value of the pips gained and or lost. You will also set your account up differently, be comfortable with different leverages and obviously have a different margin with your broker. I believe the more you know about trading the more success you will have using automated robots.
First of all let me explain pips. Pip is an acronym for Price Interest Points. In the wholesale market, all currencies are quoted to four decimal places, with the last placeholder called a point or a pip. The pip is 0.0001 ( one /10,000th)of the currency rate, with the exception to the rule being the Japanese Yen, in this case one pip is 0.01 ( 1 /10 ). If the currency pair EUR/USD was trading at 1.3525 and then moved to 1.3575, the movement is said to be 50 pips. The pip is the smallest measure of price movement used in Forex trading and when Traders refer to their wins or loses they usually refer to the number of pips gained or lost.
The other very important point is the actual value of the pip. This relates to the Lot size you are trading (the value of your transaction).
If you start with a full Lot($100,000) the pip will be worth around $10 USD, depending on the currency pairing, however if you trade with mini lots ($10,000)the value of a pip goes from $10.00 value to $1 or 0.10c in a micro lot ($1000).
The point to remember is the value of the pip affects both your profits and losses. When the trade goes against you and the pip is $10.00 if you have high leverage it does not take long to build up hugh losses.
One other thing to remember is the brokers are there to make money from your trading, Brokers realized that they can offer very high leverage as this will draw investors from other markets, but as traders you do not have to use it.
New traders all want to know how much capital (margin) do I need to start trading. Brokers will offer 100:1, 200:1, 400:1 and this means you need 1%, 0.5% or 0.25% of the transaction value as your margin (capital).
That is what is available, but when you are working out the leverage you feel comfortable with it might be you only want 5:1
Example. You have $2000.00 capital, broker offers 200:1 (which means you will be able to trade with a transaction value of $400,000) but you only want to trade a mini lot ($10,000) your real leverage for that trade is 10,000 divided by 2000 = 5 or 5:1. That is no problem you can do that.
“Leverage is measured by dividing the value of the transaction by your own capital”
When you first start trading high leverage is very risky(actually it is always risky) and is the number one reason most people fail. Using a robot that is basically scalping (small pip gains over a very short period) is one of the safest ways to trade. However it will lose trades and a slower approach , quietly building up your margin using small leverage is the way I would recommend.
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