Example Trade

Assume you have a trading account at a broker that requires a 1% margin deposit for every trade. The current quote for EUR/USD is 1.3225/28 and you want to place a market order to buy 1 standard lot of 100,000 Euros at 1.3228, for a total value of US$132,280 (100,000 * $1.3228). The broker requires you to deposit 1% of the total, or $1322.80 to open the trade. At the same time you place a take-profit order at 1.3278, 50 pips above your order price. In taking this trade you expect the Euro to strengthen against the U.S. dollar.

As you expected, the Euro strengthens against the U.S. dollar and you take your profit at 1.3278, closing out the trade. As each pip is worth US$10, your total profit for this trade is $500, for a total return of 38%.

Common Trade Types

Long Position

A position in which the trader attempts to profit from an increase in price. i.e. Buy low, sell high.

Short Position

A position in which the trader attempts to profit from a decrease in price. i.e. Sell high, buy low.

Common Order Types

Market Order

An order to buy or sell at the current market price.

Limit Order

An order to buy or sell at a pre-specified price level.

Stop-Loss Order

An order to restrict losses at a pre-specified price level.

Limit Entry Order

An order to buy below the market or sell above the market at a pre-specified level, believing that the price will reverse direction from that point.

Stop-Entry Order

An order to buy above the market or sell below the market at a pre-specified level, believing that the price will continue in the same direction.

OCO Order

One Cancels Other. An order whereby if one is executed, the other is cancelled.

GTC Order

Good Till Cancelled. An order stays in the market until it is either filled or cancelled.

Leverage

Leverage is the ability to gear your account into a position greater than your total account margin. For instance, if a trader has a $1,000 margin balance in his account and he opens a $100,000 position, he leverages his account by 100 times, or 100:1. If he opens a $200,000 position with a $1,000 margin balance in his account, his leverage is 200 times, or 200:1. Increasing your leverage magnifies both gains and losses.

To calculate the leverage used, divide the total value of your open positions by the total margin balance in your account. For example, if you have a $10,000 margin balance in your account and you open one standard lot of USD/JPY (100,000 units of the base currency) for $100,000, your leverage ratio is 10:1 ($100,000 / $10,000). If you open one standard lot of EUR/USD for $150,000 (100,000 x EUR/USD = 1.5000) your leverage ratio is 15:1 ($150,000 / $10,000).

Margin

The deposit required to open or maintain a position. Margin can be either "free" or "used". Used margin is that amount which is being used to maintain or open a position, whereas free margin is the opposite. With $1,000 in your account and a 1% margin requirement to open a position, you can buy or sell a position worth up to $100,000. This allows a trader to leverage his account by up to 100 times or 100:1. If your account falls to below the minimum amount required to maintain an open position, you will receive a "margin call" requiring you to either add more money into your account or close the open position. Most brokers will automatically close your open positions when the margin balance falls below the amount required to maintain the open position. The amount required to maintain an open position is dependent on the broker and could be 50% of the original margin required to open the trade.