Understanding Forex Pips (Part II)
It is always good to be familiar how to calculate the pips in US Dollar. If the quote currency is anything other than US Dollar, the results must be converted to dollars using the current exchange rate between the quote currency and the US Dollar in order to obtain the dollar value of the pip. Lets take a few examples:
First Example: USD is the base currency and JPY is the quote currency here in the currency pair USD/JPY. Using our standard formula: Pip value for 1 standard lot of USD/JPY= 100,000 (Lot Size)*1(No of Lots)*0.01(Pip Size) = 1000.
If your account is in US Dollar, you need to convert this pip value into US Dollar. The quote currency is in Yen, so the value of 1 pip on a standard lot is also in Yen. The broker will calculate the pip value in US Dollar for you automatically if you instruct the broker to do so.
You should understand that until you instruct the broker to exchange currencies into your own currency, your profit and loss will stay in that currency you made a profit or loss in. So instruct your forex broker that you need your profit and loss statements in US Dollar. However, lets try to learn to do these calculations ourselves as well.
In order to make the conversion to USD, you need the USD/JPY exchange rate. Suppose the USD/JPY rate is 101.02. The Dollar pip value will be 1000/101.02= $ 9.89. Therefore, 1 pip is equal to $ 9.89 in the case of USD/JPY for a standard lot at the exchange rate of 101.02.
Example#2: Now consider the currency pair EUR/GBP. It is a cross currency pair. Meaning it does not involve USD on any side. The base currency in this case is Euro and the quote currency is British Pound.
Pip value for a standard lot of EUR/GBP= 100,000 (Lot Size)*1 (Number of Lots)*0.0001(Pip Size) = 10. Here, the quote currency is in British Pounds, hence the value of pip is also in Pounds.
You need the GBP/USD exchange rate in order to convert into USD. Suppose the GBP/USD exchange rate is 1.8465. Dollar pip value will be 10*1.8465=$18.46. This means that the pip value will keep on changing depending on the currency pair exchange rate.
Example No 3: Lets take the currency pair EUR/USD. Here the base currency is in USD so you wont have to make any conversions. Pip value on a standard lot=100,000(Lot Size)*1(Number of Lots)*0.0001(Pip Size) = $10 per pip.
Leverage does not affect the pip value. It should be kept in mind that while the lot size, amount of lots traded and the specific currency pair traded will certainly affect the pip value, the leverage chosen by the trader whether it is 50:1, 400:1 or somewhere in between, has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the pip value.
The exchange rate for any currency pair is expressed in the form of bid/ask. For example the EUR/USD exchange rate might be 0.9955/0.9959. The first number is the bid price that you will get if you sell Euros against US Dollar. The second number is the ask price, the price at which the broker will sell you Euros against US Dollar.
Spread is also an important concept that you need to know. The difference between the bid and ask price is known as the spread. Spread is always expressed in pips. It may vary from broker to broker. Spread is the brokers profit and youre trading cost. Sometimes there can be slippage also. Slippage is also expressed in pips. New traders often think that the difference between the price they see on their charts and the price the broker quotes them is slippage. This is wrong. Your charting software and broker prices are two different things. - 23159
First Example: USD is the base currency and JPY is the quote currency here in the currency pair USD/JPY. Using our standard formula: Pip value for 1 standard lot of USD/JPY= 100,000 (Lot Size)*1(No of Lots)*0.01(Pip Size) = 1000.
If your account is in US Dollar, you need to convert this pip value into US Dollar. The quote currency is in Yen, so the value of 1 pip on a standard lot is also in Yen. The broker will calculate the pip value in US Dollar for you automatically if you instruct the broker to do so.
You should understand that until you instruct the broker to exchange currencies into your own currency, your profit and loss will stay in that currency you made a profit or loss in. So instruct your forex broker that you need your profit and loss statements in US Dollar. However, lets try to learn to do these calculations ourselves as well.
In order to make the conversion to USD, you need the USD/JPY exchange rate. Suppose the USD/JPY rate is 101.02. The Dollar pip value will be 1000/101.02= $ 9.89. Therefore, 1 pip is equal to $ 9.89 in the case of USD/JPY for a standard lot at the exchange rate of 101.02.
Example#2: Now consider the currency pair EUR/GBP. It is a cross currency pair. Meaning it does not involve USD on any side. The base currency in this case is Euro and the quote currency is British Pound.
Pip value for a standard lot of EUR/GBP= 100,000 (Lot Size)*1 (Number of Lots)*0.0001(Pip Size) = 10. Here, the quote currency is in British Pounds, hence the value of pip is also in Pounds.
You need the GBP/USD exchange rate in order to convert into USD. Suppose the GBP/USD exchange rate is 1.8465. Dollar pip value will be 10*1.8465=$18.46. This means that the pip value will keep on changing depending on the currency pair exchange rate.
Example No 3: Lets take the currency pair EUR/USD. Here the base currency is in USD so you wont have to make any conversions. Pip value on a standard lot=100,000(Lot Size)*1(Number of Lots)*0.0001(Pip Size) = $10 per pip.
Leverage does not affect the pip value. It should be kept in mind that while the lot size, amount of lots traded and the specific currency pair traded will certainly affect the pip value, the leverage chosen by the trader whether it is 50:1, 400:1 or somewhere in between, has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the pip value.
The exchange rate for any currency pair is expressed in the form of bid/ask. For example the EUR/USD exchange rate might be 0.9955/0.9959. The first number is the bid price that you will get if you sell Euros against US Dollar. The second number is the ask price, the price at which the broker will sell you Euros against US Dollar.
Spread is also an important concept that you need to know. The difference between the bid and ask price is known as the spread. Spread is always expressed in pips. It may vary from broker to broker. Spread is the brokers profit and youre trading cost. Sometimes there can be slippage also. Slippage is also expressed in pips. New traders often think that the difference between the price they see on their charts and the price the broker quotes them is slippage. This is wrong. Your charting software and broker prices are two different things. - 23159
About the Author:
Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try These 1500 Pips A Day Forex Signals From Heaven. Know Forex Rebellion!
posted by X - Men @ 1:52 AM
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