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Friday, August 7, 2009

The Forex Pip Defined

By Bart Icles

A Pip is the term for Percentage In Point or Price Interest Point. It is the smallest measurement for the smallest value (price) change of a currency. This term is one of the most important one among many in Forex currency trading, and should be properly understood by any new Forex trader.

Currency pairs are quoted accurately to the fourth decimal place because Forex transactions are mostly involves large sums, and Forex spreads are the exact opposite. This defines the smallest movement of a paired currency and is called a Pip. An example would be: if the USD/EUR moves from 1.2345 to 1.2346, then the Pip would be 1. If it changes from 1.2345 to 1.2305, the change in Pip would be 40 Pips. On the currency market, there are the 6 widely-traded called the majors that is made up of the following:

* EUR/USD, also called the 'EURO" * GBP/USD, also called the "CABLE" * USD/CHF, also called the "SWISSIE" * USD/JPY, also called the "NINJA" * USD/CAD, also called the "LOONIE", or "BEAVER" * AUD/USD, also called the "AUSSIE" *

The EUR/USD is the most traded major by an average of 100 Pips a day.

Profits and losses in Forex use the Pip as an accurate means of measurement, but the Pip for a USD/JPY pair has a different value compared to the Pip for USD/CAD, as it is set to the 2nd decimal place since it's value is smaller comparable to a cent/hundredth of other major currencies.

If you trade the currency pair of USD/JPY at 110.95 and moves to 111.0, it gained 5 Pips. With a quote of 77.48 that changed to 77.53 would mean a 5 Pip increase. If it were the USD/CAD pair while at 1.0234, then changes to 1.0224, 10 Pips would have been lost. Trading with the AUD/USD with an exchange quote of 1.9876, the Pip equivalent is .0001, as it set by market makers at 4 decimal places.

When a trader says "30 Pips", it means thirty units of value in a trade. You might want to check carefully the individual currencies that you plan trading on to know what their respective Pips are, as these do vary. It may be confusing at the start, and the figures might seem a little formidable at first, but once you delve into Forex currency trading regularly, it'll soon grow on you.

Many other currencies besides the Yen have a four decimal place - those mainly paired with the USD at .0001. If you just keep in mind that a Forex Pip is one unit of the furthest listed decimal place, and that each currency pair is assigned a different value, then you'll be well on your way to becoming a future, successful trader. - 23162

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