Earlier today I opened 2 positions in the same account at the same time(both .2 lots):
- Long GBP/USD, opened at 1.7630. Soon after, the current price was 1.7624, a difference of 6 pips, with a loss showing of $(12.00).
- Short EUR/GBP, opened at .6842. Soon after, the current price was .6857, a difference of 15 pips, with a loss showing of $(52.89). My observation was that the EUR/GBP had 60% more loss in the number of pips than the GBP/USD, but there was 75% more loss in the dollar amount. I contacted the broker and asked about this and was told the reason due to different pip values for the currency pairs. The rep. went on to explain how to calculate the pip values for each pair. I said I don't have time to calculate pip values before I place a trade due to fast moving markets. I asked why the pip values for each pair are not listed on the dealing rates page. The rep. replied that that feature is not available now, but will be a future upgrade. My questions about this are 1) why do currenciy pairs have different pip values? 2) are pip values the same regardless of the broker you use? 3) are there any brokers that list pip values in one place on their dealing rates page? 4) do pip values for each pair change frequently, or are they fixed? 5) are pip values correlated to the spread of currency pairs? 6) is there a web-site that has real-time pip values, and if so, what is it? It is a good thing I am still demo trading, as I would have got burned on this if I were trading more lots. Any other comments about this appreciated.