questions about limit orders

i have an account with oanda and i have a question bout limit orders.

let's say i short gbp/usd at 1.89850 at 1000 lots which is 10 cents/pip..
i want to liquidate half of that at 1.89750 (100 pips).

So when I buy 500 lots at 1.89750, does my profit show 10$? or does spread and other things get in the way?!?!?

Hi hilmy83,

First, drop the zero from the right side of your prices. GBP/USD only has four decimal places. Having done that, then 1.8985 - 1.8975 is only a change of 10 pips, not 100. Your profit would be $1 on a 1000 unit lot.

Spread always gets in the way. I don't know what spread Oanda offers on GBP/USD, but assuming it is 3 pips, then price would have to move 13 pips in order for you to get the $1 profit. When you enter a trade, you are instantly in the hole by the amount of the spread. Price would have to move three pips in your favor just to get you to breakeven. Any additional move in your direction would yield profit. So 3 pips to recover the spread plus 10 pips to earn a dollar = 13 pips.

If you close half your position after this 13 pip move, then your profit would be 50 cents.

Dial