When exchanging pairs that do not have the USD as a base/quote, is $10k used to open?

Using IBFX I see that when I purchase one mini lot of a pair that does not have the USD as a base/quote currency, the margin required is $50.

I thought one lot was the purchase of 10k units of base currency. Am I wrong here?

If $10k is always used to open positions, does this imply that a pip is always worth $1 when trading minis?

Thanks,

forexwindo

I'm guessing your Broker leverage is 200:1 as 10,000/200 is $50.
One Lot is 100k I think but my broker doesn't use them so I'm not sure.
10k, or one Mini Lot would probably be for the currency of your account. If you open trades with other currencies than yours (eg AUD/JPY) then the pip value will change.

If you are still Demo'ing consider trying Oanda as they don't have Lots at all and let you trade with positions as small as $1 USD. This is great for new traders as it allows them much better control of their risk. They also have options that allow you to automatically set the risk per trade. For example my stop losses are automatically set at three percent of my Net Asset Value. The actual pip range depends on the currency I happen to be trading.

I hope this helps.

IBFX adjusts the postion size so that if your leveraged at 200:1, doesnt matter what currency your trading, the margin required is always $50.

IBFX is denominating all of their lots in USD. That means you are trading atypical position sizes when you aren't trading a USD-based pair.

Margin is typically based on the value of the position, not the unit size. If you're trading as USD base pair then it's the same, but if your trading a non-USD based pair (XXX/USD) then it's not. For example, if GBP/USD is trading at 2.00, then a mini lot has a value of $20,000. That means your .5% margin requirement should be $100 not $50.

I can't say why they do this, but thats what they do.

Cheers

Thanks Cdawg.