Could use some help with the lingo ...

Hi everyone.

I'm trying to sort out some of the terms used between systems.

When placing a trade using MT4 software I'm asked for the "volume" of my trade and in my trade MT4 Trade Ledger, my position is stated in "size" which appears to by the same as "volume."

The help file for MT4 defines "volume" and "size" as "lots." I have a demo account with $10k in it and I am using micro-lots (at least I think that's the case), so 1 lot would be 1,000 what ... units of currency ... so $1,000USD? And I have 10 lots in my $10k account? Am I getting that right?

And then in the Oanda FXGame I'm asked for "units" when I place a trade. Is this units of the base currency (USD in the case of a trade of the EUR/USD currency pair)?

What I'd like to be able to figure out in the final analysis is how to place an equivalent order on each system, so I'm trying to figure out how to translate between "volume," "size," "lots," "units," "pips," and good old USD.

I know I'm gonna get this sorted out eventually.

Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

Some of the definitions will depend on which broker you're using.

They all mean the same thing: lots.

When placing an order, "volume" means how many lots you want to trade. 1 = a standard lot (at least with IBFX), which is 100,000 of the base currency (USD in USD/JPY, EUR in EUR/USD). If you want a mini lot, you would replace the "volume" default of 1 with 0.1, which is 10,000 of the base currency.

You might want to be sure before you make a trade, not "think" you know what you're trading. "Thinking" can cost you a lot of money.

See my answer earlier.

Lots only applies when you're trading, not to your account balance.

You have $10,000 in your account, so you have $10,000 to buy or sell currency. How much it actually costs you to do that will depend on what leverage you're using and what the current price of the currency is when you enter a trade.

Yes, Oanda's units are 1 of the base currency. So, 1 unit of EUR/USD would be 1 EUR (the first currency in a pair is the base currency).

If you want to trade a mini lot with Oanda, you would enter 10,000 units as your trade amount.

I would suggest that you go through the free school at Babypips to get a better understanding of things like base currency, leverage, etc. before you do any serious trading, especially with a live account.

Terry

Hi Terry.

Huge thanks to you for taking the time to respond.

I'm beginning to get it. Haven't worked out the mathematics side of my brain for some time. It's a bit rusty.

I've been through the Babypips.com school once. Clearly I need another round.

I don't plan to do any live trading until I have these concepts down cold!

Again, much appreciation.

Back to school ...

Glad to help.

Terry

Please do yourself a favor and take a forex class or two otherwise you have a great chance of not succeeding with the forex. Too many people jump on the forum assuming that no experience is necessary that this is a bad assumption.

If your looking for a good beginners course, pm me and I can direct you to some very good people.

I requested that a glossary be added to the forum a long time ago and it was ignored by admin.

Good luck