The FXCM Trading Station contains live executable quotes for 29 currency pairs. Each currency quote box in the “Advanced Dealing Rates” window shown above contains information about a specific currency pair, as defined by the currency pair abbreviations at the top of the box.

For example, “EUR/USD” represents the Euro/U.S. Dollar.

• The first currency in the pair is referred to as the Base Currency
• The second currency in the pair is the Counter Currency

The price you see for each currency pair is the exchange rate for that pair.
The exchange rate refers to the amount of the counter (second) currency that
can be exchanged for one unit of the base (first) currency.

Example:

• EUR/USD is 1.2192, then 1.2192 US Dollars can be exchanged for
  1 Euro.

Buying and Selling
Each currency quote box contains both a buy (i.e. offer or ask) and a sell price (i.e. the bid). When trading on the FXCM platform you are cutting out commissions, and paying only the spread.  The spread is the difference between the rate where you can sell a currency pair and the rate where you can buy a currency pair. 

When the rate for a currency pair increases this means that the base currency in the pair is getting stronger (as it now takes more of the counter currency to get one of the base currency) and the counter currency in the pair is getting weaker.  When the rate for a currency pair decreases, this means that the base currency in the pair is getting weaker (as it now takes less of the counter currency to get one of the base) and the counter currency in the pair is getting stronger.

Traders who expect the rate for a currency pair to increase would buy or enter a long position and traders who expect the rate for a currency pair to decrease would sell or enter a short position.

Examples:

• Buying
  The EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.2924.  I am expecting the Euro to strengthen against the US Dollar causing the rate for EUR/USD to move higher.  To express this opinion with a trade I would click the buy rate and enter a long position in EUR/USD.
• Selling
  The EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.2924.  I am expecting the Euro to weaken against the US Dollar causing the rate for the EUR/USD to move lower.  To express this opinion with a trade I would click the sell rate and enter a short
  position in EUR/USD.

High and Low
Also displayed in the currency quote box is the high and low prices since 17:00 EDT/EST (New York Time) at the end of the days market session.  The high shown is the highest buy price reached since 17:00 EDT/EST (New York Time) and the low is the lowest sell price reached since 17:00 EDT/EST (New York Time).

 

 

 

By changing the dealing rates window to “simple” mode, traders can view additional information such as margin requirement, rollover amounts, and the dollar value of a pip for each currency pair.  

To view the “Simple Dealing Rates” window:

• Click on “Trading”
• Choose “Dealing Rates”
• Another Tab will open up, click on “Look and Feel”
• Then click on “Simple Rates”

Sell
This is the SELL (bid) price

• Meaning the price where you can sell the currency pair.
• This price is dynamic and will fluctuate tick-by-tick with the slightest market move.

Buy
This is the BUY (ask) price

• Meaning the price where you can buy the currency pair.
• This price is dynamic and will fluctuate tick-by-tick with the slightest market move.

High
The high is the highest bid rate since 5:00pm EST of the previous day.

Low
The low is the lowest the offer rate has touched since 5:00pm EST of the previous day.

Roll S and Roll B
This stands for Interest Rate Buy and Interest Rate Sell. (Explained on Rollover page)

• This is the amount in dollars per lot that you will pay/receive for positions that are rolled over.
• At 17:00 EST/EDT, all open positions are automatically rolled over to the next settlement date.  If you have no open positions at 17:00 EST/EDT, even if you executed transactions during the previous 24 hours, there will be no rollover of positions.

Under the “Roll B” (Interest Rates Buy) column,

• The amount in U.S. dollars per 1 lot buy position is provided.
• If there is a minus sign next to the number, the amount will be subtracted.

Under the “Roll S” (Interest Rates Sell) column,

• The amount in U.S. dollars per 1 lot sell position is provided.
• If there is a minus sign next to the number, the amount will be subtracted.

Pip Cost
The Pip Cost gives you the pip value for each currency in real time. On the standard account, the approximate pip value is $10 per pip, and on the Mini account, the pip value is approximately $1 per pip.

• Standard account - $ 10 per PIP
• Mini account - $ 1 per PIP
• All of the currency pairs where the USD is not the base currency, i.e., EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD, NZD/USD will have a fixed pip value of $10/$1 per pip.
• All other currency pairs have a fluctuating pip value.

MMR
The amount reflected in this column indicates the margin required to open a one lot position. You have the ability to select within parameters the degree of leverage you wish to use.*

Example

100K Account

• If the margin requirement is set at 1%, then the margin required to open a one lot (100K) position is $1000.
• If the margin requirement is set at 2%, then the margin required to open a one lot (100K) position is $2000.

Mini Account

• If the margin requirement is set at 0.5%, then the margin required to open a one lot (10K) position is $50.
• If the margin requirement is set at 1%, then the margin required to open a one lot (10K) position is $100.

Time
Every time an exchange rate changes, a time stamp is placed next to the currency pair. The time is recorded in Eastern Standard Time.

• A time stamp of 14:00 would mean the last update occurred at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.