Pips and points
A pip is a conventional unit of price movement. On most currency pairs it is the fourth decimal (0.0001); on JPY pairs, the second (0.01). Modern brokers quote one more digit, the pipette or fractional pip, so EURUSD 1.08425 is 1.0842 and a half pip.
MetaTrader itself counts in points: the smallest price increment of the symbol. On a 5-digit EURUSD a point is 0.00001, a tenth of a pip. Many settings in MT4/MT5 (deviation, stop levels) are in points, which is a frequent source of 10× mistakes.
| Instrument | Usual pip | MT point (typical) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD, GBPUSD… | 0.0001 | 0.00001 | 5-digit quotes |
| USDJPY, GBPJPY… | 0.01 | 0.001 | 3-digit quotes |
| XAUUSD (gold) | 0.10 (signals) or 0.01 | 0.01 | Conventions differ; always check |
| XAGUSD (silver) | 0.01 or 0.001 | 0.001 | Conventions differ |
| US30, NAS100, GER40 | 1 index point | 0.1 or 0.01 | Brokers vary |
| USOIL, UKOIL | 0.01 | 0.01 or 0.001 | |
| BTCUSD | $1 (often) | 0.01 | No real standard |
Lots
A lot is a unit of volume. In forex one standard lot (1.00) is 100,000 units of the base currency; a mini lot (0.10) is 10,000; a micro lot (0.01) is 1,000. For CFDs the broker defines the contract: commonly 100 ounces for gold, 5,000 ounces for silver, 1,000 barrels for oil, 1 coin for bitcoin, and anything from 0.1 to 10 per point for indices.
Pip value: turning pips into money
pip value = contract size × pip size × lots (in the quote currency)
Then convert from the quote currency (the second currency in the pair, or the CFD's currency) into your account currency using the current exchange rate.
Worked examples, 1.00 lot
- EURUSD: 100,000 × 0.0001 = $10 per pip.
- USDJPY: 100,000 × 0.01 = ¥1,000; at USDJPY 150.00 that's 1,000 ÷ 150 = $6.67.
- EURUSD for a EUR account: $10; at EURUSD 1.0850 that's 10 ÷ 1.085 = €9.22.
- XAUUSD (0.10 pip): 100 × 0.10 = $10 per pip; a $1.00 move is $100.
- USOIL: 1,000 × 0.01 = $10 per pip.
- US30 at $1 per point per lot: $1 per point; at $10, $10.
The pip value calculator does this for any instrument and account currency; the lot size calculator runs it backwards to find the lot size for a given risk.
Why this matters when copying
A copier copies lots, and a lot is only meaningful together with its contract. Two brokers can both call a symbol US30 and value a lot ten times apart. Two signal channels can both say "30 pips" on gold and mean $3 and $0.30. Copied stops are prices, so they are safe; settings you type in pips (fixed stops, breakeven, trailing) and lot-based sizing modes are where units bite. See symbol mapping and broker suffixes and lot sizing modes.