Do you know what Leverage is?

Hey All

I am newbie in fx, Got another doubt. Who gives us leverage in forex? For example if broker gives us leverage 1:100 , and i invest just 1 $ and lost the deal. The loss for me is some what 1$ +… but the brokers loss is much … How he will manage?.. Am i asking right or this silly mad question… I dont bother … I need to know About it :sunglasses:

the broker loses nothing

if you lose $1, then the broker gains $1

your misunderstanding is about what a “broker” is

you’re imagining that when you trade forex against a counterparty market maker, a real trade takes place, currencies change hands, and that your counterparty puts a trade on for you in an underlying market

that isn’t what happens

you’re just having a bet against someone (your “broker”) who actually holds the other side of your position

unfortunately the Babypips education pages don’t explain this anywhere, so everyone imagines the opposite

Its based on the broker type yaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr.

1.Dealing Desk
2. Non Dealing Desk brokers.

I am asking about the second type… NDDB

it really isn’t based on that - this distinction doesn’t mean what you think it means (and by the way i’ve worked for both “types”)

Great … Can you explain me with examples please

it’s discussed in hundreds of threads here

the essential point you need to appreciate is that for the purposes of your bet, your “broker” is actually your counterparty, whether it’s a DD or a NDD brokerage (unless you have enough funds to use a genuine direct access broker, but that would be $10,000++), and that no currencies are really changing hands when you “trade” with a counterparty broker

they may offset their own net liabilities with liquidity providers, but that’s another matter altogether and not intrinsically related to your own trades

Great question, @Raswi

Brokers can offset the risk on the other side of your trades in one of three ways, which we explain in detail in this post: Who is the counterparty in an exchange?

Forex brokers also manage risk through the margin they require you to set aside to open trades. We explain margin requirements further in this post: What is the best leverage?

Go through the School of Pipsology here on Babypips to learn about these issues in more detail.

1 Like