I’m just curious as to how you can trade crosses like CAD/JPY as talked about in pipcrawler’s latest blog. I don’t know if it’s just my account or broker, but the only CAD pair I have tradable access to is USD/CAD. Would be very interested in finding out how to trade the other CAD pairs, or any of the other “not so common” crosses!
Thanks so much for any help with this 
You have to create a “synthetic” pair by trading USD/CAD and USD/JPY at the same time. For example, if you wish to long CAD/JPY, you would short USD/CAD and buy USD/JPY at the same.
When you short USD/CAD, you’re essentially selling USD and buying CAD. When you long USD/JPY, you’re buying USD and selling JPY. The USD “legs” cancel each other out.
We will be releasing a new lesson in our School of Pipsology covering currency crosses and creating synthetic pairs like these. It will be out very soon!
Actually, if you don’t see CAD/JPY then it’s probably just not available with your broker. Some have more options than others. Many brokers do have that and other CAD crosses. While it’s true that you can synthesize that cross from USD/JPY and USD/CAD, you are always going to be better off going with the cross directly because of the double spread of trading two positions, not to mention that the interest rate differential would probably be negatively impacted running the two positions (again, bid/offer differences on the overnight interest rates).
Hi mate,
an example is Saxobank they offer a huge range including cad/jpy, but as stated in both posts, you can create your own cross if its not offered, it just means opening 2 trades at once.
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Hi akeakamai.
There are other platforms/brokers out there with a large mixture of crosses available. However, I would just like to say that before you sign up with another Broker, if and when you decide to go that way, that you do your homework on some of the pros and cons of what each platform/broker has to offer to ensure you get what you need - or want.
For an example, I use two different brokers. One trading platform doesn’t have such a great choice of currency crosses - but I don’t have to think [I]too[/I] hard when using it (especially when trading at 2AM in the morning) as it is so simple to use. The only way to screw up while putting an order on is if you are on the phone at the same time trying to order a pizza. Still, on the positive side, the two times I did stuff up - at least I got the pizza order right…
However, the other trading platform, while having a huge number of tradeable currency crosses, charts etc that can be fully customized (a bit like the show “Pimp my Ride”), required that I had to get a degree in physics to correctly learn how to place my orders. Needless to say, I am always sober and the pizza has already been delivered before I attempt to use this trading platform.
So, there is hope for your crosses out there - but you just need to be aware.