Volume, margin, lots, amount, deposit... HELP!

Hi Noobs,

I’m a complete noob! I have a question - was hoping someone here could help me with this. I know it’s basic stuff and needs to be understood by anyone getting in to forex, but I’m just a bit lost with the way this system works. Here’s my question / scenario:

I’m based in the UK and have been using Worldspreads demo account / platform solidly for about two weeks, and have been getting mixed results. I’m working hard on trying to get it right and I know it takes a lot of effort. The Worldspreads platform is pretty good - it’s very simple but their demo account is only supposed to last for 7 days and I’ve just managed to get them to extend it for another 7. Of course as we know, even 2 weeks is a very short amount of time to practice before putting real money in to the forex markets. I’ve also been having a few issues with their charts not updating properly, so I’ve decided to switch to the Metatrader 4 platform using OANDA as the brokers. My first impressions of MT4 are great and I think I definitely prefer it to Worldspreads. So here’s the deal. When I go to make a trade in Worldspreads, I type the amount of money that I want to trade per pip. So far I’ve been using £10 per pip because I’m aiming to do that when I invest real money. It tells me the required deposit for the trade. I know that when the currency value goes up 2 pips I’ll make £20 (excluding spread). Now, when I go to make a trade / place an order on my new platform MT4, there is nowhere to choose how much I bet per pip, but only the ‘volume’ that I can select. I’ve added £1000 of demo pounds to the account and I can choose a volume between 0.1 and 0.5. If I go any higher it says I don’t have enough money to make the trade. So when I put a trade on for a volume of 0.1, and I make 2 pips, in real money terms I make on about 15pence. On Worldspreads I would make £20!! How do I know how much money per pip 0.1 volume is?? Surely I have the same opportunity to make equal profit on both platforms? Do I need £100,000 in my account to make £20 profit on 2 pips at £10 a pip? If I do, well I’ll just stick with Worldspreads! What’s goign on here? How can I bet £10 a pip on MT4 using OANDA as the brokers? Thanks for any help in advance!

Ya think?

How much of the Babypips School of Pipsology have you really studied?

Hi, I actually started working my way through the school, but I found that I didn’t really like the tone and style in which it was written. There’s kind of a ‘jokey’ type of tone to it… Maybe a UK / US difference in writing style…?!

I have studied other courses and read lots of very good books.

This forum however looks really useful - really glad to have found it…

Could anyone give me any useful pointers? Much appreciated…

Can’t speak for lot sizing on MT4… but I can tell you this… if your planning on opening a real account at some point with £1k, I would suggest your lot sizing be along the lines of 1 mini lot (£10k) per £500 of balance, certainly no more than 2 mini lots i.e. 10-20p per pip. £100k trades on a £1k balance is [B]WAY[/B] too high if you want to last the course! :31: