Lot

Forex trade sizes are measured in lots of the base currency.

• Standard lot (1.00): 100,000 units.
• Mini lot (0.10): 10,000 units.
• Micro lot (0.01): 1,000 units.
• Some brokers also offer nano lots (100 units) or "cent" accounts.

So 1 lot of EUR/USD is 100,000 euros of exposure, and 0.25 lots is 25,000 euros.

Lots and pip value

For pairs quoted in US dollars, such as EUR/USD and GBP/USD, one pip (0.0001) is worth:

• 10 dollars per standard lot;
• 1 dollar per mini lot;
• 0.10 dollars per micro lot.

For other pairs the pip value depends on the quote currency and the current rate, and is then converted into your account currency. The pip value calculator does this for you.

Worked example

A 3,000-euro account risks 1% per trade, which is 30 euros (about 32 dollars at an illustrative EUR/USD of 1.08). The stop is 20 pips away. The trader needs about 1.6 dollars per pip, which is 0.16 lots. Trading 1 full lot instead would risk 200 dollars, about 6% of the account, on the same stop.

Practical notes

• CFDs on indices, commodities and shares use their own contract sizes; "1 lot" of gold or an index can mean something quite different from one lot of a currency pair. Check the contract specification.
• Margin requirements scale with lot size. See leverage and margin.

See lot sizes and position sizing.