What is a pip? Forex lot?

A pip in forex is the smallest amount a price can move in any currency quote. It measures the change in the value between two different currencies.

Most currency pairs are priced out to four decimal places and the pip change is the last (fourth) decimal point. 

For the Japanese Yen, one pip is quoted to two decimal places. That is 0.01 for a yen and 0.0001 for other currencies.

A pip indicates the amount of change in the exchange rate of a currency pair.

More Explanation with Examples

A fall in prices for EUR/USD from 1.0850 to 1.0849 means that price fell by 0.0001 which is equivalent to 1 pip (1.0850-1.0849) .

If price increases from 1.0850 to 1.0851,  the increment is 0.0001 (1.0851 1.0850) which is 1 pip.

For a USD/JPY, a raise from 112.01 to 112.02 gets us to 0.01 which is 1 pip. Most brokers quote currency pairs up to four decimal places and the Yen pairs to two decimal places standard. When it goes to “5” or “3” decimal places, the last digit is taken as a pipette.

What is a pipette interms of a pip in forex?

A pipette is a fractional pip in forex.

If the value of EUR/USD quote is 1.08501 and makes a move to 1.08492 then it has moved 9 pipette which is equal to 0.00009. The Japanese Yen quotes would make an increment value of 0.001 for each pip.

What is a forex lot?

 This is the bundle of units/ size of a trade you are making.

Spot forex has been traded in units since the old days till date. Currency is grouped into units of a standard lot =100000 units, mini (10000 units) =1/10 of a standard , micro (1000) = 1/100 of a standard lot and nano (100) =1/1000 of a standard account.

The pip value of a standard lot = 0.0001 or 0.01 for a yen. A standard lot = 100000 units = 1 pip=0.0001 and $10 in currency value.

Here is the math.

Pip value= (100000*0.0001)=$10. Pip value varies with the lot size (account types). For example, A min lot is equivalent to (10000×0.0001)=$1 and micro lot (1000×0.0001)=$0.1.

We shall learn and have more examples on this as we explore/ go deep into the  next lessons.

This is summarized below for easy understanding showing the size in units and pip value .

Knowing the lot size is very important because you will need it to determine the pip value for every trade you take.

It’s the lot size that makes the pip value significant since it is just a small movement price can move.

Now that we know what a pip in forex and lot size is, lets get to the real fun part. How to calculate a pip value.