For Business

Market Basics

What Is a Lot

A lot is how much you are buying — the size box on the order ticket, and the only number there that is yours to set. This paper shows you what one lot is, the three sizes every platform names and what a pip is worth at each, what two real days were worth at each size, what a lot is on gold and the yen, and where the size box is on your own ticket.

Difficulty
Beginner
Reading time
6 min
Pages
8
Reviewed by
Saman Rahbar

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The size box

A lot is how much you are buying. It is the quantity on the order ticket, and it is the only number there that is yours to set. The price comes from the market and the spread — the gap between the buying price and the selling price — comes from your broker. One standard lot of a currency pair is 100,000 units of the currency on the left. Buy one lot of the euro against the dollar and you have bought a hundred thousand euros, paying in dollars.

That is a large amount, which is why platforms offer fractions of one lot. The names are worth learning because brokers use them in conversation and the platform does not. You type 1.00 for a standard lot, 0.10 for a mini and 0.01 for a micro, and the one thing that changes is what a pip is worth: ten dollars, one dollar, ten cents. A pip is the fourth decimal place of the price, the smallest step most traders count in.

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