Pip calculator

A pip is the standard smallest step of a price: the fourth decimal on most pairs (0.0001), the second decimal on yen pairs (0.01). Pip value = pip size × contract size × lots. On EUR/USD one standard lot is 100,000 euros, so one pip is 0.0001 × 100,000 = 10 dollars.

Pip value shrinks with the lot: 1 dollar on 0.1 lots, 0.10 dollars on 0.01 lots. The result comes out in the pair's second currency and is converted if your account is in another currency. On USD/JPY the pip is in yen: at 150, one pip on one lot is 1,000 yen, or 6.67 dollars.

To find how many pips you made, divide the difference between entry and exit by the pip size. Buy EUR/USD at 1.0850 and sell at 1.0910 and the difference is 0.0060, or 60 pips. On 0.5 lots one pip is 5 dollars; your profit is 60 × 5 = 300 dollars.

On a sell the direction flips: you make money as price falls. Choose the side in the calculator and an exit against your entry shows as a negative number, a loss. Spread and commission are not included; the real result is a few pips less.

One lot of gold is 100 ounces, and the pip definition depends on the platform: most count 0.10 dollars as a pip, some count 0.01. If gold moves from 2,650 to 2,655, that 5-dollar move is 50 pips under 0.10 and 500 pips under 0.01. On one lot both are worth 500 dollars; only the pip count changes.

So someone saying "a 30-pip stop" on gold tells you little on its own. You need to ask which definition they use, or the price difference. If you don't know your platform's definition, compare the pip count on a trade's profit screen with the price difference.

Pips are a poor way to compare different markets: 30 pips mean one thing on EUR/USD and another on gold. That's why VerTrader measures results in R: 1R is the distance of the stop an expert places on the structure. A 2R gain means the same on any market. Pip maths finds the size and the money; R tells you whether the trade was any good.