Currency pairs & quotes
Majors like EUR/USD and GBP/USD offer the tightest spreads and deepest liquidity. Minors exclude the US dollar, while exotics pair a major with an emerging-market currency and typically carry wider spreads.
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Beginner
Beginner path
- ◆Forex basics
- ◆CFDs explained
- ◆Reading price charts
- ◆Placing your first trade
- ◆Managing risk
Intermediate
Intermediate path
- ◆Technical analysis
- ◆Chart patterns
- ◆Indicators & oscillators
- ◆Fundamental analysis
- ◆Trading psychology
Advanced
Advanced path
- ◆Multi-timeframe strategy
- ◆Correlation trading
- ◆Advanced risk management
- ◆Algorithmic strategies
- ◆Portfolio construction
Forex essentials
Understanding forex trading
The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world, with more than USD 7 trillion traded every day. Currencies are always quoted in pairs — such as EUR/USD — where the first currency is the base and the second is the quote. When you buy a pair you expect the base currency to strengthen against the quote currency; when you sell, you expect the opposite.
Pips, lots and position size
A pip is usually the fourth decimal of a quote (0.0001). One standard lot is 100,000 units, a mini lot 10,000 and a micro lot 1,000. On a standard lot of EUR/USD, one pip is worth about USD 10.
Leverage and margin
Leverage of up to 1:500 lets you control a larger position with a smaller deposit. Margin is the capital reserved for that position — leverage amplifies both profits and losses, so it must be used deliberately.
Spread, commission and swap
The spread is the difference between bid and ask. Raw and Professional accounts pay a tighter spread plus a fixed commission per lot. All Mercato accounts are swap-free, so no overnight interest is charged.
Technical analysis
Price action, support and resistance, trend lines and indicators such as moving averages, RSI and MACD help you identify entries, exits and momentum shifts across multiple timeframes.
Fundamental analysis
Interest-rate decisions, inflation prints, employment data and geopolitical events move currencies. An economic calendar helps you anticipate volatility rather than be surprised by it.
Order types
Market orders execute at the current price; limit and stop orders trigger at a level you choose. Stop-loss and take-profit orders automate your exits and protect you when you are away from the screen.
Trading sessions
The market runs 24 hours across the Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York sessions. Liquidity and volatility peak when London and New York overlap.
Trading psychology
Discipline beats prediction. A written plan, a trading journal and consistent position sizing keep emotion — fear, greed and revenge trading — out of your decisions.
A simple risk-management framework
- ◆Risk no more than 1–2% of your account equity on any single trade.
- ◆Always place a stop-loss before you enter, never after the trade moves against you.
- ◆Target a reward-to-risk ratio of at least 1:2 on planned setups.
- ◆Avoid over-leveraging: a larger position does not make a weak setup stronger.
- ◆Practise on a demo account until your strategy is consistently profitable.
- ◆Keep a journal of every trade — entry, exit, rationale and outcome.
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Educational disclaimer
All education is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Trading CFDs carries a high level of risk and may result in the loss of your invested capital.