Friday, April 3, 2009

Interbank FX switching to fractional pips

I got this email a little while ago. It seems IBFX is switching to fractional pips (5 decimals instead of 4). If you are running the AME Cross Trader on InterbankFX, you will now have to change your "limitPips" value. Simply multiply the current value by 10 to get the correct value. Example: If currently you have limitPips=40, you will have to change it to limitPips=400.

Here is the email message I received.


Interbank FX is introducing 5th decimal pricing!

As part of our continuing commitment to delivering the optimal customer experience we are introducing 5th decimal pricing on our currency pairs. The 5th decimal prices will be available on our demo servers on Sunday afternoon at 6pm EST on April 12th, 2009 and will be available on the live trading servers on Sunday afternoon at 6pm EST on May 17, 2009.

Why 5th decimal pricing?
Adding the 5th decimal point can reduce the spread, or difference between the buy and sell prices of a currency pair. You may notice tighter spreads as we enable the 5th decimal pricing on our trading platforms.

How will this effect Expert Advisors (EAs)?
Most EAs will be affected by the introduction of the 5th decimal point. Please make sure that you have adjusted all pip value related parameters, such as take profits or stop losses, to allow for the additional decimal point. For instance, if you are currently using a stop loss level of 20 on a four decimal pair, you would have to change the value to 200 to get the same execution on a pair with a 5th decimal. Please be aware that some EAs will need fundamental changes to ensure that they will work as you expect. We would suggest that you use your EAs on our demo accounts before using them on your live account to ensure they are working properly.

How does this effect Stop Losses, Take Profits and Maximum Deviation?
All take profit, stop loss and maximum deviation values that are expressed in points should be multiplied by 10. For example, if you would like to enter a Maximum Deviation of 5 pips, you would enter 50 into the Maximum Deviation field.

How does this effect the profit / loss values expressed in the Trade tab in the Terminal?
All profit & loss values already incorporate the 5th decimal place adjustment when they are expressed as Points in the Profit column under the Trade tab in the Terminal window in MetaTrader.

Does this effect Trailing Stops?
Yes. When you are setting a trailing stop value you will multiply it by 10.