Reading a symbol specification like you'd read a contract

[FXS London Scalper]

Most traders open the symbol specification window once, if ever. It's actually the contract that defines what you are trading. I read it now every time I start on a new symbol or broker.

Fields I go through line by line:

• Contract size: units per lot.
• Tick size and tick value: the money value of the smallest price change.
• Stops level and freeze level: minimum distance for stops and pending orders, and the zone where you can't modify them.
• Margin and margin hedged: what one lot costs to hold, and whether hedged positions are discounted.
• Swap long, short, and triple-swap day.
• Trading sessions: when you can trade and when you can only close.
• Calculation mode: Forex, CFD, CFD leverage, etc. This changes how margin and profit are calculated.

Once I read an index CFD's specification and found the triple swap was on Friday, not Wednesday as on my currency pairs. Another time I found a trading-session gap on an index during which only closing was allowed.

Five minutes of reading saved me from mistakes worth much more. Has anything in a spec window ever surprised you?