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Reading a symbol specification like you'd read a contract

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2026 8:54 am
by 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?