Pipettes and the five-digit rounding problem

[Amanhasnoname]

Brokers quote most pairs to five decimals, with the last digit being a fraction of a pip, the pipette. That extra precision creates subtle effects for tight scalps.

A target of three pips sits at 30 points. If code or a manual entry uses a different convention, confusion arises. Many scripts compute stop distances in points but describe them as pips, producing stops ten times too tight or too wide on certain symbols.

Another trap is that JPY pairs use three digits, not five, so a pip is a different number of points. A hardcoded multiplier breaks when moving between pairs.

Rounding matters too. A target of exactly 1.08530 might be missed by half a pipette because the bid never printed that exact value. Placing the target one or two pipettes inside the intended level raises the chance of a fill, at a trivial cost.

Check the order entry dialog and code for unit conventions, and test on each symbol with a tiny position.

Which unit mix-up has caused the most trouble: points, pips, or pipettes?