Pipettes: the extra digit that changes nothing and everything
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 12:51 am
Most brokers now quote five digits on EURUSD and three on USDJPY. The last digit is a pipette, a tenth of a pip. It looks like extra precision. It matters in a few subtle ways.
Stops and targets can be set to fractions of a pip. A target of 3.4 pips is possible. Slippage is measured in pipettes, so a "0.3 pip" slip is now visible, where it used to disappear in rounding.
The extra digit also makes spreads look more precise. A spread of 0.6 pips is easier to see than a flat 1 pip.
Platform confusion is common. In MetaTrader, "points" and "pips" differ by a factor of ten on five-digit symbols. A stop of 30 points is three pips. Input values for EAs set in points can be off by ten times if misread.
Brokers quoting four or five digits on the same pair, and different symbols across platforms, create further mix-ups.
The lesson: always check the pip definition and contract size for each symbol before trusting any pip-based calculation or EA setting.
Would a points-versus-pips mix-up go unnoticed until a stop turns out far too tight or far too wide?
Stops and targets can be set to fractions of a pip. A target of 3.4 pips is possible. Slippage is measured in pipettes, so a "0.3 pip" slip is now visible, where it used to disappear in rounding.
The extra digit also makes spreads look more precise. A spread of 0.6 pips is easier to see than a flat 1 pip.
Platform confusion is common. In MetaTrader, "points" and "pips" differ by a factor of ten on five-digit symbols. A stop of 30 points is three pips. Input values for EAs set in points can be off by ten times if misread.
Brokers quoting four or five digits on the same pair, and different symbols across platforms, create further mix-ups.
The lesson: always check the pip definition and contract size for each symbol before trusting any pip-based calculation or EA setting.
Would a points-versus-pips mix-up go unnoticed until a stop turns out far too tight or far too wide?