GBPJPY pending orders and freeze levels: how to test your broker

[FXS London Scalper]

GBPJPY is one of the pairs where stop and freeze levels can catch you out, and brokers differ more than you'd expect.

What can vary between accounts:

• Stop level and freeze level, both shown in the symbol specification. Raw accounts often show 0; standard accounts sometimes show values in the tens of points.
• Undocumented behaviour, such as pending orders rejected within about a pip of price during the London open, even when the specification says 0.
• Temporary increases around news. The specification shows the current value, so checking it in the morning doesn't tell you what it will be at 13:30 London.

How to test it: with a micro lot, at the times you actually trade, place pending orders and stops at decreasing distances from price and log every rejection with the retcode and timestamp. Do it on a quiet morning and on a data day.

A worked example of why it matters: a GBPJPY trailing stop that moves 5 pips behind price works fine with a 0 freeze level. With a 3 pip freeze level, modifications near the end of a fast move can be refused just when you need them.

If you trade pending orders on GBPJPY, what did your broker turn out to allow?