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Frequently Asked Questions

Trading Related FAQ

We’ve compiled a list of answers to our most frequent customer queries.

• Answer Close 1

  What are your spreads?

  Please see our Contract Specifications page which can be found here

• Answer Close 2

  Do you have any restrictions on scalping?

  No, we do not have any special policies or restrictions on scalping.

• Answer Close 3

  What time do I see in my MetaTrader?

  Our trading platform server time zone is Central European Time (CET) or London time +1. All trades, pending orders and historical data will always be shown as CET or London + 1. The time you see in the Market Watch window is the time of the latest quote.
  
  Find out more

• Answer Close 4

  Can I change the time zone in MetaTrader?

  No, the time zone of our trading servers is always GMT/BST+1. Having times in GMT/BST+1 avoids having small candlesticks on Sundays and therefore allows the running of technical analysis and back testing to be more smooth and straight forward.
  
  Find out more

• Answer Close 5

  What is the size of 1.0 lot, your margin requirements, spreads, commission etc?

  1 lot is 100,000 units of base currency.
  0.1 of a lot is 10,000 units of base currency
  0.01 of a lot is 1,000 units of base currency.
  
  Base currency is the first currency in the currency pair.
  
  For further details, please refer to “Contracts Specifications”
  
  Find out more

• Answer Close 6

  On your site you mention that you offer cross-rates but I can't see them in the “Market Watch” window?

  Click the right mouse button on any instrument in the “Market Watch” window and select “Show All Symbols” from the menu.
  
  Find out more

• Answer Close 7

  What is the minimum contract size?

  The minimum contract size is 0.01 of a lot i.e. 1,000 units of base currency.

• Answer Close 8

  I like to trade over news releases and volatile markets, is this a problem?

  Not at all, our trading platform and trading desk are highly geared for active trading. Please refer to our “Terms of Business” ) in respect of order execution and spreads under abnormal market conditions.

• Answer Close 9

  Can I be long and short in the same instrument simultaneously?

  Yes, you can. This is called “matched” or “hedged positions” – long and short positions of the same transaction size opened in the same instrument. The margin required to open and maintain such positions (hedged margin) is half of the usual initial margin per transaction.

• Answer Close 10

  What are the margin requirements for a trade?

  The same as the classic account margin levels.

• Answer Close 11

  What are your trading hours?

  Alpari (UK) offers FX trading; Forex is an OTC (over-the-counter, OFF exchange) market, so there are no defined trading sessions. If you have an account with Alpari (UK) you may trade from 23:00 (London time) Sunday to 22:00 (London time) Friday. Our Helpdesk and Customer Service teams work from 07:00 London time to 22:00 (London time) (Mon-Fri).

• Answer Close 12

  Do you guarantee stop losses?

  Order execution is guaranteed under normal market conditions but not guaranteed under abnormal market conditions. Under abnormal market conditions or when the order level falls within the price gap on the market opening, the order is executed at the quote which is presented in the quotes flow during the process of order execution. Buy stop, sell stop or stop loss is executed at the level less profitable for the customer; buy limit, sell limit or take profit is executed at the level more profitable for the customer.

• Answer Close 13

  Can I trade 24/7?

  You can trade Forex (link to 2.1) with Alpari (UK) 24 hours a day from Sunday 23:00 to Friday 22:00 London time (MetaTrader time is GMT/BST+1).

• Answer Close 14

  What happens to my position overnight?

  Foreign exchange trading  at Alpari (UK) is dealt with on a spot basis only and all trades are settled 2 business days from inception. The settlement day is called a value date. Alpari (UK) does not arrange physical delivery of currencies; hence all positions left open from 22:59:45 to 22:59:59 (London time) will be rolled over to a new value date.
  As a result, positions are subject to a swap charge or credit, based on the “Rollover/Interest Policy” page

  If you have an open position at 23:00 GMT (MetaTrader time is GMT/BST+1) then your trading account will be debited or credited in accordance with our rollover policy. 

  
  The cost of rollover is based on the interest rate differential of the two currencies. If you buy the currency with the higher interest rate and sell the currency with the lower interest rate, then you will earn the rollover. If you buy the currency with the lower interest rate and sell the currency with the higher interest rate, then you will pay rollover. 

  
  NB: When you roll an open position from Wednesday to Thursday, then Monday next week becomes the value date, not Saturday; therefore the rollover charge on a Wednesday evening will be three times the value indicated on the “Rollover/Interest Policy” webpage.

• Answer Close 15

  Why does the trading terminal show that I have zero profit in dollars, but I can see my profit on open positions in points?

  This happens if you have an open position on a cross rate (for example, EUR/GBP), and the quote currency (in our example - GBP/USD) has been deleted from the Market Watch window and the client terminal has no information to convert profit/loss into US dollars.

• Answer Close 16

  How can I view my trading history?

  Please open the “Terminal” window (press Ctrl+T on your keyboard) and select the “Account History” tab. Right click to enable the context menu which will allow you to save your trading history as an .html file that can be viewed outside the trading platform.

• Answer Close 17

  How do I download historical data for MetaTrader?

  Open MetaTrader, select Tools -) History Centre. Double click on the required currency pair and period and press “Download”. The historical data you selected should then be downloaded.

• Answer Close 18

  Where do the quotes in the History Center come from?

  Recent quotes in the history database are from Alpari (UK) Limited. History for previous years mostly comes from MetaQuotes Corp. (the developers of MetaTrader).

• Answer Close 19

  How do I add an Expert Advisor?

  Please save your expert advisor into MetaTrader’s directory on your computer: C:Program FilesMetaTrader - Alpari UKexperts. Then restart MetaTrader. The Expert Advisor file should appear in the navigator window in MetaTrader. Left click on it and drag it onto a chart of the currency that you would like the expert advisor to trade on.

• Answer Close 20

  What do I do if the attached Expert Advisor does not trade?

  First of all check if trading is allowed by going to “Tools -) Options -) Experts tab -) Allow live trading”. Then make sure that the Expert Advisor button on the main tool bar is pressed. You should be able to see a smiley face in the top right-hand corner of your chart to show that you have activated your EA correctly. If everything is OK but the EA still does not trade, see your log files via the “Experts” tab in the “Terminal” window (you should be able to see what error occurs). You can also email us for further assistance on info@alpari.co.uk

• Answer Close 21

  Can I place trailing stop orders?

  Yes, you can. More information on trailing stops can be found in our MetaTrader user guide. Please note that trailing stops become inactive when you log out of MetaTrader.

• Answer Close 22

  When I go offline do you close my open positions and placed orders?

  Open positions and pending orders stay in the system even if you log off from your trading platform. The same is true for all order types except trailing stops. Trailing Stops become inactive when you close or log out of MetaTrader. Expert Advisors also become inactive when MetaTrader is closed or you are not logged in.

• Answer Close 23

  I cannot log in into my trading account but I need to close an open position, what do I do?

  You may close (open, place an order) a position over the telephone 24 hours a day. Simply phone our dealing desk on +44 (0)20 7648 4570. You will be asked for your MetaTrader login and telephone password for security reasons before your request can be executed.

You can also browse additional Frequently Asked Questions on the following topics:

Personal Account Opening

Live Accounts

Demo Accounts

Trading Related FAQ

Deposits and Withdrawal FAQ

Systematic Platform

Micro and Classic Accounts

If you can’t find the information you’re looking for please contact our Client Services between 09.30-18.00 Hrs, Monday to Friday on +91-22-6156 3030 or via email on support@alpari.co.in

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