General
Do you offer fixed or variable spreads?
We don’t offer fixed spreads as we never interfere with market forces or client orders. As such, all products tradable on our platforms are variable spreads.
What are swaps, and what is the difference between positive and negative swaps?
A forex contract expires every two days. Instead of actual delivery of the underlying asset, many traders and investors will ‘rollover’ the contract to extend its trading period. It’s upon this ‘rollover’ that swaps are earned or incurred by the holder of a forex contract. The swap rate is calculated as the interest rate difference between the two nations issuing the currency, and are added to, or subtracted, from the profit and loss for the contract.
A positive swap is where you earn interest from the contract, and a negative swap is where you incur interest on the contract.
What is leverage and how does it affect my account?
As the name suggests, the term “Leverage” was coined because using leverage allowed you to trade with more than you have. Leverage allows you to do this by reducing the amount of margin required for each position opened. Please have a look at how to calculate margin <page link> to see how increasing leverage can increase the risks and rewards of a trade.
How can I change the leverage on my account?
You can change the leverage settings on your account by emailing us at [email protected].
What is the maximum leverage allowed on my account?
Leverage increases the risks and rewards of trading. In essence, the larger your account balance, the larger the risks and rewards become on a trade. For this reason we have maximum leverage levels, which are set to safeguard client assets and ensure liquidity providers aren’t exposed to excessive risk.
The maximum leverage levels for a given account are:
| Account balance |
Maximum leverage allowed |
| $0-$50,000 |
500:1 |
| $50,000-$200,000 |
200:1 |
| $200,000-$1,000,000 |
100:1 |
| $1,000,000+ |
50:1 |
What is margin/margin requirement?
Margin is the amount required to open a new forex position. It is not a fee or a charge to your account – it is an amount set aside from your free equity to support your new trade. It is the client’s responsibility to maintain sufficient funds in their respective accounts to avoid triggering a margin call.
How do I calculate the required margin?
Margin requirements are calculated as follows:
(100,000 units * Number of standard lots)/Leverage * conversion rate to your base currency
For example, for a USD account with 500:1 leverage, if you place a EUR/USD buy order of 0.1 lots (10,000 EUR) @ 1.3632, the calculation would be as follows:
{(100,000 *1.3632)*(0.1)}/500 = $27.26
100,000EUR * 1.3632 = $136,320 (margin required for a standard lot when leverage is 1:1)
$136,320 * 0.1 = $13,632 (margin required for 0.1 lots when leverage is 1:1)
$13,632/500 = $27.26 (margin required for 0.1 lots when leverage is 500:1)
For more information please see our page on leverage and margin explained.
When will a margin call be triggered?
A margin call is triggered when your account’s equity falls below 50% of the required margin. For more information please see our margin call policy page.
What is slippage?
Slippage is the difference between the execution price and the requested price of a pending order or trade. It is caused by gapping in the markets (where gapping refers to a situation where there is a break between the tradable prices). Please be advised that slippage is a natural occurrence caused by market forces and is by no means induced by ThinkMarkets. Please refer to our website for more information on our Slippage Policy
Trading Tools and Services
What is a VPS?
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server, and is a very useful tool for traders that use robots/algorithms to trade on the market. These robots often run automatically and independently from the trader, thus are able to explore trading opportunities that manual traders may not be able to. A VPS provides you with the ideal trading environment to maximise the power of robots through eliminating down time and benefiting from extra fast execution speed. Visit our VPS forex page for more information.
How much is a VPS?
ThinkMarkets offers VPS’ to clients free of charge, when they open an account and deposit 2000 units. To keep the VPS service free, you are required to meet the required trading volume and monthly account balances (maintenance balance).
What is RanSquawk?
RanSquawk is a news service covering markets and providing audio delivered updates in real-time. If you have a balance of over £2,000 (or the currency equivalent), you’ll be able to access this free of charge. Visit RanSquawk within the Trading Services section and click on ‘Open Ransquawk’.
Support and Education
I’m new to ThinkMarkets, where do I start?
Every new trader is different, but we offer a range of education content including FX University, Free Trading Guides and Weekly Webinars.
I need help – how can I contact you?
You can contact us either by: