Currency Day Trading Examples With the information we have covered so far, let's show a few examples of how much money can be made (or lost!) daily by trading currencies (please note that these are just examples for educational purposes). Example 1: A trader thinks the euro will gain value versus the dollar (EUR/USD is at 1.2150) Let's say that the price of the euro-dollar pair is 1.2150 and a day trader, based on his strategy, gets a signal that the euro is going to continue to go up. The trader buys 100,000 EUR (1 lot) at 1.2155 (121,550 USD). If the trader's margin requirement is 2%, his margin deposit would be 2,000 euros or 2,431 dollars. The trader automatically sets a stop loss of 25 pips based on his technical trading strategy. As the trader expected, the EUR/USD goes up to 1.2225 (on paper, everything works!). Assuming this meets the profit requirements of his day trading system, the trader sells the 100,000 euros. He receives 100,000 x 1.2225 = 122,250 USD. Since the trader originally sold (paid) 121,550 USD for the euros, his profit is 122,250 - 121,550 = 700 USD. Please note: Using leverage magnifies both profits and losses. Example 2: A trader thinks the yen will appreciate in value versus the dollar (USD/JPY is at 108.65) The price of the dollar-yen is dropping and is currently at 108.65. A day trader gets a sell signal based on his trading strategy. He sells 100,000 USD (1 lot) at 108.60 and receives 10,860,000 Japanese yen. Assuming a 2% margin requirement, the deposit would be 2,000 dollars. Right after placing his trade, the trader places a stop loss of 30 pips based on his day trading strategy. The trader was right and the yen appreciates versus the dollar (dollar loses value relative to the yen), pushing the exchange rate down to 107.50. Satisfied with his profit, the trader sells the 10,860,000 yen at 107.50. He receives, 10,860,000 / 107.50 = 101,023 USD. Since he had originally paid (sold) 100,000 USD for the yen, his profit is 101,023 - 100,000 = 1,023. Please note: Using leverage magnifies both profits and losses. Example3: Trader x has an account of USD 50'000. He buys EUR/USD 500'000 @ 1.1500 at the market and places a stop loss order at 1.1460. At this point his maximum risk is USD 2'000 and his margin utilization is 10%, well above the minimum. During the day the forex market fluctuates and initially moves down to 1.1480. At this point trader x has an unrealized loss of USD 1'000 and his margin utilization has fallen to 9.60% reflecting the effect of the downward move on his margin capacity. Later still the price moves back up to 1.1550 and trader x decides to take profit. He sells at 1.1550 making a USD 2'500 profit which represents a 5% return on his account value. Note that trader x took only a risk of USD 2'000 and made a return of USD 2'500 this equates to a risk/reward ratio of 1.25. A high risk reward ratio is what every trader should be aiming for. Please note that in this example no mention was made of the exact day trading strategy that the trader used to place his trades and set his stop losses. A trading strategy or system is extremely important and it has to be specifically defined, even if it was not discussed in these examples. Also, proper money management (how much should the trader have risked on the trades) was not discussed either. This was done for simplicity's sake. Generally speaking, a trader should never risk more than a certain amount of his trading capital on any given trade. Read my article about adhering to a specific day trading strategy. Familiarize yourself with forex trading with our free forex demo account.