All lessons

Start with the market

1What is trading? 2What is the forex market? 3Read your first currency quote 4Build a demo-first learning plan

Prices, size and trading costs

5Bid, ask and spread 6Pips, pipettes and lots 7Calculate profit and loss 8Sessions and changing liquidity

Place and manage orders

9Check a broker before opening an account 10Market, limit and stop orders 11Leverage, margin and forced closeout 12Stop-losses, targets and slippage

Protect the practice account

13Risk budget and position size 14R multiples and expectancy 15Drawdown and loss limits 16Measure combined currency exposure

Read a chart

17Candles and timeframes 18Trends, ranges and swing structure 19Support and resistance as zones 20Use several timeframes consistently

Candlestick patterns with context

21Doji and spinning top: small body, unanswered question 22Hammer and shooting star: put the wick in context 23Engulfing: compare bodies, then test the idea 24Harami and stars: two different containment stories

Turn observations into testable setups

25Candlestick patterns in context 26Breakouts and failed breakouts 27Build a trend-pullback hypothesis 28Build a range-trading hypothesis

Use indicators with a purpose

29Moving averages and lag 30Momentum, RSI and MACD 31Volatility, ATR and bands 32Volume, tick volume and profiles

Profile workshop: read what the bars count

33Volume and TPO: two different questions 34Build POC and value area one row at a time 35High and low volume nodes: read the landscape 36Developing profiles: use only what existed then

Order-flow workshop: follow executions carefully

37Footprints: read executed bid and ask volume 38Delta, CVD and absorption: watch the price response 39Imbalances and exhaustion: define the comparison 40One session, one decision at a time

Understand the economic context

41Central banks and expectations 42Inflation, jobs and growth 43Prepare for scheduled news 44Yields, carry and market sentiment

Evaluate advanced ideas critically

45Liquidity and order flow 46Translate SMC ideas into testable rules 47Fibonacci and wave frameworks 48Why a strategy can stop working

Chart patterns in context

49Double tops and bottoms: wait for the middle level 50Head and shoulders: the neckline is the test 51Triangles and wedges: compression is not a direction 52Flags and pennants: pause after an impulse 53Harmonics: use ratios as checkpoints

Wyckoff: read the range

54Wyckoff's three laws, in plain language 55Read price and volume together 56Accumulation phases A to E 57Spring and test: two separate observations 58SOS and LPS: strength, then a test

Wyckoff: test the bearish story

59Distribution: the bearish range story 60Upthrust and UTAD: location changes the meaning 61SOW and LPSY: weakness, then a weak recovery 62Reaccumulation or distribution? Keep two maps 63When the schematic fails: a useful Plan B

Elliott Wave without guesswork

64Elliott Wave: the three standard-impulse rules 65Corrections: ABC is a starting point 66Guidelines: alternation and extensions 67Degrees and alternate counts: keep the map honest 68Wave invalidation and trade risk are different

Read structure before the label

69BOS, CHoCH and MSS: what changed? 70Equal highs: a map of possibilities 71Sweep or breakout? Wait for a response 72Displacement: fast is not automatically meaningful 73Premium and discount: choose the ruler first

Zones, gaps and failed ideas

74FVG: read three candles, not an empty promise 75Order blocks: give the rectangle a rule 76Breaker and mitigation: name the event clearly 77Balanced price range: find the overlap 78Inverse FVG: first admit the original failure

OTE and Silver Bullet step by step

79OTE: the zone depends on your anchors 80Silver Bullet: start with the right clock 81Silver Bullet: an original bullish walkthrough 82Silver Bullet: bearish example, then a no-trade day 83Judas swing: an early move that may mislead

From chart stories to fair tests

84Multi-timeframe bias: a question, not a command 85Entry, stop, target: let size come last 86Invalidation is an idea; a stop is an order 87Replay: test the rule, not your drawing skills 88Your ICT/SMC study rulebook: one page, clear decisions

Auction, volume and execution

89Volume Profile, Market Profile and the value area 90Auction thinking: balance, rejection and acceptance 91Footprint, delta and CVD: know what is counted 92VWAP and Anchored VWAP: an average with a starting point 93ATR and position management: adapt size, not hope

Build a testable process

94Liquidity, correlation and changing regimes 95Breakeven and trailing stops: protection has a price 96Scaling in and out: do the cash-risk maths 97Journal and statistics: a win rate is an estimate 98Capstone: one clear playbook, several useful lenses

Build an evidence-based routine

99Backtest without looking ahead 100Forward test and keep a journal 101Psychology and decision rules 102Capstone: write your trading plan

3 / 102

Read your first currency quote

3 min read

EUR/USD 1.1000 is a sentence written in numbers. First learn which currency is being priced.

Here is what we will figure out

Interpret the direction and units of a currency quote before considering a trade.

The first currency in a pair is the base; the second is the quote currency. EUR/USD 1.0850 means one euro is priced at 1.0850 US dollars. Keep those units beside the number to avoid reversing its meaning.

Buying EUR/USD means taking exposure to the euro rising relative to the dollar. Selling means taking the opposite exposure. Either currency can change against other currencies, so a rising pair does not describe absolute strength.

The reciprocal quote reverses the units and the direction. USD per EUR and EUR per USD express the same relationship differently. Actual dealing quotes also contain a bid and ask; a single illustrative rate leaves that trading cost out.

Let’s use numbers · hypothetical example

At EUR/USD 1.0800, EUR 250 corresponds to USD 270 before fees. At 1.1000 the same EUR 250 corresponds to USD 275: a USD 5 increase.

Keep in mind

Some futures contracts use different quoting conventions from familiar retail pairs. Read the instrument specification.

Your turn

Label the base and quote currencies in GBP/USD and USD/JPY; write what one unit of each base buys.

A quick check before we move on

What does EUR/USD 1.0800 mean?

EUR 1 costs USD 1.08
USD 1 costs EUR 1.08
Every euro trade earns 1.08 dollars

Check answer

EUR 1 costs USD 1.08 The quote states units of the second currency for one unit of the first.

Sources and further reading

www.cmegroup.com/education/courses/introduction-to-fx/understanding-fx-quote-conventions.hideSubnav.educationIframe.html

Content reviewed: 29 October 2026

All lessons

Educational material with hypothetical examples. Trading can cause substantial losses. A course, pattern, stop order or past result cannot guarantee a profit or limit every loss. Practise in simulation and check current rules and product terms in your jurisdiction.

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Last updated 2024-04-26 23:16:28

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