FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

• I am a Forex trader. What happens to my position overnight?

  
  Foreign exchange trading at Alpari (UK) is dealt on a "Spot" basis only. This means that all trades settle two business days from inception, as per market convention. The settlement date is referred to as the value date. Alpari (UK) does not arrange physical delivery of currencies hence, all positions left open from 10:59:45 p.m. to 10:59:59 p.m. (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" webpage.

  Please note that since 03 June 2007 Alpari (UK) Limited no longer closes and reopens the positions which are open at 11:00 pm London time. Instead we have introduced a more convenient method of rollover which involves debiting or crediting a customer’s trading account when he/she holds open positions overnight.
  
  The cost of rollover is based on the interest rate differential of the two currencies. Let’s assume that the interest rates in the EU and USA are 4.25% p.a and 3.5% p.a respectively. Every currency trade involves borrowing one currency to buy another. If you have a buy position of 1.0 lot in EUR/USD, then you earn 4.25% on your Euros and borrow USD at 3.5% per year.

  In other words:

  • If you have a long position (i.e. bought) and the first currency in the currency pair has a higher overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you receive a gain.
  • If you have a short position (i.e. sold) and the first currency in the currency pair has a higher overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you lose the difference.
  • If you have a long position (i.e. bought) and the first currency in the currency pair has a lower overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you lose the difference.
  • If you have a short position (i.e. sold) and the first currency in the currency pair has a lower overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you receive a gain.

  Please note that if you open and close a position before 10:59:45 p.m. (London time) you will not be subject to a rollover.

  The act of rolling the currency pair over is known as tom.next, which stands for tomorrow and the next day.

  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.

• Can I trade 24/7?

  
  You can trade Forex with Alpari (UK) 24 hours a day from Sunday 23:00 to Friday 22:00 London time.

  If for any reason it is not possible to trade via MetaTrader 4, please contact our 24-Hour Trading Desk by telephone. Please refer to Telephone Trading Etiquette before calling us.

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

  
  Refer to page "Contracts Specifications".

• I did not get my login and password at the final stage of demo account opening. What should I do?

  
  Check if there is a firewall that can block the connection to port 443 (especially if you trade from your office).

  If this is the case, click the "Enable proxy server" box to produce a check mark and then press the "Proxy" button. Ask the company system administrator for the proxy server specifications. Alternatively, ask the system administrator to open port 443.

• What are the IP addresses for demo and live accounts?

  
  When you launch the client terminal, it connects to our server loading a list of IP addresses. If you indicate an IP address, not a symbol type server name when you log in for the first time, the next time you launch Metatrader 4 the application automatically loads the names of available trading servers. The IP address you previously typed in will be changed to the symbol type name of the server (for example "Alpari UK - Demo" or "Alpari UK - Live").

  Should one of the servers become unavailable, the client terminal automatically switches to the next available server.

  For your live account choose "Alpari UK - Live" from the list of available servers. In case you cannot find this server name, type in one of the shown below IP addresses:

  • 84.45.118.30:443
  • 212.187.233.33:443
  • 212.187.196.242:443

  For your demo account choose "Alpari UK - Demo" from the list of available servers. In case you cannot find this server name, type in one of the shown below IP addresses:

  • 84.45.118.35:443
  • 212.187.233.32:443
  • 212.187.196.232:443
• On your website you said 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" item from the menu.

• 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.

  Please add the relevant currency pair to the "Market Watch" window.

• If I do not want my demo account to expire, what should I do?

  
  Your demo account will remain open indefinetely, unless there is no trading activity for a period of 90 days. In that case your demo account will be automatically deleted by our server.