Foreign exchange trading in TWS

About the currency pairs in the Trader Workstation (TWS) foreign currencies can be exchanged and currency positions can be built up.

To exchange currencies against each other it is important to interpret the display of the rates correctly. TWS always displays a currency pair in the quantity quotation. For example, the indication means EUR.USD in the description column of the platform that in the case of a sell order, the amount of order corresponding to the order size Euro is sold. Against this the trader receives US dollars in exchange.

The exchange rate is represented by the bid and ask price and shows how much US dollars the trader will receive when selling one euro.

Example: In case of a sell order for EUR 1,000, the trader will then receive USD 1,128.51 (minus commissions) according to the current ask price (bid price) of 1.12851.

Currency trade example: How to exchange Euros for US Dollars?

To check how much Euros you currently have in your account, open the account window in the Trader Workstation (TWS). You open the account window in your TWS (Classic TWS view) by clicking on the > button. Account or alternatively via the path > Account and > Account overview. More information on how to Exchange foreign currencies in TWS, find it on our overview page.

Now check in the account window in the category > Market value - Real FX balance Your euro cash balance.
In this example, the stock of Euros is: 9,975 EUR.
The balance of US dollars is: 60,462 USD.

Now close the account window again to return to the main view.

The next step is to select the appropriate currency pair to Exchange Euros to USD to be able

The required currency pair is: EUR.USD

So please enter in an empty line under > Financial instrument this currency pair and press the ENTER key on your keyboard.

Alternatively, you can also create/save a list of different currency pairs to get faster access to these currency pairs. In our example, a list has been created containing various currency pairs such as EUR.USD, EUR.CAD, EUR.CHF and others.

Sell your euros with a sell order

Now we click with the right mouse button on the currency pair EUR.USD. A small window appears above which the colored buttons > BUY (blue) and > SELL (red) appear.

IMPORTANT: in our example we want to sell Euros to get USD. So for this exchange we click the > SELL (red) Button.

Now the sell order has been called. Now you have the possibility to individualize the order in the next step.

1. Here appears your Depository number and your name (hidden in the example)
2. In our example SALE You Euros and receive in return USD
3. At this point the Euro amount to be exchanged must be entered. In the example, the securities account has a euro balance of 9,975 EUR before the exchange. Of this amount, 5,000 EUR are now to be exchanged into USD. The amount can therefore be entered in this field.
   Note: the TWS has pre-configured steps of 1,000, so you can select 1K, 2K or, as in the example, 5K (K=kilo/thousand) - or type in the value yourself.
4. The order term was changed to daily > DAY set, as the currency exchange is to take place directly on today's date.
5. The order type was > MKT (stands for market order) is selected. With this order type, the order is executed directly at the next possible price.
   Alternatively, LMT (stands for Limit) can also be selected at this point if an exchange rate (so-called limit rate) is to be selected at which to exchange. However, this can lead to a delay in execution, so we have chosen MKT in this example.
6. With an account in the EU: Stock exchange > IDEALPRO
   With an account in the UK: Stock exchange > FXCONV (stands for Forex Conversion).
   For pure currency exchange you should choose the exchange >FXCONV. However, if you want to exchange currencies speculatively and want to track this price development in the future, then select > IDEALPRO at this point. The trade will then be displayed as a so-called virtual position.
7. By clicking the button > Transmit the order is placed.
   Note: depending on how you have set your TWS, often only one "Ü" button appears, as the entire column row is not displayed.

Two information windows about your order will now appear, both of which you should confirm with >Accept and continue confirm if you want to place the order.

Order preview: In the following window you can now see what effects the currency swap would have or will have.

1. The order fee (to the Forex order fees)
2. The account balance before and after the currency trade minus the order fee
3. With this trade 5.000 EUR will be exchanged into USD

By clicking on the button > Overwrite and transfer the order will now be executed.

After placing the order, the following window appears, which summarizes the order again and points out the minimum size (for more info see the bottom of this page).

Currency trade control

Now switch to the account window again and check the cash balances. As you can see in our example, instead of the original 9,975 EUR and 60,462 USD, the following currency balances are now present:

EUR: 4.972
USD: 66,104

Converted, the total value of all three cash holdings (in the example, EUR, USD and CAD are in the securities account) is now EUR 68,622 (CAD 7,186 + EUR 4,972 + USD 66,104) in this example.

Annotation: Regardless of whether you make an individual or collective exchange, you should keep the following in mind:
As soon as your order size reaches a equivalent value of EUR 20.000,- exceeds, you need a separate trade release for the product class Leveraged Forex.
You can set the corresponding release in the Account Management (Client Portal) apply (Instructions: Trading authorizations)

You are also welcome to use the FX Trader within TWS. This tool, specially designed for foreign exchange trading, helps you to always keep track of up to 16 currency pairs you have selected yourself and to place, change or delete orders very quickly.

Video: Currency Trading in Trader Workstation (TWS)

You are currently viewing placeholder content from Vimeo. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.

More Information

Unblock content Accept required service and unblock content

Note: Leveraged forex trading is only available to residents outside the EU (EEA). Persons residing within the EEA can only carry out leveraged forex trading via forex CFDs.