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Forex Trading Guide Explained Step by Step
LyvexTrade is a forex trading guide for people starting from zero. We take one idea at a time, from what a currency pair actually says to what a single pip is worth and why gold is priced per ounce, and then show how the same thinking carries over to shares and crypto.
Each lesson uses illustrative numbers you can check with a pencil or with our calculators. Nothing here asks for your email, your money or your trust.
Read this first
LyvexTrade is a place to read, not a place to trade
The name sounds like a trading platform. It is not one. LyvexTrade is an independent education website, and that is all it will ever be.
- We do not open accounts, take deposits or process withdrawals.
- We do not place orders, hold coins or manage anyone's money.
- There is no LyvexTrade app, login, signal group or "account manager".
If someone uses the LyvexTrade name to offer you any of those things, they are not connected to this site. Stop, keep your money where it is, and read our scam warning signs.
The course, in the order we would read it
You can dip into any page, but these build on each other. Most readers need an evening or two for the whole set.
- How the big markets differ
Currencies, shares and crypto trade in very different places, at different hours and under different rules.
- How a forex trade works
Base and quote currency, bid and ask, pips and lots, with a gold example alongside.
- What trading really costs
Spreads, commissions, overnight financing and conversion fees, added up on one position.
- Sizing a position before you think about profit
Start from the amount you could lose, not the amount you hope to make.
- How shares and stock exchanges work
Ownership, dividends, indices and why prices jump at the open.
- How crypto works under the hood
Blockchains, wallets, stablecoins and the risks that come with holding your own keys.
- Checking a provider, and spotting a fake one
Ten checks to run on any broker or exchange, then the red flags of an investment scam.
Why we start with forex and gold
Currency pairs are the cleanest place to learn how a leveraged price works. Every quote has two sides, every move is counted in the same small unit, and the maths behind profit, loss and margin is the same maths you will later meet in gold, indices and crypto derivatives. Learn it once properly and the rest becomes easier to read.
Gold sits next to currencies on most platforms, is quoted against the US dollar as XAU/USD, and follows the same logic with one twist: a standard contract is usually 100 troy ounces rather than 100,000 units of money.
Two moves, worked through
| Illustrative trade | Size | Price move | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy EUR/USD | 0.1 lot (10,000 euros) | 1.1650 → 1.1680, which is 30 pips | 30 × $1 per pip = $30 gain |
| Buy gold (XAU/USD) | 0.1 lot (10 oz) | $2,500.00 → $2,512.00, which is $12 per ounce | 10 oz × $12 = $120 gain |
Prices are made up for teaching and ignore costs. Reverse either move and the same amount is lost. The pip calculator does this for any pair.
Stocks and crypto, read through the same lens
Once you can put a money value on a price move, other markets stop looking mysterious. What changes is who you are dealing with and what you actually own.
Shares
A share is part-ownership of a real company, bought through a regulated broker and traded on an exchange that opens and closes on a timetable. Prices can gap overnight when news lands while the market is shut.
Crypto
Coins live on public ledgers, trade every hour of every day and can be held by you directly or by an exchange on your behalf. Swings of ten per cent in a day are ordinary, and protections are thinner.
Next: what Bitcoin is and what USDT is.
Which markets are open now
Your local time: –
Worked out in your browser from each market's normal hours. Public holidays and early closes are not included, so treat this as a guide.
Why opening hours matter to a beginner
Spreads tend to be widest when a market is thin, such as the first hour after the weekly forex open or the minutes around a major data release. A stock that closes on bad news can open far below the previous close, jumping straight past a stop-loss. Knowing the timetable is part of knowing your risk.
Our lesson on currency exchange rates explains why the price you are quoted is rarely the one on the news.
Four calculators, no data collected
Each tool runs in your browser, shows its formula and has a lesson underneath that walks through an example by hand.
Habits worth having before your first trade
- Write the loss down firstDecide the most you are prepared to lose on one idea, in money, before looking at any chart.
- Check who holds your moneyLook the provider up on your regulator's own register, not on a link it sends you.
- Count every costA tight spread with a large overnight charge can cost more than a wider spread held for an hour.
- Treat leverage as a multiplier of mistakesIt enlarges losses exactly as much as gains, and losses arrive faster than most people expect.
Words you will meet on day one
Pip, lot, spread, margin level, swap, stop-loss, market cap, stablecoin. Each is defined in plain English in the trading glossary, and the beginner FAQ answers the questions most new readers ask next.
How every lesson is laid out
Each lesson opens with three lines that sum it up, so you know within seconds whether it is the one you need. The body then moves from definitions to mechanics to a worked example with the arithmetic shown, and ends with the risks and a few beginner questions. Where a rule matters, such as a leverage cap or a settlement date, the source is named at the foot of the page.
We keep one idea per section and avoid jargon until it has been explained. If a word slips through, the glossary is one tap away. The aim is that you finish each page able to repeat the calculation yourself with different numbers, which is the real test of whether a step has sunk in.
Who is behind LyvexTrade
A small independent editorial team that writes, checks and updates every page. We have no broker partners, earn nothing from anything you buy and take no position on where any price goes next. Read about the site, how we research and the disclaimer, or send us a correction.