FXCM's trading station is a complete nightmare to work out lot sizes and risk per pip.

That's why I love spreadbetting! But FXCM's spread betting is simply a rebranding of their overly complex lots model.

To make sense of my FXCM account I only use MT4.

For the lots model FXCM is not to blame because other brokers use the same model.

However, FXCM makes it even more complicated by the confusing TS amount display. When you open 1 lot on a mini lot account, TS shows "10". When you open 1 lot on a micro lot account, TS shows "1". From the "1" you can see that it's a micro lot account, otherwise the minimum currency amount is "10".

But I still don't understand how to tell, before trading!, if I'm going to get a micro lot or mini lot?

I didn't select (that I recall) micro or mini when the demo account was set up. Did it default to mini somehow?

What will a real account default to?

And since it's a mini account & Z2 was trained on micro (as I recall), how do I use it on a mini account?

OK, per chat with FXCM, there is no place either in MyFXCM nor in Trading Station where the account type (micro/mini/standard) or default lot size is explicitly shown.

However, there appears to be this workaround: In Trading Station, do Trading -> Orders -> Create Entry Order. In the Create Entry Order window, select a currency symbol and then look at the Amount field. If it's defaulted to 1, it's a micro account. If it's defaulted to 10, it's a mini account. Cancel if you don't really want to place an order.

HTH.

I don't know when you get a mini or micro lot demo account. Maybe FXCM distributes them randomly. For a real money account, you normally can choose.

If you're not sure, select a currency and click [Trade] with a script like this:

Wouldn't the "10" refer to 10 micro lots?

For some reason that they only know themselves, the trade size is not displayed in lots, but in k (as in kilo = 1000 units). So the "10" is always 10,000 units, regardless of the account.