Noobie Question Buy By Market or Sell by Market question

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Hi please forgive my dumb question as I am new and learning. Have read a few books but cant find the answer to this question.

 When making a trade on MT4 Is it not better to sell by Market all the time. My reason is as I write this CHF/JPY shows 118.330sell/118.357buy. If I click sell by market I start off at the exact price of 118.330 but if I buy by market the trade still starts off at 118.330 and I am behind $27 or 27 pips right from the beginning of the trade. Therefore the market must go up 27 pips before I break even. This does not seem right to me but I as I say I am new and still using a demo account so not losing any money while trying to figure this out.

Please try to keep answers simple. I am not dumb but still learning. 

 
Basically we all start in negative and have to fight our way to get positive. You should double check when opening new trade and see how much you are in negative.
 
deysmacro:
Basically we all start in negative and have to fight our way to get positive. You should double check when opening new trade and see how much you are in negative.
yeah looks like anything between 20 - 30 pips roughly but when I sell by market it seems to start exactly on the current market value.
 
kidbucko: When making a trade on MT4 Is it not better to sell by Market all the time. My reason is as I write this CHF/JPY shows 118.330sell/118.357buy. If I click sell by market I start off at the exact price of 118.330 but if I buy by market the trade still starts off at 118.330 and I am behind $27 or 27 pips right from the beginning of the trade. Therefore the market must go up 27 pips before I break even.
  1. Get your terminology correct.

    There is Tick, PIP, and Point. They are all different in general. A tick is the smallest change of price. A Point is the least significant digit quoted. In currencies a pip is defined as 0.0001 (or for JPY 0.01)

    On a 4 digit broker a point (0.0001) = pip (0.0001). [JPY 0.01 == 0.01] On a 5 digit broker a point (0.00001) = 1/10 pip (0.00010/10). Just because you quote an extra digit doesn't change the value of a pip. (0.0001 == 0.00010) EA's must adjust pips to points (for mq4.) In currencies a tick is a point. Price can change by least significant digit (1.23456 -> 1.23457)

    In metals a Tick is still the smallest change but is larger than a point. If price can change from 123.25 to 123.50, you have a TickSize of 0.25 and a point of 0.01. Pip has no meaning.

    This is why you don't use TickValue by itself. Only as a ratio with TickSize. See DeltaValuePerLot()

    You are behind $27 or 2.7 pips (0.027) or 27 points on a 5 digit broker.
  2. You buy at the Ask and sell at the Bid. But MT4 charts are Bid chart. When you buy, you pay the spread up front, and the market must rise by the spread to break even.  When you sell, the market must drop by the spread before you can close the order at break even.
 
kidbucko:
yeah looks like anything between 20 - 30 pips roughly but when I sell by market it seems to start exactly on the current market value.
It seems like that for sell but trust me, there's always a catch that comes with it.
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