Trading from a phone
What a 6-inch screen does to the number of decisions you make
A phone shows roughly 70 candles at a time. A desktop chart shows roughly 200. That difference does not change what you can order. It changes how often you feel you need to act. When you can see less history, each new candle looks more important than it is, and you are more likely to close a trade early or open one late.
The same USD/ZAR position of 0.10 lots is worth about R1.84 per pip at 18.4100. A 20-pip stop risks roughly R36.80 before costs. On a phone you see that rand figure on the order ticket. What you do not see is the 150 candles that formed the level your stop sits behind. Without that context, a normal pullback can look like a reversal.
Fewer visible candles also means fewer marked levels on screen at once. If you mark three levels on a desktop, you might see only one on the phone without scrolling. Scrolling takes time, and while you scroll the price moves. That delay is small, but it is enough to turn a planned entry into an unplanned one.
How to read the chart somewhere else and still place the order on the phone
The phone app is not a smaller desktop. It is a different tool. Use it for placing orders, checking your balance, and receiving alerts. Do the reading that needs history on a larger screen, even if that screen is a borrowed laptop or a tablet. If you have no larger screen, use the phone's zoom-out view first, mark your levels, then zoom back in to place the order.
A practical routine is to open the chart, zoom out until you can see at least 200 candles, and mark the two or three levels that matter. Then set an alert at each level. Close the app. When the alert sounds, open the app, confirm the level is still valid, and place the order. This keeps the small screen from deciding for you.
Alerts do not replace judgement. They tell you that price has reached a place you already chose. You still decide whether the trade is worth taking. If the alert sounds while you are busy, you can ignore it. A missed trade costs nothing. A trade taken because the last five candles looked strong can cost real rand.
What the phone hides about costs and rounding
The R36.80 figure is the stop risk before costs. The broker may round the pip value, charge a spread on entry and exit, and add commission or swap. Spread and fees vary between brokers, so the rand amount you see on the phone is an estimate, not a final number. Check the contract specifications for USD/ZAR on your broker's platform.
On a phone, the spread is often shown as a single number that updates quickly. On a desktop, you can see the bid and ask separately and watch how the spread widens around news. That widening matters for a 20-pip stop. If the spread doubles, your effective risk grows even though the stop distance in pips has not changed.
The phone also makes it easy to trade more often because it is always with you. If you risk R36.80 per trade and your account is R1,840, that is 2% of the account. Three trades in a day at that size risk 6% before costs. The phone does not warn you about that total. You have to track it yourself, or set a daily limit and stop when you reach it.
What fits on a 6-inch screen: 20 pips and R36.80
| Step | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument and price | USD/ZAR at 18.4100 | Example price used throughout this lesson |
| Position size | 0.10 lots | A standard lot is 100,000 units; 0.10 lots is 10,000 units |
| Value of one pip | R1.84 | For USD/ZAR, one pip on 0.10 lots is 10,000 × 0.0001 = 1 ZAR per pip before conversion; the example uses R1.84 as the rand value at 18.4100 |
| Stop distance | 20 pips | The distance from entry to stop, chosen by the reader |
| Risk in rand | R36.80 | 20 pips × R1.84 per pip = R36.80 |
| Candles visible on phone | About 60 to 80 | This varies by app and zoom level; it is not a fixed rule |
| Candles visible on desktop | About 200 or more | Also varies by screen size and settings |
The broker may round the pip value, charge a spread on entry and exit, and add commission or swap. The R36.80 is the stop risk before those costs. Spread and fees vary between brokers, so check the contract specifications for the instrument.
Doing it once, step by step
You will set up your phone so that it places orders without deciding them, using the levels you marked earlier on a larger screen.
- 01
Zoom out and mark levels
Open the USD/ZAR chart and zoom out until you can see at least 200 candles. Mark the two or three levels where you would consider a trade. Write them down if the app does not save them.
- 02
Set alerts at those levels
Create an alert for each level you marked. Use a sound or vibration you will notice. Do not set an alert at every candle high or low, only at the levels you chose.
- 03
Close the app and wait
Put the phone down. The alert will tell you when price arrives. Watching the chart between alerts adds no information and makes early entries more likely.
- 04
Check the level when the alert sounds
Open the app and confirm the level is still valid. Look at the last few candles to see how price arrived. If the level was broken and price has moved past it, the alert is stale.
- 05
Place the order with a stop and a limit
Enter the order on the phone with your stop 20 pips away if that matches your plan. Check the rand risk shown on the ticket against your R36.80 estimate. Remember that spread and commission will add to the final cost.
- 06
Record the trade and stop for the day
Note the entry, the stop, and the reason in a notebook or app. If you have already risked 2% of your account today, stop. The phone makes it easy to take one more trade, and that is exactly when the small screen does the most damage.
The mistake most people make here
The common mistake is to treat the phone app as a smaller desktop and keep the same habits. On a phone, the chart shows fewer candles, so it is easy to miss a support level that formed 150 candles ago, or to enter because the last five candles look strong. The fix is to do the chart reading on a larger screen, or to zoom out first, mark the levels, and only then place the order on the phone. If the phone is all you have, set alerts at the levels you care about instead of watching the chart all day. That way the small screen does not decide your trade for you.Check yourself
You buy 0.10 lots of USD/ZAR at 18.4100 and your stop is 20 pips away. If one pip is worth R1.84, what is your risk in rand before costs?
20 pips × R1.84 per pip = R36.80.
Your phone shows about 70 candles and your desktop shows about 200. If you need to see a level that formed 150 candles ago, which screen can show it without scrolling?
The desktop, because 150 candles is more than the phone's roughly 70-candle view. On the phone you would need to scroll or zoom out, which can hide the current price action.
You plan to risk R36.80 on a trade and your account balance is R1,840. What percentage of the account is at risk?
R36.80 ÷ R1,840 × 100 = 2%. This is a common guideline, not a rule that guarantees a result.
Questions that come up next
If the phone shows about 70 candles and the desktop shows about 200, how many more candles is that?
About 130 more candles. That is the desktop figure of 200 minus the phone figure of 70. Those extra candles are the history the phone leaves off the screen. They are often the candles that formed the levels your stop sits behind.
My alert sounded but I was driving. Did I lose money by missing the trade?
No. A missed trade costs nothing. You only pay costs when you place an order. The alert tells you price reached a place you already chose, not that you had to act.
I marked three levels on my laptop, but only one shows on my phone. Why?
The phone screen fits fewer candles, so levels spaced far apart fall outside the visible range. You would need to scroll to reach them. Scrolling takes time, and price moves while you scroll.
Does the phone app let me place a different order from the desktop app?
No. The phone app places the same orders, sets the same stops and shows the same balance. What differs is how much chart you see at once. That difference affects how many decisions you make in a day, not what you can order.
The rand figure on my order ticket is R36.80. Is that my final cost?
Not always. The broker may round the pip value, charge a spread on entry and exit, and add commission or swap. Spread and fees vary between brokers. Check the contract specifications for USD/ZAR before you rely on the ticket figure.
If I only have a phone, can I still read the chart properly?
Yes, with a routine. Zoom out until you can see at least 200 candles, mark the two or three levels that matter, then set an alert at each one. Place the order only when an alert sounds and the level still looks valid.
In South Africa
- Regulator
- The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) regulates financial services in South Africa. Check that a provider is authorised before using it.
- Money
- The rand is written R (ZAR). Example prices in this lesson use USD/ZAR around 18.4100.
- Payment methods
- Common ways to fund an account include EFT, instant EFT and bank cards. Availability and fees vary between providers.
- Tax
- Tax treatment of trading gains and losses depends on individual circumstances. There is no single rate stated here; speak to a registered tax practitioner.
- Time zone
- South African Standard Time is UTC+2. Market hours for USD/ZAR span the London and New York sessions, which fall in the afternoon and evening in South Africa.
The words used on this page
- candle
- A bar on the chart that shows the opening, closing, highest and lowest price for one period. A phone shows about 70 of them at a time.
- pip
- The smallest standard step in a currency price. For USD/ZAR at 18.4100, one pip is a move in the fourth decimal place.
- lot
- A fixed quantity of the instrument you are trading. In this lesson the example uses 0.10 lots of USD/ZAR.
- spread
- The gap between the buying price and the selling price. It is a cost you pay on entry and again on exit.
- swap
- A charge or credit applied when you hold a position overnight. It varies between brokers and is separate from the stop risk.
- alert
- A notification the app sends when price reaches a level you set. It tells you price arrived, not what to do next.
What to take away
- The phone app orders the same trades, but it shows roughly 70 candles against a desktop's 200, so less history is visible.
- Do the reading that needs history on a larger screen, or zoom out and mark levels before placing an order on the phone.
- Alerts let the level you chose decide when you look, rather than the last five candles.
- The rand figure on the ticket is stop risk before costs, and spread and fees vary between brokers.