Moving parts

The position moved on its own. Here is which part did it · Nigeria

A contract for difference is not a static holding. Once it is open it keeps four things running: the two prices it is measured between, the size multiplier, the overnight adjustment, and the side it will be closed on. A «my trade changed by itself» report traces to one of them.

A CFD tracks the price of something — a currency pair, gold, an index, a share — without you owning the thing itself. The account records the difference between the price you entered at and the price it is worth now. That difference is recalculated continuously, which is exactly why the number keeps moving while you watch.

Change 1

It showed a loss the second it opened

The part responsible: the two prices. Every instrument quotes a buy price and a sell price, and they are never the same number. A position opened on one side is measured against the other from the first moment.

What to check: the difference between the two quotes at the moment you clicked, and the size you used. The starting figure is that difference multiplied by size, and nothing else.

Next step: if the starting figure is bigger than that arithmetic explains, recompute it. Recheck a number.

Change 2

A small price move produced a large amount

The part responsible: the size multiplier. Trade size is measured in lots, and the value of one step of price is set entirely by how many lots are behind it. The price did not do anything unusual; the multiplier translated it.

What to check: the volume box on the closed order in your history, not the volume you meant to type. A misplaced decimal in that box is a change of scale, not a change of a few percent.

Next step: the ticket, box by box, where the size limits and their refusals live.

Change 3

A charge appeared while the position slept

The part responsible: the overnight adjustment. Carrying a CFD past the daily changeover can add or subtract a small amount, and it can run in either direction depending on the instrument and the side you are on.

What to check: the instrument specification in the terminal, which shows the figure before you open anything, and the history entry, which shows what was actually applied.

Next step: a position held for weeks accumulates these quietly. Reading the specification first is the whole prevention. Closed, not broken.

Change 4

Closing returned less than the screen promised

The part responsible: the closing side. A position opened on the buy price is closed on the sell price, so the figure shown while it runs already assumes that crossing — and a widening between the two moves the result before any decision of yours.

What to check: the fill price in the order history against the quote you were watching, and the time between the two. Seconds are enough on an active instrument.

Next step: the decoder, where «requote» and «off quotes» are separated from an ordinary difference.

Change 5

The position closed itself while you were away

The part responsible: not the contract but the account holding it. When free margin runs out, open positions are closed automatically, in an order the account rules define.

What to check: the history entry and its comment, which records whether the exit came from your own level or from the account. The two look identical on a chart and are entirely different events.

Next step: protection that did not protect.

Change 6

Two identical trades cost different amounts

The part responsible: the account type sitting under both of them. Some accounts carry the cost inside the spread; others quote a tighter spread and add a separate commission line. Same instrument, same size, different bill.

What to check: which account each trade was placed on, and whether a commission line exists in the history for one and not the other.

Next step: wrong account, not a bug.

Trading is risky and may not be suitable for everyone; a CFD position can lose money faster than the underlying price suggests.

One change with no mechanism behind it

There is a sixth complaint that belongs to none of the parts above: «the price moved against me on purpose». A CFD is measured against a feed that every client on that instrument sees at the same time. What is worth reviewing after a bad trade is the size, the exit level and the timing — three things you set — rather than the direction, which nobody sets.

Read the history

Every change above leaves a row. The row, not the memory, is the evidence.

Chart and history

Check the arithmetic

Two prices times size is a one-minute check on any surprise.

Recheck a number

Then report it

If the arithmetic does not close it, this is what to send.

Report it properly

Watch all four parts move with nothing at stake

On a practice account the same spread, the same multiplier and the same overnight adjustment apply to virtual money, which makes it a free place to see them work. The button opens the official exness.com sign-up through a partner link.

Open a free demo at Exness