What's a cross rate, and why does it matter for beginners?

EUR/GBP is a cross: neither currency is the US dollar, yet most brokers price your account in dollars. That affects pip values, swap and the way you read the chart.

For beginners, the practical questions are:

• do you trade any crosses, and why?
• how do you work out the pip value in dollars for a cross?
• which crosses behave differently from what you expected?

The cross rates guide walks through the calculation with worked examples.