A tour of the trading screen (Nigeria)
This page does not teach trading from zero. It answers a narrower question: what is on the screen in front of you, which panel holds what, and what to set up before the first trade.
Four things every trading screen holds
A list of instruments. Two prices beside the one you picked. A confirmation panel. A balance. Find those four and the rest stops being noise.
The instrument list. An instrument is the thing you trade — a currency pair like EUR/USD, for example. While learning, one line of it is enough; the rest of the vocabulary sits in the word list.
The two prices. A buying price, a selling price, and the small gap between them: the spread, paid simply by opening a trade.
The confirmation panel. The last screen before a trade exists. A swap — a small overnight fee — may be added if the trade stays open overnight, and the platform shows it here first.
The balance. On a demo it is virtual money: the practice real, the loss not. The chart above it is its own skill — reading a chart.
What to find, and what it changes
| What to find | What it is | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| The instrument list | Everything tradable, such as the pair EUR/USD | Pick one line, stay on it while the layout is new |
| The two prices | Buying and selling price; the gap is the spread | The gap is what opening costs |
| The confirmation panel | The last screen before a trade exists | The overnight fee appears here, before you confirm |
| The balance | Virtual money on a demo, deposited money on a real account | Trade size is measured against it |
| Which account you are in | Demo, or real money | Whether a mistake costs nothing, or costs you |
Every row has a place where the number is readable before the trade, not after it.
Six things to set up before the first trade
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1
Choose the screen you will actually use
Exness Terminal runs in your web browser, nothing to install; on a phone there is the Exness Trade app. Learn one, not two.
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2
Point it at virtual money
Open it on a demo account first: free, virtual money, no time limit — so the whole tour costs nothing.
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3
Shrink the instrument list to one
One currency pair, watched for a week, teaches more about the panels than twenty opened once.
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4
Read the gap before reaching for a button
The gap between the two prices is the cost of opening. Try the numbers on the practice calculator.
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5
Open the confirmation panel and read every line
The overnight fee included. A panel read twice on a demo is one you will not misread on your first trade.
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6
Start a two-line log
Before: what the screen said, and why you clicked. After: what happened. Most of the common mistakes show up there within a week.
Eighteen questions about the screen in front of you
Where do I see what opening a trade costs?
In the two prices beside the instrument: the gap between the buying and the selling price is the spread, paid on opening.
Which panel shows the overnight fee?
The confirmation one. If a trade stays open overnight a swap may be added, and the platform shows it before you confirm.
Do I have to install anything to see this screen?
No. Exness Terminal runs in your web browser; on a phone there is the Exness Trade app.
Does the same layout fit on a phone?
Yes. The Exness Trade app is built for phones, and Terminal also works in a phone's browser. Both work with a demo.
Which screen should a beginner open first?
The one needing no installation, pointed at a demo account: everything on this tour exists there, and mistakes cost nothing.
Do MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 belong on this tour?
Not at the start. They are aimed at experienced traders, and finding an instrument or reading two prices needs neither.
Does the practice screen show different prices?
No — prices and platform are the same. You differ: real money brings excitement and fear, so demo results don't guarantee real-account results.
What do I set up before opening anything at all?
One instrument, a demo balance, and the habit of reading the confirmation panel. Full order: Start here.
How do I make the numbers smaller on real money?
By making trades smaller. On a Standard Cent account they are about 100 times smaller, so a misread panel costs cents — account types.
Where does the minimum deposit appear?
During sign-up, before you send money. Standard has no minimum deposit; some other account types have a region-based one — opening an account.
Can a number hit my balance that I never saw?
The prices are visible before opening and the swap before confirming. Hence the habit: no confirmation until the figure has been read.
Can the balance on screen go below zero?
No. Negative Balance Protection limits losses to the money deposited: the worst case is zero, never a debt.
So what is the largest number that can disappear?
Everything you deposited. Keep it inside what you can afford to lose entirely — risk basics.
What is worth writing down before I confirm?
The instrument, the gap between the two prices, the overnight fee if the trade may stay open, and why you clicked.
And after the trade closes?
What actually happened, in one line. Two lines per trade show, weeks later, whether results came from a plan or from luck.
Do I need a big screen to read a chart?
Many beginners find charts easier on a bigger screen, but nothing about trading requires a computer.
What does no panel on this screen tell me?
Whether the trade is a good idea. Costs are shown, direction is not, and nobody can promise you a profit.
Where do I ask when a button does something unexpected?
Exness support is available 24/7 for account matters. For what a panel means, ask on this site — an independent guide that never touches your money.
What a familiar screen does not give you
- Layout is not skill. Knowing where each panel sits says nothing about when to click one.
- Costs are shown, direction is not. Many people lose money when they start trading, usually by rushing.
- The panel that moves most is you. The same layout feels different once the balance is real money.
- Free to look. The demo has no time limit — no reason to learn the screen with money you cannot afford to lose.
Take the tour on a screen that cannot cost you anything
Open a free demo account at Exness: virtual money, no time limit, and every panel above behaves the same while you learn.
Open a free demo at Exness