Big Figure

The Big Figure is formed by the first three digits of a currency pair. For most currency pairs (for the majors, all pairs except those against the yen), these are the one digit before and the first two digits after the decimal point, i.e. EUR/USD = 1.35 and not 1.3554.

In practical trading, however, traders and stockbrokers only name the small picture among themselves and, for example, call bid/ask prices of “54/57” to each other on the floor, meaning that EUR/USD can just be sold for 1.3554, bought for 1.3557.

In contrast to this stock market jargon, which arises for practical reasons of efficiency (traders always have the Big Figure of the last days and hours at hand), almost only the Big Figure is communicated to the general public, because people not permanently trading on the stock market are more interested in the big picture. So the stock market commentator on a TV program is more likely to talk about the euro going above or below the psychologically important mark of 1.35 to the dollar. Traders who would rather trade long-term trends should also consult the big figure. This shows much better large movements and important price marks.