The current rate in the EUR/USD is 1.33093. The expiry is 13:15, and the current time is 13:01:26 as shown on the upper right. Therefore, if you buy a call or put you are attempting to predict whether the EUR/USD will be higher or lower (respectively) than 1.33093 in about 14 minutes from now.
If you want to trade a slightly longer time frame, such as predicting where the EUR/USD will be 1 hour from now, you can choose a different expiry time using the drop down menu entitled “Expiry” toward the upper middle of figure 1. You can also choose a different asset via the drop down menu next to the Expiry.
You choose how much money you wish to place on a trade. You would enter this dollar amount in the “Amount” box and then click “BUY after selecting Call or Put. Your potential return is shown up front–in this case 180%. If you place a $100 trade and are correct, you will receive $180; you have made $80 or 80%. If your prediction is wrong, you lose $100 or %100.
Asset Selection
The number and diversity of assets you can trade with binary options varies from broker to broker. Most brokers provide binary options on popular assets such as major forex pairs including the EUR/USD, USD/JPY and GBP/USD, as well as major stock indices such as the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial. Commodities including gold, silver, oil are also generally offered.
Individual stocks are also tradable through many binary options brokers now. Not all stocks are tradable though, but generally you can choose from about 10 to 50 popular stocks, such as Google and Apple.
You can see what assets your preferred broker offers by going to the trade screen on their site and viewing the drop down menu of assets. If you want more information on the underlying asset, the broker should have an “Asset Index” or “Asset Specifications” page which outlines which assets you can trade, the times of day you can trade the asset, and any other pertinent information you should know.
Figure 2 shows a website screen shot from binary options broker EasyXP. It is their Asset Index. You can click on the multiple tabs to see information on the assets offered in the Indices, Commodities, Currencies and Stock categories. The stock category has been selected so the screenshot shows some of the stocks they offer binary options in with a bit of background on the stock.
