Saturday, September 15, 2007

What is FOREX?

FOREX (FOReign EXchange market) is an international foreign exchange market, where money is sold and bought freely. In its present condition FOREX was launched in the 1970s, when free exchange rates were introduced, and only the participants of the market determine the price of one currency against the other proceeding from supply and demand.

As far as the freedom from any external control and free competition are concerned, FOREX is a perfect market. It is also the biggest liquid financial market. According to various assessments, money masses in the market constitute from 1 to 1.5 trillion US dollars a day. (It is impossible to determine an absolutely exact number because trading is not centralized on an exchange.) Transactions are conducted all over the world via telecommunications 24 hours a day from 00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday. Practically in every time zone (that is, in Frankfurt-on-Main, London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, etc.) there are dealers who will quote currencies.

FOREX is a more objective market, because if some of its participants would like to change prices, for some manipulative purpose, they would have to operate with tens of billions dollars. That is why any influence by a single participants in the market is practically out of the question. The superior liquidity allows the traders to open and/or close positions within a few seconds. The time of keeping a position is arbitrary and has no limits: from several seconds to many years. It depends only on your trading strategies. Although the daily fluctuations of currencies are rather insignificant, you may use the credit lines, that are accessible even to currency speculators with small capitals ($ 1,000 - 5,000), where the profit may be impressive. (You can learn more about it in the section: The main principles of trading.)

The idea of marginal trading stems from the fact that in FOREX speculative interests can be satisfied without a real money supply. This decreases overhead expenses for transferring money and gives an opportunity to open positions with a small account in US dollars, buying and selling a lot of other currencies. That is, on can conduct transactions very quickly, getting a big profit, when the exchange rates go up or down. Many speculative transactions in the international financial markets are made on the principles of marginal trading.

Margin trading is trading with a borrowed capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market uses lots. 1 lot equals approximately $100,000, but to open it it is necessary to have only from 0.5% to 4% of the sum.

For example, you have analyzed the situation in the market and come to the conclusion that the pound will go up against the dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the pound (GBP) with the margin 1% (1:1000 leverage) at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to go up. Some time later your expectations become true. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips (about $ 405). For the calculation of 1 pip click here.

Everyday fluctuations of currencies constitute about 100 to 150 pips, giving FX traders an opportunity to make money on these changes.

In FOREX, it's not obligatory to buy some currency first in order to sell it later. It's possible to open positions for buying and selling any currency without actually having it. Usually Internet-brokers establish the minimum deposit such as $ 2000, for working in the FOREX market, and grant a leverage of 1:100. That is, opening the position at $100,000, a trader invests $1,000 and receives $99.000 as a credit. The major currencies traded in FOREX, are Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British Pound (GBP), and Swiss Franc (CHF). All of them are traded against the US dollar (USD).

In order to assess the situation in the market a trader has to be able to use fundamental and/or technical analysis, as well as to make decisions in the constantly changing current of information about political and economic character. Most small and medium players in financial markets use technical analysis. Technical analysis presupposes that all the information about the market and its further fluctuations is contained in the price chain. Any factor, that has some influence on the price, be it economic, political or psychological, has already been considered by the market and included in the price. The initial data for a technical analysis are prices: the highest and the lowest prices, the price of opening and closing within a certain period of time, and the volume of transactions.

A technical analysis is founded on three suppositions:
  • Movement of the market considers everything;
  • Movement of prices is purposeful;
  • History repeats itself.
That is, technical analysis is a statistical and mathematical analysis of previous quotes and a prognosis of coming prices.

A number of technical indicators have been installed into the PRO-CHARTS trading system. Analyzing the indicators one can come to the conclusion about further movements of the quoted currencies. For a more detailed description of the indicators, analyzing price charts and volumes of trading, click here.

Fundamental analysis is an analysis of current situations in the country of the currency, such as its economy, political events, and rumors. The country's economy depends on the rate of inflation and unemployment, on the interest rate of its Central Bank, and on tax policy. Political stability also influences the exchange rate. Policy of the Central Bank has a special role, as concentrated interventions or refusal from them greatly influence the exchange rate.

At the same time one should not consider fundamental analysis just as an analysis of the economic situation in the country itself. A far bigger role in the FOREX market belongs to the expectations of the market participants and their assessment of these expectations. Various prognoses and bulletins, issued by the participants, have a strong influence on the expectations. Very often an effect of the so-called self-filfilling prophecy occurs when market players raise or lower the exchange rates according to the prognosis. But a deep and thorough fundamental analysis is available only for big banks with a staff of professional analysts and constant access to a wide field of information.

In spite of these different approaches, both forms of analyses complement one another. Traders who act on the basis of a fundamental analysis, have to consider some technical characteristics of the market (the main rates of support, such as resistance and resale), and supporters of the technical approach to the market must track the main news (interest rates, important political events).


The main merits of the FOREX market are:
  • The biggest number of participants and the largest volumes of transactions;
  • Superior liquidity and speed of the market: transactions are conducted within a few seconds according to online quotes;
  • The market works 24 hours a day, every working days;
  • A trader can open a position for any period of time he wants;
  • No fees, except for the difference between buying and selling prices;
  • An opportunity to get a bigger profit that the invested sum;
  • Qualified work in the FOREX market can become your main professional activity;
  • You can make deals any time you like.
FOREX (FOReign EXchange market) is an international foreign exchange market, where money is sold and bought freely. In its present condition FOREX was launched in the 1970s, when free exchange rates were introduced, and only the participants of the market determine the price of one currency against the other proceeding from supply and demand.

As far as the freedom from any external control and free competition are concerned, FOREX is a perfect market. It is also the biggest liquid financial market. According to various assessments, money masses in the market constitute from 1 to 1.5 trillion US dollars a day. (It is impossible to determine an absolutely exact number because trading is not centralized on an exchange.) Transactions are conducted all over the world via telecommunications 24 hours a day from 00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday. Practically in every time zone (that is, in Frankfurt-on-Main, London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, etc.) there are dealers who will quote currencies.

FOREX is a more objective market, because if some of its participants would like to change prices, for some manipulative purpose, they would have to operate with tens of billions dollars. That is why any influence by a single participants in the market is practically out of the question. The superior liquidity allows the traders to open and/or close positions within a few seconds. The time of keeping a position is arbitrary and has no limits: from several seconds to many years. It depends only on your trading strategies. Although the daily fluctuations of currencies are rather insignificant, you may use the credit lines, that are accessible even to currency speculators with small capitals ($ 1,000 - 5,000), where the profit may be impressive. (You can learn more about it in the section: The main principles of trading.)

The idea of marginal trading stems from the fact that in FOREX speculative interests can be satisfied without a real money supply. This decreases overhead expenses for transferring money and gives an opportunity to open positions with a small account in US dollars, buying and selling a lot of other currencies. That is, on can conduct transactions very quickly, getting a big profit, when the exchange rates go up or down. Many speculative transactions in the international financial markets are made on the principles of marginal trading.

Margin trading is trading with a borrowed capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market uses lots. 1 lot equals approximately $100,000, but to open it it is necessary to have only from 0.5% to 4% of the sum.

For example, you have analyzed the situation in the market and come to the conclusion that the pound will go up against the dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the pound (GBP) with the margin 1% (1:1000 leverage) at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to go up. Some time later your expectations become true. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips (about $ 405). For the calculation of 1 pip click here.

Everyday fluctuations of currencies constitute about 100 to 150 pips, giving FX traders an opportunity to make money on these changes.

In FOREX, it's not obligatory to buy some currency first in order to sell it later. It's possible to open positions for buying and selling any currency without actually having it. Usually Internet-brokers establish the minimum deposit such as $ 2000, for working in the FOREX market, and grant a leverage of 1:100. That is, opening the position at $100,000, a trader invests $1,000 and receives $99.000 as a credit. The major currencies traded in FOREX, are Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British Pound (GBP), and Swiss Franc (CHF). All of them are traded against the US dollar (USD).

In order to assess the situation in the market a trader has to be able to use fundamental and/or technical analysis, as well as to make decisions in the constantly changing current of information about political and economic character. Most small and medium players in financial markets use technical analysis. Technical analysis presupposes that all the information about the market and its further fluctuations is contained in the price chain. Any factor, that has some influence on the price, be it economic, political or psychological, has already been considered by the market and included in the price. The initial data for a technical analysis are prices: the highest and the lowest prices, the price of opening and closing within a certain period of time, and the volume of transactions.

A technical analysis is founded on three suppositions:
  • Movement of the market considers everything;
  • Movement of prices is purposeful;
  • History repeats itself.
That is, technical analysis is a statistical and mathematical analysis of previous quotes and a prognosis of coming prices.

A number of technical indicators have been installed into the PRO-CHARTS trading system. Analyzing the indicators one can come to the conclusion about further movements of the quoted currencies. For a more detailed description of the indicators, analyzing price charts and volumes of trading, click here.

Fundamental analysis is an analysis of current situations in the country of the currency, such as its economy, political events, and rumors. The country's economy depends on the rate of inflation and unemployment, on the interest rate of its Central Bank, and on tax policy. Political stability also influences the exchange rate. Policy of the Central Bank has a special role, as concentrated interventions or refusal from them greatly influence the exchange rate.

At the same time one should not consider fundamental analysis just as an analysis of the economic situation in the country itself. A far bigger role in the FOREX market belongs to the expectations of the market participants and their assessment of these expectations. Various prognoses and bulletins, issued by the participants, have a strong influence on the expectations. Very often an effect of the so-called self-filfilling prophecy occurs when market players raise or lower the exchange rates according to the prognosis. But a deep and thorough fundamental analysis is available only for big banks with a staff of professional analysts and constant access to a wide field of information.

In spite of these different approaches, both forms of analyses complement one another. Traders who act on the basis of a fundamental analysis, have to consider some technical characteristics of the market (the main rates of support, such as resistance and resale), and supporters of the technical approach to the market must track the main news (interest rates, important political events).

The main merits of the FOREX market are:
  • The biggest number of participants and the largest volumes of transactions;
  • Superior liquidity and speed of the market: transactions are conducted within a few seconds according to online quotes;
  • The market works 24 hours a day, every working days;
  • A trader can open a position for any period of time he wants;
  • No fees, except for the difference between buying and selling prices;
  • An opportunity to get a bigger profit that the invested sum;
  • Qualified work in the FOREX market can become your main professional activity;
  • You can make deals any time you like.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Forex Future Trading

Forex Future Trading by Rajamuma

The profits of forex over currency futures trading are significant. The difference between the two instruments range from truth-seeking realities such as the history of each, their objective viewers, and their importance in the modern forex markets, to more concrete issues such as transactions fees, margin necessities, access to liquidity, easiness of use and the technical and educational support obtainable by sources of each service. These dissimilarities sketched below:

More Volume = Improved Liquidity. Daily money futures volume on the CME is now above 2% of the volume seen each day in the forex markets. Incomparable liquidity is one of many advantages that forex markets clutch more currency futures. The truth told this is old news. Any currency professional can tell you that cash has been king since daybreak of the modern currency markets in the early 1970's. The actual news is that individual dealers from every forex risk profile now have full right to use to the opportunities offered in the forex markets.

Forex markets give tighter bid to offer increases than currency futures markets. By reversing the futures cost to evaluate it to cash, you can willingly see that in the USD/CHF example over, inverting the futures selling price of .5894 - .5897 results in a currency price of 1.6958 - 1.6966, 8 pips vs. the 5-pip increase available in the forex currency markets.

Forex markets offer higher advantage and lower margin charge than those found in currency futures trading. When trading currency futures, buyers have one margin charge for "day" buy and sells and another for "overnight" situations. These forex margin rates can differ depending on business size. When trading cash markets, you have admission to the same margin rates day and night. Certainly, trading on margin enlarges equally your fx profits AND your losses.

Forex markets make use of easily understood and across the world used terms and cost quotes. Currency futures quotes are inversions of the cash value. For instance, if the cash price for USD/CHF is 1.7100/1.7105, the future corresponding is .5894/ .5897; a method followed only in the limits of futures trading.

Currency futures charges have the added difficulty of with an advance forex part that takes into account a time factor, interest rates and the interest disparities flanked by different currencies. The forex markets need no such changes, mathematical manipulation or thought for the interest rate factor of futures agreements.

Forex trades performed through FOREX.com are charge free*. Currency futures have the extra baggage of trading commissions, trade fees and defrayal fees.

How Does FOREX Work?

FOREX works very simply. Exchanging foreign currency is the buying of one currency while selling another at the exact same time. It is done in pairs. Four major currency pairs are usually used for investment purposes. They are the Euro against the US dollar, the US dollar against the Japanese yen, the British pound against the US dollar, and the US dollar against the Swiss franc. The way it works is, with the ever changing value of each nations currency constantly changing, one nations currency is never precisely equal to another. FOREX traders use this to turn a profit.

For example, if the 1 Japanese Yen is worth approximately $1.48 U.S. and you believe that the Yen will increase in value in comparison to the U.S. dollar, you would sell your dollar and purchase the Yen. Once the value of the Yen increases, you would sell it back to purchase the U.S. dollar.

  • E.X. 1: The Yen is currently valued at $1.48 USD. You sell $14,800 to buy 10,000 Yen. The Yen proceeds to increase in value. After a short amount of time, your Yen is valued at $1.62 USD. You sell your 10,000 and re-purchase the USD. Your initial investment of $14,800 has turned into $16,200, almost a 10% profit.
One thing that makes FOREX so much more exciting is the large amount of margin that is allowed by most brokerages. Margin is a system used in FOREX that allows an individual to increase his purchasing power greatly. An investment on $1000 of your own money will offer you $100,000 worth of purchasing power at a 100:1 ratio that most brokerages offer. This allows you to purchase and sell in much greater amounts than would otherwise be possible.

Introducing Brokers - Why should you become one?

Your benefits

* Provide your customers and contact with access to the freedom that comes from actively trading their own money online on secure forex trading platforms.

* Increase the number of investment and money-making opportunities you offer your clients and network, which in turn improves the scope and reputation of your own business and can lead to greater client retention levels.

* You are paid a commission based on the trading volume of the clients you refer. For your clients, this doesn't mean that they pay more. You are remunerated exclusively by the forex broker out of his profit from your referred clients.

* You can receive daily reports on the commissions you generate through the clients you refer to your forex broker. This enables you to monitor the growth of you new business online, 24 hours a day.

* You can take advantage of the explosive growth in the demand for alternative investments by offering your high-net worth clients a managed forex account. By introducing clients to a managed forex account, you gain because their investments are being managed by professionals and this increases your reputation as a quality financial services provider.

* It's easy to get started as an Introducing Broker. In fact, if you simply decide you want to introduce clients for a commission based on their trade volume (which is the most popular type of Introducing Broker agreement), then all you need is a relationship with a couple of forex brokers.

* You can leverage the potential in your existing customer base or commercial relationships by constantly improving the level and depth of financial services you provide.

* Your clients often gain better service from you (if you choose to manage your relationship with them directly. The reason for this is that most forex brokers are international and that means that they may not have the in-depth expertise or understanding of your clients specific needs as you do. This improves your service offering and assists in building client loyalty.

* Your own Swiss bank account. A few forex brokers even provide Introducing Brokers with their own Swiss bank account where all commissions are paid. The advantages of having your own Swiss bank account are well known, but there are some great free guides to Swiss banking on the net.

Your clients' benefits

* Your clients can trade forex whenever they choose. The forex market is the most liquid and most actively traded market in the world. This means that 24 hours a day from Sunday evening 22:00 CET until Friday evening 22:00 CET they can decide for themselves when they want to trade and when they want time off.

* Your clients get free account management services to make their online forex trading even easier. All reputable forex brokers provide a complete back office (account management) system, free of charge to all clients.

* Your clients can diversify their investment into online forex trading. More and more investors and traders choose to spread their risk by investing in a number of capital market products, such as stocks, forex, futures etc.

* Your clients do not have to be investment wizards. Anyone can learn how to trade forex in a few hours. In fact, most forex brokers provide in-depth training in how to use their systems.

Getting started as an Introducing Broker

Make sure that the forex broker you choose to become an Introducing Broker for provides all the assistance you require to grow your new business.

The best ones in the market will provide you with the support, materials and training you need so that you can promote their online currency services to your clients and contacts in the most informed and compelling way as possible.

Fiorenzo Fontana

Can you become a Forex Introducing Broker?

Any individual or company that has contacts with individuals or other companies who might be interested in trading forex online, either by themselves or through a forex broker can become a forex Introducing Broker.

Below are some typical examples of companies that can become successful forex Introducing Brokers (IBs). This list is not exhaustive, so if you don't see a description of your company type or your personal background, you can check out any forex broker online.


Independent Financial Advisers

Successful Forex Traders

Banks

Insurance companies

Advertising companies

Organisers of financial seminars

Estate agents

Sales Executives with interested* client base

Any business professional with interested* clients


*How do you know if your contacts are interested in the forex markets?


If your contacts are the kind of people who satisfy all or some of the following criteria, then the chances are that they might be interested in trading forex. And this means that you can earn commissions from introducing them to a forex broker:


Previous experience in trading online

Previous experience in investing

Have disposable income to trade

(usually above USD10,000)

Are interested in alternative forms of investment

Want to trade themselves

Want professionals to trade for them



There are few prospects that offer individual or commercial entrepreneurs more benefits than those provided by becoming an introducing broker in the online foreign exchange business. These benefits are driving more and more ambitious individuals and companies to offer their customers and contacts a direct route to trading currencies online and/or investing their money in professionally managed forex accounts.

Qualified businesses and individuals across the world take advantage of the rapid growth of the forex market via an introducing broker relationship. If you want to be one of them, read the section below on why you should become an Introducing Broker.

Below, I have listed just some of the advantages of becoming an Introducing Broker for an online forex brokerage:

Forex Trading - Trade with a Strategy

Trading successfully is by no means a simple matter. It requires time, market knowledge and market understanding and a large amount of self restraint.

Anyone who says you can consistently make money in foreign exchange markets is being untruthful. Foreign exchange by nature, is a volatile market. The practice of trading it by way of margin increases that volatility exponentially. We are therefore talking about a very 'fast market' which is naturally inconsistent. Following that precept, it is logical to say that in order to make a successful trade, a trader has to take into account technical and fundamental data and make an informed decision based on his perception of market sentiment and market expectation. Timing a trade correctly is probably the most important variable in trading successfully but invariably there will be times where a traders' timing will be off. Don't loose heart if you loose on some trades. Experienced and seasoned traders do not expect to generate returns on every trade.

Let's enumerate what a trader needs to do in order to put the best chances for profitable trades on his side:

Trade with money you can afford to lose:
Trading forex markets is speculative and can result in loss, it is also exciting, exhilarating and can be addictive. The more you are 'involved with your money' the harder it is to make a clear-headed decision. Money you have earned is precious, but money you need to survive should never be traded.

If in doubt, stay out:
If you're unsure about a trade and find you're hesitating, stay on the sidelines.

Trade logical transaction sizes:
Margin trading allows the forex trader a very large amount of leverage, trading at full margin capacity can make for some very large profits or losses on an account. Scaling your trades so that you may re-enter the market or make transactions on other currencies is generally wiser. In short, don't trade amounts that can potentially wipe you out and don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Identify the state of the market:
What is the market doing? Is it trending upwards, downwards, is it in a trading range. Is the trend strong or weak, did it begin long ago or does it look like a new trend that's forming. Getting a clear picture of the market situation is laying the groundwork for a successful trade.
Determine what time frame you're trading on:
Many traders get in the market without thinking when they would like to get out, after all the goal is to make money. This is true but when trading, one must extrapolate in his mind's eye the movement that one expects to happen. Within this extrapolation, resides a price evolution during a certain period of time. Attached to this is the idea of exit price. The importance of this is to mentally put your trade in perspective and although it is clearly impossible to know exactly when you will exit the market, it is important to define from the outset if you'll be 'scalping' (trying to get a few points off the market) trading intra-day, or going longer term. This will also determine what chart period you're looking at. If you trade many times a day, there's no point basing your technical analysis on a daily graph, you'll probably want to analyse 30 minute or hour graphs. Additionally it is important to know the different time periods when various financial centers enter and exit the market as this creates more or less volatility and liquidity and can influence market movements.

Time your trade:
You can be right about a potential market movement but be too early or too late when you enter the trade. Timing considerations are twofold, an expected market figure like CPI, retail sales or a federal reserve decision can consolidate a movement that's already underway. Timing your move means knowing what's expected and taking into account all considerations before trading. Technical analysis can help you identify when and at what price a move may occur.

Gauge market sentiment:
Market sentiment is what most of the market is perceived to be feeling about the market and therefore what it is doing or will do. This is basically about trend. You may have heard the term 'the trend is your friend', this basically means that if you're in the right direction with a strong trend you will make successful trades. This of course is very simplistic, a trend is capable of reversal at any time. Technical and fundamental data can indicate however if the trend has begun long ago and if it is strong or weak.

Market expectation:
Market expection relates to what most people are expecting as far as upcoming news is concerned. If people are expecting an interest rate to rise and it does, then there usually will not be much of a movement because the information will already have been 'discounted' by the market, alternatively if the adverse happens, markets will usually react violently.
Use what other traders use:
In a perfect world, every trader would be looking at a 14 day RSI and making trading decisions based on that. If that was the case, when RSI would go under the 30 level, everyone would buy and by consequence the price would rise. Needless to say, the world is not perfect and not all market participants follow the same technical indicators, draw the same trendlines and identify the same support & resistance levels. The great diversity of opinions and techniques used translates directly into price diversity. Traders however have a tendency to use a limited variety of technical tools. The most common are 9 and 14 day RSI, obvious trendlines and support levels, fibonnacci retracement, MACD and 9, 20 & 40 day exponential moving averages. The closer you get to what most traders are looking at, the more precise your estimations will be. The reason for this is simple arithmetic, larger numbers of buyers than sellers at a certain price will move the market up from that price and vice-versa.

Forex Trading - Advantages

Although the forex market is by far the largest and most liquid in the world, day traders have up to now focused on seeking profits in mainly stock and futures markets. This is mainly due to the restrictive nature of bank-offered forex trading services.

There are many advantages to trading spot foreign exchange as opposed to trading stocks and futures. Below are listed those main advantages.

1. Bid/Ask Spread rates

Spread rates have tightened dramatically in the last years. Most online forex brokers offer a spread of 5 pips on EURUSD which is the most widely traded and liquid currency pair.

In the futures market spreads can vary anywhere between 5 and 9 pips and can become even larger under illiquid market conditions (which tends to happen substantially more often in futures currencies).

2. Margins requirements

Usually a foreign exchange trading with a 1% margin is available. In layman's terms that means a trader can control a position of a value of USD 1'000'000 with a mere USD 10'000 in his account. By comparison, futures margins are not only constantly changing but are also often quite sizeable. Stocks are generally traded on a non-margined basis and when they are, it can be as restrictive as 50% or so.

3. 24 hour market

Foreign exchange market trading occurs over a 24 hour period picking up in Asia around 24:00 CET Sunday evening and coming to an end in the United States on Friday around 23:00 CET. Although ECNs (electronic communications networks) exist for stock markets and futures markets (like Globex) that supply after hours trading, liquidity is often low and prices offered can often be uncompetitive.
4. No Limit up / limit down

Futures markets contain certain constraints that limit the number and type of transactions a trader can make under certain price conditions. When the price of a certain currency rises or falls beyond a certain pre-determined daily level traders are restricted from initiating new positions and are limited only to liquidating existing positions if they so desire. This mechanism is meant to control daily price volatility but in effect since the futures currency market follows the spot market anyway, the following day the futures market may undergo what is called a 'gap' or in other words the futures price will re-adjust to the spot price the next day. In the OTC market no such trading constraints exist permitting the trader to truly implement his trading strategy to the fullest extent. Since a trader can protect his position from large unexpected price movements with stop-loss orders the high volatility in the spot market can be fully controlled.
5. Sell before you buy

Equity brokers offer very restrictive short-selling margin requirements to customers. This means that a customer does not possess the liquidity to be able to sell stock before he buys it. Margin wise, a trader has exactly the same capacity when initiating a selling or buying position in the spot market. In spot trading when you're selling one currency, you're necessarily buying another.

Why opt for Forex trading?

With more than $1.5 trillion USD being traded daily, the foreign exchange market has managed to become the world's largest financial market, over the last three decades. With the large minimum deal sizes and rigid financial requirements, the Forex market, till recently, was not explored by the common trader or individual investor. But now the average investors can also engage in Forex trading. Some of the advantages of Forex trading are as follows:

24 hours trading
Forex gives its traders a 24 hour trading opportunity. Being a Forex trader, you can trade 24 hours a day from Sunday 5:00 pm (ET) to Friday 4:30 pm. This gives traders an opportunity to trade according to their convenience, going by their own schedule and also a chance to react instantly to any breaking news of the markets.

High levels of liquidity
Also, acting as a huge attraction is the high liquidity. With almost 90% of all the currency transactions consisting of 7 major currency pairs, helps these currencies display price stability, smooth trends, narrow spreads and high levels of liquidity. This liquidity mainly comes from the banks which offer cash flow to companies, investors and market players.

No commission
With “free of commission” trading, Forex trade lets you keep 100% of your trading profits. This makes Forex trading even more attractive as a business opportunity, especially for those who want to deal on a regular basis.

Steady trading prospects
The market is constantly moving and since Forex trading involves buying and selling of currencies, so traders can easily operate in a rising or falling market. This is because, there are always trading prospects, whether a currency is rising or deteriorating in relation to another currency. So there is always profit potential in the Forex market, whether it’s a rising one or a falling one.

Along with these major advantages, the Forex market also has some other merits such as, Forex trading gives its traders, an opportunity to bigger profits as returns on their invested money. Also, since the market is open 24 hours a day, 5.5 days a week, it gives the investors can make their deals anytime they want to.

With such superior speed of the market, and fine liquidity, even the largest of transactions are conducted within a few seconds. You can study the Advantages and Disadvantages of Forex Trading as well on our website.

20 Rules To Stop Losing Money

1. Don't trust others opinions -
It's your money at stake, not theirs. Do your own analysis, regardless of the information source.
2. Don't believe in a company -
Trading is not investment. Remember the numbers and forget the press releases. Leave the American Dream to Peter Lynch.
3. Don't break your rules -
You made them for tough situations, just like the one you're probably in right now.
4. Don't try to get even -
Trading is never a game of catch-up. Every position must stand on its merits. Take your loss with composure, and take the next trade with absolute discipline.
5. Don't trade over your head -
If your last name isn't Buffett or Cramer, don't trade like them. Concentrate on playing the game well, and don't worry about making money.
6. Don't seek the Holy Grail -
There is no secret trading formula, other than solid risk management. So stop looking for it.
7. Don't forget your discipline -
Learning the basics is easy. Most traders fail due to a lack of discipline, not a lack of knowledge.
8. Don't chase the crowd -
Listen to the beat of your own drummer. By the time the crowd acts, you're probably too late…or too early.
9. Don't trade the obvious -
The prettiest patterns set up the most painful losses. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
10. Don't ignore the warning signs -
Big losses rarely come without warning. Don't wait for a lifeboat to abandon a sinking ship.
11. Don't count your chickens -
Profits aren't booked until the trade is closed. The market gives and the market takes away with great fury.
12. Don't forget the plan -
Remember the reasons you took the trade in the first place, and don't get blinded by volatility.
13. Don't have a paycheck mentality -
You don't deserve anything for all of your hard work. The market only pays off when you're right, and your timing is really, really good.
14. Don't join a group -
Trading is not a team sport. Avoid stock boards, chatrooms and financial TV. You want the truth, not blind support from others with your point of view.
15. Don't ignore your intuition -
Respect the little voice that tells you what to do, and what to avoid. That's the voice of the winner trying to get into your thick head.
16. Don't hate losing -
Expect to win and lose with great regularity. Expect the losing to teach you more about winning, than the winning itself.
17. Don't fall into the complexity trap -
A well-trained eye is more effective than a stack of indicators. Common sense is more valuable than a backtested system.
18. Don't confuse execution with opportunity -
Overpriced software won't help you trade like a pro. Pretty colors and flashing lights make you a faster trader, not a better one.
19. Don't project your personal life -
Trading gives you the perfect opportunity to discover just how screwed up your life really is. Get your own house in order before playing the markets.
20. Don't think its entertainment -
Trading should be boring most of the time, just like the real job you have right now.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Economic Fundamental Aspect

Share market is very corporate dependant, we need to understand the corporate strategy, what is current corporate trend, who is managing the company? Is the company reliable? Is the annual report reflect true situation?
On the other hand, Forex market is economic dependant among countries. Unlike the financial, political and crisis factors, economic factors occur in a steady stream. Therefore, its very import to keep an eye on the economic announcement in order to make the enter and exit decision on your position.

10 Things You Should Beware of During Currency Trading:

Watch out of those who guarantee large profits. Stay away from those who promise no financial free Beware of those everything sounds very easy. Don’t trade on Margin unless you have been trained Please take cautious to online/phony transferring cash in online trading Make sure its really interbank market Job offer as Account Executive might lead you to use your money for currency trading Need to ensure the company background Avoid those company who won’t let you know their background Don’t fully trust any agency or broker, put some effort to understand currency trading by yourself.

Make Profit in Forex Trading

Foreign exchange trading is mainly about buy and sell activities. The theory is slightly similar with share market. To make the profit, there is the only way which is buy at lower price and sell at higher price, or we can also sell at higher price first and buy at lower price. Is it very easy? It is actually not that difficult. What we need to do is to analyze the forex in a correct way and do the good trade. Together with good money management and proper guideline, I can say that success will be eventually more on your side.
Sometimes, trader involves in foreign exchange not because of make profit but just do not want to lose money. Let me take an example, A US Construction Company want to build a subway in India and it is going to take about 7 years with $50 million construction cost. The first thing this company will do is to hedge the dollar value of the project. By buying or selling US dollar against the future market value, no matter how big the amplitude of the fluctuation, the company will not lose any money.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Forex Trading - Is NOT Easy 95% of Traders Lose

The majority of forex traders think it is and make the same errors time and time again and there BASIC. Below I have outlined these errors, avoid them and accept the truth about forex trading and you can win and win big time.

First let's look at the most common errors.

1. Buying success

In forex trading there are plenty of vendors who will sell you a worthless course with no track record for a few hundred dollars and promise you un-told riches and guess what?

The vast majority are junk, have no real track record (a hypothetical one is not worht the paper its written on as its done in hindsight knowing the closing prices) and rely on hyped up advertising and lies to appeal to the greed and naivety of the reader.

Let's face it, if these vendors could do what they said they could, they shut up and not bother you.

2. Using tools that will NEVER work

Most traders use tools that will never work and here are just a few:

- Scientific Systems

Elliot wave and Fibonacci are the kings of these tools. Both believe that markets are scientific - well there not.

A child in school knows that if they were, there would be no market as we would all know the price in advance. A market is a market, because it depends on opinions of humans and they DON'T think logically or to a scientific theory.

- Day trading

The time period is to short. All short term volatility is random and you can never predict support and resistance in a matter of hours or a day. You may as well flip a coin.

Ever seen a day trader with a real time long term track record of profits? - Neither have I - Let me know if you find one.

- Lack of confidence and discipline

Even traders with good methods can lack this - You need to have rock solid confidence in your system to help you trade through periods of losses.

This is the HARDEST part of trading and most traders simply cannot do it.

It really is a learned skill but it takes time a total understanding of your method and knowing what your trading edge is - If you don't know what your edge is you don't have one!

The Truth About Forex Trading Is

The way to make money is not to follow others, or think its easy - its not.

The way to succeed is to work smart and hard and the rewards are immense.

Accept the reality that you need to devise a mindset to deal with an entity that is all powerful - only you can be wrong as the market price is right.

Learn to trade it by accepting this fact.

It's going to make you look stupid at times, but accept its power and work within its rules and treat trading as an odds game and you can win and win big.

Most traders are naive greedy or stupid - or even all three combined looking for an easy dollar and that's why they lose.

Get the right mindset work hard, understand yourself and understand the market, treat it as an odds game and you could win at forex trading.

Everything about forex trading success can be learned the rest is up to you.

FX Forex currency trading beginner

Forex currency trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another.

For the beginner, FX FOREX currency trading the popular currency pairs are Euro dollar and the US dollar (EUR/USD) or the British pound and the Japanese yen (GBP/JPY).

The Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX) fx is the largest financial market in the world. For the beginner forex currency trading has the highest liquidity in the financial market with daily volume in excess of $1.95 trillion. The forex currency trading market is more than three times the total of the stocks and futures markets combined.

The FX FOREX spot market does not have a physical location or a central exchange this makes it's very convenient for a beginner trading forex currency. Due to the lack of a physical exchange the forex market operates on a 24 hour basis spanning from one time zone to another across the major financial centers.


Currencies Traded

The beginner forex currency trading should take note of the major currencies are the U.S. dollar (USD), the Euro dollar (EUR), the Japanese yen (JPY), the British pound sterling (GBP) [known as cable], the Swiss franc (CHF), the Canadian dollar (CAD), and the Australian dollar (AUD). All other currencies are referred to as minors.

Forex fx currency symbols are always three letters, where the first two letters identify the name of the currency and the third letter identifies the name of the country's currency.

Beginner forex currency trading Currency Prices

Currency prices are affected by a variety of economic and political conditions. The beginner trading forex currency should take note to probably the most important influences to the currency prices are interest rates, international trade, inflation, and political stability. Governments participate in the foreign exchange market to influence the value of their currencies. The governments flood the market with their domestic currency in an attempt to lower the currency price or conversely, buying in order to raise the price. This is generally known as central bank intervention. The beginner trading forex currency should be aware that large market orders can cause high volatility in currency prices. Due to the size and volume of the forex market its impossible for any entity to drive the market for any length of time.

Important Starting Tips for the Forex Trading Beginner

Getting started in trading currency can be an extremely daunting task for someone with no experience in the forex market. There are many pitfalls out there that can trip up even the most seasoned trader, and it can be easy to become confused and discouraged by the many nuances of currency trading. By following a few simple tips, you can avoid these frustrations and get started on the path to becoming a successful forex trader.

The first and most important decision you will have to make is choosing the right brokerage firm. There are many different options available, and some are vastly better than others. As a rule, you should make sure that the institution is a well-established, reputable company, preferably with ties to a bank or other financial institution. Registration with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is an absolute must, as this is a good determining factor in a brokerage's legitimacy. Another characteristic to look for is a wide range of research tools such as real-time quotes, charts, and professionally written research reports. You want to choose a brokerage that makes available as much information as possible to its account holders, as the more information you have, the more successful you will be in trading. Finally, you should choose a brokerage that has a favorable spread, which is the difference between the buying price and the selling price of a currency at a given moment. This difference in values represents the amount that the brokerage takes off the top of each trade, so a tighter spread translates into more money in your pocket each time.

After you choose a good brokerage, the next thing you should do is open up a demo account first. An account type that is offered by most brokerages, the demo account has a pretend balance that allows the beginning investor to play around with different ideas and get a general feel for currency trading before taking the plunge with real money. This is a great way to practice trading and learn how to properly research a currency pair before taking a position. As demo accounts usually last for a month, you'll have plenty of time to gain experience while also learning how the software works so that you can make informed decisions and lightning-fast trades when the time comes. It is important to not rush through this phase of the learning process, to fully maximize this valuable tool that has been made available.

Once you have graduated to using a real account with actual money, it is imperative that you start small and not try to break the bank out of the starting gate. Placing calculated trades using the minimum possible amount of currency can be seen as an extension of the learning process that occurred during the demo account phase. Since your own money is being used this time, different emotions will be involved in the trading process, so this is the point at which you can learn how to correctly deal with these emotions before they can affect your trading success. The other thing to keep in mind is that it is a very bad idea to use a lot of leverage right away. Since beginning forex traders inevitably take some losses while learning the process, a margin call right at the outset is very possible for someone who is close to the margin limit, and this can be a disastrous thing. It is much better to trade a lot closer to the cash balance in the account, and to take things slowly at the outset.

By following these tips, you can give yourself a better chance of success at getting started in the world of forex trading. Remember: choose a good broker, learn the ropes with a demo account, and above all, take it slow.

Beginning Forex Trading

In the mid '90's many beginners like us stepped into the brave new world of online Foreign Currency Exchange trading, a frontier that had recently become open to the self-trader. Today, now that it is becoming more well known, beginners and experience investors alike are flocking to Forex Trading -- the largest, most profitable, most liquid and fastest growing trading market in the world.

Take all the time you need to learn this trading new skill well -- practice everything you learn with a demo account (i.e. with demo play-money in it) before you consider going 'live' with your own money. Whether you are here to develop a skill for generating money or just developing a new interest, we think you will enjoy, as we did, discovering the exciting frontier of forex.

Our only insistent word of advice is never trade with money that you can not afford to lose.

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