Free Forex practice accounts are a service that are loved by some yet hated by others, why is this so? Surely a free practice account can be nothing but a good thing?
Not exactly so, it does have its benefits but also has it's pitfalls, in this article we will examine the pros and cons of such an account.
Lets start off by looking at the practice account. For those who may not be aware, the free practice account does exactly what it says on the tin, it lets you practice Forex trading for free, sounds great for a newbie trader and in many ways it is.
The brokers who offer a free forex practice account do so to help get people interested in Forex, nothing wrong with that since they exist to expand the number of traders in the market and on their platform. It's also a great way for the new trader to begin to learn Forex trading.
Currency trading is no simple click and go experience, several brokers have introduced no frills platforms with low minimum deposits to get the virgin trader started and one or two have taken it a step further and allowed people to open a free practice account where you can begin trading with make-believe money until you have the confidence and knowledge to risk your own hard-earned cash.
That's were the main pro of the practice account lies, in being able to learn the Forex market and key functions of trade without risking a penny! However, this is not always good news.
When trading with 'virtual' money suddenly the risk becomes less, in fact risk is non-existent as you have an endless stream of make-believe money this means you may be more likely to risk on trades you know you shouldn't and wouldn't make in the real world. This can lull you in to a false sense of security.
Lets say you make en extravagant risk with practice money and it comes off, so you make another big risk and that comes off too, all of a sudden your confidence is up and you feel you can start playing with your own money and taking uncalculated risks.
The Forex market has suddenly become very very appealing, if you can make this much money in the practice area imagine how well off you would be if you were using real money? This is where things go wrong, you then go ahead and open a real Forex account and deposit your own cash.
Your confidence is up and you feel like you know what you are doing. You make a risky trade with your own cash and it fails, suddenly your Forex career is over and you are sat looking at a significant loss, it seems when its your own 'real' money the practice you got with virtual cash counted for nothing.
Of course if you take things slowly and carefully you can avoid this and become a successful trader, but you have to have that self control. Practice accounts are very useful, but only if you carry out trades exactly as you would if it was real money. Never make a trade in a practice account that you wouldn't make with your own cash!
To help get around this several brokers now offer mini-accounts with deposits as low as $25. This is virtually a practice account anyway with such low deposits, however, its still your own cash so you are more likely to make realistic trades and not risk big time trades.
At Investawise we feel this is the best option, sure use a free practice account for a week or two while you learn the basics of Forex trading, but then open an account and start with low funds, never jump both feet first into currency trading, success comes from patience, awareness, and discipline.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Methods or Techniques for Trading the Forex Market
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The Forex market offers the trader numerous opportunities and can be very profitable to trade and also very exciting. The most important Forex market is the spot market as it has very large volume. The market is called the spot market because trades are settled immediately, or "on the spot".
With Forex trading there are also considerable risk factors. It is seriously crucial that you fully understand the implications of margin trading and the particular pitfalls and opportunities that foreign exchange trading offers. There are unique benefits to trading the Forex market, but you need to understand exactly how each trade you enter works. In other words, why you are entering into a trade, and being able to keep a calm easy mind. Fear and greed are, without a doubt, the enemies of the successful Forex trader.
There are two common methods or techniques of trading the Forex market. Firstly, technical analysis focuses on price patterns and uses charting to distinguish them. Technical analysis focuses on price action and market behavior. With the use of various indicators, you will be able to recognize and combine pattern recognision with your favorite indicator for confirmation to take a trade. It is not necessary to use a large variety of indicators, usually 2-3 are quite adequate, especially if you are combining indicators with price patterns.
The indicators are available on most trading software, and all calculations are done automatically within the software. The problem with trading indicators only is that, firstly they are lagging price, and then you are only looking at the right side of your chart, waiting to see what will happen. What about the left side, or the side of your chart that is telling you what has already happened? This is a very important aspect of trading, I call this the bigger picture. A good chart is priceless if it helps to identify a great opportunity.
Momentum analysis is a measure of the change in Forex trading trends over a certain period of time. Certain momentum indicators will show if a currency is overbought or oversold, and these are common and very useful tools for technical analysis.
The second - fundamental analysis - regards price behavior as a product of economic and political events. Fundamental analysis involves the use of economic data, critical political decisions or the different social issues that influence prices. Interst and employment are major economic data that could move the market substantially.
Fundamental trading is a very effective way to forecast economic conditions, but not necessarily exact market prices.
Don't fill your mind with too much information, the best way to trade is the simple way. However, it is very important to understand fundamental and technical analysis in order to use them for your forex trading.
With Forex trading there are also considerable risk factors. It is seriously crucial that you fully understand the implications of margin trading and the particular pitfalls and opportunities that foreign exchange trading offers. There are unique benefits to trading the Forex market, but you need to understand exactly how each trade you enter works. In other words, why you are entering into a trade, and being able to keep a calm easy mind. Fear and greed are, without a doubt, the enemies of the successful Forex trader.
There are two common methods or techniques of trading the Forex market. Firstly, technical analysis focuses on price patterns and uses charting to distinguish them. Technical analysis focuses on price action and market behavior. With the use of various indicators, you will be able to recognize and combine pattern recognision with your favorite indicator for confirmation to take a trade. It is not necessary to use a large variety of indicators, usually 2-3 are quite adequate, especially if you are combining indicators with price patterns.
The indicators are available on most trading software, and all calculations are done automatically within the software. The problem with trading indicators only is that, firstly they are lagging price, and then you are only looking at the right side of your chart, waiting to see what will happen. What about the left side, or the side of your chart that is telling you what has already happened? This is a very important aspect of trading, I call this the bigger picture. A good chart is priceless if it helps to identify a great opportunity.
Momentum analysis is a measure of the change in Forex trading trends over a certain period of time. Certain momentum indicators will show if a currency is overbought or oversold, and these are common and very useful tools for technical analysis.
The second - fundamental analysis - regards price behavior as a product of economic and political events. Fundamental analysis involves the use of economic data, critical political decisions or the different social issues that influence prices. Interst and employment are major economic data that could move the market substantially.
Fundamental trading is a very effective way to forecast economic conditions, but not necessarily exact market prices.
Don't fill your mind with too much information, the best way to trade is the simple way. However, it is very important to understand fundamental and technical analysis in order to use them for your forex trading.
Methods or Techniques for Trading the Forex Market
0 comments
The Forex market offers the trader numerous opportunities and can be very profitable to trade and also very exciting. The most important Forex market is the spot market as it has very large volume. The market is called the spot market because trades are settled immediately, or "on the spot".
With Forex trading there are also considerable risk factors. It is seriously crucial that you fully understand the implications of margin trading and the particular pitfalls and opportunities that foreign exchange trading offers. There are unique benefits to trading the Forex market, but you need to understand exactly how each trade you enter works. In other words, why you are entering into a trade, and being able to keep a calm easy mind. Fear and greed are, without a doubt, the enemies of the successful Forex trader.
There are two common methods or techniques of trading the Forex market. Firstly, technical analysis focuses on price patterns and uses charting to distinguish them. Technical analysis focuses on price action and market behavior. With the use of various indicators, you will be able to recognize and combine pattern recognision with your favorite indicator for confirmation to take a trade. It is not necessary to use a large variety of indicators, usually 2-3 are quite adequate, especially if you are combining indicators with price patterns.
The indicators are available on most trading software, and all calculations are done automatically within the software. The problem with trading indicators only is that, firstly they are lagging price, and then you are only looking at the right side of your chart, waiting to see what will happen. What about the left side, or the side of your chart that is telling you what has already happened? This is a very important aspect of trading, I call this the bigger picture. A good chart is priceless if it helps to identify a great opportunity.
Momentum analysis is a measure of the change in Forex trading trends over a certain period of time. Certain momentum indicators will show if a currency is overbought or oversold, and these are common and very useful tools for technical analysis.
The second - fundamental analysis - regards price behavior as a product of economic and political events. Fundamental analysis involves the use of economic data, critical political decisions or the different social issues that influence prices. Interst and employment are major economic data that could move the market substantially.
Fundamental trading is a very effective way to forecast economic conditions, but not necessarily exact market prices.
Don't fill your mind with too much information, the best way to trade is the simple way. However, it is very important to understand fundamental and technical analysis in order to use them for your forex trading.
With Forex trading there are also considerable risk factors. It is seriously crucial that you fully understand the implications of margin trading and the particular pitfalls and opportunities that foreign exchange trading offers. There are unique benefits to trading the Forex market, but you need to understand exactly how each trade you enter works. In other words, why you are entering into a trade, and being able to keep a calm easy mind. Fear and greed are, without a doubt, the enemies of the successful Forex trader.
There are two common methods or techniques of trading the Forex market. Firstly, technical analysis focuses on price patterns and uses charting to distinguish them. Technical analysis focuses on price action and market behavior. With the use of various indicators, you will be able to recognize and combine pattern recognision with your favorite indicator for confirmation to take a trade. It is not necessary to use a large variety of indicators, usually 2-3 are quite adequate, especially if you are combining indicators with price patterns.
The indicators are available on most trading software, and all calculations are done automatically within the software. The problem with trading indicators only is that, firstly they are lagging price, and then you are only looking at the right side of your chart, waiting to see what will happen. What about the left side, or the side of your chart that is telling you what has already happened? This is a very important aspect of trading, I call this the bigger picture. A good chart is priceless if it helps to identify a great opportunity.
Momentum analysis is a measure of the change in Forex trading trends over a certain period of time. Certain momentum indicators will show if a currency is overbought or oversold, and these are common and very useful tools for technical analysis.
The second - fundamental analysis - regards price behavior as a product of economic and political events. Fundamental analysis involves the use of economic data, critical political decisions or the different social issues that influence prices. Interst and employment are major economic data that could move the market substantially.
Fundamental trading is a very effective way to forecast economic conditions, but not necessarily exact market prices.
Don't fill your mind with too much information, the best way to trade is the simple way. However, it is very important to understand fundamental and technical analysis in order to use them for your forex trading.
Why Forex Trading is an Ideal Home Business
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Forex trading should be considered by anyone looking to start their own home based business. In this article, we will define Forex trading; explain its advantages over other business opportunities and discuss some pitfalls to avoid.
What is Forex trading?
"Forex" is short for "foreign exchange", and refers to the trading of monetary currencies.
Many people don't realize that currencies are traded, similar to stock trading. Since the value of each nation's currency is constantly fluctuating in relationship to other currencies, there are opportunities for you to profit.
Advantages of Forex trading as a home-based business.
There are several advantages of Forex trading including:
- You can adapt your participation to your own schedule
The Forex market is open for trading 24 hours per day, Monday through Friday, unlike the stock market or any other business in which you must work around "business hours". With Forex trading, you can work in the middle of the night if you want.
- Large marketplace
Forex trading is the largest marketplace in the world. It shadows all other markets, even the stock market. That means there is opportunity for anyone to participate. The daily trading volume is nearly 4 trillion dollars!
- Low barrier to entry
It takes less than $100 to get started Forex trading. If you can scrape together that amount of cash, even if it takes a garage sale or selling some of your extra stuff on eBay or Craigslist, you can jump into Forex trading.
Some pitfalls to watch out for.
Be aware of these potential problems if you decide to enter the Forex market:
- Investing decisions based on emotion rather than logic
As with any type of investing, it's very easy to get caught up in the prospect of making big money. Place some limits on yourself so that you don't use money you need for living expenses.
- Investing without a solid knowledge of the playing field
No serious athlete would step out onto the baseball diamond or basketball court without thoroughly understanding the "rules of the game", and neither should you venture into any type of investing without the same level of understanding.
- Trading too frequently
Although there are no "commissions" when trading Forex, you will be responsible to pay the "spread", which is the variance between the ask price and the bid price. If you do very many trades, these "spreads" can really add up. Just make sure you understand the cost of your trades before you make them.
Conclusion
Forex can be an ideal avenue for you to make extra money, or even as a foundation for a home-based business. It is wide open for anyone: you don't need to have any specific credentials or background. Why not take a share of this market today?
What is Forex trading?
"Forex" is short for "foreign exchange", and refers to the trading of monetary currencies.
Many people don't realize that currencies are traded, similar to stock trading. Since the value of each nation's currency is constantly fluctuating in relationship to other currencies, there are opportunities for you to profit.
Advantages of Forex trading as a home-based business.
There are several advantages of Forex trading including:
- You can adapt your participation to your own schedule
The Forex market is open for trading 24 hours per day, Monday through Friday, unlike the stock market or any other business in which you must work around "business hours". With Forex trading, you can work in the middle of the night if you want.
- Large marketplace
Forex trading is the largest marketplace in the world. It shadows all other markets, even the stock market. That means there is opportunity for anyone to participate. The daily trading volume is nearly 4 trillion dollars!
- Low barrier to entry
It takes less than $100 to get started Forex trading. If you can scrape together that amount of cash, even if it takes a garage sale or selling some of your extra stuff on eBay or Craigslist, you can jump into Forex trading.
Some pitfalls to watch out for.
Be aware of these potential problems if you decide to enter the Forex market:
- Investing decisions based on emotion rather than logic
As with any type of investing, it's very easy to get caught up in the prospect of making big money. Place some limits on yourself so that you don't use money you need for living expenses.
- Investing without a solid knowledge of the playing field
No serious athlete would step out onto the baseball diamond or basketball court without thoroughly understanding the "rules of the game", and neither should you venture into any type of investing without the same level of understanding.
- Trading too frequently
Although there are no "commissions" when trading Forex, you will be responsible to pay the "spread", which is the variance between the ask price and the bid price. If you do very many trades, these "spreads" can really add up. Just make sure you understand the cost of your trades before you make them.
Conclusion
Forex can be an ideal avenue for you to make extra money, or even as a foundation for a home-based business. It is wide open for anyone: you don't need to have any specific credentials or background. Why not take a share of this market today?
How to Make Forex Give the Lifestyle You Want
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In order to be rich and make loads of money with forex, it is a must for anyone who is serious to have accurate knowledge with the trade. Sure there is no need for any diploma in trading Forex, but in order to succeed, investing time and effort to learn profitably is a dogma.
Lately people have been buzzing about how a great income potential is forex. Getting tired of a monotonous life in the corporate world, there will come a time that people want to be free from all and have a rich lifestyle, to work from home and enjoy the greater things in life. Indeed Forex is a serious consideration and worth inveting on.
Before Forex was not accesible to anybody. But thanks to the modernization and internet, everybody has the fighting chance to get rich and be merry.
Yes Forex has low cost to operate, lower cost to start, very abundant information resources, flexible trading hours and very high income potential, everybody can get started in Forex in one way or another.
It is one thing to start trading and being profitable Forex trader is different. In order to become profitable in every trade, you will find it imperative to invest some time in learning courses and practicing in a demo account rather than saving all the pain of losses. Concepts such as Moving Averages, Fibonacci levels, Bollinger Bands, etc; are the basic knowledge every trader must have.
But having a good knowledge of these concepts is not everything you need. Fear is your worst enemy. To become a profitable trader, one thing that can free you of this fear is education. As you learn in the ways of the trade, you will find yourself more confident to what trading plans you have. You have to understand that there will be losses and it has happend to the richest traders today. If you truly understand that, there is no way that you can get poor in Forex.
You want to change the way you live for the better? A profitable forex trader must be ready with education and psychological preparation. This is the only way to make the market work in your favor.
Lately people have been buzzing about how a great income potential is forex. Getting tired of a monotonous life in the corporate world, there will come a time that people want to be free from all and have a rich lifestyle, to work from home and enjoy the greater things in life. Indeed Forex is a serious consideration and worth inveting on.
Before Forex was not accesible to anybody. But thanks to the modernization and internet, everybody has the fighting chance to get rich and be merry.
Yes Forex has low cost to operate, lower cost to start, very abundant information resources, flexible trading hours and very high income potential, everybody can get started in Forex in one way or another.
It is one thing to start trading and being profitable Forex trader is different. In order to become profitable in every trade, you will find it imperative to invest some time in learning courses and practicing in a demo account rather than saving all the pain of losses. Concepts such as Moving Averages, Fibonacci levels, Bollinger Bands, etc; are the basic knowledge every trader must have.
But having a good knowledge of these concepts is not everything you need. Fear is your worst enemy. To become a profitable trader, one thing that can free you of this fear is education. As you learn in the ways of the trade, you will find yourself more confident to what trading plans you have. You have to understand that there will be losses and it has happend to the richest traders today. If you truly understand that, there is no way that you can get poor in Forex.
You want to change the way you live for the better? A profitable forex trader must be ready with education and psychological preparation. This is the only way to make the market work in your favor.
Trade Forex or Invest in Real Estate?
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Most people who want to establish a financially-secure future choose to invest or trade in real estate. Indeed, if you take a look at the list of names of the wealthiest people in any category, most of them have allocated major portions of their assets in real estate. Donald Trump, who made his fortune in real estate is very popular and his success story is an inspiration to all of us.
Books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad , by Robert Kiyosaki and other property investing books written in the last fifteen years, introduced the average person to real estate investing. Thanks to these books, many people have opened their minds to new possibilities which they can now envision for themselves.
This article will not dispute the validity and the wisdom of investing in real estate. However, it might not be the best option for everybody. Each of us has different limitations and our circumstances vary. At the start -- for most of us -- we have to choose which area to specialise in since there is only so much money to go around. What I can do, is to at least highlight a few aspects of trading and investing in both areas. I then leave it to you to decide what you would like to focus on.
I should let you know that I have not yet invested in real estate myself, but I have considered it and I have asked myself the same questions you might be asking yourself now. I have read a lot on the subject matter and my assessment is purely based from my readings. Individuals using real-estate as their vehicle to create wealth may have different perspectives and I strongly advise you to seek their counsel to gain a more balanced outlook on this issue.
PASSIVE INCOME OR CAPITAL GAINS
If you like the idea of buying property to receive rent revenue, then the real estate market maybe better for you. You can structure your properties and contractual agreements to maximise the passive income you get from your tenants.
However, if you prefer to buy a property mainly because you think you can resell it at a higher price later, then you want to make money mainly from capital gains. If this is your philosophy, then forex could be a better trading vehicle for you than real estate because exchange rates fluctuate faster than real estate prices. Furthermore, transactions are easier and they are instantaneous to complete.
CAPITAL
To buy real estate, you need have at least 10% of the acquisition cost of the property, if your bank is willing to lend you the other 90%. If the house costs $350,000, you will need to cough up $35,000. That is a year's gross income for many people.
If you want to start trading forex, most brokers allow you to open a trading account for just $200. With $50, you can trade 10,000 units of a currency, if you have a margin ratio of 200:1.
LIQUIDITY
Whenever you want to buy or sell currencies, there is always someone willing to buy from - or sell to - you at the most competitive price. The forex market is the biggest market in the world and if you have hundreds of thousands of dollars you want to exchange for another currency, you can do so within a couple of seconds. To buy or sell a house or an apartment, you expect to wait for weeks, if not months.
PRODUCT HOMOGENEITY
In the real estate market, one house is not the same as another. Each property is unique. One might have a better foundation, a worse design or a prettier garden than another. Knowledge of these strengths and weaknesses become a significant factor if you are to make money from a transaction. Therefore, if you enjoy or if you are good at selling, promoting, negotiating and bargaining based on these differences, the real estate market is for you. Further, your lawyers, accountants, advisers, real estate agents and consultants play a significant role in your success.
If you want to trade currencies, there is no need to negotiate the price with the other party. If you are a seller, there is no need to educate potential buyers as to the benefits of your product. If you are buying, you have piece of mind that you are getting the best possible price for the currency from your broker at that particular point in time.
TRANSACTION COSTS
Buying and selling real estate is much more expensive than buying and selling currencies.
'SHORTING' MARKETS
When you have a property and you suspect that its price will go down in the future, your options are limited: hang on to the property or sell it now. In forex, if you suspect that a particular currency will depreciate in value, then you can exchange it for another currency. You buy it back again after it has already reduced in value to realise your gain.
MEDIATED TRANSACTIONS
In real estate you are dealing directly with the other party, taking on the other side of the transaction. This is why you need to go through a lot of paperwork and consult your lawyers to ensure that you know about the options available to you when the other party fails to fulfil his or her end of the bargain.
In forex, you do not have to worry about whether a buyer or a seller is going to fulfil his or her end of the bargain for whatever reason, because you are not directly dealing with that particular person. You are dealing with the broker who ensures that somebody will always take the other side of your trade.
CONVENIENCE
The forex market is open 24 hours a day. You do not have to meet the buyers or sellers in person. You do not have to conduct meetings with lawyers, accountant, bank representatives and so on. You can buy and sell currencies in your pyjamas at midnight if you like and the transaction will be complete before you go back to bed.
CONCLUSION
All in all, if you are an investor looking to make money from a combination of rent revenue and capital gains, you may want to invest in real estate for the long-term. If you are a trader wanting to profit purely on capital gains, then trading forex is probably better for you than trading real estate because you can start with a small fund and your rate of return is limited only by your ability to trade well. The transactions are mediated, it is more convenient and transaction costs are a lot smaller. The market is also more efficient due to product homogeneity and liquidity. Lastly, there are opportunities to profit regardless if the prices are going up or down.
I believe that if done right, neither venture is more or less riskier than the other. The risks are up to you to manage. With this article, I hope I helped you make a decision appropriate to your circumstances
Books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad , by Robert Kiyosaki and other property investing books written in the last fifteen years, introduced the average person to real estate investing. Thanks to these books, many people have opened their minds to new possibilities which they can now envision for themselves.
This article will not dispute the validity and the wisdom of investing in real estate. However, it might not be the best option for everybody. Each of us has different limitations and our circumstances vary. At the start -- for most of us -- we have to choose which area to specialise in since there is only so much money to go around. What I can do, is to at least highlight a few aspects of trading and investing in both areas. I then leave it to you to decide what you would like to focus on.
I should let you know that I have not yet invested in real estate myself, but I have considered it and I have asked myself the same questions you might be asking yourself now. I have read a lot on the subject matter and my assessment is purely based from my readings. Individuals using real-estate as their vehicle to create wealth may have different perspectives and I strongly advise you to seek their counsel to gain a more balanced outlook on this issue.
PASSIVE INCOME OR CAPITAL GAINS
If you like the idea of buying property to receive rent revenue, then the real estate market maybe better for you. You can structure your properties and contractual agreements to maximise the passive income you get from your tenants.
However, if you prefer to buy a property mainly because you think you can resell it at a higher price later, then you want to make money mainly from capital gains. If this is your philosophy, then forex could be a better trading vehicle for you than real estate because exchange rates fluctuate faster than real estate prices. Furthermore, transactions are easier and they are instantaneous to complete.
CAPITAL
To buy real estate, you need have at least 10% of the acquisition cost of the property, if your bank is willing to lend you the other 90%. If the house costs $350,000, you will need to cough up $35,000. That is a year's gross income for many people.
If you want to start trading forex, most brokers allow you to open a trading account for just $200. With $50, you can trade 10,000 units of a currency, if you have a margin ratio of 200:1.
LIQUIDITY
Whenever you want to buy or sell currencies, there is always someone willing to buy from - or sell to - you at the most competitive price. The forex market is the biggest market in the world and if you have hundreds of thousands of dollars you want to exchange for another currency, you can do so within a couple of seconds. To buy or sell a house or an apartment, you expect to wait for weeks, if not months.
PRODUCT HOMOGENEITY
In the real estate market, one house is not the same as another. Each property is unique. One might have a better foundation, a worse design or a prettier garden than another. Knowledge of these strengths and weaknesses become a significant factor if you are to make money from a transaction. Therefore, if you enjoy or if you are good at selling, promoting, negotiating and bargaining based on these differences, the real estate market is for you. Further, your lawyers, accountants, advisers, real estate agents and consultants play a significant role in your success.
If you want to trade currencies, there is no need to negotiate the price with the other party. If you are a seller, there is no need to educate potential buyers as to the benefits of your product. If you are buying, you have piece of mind that you are getting the best possible price for the currency from your broker at that particular point in time.
TRANSACTION COSTS
Buying and selling real estate is much more expensive than buying and selling currencies.
'SHORTING' MARKETS
When you have a property and you suspect that its price will go down in the future, your options are limited: hang on to the property or sell it now. In forex, if you suspect that a particular currency will depreciate in value, then you can exchange it for another currency. You buy it back again after it has already reduced in value to realise your gain.
MEDIATED TRANSACTIONS
In real estate you are dealing directly with the other party, taking on the other side of the transaction. This is why you need to go through a lot of paperwork and consult your lawyers to ensure that you know about the options available to you when the other party fails to fulfil his or her end of the bargain.
In forex, you do not have to worry about whether a buyer or a seller is going to fulfil his or her end of the bargain for whatever reason, because you are not directly dealing with that particular person. You are dealing with the broker who ensures that somebody will always take the other side of your trade.
CONVENIENCE
The forex market is open 24 hours a day. You do not have to meet the buyers or sellers in person. You do not have to conduct meetings with lawyers, accountant, bank representatives and so on. You can buy and sell currencies in your pyjamas at midnight if you like and the transaction will be complete before you go back to bed.
CONCLUSION
All in all, if you are an investor looking to make money from a combination of rent revenue and capital gains, you may want to invest in real estate for the long-term. If you are a trader wanting to profit purely on capital gains, then trading forex is probably better for you than trading real estate because you can start with a small fund and your rate of return is limited only by your ability to trade well. The transactions are mediated, it is more convenient and transaction costs are a lot smaller. The market is also more efficient due to product homogeneity and liquidity. Lastly, there are opportunities to profit regardless if the prices are going up or down.
I believe that if done right, neither venture is more or less riskier than the other. The risks are up to you to manage. With this article, I hope I helped you make a decision appropriate to your circumstances
Avoiding Forex-Related Frauds and Scams
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A lot of people have been 'burnt' from scam operations on the Internet. Their sites may look so perfectly legitimate that you doubt whether they would have gone through all that trouble building a trading platform just to steal your money. Beware.
The first thing I look for is the geographical location of the broker. If I find that they are based in a country where the financial industry is, in my opinion, relatively unregulated and under-developed, I quickly forgo signing up. This is terrible news for honest brokers in those countries, but your job as a trader is to protect your capital. If you lose that, then you cannot trade. The onus is on them to convince you that they will do the right thing by you as an investor.
I started out with an Australian broker. Currently I am using an American one. I have not tried UK-based brokers but the British financial industry is one of the best. Companies that are based in countries such as Japan , Germany and France are probably just as good too, if their website speaks your language.
Notice any license numbers that they may have registered with regulatory bodies that act like government watchdogs who oversee the finance and investments industries. These are organisations that impose strict rules to safeguard your investment. Some of these rules may include the requirement that brokers segregate all customer funds from the operational funds of the business. Your money is required to be put in highly-reputable banks and the funds are only withdrawn from these accounts upon specific withdrawal requests.
Take note that there are some fake regulatory bodies being thrown around in cyber-space as well. Take a look at how long they have been operating for. Try and search out any reviews or comments made about them. See if you can find forums where traders have discussions about their brokers.
Below is a list of things to keep in mind to help you avoid being a victim of a scam:
Stay Away From Opportunities That Sound Too Good To Be True
There are people who may have just acquired a large amount of money just and recently are the same and are shopping around for safe investment vehicles. These may include retirees who have access to their retirement funds. It is understandable why retirees would be drawn to 'high-return, low-risk investments'. This is also what makes them very vulnerable. If you identify yourself to be one of these people, be careful. A lot of deceitful characters are after your money. Furthermore, only allocate a tiny amount of your money to trading until you can start growing it. Not all people can trade successfully, so it is a venture you should take on haphazardly. It is your life savings at risk.
Avoid Individuals Or Organizations Who Claim To Predict Or Guarantee Large Profits
Any form of trading is hard. Trading currencies is no different. Be wary of statements that make it sound easy. Statements like:
"Whether the market moves up or down, in the currency market you will make a profit";
"Make $1000 per week, every week";
"We are out-performing 90% of domestic investments";
"You'll make returns of 70% a year";
"Here is a no-risk strategy".
If they could make such returns, why would they even bother letting you know about it.
Be Wary Of Companies Who Downplay Investment Risks
Hold your wallet tight and zip up your purse when companies say that written risk disclosure agreements are routine formalities imposed by the government. Watch out for statements like:
"With a $10,000 deposit, the maximum you can lose is $200 to $250 per day";
" We promise to recover any losses you have ".
Be Wary Of Companies That Claim To Trade In The 'Interbank Market'
Do not believe it when some people say that they have access to the 'Interbank market' or that they can give you access to trade in that market because that's where bargain prices can be obtained. This is not true. The 'interbank market' is not a place, it is not a physical building. It is simply a loose network of currency transactions that are negotiated between big financial institutions and other large companies.
Ethnic Minorities Are Often Targeted
Ethnic newspapers and television 'infomercials' are sometimes used to attract Russian, Chinese and Indian minorities. Sometimes these ads offer so-called 'job opportunities for account executives to trade foreign currencies', whereby the recruited 'account executive' is expected to use his own money to trade currencies and would often times be encouraged to recruit members like their friends and family to do the same.
Seek Out The Company's Background
Check any information you receive to be sure that the company is who they claim to be. If at all possible, try and get the background of the people operating the company. Do not rely solely on oral statements and promises made by the company's employees.
If You Are In Doubt, It Is Not Worth Risking Your Money
If after trying to solicit information and at the end of it all, you are still in doubt about the credentials of a particular company, my suggestion is to start looking elsewhere.
You may find further information by contacting government 'watchdogs' because they keep up to date with trends and reports regarding scams and other fraudulent activities. Please check the resource section of this site for the information of organizations that regulate the securities industry, sorted by country. There is also a list of brokers that you may want to look at.
The first thing I look for is the geographical location of the broker. If I find that they are based in a country where the financial industry is, in my opinion, relatively unregulated and under-developed, I quickly forgo signing up. This is terrible news for honest brokers in those countries, but your job as a trader is to protect your capital. If you lose that, then you cannot trade. The onus is on them to convince you that they will do the right thing by you as an investor.
I started out with an Australian broker. Currently I am using an American one. I have not tried UK-based brokers but the British financial industry is one of the best. Companies that are based in countries such as Japan , Germany and France are probably just as good too, if their website speaks your language.
Notice any license numbers that they may have registered with regulatory bodies that act like government watchdogs who oversee the finance and investments industries. These are organisations that impose strict rules to safeguard your investment. Some of these rules may include the requirement that brokers segregate all customer funds from the operational funds of the business. Your money is required to be put in highly-reputable banks and the funds are only withdrawn from these accounts upon specific withdrawal requests.
Take note that there are some fake regulatory bodies being thrown around in cyber-space as well. Take a look at how long they have been operating for. Try and search out any reviews or comments made about them. See if you can find forums where traders have discussions about their brokers.
Below is a list of things to keep in mind to help you avoid being a victim of a scam:
Stay Away From Opportunities That Sound Too Good To Be True
There are people who may have just acquired a large amount of money just and recently are the same and are shopping around for safe investment vehicles. These may include retirees who have access to their retirement funds. It is understandable why retirees would be drawn to 'high-return, low-risk investments'. This is also what makes them very vulnerable. If you identify yourself to be one of these people, be careful. A lot of deceitful characters are after your money. Furthermore, only allocate a tiny amount of your money to trading until you can start growing it. Not all people can trade successfully, so it is a venture you should take on haphazardly. It is your life savings at risk.
Avoid Individuals Or Organizations Who Claim To Predict Or Guarantee Large Profits
Any form of trading is hard. Trading currencies is no different. Be wary of statements that make it sound easy. Statements like:
"Whether the market moves up or down, in the currency market you will make a profit";
"Make $1000 per week, every week";
"We are out-performing 90% of domestic investments";
"You'll make returns of 70% a year";
"Here is a no-risk strategy".
If they could make such returns, why would they even bother letting you know about it.
Be Wary Of Companies Who Downplay Investment Risks
Hold your wallet tight and zip up your purse when companies say that written risk disclosure agreements are routine formalities imposed by the government. Watch out for statements like:
"With a $10,000 deposit, the maximum you can lose is $200 to $250 per day";
" We promise to recover any losses you have ".
Be Wary Of Companies That Claim To Trade In The 'Interbank Market'
Do not believe it when some people say that they have access to the 'Interbank market' or that they can give you access to trade in that market because that's where bargain prices can be obtained. This is not true. The 'interbank market' is not a place, it is not a physical building. It is simply a loose network of currency transactions that are negotiated between big financial institutions and other large companies.
Ethnic Minorities Are Often Targeted
Ethnic newspapers and television 'infomercials' are sometimes used to attract Russian, Chinese and Indian minorities. Sometimes these ads offer so-called 'job opportunities for account executives to trade foreign currencies', whereby the recruited 'account executive' is expected to use his own money to trade currencies and would often times be encouraged to recruit members like their friends and family to do the same.
Seek Out The Company's Background
Check any information you receive to be sure that the company is who they claim to be. If at all possible, try and get the background of the people operating the company. Do not rely solely on oral statements and promises made by the company's employees.
If You Are In Doubt, It Is Not Worth Risking Your Money
If after trying to solicit information and at the end of it all, you are still in doubt about the credentials of a particular company, my suggestion is to start looking elsewhere.
You may find further information by contacting government 'watchdogs' because they keep up to date with trends and reports regarding scams and other fraudulent activities. Please check the resource section of this site for the information of organizations that regulate the securities industry, sorted by country. There is also a list of brokers that you may want to look at.
Trading Currency Through Online Forex Brokers
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Access to foreign exchange (forex), the most extensive market on the planet, is generally through an intermediary known as a forex broker. Similar to a stock broker, these agents can also provide advice on forex trading strategies. This advice to clients often extends to technical analysis and research approaches designed to improve client forex trading performance.
Financial institutions are generally the most influential in the forex market through high-volume, large-value forex currency transactions. Historically, banks enjoyed monopolistic access to the forex markets, but through the Internet, any forex speculator can also enjoy 24 hour access to the market via a forex broker.
Secure web connections today allow many forex traders to work from home, where ready access to news and other technical advice informs decisions on what forex positions to take. Similar moves are being made by stock brokers, who are also moving out of banks and other traditional institutions.
Your needs in the market will influence your choice of forex broker. Online forex brokerage firms, known as houses, provide those new to the forex market with detailed research, advice and simulators to learn how to use their forex trading tools. The experienced online forex trader is catered to by other broking houses, with in-depth advice, but less focus on forex trading instruction based on the assumption that you are familiar with the forex market. To make an informed choice, it is advisable to trial several differing online forex broking houses and their trading tools to find the best fit for your needs.
Financial institutions are generally the most influential in the forex market through high-volume, large-value forex currency transactions. Historically, banks enjoyed monopolistic access to the forex markets, but through the Internet, any forex speculator can also enjoy 24 hour access to the market via a forex broker.
Secure web connections today allow many forex traders to work from home, where ready access to news and other technical advice informs decisions on what forex positions to take. Similar moves are being made by stock brokers, who are also moving out of banks and other traditional institutions.
Your needs in the market will influence your choice of forex broker. Online forex brokerage firms, known as houses, provide those new to the forex market with detailed research, advice and simulators to learn how to use their forex trading tools. The experienced online forex trader is catered to by other broking houses, with in-depth advice, but less focus on forex trading instruction based on the assumption that you are familiar with the forex market. To make an informed choice, it is advisable to trial several differing online forex broking houses and their trading tools to find the best fit for your needs.
Finding Reliable Forex Signals
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You guys know how hard it's to find a reliable forex signals and most of the forex signals services are very expensive ranging from $199 to $500 per month. And worse of all, there's no guarantee of this.
To find a good service, you must make sure that you get their free trial before you really subscribe to the service. 1 to 2 weeks is good enought to prove that whether they are reliable or not.
You want to find a forex signals service just because you don't have time or you don't have a good skills in trading forex. I understand your felling and that's why I've created a blog for people who want to get the free forex signals.
But I have day job as well. I don't post forex signals every day but if you can catch some, you got your money into the bank! :)
By that, I wish you to have a good trading in forex world!
To find a good service, you must make sure that you get their free trial before you really subscribe to the service. 1 to 2 weeks is good enought to prove that whether they are reliable or not.
You want to find a forex signals service just because you don't have time or you don't have a good skills in trading forex. I understand your felling and that's why I've created a blog for people who want to get the free forex signals.
But I have day job as well. I don't post forex signals every day but if you can catch some, you got your money into the bank! :)
By that, I wish you to have a good trading in forex world!
How To Choose A FOREX Broker
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Most investors who trade Forex stocks use a broker. A broker is an individual or a company, who buys and sells stocks according to the investor's wishes. Brokers earn money by collecting commissions or fees for their services.
You should check that a broker is registered as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as protection against fraud or abusive trade practices. A Forex broker also needs to be associated with a financial institution, such as a bank in order to provide funds for margin trading. Picking the right Forex broker for you will take some work on your part. There are brokers who charge a flat fee and some that charge commission. It may be a good idea to talk with friends and business associates about their brokers. You may get some good leads, and you're certain to hear who to stay away from. There is nothing like word of mouth advertising.
If you are thinking of investing online, you could choose several online brokers and contact their help desks. Seeing how quickly they respond to your questions could be key in how they will respond to their customers needs. If you don't get a speedy reply and a satisfactory answer to your question you certainly wouldn't want to trust them with your business. Just be aware that as in other types of businesses, pre sales service might be better than after sales service.
Before you choose an online broker get a copy of their online demo account. What features are included? Is the software reliable? Does it offer automatic trading? Are there extra software features that cost more?
Before setting up an account with a Forex broker you will need to do further investigation. How quickly will these brokers execute your buy/sell orders? What is their policy on slippage? What are the transaction fees? What is the spread, fixed or variable? What are the margin requirements and how are they calculated? Does the margin change with currency traded? Is it the same for mini accounts and standard accounts?
Don't forget to ask about minimum account balances and interest payments on account balances. Make sure that your funds will be insured.
You should check that a broker is registered as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as protection against fraud or abusive trade practices. A Forex broker also needs to be associated with a financial institution, such as a bank in order to provide funds for margin trading. Picking the right Forex broker for you will take some work on your part. There are brokers who charge a flat fee and some that charge commission. It may be a good idea to talk with friends and business associates about their brokers. You may get some good leads, and you're certain to hear who to stay away from. There is nothing like word of mouth advertising.
If you are thinking of investing online, you could choose several online brokers and contact their help desks. Seeing how quickly they respond to your questions could be key in how they will respond to their customers needs. If you don't get a speedy reply and a satisfactory answer to your question you certainly wouldn't want to trust them with your business. Just be aware that as in other types of businesses, pre sales service might be better than after sales service.
Before you choose an online broker get a copy of their online demo account. What features are included? Is the software reliable? Does it offer automatic trading? Are there extra software features that cost more?
Before setting up an account with a Forex broker you will need to do further investigation. How quickly will these brokers execute your buy/sell orders? What is their policy on slippage? What are the transaction fees? What is the spread, fixed or variable? What are the margin requirements and how are they calculated? Does the margin change with currency traded? Is it the same for mini accounts and standard accounts?
Don't forget to ask about minimum account balances and interest payments on account balances. Make sure that your funds will be insured.
Forex Trading Platform
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As the name says, the Forex trading platform is a place where you can sell and buy the forex. This can also be called the forex-trading station. All forex trading financial companies, banks, traders and brokers will provide their own trading hub. These currency trading or forex trading hubs use sophisticated software's, which have, can perform various kinds of analysis such as technical and fundamental analysis. They also generate data, which is both numeric, and well as statistical base such as graphs, pies, regression data etc.
In most cases the trading stations or the platforms have real time streaming ticker line. This ticker line is being constantly updated and gives the buy / sell currency rate of major currencies in pairs. Forex dealers or traders also maintain fixed spreads on major currencies across the world, which are constant irrespective of the changing financial markets. Most of the trading stations will provide the following
Real time streaming of the major currencies in pairs.
Pricing which is competitive
Fixed spreads in 3-5 pips
Certainty of price for the currencies in buy and sell position
Another factor in the forex trade is that the more creditworthiness an institution or a forex trader is, the better access they have to market information and competitive pricing. This is then reflected also in the trading sessions that the subscribers and the investors utilize. They would have better access to interbank prices and therefore the cost of the execution for the trade in currencies would be better. The currency trade software's provide the following in most cases
Real time streaming currency pair rates. One can click the suitable boxes provided to confirm the sale or the purchase of the desired currencies.
They allow the linkage to currency margin account, which means that you can have more purchasing power with less of investment.
Immediate confirmation of the sale / purchase of the currencies. Of course the cost would be debited to your account. This is done almost simultaneously and in real time.
These currency trade software will also show you the real time profit / losses that you have made in the currency transactions.
Investors must make sure that when they subscribe to these currency trade software's, they read the terms and conditions as many trades may be subject to regulations and the agreement that may be drawn between the client and the websites / currency trade companies.
There are options provided whereby one can also limit or stop the open orders. These can also be cancelled or modified at a later stage in these forex trades. Reports on all forex and currency transactions can also be generated. These reports can be in the form of monthly / weekly reports. One can print these records or download them for later. There are many combinations and permutations, which are possible. Depending upon forex trading packages that each forex trader or financial company may provide, the forex trading stations may differ in features provided.
In most cases the trading stations or the platforms have real time streaming ticker line. This ticker line is being constantly updated and gives the buy / sell currency rate of major currencies in pairs. Forex dealers or traders also maintain fixed spreads on major currencies across the world, which are constant irrespective of the changing financial markets. Most of the trading stations will provide the following
Real time streaming of the major currencies in pairs.
Pricing which is competitive
Fixed spreads in 3-5 pips
Certainty of price for the currencies in buy and sell position
Another factor in the forex trade is that the more creditworthiness an institution or a forex trader is, the better access they have to market information and competitive pricing. This is then reflected also in the trading sessions that the subscribers and the investors utilize. They would have better access to interbank prices and therefore the cost of the execution for the trade in currencies would be better. The currency trade software's provide the following in most cases
Real time streaming currency pair rates. One can click the suitable boxes provided to confirm the sale or the purchase of the desired currencies.
They allow the linkage to currency margin account, which means that you can have more purchasing power with less of investment.
Immediate confirmation of the sale / purchase of the currencies. Of course the cost would be debited to your account. This is done almost simultaneously and in real time.
These currency trade software will also show you the real time profit / losses that you have made in the currency transactions.
Investors must make sure that when they subscribe to these currency trade software's, they read the terms and conditions as many trades may be subject to regulations and the agreement that may be drawn between the client and the websites / currency trade companies.
There are options provided whereby one can also limit or stop the open orders. These can also be cancelled or modified at a later stage in these forex trades. Reports on all forex and currency transactions can also be generated. These reports can be in the form of monthly / weekly reports. One can print these records or download them for later. There are many combinations and permutations, which are possible. Depending upon forex trading packages that each forex trader or financial company may provide, the forex trading stations may differ in features provided.
Sending Signals For Trading In FOREX
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Forex signals are sent by a forex firm to their subscribers in order to buy and sell currencies. These signals are called entry and exit signals for the forex dealers. The firms, which send this forex signal, do so after tedious and meticulous research and analysis into the currencies that their dealers are trading in. For example a firm may send the entry and exit signals at designated time frames in real time. These will remain valid for a short period only after which they are going to be different.
Let's say that there is a forex trading company say Acme Forex traders who send entry and exit signals to their clients in the following way
The first signal is provided to the trader at 08:30, and this signal is going to remain actual till 12.30
The trader will receive the second signal at 12.30, which would remain actual till 16.30.
The last signal would be sent to the trader at 16.30.
The transactions are given according to GMT. Please adjust for local time changes. The transaction shall be calculated till the signal is actual. The charges would be $300 per month per trader.
Forex dealers and experts provide forex-trading information and data to both institutional clients and individual investors and provide these kind of signals. Investors like to subscribe to credit worthy forex dealers / companies since their information and data would be genuine and more accurate. In fact many forex dealers would kill to get information before the rest of the market gets the same information. As forex dealing is a very competitive business.
These signals or forex indications are given to the forex dealers through the forex trading platform or hub. The signals or forex indicators are the specific entry and exit strategies. Therefore when you enter a currency trade buying currencies at lower price and then selling at higher price, you book a profit. currency pair. For example the forex dealer is trading in GBP/USD. The rate is for GBP/USD is .9800 . If you expect that Euro is likely to go up in the future you would buy the Euros today to sell them off at a later date thereby booking a profit. If you expect the dollars to appreciate, then you would buy the dollars selling them off at a later date to book profits.
Most forex dealers will get the information via email or straight on their computer screens. It is then up to the forex dealers to decide whether they want to sell / buy / hold the currencies till further information is given to them.
Those who contribute in giving the information on currency dealing are hedge managers, foreign exchange dealers located in the major financial markets of the world, professional stock brokers, finance managers and a host of other finance professionals. They make it their business to collect, analyze and disseminate information in such a way, that can be used by forex dealers to buy / sell / hold the forex.
Therefore the companies take extreme care to send the forex signals for the currency dealers.
Let's say that there is a forex trading company say Acme Forex traders who send entry and exit signals to their clients in the following way
The first signal is provided to the trader at 08:30, and this signal is going to remain actual till 12.30
The trader will receive the second signal at 12.30, which would remain actual till 16.30.
The last signal would be sent to the trader at 16.30.
The transactions are given according to GMT. Please adjust for local time changes. The transaction shall be calculated till the signal is actual. The charges would be $300 per month per trader.
Forex dealers and experts provide forex-trading information and data to both institutional clients and individual investors and provide these kind of signals. Investors like to subscribe to credit worthy forex dealers / companies since their information and data would be genuine and more accurate. In fact many forex dealers would kill to get information before the rest of the market gets the same information. As forex dealing is a very competitive business.
These signals or forex indications are given to the forex dealers through the forex trading platform or hub. The signals or forex indicators are the specific entry and exit strategies. Therefore when you enter a currency trade buying currencies at lower price and then selling at higher price, you book a profit. currency pair. For example the forex dealer is trading in GBP/USD. The rate is for GBP/USD is .9800 . If you expect that Euro is likely to go up in the future you would buy the Euros today to sell them off at a later date thereby booking a profit. If you expect the dollars to appreciate, then you would buy the dollars selling them off at a later date to book profits.
Most forex dealers will get the information via email or straight on their computer screens. It is then up to the forex dealers to decide whether they want to sell / buy / hold the currencies till further information is given to them.
Those who contribute in giving the information on currency dealing are hedge managers, foreign exchange dealers located in the major financial markets of the world, professional stock brokers, finance managers and a host of other finance professionals. They make it their business to collect, analyze and disseminate information in such a way, that can be used by forex dealers to buy / sell / hold the forex.
Therefore the companies take extreme care to send the forex signals for the currency dealers.
Forex Software Packages
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If you plan to start trading FOREX online you will of course be using a software system. This system will make it easy for you to get information quickly about market prices and make trades. There are two types of FOREX software available, client based and web based.
As the FOREX market is a fast moving market and you will need up to the minute information to make informed transactions, it is up to you to see you have a high speed internet connection. Dial up internet access will absolutely not work for this. Another consideration could be the location of the servers used by your broker. If your broker's servers are located quite a distance from you, say in another country, this could potentially slow down your transmissions. If you plan to trade online you will need a modern computer and high speed internet connection.
The next consideration would be which type of software, client based or web based? Web based software is housed on your brokers website. You will not have to install any software on your own computer. A web based software program will allow you to log in from any computer that has an internet connection. A client based software program, or one that you download into your own computer will limit you to transactions only on the computer it is downloaded on. Web based software programs are preferred by most brokers who think they are more safe and reliable. Web based software tends to be less vulnerable to attack from viruses and hackers during transmissions than client based software.
Any FOREX software should offer you real-time quotes and offer means to quickly enter and exit the market. These are minimal requirements of any trading software. Upgraded software packages are usually offered at an extra monthly fee by brokers.
Generally brokers will have client information housed on two severs kept in two different locations. This is to guarantee client data is kept as safe as possible. If there is a power failure or a problem with one server the data is sent back and forth from the second secure server and you will not notice an interruption. Regular back ups of these servers is another way that brokers keep financial data safe in case of server failure.
As the FOREX market is a fast moving market and you will need up to the minute information to make informed transactions, it is up to you to see you have a high speed internet connection. Dial up internet access will absolutely not work for this. Another consideration could be the location of the servers used by your broker. If your broker's servers are located quite a distance from you, say in another country, this could potentially slow down your transmissions. If you plan to trade online you will need a modern computer and high speed internet connection.
The next consideration would be which type of software, client based or web based? Web based software is housed on your brokers website. You will not have to install any software on your own computer. A web based software program will allow you to log in from any computer that has an internet connection. A client based software program, or one that you download into your own computer will limit you to transactions only on the computer it is downloaded on. Web based software programs are preferred by most brokers who think they are more safe and reliable. Web based software tends to be less vulnerable to attack from viruses and hackers during transmissions than client based software.
Any FOREX software should offer you real-time quotes and offer means to quickly enter and exit the market. These are minimal requirements of any trading software. Upgraded software packages are usually offered at an extra monthly fee by brokers.
Generally brokers will have client information housed on two severs kept in two different locations. This is to guarantee client data is kept as safe as possible. If there is a power failure or a problem with one server the data is sent back and forth from the second secure server and you will not notice an interruption. Regular back ups of these servers is another way that brokers keep financial data safe in case of server failure.
Forex Broker Involvement Optional
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To trade on the forex market, the largest financial market on the planet, one must use a forex broker. Not unlike a stock broker, a forex broker can also makes suggestions about which moves to make when exchanging foreign currency. Some forex brokers even supply technical analysis to some of their clients and offer tips on research to improve their success as forex traders.
Typically in the forex market a forex broker is a banking institution who may buy up large amounts of a certain currency. For years, banks were the only ones who had access to the forex markets. But today with the Internet, any forex trader, who subscribes with a forex broker, can access the market 24 hours a day.
Today, as with stock brokers, the brick and mortar institutions, such as banks, are less of an option for the individual forex trader who works from home, monitoring the news and gaining insight into certain technical information to help with his or her trading decisions.
Choosing a forex broker may depend on your needs. If you are new to the field, there are houses, or online forex brokers who may cater to your needs, providing in-depth research, ample time to demo their product and so on. Other forex brokers are geared toward the experienced online forex trader. They too offer advice, but may be less likely to offer instructional help with the information, assuming that you may already know how it may or may not benefit you when you read it. It is advisable to read about and even run a demo on several different online forex brokers before going with one.
Typically in the forex market a forex broker is a banking institution who may buy up large amounts of a certain currency. For years, banks were the only ones who had access to the forex markets. But today with the Internet, any forex trader, who subscribes with a forex broker, can access the market 24 hours a day.
Today, as with stock brokers, the brick and mortar institutions, such as banks, are less of an option for the individual forex trader who works from home, monitoring the news and gaining insight into certain technical information to help with his or her trading decisions.
Choosing a forex broker may depend on your needs. If you are new to the field, there are houses, or online forex brokers who may cater to your needs, providing in-depth research, ample time to demo their product and so on. Other forex brokers are geared toward the experienced online forex trader. They too offer advice, but may be less likely to offer instructional help with the information, assuming that you may already know how it may or may not benefit you when you read it. It is advisable to read about and even run a demo on several different online forex brokers before going with one.
Forex Signal Services
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What are Forex signals? Forex signals are paid services offered by some brokers and independent Forex annalists. Companies that offer forex signals monitor and analyze the market for you, providing you with their data via desktop alerts, email or even SMS and pager alerts.
Forex signal services analyze several factors when preparing their data. They do a technical analysis of market conditions and use a combination of indicators to identify trends and isolate profitable entry and exit points. They then send you the results via the venue of your choice and you can choose to use the signal in your own trading, or pass on it.
Most forex signal services offer signals for only a handful of the most popular currency pairs, such as EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF. Occasionally, you can find specialty services that offer signals for other lesser traded pairs. Forex signals can be costly, even upwards of $100 / mth. The benefit of subscribing to such a service is that they analyze and crunch the data for you, saving you time. It should be noted, however that using a signal service is no substitute for a proper education in the Forex markets. Signal services give you data, you still need to know what to do with it.
When shopping for a signal service, make sure that they provide you with historical data so that you can see their track record for yourself. Remember, that like any trader, Forex signal services also have loosing trades. You shouldn't expect a signal service to be a sure ticket to instant Forex wealth, but rather look at them as another tool in your trading toolbox.
Forex signal services analyze several factors when preparing their data. They do a technical analysis of market conditions and use a combination of indicators to identify trends and isolate profitable entry and exit points. They then send you the results via the venue of your choice and you can choose to use the signal in your own trading, or pass on it.
Most forex signal services offer signals for only a handful of the most popular currency pairs, such as EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF. Occasionally, you can find specialty services that offer signals for other lesser traded pairs. Forex signals can be costly, even upwards of $100 / mth. The benefit of subscribing to such a service is that they analyze and crunch the data for you, saving you time. It should be noted, however that using a signal service is no substitute for a proper education in the Forex markets. Signal services give you data, you still need to know what to do with it.
When shopping for a signal service, make sure that they provide you with historical data so that you can see their track record for yourself. Remember, that like any trader, Forex signal services also have loosing trades. You shouldn't expect a signal service to be a sure ticket to instant Forex wealth, but rather look at them as another tool in your trading toolbox.
HectorTrader Forex Course Review, learn how to trade on FX Market from the eyes of a Professional
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Hector is a professional full-time Forex trader that has created an online Forex Course inspired by his disdain for those that blindly follow the signals generated by a black box system (Forex system) without having any idea of what they’re doing. The aim of the course is to remove the blindfolds of those who trade in this way, focusing on teaching them all the knowledge and techniques they need to know to be successful traders.
In this course people will learn how this professional trader engages the market, they’ll see and learn directly from the eyes and experience of a pro FX trader, in few words, they will learn about all the elements that compose Hector’s trading approach: entry triggers, price target determination, pre-trade and in-trade management, breakouts, the London open breakout, Hector’s Golden Trading Rules, among other things. All of these taking into account Hector’s conservative trend-trading methodology which is based on price action, levels of resistance and support, and breakouts.
The course offers eight (8) chapters, all of them in consecutive order, talking about the following topics:
CHAPTER 1: Analyzing the trend
CHAPTER 2: Pattern breakouts
CHAPTER 3: Swing trades
CHAPTER 4: Stop loss and targets
CHAPTER 5: Blending the news
CHAPTER 6: Trade management
CHAPTER 7: London open breakout
CHAPTER 8: The Golden Rules
In addition, all courses are very interactive with images and real time videos (there are a total of 60 videos), plus the first chapter can be seen for free, so the customer has an idea of what type of course they’re gonna pay for
Revolutionizing Forex Software!
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The Forex Funnel is one of the several automated Forex robots used by currency traders. But what makes this system stand out? First of all, it is very simple and easy to use system. It has been designed so that even the most computer illiterate person-that knows how to follow directions-can start using it and profit immediately. There are many automated systems out there but not all are as straightforward.
Forex Funnel is an electronic product which is downloaded immediately following payment, this means you literally can be trading within minutes of making a purchase. This is what you get:
1. Full and detailed instructions on how to set up a MT4 Trading Account and claim the free $100 credit currently on offer.
2. Full and detailed instructions on how to install the Forex Funnel EA onto your Metatrader Software.
3. The two essential files required by the Metatrader Software.
4. A free bonus package called "The Goldminer" which is another indicator exclusively available to Forex Funnel customers.
5. A login and password to activate Forex Funnel.
When I first started out with Forex Funnel, one of the first things I noticed was that this automated forex software automatically adjusts the stop-loss appropriately to market conditions, which in my opinion is absolutely phenomenal. Most trading robots cannot do this.
Global Financial Crisis and the Forex Market
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The crisis is spreading like a cancer and as the days pass it becomes increasingly difficult to abstract from it. By this time almost no profitable sector of the economy is immune to the effects of the financial debacle and even the wealthier segments of the population had to adjust their belts. The Foreign Exchange has been one of the exits all of those seeking to protect their investment have taken.
Investing in the Forex Market, as well as in the Stock Market, in times of crisis could be risky and good at the same time due to the high volatility in the markets which provides an extreme sensitivity to any asset. This could bring two possible consequences: being the market so sensitive to changes the first consequences is that people could lose large amounts of money in just one transaction, but looking at this from another angle, people could also win large amounts of money if they put their money in the right place at the right time.
But how could you know where and when to invest? Anyone who invests in foreign currency exchange should analyze what are the economies most affected by the global crisis, and from there, deduce which currencies could get devalued, and which could benefit from this situation. By doing this, people could get an idea of which are the best currency pairs to invest, taking into account all the market and broker’s parameters such as pips, spread rates and leverage, among others. Which leaves us only with the question: when to invest?. Knowing the exact time to make a transaction in the FX market is almost impossible, but following trends as well as the news of the countries involved is a really important step.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Forex signals and Forex Automoney, an excellent substitute combination to Forex Robots.
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Nowadays, Forex Robots have been gaining a lot of, well
deserved, popularity due to their amazing performance and ability to generate
profits without the intervention of a human beings. The problem is that not
anyone who invests in Forex market is willing to give a robot such great
responsibility and authority over the managing of their money, as well as there
are others who doesn’t believe a robot can trade that well to really generate a
significant income.
There’s also another problem and is that not
everybody has the enough knowledge about Forex to trade in the FX market but
still want to do it and learn, and here is where the problems begin, people
start trading on their own
without any help or tutoring, choosing any broker without knowing anything about
it, accepting every single offer people make to them who claim to know the way
of making money in the FX market and start losing money.
The solution for these types of people are only
two: start reading a lot, going to courses and ask for tutoring or start using
Forex Signals. Forex Signals are some sort of
trading alerts provided by some companies at a
determined cost. These alerts tell the client when to buy or sell a currency
pair and how much money to put in the trade. The signals are sent usually from
15 to 5 minutes before the trade happens via E-mail or SMS to give the client
time to get in the computer and log in the broker account. The best thing about
signals is that they’re more like tips, the client gets advised and is up to him
to follow or not the signal, and if he do follow, he can instantly see if the
alert worked or not because he’s the one in charge of opening and closing the
orders.
Nowadays, Forex Robots have been gaining a lot of, well deserved, popularity due to their amazing performance and ability to generate profits without
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Forex Megadroid is a new robot that was launched on March 28
of 2009. The curious thing about this robot is that the creators and developers
have been using the robot for a long time without having published it until now.
This is a very interesting thing to consider since every robot that’s in the
market these days was created and immediately published. It seems that the Forex Megadroid’s creators have managed to solve the failure of all previous
robots, and that is, have real and long tests of their software to back up what
they’re saying instead of just publishing it the day after they created it
without even taking at least 1 year to test it, and that’s why they used the
robot for only themselves for about 9 Years (since 2001)
and backed all these results to come to the conclusion that their robot really
works.
Another very interesting thing is that this robot can be used in
EVERY BROKER without being detected. The robot was created to be like a trojan.
There’s no need to find a broker that allows an specific platform or the use of
robots in order to use this one, the robot will adapt to the broker platform and
trade like is a human the one that’s trading. This is probably the most amazing
thing with Forex Robots so far, since every robot to the date has to use
an specific platform like Metatrader 4 in order to be use, and that becomes a
huge disadvantage to FX traders because they lose the freedom to choose any
broker they like and have to adapt to the broker’s characteristics that provides
this platform, such as account sizes, leverage and spread rates, among other
things, taking away from them the posibility to win more or play a little more
with their investments. The market becomes more mechanical than strategic.
Short-Term Forex Technical Outlook: GBP/CHF
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The British pound weakened against the Swiss franc for the fourth day, but looks to be finding short-term support near the 50-Day moving average (1.7743), and the GBP/CHF may continue trend higher over the near-term as market sentiment improves. After reaching a high of 1.8976 in November, the pound-franc slipped to a low of 1.5124 on 12/29 following the rise in risk aversion however, the rebound in market sentiment has led the pair higher throughout the first half of year, and the GBP/CHF should continue to trend higher over the near-term as investors speculate the Bank of England to tighten policy over the next 12 months. Credit Suisse overnight index swaps are higher by nearly 100bp as investors anticipate the BoE to hike rates in the following year, and expectations for an economic recovery later this year may continue to support the rise in the interest rate outlook as growth prospects improve. Over the next few hours of trading, we may see the pound-franc continue to push lower to retrace the advance from the end of July however, as the RSI approaches oversold territory, further moves to the downside are likely to be capped, and we may see the pair bounce back to fill-in the gap from the 120 SMA at 1.7888. Be sure to check out other Technical Reports from DailyFX for additional information on the major currency pairs.
Forex trading examples 1
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An investor has a margin deposit with Saxo Bank of USD 100,000.
The investor expects the US dollar to rise against the Swiss franc and therefore decides to buy USD 2,000,000 - 2% of his maximum possible exposure at a 1% margin Forex gearing.
The Saxo Bank dealer quotes him 1.5515-20. The investor buys USD at 1.5520.
Day 1: Buy USD 2,000,000 vs. CHF 1.5520 = Sell CHF 3,104,000.
Four days later, the dollar has actually risen to CHF 1.5745 and the investor decides to take his profit.
Upon his request, the Saxo Bank dealer quotes him 1.5745-50. The investor sells at 1.5745.
Day 5: Sell USD 2,000,000 vs. CHF 1.5745 = Buy CHF 3,149,000.
As the dollar side of the transaction involves a credit and a debit of USD 2,000,000, the investor's USD account will show no change. The CHF account will show a debit of CHF 3,104,000 and a credit of CHF 3,149,000. Due to the simplicity of the example and the short time horizon of the trade, we have disregarded the interest rate swap that would marginally alter the profit calculation.
This results in a profit of CHF 45,000 = approx. USD 28,600 = 28.6% profit on the deposit of USD 100,000.
The investor expects the US dollar to rise against the Swiss franc and therefore decides to buy USD 2,000,000 - 2% of his maximum possible exposure at a 1% margin Forex gearing.
The Saxo Bank dealer quotes him 1.5515-20. The investor buys USD at 1.5520.
Day 1: Buy USD 2,000,000 vs. CHF 1.5520 = Sell CHF 3,104,000.
Four days later, the dollar has actually risen to CHF 1.5745 and the investor decides to take his profit.
Upon his request, the Saxo Bank dealer quotes him 1.5745-50. The investor sells at 1.5745.
Day 5: Sell USD 2,000,000 vs. CHF 1.5745 = Buy CHF 3,149,000.
As the dollar side of the transaction involves a credit and a debit of USD 2,000,000, the investor's USD account will show no change. The CHF account will show a debit of CHF 3,104,000 and a credit of CHF 3,149,000. Due to the simplicity of the example and the short time horizon of the trade, we have disregarded the interest rate swap that would marginally alter the profit calculation.
This results in a profit of CHF 45,000 = approx. USD 28,600 = 28.6% profit on the deposit of USD 100,000.
Forex trading examples 2
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The investor follows the cross rate between the EUR and the Japanese yen. He believes that this market is headed for a fall. As he is not quite confident of this trade, he uses less of the leverage available on his deposit. He chooses to ask the dealer for a quote in EUR 1,000,000. This requires a margin of EUR 1,000,000 x 5% = EUR 10,000 = approx. USD 52,500 (EUR /USD 1.05).
The dealer quotes 112.05-10. The investor sells EUR at 112.05.
Day 1: Sell EUR 1,000,000 vs. JPY 112.05 = Buy JPY 112,050,000.
He protects his position with a stop-loss order to buy back the EUR at 112.60. Two days later, this stop is triggered as the EUR o strengthens short term in spite of the investor's expectations.
Day 3: Buy EUR 1,000,000 vs. JPY 112.60 = Sell JPY 112,600,000.
The EUR side involves a credit and a debit of EUR 1,000,000. Therefore, the EUR account shows no change. The JPY account is credited JPY 112.05m and debited JPY 112.6m for a loss of JPY 0.55m. Due to the simplicity of the example and the short time horizon of the trade, we have disregarded the interest rate swap that would marginally alter the loss calculation.
This results in a loss of JPY 0.55m = approx. USD 5,300 (USD/JPY 105) = 5.3% loss on the original deposit of USD 100,000.
The dealer quotes 112.05-10. The investor sells EUR at 112.05.
Day 1: Sell EUR 1,000,000 vs. JPY 112.05 = Buy JPY 112,050,000.
He protects his position with a stop-loss order to buy back the EUR at 112.60. Two days later, this stop is triggered as the EUR o strengthens short term in spite of the investor's expectations.
Day 3: Buy EUR 1,000,000 vs. JPY 112.60 = Sell JPY 112,600,000.
The EUR side involves a credit and a debit of EUR 1,000,000. Therefore, the EUR account shows no change. The JPY account is credited JPY 112.05m and debited JPY 112.6m for a loss of JPY 0.55m. Due to the simplicity of the example and the short time horizon of the trade, we have disregarded the interest rate swap that would marginally alter the loss calculation.
This results in a loss of JPY 0.55m = approx. USD 5,300 (USD/JPY 105) = 5.3% loss on the original deposit of USD 100,000.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Forex TraDing
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The Currency markets never sleeps and several trillions dollars are traded everyday, making the Foreign Exchange Market the World’s biggest and most exciting investment market. In recent years, mechanical currency trading systems, using technical analysis to predict trend movements have become increasingly popular as a way of locking into, and profiting from the longer term currency trends.
Understanding the Trends of Forex Market
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Forex is actually the foreign exchange and deals in the goods, services and currency trading. Forex trading has gained prominence with the passage of time and more and more people have started chasing the trend. This concept of forex is purely based upon investment whether they are small, or big one.
Forex is also considered the economic indicator of economy and help to ascertain the financial picture of the nation. Also, forex market is the biggest financial and economical market of the world. Its money capacity is considered even larger than the equity and treasury markets.
Currency trading is the chief work undertaken in this market and thus, great risk factors are involved with them. It is also said that it reflects the true financial and economic condition of the country in a defined way. Moreover, currency trading also highlights the factors connected with the assets that country store.
It is generally said that forex is a very volatile market and prices fluctuate very quickly in fraction of seconds. So, while trading meticulous concentration should be paid so that you do not miss out any prominent moment where price has gone steeply upwards. This is considered as the most important forex trading strategy which can bring you huge sums of profits.
As per the different forex trading signals, emphasis must be paid upon the mediums through which you can get instant information. Thus, internet and mobile phones can serve the purpose in the most appropriate way. These different forex trading signals can get you access to the forex alerts all 24/7. This makes them highly convenient and hassle free service mediums.
Forex strategy system works on the economic driving force of demand and supply concept. Once the demand f any product increases steeply, it directly influences the supply side. On the overall picture of the forex trading system, it highlights the profitability of the forex market.
Forex alerts are also needed for the awareness about the changes that take place in the financial market of forex forex signals so that economic feasibility of that country can be determined accordingly. This in turn helps the economists for analyzing the different trends that influence the market. They after bring the new theories of economics that can help in understanding the forex strategy system in a better way.
Currency trading also help in exchanging the most used currency in which most of the trades of the country can be undertaken. In case, company wants to trade with any other country, at that time it requires its currency so that it can further undertake the business. Also, currency trading forms a vital part of investment that can help to earn profits.
Forex signals, forex strategy system, forex trading signal, forex alerts, forex signal and current trading are all important components often market of forex and influence the financial position of a country in a big way. So, Forex signals, forex strategy system, forex trading signal, forex alerts, forex signal and current trading should be studied in details so that you can trade in the financial markets in the most appropriate way.
7 Winning Strategies for Trading Forex
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Many traders go around searching for that one perfect trading strategy that works all the time in the global FOREX (foreign exchange/currency) market. Frequently, they will complain that a strategy doesn't work. Few people understand that successful trading of the FOREX market entails the application of the right strategy for the right market condition. Learn how you can select high-probability trades with good entries and exits.
"The 7 Winning Strategies For Trading Forex" covers: Why people should be paying attention to the FOREX market, which is the world's largest and most liquid financial market; How understanding the structure of this market can be beneficial to the independent trader; How to overcome the odds of success; and seven winning strategies for trading FOREX. Grace Cheng highlights seven trading strategies, each of which is to be applied in a unique way and is designed for differing market conditions. She shows how traders can use the various market conditions to their advantage by tailoring the strategy to suit each one.
The Forex Trading Course: A Self-study Guide to Becoming a Successful Currency Trade
A pioneer in currency trading shares his vast knowledge. "The Forex Trading Course" is a practical, hands on guide to mastering currency trading. This book is designed to build an aspiring trader's knowledge base in a step by step manner with each major section followed by a thorough question and answer section to ensure mastery of the material.
Written in a straightforward and accessible style, "The Forex Trading Course" outlines a practical way to integrate fundamental and technical analysis to identify high probability patterns and trades; reveals how to develop a trading plan and appropriate strategies for different size trading accounts; how to control emotions and use emotional intelligence to improve trading performance; and much more. Filled with in depth insight and practical advice, "The Forex Trading Course" will prepare readers for the realities of currency trading, and help them evolve and achieve success in this dynamic market.
Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders
Praise for "Forex Conquered": "In this amazing book, John covers it all. From trading systems to money management to emotions, he explains easily how to pull money consistently from the most complicated financial market in the world. John packs more new, innovative information into this book than I have ever seen in a trading book before." - Rob Booker, independent currency trader. "John Person is one of the few rare talents that are uniquely qualified to help traders understand the process of successful trading.
With today's markets becoming increasingly challenging, John has cut right into the essentials and brought forward the much needed tools of forex trading. This clear and well organized publication is a major step forward in helping traders gain an edge. I would highly recommend "Forex Conquered" as a valuable handbook for both aspiring and experienced traders alike." - Sandy Jadeja, Chief Market Analyst and EditorLondon Stock Exchange, London, England. ""Forex Conquered" is a bold title, but this book delivers the tools needed for successful forex trading. There is no fluff here, just the wisdom of a trading veteran that I have always respected and followed."
Forex Made Easy: 6 Ways to Trade the Dollar
This title shows how investors of every size can profit from today's largest trading market. Newly-developed online trading tools and tactics have helped individual investors smash the barriers between Main Street and Wall Street. Nowhere is this more evident than in the foreign currency market, or FOREX. Recent rule changes have opened this phenomenally lucrative market - formerly reserved for banks, corporations, and high net worth individuals--to independent investors, many of whom start with as little as $300!
"Forex Made Easy" is the first no-nonsense, step-by-step introduction to making the FOREX an integral part of your overall trading program.Pulling back the curtain to reveal how simple and straightforward FOREX trading actually can be, this results-based manual takes you through an easy-to-follow, six-step process to: use unheard-of 100:1 leverage to make the most of your limited trading capital; practice market-proven techniques guaranteed to minimize your risk exposure; and, trade the FOREX market online, 24 hours a day, six days a week FOREX trading has quickly become one of the investing world's hottest opportunities, for all traders and investors, regardless of their size or strategy.
The 10 Essentials of Forex Trading
A renowned trading educator reveals his proven forecasting methods for the Forex market. The largest market in the world, Forex is the new wave of investing for individual and active traders. In "The 10 Essentials of Forex Trading", trading innovator Jared Martinez shows you how to understand trading patterns and turn them into profit, no matter what your investment level is.
Martinez, who created the Kings Crown method, delivers 10 essential keys for succeeding in the Forex market, with charting methods and insights that will help you begin trading currencies immediately. The keys include coverage of balancing equity management, identifying trend reversals, and forecasting sideways movement and trading it.
General Guides for FOREX Trading Newbie
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Being new to FOREX trading? Don’t worry, getting started in FOREX trading is easy and you can always test your skills first in a demo account before you go ‘live’ with real money. To get started in FOREX trading, we have to get to know what FOREX is. For the inexperienced, FOREX trading involves buying and selling the different currencies of the world. A FOREX deal is made when one buys one currency and sells another at the same time. It is always traded in pairs, Euro/USD, CHF/USD, USD/JPY…you get ‘short’ in a currency every time to buy another and the profit is made when you buy-low and sell-high.
FOREX market is the largest trading market in the world. It yields an average turnover of $1.9 trillion daily and the figure is nearly 30 times larger than the total volume of equity trades in United States. FOREX trading is very unique as the trades are done between two counterparts via electronic network or telephone connections. There is no centralized location as stocks or futures markets and trades are done around the clock. Everyday FOREX trade begins when the financial centers in Sydney start their day, and moves around the globe to Tokyo, London, and then New York. Traders can always response to the market regardless of the local time.
Although FOREX trading involves such a big volume of trades nowadays, it is not made available for the publics until year 1998. In the past, the FOREX market was not offered to small speculators or individual traders due to the large minimum business sizes and extremely strict financial requirements. At that time, only banks, big multi-national cooperation and major currency dealers were able to take advantage of the currency exchange market's extraordinary liquidity and strong trending nature of world's main currency exchange rates. Only until the late 90s, FOREX brokers are allowed to break huge sized inter-bank units into smaller units and offer these units to individual traders like you and me. Nowadays with the rapid growth of Internet and communications technology, FOREX trading has become one of the hottest make-money-at-home-businesses for those who wish to avoid conventional 9-5 day job.
As a fact in FOREX trading, FOREX is mainly traded in large international bank. According to Wall Street Journal Europe, 73% of the trade volume is covered by the major ten. Deutsche Bank, topping the table, had covered 17% of the total currency trades; followed by UBS in the second and Citi Group in third; taking 12.5% and 7.5% of the market. Other large financial cooperation in the list is HSBC, Barclays, Merril Lynch, J. P. Morgan Chase, Coldman Sachs, ABN Amro, and Morgan Stanley. For market participants segment, approximately half of the transactions done were strictly between dealers (i.e. Bank, or large currency dealer); others are mainly between dealer and non-financial institutions.
To start trading on FOREX, one must first learn how to read FOREX quotes. Foreign exchange quotes are always listed in pairs (e.g. USD/JPY 109.2): the first listed currency is known as the base currency with a constant value of 1 unit; while the currency listed in the second is known as counter. In our given example, USD/JPY 109.2 means a dollar of United States Dollar is equal to 109.2 Japanese Yen. In other words, the quote shows the relative value of one currency compare to the other. It means the value USD had been increased when USD/JPY quote goes up
However, a two-sided quote (e.g. EUR/USD 1.2435/1.2440) consisting of a 'bid' and ‘ask’ is often seen. The ‘bid’ price is the price at which you can sell the base currency; while the ‘ask’ price is where you can buy the base currency. The different of ‘bid & ask’ price is commonly known as ‘spread’. In the example of EUR/USD 1.2435/1.2440, this means you can buy 1 Euro Dollar with 1.2440 USD or sell 1 Euro 1.2435. Currency brokers make their profit through these differences of ‘bid & ask’ price and this is how they manage to provide their services to individual investors without charging them commission fees.
You don’t need much tools to trade in FOREX market. A computer with Internet access, a funded FOREX account with foreign currency exchange broker, and a trading system should be sufficient to get things started.
To reduce the risks of losing money, some basic charting knowledge is as well recommended before you start trading FOREX. FOREX charts assist the investor by providing a visual representation of exchange rate fluctuations. Many variables affect currency exchange rates, such as interest rates, bank policies, geopolitics, and even the time of day may affect exchange rates. As stated by expert FOREX trader Peter Bain, charting is an essential tool in FOREX trading. In his newsletter, he reveals that daily charts, hourly charts, and 15-minute charts are used while trading in FOREX. As quoted from his informative newsletter -- “Daily chart will help you define the overall trend from a position trading point-of-view, and the hourly (one hour) chart will give you a feel for the intraday trend. The 15-minute chart is used for entry and exit – with assistance from the five-minute chart, where price is moving quickly, and you need to be closer to the action.”
Being one of the technical method, FOREX charting is based on the principal ‘history repeats itself’. FOREX traders who study charts predict the market future by evaluating past market performance. The time frame used for charting might differs for different traders, some analyze the past one week, some prefer six months analysis, and there are also traders who analyze the market for the past five to ten years before getting involved in a FOREX trade. A huge variety of FOREX charts are available in the market. Some charting methods are very simple, using a few FOREX indicators to show trading direction; other charts may include up to forty indicators and those are mainly for advance traders that are more skillful. MACD Divergence, RSI, RSI range, and price are some of the well-known indicators in charting.
Forex Trading Tips to Avoid Failure in the Forex Trading Market
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Forex trading can be an extremely lucrative way to make a living especially on this present times advance internet based technology. The mixture of margin leverage and a low minimum amount required to start trading make forex trading ideal and attractive for a small forex trading investor. And yet, despite its vast opportunities for profit, majority of forex traders lose all of their hard earned money within a year trading in forex ( Foreign Exchange ).
Based on recent studies, these are the most common reasons that explain why majority of inexperienced forex traders fail:
1. Unlikely Forex Trading Profit Expectations
A lot of novice traders read about how easy it is to make money trading forex and they just take the plunge and lose enormous amount of their hard earned money before they even know what hit them.
Forex trading is not a get rich quick scheme. It requires hard work and research to be successful. And even then, you cannot expect every trade to be a winner. Even the best and professional traders also lose on tradunf forex. The key therefore, is knowing when to cut your losses and focus on the winning trading systems.
2. Failure to Acquire Sufficient Knowledge in Forex Trading
Forex trading is easy to learn, but difficult to master. Experienced traders make it seem so easy, but predicting currency prices is a complex endeavor. And as a small investor you are at a disadvantage. Large financial institutions have resources that you don't. They may have an entire staff analyzing the most recent economic indicators while you just have yourself. You must be prepared to spend some solid time learning before you can expect to win big profits.
3. They Became an Addictive Gambler Instead of a Smart Forex Trading Investor
The forex market can be very addictive as well as exciting because it involves lot of money. Hence, a novice investor may tend to trade based purely on luck, just like a gambler does. I've seen people do this and they usually pick a few winners and make some short-term profits, but in the end they just get slaughtered.
On the other hand, a smart forex investor do a research and study the market before picking a currency pair and soon became a winner by earning a handsome profit.
4. Short of Focus
Depending on which broker you use, there are possible dozens of currencies you can trade. But on the onset especially when you are just starting out, think small. Pick a few of the most popular currencies, such as the US Dollar, the Japanese Yen, and the Euro, and concentrate completely on these major currencies.
The more currencies you trade, the more data you will have to analyze in order to spot trends. It is much better to know a few currencies really very well than to know just a little about each currency pair.
5. No Reliable Forex Trading System
To win at forex you need to forecast market development. Multifaceted systems work better than simple ones. And to be a profitable technical trader, you need to learn from proven forex trading strategies and currency trading systems.
But definitely the most important thing a novice trader to do is to choose a system that is easy to understand and easy to use. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different trading systems available. Some you will have to pay for, but many are free. Choose a system that is right for you based on your capital, your goals, and your personality.
Without a reliable forexx trading system, you might as well be throwing your hard earned money in the dark.
6. Failure to Follow and Stick to a Proven Winning Forex Trading System
Having a forex trading system is not adequate. As a trader, you have to follow it through good times and bad times. Though it's easier said than done, its easy to get greedy and go for the big score or get nervous and get out too soon. You must follow your system to determine both entry and exit points.
Seven Top Incredible Reasons Why Some Forex Traders Are Making Losses In The Forex Market
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It is this negative development that propelled me to write this article to clearly show the top reasons majority forex traders are loosing out. The top seven reasons if well understood will provide a guide for concerned forex traders who have already fallen victim of these costly mistakes. Let us quickly look at the top seven reasons why forex traders are loosing out.
Reason #1: Lack of good training; some of the forex traders just attend one or two seminars which lasted for one or two days. And after these they only demo trade for two or more weeks before they go for real/ live trading. One funny thing with this set of people is that they want to start making thousands of dollars the day they start trading. They had forgotten the fact that it took them four to five years before they could graduate from tertiary college and master their field of interest. In short, lack of proper training both external induced training and self training often account for the reason while some people fail in forex trading.
Reason #2: Over ambition and greediness some traders are over ambitions and greedy. These sets of traders want to make million over night. Rather than using effective risk management principle by not trading with more than 2 to 3 percent of their money, these forex traders will want to make big profit from single trade. Hence, they over bloated their risk management and entered market with what they could not afford to lose and when trend go against them, they often find themselves in a debilitating state and finally loose out of the market
Reason #3: Lack of discipline to follow through the strategy the forex trader developed for himself. If there is anything that can quickly ruin any forex trader, it is lack of discipline. If forex traders lack the good culture and discipline of following the strategy they developed to make big pips such a trader will continue to run after shadow and in no long a period of time loose all his/her investment
Reason #4: Lack of good strategy and methodology to assist the traders to make entry and exit decisions. There is no gainsaying the fact that some traders still believe that forex market is similar to casino and therefore, they can always gamble to make money in forex market. Later than sooner they fumbled and somersault in the market. There is need for forex traders to develop effective strategy that will assist them to enter and make exit from the market. To this extent, the stop loss, trailing loss, take away profit point and pivot points should be built into the strategy all these will make a forex trader successful, Determining best time to trade as well as which currency to trade is often over looked by some traders and this affect their performance.
Reason #5: Over dependence on one or two indicators; another common mistakes that traders make is to depend too much on one or two indicators which may not be enough to predict varied market conditions. Some traders do this to their own detriment to the extent that they lose all their money. While it is good to use indicators so that one will be able to determine when to trade or not it is equally advisable that combination of both fundamental analysis and Technical factors be considered while trading.
Reason #6 : Bad money and Risk management practice: Most traders because of greediness often trade with more than 20% of the capital invested to trade what at times they called sure news. And when the news turns against them they are often left with nothing. A case in mind is a trader who had $1000 dollar in is forex trading account and decided to take $800 dollar to trade. The trade turned against him and he was margin called - visit the link below for better understanding.
Reason #7 : Bad brokers or platform; in selecting platform some factors must be considered one of which is the degree at which the forex broker execute instantly the trader's order, some platforms are so badly designed that all these factors may not be well treated. If a trader is using a slow response broker platform, it is possible that when a trader gives instruction to buy or sell a currency, the trade would have turn against the trader before such an order is executed. This type of situation is not uncommon if bad broker and not good broker with up - to- date and standard platform is chosen.
Having gone through the seven reasons why some traders fail and will still continues to fail, you are advised to take note of these reasons and quickly do self examination to see how best you can adjust and correct yourself. If you need to read more on forex topic so that you can master the points discussed above why not visit the link below. So that you can brush up your forex trading skills.
Leap Right Into The forex Game with the Basics
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the forex, or foreign money exchange, is all about currency. Money from all over the globe is bought, sold and traded. On the forex, anyone can buy and transfer currency and could maybe come out ahead in the end. When dealing with the foreign currency exchange, it is conceivable to buy the currency of one state, sell it and make a gain. For instance, a broker might buy a Japanese yen when the yen to dollar ratio increases, hitherto trade the yens and buy invest in American dollars for a yield.
The forex and the stock market possess varied similarities, in that it involves buying and trading to make a gain, but there are some differences. Unlike the stock market, the forex has a much high liquidity. This means, much more money is shifting hands day-to-day. Another key distinction when comparing the forex to the stock market is that the forex has no place where it is exchanged and it never closes. The forex involved trading between banks and brokers all over the world and provides twenty-four hour admittance during the business week.
Other variation between the stock market and the forex is that forex transaction has much higher leverage that the stock market. When some person decides to put in in the forex, they can anticipate much higher yield when they are competent and recognize how it works. There can also be the possibility for bleeding much more money as well.
For those who are just getting started in the forex, myriad brokers supply the utility of exchange using the mini-forex system. This has a paltry minimum deposit, customarily $100. This makes it easier for those learning how to trade on the forex to suffer less of a fate of bleeding a lot of savings and to discover how the system goes.
There is a lot of jargon when dealing with the forex. Learning to exchange on the forex can be fairly daedalian for the apprentice trader. When anticipating at the names utilized in the forex, a symbol is composed of two parts. The first one that is used is one It is important to learn what currency symbols imply when mastering about the forex. There are many books and websites dedicated on teaching traders about using the forex.
For those using the forex, a stockbroker is normally a commendable idea. Brokers are professionals when it comes to trading on the forex and their familiarity is priceless, markedly to the new dealer. When it is time to find a broker, there are some factors to ruminate. One thing to scrutinize for when choosing a forex broker is to go with some person that offers low spreads. The spread is designed in pips, or the variation between the valuation at which currency can be purchased and the appraisal it can be sold at any set time. Because forex brokers do not charge a fee, they will make their money off of the spreads, or the difference. When picking a broker, look at this info and refer that with different brokers.
Furthermore, when looking at a forex broker, pay attention for one that is backed by a well known financial organization. forex bankers are generally attached with big banks or other types of financial institutions. If a broker is not with a big bank, keep searching. In addition, look for a broker that is registered with the Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and that is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Making sure that the broker is properly registered and backed by a large bank or institution ensures that you are getting a reliable broker that is experienced in trading on the forex.
When looking for a broker, check to be certain that the broker has access to the latest research tools and data. It is important that brokers understand and have access to charts, graphs, news and data that are in real time. This will ensure that the broker is making wise decisions based on accurate forex forecasting. Also, look for a broker that can propose a extensive range of account options. They have to offer mini-accounts with a negligible minimum deposit as well as a standard account. This will allow anyone keen in the forex the possibility to barter at a level where they perceive most at ease.
The information you just read was pulled from many different resources. You should continue searching for information until you believe you have a firm grasp of the subject. I do want to thank you for visiting and good luck.
Learning to Trade Forex in Seven Steps
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New forex traders normally start their career by purchasing some secret set of indicators and they are quickly punished for their naivety. Many of these forex traders then purchase a different set of secret indicators until they become disillusioned and then quit trading.
You help yourself in the beginning; by learning to think for yourself and understanding that whilst anyone can trade forex, to be successful, you must learn to BE a forex trader.
To BE A Forex Trader
To trade forex is easy, all you need is a forex trading account with money in it and then you enter the foreign exchange market and start trading.
To be a forex trader is more work. You need to grow from the starting point of having very little knowledge to the stage where you have a trading plan, understand the concepts and behaviour of the forex market and be able to trade with a cool head and understand that wins and losses are all part of being a Forex Trader.
Learning How to Trade Forex by thinking like a Forex Trader in Seven Steps.
1. Understand your place in the Forex Market
This is very important you must understand that you are very small fish in a big ocean.
In the Foreign Exchange Market the majority of the liquidity is coming from big banks and experienced institutional traders. These are the big fish. The big fish will happily enjoy you as a little snack.
You are only fooling yourself if you think it will be easy to take money off these big forex traders.
You have to learn to swim alongside these big fish and catch the same currents they do. Swimming against them just marks you as prey and sooner or later you will be eaten.
2. Learn to read the Forex Charts and Understand the Foreign Exchange Market.
Many novice forex traders believe that these big forex traders have access to some secret forex trading strategy or use a secret set of indicators, but the truth is this is just not the case.
These major forex players are using simple, but proven technical analysis techniques - most commonly horizontal support/resistance, identification of trading ranges, Fibonacci these are then coupled with fundamental themes.
Begin by accepting that the other major participants are highly experienced in the market and they make money because of experience and by a complete understanding of the core skills and not because they hold a holy grail of secret indicators.
3. Money Management
It is crucial that you understand as a novice forex trader the emphasis is not on how much you can make from forex trading but on how you manage what you have.
This is the most common downfall of all novice traders. It is common place to see a starting trader risk the majority of their account on one or two positions.
This style of trading is not sustainable and professional traders do not trade in this manner. Everyone sometime in their career will have a string of bad trades. A typical number might be 10 losing trades in a row. The question is do you have a money management plan in place that enables you to survive this?
4. Focus on the Market
Many novice forex traders open their forex charting software and activate their latest hot indicator or tool and proceed to place their trades as per the tools recommendations. This style of forex trading is unlikely to have much long term success.
When these indicators fail to generate the required profits then these traders then move rapidly on to another set of indicators.
You must focus on the forex market and understand what the indicators are telling you so that you can pick the forex trades which have the best probability of being winners.
Successful forex traders use indicators and tools as Fibonacci, Pivot points, price channels, MACD, RSI etc. These tools by themselves do not make a successful trader. There are many successful traders and unsuccessful traders who use the exact same indicators.
The key is that successful traders understands how the market behaves around the indicators and understands what the signals actually mean.
The best way to achieve this is to stop swapping between tools and select those that compliment your trading plan, understand how they work, and then spend time in the market experiencing them.
5. Plan your trade and trade your plan.
This is a common saying that seems to get lost on novice traders. It should be every trader's goal to make pips on each forex trade as per their trading plan. Forex Traders must treat each trade as a business decision by calculating their risk and defining their entries and exits points, those that do not open themselves to big losses when a trade goes bad.
Many novice traders seem to lack the discipline to follow a plan for each trade. So what happens is typically the following; a novice trader will see a potential set-up, they decide on some arbitrary sum to buy or sell with a quick guesstimate, then place the trade without analyzing any risk and having an exit strategy.
Of course this way of trading can be profitable over the short term, more down to luck than skill. But eventually the luck runs out and the trader is caught napping and a common result is a wiped out account.
The first question novice traders tend to ask themselves how much will I make on this forex trade?
The first question experience traders tend to ask themselves is how much is my potential loss / risk?
6. Your mind is your strongest asset and weakest link.
Entire books have been dedicated to the subject of psychology and its role in trading. That doesn't mean they are all going to help you, but you should take this as a sign that the subject is not to be ignored.
First you must understand the role psychology plays in trading. You must learn to understand your personality traits and how they might affect your trading style.
A trader I know is a bad loser and when he has a bad trade, he had a habit of going straight back and trying to win those pips back with even worse results. But he understands this as a weakness and when he has a bad trade, he takes a break of 20 minutes before he goes back to trading so that his emotions do not affect his trading decisions.
Second you must make it your aim to never stop learning. You cannot get yourself to a certain level and then become complacent. Every day is a learning experience in some way or other and you must be prepared to learn lessons and invest time in improving your skills and experience. The day you stop learning is the day you should stop trading.
7. Understand The Forex Market is always right or Expect the Unexpected.
The forex market is an interesting place, but there is one thing every trader needs to learn. Always expect the unexpected and do not get wrapped up in past successes. No matter what your charts or indicators tell you; sometimes the forex market will just do the opposite.
Whatever happens in the market you must maintain an objective outlook on your strategy and the forex market and ensure that bubbles and crashes do not derail you in the long term.
By following these steps and learning to become a forex trader rather than just trading the forex market, you will put you on the path to ultimate success as a profitable forex trader. This is something that 90% of all novice traders fail to achieve.
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