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A look into the mind of the loosing trader and the corrective action needed to become a winning trader.

day trading, forex, foreign currency, winning, loosing, strategy

The lack of a proper trading plan which includes precise rules for entering and exiting a trade will most certainly guarantee failure over the long term. Beginners usually suffer from the same common ailments. They abandon trading plans purely on impulse because things are not going exactly as how they had envisioned. Repeatedly they use unreliable methods that fail to produce a profit. Many traders hold on to losing positions telling themselves “it is going to turn?when every indicator says otherwise because they cannot bear the thought of a loss.

Why do they torture themselves? Why don’t they just identify what’s going wrong and make a change? For some people recognizing that a trade or even a trading method is not working and making a change is easy, but for others it’s very difficult. They have to look at their limitations admit that they have made a mistake and that’s hard because it hurts our ego. Psychologically it’s risky, it’s often easier to fool ourselves. Just keep going, living in a state of denial until your account is depleted. If you recognize any of these traits in yourself you must stop trading immediately.

Take a good look at what has been happening, try and identify the problem. If you look close enough you may see a pattern. This is why it is vital to record every trade and as much information about it as possible. You have to break out of old patterns and see things in a new light.

You will never be a successful trader if you continue to live in a state of denial. What can be done to return to reality? There is a lot you can do. First of all make sure you are not trading under stress. When stressed out you can’t see clearly, you become rigid and unable to see alternative views. One of the easiest solutions is to trade smaller. The smaller the trade the less the stress, especially for the beginner. If you are experienced and in a loosing streak reduce your contracts until you get your confidence returns. Some people need to take a break altogether. Get away from it all. Take your mind off the trading.

The second thing you can do is to make sure you have a life. Trading can be addictive especially when you are winning. Do not put all your emotional eggs in the trading basket. You need to have other roles that give your life meaning and purpose. By defining your identity in a variety of ways, you will not place un-natural importance on trading events. Therefore, you will be able to take losses in stride and look at your trading more objectively.

Finally, radical acceptance is a key mental strategy for coping with market uncertainty. Many traders make the mistake of thinking they can control the markets. Nobody can control the markets. We must learn to accept anything that comes our way and to trade accordingly. Adopt the attitude that trading is a journey and that all we can do is go where the markets take us.

To succeed on this journey you cannot afford to lose too much. Manage risk and just accept what you get and enjoy the ride. This way you will trade more freely and creatively. Don’t live your life in denial. Accept your limitations, work around them, and become a winning trader. Write out your trading plan with precise entry and exit points. Most important set your stops and mentally decide you will not break them. Test your system on paper and when confident test in real time with the minimum contract size. You will have losing trades, accept them with grace and go on to the next trade.

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Below you will find the six common beliefs followed by the bulk of traders – and if you believe these myths as well, then they will restrict your chances of making significant currency trading profits.

Ninety percent of currency traders believe at least one or more of these myths – which explains why ninety percent of traders don’t make much profit by trading currencies!

currency trading myths

Below you will find the six common beliefs followed by the bulk of traders – and if you believe these myths as well, then they will restrict your chances of making significant currency trading profits.

Ninety percent of currency traders believe at least one or more of these myths – which explains why ninety percent of traders don’t make much profit by trading currencies!

1. You should always be in the Market in Case you Miss a Move

Traders love excitement, and their view is, if they are in the market they may catch the big move. Well they may – but chances are they won’t.

The big trends only come a few times a year in each currency – and you should stay out the market until they come, otherwise you will take losses, and run up commissions that will deplete your account.

Wait for the big trades – patience is a virtue in trading.

2. Diversification Reduces Risk, and Increases Profit Potential

Diversification simply dilutes your profits.

You hit a big move, and your other trades that lose, or give you only marginal profits, eat up all your currency-trading profits.

You need to have confidence to go for the big moves, when they occur, and load up these trades.

Currency trading is about calculated risks – if the trade looks good, hit it hard for big profits.

3. Day Trading is Better than Long Term Trend Following, as it’s Less Risky.

Many brokers spread this myth – and why not? – They make more commission if you believe it!

You will end up having more losses than profits in your trading. You will never make enough money in a day to cover your inevitable losses. When you add in commission and slippage, it’s inevitable that you will lose.

You need to hold longer-term trends, as these yield the big profits to cover your smaller losses.

4. Timing the Market is the Correct Way to Make Profits

Timing the market means you are trying to PREDICT where prices are going to top and bottom – this is not a good way to trade and the odds are against you.

A better way to trade is to wait for the market to CONFIRM a trend is under way, and jump on board. You may not buy the bottom or sell the high, but you can catch the major chunk in between – and with currency trends lasting for many months or years, you can still get plenty of profits from the trend.

5. Markets are the Same Today as they Were Hundreds of Years Ago

Rubbish! Trends now are much more volatile than they were even 50 years ago. Why? Today, with the Internet, price information reaches every corner of the globe in a split second. This increases volatility as everyone has the same information at once – and everyone tries to enter the market at the same time.

This was not the case even 50 years ago – the trends are still there, but volatility is much higher – traders get the direction of the trend right, but they find themselves stopped out by the volatility. How often has this happened to you? – It happens to all traders. Look at using options to give you staying power.

6. You can use a Black Box System to Make Money

You can buy a system from a vendor for a few thousand dollars – and it can make 50 to 100% profit per annum.

These systems normally have a hypothetical track record – and use price information where the results are already known, and of course, the logic of the system remains hidden from you – as it’s unlikely to have a sound basis.

Have you ever wondered why these vendors sell systems, when they could simply get a bank loan and trade their own systems?

Enough said on this one!

How about some Positive Advice?

If you want to make big currency trading profits, you need to do it for yourself.

Get a plan you have confidence in, and execute the plan with discipline – and have the courage to trade for large gains when they occur.

Good luck!

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More and more well informed investor and entrepreneurs are diversifying their traditional investments like stocks, bonds & commodities with foreign currency because of the following reasons:

online foreign curreny trading forex, online forex brokers, forex managed accounts,broker assisted

10 REASONS TO START TRADING FOREX!

More and more well informed investor and entrepreneurs are diversifying their traditional investments like stocks, bonds & commodities with foreign currency because of the following reasons:

1) FOREX is the largest financial market in the world.

With a daily trading volume of over $1.5 trillion, the spot FOREX market can absorb trading sizes that dwarf the capacity of any other market. In fact, when compared with the $50 billion daily market for equities or the $30 billion futures market, it becomes quickly apparent this gives you, and millions of other FOREX traders, almost infinite trading liquidity and flexibility.

2) FOREX is a True 24-hour market.

The FOREX Market never sleeps. Trading positions can be entered and exited at any moment around the globe, around the clock, 5.5 days a week. There is no waiting for an opening bell as in the case of trading stocks. It is a 24- hour, continuous electronic (ONLINE) currency exchange that never closes. This is very desirable for you if you want to trade on a part-time basis, because you can choose when you want to trade: morning, noon or night.

3) There is never a Bear Market in FOREX.

You can have access to a seamless exchange of currencies. Currencies trade in “pairs” (for example, US dollar vs. JPY (YEN) or US dollar vs. CHF (Swiss franc), one side of every currency pair (for example, USD/CHF) is constantly moving in relation to the other. Thus, when you buy a particular currency, you are actually simultaneously selling the other currency in that particular pair. As the market moves, one of the currencies will increase in value versus the other. Of course, it is up to you to choose the correct currency to be long ( you bought) or short( you sold).

4) High Leverage – up to 400:1 Leverage.

You are permitted to trade foreign currencies on a highly leveraged basis – up to 400 times your investment with Fenix Capital Management, LLC and with some other brokers.

Standard 100,000- US$ currency lots can be traded with as little as 0.25% margin, or $250.

Mini FX accounts are permitted to trade with just 0.25% margin, meaning, just $25 allows you to control a 10,000-unit currency position.

Futures traders, who are accustomed to margin requirements generally equal to 5-7%-8% of the contract value, will immediately recognize that the FOREX market provides much greater leverage, and for stock traders, who must post at least 50% margin, there’s no comparison. If you’re looking for an efficient use of trading , trade the Forex Market.

5) Price Movements might be Highly Predictable.

Currency prices in the FX market generally repeat themselves in relatively predictable cycles, creating trends. The strong trends that foreign currencies develop are a significant advantage for traders who use the “technical” methods and strategies.

Unlike stocks, currencies have the tendency to develop strong trends. Over 80% of volume is speculative in nature and, as a result, the market frequently overshoots and then corrects itself. As a technically-trained trader, you can easily identify new trends and breakouts, to enter and exit positions.

6) YOU don’t pay commissions or fees to trade FOREX

When you trade FOREX, through Fenix Capital Management LLC (FCM) you can do it totally FREE of commissions and fees , regardless of your account size.

Fenix Capital Management LLC, requires a very low minimum amount to open a brokerage account, only US$ 200 and they do not charge commissions or fees to trade or to maintain an account, regardless of your account balance or trading volume.

7) YOU don’t have to pay trading fees or exchange fees.

There are none of the usual fees, which futures and equity traders are accustomed to pay:

NO exchange or clearing fees,
NO NFA or SEC fees.

Because currencies trade over-the-counter (OTC), via a global electronic network, in FOREX, what you see on your trading screen, is what you get, allowing you to make quick decisions on your trades without having to worry or account for fees that may affect your profit/loss or slippage.

In the equity and commodity markets, you must pay both a commission and exchange fees. The over-the-counter structure of the FX market eliminates exchange and clearing fees, which in turn lowers transaction costs.

HOW to Forex brokers make money if they don’t charge commissions?

Like all traded financial products, over-the-counter currency trading involves a bid/ask spread, which represents the prices at which your counterpart is willing to trade. Your broker will receive a part of this bid/ask spread.

Because the currency market offers round-the-clock liquidity, you receive tight, competitive spreads both intra-day and night. Stock traders can be more vulnerable to liquidity risk and typically receive wider trading spreads, especially during after-hours trading.

9) Market Transparency.

Market transparency is highly desired in any trading environment. The greater the market transparency, the more efficient the market becomes. Unlike other markets where transparency is compromised (like in the many recent scandals), FOREX markets are highly transparent (i.e., analyzing countries, and having access to real-time research / news, is easier than analyzing companies).

Because of this transparency, as an FX trader, you will be able to apply risk management strategies in accordance to your fundamental and technical indicators.

10) Instantaneous Order Execution

The FX market offers the highest level of market transparency out of all the financial markets. Because of this, order execution and fill confirmation usually occur in just 1-2 seconds.

In Forex, order execution is all-electronic and because you’ll be trading via an Internet-based platform, instantaneous execution is routine.

There are no exchanges, no traditional open-outcry pits, no floor brokers, and consequently, no delays.( will be continued )

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In order to become a profitable trader the new trader will immediately discover the imperative need of having an accurate knowledge of the markets and a good understanding of the forex technical indicators.

forex,forex trader,forex trading,forex trade,forex broker,moving averages,forex education,forex articles,

These days everyone is talking about Forex trading and the great opportunity this activity represents for people willing to brake free from the corporate world and start working from home or any where else without losing their current lifestyle and even improving it.

Forex trading has changed dramatically in the last 10 years thanks to the technological advancements of the internet era. With real-time streaming technology and faster and more efficient computer systems, almost anything, from roses to FX trading, is available at the click of a button.

Some of the great reasons why Forex trading is a great way of entering the capital markets is that your trades are all commission-free and it has a low transaction cost. All the best forex brokers have these characteristics and even Mini FX traders (i.e., traders starting with accounts having a capital as low as $250), who are just starting in this field, can buy and sell currencies online always commission-free.

But one thing is to start Forex trading and other very different is becoming a profitable Forex trader. In order to become a profitable trader the new trader will immediately discover the imperative need of having an accurate knowledge of the markets and a good understanding of the forex technical indicators. Concepts 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 one of the worst enemies of the Forex trader. In order to become a profitable trader it is essential that the person involved in trading understands that he must leave fear aside and stick to the trading plan he has constructed and arranged before, always understanding that losing trades happen to everyone and they are always part of a profitable trading career. A forex trader must learn how to profitable use his stops without heavily compromising the capital in his trading account, i.e., he must play safe but realizing that a calculated risk must be undertaken in order to maximize profits.

In short knowledge is the key to a successful trading career but it also must go along the proper psychological preparation of the trader in order to be able to tame the markets and become a profitable trader.

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Currency trading success can be achieved by anyone, as everything about trading currencies can be specifically learned, by any trader wishing to put it in the time and effort to do so.

currency trading success

Currency trading success can be achieved by anyone, as everything about trading currencies can be specifically learned, by any trader wishing to put it in the time and effort to do so.

Trading currencies successfully is a combination of two factors:

Firstly, you need a successful trading method for long term currency trading success to predict market direction and these systems fall into two categories:

1. Fundamental analysis

A currency trader who makes trades based upon fundamental analysis, will look at the supply and demand situation relevant to the particular currency studied, and try and predict the impact of such factors as:

?The health of the economy
?Interest rates
?Balance of payments
?Employment
?Trade deficit
?Other factors

In today’s markets with the all-fundamental information available in seconds anywhere in the world, fundamental news is quickly reflected in the price.

Traders therefore, can have difficulty acting quickly enough to position themselves in the market in relation to breaking news.

In light of this, more traders looking for currency trading success are using a technical approach to the markets.

2. Technical analysis

Technical analysis is the study of a currency, based strictly on using only the price history of the currency.

Technical analysis uses no information about the currencies supply and demand situation – it simply focuses on price action.

The common belief is that the currency price reflects all the known information about the currency as it is immediately discounted in price action.

Technical analysis however does something more – it indirectly studies human psychology.

Since price patterns reflect shifts in human psychology, one can assume that certain patterns, cycles and trends, will repeat themselves again, as human nature has remained constant over time.

Technical analysis takes into account both the fundamentals and the market participants psychology and this gives us a simple equation:

All known fundamentals + human psychology = Price action

The fundamentalist studies the cause of market movement, while the technician studies the effect.

For currency trading success, you need to catch the longer-term trends that yield the big profits. The technical trader does not care how and why these trends develop; all they want to do is make money from them when they occur.

Look at any currency price chart over time and you will see long-term trends and many of them last for years.

The secret of currency trading success is using technical analysis to spot them.

Long Term or Short Term Trading

For long term currency-trading success, is it better to be a long term trader, rather than a short-term trader.

While traders can, and do make money with short-term methods of trading, the fact is, currencies trend longer term and these are the trends that yield the biggest profits.

The reason for this is obvious:

Currencies reflect the underlying health of the economy.

These cycles of expansion and contraction, tend to last for many months or even years and a long term position trader has huge profit potential, if they can lock into and hold these longer term trends.

The choice between long term, and short term trading is subjective, but generally the longer-term price trends tend to be easier to predict, and offer better risk / reward, so a long-term approach is the one to focus on.

572

This articles explores the differences between future trading and investing on the FOREX exchange.

forex, forex trading, forex online

Our modern futures market originated in the 19th century when farmers began selling contracts to deliver agricultural products at a later time. They did this to attempt to anticipate market needs and to smooth the supply and demand during the off-season.

The futures market has changed dramatically since then, in current times the futures market is no longer restricted to agricultural products. This worldwide commodities market now includes such things as manufactured goods and financial products as well as agricultural products. A futures contract is a guarantee that a certain product will be sold at a fixed price on a certain date.

When speculators play the futures market there is no expectation of the products being delivered and the actual goods are not even important. It is actually just the contracts themselves that are traded and the value of these contracts is in constant fluctuation.

In every futures contract there are two positions a long position and a short position. The short position is filled by the seller and the long position is the buyer. Futures accounts are settled on a daily basis.

As an example a farmer enters into a contract with a grocer to sale him 1000 bushels of corn at $10 a bushel. At the end of the specified time the contract is settled, if the current market price of corn is at $9 a bushel the farmer will realize an extra profit of $1000 dollars on the contract and the grocer will have lost the same amount. In this situation the farmer now sells his corn at $9 a bushel on the open market but his loss is covered by the profit from the contract. The grocer now will buy his corn for $9 a bushel but in reality he is still paying $10 a bushel because of the cost of the contract. If he had not entered into a contract he could have bought his corn for $9 and saved $1000. However if the price of corn had risen significantly to $13 a bushel he would have saved himself $3000.

Speculators try to guess the direction of the market fluctuations and make a profit by buying and selling contracts.

FOREX

The FOREX market has numerous advantages over the futures market. Since it is the largest financial market in the world it is far larger than the futures market. The FOREX market is also far more fluid, which makes it easier to execute stop orders with very little slippage.

The futures market is usually only open 7 hours a day where as the FOREX exchange is open 24 hours a day 5 days a week. This extra time makes the FOREX market more fluid and allows traders to take advantage of this by trading at any time instead of waiting for the markets to open.

There are no commissions in FOREX trades; the brokers make their profit through the spread. This is the gap between the currency buy price and selling price. In futures contracts the trader has to pay commission fees on every transaction.

Due to the extremely high volume of trades in the FOREX market most transaction are executed almost immediately, this allows for better price control of your trades. In future contracts the price the broker quotes will be from the last transaction and your price could be significantly different.

In the futures market debits are a constant possibility due to daily fluctuations. The FOREX exchange has many built-in safeguards in the trading system that helps protect the traders.

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If you are new to Forex, no doubt you are confused by all of the strange and unfamiliar terminology. For example, what is a pip? Also, you are probably already aware that Forex trading can be risky. How can you limit your loss and best protect your funds? This article briefly covers how currency lots are traded to help you better understand how to plan your trading strategy and manage your funds.

In Foreign Currency Exchange (FOREX), earnings are expressed in “pips”. Pip …

forex, forex training, investing, currency

If you are new to Forex, no doubt you are confused by all of the strange and unfamiliar terminology. For example, what is a pip? Also, you are probably already aware that Forex trading can be risky. How can you limit your loss and best protect your funds? This article briefly covers how currency lots are traded to help you better understand how to plan your trading strategy and manage your funds.

In Foreign Currency Exchange (FOREX), earnings are expressed in “pips”. Pip is short for Price Interest Point, also called points. Whereas the smallest denomination in USD is the penny ($.01), in Currency Exchange, funds can be traded in an even smaller denomination, $0.0001. This means that very small movements in currency prices can create large profits.

So, a PIP is the smallest unit a currency can be traded in. The actual value of a pip is not a set price. If you are trading with a standard account, a pip is worth $10. If you are trading a mini account, a pip is only worth $1.

The value of a pip changes based upon the size of your account, because the size of your account affects how much currency you can leverage. A standard full size trading account is 100,000 units of the base currency. If you are trading in USD, a standard account has a value of $100,000 USD.

A mini lot is 10,000 units of base currency. If you are trading mini lots, you can leverage $10,000. This is why a pip in a mini account is worth less than a pip in a standard full sized account.

While Forex trading allows you to leverage more funds than you actually have, this can be a double edged sword. While you can make profits on funds that you leverage (rather than own), you can also have losses amplified as well. There are several ways, however, to manage your risk when trading Forex. If you are interested in trading Forex, you should have a definite trading strategy. You must educate yourself to know when to enter and exit the market and what kind of movements to anticipate.

You can also place something known as a stop loss order. Stop-loss orders the typical way traders minimize risk when placing an entry order. A stop-loss order to exit your position if the currency price reaches a certain point.

If you are taking a long position, you would place the stop loss order below current market price. For a short position, you would place a stop loss order above current market price. This technique allows you to manage your risk and, just as the name suggests, stop your losses at a certain point.

As you can see, Forex trading can be complex, but once you understand the basic fundamental principals of how lots are traded, its starts to come together for you. Foreign Currency Trading can be quite profitable and and exciting way to invest.

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How difficult is it to make money trading the Forex market? How much time does it take to actually be able to make a living trading the Forex market? These and other important aspects of trading are to be discussed in this article.

Forex trading education, forex training, forex mistakes, forex trading course, forex trading

How difficult is it to make money trading the Forex market? How much time does it take to actually be able to make a living trading the Forex market? These and other important aspects of trading are to be discussed in this article.

Trading the Forex market has many benefits over other financial markets, among the most important are: superior liquidity, 24hrs market, better execution, and others. Traders and investor see the Forex market as a new speculation or diversifying opportunity because of these benefits. Does this mean that it is easy to make money trading the Forex Market? Not at all.

Forex brokers agree that 90% of traders end up losing money, 5% of traders end up at break even and only 5% of them achieve consistent profitable results. With these statistics shown, I don’t consider trading to be an easy task. But, is it harder to master any other endeavor? I don’t think so, consider musicians, writers, or even other businesses, the success rates are about the same, there are a whole bunch of them who never got to the top.

Now that we know it is not easy to achieve consistent profitable results, a must question would be, Why is it that some traders succeed while others fail to trade successfully in the Forex market? There is no hard answer to this question, or a recipe to follow to achieve consistent profitable results. What we do know is that traders that reach the top think different. That’s right, they don’t follow the crowd, they are an independent part of the crowd.

A few things that separate the top traders from the rest are:

Education: They are very well educated in the matter; they have chosen to learn every single and important aspect of trading. The best traders know that every trade is a learning experience. They approach the Forex market with humility, otherwise the market will prove them wrong.

Forex trading system: Top traders have a Forex trading system. They have the discipline to follow it rigorously, because they know that only the trades that are signaled by their system have a greater rate of success.

Price behavior: They have incorporated price behavior into their trading systems. They know price action has the last word.

Money management: Avoiding the risk of ruin is a primary subject to the best traders. After all, you cannot succeed without funds in your trading account.

Trading psychology: They are aware of every psychological issue that affects the decisions made by traders. They have accepted the fact that every individual trade has two probable outcomes, not just the winning side.

These are, among others, the most important factors that influence the success rate of Forex traders.

We know now that it is not easy to make money trading the Forex market, but it is possible. We also discussed the most important factors that influence the rate of success of Forex traders. But, how much time does it take to have consistent profitable results? It is different from trader to trader. For some, it could take a life time, and still don’t get the desired results, for some others, a few years are enough to get consistent profitable results. The answer to this question may vary, but what I want to make clear here is that trading successfully is a process, it’s not something you can do in a short period of time.

Trading successfully is no easy task; it is a process and could take years to achieve the desired results. There are a few things though every trader should take in consideration that could accelerate the process: having a trading system, using money management, education, being aware of psychological issues, discipline to follow your trading system and your trading plan, and others.

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Currency trading is quite similar to trading stocks on the market. While you may or may not have any familiarity with those options, you should know that trading in this form is quite popular and it keeps gaining in popularity. There are many reasons for that, but in most cases it is popular because it works and is quite straightforward which makes it very well worth your time.

Currency trading is a method of trading based on the value of currency. In most cases, the worl…

Currency trading

Currency trading is quite similar to trading stocks on the market. While you may or may not have any familiarity with those options, you should know that trading in this form is quite popular and it keeps gaining in popularity. There are many reasons for that, but in most cases it is popular because it works and is quite straightforward which makes it very well worth your time.

Currency trading is a method of trading based on the value of currency. In most cases, the world’s economy is the judge of how much you can and will make. This is different than with stocks which rely heavily on the United State’s economy. In this case, you are dealing with world markets and world currency rates.

The basis is very simple. You simply will purchase currency at a time in which it is worth less. For example, the dollar is worth more. You purchase low and then as the economy strengthens in that country, you can sell to make a profit. Basically you turn in your money for dollars again.

But, that is quite a simplistic look at it. There are many things that influence currency trading. What makes it attractive to anyone, anywhere is that you can invest pennies or quite a bit of money. Obviously you can make more money, the more you invest, but you still make money either way. Currency trading is a market that many are looking to get into for that very reason.

There are many currency trading options available to you to help you as well. You will find that people often have a system in place to help them monitor and make sales. This software is able to be found throughout the web and can be quite beneficial if you want to do the trading yourself. If you do not, you can easily get the help of any of the currency trading advisors out there. It’s a great opportunity!

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Introduction to FOREX margin accounts and how they work.

forex, forex trading, forex online, learn forex

The key to the FOREX market for the average investor is the margin. Without margin trading currency trading would be beyond most investors. I will explain what the margin is and how it works.
When you have a margin account you are able to control large amounts of currency with a relatively small cash deposit. When you have a margin account with a broker you are in effect borrowing money from the broker to control a larger lot of currency. Currency is normally sold in lots with a value of $100,000. A common term used when discussing margin accounts is leverage. Leverage is how much you can control with a certain amount of money. The leverage is usually displayed as a ration such as 1:100. That would allow you to control currency worth 100 times the amount of money you have invested.
To better explain this in a FOREX exchange with a 1% margin account you could control $100,000 worth of a currency while only investing $1000. Margin accounts can allow you to greatly increase your profit; they also allow you to increase your risk. With a margin account it is possible for a trader to lose more than their initial investment. With a little prudence though losses can be minimized. Most brokers will terminate a trade before the losses exceed the original deposit.

Benefits
As discussed before a margin account allows you to buy more with the money you have which can greatly increase your profit on successful trades. By controlling a $100,000 worth of currency for only $1000 the potential gain is greater. When dealing with large lots of currency even small changes can produce significant results.
Currency on the FOREX market is traded in far more precise units than actual cash is. As an example the American dollar is traded down to four decimal points. So when you were to quote the dollar against another currency you will see a price like $1.7834 instead of $1.78. A PIP is the smallest unit when trading currencies, when dealing with $100,000 lots then each pip is worth about $10.
If the price of the American dollar changes from $1.7834 to $1.7934, you have a net difference of 100 pips. If you have a lot of $100,000 then that 100 pips will translate to $1000 where as if you were not using the margin your original $1000 would only show a profit of $10. Hardly what most would consider a highly profitable trade?
In short the primary benefit of using a margin account is that it can greatly increase the profit margin of a trade.

Risks
Since there is such a significant increase in profit potential when using a margin account it only stands to reason that there is also an increase. In fact it is quite possible to have your entire margin account wiped out fairly quickly. When using a 1% margin account a shift in the currency of a single penny will cost you $1000.
The FOREX exchange has many safety features to help you reduce the risk of this happening. One example is a stop loss order. A stop loss order will automatically close out your position in a currency if the price crosses the point you have set. This allows you to limit your losses while still having the opportunity to realize a profit.
Another risk that many people overlook is that if the price nears the point where your losses are close to being equal to the value of your margin account your broker may close out your position. If you were trying to rid out a temporary downturn that you expect to turn around soon you could find that your broker has closed it causing you to lose your entire balance and have no option to make a profit if the price moves up again.

This is a basic introduction to margin accounts and how they work, visit the website listed below to learn more about the FOREX market.

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Currency trading is a platform where individuals speculate on the exchange rate between two currencies. Traders buy and sell currencies hoping to realize a profit. In order to succeed in currency trading you will need a source of accurate and timely information. You’ll need to familiarize yourself with a whole new language.

When you start currency trading you’ll learn what a market trend is and how it will affect your trading. Trends move up, down and sideways. There are a…

Currency trading is a platform where individuals speculate on the exchange rate between two currencies. Traders buy and sell currencies hoping to realize a profit. In order to succeed in currency trading you will need a source of accurate and timely information. You’ll need to familiarize yourself with a whole new language.

When you start currency trading you’ll learn what a market trend is and how it will affect your trading. Trends move up, down and sideways. There are also trend classifications within market trends. These classifications are intermediate, short-term and long-term trend. You’ll learn how to look at and understand basic trend lines, which is the most valuable trading. You’ll learn about channel lines and support levels.

When you enter currency trading you’ll be able to make sales online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, unlike the Stock Market. Many online brokers offer commission free trading and you’ll want to make sure that you have instant execution of your market orders.

A new addition to many currency trading online business sites is the ability to set up a free demo account. This is a good way to get practice about trading and learn about live quotes, charts and streaming news before you start investing with real money.

When you set up your demo account it’s a good time to test the software that the company offers. If you don’t like the software program, contact the company and see how similar it is to the software program you would get if you signed a contract with them. If you don’t like the software program try another broker. Also, decide if you want web based or client based software. Web based software is housed on your brokers website, you won’t have to install any software onto your computer. A web based software program will allow you to log in from any computer that has an internet connection. Client based software is loaded onto your computer, and can only be accessed from that computer, potentially limiting your usage.

Another thing you’ll want to check before choosing an online broker is how quickly they respond to your need for help. Seeing how quickly they respond to your questions could be key in how they respond to customer needs. If you don’t get a speedy and accurate reply you may not want to trust them with your business.

You’ll need to have high speed internet connection in order to succeed in currency trading online. The currency trading market is a fast moving one and dial up internet access will not work well 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.

Take you time and investigate online brokers. Talk with friends and family about their dealings with online brokers. Take time and do a thorough evaluation of your options before you trust anyone with your money.

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Unless you are already a full-time trader, or unable to access a computer 24 hours a day, it’s difficult to trade forex on a part-time basis. Many forex brokers and independent companies have developed trading systems that offer forex signals telling the user when to buy and sell. The execution of a trade could be as simple as pressing a button or making a telephone call.

forex, forex signals, forex trading, currency trading, forex investing, forex education, forex training, work at home, business

Copyright 2006 Timothy Rohrer

Unless you are already a full-time trader, or unable to access a computer 24 hours a day, it’s difficult to trade forex on a part-time basis. Many forex brokers and independent companies have developed trading systems that offer forex signals telling the user when to buy and sell. The execution of a trade could be as simple as pressing a button or making a telephone call.

Forex trading signals usually operate on a mathematical formula and when parameters are met, a signal is sent out via e-mail or phone. Once the signal is received, it’s up to the user to decide whether or not to take the signal.

There are a lot of mixed reviews on forex signal service providers. To be truthful most signal services work, it’s the individual that fails to follow the system. Even though you are not deciding when it’s a good time to buy or sell, your emotions can still get in the way if you are coming off of a losing streak. It is however possible to weed out a lot of the losing signals if you are able to identify the overall trend.

Some companies claim to make 20% per month using automated trading systems. I’ll be the first to say that these systems do exist; it’s just a matter of testing the different trading software’s out there to see which ones work and which ones do not.

When seeking out a reliable source of forex signals be sure that their data is back tested and the company has a proven track record. Most systems will offer a trail period that enables you to test the system before committing to their service completely. Prices for these systems can range anywhere from $15 to $500 per month depending on the quality of the signals.

If a novice trader is lucky enough to find a personal forex trader that manages a small group of people and their money this can sometimes be even more profitable then the large forex signal service providers. However, finding reliable forex traders and trusting them with your funds are hard to come by.

In my personal opinion, there is nothing wrong with using forex signal providers given you do not have time to trade for yourself. However, taking a bit of time to learn how the forex market reacts to news and events will greatly enhance you trading profits.

443

What are you really selling or buying in the currency market?

The short answer is nothing. The retail FX market is purely a speculative market. No physical exchange of currencies ever takes place. All trades exist simply as computer entries and are netted out depending on market price. For dollar-denominated accounts, all profits or losses are calculated in dollars and recorded as such on the trader’s account.

The primary reason the FX market exists is to facilitate the…

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What are you really selling or buying in the currency market?

The short answer is nothing. The retail FX market is purely a speculative market. No physical exchange of currencies ever takes place. All trades exist simply as computer entries and are netted out depending on market price. For dollar-denominated accounts, all profits or losses are calculated in dollars and recorded as such on the trader’s account.

The primary reason the FX market exists is to facilitate the exchange of one currency into another for multinational corporations who need to trade currencies continually (for example, for payroll, payment for costs of goods and services from foreign vendors, and merger and acquisition activity). However, these day-to-day corporate needs comprise only about 20% of the market volume. Fully 80% of trades in the currency market are speculative in nature, put on by large financial institutions, multi-billion dollar hedge funds and even individuals who want to express their opinions on the economic and geopolitical events of the day.

Meaning of Trading in Pairs

Because currencies always trade in pairs, when a trader makes a trade he or she is always long one currency and short the other. For example, if a trader sells one standard lot (equivalent to 100,000 units) of EUR/USD, she would, in essence, have exchanged euros for dollars and would now be short euro and long dollars. To better understand this dynamic, let’s use a concrete example. If you went into an electronics store and purchased a computer for $1,000, what would you be doing? You would be exchanging your dollars for a computer. You would basically be short $1,000 and long 1 computer. The store would be long $1,000 but now short 1 computer in its inventory. The exact same principle applies to the FX market, except that no physical exchange takes place. While all transactions are simply computer entries, the consequences are no less real.

Great Returns in Currency Trading

The opportunities for unmatched returns and investment protection in the brave new world of foreign currency investing are second to none. In Foreign Currency Trading, financial executives Russell Wasendorf, Sr., and Russell Wasendorf, Jr., describe foreign currency trading in plain terms, and help you understand the risks, benefits, and operational requirements that you will need to take advantage of this market’s tremendous potential. Look to Foreign Currency Trading for clear explanations on the mechanics of foreign currency trading, in-depth discussion of all pertinent foreign exchange rules and regulations, and a comprehensive glossary with literally hundreds of terms essential to forex trading. With formerly imposing currency trading restrictions having been struck down in recent court rulings, the world of foreign currency trading is an exciting and rapidly-expanding field.

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Currency rates and the differential between countries and over time is the meat of the foreign exchange game. They are constantly changing and the better your ability to predict these changes the more money you are going to make over time in this market. So naturally a few tips in this area are worth their weight in gold.

So what are some of the things that should be learned when attempting to understand the changes in currency rates? What affects currency and the percepti…

currency rates

Currency rates and the differential between countries and over time is the meat of the foreign exchange game. They are constantly changing and the better your ability to predict these changes the more money you are going to make over time in this market. So naturally a few tips in this area are worth their weight in gold.

So what are some of the things that should be learned when attempting to understand the changes in currency rates? What affects currency and the perception of their value up against the currency of any number of other countries? I make no guarantees in this article but hope to point you in a few worthwhile directions so that you can understand and therefore profit in this goldmine of a market.

Before I start I want to mention the potential for profit if you understand and are willing to put some time into mastering the factors involved in the changing currency rates. Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that thought this market has been around for a long time relatively few people are taking advantage of it. The market is not saturated and therefore there is a lot more room to compete and be at the top of the game. Why is this? For one thing it just has never been as flashy as the stock market. Part of this is how things have played out in the media and in our economy. Industry is for some reason valued more than the overall economy and the public’s perception of striking it rich is stronger in the stock market. It is true that the potential to strike instant riches is greater in the stock market with new companies forming and old ones failing far faster than countries are forming and failing. However the potential for constant and predictable gain is more in forex.

Why? Well for several reasons. One the currency rates, or in other words the value of a currency is dependent on something that is far easier to evaluate and predict. The chief operator in this game is the overall economy of that country, which is far more stable and predictable than the ability of a company to earn a profit in the cutthroat world of business. You can judge with far more accuracy how a current event or change in leadership is going to affect an economy globally than you can how a company will perform.

The main reason for this is the information differential that there is more information available on current events and the lives and values of governmental leaders than there are on private companies. This is due to the concentration of the media in this area and the fact that it is more important for a company to be private in order to not give an advantage to their competition.

So in order to be good in the currency rates game you have to read your newspaper and have a general idea of the public and global perception of an event and a government and how these things will affect the economy of a country. Something that we do almost every day anyway.

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A brief overview of how different pairs of currencies will affect each other. How the activity of a single currency may affect movement in a pair

Daytrading, currency trading, forex, technical analysis

Global currencies don’t ride the trends in isolation. The apparent technical movement between two currencies in a pair may cause an effect in the behaviour of each separate currency. A third currency will also have some bearing on the rise or fall of a seemingly unrelated pair, in the view of an intermediate or beginning trader. Even seasoned trend cowboys may miss the odd significant event that results in a trade loss.

Technical analysis often comprises the bulk of the independent speculator’s trade decisions, but some attention to fundamental news must be included for a complete overview of what is happening in the market at that particular moment. Neither weather, beetles, drought, hostile takeovers nor indicted CEO’s have much real bearing on currency values, but the timing of the release of economic reports should determine if a trade is viable or not.

A rising tide raises all ships, but the trading ocean is made of waves, with deep troughs and high crests. A rising ship may have a tether to another that is dropping down the other side of the swell. As one currency in a trade pair rises, it may pull another currency up with it, or just the opposite. A drop in the Euro may allow an increase in the value of the GBP, which will certainly have an influence on the USD/GBP spread.

So when considering the merits of a good trade, also take into account the activity of each currency’s most closely related cousin. When trading the Canadian dollar, you must certainly consider the relative movement, or lack thereof, in the US dollar. Canada’s largest trading partner is the US, so fluctuations in the US economy may or may not have an effect on the Loonie, depending on the gravity of the news.

The UK maintained their own currency, the British Pound, but the economic business of Europe can still influence the directional trend of the Pound Sterling. The French Franc will also be swayed by the enterprise of the communal Euro. As you analyze your charts, take care to make a quick examination of any volatile activity in any similar currency.

The average day trader and individual speculator cannot possibly keep up with all the economic news released each day and still have time to trade and eat lunch, and old news has already shown itself in the charts. One must pay attention to important published economic developments, and generally avoid trading on report days. But the trend will indicate market sentiment, and great profits can be made by keeping the major focus on technical analysis.

International bankers and currency houses have developed complex mathematical models to track currency correlation, but these are beyond the scope of this article. In summary, just check how related currencies are trending, when preparing a trade. Another quick analytical tool for the traders?arsenal is always a good thing. May your winners run long.

Good Trading, Kelly Archibald.

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HOW DO Economic Events impact Global Currencies:

When I asked several traders about their thoughts about using fundamental analysis as a part of their trading decisions, I have received two opposite responses.

RESPONSE of Trader A

Fundamentals that you read about are typically useless as the market has already discounted the price. I am looking at (1) the long term trend, (2) the current chart pattern and (3) identifying a good entry point to buy or to sell.

RESPO…

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HOW DO Economic Events impact Global Currencies:

When I asked several traders about their thoughts about using fundamental analysis as a part of their trading decisions, I have received two opposite responses.

RESPONSE of Trader A

Fundamentals that you read about are typically useless as the market has already discounted the price. I am looking at (1) the long term trend, (2) the current chart pattern and (3) identifying a good entry point to buy or to sell.

RESPONSE of Trader B

I almost always trade on a market view. I don’t trade simply on technical information alone. I use technical analysis and it is terrific, but I can’t initiate or hold a position unless I understand why the market should move.

There is a great deal of hype attached to technical analysis by some technicians who claim that it predicts the future.

Technical analysis tracks the past; it does not predict the future. You have to use your own intelligence to draw conclusions about what the past activity of some traders say about the future activity of other traders.

For me, technical analysis is like a thermometer.

Fundamentalists who say they are not going to pay any attention to the charts are like a doctor who says he’s not going to take a patient’s temperature. If you want to be a successful trader in the market, you always want to know where the market is- up ?down- trending or choppy .You want to know everything you can about the market to give you an edge.

Technical analysis reflects the vote of the entire marketplace and, therefore, does pick up unusual behavior. By definition, anything that creates a new chart pattern is something unusual.

It is very important to study the details of price action to see and observe. Studying the charts is absolutely crucial and alerts to existing disequilibrium and potential changes.

For forex traders, the fundamentals are everything that makes a country tick.

The release of economic & inflation indicators (i.e., consumer spending, employment cost index, government spending, producer price index, etc.), political actors, government policy or an individual event can set the market in a frenzy. These have to be considered when making the decision ?to trade or not to trade.?
Technical analysis, is a way of using historical price data in different ways to predict the future price of a currency pair.

Fundamental analysis is a very effective way to forecast economic conditions, but not necessarily exact market prices, and you SHOULD trade in agreement with the supporting technical indicators.

Foreign exchange traders put the most emphasis on technical analysis, because traders around the world use similar charts and tools in predicting market trends.

The reason the FOREX market can be so predictable some times is that if the majority are using the same graph for determining patterns and trends, then it is highly likely that they will act in a similar manner.

So several thousand traders who have all charted the same resistance line, for example, will most likely either set their trades and direction conform to that line.

When fundamental data is made available to the public there is a reaction from investors and speculators.

Information in the form of news and economic indicators is more vague than that of technical indicators. There is a lot of gray area in this type of analysis. The market will ultimately react to how people think the economic data compares to the current market situation.

Economic indicators usually reveal information that “Should cause a currency to go up in price” or “May cause a currency to go down”. The words “SHOULD?& “MAY?in the quotes above reveal the ambiguity of the fundamental data.

Here is an example of what analyzing fundamental data is like. Let’s suppose there are six economic indicators (there are a lot more).

Let’s call our six indicators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Now we wait for the data from our indicators to be published in a financial magazine or at an online source. We get the readings for our economic data for the EURO as following:

Indicator 1: is in a range where the Euro may go up
Indicator 2: is in a range where the Euro should go up
Indicator 3: is in a range where the Euro could go down
Indicator 4: is in a range where the Euro usually goes down
Indicator 5: is in a range where the Euro could go up
Indicator 6: is in a range where the Euro may go down

By looking at the above indicators, you don’t know what the Euro is going to do. Furthermore, currencies are always traded in pairs. So you would have to get the fundamental data for another currency pair and compare it with the EURO. I think you can image that this is not a simple task.

I do not want to discourage you away from fundamental data. The best way to learn is to learn about one piece of economic data at a time. Eventually you will build a puzzle from all of the fundamental and technical data and make more informed trading decisions.

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$1.3 Trillion; Safe estimates peg it as the amount of currency that’s traded on the Forex every single day.

Trading on the Forex is one of the fastest growing income generating opportunities in the world. All it takes to start is a small investment (many dealers will start you off with as little as $250), and some knowledge of the world markets and of trading. Oh. And, according to those that do it every day and live off changing dollars to pounds to francs and back, some …

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$1.3 Trillion; Safe estimates peg it as the amount of currency that’s traded on the Forex every single day.

Trading on the Forex is one of the fastest growing income generating opportunities in the world. All it takes to start is a small investment (many dealers will start you off with as little as $250), and some knowledge of the world markets and of trading. Oh. And, according to those that do it every day and live off changing dollars to pounds to francs and back, some common sense, some practicality and a lot of faith are a big help.

Some background:

1. The market began in the 1970s with the introduction of free exchange rates and floating currencies. It’s the open market where the world’s currencies are exchanged and traded with few regulations. Because of the open nature of the market nearly anyone can trade and make money. The volume of trading and the enormous number of players make it almost impossible for any one trader to manipulate the market.

2. The market is open 24 hours a day, from Sunday evening to Friday evening, and there are always trades to be had. This makes it one of the most liquid and constantly moving markets in the world

3. While most transactions are made in lots of 100,000, marginal trading allows traders to start trading with an investment of as little as $250-500.

Marginal Trading- The Blockbuster Earner

Marginal trading simultaneously makes trading on the foreign exchange market so possibly profitable ?a great risk. Trading on the margin is simply trading with borrowed capital. Depending on your dealer, you can purchase $100,000 worth of currency for as little as $500. If your trades are on target, you make a profit on the entire $100,000 lot ?minus dealer commission, of course. If, on the other hand, your trade ends up losing you money, you could end up being liable for far more than the $500 you originally invested.

So that’s why one of the strongest bits of advice you’ll hear from most experienced forex traders is ‘Keep your eye on the margin??or even more strongly, ‘Don’t ever trade on the margin?

Observe a few important tips to make quick money on the forex.

* Buy low, sell high. Yes, it’s a roadkill cliche, but there are many people who forget that the market runs in patterns of dips and rises. Keep your eye on the pattern and buy when the exchange rate dips, then sell when it peaks.

* Remember to cut your losses. No one, no matter what they tell you, runs a 100% profitable system. What they do have is the knowledge to get out of a trade before it goes further south. If you make a trade that decreases in value, decide ahead of time how much you can afford to lose. When you reach that low, sell. Don’t hang on ‘in case it turns around?

*Understand the situation in the country whose currency you’re trading. The economy and politics of a country have a profound effect on the exchange rate of its currency. Keep your ear to the ground and be prepared to move based on what you hear ?because everyone else will.

* Select a system that fits your lifestyle. System is what it’s all about, according to traders who make money in the market. A system helps you decide in advance exactly how much you can afford to lose, and set stop/sell or buy orders based on those figures. Pick a system, live your system, and don’t second-guess your system.

* Focus on the bottom line. Especially if you’re day trading, you’ll find that you lose at least as often as you win ?but you can still come out ahead if you plan your strategy and system out in advance. By deciding in advance how much you can afford to lose in a trade, and when you should take your profits and cut them loose, you’ll make a profit even when most of your trades are losers.

* And remember remember remember to upgrade your knowledge before taking the forex leap.

Treat forex trading like a regular business. You can’t make money without knowledge, skills and a good attitude. Study, take notes and practice ?then go out there and make some serious money.

421

So what is is Forex trading you may ask? Forex is the exchange you can buy and sell currencies. For example, you might buy British pounds (by exchanging them to the dollars you had), then, after pounds / dollar ratio goes up, you sell pounds and buy dollars again.

forex trading, forex, shares, stock market, buying shares

So what is is Forex trading you may ask? Forex is the exchange you can buy and sell currencies. For example, you might buy British pounds (by exchanging them to the dollars you had), then, after pounds / dollar ratio goes up, you sell pounds and buy dollars again. At the end of this operation you are going to have more dollars, then you had at the beginning.

The Forex market has much higher liquidity, then the stock market, as much more money is being exchanged. Forex is spread between banks all over the planet and as a result it means 24 hour trading.

Unlike stocks, Forex trades are performed with high leverage, usually it is 100. It means that by investing $1000 you can control $100,000, and increase potential profits accordingly. Some brokers provide also so called mini-Forex, where the size of minimum deposit equals $100. It makes possible for individuals to enter this market easily.

The name convention. In Forex, the name of a “symbol” is composed of two parts – one for first currency, and another for the second currency. For example, the symbol usdjpy stands for US dollars (usd) to Japanese yen (jpy).

As with stocks, you can apply tools of the technical analysis to Forex charts. Trader’s indexes can be optimized for Forex “symbols”, allowing you to find winning strategy.

Example Forex transaction

Assume you have a trading account of $25,000 and you are trading with a 1% margin requirement. The current quote for EUR/USD is 1.3225/28 and you place a market order to buy 1 lot of 100,000 Euros at 1.3228, expecting the euro to rise against the dollar. At the same time you place a stop-loss order at 1.3178 representing a maximum loss of 2% of your account equity if the trade goes against you, 50 pips below your order price, and a limit order at 1.3378, 150 pips above your order price. For this trade, you are risking 50 pips to gain 150 pips, giving you a risk/reward ratio of 1 part risk to 3 parts reward. This means that you only need to be right one third of the time to remain profitable.

The notional value of this trade is $132,280 (100,000 * 1.3228). Your required margin deposit is 1% of the total, which is equal to $1322.80 ($132,280 * 0.01).

As you expected, the Euro strengthens against the dollar and your limit order is reached at 1.3378. The position is closed. Your total profit for this trade is $1500, each pip being worth $10.

445

Are you tired of all of the promises of traditional home-based businesses? With little time investment and an initial monetary investment of as little as $50, FOREX trading may be the home based business you’ve been looking for.

Forex, Forex trading

When running a home-based business, a person quickly gains knowledge of how the business world works. Whether it be selling crafts, doing a home delivery business, or selling real-estate, after investing a lot of time and effort into a home or small business, a person quickly becomes aware of the few basic business truths that govern business.

One of those truths is that you have to have time and money to start a small business or any business for that matter. More often than not, the people that have the time don’t have the money to invest in a home-based business and the people that have the money don’t have the time. With Forex Trading, it is quite possible to generate an income with a small time investment per day, after studying FOREX for a few months, and a very small investment as little as $50 in some cases.

The second truth, and these are probably quite obvious to most people, is that in order to make money a business has to have some sort of product to sell or perform some type of service. In the FOREX world, nothing is being sold and no service is being performed, but rather money is being exchanged. You are making a profit based on the actual exchange value of one currency against another currency. This eliminates the need for employees, such as customer service personnel and human resource people if your company were to become that big.

Also, because of the huge size of the FOREX market, trading nearly $1.5 trillion dollars a day, such things as social events, bad publicity, and changes in political climate will have no effect on your business. In fact, after studying FOREX, you will be able to see how these things will actually benefit your FOREX business.

The third and last classical business truth is that most people are prevented from starting a home-based business because they don’t feel good enough about themselves. They don’t feel like they’re educated enough. I read stories all of the time about people that feel passionate about something or they just pick something that they are relatively good at or have done before and start a business. They just take a chance. If you want to do it, step out. Take that first step. Don’t drop any huge sums of money, of course, but do a little research, make a small investment and start your adventure down to the road to FOREX trading. You don’t need a doctorite degree to get involved with FOREX trading, but after a couple of months of good study, it’s quite possible to generate a significant source of cash from FOREX trading.

334

Several companies offer automated forex broker services. In the following articles, you’ll find brief reviews of each.

Forex Brokers, Forex Trading, Forex Market Makers, Online Forex Brokers

Several companies offer automated forex broker services. In the following articles, you’ll find brief reviews of each.

What forex brokers offer automated services?

GFT Forex is an automated forex broker, whose DealBook FX 2 software offers the investor both a demo and a live forex trading tool in the currency market. This forex trading software offers the investor direct access to some of the tightest spreads, through a stable, standalone forex trading platform, 24 hours a day.

The DealBook FX 2 software shows live, dealable prices, real time data, free real time world and financial news, forex charts, more than 65 technical indicators, and the ability to build the investor’s own indicators.

GCI Financial Ltd., another automated forex broker, provides trading software that tracks real time prices in 20 major currencies, live charts, and real time profit and loss account tracking. The software is offered as a demo also. Market orders are confirmed within seconds at prices clicked on or accepted by the client.

The FX3K is an online automated dealing and trading platform used by automated forex brokers. The FX3K online trading environment includes real time quotes, charting, technical analysis tools, and news. FX3K integrates the client, dealer, back office and system administrator functions. Product features include high speed execution of client orders and the ability to monitor real time margin availability, net exposure and profit and loss on all open positions. FX3K has chat options to allow trader-dealer conversations.

The COESfx Level 1 Trading Platform is used by automated forex broker as an Electronic Currency Network for the execution of best prices for buyers and sellers of foreign exchange. It offers traders live and executable prices, thereby making each participant a market maker. Traders gain access to “best bid/best offer?quotes directly from price providers and other traders. COESfx pricing is derived from a number of partners in the network such as banks, Futures Commission Merchants (FCM’s), Introducing Brokers (IB’s), fund managers and other traders on its Electronic Currency Network.

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With the amazing growth of the forex market, you are going to see an amazing amount of traders lose all their money. Unfortunately, they haven’t followed the simple steps I have laid out for you.

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With the amazing growth of the forex market, you are going to see an astounding amount of traders lose all their money. Unfortunately, they haven’t followed the simple steps I have laid out for you. Go through these steps and give yourself the greatest opportunity to achieve your goals.

1. Have Faith In Yourself

To reach the level of elite forex trader, you must trust in yourself and your forex trading education. You must be willing to make all your trading decisions, instead of relying on someone else’s thoughts or ability (or lack of). Of course, you will prepare yourself fully before every risking any money.

2. Accept Your Learning Curve

Unless you are a veteran trader, you will lose money trading the Forex market. This is a near certainty. I don’t say this to talk you out of trading. In fact, quite the opposite. You will be trading against others that fall to this reality day in and day out. You, however, will not risk a dime until you have learned the skills you need to make money trading the forex.

3. Decide What Type of Trader You Are

There are many ways to trade the forex. They range from very active to very patient. You must decide which style suits you best. The best time to learn this about yourself is while you are trading a demo account. There is no need to allow your learning curve to cost you money.

4. Get Educated

Education is the shortest path to elite forex trading. Regardless of your ultimate goals, you will reach them quicker with a great forex trading education. Take some time to review different options before deciding on who to trust with your forex trading education needs. A forex seminar will help shorten your learning curve drastically.

5. Continue to Get Educated

In order to achieve and retain elite forex trading skills, you must constantly be adding to you knowledge base. Your education should never end. In fact, one of the key points to look for in an elite forex trading course is ongoing education. It’s nice to have an ongoing relationship with the person/people helping you to achieve your goals.

What separates an elite forex trader from all others is their desire and ability to be independent. Many traders are willing to follow signals, systems, strategies, or anything else you may call them. By taking this approach, however, these traders are only as good as the people they follow.

An elite forex trader will lead. Their decisions will be calculated and analyzed to near perfection. They will make decisions with no hesitation, and handle the growth of their account in a predetermined, intelligent fashion. Take your trading to their level and you will never look back.

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Have you ever thought about trading in forex or currencies, and wondered how you could potentially cash in a heavily fluctuating money market?

Imagine, just you setting up a forex account, trading your currency against another country’s currency to make money. Or perhaps consider that you could trade any currency in the world, as long as the broker supports the inter-trading of the two forms of money.

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Have you ever thought about trading in forex or currencies, and wondered how you could potentially cash in a heavily fluctuating money market?

Imagine, just you setting up a forex account, trading your currency against another country’s currency to make money. Or perhaps consider that you could trade any currency in the world, as long as the broker supports the inter-trading of the two forms of money.

Being in forex trading has alot of positives and negatives. Sure you can at least imagine the positive benefits, of being financially independent, making money off of competing currencies, trade on the laptop on a yacht in the middle of nowhere, drinking a mai-tai, and have a ball living it up.

Now let’s also bring to focus the cons of trading forex. For one, there is a potential catastrophic loss of funds if you do not know what the heck you are doing. You just cannot drop your life savings or snack money to a forex trading account and expect it to grow money. Alot of traders, matter in fact close to 95% of traders end up losing their shirts the first go around, and ever if they try again, they bet more money, and get into serious debt. The thought of answering to your wife about losing all of your son’s college money to speculating the euro/dollar is not pleasing I am sure.

Now, that we have compared two extreme situations, one for the good, and one for the bad, we need to see what we can do, if you are even still interested in forex trading at this point, you should build a descent knowledge base on trading, and a success plan to manage and earn over a period of time.

When I say plan for earning money, it doesn’t mean double your money in a short time. It means growing incremental income over a longer term time frame, rather you do it with day trading, or long term positioning. Having at first a modest gain, will get you to learn how to build your game trading forex. It doesn’t happen overnight, and usually the folks who are luck first and foremost, will end up losing some later in the process anyway.

Recently, I have stumbled upon a new forex program, called forex raptor. Forex Raptor is a totally unique and automated piece of software, that on all of the major currencies. Yes that means the software monitors and tracks major currency pairs such as the dollar against the euro, dollar against the yen, euro against the pound etcetera.
The major currency pairs are the ones where the majority of successful forex traders speculate and make their coin. Rarely do anybody make major amounts of money on lesser known “exotic” pairs.

With forex Raptor, either making a second income, or creating the ultimate work at home career trading currencies will assist you in becoming part of the trading elite. Imagine trading as well as the top guys without looking endlessly at charts, reading news about some oil company robbing peter to sell mary, and seeing how that affects currency pricing.

Forex Raptor has 24 hour access to trading pros, just in case concerns and question do arise, and they will eagerly assist you in process of learning the trading software too!

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Any one who has ventured into the real market place would definitely have an idea what a Forex is and share the many promises and possibilities this horizon can bring.

What Is Forex?

FOREX stands for the very popular Foreign Exchange Market. Sometimes, though, people associate it or equate it to mean also currencies.

Basically, forex is where people trade. The objects of the trading are the different foreign currencies. People buy and sell the currencies.

The exch…

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Any one who has ventured into the real market place would definitely have an idea what a Forex is and share the many promises and possibilities this horizon can bring.

What Is Forex?

FOREX stands for the very popular Foreign Exchange Market. Sometimes, though, people associate it or equate it to mean also currencies.

Basically, forex is where people trade. The objects of the trading are the different foreign currencies. People buy and sell the currencies.

The exchange market and the trading as we know it today started in the 1970’s. It has no definite place. It has no definite location. The foreign exchange market is found wherever there is a financial center where people conduct constant exchanges and buying and selling.

To ensure definite success in this field, the main goal has to be kept in mind. The keywords to traders in the foreign exchange market are to ‘buy low and sell high.?This is the way to get the profits coming in.

Why Are People Trading in the Forex?

More and more people are turning into the forex trading now. It has become popular once again and people want to enjoy the success this can bring.

There are also no strict requirements to join the market. Anybody can enter it and learn how to trade. Some even study beforehand to be prepared for the big trading.

Another good aspect about forex is the absence of too many fees to be able to join in. There are no commissions, no brokerage fees and no government fees.

The best thing by far is that trading can be done at home. Anyone can initiate a trade online. This spells big for people who stay at home, especially those who do not feel comfortable in engaging on online businesses. With proper training and computer with internet access at hand, success is within the bounds of the home.

How Does One Trade Successfully in the Foreign Exchange Market?

The purpose of ‘to buy low and to sell high?must be kept in mind when trading in the forex. This will be the main vision of a trader to succeed.

The next task at hand is to know the trends. This means knowing when a particular currency will buy low or sell high. This is not mere prediction of possible turn of events.

Thus, forex requires strategies that have been tested to make sure that a decision will be profitable. There are two basic strategies employed in forex that one can learn from tutorials or from the actual exposure to the market.

The first strategy is the technical analysis.

This provides that a particular price chain reflects all the necessary information regarding the market. This entails a close analysis of the various aspects of the currency like the lowest and highest prices or the opening and closing prices.

The other strategy is the fundamental analysis.

As the name implies, it takes the overall situation. It focuses beyond the currency. It takes into account the situation of the country, economy, politics and even the rumors. Thus this requires more exposure and knowledge from the part of the trader.

Conclusion

The foreign exchange market promises so many possibilities to the trader. Many people may be interested in the forex but are only afraid to take the first step. This attitude should be turned around. Just have a good vision, take the necessary steps and make the forex venture a success.

All Rights Reserved, This content may be reprinted as long as it remains unchanged and the links are intact and active.

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Foreign currency exchange trading can be very rewarding, but can also be very intimidating to a beginner. To get started, you will need to know some basics.

money, finance, freedom, financial freedom, currency, foreign currency, foreign currency exchange, forex, make money, compound, home business

Foreign currency exchange trading can be very rewarding, but can also be very intimidating to a beginner. To get started, you will need to know some basics:

1. What is foreign currency exchange?
2. How is it traded?
3. What are the benefits?
4. What are the risks?
5. How can I get started?

What is Foreign Currency Exchange?

The Foreign currency exchange (FOREX) market is a cash (or “spot? market for currency. Unlike the stock exchange, the FOREX market is not located on a trading floor or centralized on an exchange. Instead, it is entirely electronic within a network of banks and runs 24 hours per day Sunday evening (5:00 pm EST) through Friday evening (4:00 pm EST), excluding some holidays. The fact that it is all electronic means that you can tap into it from your computer.

How is it traded?

FOREX is traded in currency pairs, for example EUR/USD is the Euro base currency and the US dollar counter (or quote) currency. There are six major pairs: EUR/USD, GBP/USD (Great Britian pound vs. US dollar), USD/JPY (US dollar vs. Japanese yen), USD/CAD (US dollar vs. Canadian dollar), AUD/USD (Australian dollar vs. US dollar), and USD/CHF (US dollar vs. Swiss Franc).

Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called lots. For a “standard?account, one lot (called a standard lot) is $1,000 and controls $100,000 in currency. For example, when you place an order to buy one lot of EUR/USD, you are buying the EUR and simultaneously selling the USD. The margin you must put up to place the order is $1000 (for a standard lot). You are going long the EUR and expecting it to strengthen against the USD. For every increase of $0.0001 in the EUR, you make one “pip?(price interest point) equivalent to $10 per lot traded.

Similarly, for a “mini-account?when you place an order to sell one mini-lot (one-tenth of a standard lot) of EUR/USD, you are selling the EUR and simultaneously buying the USD. You are going short the EUR and expecting it to weaken against the USD. The margin requirement is $100.00 per mini-lot. For every decrease in the EUR of $0.0001 you make one pip equivalent to $1 per mini-lot traded.

Note that unlike trading stocks, there are absolutely no restrictions on short-selling in FOREX. Short-selling is exactly like buying ?except that you’re selling of course.

The pip value and amount per pip per lot differs when the USD is not the counter or quote currency. For example, when buying the USD/JPY pair with a ask price of 109.00 (meaning 1 USD equals 109.00 yen), a change in the Japanese yen of 0.01 yen is equivalent to 1 pip or $9.17 per pip per lot traded ($9.17 = $100,000 x 0.01 / 109.00).

The broker makes money off the spread which is the difference in the quotation ask and bid prices. You buy the base currency at the ask price and sell it at the bid price. Generally, the major currency pairs have relatively low spreads. The EUR/USD is commonly two to three pips and the GPD/USD is commonly four to five pips. For example, the current bid/ask price for EUR/USD is quoted at 1.2322/1.2324. This means that you can buy 1 EUR (the base currency) for $1.2324 USD (the counter-currency). You buy at the ask price. You can sell 1 EUR for $1.2322 USD (you sell at the bid price). You will pay the broker the spread or $1.2324 – $1.2322 = $0.0002 = 2 pips. For a standard lot, the broker fee (in this example) is $10 x 2 pips = $20 per standard lot for a roundtrip trade (1 buy and matching sell or 1 sell and matching buy). For a mini-lot, the fee would be $1 x 2 pips = $2 per mini-lot for a roundtrip trade. The broker fee is automatically deducted from your account.

Obviously, if you buy (go long) a currency pair, you expect the base currency to increase in price. Your objective is to sell later at a price higher than you purchased and make a profit. On the flip side, if you sell (go short) a currency pair, you expect the base currency to decrease in price. Your objective is to buy later at a price that is lower than the price you originally sold, and thus make a profit off the difference.

There’s more to it than can be explained in this overview, but you should get the basic idea.

What are the benefits?

1. With FOREX trading, there is no inventory, no employees, and no customers. Your overhead can be as minimal as a home computer with internet access.

2. You can get started with a “mini-account?investing as little as $300.

3. Currency prices tend to repeat in relatively predictable cycles creating strong trends. Once you learn how to trade properly, you can compound your money, and potentially turn a little into a lot.

4. You can trade for a few hours per week, or much more if you want to. It’s all up to you.

5. The FOREX market is very liquid, with trillions of dollars traded every day. On its slowest day, orders can usually be placed within a few seconds if you stay with the major currencies. Instantaneous execution (1 to 2 seconds) is the norm during normal trade volume days (for the major currencies).

6. You can trade from just about anywhere as long as you have a computer with internet access to your account.

What are the risks?

1. The market can be very volatile, especially during times of major news releases, also known as “fundamental announcements.? The time of these announcements is usually known in advance. Many traders simply stay out of the market during these announcements and wait until market volatility has settled back down.

2. If you use too much margin or risk too much on any one trade, your account could suffer badly on a trade that doesn’t go your way. Proper risk management, including sound placement of stops and not risking more than 2 percent of your account on any one trade, can alleviate this risk. Do not risk more money than you can afford to lose.

3. A major world event could trigger a huge volatility swing that could wipe out your account (or even more). However, some brokers limit the loss to the amount in your account. (Of course, a major world event could also cause the trade to go your way.)

4. Trader psychology (fear and greed) can play a big role in your success or failure as a trader. Trading education is one of the keys to overcoming these human flaws.

5. You could fail to place a stop loss with your order. A change in price could force a liquidation of your trade if your account falls below the required margin maintenance. To alleviate this risk, always set a stop loss when you place an order.

This list is not meant to be inclusive. There are other risks.

How can I get started?

You can easily open an online account by selecting one from many available FOREX brokers. You can, and should open a demo account to practice (and learn) for several months for free. The practice account makes simulated trades using real-time data. This is called “paper trading.?You should not trade your real account until you have proven to yourself that you can be profitable in your demo account.

Once you get started, you can trade currencies from just about anywhere. About all you need is a computer with internet access to your trading account. Many brokers also provide free charting software.

Jim McCabe

510

Foreign exchange trading involves buying and selling different currencies. It works on the theory that is similar with share market. As we know that to make the profit, you have to buy at lower price and sell at higher price, or we can also sell at higher price first and buy at lower price. For more info visit: www.connection2forex.com

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Foreign exchange trading involves buying and selling different currencies. It works on the theory that is similar with share market. As we know that to make the profit, you have to buy at lower price and sell at higher price, or we can also sell at higher price first and buy at lower price. But its not as easy as it sounds. By studying certain market conditions, you can actually make profits in forex. All you have to do is to analyze the forex in a correct way and do the good trade.
Why to go for Foreign exchange trading? There is an option to invest in stock market also but here are a few important advantages of currency trading over stock market.

24-hour Trading
Forex trading is done on 24-hours basis. This market is open throughout day and night as somewhere in the world, there must be this buy and sell trading is going on. Traders involved in forex trading strategy can always get that first hand information and can act accordingly. The currency rate is actually run through telecommunication all over the network of banks 24 hours a day from 00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday. There are ECNs (Electronic Communication Networks) which bring together buyers and sellers.
Greater Liquidity

There is a superior liquidity in the market as there are always buyers and sellers to purchase and sell foreign currencies. Forex trading market size is 50 times bigger than the New York Stock Exchange and liquidity of such large market ensures price stability. Forex trading stop orders could be carried out more simply. This makes Forex trading signal more liquid and permits Forex traders to take benefit of trading opportunities as they happen rather than waiting for the market to open the next day.

100:1 High Leverage in forex trading
100 to 1 leverage is commonly available from online forex dealers, which substantially exceeds the common 2:1 margin offered by equity brokers. This gives them a huge leverage in their trading and presents the potential for extraordinary profits with relative small investments. Leverage can also go the opposite way and may lead to huge losses if you are not careful.

Forex trading transactions have no commissions. Forex Brokers can earn money by fixing their own speculation between what a currency could be bought at and what it could be sold at. In difference, Forex traders have to pay a commission fee or brokerage fee for every futures transaction they come in to the view. The forex market is so large that no one individual, bank, fund or government body can influence it for a long period of time. In forex trading strategy, you can trade between seven currencies but not everyone trade in all.

There are certain trading signals that give indications to the trade. These forex signals are delivered by email, instant messenger or direct to your desktop. Some services even offer auto-trading, allowing you to auto-execute their trading signals direct into your broker account. For more about these forex,forex trading strategy,forex signal, visit: www. connection2forex.com

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This article describes leverage clearly and the benefits of trading with a mini account as opposed to a regular sized Forex account. It enables and inspires novice traders to get started quickly with a couple of added benefits and make use of the awesome Forex. A must read for novice traders, it also includes link to further resources, arguably the best available anywhere.

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Leverage is essentially the amount used in a trade compared with the security deposit needed by the broker, for that trade. Forex offers the most leverage of any form of investing, which for most brokers, is 100:1, so if you put in $1000, the broker will make that $100 000 when you are trading.

So by investing $1000, you are able to control $100 000 worth of currency on the market. This is what allows traders to pull in such impressive incomes and is also the downfall of less experienced traders if you don’t manage your equity properly and use stop losses. I’m going to introduce you to mini account trading where you can get started and lose a number of times without losing any hair in the process. Regular, full-sized accounts require $5000 to $10000 to really start implementing an effective equity management plan, that is, you can only lose a few times before you’re out of the game if you don’t have that much money and as we all know, by trading intelligently, you can maximize the odds in your favour.

For someone who likes to stay completely out of debt, Forex is the best investment option; you can only lose what’s in your trading account and nothing more. In fact, if your open positions are risking more than you have in your account to pay for them, your brokerage software will automatically close them until you can afford the ‘at risk?amount. Futures markets are prone to sudden and dramatic moves against which you can’t protect yourself and you’re liable for any resulting deficit in your account. You can lose more than what you have in your account and potentially everything you own!

Mini Account Benefits

For someone wanting to maximize profits and a few thousand to spend, a mini account may sound retarding (maybe that’s just me) but it actually offers more benefits than a regular account if you don’t have a lazy $5000 US to spend. The major benefit is that you win US $1 per pip instead of 8 or 10, and a $50 account will move about $10 000 at a time instead of a $1000 moving $100 000. Your leverage is 200:1 with a mini account and you still get all of the benefits of the latest trading software, charts, resources and tools without the pressure to make a win on every trade. Just remember by using an equity management plan, even if you lose 7 times in a row, you can still come out on top by minimizing loss and maximizing profit. Good traders know that the odds are stacked in their favour.

An account size of $2000 will get you well on your way with a mini account, considering you generally want to risk no more than 5% maximum on any given trade. Preferred ratio is 2% of your margin account.

You also can trade more than 1 lot at a time, to increase your returns as you grow in confidence. So as your account grow, so does your trading capacity and hence 2% of your account may be much more than the risk involved in a trade. There’s no maximum trade volume on the mini accounts.

Trading a mini account keeps you in the game without focusing too much on profit and loss. Trader may resist on closing out an unsuccessful trade in the hope that it will turn around or lock in profits too early rather than allowing profits to increase. With a mini account you can develop discipline needed to be successful and the confidence without anxiety or distractions associated with large profit and loss swings.

553

With $1,5 trillion exchanged everyday, it is really the best opportunity in the world today. Like everything new, although the FX Trading is open to the public since 1998, it is still seen by people as difficult and for an elite of traders . They imagine that it is something they can’t do. The truth is that it is a big misconception. It is simple, has more advantages than any other business and everybody can be successful…

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The first reason why you should trade the forex market is because it is the most lucrative home based business. Although It is not a new market, it is still unknown by non traders. It is more amazing when you know that most of the traders are not aware of the huge opportunity of the forex. The Forex or Foreign Exchange Currency Market is open to the public since 1998.
With the economic situation today and the fear of most of the people worldwide to wake up a morning and be jobless, without resources to feed their family, there is an increasing need in lucrative home based business.

On another hand, it is really difficult to find a real opportunity which will allow you to make a living from your home computer. You got to put hours of recherches and invest some hard earned money, with the fear of being involved in a scam company.
Let’ s say you found a good opportunity, and honestly, there is a lot of legitimate business you can make a lot of money if you are serious. But, is that what you really want? Most of the opportunities on the web today, even if you make big profits, are held by someone else. That mean that when you participate in those turnkey businesses, you do not have any control.

It is really amazing to see all these people who want freedom, more time with their family and friends, more time for their favorite hobbies… and the most important, fire their boss, going the same way.
To understand, they want to be free, they found that on the web you can make money and be free, all that they need, but if you look at the situation, 80% of these people fired their boss, to meet another boss on the Internet! A virtual boss, who is making them work, but they don’t feel it, because they have the impression to be free, they work wherever and whenever they want, and better than all that, they have never seen their boss.
People make money in these programs, they may win $5000 a month or more but actually, the owner of the program is making tons of money.

There is a way to make much more money on the web that you think now, and Internet seekers and people in general should discover trading, specially the forex market. While the word market could intimidate some people, believe it, no one must be afraid about that, and think about the difficult stock market, or commodities, futures…
The forex market which is also called FX is not really as difficult as it seems.
There is not that much technical vocabulary to learn, and the risk is considerably low, if you compare to the other markets like the stock for instance.

The fact that home businesses seekers should really consider is that you can choose at which time to trade, and where you want to trade; you need only an Internet connection, and that’s it, you are ready to tape in the biggest market of the world with $1,5 trillion activity everyday in the same way banks and large corporation do it and it is not difficult at all. Rather it is simple, and the methods already tested by serious traders will help you in your adventure.

641

The origins of today’s futures market lies in the agriculture markets of the 19th century. At that time, farmers began selling contracts to deliver agricultural products at a later date. This was done to anticipate market needs and stabilize supply and demand during off seasons.

The current futures market includes much more than agricultural products. It is a worldwide market for all sorts of commodities including manufactured goods, agricultural products, and financial in…

forex

The origins of today’s futures market lies in the agriculture markets of the 19th century. At that time, farmers began selling contracts to deliver agricultural products at a later date. This was done to anticipate market needs and stabilize supply and demand during off seasons.

The current futures market includes much more than agricultural products. It is a worldwide market for all sorts of commodities including manufactured goods, agricultural products, and financial instruments such as currencies and treasury bonds. A futures contract states what price will be paid for a product at a specified delivery date.

When the futures market is played by speculators, the actual goods are not important and there is no expectation of delivery. Rather, it is the futures contract itself that is traded as the value of that contract changes daily according the market value of the commodity.

In every futures contract there is a buyer and a seller. The seller takes the short position and the buyer takes the long position. The futures contract specifies a buying price, a quantity and a delivery date. For example: A farmer agrees to deliver 1000 bushels of wheat to a baker at a price of $5.00 a bushel. If the daily price of wheat futures falls to $4.00 a bushel, the farmer’s account is credited with $1000 ($5.00 – $4.00 X 1000 bushels) and the baker’s account is debited by the same amount. Futures accounts are settled every day.

At the end of the contract period, the contract is settled. If the price of wheat futures is still at $4.00 the farmer will have made $1000 on the futures contract and the baker will have lost the same amount. However, the baker now buys wheat on the open market at $4.00 a bushel – $1000 less than the original contract, so the amount he lost on the futures contract is made up by the cheaper cost of wheat. Similarly, the farmer must sell his wheat on the open market for $4.00 a bushel, less than what he anticipated when entering the futures contract, but the profit generated by the futures contract makes up the difference.

The baker, however, is still in effect buying the wheat at $5.00 a bushel, and if he hadn’t entered into a futures contract he would have been able to buy wheat at $4.00 a bushel. He protected himself against rising prices but he loses if the market price drops.

Speculators hope to profit by the daily fluctuations in the futures market by buying long (from the buyer) if they expect prices to rise or by buying short (from the seller) if they expect prices to fall.

FOREX

The foreign exchange market (FOREX) has several advantages over the futures market. FOREX is a more liquid market ?as the largest financial market in the world it dwarfs the futures market in daily exchanges. This means that stop orders can be executed more easily and with less slippage in the FOREX.

The FOREX is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Most futures exchanges are open 7 hours a day. This makes FOREX more liquid and allows FOREX traders to take advantage of trading opportunities as they arise rather than waiting for the market to open.

FOREX transactions are commission-free. Brokers earn money by setting a spread ?the difference between what a currency can be bought at and what it can be sold at. In contrast, traders must pay a commission or brokerage fee for each futures transaction they enter into.

Because of the high volume of trading FOREX transactions are almost instantly executed. This minimizes slippage and increases price certainty. Brokers in the futures market often quote prices reflecting the last trade ?not necessarily the price of your transaction.

The FOREX is less risky than the futures market because of built-in safeguards in the trading system. Debits in futures are always a possiblility because of market gap and slippage.

543

The forex market has established patterns of behavior during the year. Currency traders can use them to improve their success and profitability.

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Most traders have heard of seasonal patterns, something which is mostly associated with commodities. The foreign exchange market also has calendar patterns which influence trading, and just like in commodities, traders can take advantage of them to improve their odds for success and profits.

Monthly Patterns

Nearly all currency pairs have one or more months during which they have a directional tendency. There are three pairs in particular which have traded in the same direction during a particular month at least seven years in a row. AUD/JPY has risen in January, while USD/CAD has fallen in June and USD/JPY has dropped in August. In each case, the moves have been significant. Let’s take a look at USD/JPY as an example.

On average, USD/JPY has declined over 325 points each year since 1999 in the month of August, which translates to 2.80%. While the percentage does not seem extraordinary, when one takes leverage in to consideration, it is a different story. Had one shorted 100,000 USD/JPY at the start of each August and closed that position out at the end of the month, the total profit would have been in excess of $20,000 (not taking in to account interest carry). That is an outstanding return considering the margin requirement for a position like that is only $2,000. And this does not even consider compounding!

Weekday Patterns

For the short-term trader, there are also patterns of behavior which are based on weekdays. It is a little more complicated, however, than just saying buy or sell on Monday, for example. A secondary condition must be applied, which can be accomplished using the month. The result is patterns which take place on certain weekdays during a given month.

An example of this kind of pattern is GBP/USD on Mondays in December. The pound has risen 73% of the time on Monday during the last month of the year since 1999 (31 observations). The average move has been 40 pips. Assuming a 5 pip spread, a trader who entered traded this pattern over the last seven years would have booked over 1000 pips in profits, which translates to more than $10,000 if one took positions of 100,000 GBP/USD each time.

Trading the Patterns

The examples outlined above are just a couple of the patterns which can be found in the forex market. There are many worth incorporating in to one’s trading. Obviously, one strategy which could be employed is a simple enter-and-hold based on the pattern for a given month or weekday. That, however, does leave one open to the both in-trade draw downs, some of which can be substantial, and the simple fact that patterns do not always repeat every time, and sometimes change.

An alternative to enter-and-hold is to use calendar patterns to bias one’s trading. For example, a day trader could look for opportunities to buy in to weakness in GBP/USD on Mondays in December. Similarly, a swing trader could use short-term breakdowns to enter in to short trades in USD/JPY during August.

The trader looking to employ forex calendar patterns must utilize the same good risk procedures as are always necessary. This applies regardless of the strategy employed.

556

Options give you unlimited profit potential and limited risk. If used correctly currency options will give you staying power and huge leverage, but most traders don’t know how to use them correctly.

What you need to do is know how to use currency options correctly which the bulk of traders fail to appreciate.

currency options

Options give you unlimited profit potential and limited risk. If used correctly currency options will give you staying power and huge leverage, but most traders don’t know how to use them correctly.

What you need to do is know how to use currency options correctly which the bulk of traders fail to appreciate.

Getting the Odds on Your Side

We are not going to go into details about how currency options work, there’s plenty of free information on the Internet – here we’re going to look at strategies to increase your odds of success.

Potential Rewards are not what they Seem

The first thing a trader needs to consider when buying an option is how much time is needed, and what strike price is a good target.

Many inexperienced currency options buyers look at the profit potential, and don’t consider the potential losses.

They buy strike prices too far out of the money, and options that are to close to expiry.

Just like the mug gambler who always backs the outsider, they lose their bet.

So, How Can You Increase the Odds of Success?

There are two points to keep in mind:

1. Time to expiry of the option
2. The strike price targeted

Firstly, you need to keep time on your side, and buy strike prices that are not to far out of the money – buy “in the money? or “at the money?options.

Your profit potential may not be as great, but your risk will be reduced – and your chances of Success far greater.

Keep in mind your option does not just need to go your way from when you bought it – it needs to trade in the money by expiry.

For example, a trader sees the pound trading at 1.70 and buys a 1.90 call. The price goes the way they thought and reaches 1.87 – they then run out of time and the option expires worthless. This happens all the time – prices move in the right direction, but the trader makes no money.

The trader feels they were unlucky – and tries the same again.

However, keep in mind “being close?does not make you money in options trading!

To make money in options you need to buy in the money options, with plenty of time value – this will increase your odds of success dramatically.

How to Buy Currency Options in Longer Term Trends

When trading the longer-term trend, position yourself into the trend in the following way.

. Identify the long-term trend via technical analysis

. Wait for a dip in the currency to position yourself in the trend.

. Watch for dips to support – and then look for confirmation with stochastic crossovers, or other momentum tools to initiate the trade.

. A great way of buying options in the long-term trend is to look for dips to the middle of a Bollinger band to time entry. This is a good timing tool in strongly trending markets.

The above is a simple strategy, and one that can help you make big profits from currency trend following. Use options correctly, and you will have limited risk, unlimited profit potential and great odds of success.

Don’t make the mistake that most novice traders do – make sure you use time to your advantage – and keep those strikes in, or near the money, and you will create big capital gains longer term.