FOREX

10 Important Reasons For Taking Out A Life Insurance Policy

2009-07-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

Insurance is designed to protect you from disasters and their financial consequences. There are many kinds of insurance and the the most important of these is considered to be life insurance which makes financial provision for your family following your death.

As there are various financial commitments you need to meet in life you need also to provide something even in death to ensure the security of the family home, to help the family meet expenses at least for a short time, to protect dependent parents or to provide security for your spouse and children.

These financial obligations could well include your funeral expenses, unsettled hospital and other medical bills, mortgage payments, business commitments and meeting the college expenses of the children.

Precisely how much insurance you will need varies depending on your lifestyle, financial needs and sources of income, debts, and the number of dependents you are responsible for. In the main an insurance adviser or agent would recommend that you take insurance cover that is five to ten times your current yearly income.

An important part of your financial planning, whole life insurance gives you peace of mind for any uncertainties in life.

1. Adequately planned life insurance will provide funds in the case of unexpected death to deal with debts, mortgage payments and day-to-day living expenses. It offers protection to the family you leave behind and serves as a cash resource.

2. It secures your estate on death by providing tax free cash which can be utilized to pay estate and other death duties.

3. Life insurance policies can also have a savings or pension provision which can help to fund you during retirement.

4. Some policies have riders such as restricted coverage of term insurance or critical illness for the children or spouse. There are particular rules considering eligibility for riders which you will have to clearly understand.

5. In case of bankruptcy the cash value, together with the death benefits, of any insurance policy is exempt from your creditors.

6. Holding a valid insurance plan is considered as having a financial asset and this will improve your credit rating when you need medical insurance or a home loan or business loan.

7. Term life insurance has double benefits as it protects and you can also your money back during strategic points in your life.

8. Life insurance can be planned such that it will even cover the expenses of your funeral.

9. Insurance can protect your business from financial loss or any liabilities in case a business partner dies.

10. It can contribute towards sustaining a family’s standard of living when one contributing partner dies unexpectedly.

Insurance forms a vital part of sound financial planning but you do have to evaluate both your personal risk and your longer term commitments.

Plans, like a whole life insurance plan, give you the security you need for your dependents and also act as a good form of financial security against which you are able to borrow. So, why not ask for some of the best free life insurance quotes available today.

Internet Marketing – Past Present Future

2009-07-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

“Believe the hype. The Internet and the World Wide Web have become the most important new communication media since television, and ones that are fundamentally reshaping contemporary understanding of sales and marketing.” – Jim Sterne. During the last part of the 1990s, the Internet boom saw all kinds of brand new companies that were developing services and products that literally capitalized on the Internet’s potential.

Unfortunately, the push-to-market often resulted in very poor planning and many business models failed to include realistic and profitable business objectives. When the year 2000 ended, many of the above mentioned companies closed their doors. After this black period, the surviving and the new opened companies realized that the web-based strategies and techniques must be taken into consideration just like any other classic marketing tools. The basic questions regarding marketing must still be answered, some of them are:

• Are the business models realistic?

• Who are the customers?

• Which mix marketing strategies are efficient?

• What is the competition doing?

Besides these traditional issues, the internet marketing world had other things to offer:

• Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) – considered by many to be the most cost-effective method for attracting visitors to a website by getting that website listed on top search engines and directories. This method asked many crucial questions, such as: How can this be accomplished in an efficient way? On-site or off-site optimization? Which keywords are most efficient?

• Pay Per Click Advertising ( PPC ) – the quickest and easiest method to create instant online presence. All PPC campaigns can be created and launched within 2 weeks and the costs are determined by the keyword search volume and the keyword market value. The most important question regarding this method is: How to ensure that owners get the most return on their investment?

• E-Mail Marketing – a custom newsletter design which is combined with a very powerful e-mail management system that sends engaging e-mail, promotions, newsletters, which will stand out above the rest, is one marketing method. Questions raised by this method are: What is a drip campaign? What is an auto-responder?

• Advanced Web Statistics – this method brings more information besides the basic question of how many hits the site receives. These statistics allow owners to measure vital information in a very easy matter, some of the info includes: Where are the visitors coming from? How long do they stay on the website? Which pages are the most popular among visitors? Which of the pages cause visitors to exit the website? The most important issue regarding this method is diagnosing the problem areas and determining the results of a campaign.

In the future, websites will be more personalized, as they will cater to consumers and niche markets. Internet marketing through audio newsletters will probably become a more accessible tool for targeted audiences. Other predictions made by experts regarding the future of Internet Marketing are:

• 50% of experts affirm that anonymous, free, music file sharing on P2P (peer-to-peer) networks will still be easy to perform a decade from now

• 59 % of experts agreed with a prediction that more and more business and government surveillance will occur as computing devices proliferate and become embedded in appliances, phones, clothes and cars

• 56% of experts agreed that as telecommuting and home-schooling expand, the boundary between leisure and work will reduce and family dynamics will change due to this reason

• 57% of experts agreed that virtual classes will become more widespread in formal education and that students might, at least occasionally, be grouped with others who share their interests and skills, rather than by age

All things considered, Internet Marketing is one of the most important aspects of the Internet world and many people are considering that this domain will have a very long future, along with the Internet. All website owners will have to take into consideration at least one Internet Marketing technique.

Forex Falling- Stop the Fall

2009-07-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

by forexStop

When it comes to trading one of the crucial areas that you must learn, and is pivotal in helping to protect your capital and to make you a successful trader is Stop Losses. A stop loss is an order to buy (or sell) a security/contract if the price of the security is to go above (or dropped below) a specific set price or stop price. If this specific stop price is achieved, the stop order is then activated as a market order (no limit) or a limit order (fixed or pre-determined price).

A very important key point to using a stop order is that you don’t have to actively monitor how a stock is performing. This can allow you to do other things instead of being forced to monitor the trade. However because the order is triggered automatically when the stop price is reached, the stop price could be activated by a short-term fluctuation in a security’s price, caused through lack of liquidity or other. Once the stop price is reached, the stop order becomes a market order or a limit order and you will be exited from this trade.

Especially when trading in a fast-moving volatile market, the price at which the trade is executed may be significantly different from the stop price in the case of a market order. Alternatively in the case of a limit order the trade may or may not get executed at all. This happens when there are no buyers or sellers available at the limit price.

TYPES OF STOP ORDERS:

Stop Loss Limit Order

The stop loss limit order is an order to buy a security at at no more or less than you set the specific prize at. This allows you the trader some control over the price at which the trade is going to be executed at, but this may prevent the order from being executed at. A stop loss limit order can only be executed by the exchange at the limit price or lower than you have set it at.

Meaning that if the stock was to open up in the morning and ‘gap down’ below the prize that you set the Stop Loss Limit Order would be triggered and then enter or exit you from that particular trade that you set the price on.

What are the key advantages and disadvantages of the stop loss limit order?

ADVANTAGES of a stop loss limit order is that the trader has full control over the price at which the order is executed at, as you set the order.

DISADVANTAGES of using the stop loss limit order is that in a fast moving volatile market your stop loss order may not get executed if there are no buyers/sellers at the limit price due to rare circumstances or when a stock or trade can be illiquid.

Stop Loss Market Order

The stop loss market order is when you place an order to buy (or sell) a security or contract once the price of the security climbed above (or dropped below) a specified stop price. When the set stop price is reached, the stop order is entered as a market order (no limit). In simple terms when a stop loss market order is a order to buy or sell a security at the current market price prevailing at the time the stop order is going to trigger the order. This particular type of stop loss order gives the trader no control over the price at which the trade will be executed.

This is an order to sell at the best available price after the price goes below the stop price. A sell stop price is always below the current market price. If for example you buy a stock at $1 and the set the stop at $0.90 and the price was to trade next at $0.88 then you be exited from this trade at the $0.88 A major advantage of this is that you can limit the particular loss of the trade. The main disadvantage of the stop loss market is that the trader has no control over the price at which the transaction is executed at if it is below the set price they put.

The use of stop loss orders is a great insurance policy that cost you nothing and can save you a fortune. Unless you plan to hold a stock forever, you should always use stop losses.

Will You Outlive Your Money?

2009-06-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

Before you retire, take the time to figure out just how much money you’ll need for retirement. One of the biggest concerns for retirees is whether their retirement savings will last the rest of their lives–will they run out of money? Social Security is not the guaranteed source of retirement income it once was, and people generally don’t want to depend on public assistance or their children during their retirement years. Whether you might run out of money hinges upon several factors; how much money you’ve saved, how long you need your savings to last, and how quickly you spend your money, to name a few. You’ll be better off if you can tackle these issues before retirement by maximizing your retirement nest egg. But, if you are entering retirement and you still have concerns about making your savings last, there are several steps you can take even at this late date. The following are tips and ideas to help make sure you don’t outlive your money.

Tips to help make your savings last longer

You may be able to stretch your retirement savings by adjusting your spending habits. You might be able to get by with only minor changes to your spending habits, but if your retirement savings are far below your projected needs, drastic changes may be necessary. Saving even a little money can really add up if you do it consistently and earn a reasonable rate of return.

Make major changes to your spending patterns

If you have major concerns about running out of money, you may need to change your spending patterns drastically in order to make your savings last. The following are some suggested changes you may choose to implement:

· Consolidate any outstanding loans to reduce your interest rate or monthly payment. Consider using home equity financing for this purpose.

· If your home mortgage is paid in full, weigh the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage to increase your cash flow.

· Reduce your housing expenses by moving to a less expensive home or apartment.

· If you are still paying off your home mortgage, consider refinancing your mortgage if interest rates have dropped since you took the loan.

· Sell your second car, especially if it is only used occasionally.

· Shop around for less expensive insurance. You’d be amazed how much you can save in a year (and even more over a period of years) by switching to insurance policies that have lower premiums, but that still provide the coverage you need. Life and health insurance are the two areas where you probably stand to save the most, since premiums can go up dramatically with age and declining health. Consult your insurance professional.

· Have your child enroll in or transfer to a less expensive college (a state university as opposed to a private one, for example). This can be a particularly good idea if the cheaper college has a strong reputation and can provide a quality education. You could save significantly over the course of just two or three years.

Make minor changes to your spending patterns

Minor changes can also make a difference. You’d be surprised how quickly your savings add up when you implement a written budget and make several small changes to your spending patterns. If you have only minor concerns about making your retirement savings last, small changes to your spending habits may be enough to correct this problem. The following are several ideas you might consider when adjusting your spending patterns:

· Buy only the auto and homeowners insurance you really need. For example, consider canceling collision insurance on an older vehicle and self-insure instead. This may not save you a bundle, but every little bit helps. Of course, if you do have an accident, the amount you saved on your premium could be wiped out very quickly.

· Shop for the best interest rate whenever you need a loan.

· Switch to a lower interest credit card. Transfer your balances from higher interest cards and then cancel the old accounts.

· Eat dinner at home, and carry “brown-bag” lunches instead of eating out.

· Consider buying a well-maintained used car instead of a new car.

· Subscribe to the magazines and newspapers you read instead of paying full price at the newsstand.

· Where possible, cut down on utility costs and other household expenses.

· Get books and movies from your local library instead of buying or renting them.

· Plan your expenditures and avoid impulse buying.

Manage IRA distributions carefully

If you’re trying to stretch your savings, you’ll want to withdraw money from your IRA as slowly as possible. Not only will this conserve the principal balance, but it will also give your IRA funds the opportunity to continue growing tax deferred during your retirement years. However, bear in mind that you must start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs (but not Roth IRAs) after age 70½.

Use caution when spending down your investment principal

Don’t assume you’ll be able to live on the earnings from your investment portfolio and your retirement account for the rest of your life. At some point, you will probably have to start drawing on the principal. You’ll want to be careful not to spend too much too soon. This can be a great temptation particularly early in your retirement, because the tendency is to travel extensively and buy the things you couldn’t afford during your working years. A good guideline is to make sure you don’t spend more than 5 percent of your principal during the first five years of retirement. If you whittle away your principal too quickly, you won’t be able to earn enough on the remaining principal to carry you through the later years.

Portfolio review

Your investment portfolio will likely be one of your major sources of retirement income. As such, it is important to make sure that your level of risk, your choice of investment vehicles, and your asset allocation are appropriate considering your long-term objectives. While you don’t want to lose your investment principal, you also don’t want to lose out to inflation. A review of your investment portfolio is essential in determining whether your money will last.

Continue to invest for growth

Traditional wisdom holds that retirees should value the safety of their principal above all else. For this reason, some people totally shift their investment portfolio to fixed-income investments, such as bonds and money market accounts, as they approach retirement. The problem with this approach is that it completely ignores the effects of inflation. You will actually lose money if the return on your investments does not keep up with inflation. The allocation of your portfolio should generally become progressively more conservative as you grow older, but it is wise to consider maintaining at least a portion of your portfolio in growth investments. Many financial professionals recommend that you follow this simple rule of thumb: The percentage of stocks or stock mutual funds in your portfolio should equal approximately 100 percent minus your age. So, for example, at age 60 your portfolio should contain 40 percent stocks and stock funds (100% – 60% = 40%). Obviously, you should adjust this rule according to your risk tolerance and other personal factors.

Basic rules of investment still apply during retirement

Although you will undoubtedly make changes to your investment portfolio as you reach retirement age, you should still bear in mind the basic rules of investing. Diversification and asset allocation remain important as you make the transition from accumulation to utilization.

Laddering investments

Laddering investments is a method of controlling your investments to avoid having them all mature at the same time. The principle of laddering is simple: Stagger the maturity dates of the associated deposits or investments so that they mature in different time periods. You can apply laddering to any type of deposit, loan, or security having a specified maturity date, such as bonds.

Laddering can reduce interest rate risk

Interest rates rise and fall in response to many factors. Consequently, they are largely unpredictable. Whether you apply laddering to a cash reserve or use it in portfolio investing, minimizing interest rate risk is one of its most important benefits. Thus, you are unlikely to be consistently locked into lower-than-market interest rates.

A single large deposit or investment that matures during an interest rate slump will leave you with two undesirable choices regarding reinvestment. You can hold the money in a low-interest savings account until rates improve or roll it over at the now low rate. However, a later rebound of interest rates can catch you locked into the prior low rate for an extended period. Breaking your investment into smaller pieces and laddering maturity dates allows you to avoid this situation.

How do you do it?

When you first begin your laddering strategy, you will need to acquire several term deposits (e.g., certificates of deposit) or securities with specified maturity dates. Initially, your individual investments should have terms of varying lengths, and you should intend to hold them until maturity. This will set up your staggered maturity dates. For example, you might purchase three separate certificates of deposit–one with a three-month term, one with a six-month term, and one with a nine-month term. When you reinvest as your CDs mature, your new investments should each be of the same length to perpetuate the staggering, or laddering, of maturity dates. Keep your laddering strategy intact by promptly redepositing each maturing investment for a new term.

Long-term care insurance

A catastrophic injury or debilitating disease that requires you to enter a nursing home can destroy your best-laid financial plans. You will need to decide whether to take out a long-term care insurance policy that may cover nursing home care, home health care, adult day care, respite care, and residential care. If you decide to purchase such a policy, you’ll need to choose the best time to do so. Typically, unless you have a chronic condition that makes you more likely to require long-term care, there is generally no reason to begin thinking about this issue before age 50. Usually, there is no reason to purchase such a policy before age 60.

Won’t Medicare pay for any long-term care expenses you might incur?

Contrary to popular belief, Medicare will not pay for most long-term care expenses, and neither will any health insurance you may have through your employer. Medicare benefits are only available if you enter a nursing home within 30 days after a hospital stay of three days or more. Even then, Medicare typically will only provide full coverage for 20 days of skilled nursing home care in Medicare-approved facilities. (Most people do not require skilled nursing care, as this is generally defined as the care of a physician or registered nurse). After 20 days, Medicare will cover part of the cost of care. You will pay $128 per day in 2008, and Medicare will cover the rest. No further coverage is available after 100 days. Studies show that approximately 40 percent of all people over age 65 will require nursing home care sometime before they die. The average nursing home stay is about 462 days, and if you are part of that 40 percent, your long-term care expenses could easily use up your hard-earned savings, leaving you with little or no money on which to live.

What about Medicaid?

Medicaid is sponsored jointly by federal and state governments. Each state’s Medicaid program is required to provide certain minimum medical benefits to qualified persons, including inpatient hospital services, nursing home care, and physicians’ services. States also have the option of providing additional services. All states require proof of financial need. However, each state has different rules regarding benefits and eligibility, so it is essential that you understand your state’s Medicaid program before you decide that Medicaid will provide adequate long-term care coverage.

How much does long-term care insurance cost?

Unfortunately, long-term care insurance can be quite expensive. If you begin coverage when you are younger, premiums will be more reasonable, but you will likely be paying for the insurance for a much longer period of time. Although the cost of LTCI varies depending on your age, the benefits, and the insurer you choose, a person aged 65 to 69 purchasing an individual policy can expect to pay premiums of between $2,000 and $10,000 per year

Reduce your Mortgage Balance

2009-06-21T04:18:00.000-07:00

Reduce your Mortgage Balance

The Hope 4 Homeowners (H4H) program is aimed at helping homeowners that have found themselves owing more on their mortgage than their home is worth. The lower monthly mortgage payment is the result of the program reducing the principal balance of the current mortgage.

How will it Help?

The Hope for Homeowners program puts the homeowner into a mortgage based on their home’s current value. A Hope 4 Homeowners’ loan will be 90% of the current value of the home. Not all aspects of this program are positive. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and your current lender will share in any profits of the house when the homeowner sells their home. This offsets the balance that has been forgiven. {The reduced loan amount results in a lower montly payment}.

Take a Look:

Let’s say that your current mortgage balance is $400,000 and your home is now worth $250,000. There are millions of homeowners that find themselves in this scenario. You are currently making a mortgage payment on a loan that is much greater than the value of your home. The Hope to Homeowners loan will issue a new loan that is equivalent to 90% of the home’s current value. $225,000 is the new loan mortgage balance in this scenario. That is a reduction of $175,000 in the principal balance of your mortgage. The new mortgage payment will be based on this new loan amount of $175,000.

I want to Calculate the New Payment?

There are benefits beyond the principal reduction in your mortgage. The Hope to Homeowners loan payment will also be reduced. Let’s say the current mortgage is $400,000 at 6% on a 30 year fixed (the benefits are even greater if you are in an adjustable rate mortgage). The current payment is $2,398. The interest rate will often be reduced but for this example lets assume that it is not. Payments for the Hope for Homeowners loan for this example are $1,348. The mortgage payment is reduced by $1,050 monthly. There are obvious benefits.

There are some qualifying factors that homeowners need to understand. Every homeowner should do their own research into this program to be sure that it makes sense for your scenario. You need to realize that there are some negative aspects of this loan. You may give up some of the equity that your home builds when you sell your home. Americans will be able to keep their homes with this program. The H4H program can and will provide some much needed hope to homeowners that are upside down on their mortgage.

Find How You Can Help In This Economic Recovery

2009-06-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

After decades of making things worse our administration is about to start the long mission of healing the economy. But of course it’s not that simple. Every step along the way they will have to fight those who don’t really want economic recovery. All they want is to reset things to the period where they personally were raking in the dough. And it doesn’t matter if this was just the week before things went south.

Of course this will also reset the environment that made this collapse possible. And if possible they would do this for as long as they can to squeeze the last nickel into their pocket.

For them the challenge is to fool everyone else for their own enrichment. You might ask why would they do that? The simple answer is: Greed! With this in mind let’s move along. The first thing to do is review the big picture. Originaly Social Security was set up as a safety net for retirement.

But the lure of all that money just lying about was too much. So the embezzlement began. At first the robbers said the money would be replaced. That lie was never believed.

In fact Social Security is now considered an entitlement by the the same parties that stole from it. You might wonder what is the connection here? This is the core pattern!

The founding fathers of America structured a government that could function. That structure has been twisted and corrupted. The money that our government prints was at one point certificates of gold. The gold stored in Fort Knox! Greed came into play so more money was printed then there was gold. This has continued until your money is not worth the paper it is printed on! If you do the math it becomes clear. This is the biggest ponzi scam of ALL TIME! What we have seen in recent times is original IOU’s being stolen and replaced by worthless IOU’s. Now here we are caught in this web of lies. And as incredible as it may seem many are asking why were we are having trouble getting credit. The assets are real but those asking for the loans are insufficient. They are unable to repay loans with true value. So America borrows from other nations.

And some of them don’t like us much. Is it any wonder that it will take a former Harvard Law Professor to help get us out of this one! Oh don’t forget we have some wars going on too.

At the time of this writing I only count 2, but of course that is subject to change. Is the situation hopeless? That depends on how you look at it. President Obama tells us this is a opportunity to expand our horizons and repair our infrastructure. This reminds me of the experiment of two little brothers. So if Obama wants to look for a pony in all of this shit, maybe he can pull it off. So far things are looking up.

National Financial Crisis May Grow The Number Of Non-Insured Drivers To Record Levels

2009-06-13T03:12:00.000-07:00

Approximately 17% of drivers across the United States may be driving without insurance by 2010, these figures were compiled from research done by the Insurance Research Council. Although the estimated amount of uninsured drivers went down nationally from 14.9% in 2003 to 13.8% in 2007, this recession is expected to elevate the amount of non-insured drivers.

A recently published study, “Uninsured Motorists, 2008 Edition,” configures the amount of non-insured motorist across the country and by state from 2005 to 2007. The Insurance Research Council calculates the population of non-insured drivers by examining the ratio between injury claims made by non-insured motorists and insured motorists.

The research show recently obtained stats by state for bodily injury liability claims and non-insured drivers claim frequency and the ratio between bodily injury claims and non-insured drivers.

The severity of the non-insured driver situation differed greatly from state to state. In 2007, the biggest five non-insured motorist estimates by state were New Mexico 29%, Mississippi 28%, Alabama 26%, Oklahoma 24%, and Florida 23%. The five states with the lowest estimates of non-insured motorists were Massachusetts 1%, Maine 4&, North Dakota 5%, New York 5%, and Vermont 6%.

The data also showed a large correlation unemployed and the percent of non-insured drivers. The research shows if the unemployment rate increased to 1% it will correlate to an increase in the non-insured driver rate to more than 3/4 of 1%. Based on the projected unemployment rate figures, the percentage of non-insured drivers is expected to increase from 13.8% in 2007 to 16.1% in 2010.

“An increase in the number of uninsured motorists is an unfortunate consequence of the economic downturn and illustrates how virtually everyone is affected by recent economic developments,” said the Senior Vice President of the Insurance Research Council Elizabeth A. Sprinkel. “Responsible drivers who purchase insurance end up paying for injuries caused by uninsured drivers.”

The Insurance Research Council research studied data obtained from nine insurance companies, representing approximately 50% of the private passenger vehicle insurance market nationally.

With all this happening it will be hard to get discount auto insurance because as non-insured motorist claims grow the premiums for current insureds will also go up. Your best chance to get inexpensive auto insurance is to try to get as many free insurance quotes as possible and compare rates between companies.

Source: Insurance

How to Read a Forex Chart

2009-06-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

The forex chart is among the most essential tools in a forex trader’s arsenal. Simply put, it is a graph of a particular currency pair’s performance over a given period of time. Reading forex charts is key to a trader’s business, so it’s important to know how to read them and understand what they mean.

Every forex chart will be labeled with a currency pair: EUR/USD, USD/GBP, etc. Remember, all forex trading deals with different countries’ currency in relation to each other. The EUR/USD chart, for example, tells you how the euro and the U.S. dollar compare.

Along the bottom of the chart is the timeline — 15 minutes, an hour, a day, a week, or some other period. Going up the right-hand side are incremental amounts. For the EUR/USD chart, the amounts might be 1.2531 at the bottom, going up to 1.2561 at the top. And of course the middle of the chart shows what position the EUR/USD pair held at what time.

The forex chart is useful because it shows in clear terms how a currency pair is performing. You can see at a glance whether a currency is getting stronger or weaker, and you can act accordingly. Selecting the time frame helps you see very minor trends (in a 15-minute period, say) or more long-term ones (over the course of several days, as an example).

You can find forex charts all over the Internet, on Web sites for forex brokers, tutors, and on other forex-related sites. Those are acceptable for looking at trends now and then. But to be a serious trader, you need to have access to charts much more readily, without having to go to a Web site. Fortunately there is trading software that fills that gap by providing you forex charts, too (you need to have broadband Internet so you can be “always connected”). Being able to access the latest charts is key to successful trading.

With dozens of world currencies, there are far too many possible currency pairs for anyone to keep track of mentally. Forex charts show at a glance how currency pairs are performing, and good software helps you to store a selection of charts as “favorites.” You’ll want to keep an eye on the charts that represent investments you’ve already made, and it’s smart to have a few extra saved, too, so you can watch for trends in currencies you haven’t traded yet. You never know when a lucrative new opportunity is going to be revealed.

Source: Currency Pairs

The Best Trading Times For Trading Forex

2009-06-12T03:23:00.000-07:00

The recent financial calamity has made it tough times for investors, and indeed these are bearish times for investors everywhere. The credit crunch and the ensuing tidal wave that has encompassed the rest of the world has cast a dark shadow on investment opportunities and profit has definitely turned to pain for most of us out there who have been dealing with equities, stocks and futures - the natural way to go to make money. Even the traditionally safe options like commodities have been hit, as the average spending power of the consumer goes down and inflation hits, demand goes down and thus prices, leaving the investors on the short end of the proverbial stick. This makes it the best trading times for Forex.

You might be finding yourself asking why this is so. The Forex market is the most liquid investment market in the world today, which means you can liquidate your investments and pull out whenever you want - not being held back by processes and market structures that can take days - days, whose most precious element is time, time that can mean either disaster or salvation for your investment capital. The liquidity of the Forex market makes it an attractive choice for anyone wanting to turn their investment dollars elsewhere and salvage the situation.

In Forex trading, currency is king, especially in a neo-liberalist market that is the Forex market today. It doesn’t matter how bad a country’s economy might be, as long as the country has a currency of some sort, investors can make money both ways - even when the market seems to be in a bad state. The depreciation of one currency is usually the appreciation of another, and in the buying and selling of this commodity, a smart investor can turn turn the tide of his investment direction and profit from both sides of the market.

Forex trading is also versatile to the extent that it can be done practically anywhere as long as an investor has access to its mainframe, and different Forex trading systems means that you can still hold a day job and measure the success of your market speculation on the go. Communication with your broker is important here and it can be done easily through email. Investing in Forex using brokerage mainframes and systems means you get a detailed report on everything you do - remember when it comes to any kind of trading, you should always involve yourself with something that has maximum accountability.

The extreme predictability of the Forex market is also a factor that makes it very appealing for investors, and traders will always say that the market typically has a set pattern, and reacts a certain way to certain situations. Once you’re able to read the market and figure out its typical trends, you’ll find that the Forex market behaves in the least complicated manner as compared to other markets. Because of this, it makes the market a much more attractive option for investors looking for an alternative to risky situations whose likelihood of happening would be much more likely especially in these harsh economic times.

These are the reasons why it is the best trading times for trading Forex and with a financial climate like this, patterns are easy to read and certain currencies will stand out for opportunity to invest and trade with.

Forex Trading In A Bad Economy

2009-06-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

In a bad economy there are only a few choices you can make to profit with investments. Stock prices are tumbling and that’s why the experts recommend that traders stay away from the markets right now. In such tumultous times, there is still a way you can keep your portfolio safe. You can use auto trading software.

By auto trading in the foreign exchange markets, you can keep your day job because the software will trade on autopilot. The software is easy to install on any computer and it can be set to run on autopilot. There are so many software packages to choose from, so do your homework and be sure you get one that’s user friendly. Each program runs a little differently. Most of the trading software programs usually has built in setting that the user sets up based on what they are willing to risk.

Portfolios can still increase in value even in a bad economy and that’s why people all over the world are turning to forex trading as an additional source of income. If you’re new to FX trading, you too should actually start out using auto trade software. I think it’s great. You turn on the program, adjust your intial settings and the program runs by itself trading on your behalf.

I’ve been using auto trading software for over a year now. I’ve made more profit than losses. I feel this is a smart way to profit in this economy.

Finance Tips - Investment Style

2009-06-09T00:54:00.000-07:00

by Marcel Mahrer

Knowing what your risk tolerance and investment style are will help you choose investments more wisely. While there are many different types of investments that one can make, there are really only three specific investment styles - and those three styles tie in with your risk tolerance. The three investment styles are conservative, moderate, and aggressive.

Naturally, if you find that you have a low tolerance for risk, your investment style will most likely be conservative or moderate at best. If you have a high tolerance for risk, you will most likely be a moderate or aggressive investor. At the same time, your financial goals will also determine what style of investing you use.

If you are saving for retirement in your primeval twenties, you should use a conservative or moderate style of investing - but if you are trying to get together the funds to buy a home in the next year or two, you would want to use an aggressive style.

Conservative investors want to maintain their initial investment. In other words, if they invest $5000 they want to be sure that they will get their initial $5000 back. This type of investor usually invests in common stocks and bonds and short term money market accounts.

A moderate investor usually invests much like a conservative investor, but will use a portion of their investment funds for higher risk investments. Many moderate investors invest 50% of their investment funds in innocuous or conservative investments, and invest the remainder in riskier investments.

An aggressive investor is willing to take risks that other investors won’t take. They invest higher amounts of money in riskier ventures in the hopes of achieving larger returns - either over time or in a short amount of time. Aggressive investors often have all or most of their investment funds tied up in the stock market.

Again, determining what style of investing you will use will be determined by your financial goals and your risk tolerance. No matter what type of investing you do, however, you should carefully research that investment.

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Source: Currency Trading

Forex A Business Or An Investment

2009-06-09T00:49:00.000-07:00

by Rod Soto

At the current economic time many people are doing everything that they can in order to find that get rich scheme that is the American dream. However FOREX is nothing something that should be considered as such, it should be thought of as running a business.

At any point in someoneas when they get ready to start investing they should think of it as a business. If you were going to run a comic book store there are certain steps you would follow before beginning right? Why would you not do the same when investing?

At no point in ones life should they be investing if they are living week to week off of their paycheck. Investing is for the people who have money set aside that they can invest and not be scared to death that they will lose every penny. This should be money that is considered by some as extra. And you should not invest money in anything that you donat plan on playing for the long haul.

Come up with a plan and execute it. If you were going to open a coffee shop in your area, you’d first need a business plan. Why will this shop make money? Where should I open it? You’d look for a favorable location, like near a train station, and come up with a theme or recipe of coffee that makes you unique.

When doing your investment plan you must consider a few things. First of all where is the economy now, and secondly where do you expect it to be the future. Your plan should also include what steps have to happen for the future to fall into place.

Even if things start off rocky, you have to realize that you invested long term. You canat stop you plan in the middle if you arenat 100% sure of where its going. Short term changes in the markets do not solely predict the future. Selling when things are down is a promised way to lose that money though.

When investing in this market remember that you do not have to only stick with one plan. Feel free to diversify your portfolio. You should stick to your first plan but feel free to keep investing in other currencies. This is not a one track issue. You can in fact have several plans going at one time.

In conclusion remember to treat your Forex as a business. Use a business plan, look at the long time goal of your business plan, and donat pull out when it gets rocky. Keep checks over your long term goals that you set in your investment plan. Be careful, a best of luck!

About the Author:
To find out how to Really become profitable in forextrading, visit my website full of free resources about forex trading

Source: Currency Trading

Forex Trading Alert - A very helpful friend

2009-06-04T03:46:00.000-07:00

by Karielle Samstad

A forex trading alert is one of several important tools you can use when it comes to trading forex. If you are a beginner trading forex or have several months of experience in the market, the forex trading alert is the tool to use as an entryway into much of the knowledge about foreign exchange and the markets when they are active.

Trading alerts should be used when you are away from your desk and need to be updated with any conditions you have set to be alerted for in relation to the forex markets.

Forex trading alerts, software, and online services that use these types of alerts are meant to alert you, the trader, when a variety of events happen in the market. You control what service alerts you and when.

The Signal Alert Service is one type of forex trading alert on many forex software platforms on the market today. It basically lets you know about new opportunities and potential trades in the forex market. Many popular forex currency trades, like EUR/USD or GBP/USD, are constantly monitored in these types of forex trading alerts using specific and sophisticated algorithms which are set up by the software.

The alert that comes to your desk or cellular phone (in case you have chosen to be alerted through an SMS message) usually concerns certain changes in currencies that may or may not signal a good buy or entry into the market. After you receive the alert, you decide if the information presented meets your criteria for a good purchase or forex trade.

Another type of forex trading alert that can be used as a beginner or even intermediate forex trader is the Price Levels Alert Services. This type of alert is used basically to inform you when a certain price level in the forex market has hit or when a certain price is near the level at which you would like to enter or exit the forex market. These types of forex trading alerts can be very useful if you are away from your computer or main source of forex information but still want to be updated at the right times so that you can make trading decisions.

These are some of the forex trading alert services that you will find in the market with forex software. But it is important to use these alert services to inform you about possible trades or sells in the marketplace and not to rely on them for solid, be-all end-all advice!

As a forex trader, you should use your own good judgment to decide when to enter and when to exit the market. The purpose of all of the possible forex trading alerts you have set is to keep you updated with the continual flow of information going in and out of the forex markets in order to make successful decisions.

Copyright by Lanval, Corp. All rights reserved worldwide.

Top Ten Forex Brokers Who Can Change Your Fortune

2009-06-04T03:39:00.000-07:00

by Rod Soto

There are several different trading markets available to customers. The hardest to master without the proper resource is the currency exchange market. With the proper resources at your disposal this market is easy to handle and can make you a profit. Sitting back and watching as you get destroyed by the market is not helpful you must be active.

It is also very complex since it is not limited to one or two countries like other trades. Involvement of skilled traders from all over the world, huge profit margins compared to share market makes it unique. The most important single resource required to play in a forex market is huge money and to safe guard this money and make profit from it one should make some strategies

Not all markets use broking agencies but for the forex market they are important because of it volatile nature. These forex brokers often work with over a hundred thousand accounts internationally. These brokers are competing intensely to provide the best facilities for their customers.

Depending upon their performance and customer satisfaction index, these agencies are given rankings on regular basis; it is a prestigious issue to every broker to get top ten forex broker ranking continuously. They will not leave any stone unturned to get a place in a list of top ten or top hundred, depending upon the size of their agency.

The primary goal of the forex broker is to improve their customer satisfaction ranking so that theif overall ranking is healthy and looks appealing to future and current customers. Also this ranking shows their competition that they are popular or not causing other agencies to safe guard their clients. Although their customers are important the ranking is for overall importance so nothing is neglected.

Broking agencies hold no guarantees at the beginning many come and go in just a matter of a couple of years. New investors to the market are often fooled by start up companies that appear to offer them deals they cannot resist. New or potential investors should keep to the companies that are known for their success.

The number one broking agency is FXCM holdings. They have proven time and time again that their fincancial services are beneficial and will help you to make a profit. Their members are specialized in online trading as well as speculators in the foreign exchange market. The top ten are listed below; 1. FXCM 2. Interactive Brokers 3. MG Forex 4. Alpari-idc 5. Hot Spot FX 6. MB 7. WestCapFx 8. Dukascopy 9. Oanda 20. eToro.

Once a company has obtained a position on the top ten list it is hard to keep that position. The companies can keep that position only by giving their best effort on all fronts. The FXCM company realized this and has shown excellence in all required fields.

Internet Marketing VS Forex Currency Trading

2009-06-04T03:36:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed that when someone’s trying to sell you something — such as a system for making money — they always make it look far easier than it is?

Let’s look at two Internet businesses, almost as diametrically opposed as it’s possible to be — Internet Marketing and Forex Currency Trading.

You’ve probably heard the old Internet adage — build a better website and they will come. Well it ain’t true!

You could put up a site advertising dollars for a dime and they still wouldn’t come — because they wouldn’t know where to look!

Let’s look at what you need to have in place in order to build a successful Internet marketing business.

First of all, you need a product. If you’ve been reading the recent Internet marketing blurb you’ll know you need a niche product.

Actually, the new thing is sub-niche but whatever they call it, you need a product for which there is high demand but low supply.

Finding a suitable niche is the hardest part of the whole process but let’s say you have a killer product, what else do you need?

The List.

Ask any Internet marketeer and they will say that the most important part of your business is your opt-in list.

For people to join your list you usually have to give them something of value such as a free eBook or report on a subject related to your main product line.

To keep them interested, you need to keep in touch with them offering them additional information, advice and tips.

Website.

To promote your opt-in list you need a website (although there are other ways of promoting your list, too) with features that will encourage people to sign up to your list.

You also need a killer website with killer copy to describe — and sell — your killer product. This may or may not be the same as the one you use for your opt-in list.

Killer copy.

Maybe you’re not a good copywriter. There are many eBooks on the subject that can help you or you can pay someone to write copy for you.

You need a domain name, preferably one with some relation to the product but good domain names are becoming increasing difficult to find.

Ads.

To get people to visit your website in the first place you need to register it with the search engines.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is an art in itself. You can mug up on the subject or pay someone to do the job for you (but be aware that not all experts are!).

You might also want to place ads for your list in newsletters and ezines. The better ones will charge you although you might get a free ad in return for an article.

Autoresponder.

To automate your business you need an autoresponder. These clever devices automatically send emails to everyone on your opt-in list at predetermined intervals, and contain predetermined copy.

For example, you could create a series of emails containing, say, five parts of a free course to be sent one a day over the first five days.

Then emails would be sent once a week advertising a different product each time.

Whenever anyone signs up to your list they automatically start at the beginning so everyone gets the full cycle of marketing material.

We haven’t even looked at affiliate sales and marketing but I’m sure you get the picture.

The basic idea of selling over the Internet sounds good but there’s a lot more to it than most people realise.

Forex Currency Trading

Someone said that trading is the last frontier, the last place where men and women can stand up and pit themselves against the world.

It sounds very Wild Westish but most of it is true! You win or lose entirely by your own efforts and if you win, it’s like having your very own bank.

However, even owning a bank is a business and you still have to work hard to put the money there — and to keep it!

Unlike Internet marketing where all your efforts, in one form or another, are geared towards making people join your list and then selling them stuff,

Currency Trading has no customers. That’s worth repeating — with currency trading, you don’t need customers.

No customers means you don’t need any of the associated accoutrements that go with Internet marketing such as:

Products
Web site
Domain name
Opt-in list
Ads
eBooks and reports
Autoresponder
Any other marketing aids

So far so good, but what do you have to do and what do you need? Well, you need to know what currency prices are doing.

You can get a list of prices at the close of each trading day free from many web sites. If you want to trade during the day — intraday trading, you can get real-time prices for a nominal fee from several data suppliers.

In the foreign exchange currency market, commonly called forex, you can get this data and charting software free from many web sites.

Okay, that’s the easy bit. In order to trade currencies, you need to analyse the data and determine which way price is heading.

In other words you need a system and this will require study and dedication.

There’s lots of other stuff you have to know, too — trading terminology, margin, leverage, money management, order types, trader psychology and more.

But all of this is available in eBooks and courses and on the Net.

You also need some money upfront to fund your trading account. With forex you can begin with as little as $300-500 although you would be advised to start with more.

So while you don’t have the ongoing quest for new customers, new products and inventive sales techniques, you do need some sort of education or training before you begin and you need discipline while you’re trading.

For more information on getting started with forex currency trading, go to: www.webkept.com

Making money takes work whether it’s online or off. Make sure you know what’s involved before you start and remember that the more you put into a business, the easier it gets.

by Amin Sadak

What’s Fibonacci Forex Trading?

2009-06-04T03:34:00.000-07:00

Fibonacci forex trading is the basis of many forex trading systems used by a great number of professional forex brokers around the globe, and many billions of dollars are profitable traded every year based on these trading techniques.

Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician and he is best remembered by his world famous Fibonacci sequence, the definition of this sequence is that it’s formed by a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers; 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 …But in the case of currency trading what is more important for the forex trader is the Fibonacci ratios derived from this sequence of numbers, i.e. .236, .50, .382, .618, etc.

These ratios are mathematical proportions prevalent in many places and structures in nature, as well as in many man made creations.

Forex trading can greatly benefit form this mathematical proportions due to the fact that the oscillations observed in forex charts, where prices are visibly changing in an oscillatory pattern, follow Fibonacci ratios very closely as indicators of resistance and support levels; maybe not to the last cent, but so close as to be really amazing.

Fibonacci price points, or levels, for any forex currency pair can be calculated in advance so that the trader will know when to enter or exit the market if the prediction given by the Fibonacci forex day trading system he uses fulfills its predictions.

Many people tries to make this analysis overly complicated scaring away many new forex traders that are just beginning to understand how the forex market works and how to make a profit in it. But this is not how it has to be. I can’t say it’s a simple concept but it is quite understandable for any trader once he or she has grasped the basics and has had some practice trading using Fibonacci levels along with other secondary indicators that will help to improve the accuracy of the entry and exit point for every particular trade.

Free chapters of a forex day trading system can be downloaded at http://www.1-forex.com in case you are interested in learning more about Fibonacci forex trading.

by Adrian Pablo

Forex Trading Indicators and the Ever Changing Market Conditions

2009-06-04T03:32:00.000-07:00

Once you enter the Forex trading world you will immediately notice the need of using technical analysis in order to find trends when looking at the forex charts and also the importance of being aware of when they first develop so you can ride the trend until it ends. The foreign exchange market is a very strong trending market, lots of ups and downs in short periods of time, and it’s, therefore, a place where technical analysis can be very effective.

But you should always remember that the indicators are only giving you a high probability behavior the markets may show when you are trading, but will never tell you the behavior of the currency prices with total certainty.

If you want to become a profitable forex trader you will need to use as many technical indicators as you can, or create a personalized trading strategy based on a combination of these indicators, to recognize with the best accuracy possible the trend. In other words, a professional forex trader will try to identify the major trend, the intermediate trend, and the short-term trend and then construct his trades in that direction based on how long their rules allow him to hold a position.

The forex markets are always changing, that’s why you should always have an open criterion when using your technical indicators. Markets will be changing and different combinations of indicators may be required with time in order to have the most accurate, highest probability, prediction of future currency price behaviors.

If the action of the market shows your judgment to be correct, then you must consider staying with the market’ and look for the maximum profit on each trade, according to your risk-to-reward/equity management rules. If you happen to be in a bad day and the market goes against you, the smart trader will take profits and get out of that trade. In a narrow market, when prices are not going anywhere, but move within a narrow range, there is no sense in trying to anticipate when the next big movement is going to be.

So, you must always be alert and open to use as many and as different indicators in order to stay tuned with the market and become a profitable trader at the end of the day.

by Martin Redhead

Forex Market Trading Hours

2009-06-04T03:31:00.000-07:00

The Forex market has a huge advantage over the other investment markets - it’s open 24 hours a day, six days a week. Whereas the commodities and stock market operates five days a week (Monday through Friday) during normal business hours, the Forex market continues its activity around the clock. If you want to trade at 2:00 am EST Monday morning, feel free to place your trade. If you would like to invest at 9:00 pm Thursday night when you have the time to concentrate on the market, simply place your trade on one of the many online Forex trading systems. However, even though the market is considered a 24-hour market, it’s important to know when the market is actually active and when is the best time to place a trade on the market.

Actual operating hours

Even though the Forex market is open 24 hours a day, each financial center (i.e. New York, London, Frankfort, Tokyo, and Australia) has its own operating hours, which are usually from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, local time. That means if it’s 8:00 am (Tokyo time) on Monday morning, the Tokyo market will be open for trading even though it’s 10:00 pm EST, on Sunday night. You could therefore take advantage of trading on the Forex market late Sunday night from your New York apartment.

Overlapping of hours

With so many financial centers around the globe, you will have times when two or more markets overlap. For instance, the New York and London markets overlap from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm EST, while the London and Tokyo markets overlap from 3:00 am to 4:00 am EST. The Sydney and Tokyo markets also overlap from 7:00 pm - 2:00 am EST. These overlapping periods are the best time to trade since volume (liquidity) is at it’s greatest.

Other good times to trade

Besides the overlapping periods, it’s best to trade at the following times:
During the middle of the week (shows most movement)
During trading hours of the three largest markets - London, New York, and Tokyo.

Times to avoid

It’s best to avoid the following times/days:
Sundays (limited volume)
Fridays (unpredictable)
Holidays (limited volume)
Release of economic reports (volatility)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm EST (low market volume).

by Harman Gilly

5 Things You Must Do If You Want To Attain Financial Freedom Through Forex Trading

2009-06-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

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.

by Eddie Yakubovich

Online Forex Trading

2009-06-04T03:24:00.000-07:00

Do you know what Forex trading is? Some people have heard of this type of trading, others have not. If you haven’t, it might be something you are interested in trying. Forex trading stands for foreign exchange trading. What it consists of is the buying and selling of different currencies. This is done simultaneously, and there are people who make a lot of money with this kind of trading. This is apparent by the 1.9 million dollar turnover in this market that happens every day. Also a lot of it is done online. Online Forex trading is very popular.

The most common currencies to trade are the Euro and the U.S. dollar, and the U.S. dollar and the Japanese Yen. However, nearly all of the Forex trading done involves the major currencies of the world. These include the Euro, Japanese Yen, U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, British Pound, Australian dollar, and the Swiss franc. The Forex exchange is different from other exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, in that it does not have a physical location or central exchange. The exchange day begins in Sydney, then moves to Tokyo, on to London, and finally ends in New York. Each country takes the responsibility of regulating the Forex exchange activities in their own country. So there is no overall regulatory agency. However, this does not seem to be a problem and most countries do very well at overseeing Forex exchange activities.

There are a lot of things that influence the Forex rate. For instance, economic things, like interest rates and inflation, and also political things, such as political unrest in other countries and major changes in government cause up and down changes in the Forex rate. However, these things tend to be short-term, and don’t affect it for long.

Online Forex trading sites are easy to find by surfing the Internet. Most of them provide a wealth of information for the first time trader. You can find out about the history of Forex trading, how to co it, tips on being successful, etc. You can also start trading with as little as $250 in your account on some sites. For anyone who is interested in currency or trading, it is something you should check out.

As with any type of trading, there are no guarantees that you will make money or that you won’t make money. It is a smart choice to learn as much as you can about online Forex trading before investing any money and doing any trading. It is a fact that informed investors do better than those who don’t know much about what they are trading. So get the fact before you dive in. You might just make a little money in a very interesting currency exchange.

by Bob Hett

The History of FOREX Trading

2009-06-04T03:21:00.000-07:00

The origin of Forex trading traces its history to centuries ago. Different currencies and the need to exchange them had existed since the Babylonians. They are credited with the first use of paper notes and receipts. Speculation hardly ever happened, and certainly the enormous speculative activity in the market today would have been frowned upon.

In those days, the value of goods were expressed in terms of other goods(also called as the Barter System). The obvious limitations of such a system encouraged establishing more generally accepted mediums of exchange. It was important that a common base of value could be established. In some economies, items such as teeth, feathers even stones served this purpose, but soon various metals, in particular gold and silver, established themselves as an accepted means of payment as well as a reliable storage of value. Trade was carried among people of Africa, Asia etc through this system.

Coins were initially minted from the preferred metal and in stable political regimes, the introduction of a paper form of governmental I.O.U. during the Middle Ages also gained acceptance. This type of I.O.U. was introduced more successfully through force than through persuasion and is now the basis of today’s modern currencies.

Before the First World war, most Central banks supported their currencies with convertibility to gold. However, the gold exchange standard had its weaknesses of boom-bust patterns. As an economy strengthened, it would import a great deal from out of the country until it ran down its gold reserves required to support its money; as a result, the money supply would diminish, interest rates escalate and economic activity slowed to the point of recession. Ultimately, prices of commodities had hit bottom, appearing attractive to other nations, who would sprint into buying fury that injected the economy with gold until it increased its money supply, drive down interest rates and restore wealth into the economy.. However, for this type of gold exchange, there was not necessarily a Centrals bank need for full coverage of the government’s currency reserves. This did not occur very often, however when a group mindset fostered this disastrous notion of converting back to gold in mass, panic resulted in so-called “Run on banks ” The combination of a greater supply of paper money without the gold to cover led to devastating inflation and resulting political instability. The Great Depression and the removal of the gold standard in 1931 created a serious lull in Forex market activity. From 1931 until 1973, the Forex market went through a series of changes. These changes greatly affected the global economies at the time and speculation in the Forex markets during these times was little.

In order to protect local national interests, increased foreign exchange controls were introduced to prevent market forces from punishing monetary irresponsibility.

Near the end of World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement was reached on the initiative of the USA in July 1944. The conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire rejected John Maynard Keynes suggestion for a new world reserve currency in favor of a system built on the US Dollar. International institutions such as the IMF, The World Bank and GATT were created in the same period as the emerging victors of WWII searched for a way to avoid the destabilizing monetary crises leading to the war. The Bretton Woods agreement resulted in a system of fixed exchange rates that reinstated The Gold Standard partly, fixing the USD at $35.00 per ounce of Gold and fixing the other main currencies to the dollar, initially intended to be on a permanent basis.

The Bretton Woods system came under increasing pressure as national economies moved in different directions during the 1960’s. A number of realignments held the system alive for a long time but eventually Bretton Woods collapsed in the early 1970’s following president Nixon’s suspension of the gold convertibility in August 1971. The dollar was not any longer suited as the sole international currency at a time when it was under severe pressure from increasing US budget and trade deficits.

The last few decades have seen foreign exchange trading develop into the world’s largest global market. Restrictions on capital flows have been removed in most countries, leaving the market forces free to adjust foreign exchange rates according to their perceived values.

The European Economic Community introduced a new system of fixed exchange rates in 1979, the European Monetary System. The quest continued in Europe for currency stability with the 1991 signing of The Maastricht treaty. This was to not only fix exchange rates but also actually replace many of them with the Euro in 2002. London was, and remains the principal offshore market. In the 1980s, it became the key center in the Eurodollar market when British banks began lending dollars as an alternative to pounds in order to maintain their leading position in global finance.

In Asia, the lack of sustainability of fixed foreign exchange rates has gained new relevance with the events in South East Asia in the latter part of 1997, where currency after currency was devalued against the US dollar, leaving other fixed exchange rates in particular in South America also looking very vulnerable.

While commercial companies have had to face a much more volatile currency environment in recent years, investors and financial institutions have discovered a new playground. The Forex exchange market initially worked under the central banks and the governmental institutions but later on it accommodated the various institutions, at present it also includes the dot com booms and the world wide web. The size of the Forex market now dwarfs any other investment market. The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world. Approximately 1.9 trillion dollars are traded daily in the foreign exchange market. It is estimated that more than USD 1,200 Billion are traded every day. It can be said easily that Forex market is a lucrative opportunity for the modern day savvy investor.

by Divyansh Sharma

Investment Myths And The Forex Markets

2009-05-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

First what is Forex: The FOREX or Foreign Exchange market is the largest financial market in the world, with an volume of more than $1.5 trillion daily, dealing in currencies. Unlike other financial markets, the Forex market has no physical location, no central exchange. It operates through an electronic network of banks, corporations and individuals trading one currency for another.

What is a myth: A myth is often thought to be a lesson in story form which has deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for preliterate cultures, who preserve and cherish the wisdom of their elders through oral traditions by the use of skilled story tellers.

Many new Forex market traders have misconceptions about the entire system. They see people making money trading with the Forex market and automatically assume they can easily do the same. What they tend to forget it that there is strategy and research done in order to make successful trades and profits from trading. If you are new to the Forex market system, don’t get caught up in popular investment myths. Be sure that you know exactly what to expect and be realistic when trading.

When you are trading and investing in any market, including the Forex, you must have the discipline needed to be successful. Although the system is enormous and there is a lot going on that you won’t be involved within, you must actively protect your investments. Your investments will not be protected just because they are in the market. A lot can change throughout a day, so you have to always be aware of what is going on in order to be fully protected to your best ability. You should always make logical and researched decisions when trading. It is not a system to use to “get rich quick”. It is a serious financial system that can break your pocket if you are not careful.

One thing to remember when trading and trying to protect your investments however will be that you must take risks to gain. Along with taking a large risk, can come a large success or large loss. You have to be prepared for the worst. You can do this by educating yourself as much as possible on the trading system and your investments. The more you know, the better prepared you will be to make successful decisions. If you are unsure about a system of trading, like the Forex, be sure to take classes and read about the system before you begin trading. Only trade when you are certain you are ready to begin. Even after you learn what you need to know about the system and are a seasoned trader, there are times when you will have losses. The system is not one that protects your investments or your money in general. So, be prepared and aware of this issue. Being realistic can really help you gain more success.

Leverage is something that is both great when it comes to the Forex and possibly dangerous. Trading currencies offers a high level of leverage. Those who don’t have a lot of money to begin with can use leverage to gain more money. When used correctly, you can often do this in short amounts of time. Most people think however that this is something that can be done easily. Those who use leverage to their potential are often those with years of experience in trading. Some people tend to follow the myth that anyone will be able to easily use leverage to get rich fast. This is simply not true. You must be a trader with an excellent knowledge of the system in order to make leverage work to your maximum advantage.

Another thing to keep in mind is that just because you are trading with a minimum marginal deposit does not mean you should trade at levels above your portfolio. The myth that you can get away with this every time is not true. You should not over leverage yourself. By trading in small amounts, you will be able to make safe investments that will not result in huge losses. You will win some and lose some, especially when you are first starting out.

When it comes to the Forex market, you should know that what you assume to be true may not be true at all. You may think that you can use the Forex market to protect your investments. You have learned from reading this however that the Forex may not protect your investments, and one should be diligent in watching their investments in order to avoid anything catastrophic. You may also think that you can get rich quickly using the Forex market. The truth is that short term trading, which is notorious for turning profits quickly, is not for the beginner. Those who have traded for years may try short term investing, but it is very risky indeed. Lastly, you may think that leverage will help you “play with the big boys” and still stay safe. This can be a horrible assumption and many people will over leverage themselves if they are not careful. So, do research, be smart, and think before you act when dealing with the Forex.

by David Mclauchlan

Forex Trading - Fundamental vs. Technical Analysis

2009-05-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

Which Forex trading strategy represents your style? While the Forex market differs from traditional stock markets, the fundamental trading strategies of fundamental and technical analysis can be applied. Understanding both styles and how to apply to the Forex market will enable you to create a strategy and a style of trading that is best suited to your risk tolerance and your financial goals.

Fundamental Analysis

When a trader utilizes fundamental analysis when executing their Forex traders, they are basing their valuation of currencies on crucial economic reports, otherwise called economic indicators. Examples of economic indicators for the Forex market can include interest rates, gross domestic product, economic news releases and unemployment rates for specific countries. For example, comparing unemployment rates of two countries can be considered as a fundamental analysis on the Forex market. News in relation to this economic indicator can be applied when making trading decisions.

Other possible economic indicators when applied to Forex trading can include Trade Balance numbers and the Consumer Price Index. When utilizing this trading strategy, traders must not only determine which economic indicators that they will be utilizing, but they must be alert to search and apply news and changes with regards to those indicators as they apply to currencies.

Technical Analysis

Technical analysis refers to utilizing a system, whether manual or automated, that looks at price movements among currencies. The systems will use technical indicators, working to provide the trader with advice on when to buy and sell pairs of currencies on the Forex market. Some traders prefer to select and monitor their own technical indicators while others prefer to rely on automated currency trading software systems.

There are a variety of benefits to utilizing technical analysis to trade Forex, including:

Trends are easily found. When reviewing for price changes, technical analysis methods reveal the important trends necessary to make well informed trades.
Charting is easy and inexpensive to create and utilize. Whether you are manually tracking price movements through your own spreadsheets or are using a software program, technical analysis is simple to understand.
Patterns in price are easily noticed, easy to follow and strong predictors of future currency behaviour.
Both technical and fundamental analysis provides a wealth of information in which to trade currencies on Forex. While many traders will utilize both strategies, most experts will recommend learning and mastering one versus trying to learn and implement both simultaneously.

Copyright © 2008 Paul Mac Donald

9 Criteria For Choosing The Forex Auto - Trading Software

2009-05-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

by Richard U. Olson
If you, like a lot of others now are considering taking up online Forex trading, you may well be interested in a solution which allows you to make Forex trades while you sleep, work, even while you are on vacation! Technology has advanced, making software which was once thousands of dollars as cheap as $100. You can put this software to use right away using the industry standard trading platforms which are used by Forex brokers worldwide. Thanks to automated Forex trading, experts and newcomers alike are able to maximize their online Forex trading profits.

The benefits of using automated Forex trading software:

- Automated Forex trading robots can trade around the clock in all of the popular currency pairs and this is impossible to do manually.

- You can get these Forex trading robots for less than $100; many Forex trading programs are out there which integrate with the Meta Trader 4 platform, the industry standard among Forex brokers.

- Forex trading robots make trades based on mathematical models (the Fibonacci formula), not emotional responses.

- Forex auto-trading software has a demo mode and can be tested and optimized using demo accounts before taking them into live trading.

Any automated Forex trading software you are considering should have certain features. There is a lot of confusion among Forex traders regarding what Forex trading software needs to be able to do. You should never buy automated Forex trading software which does not meet the following criteria:

1. Automated Forex trading software should have the capability of analyzing the market thoroughly and give you an edge on your trades.

2. Mathematical modeling of market movements should be used (the Fibonacci formula) to make trades which have the best chances of being profitable.

3. The software has to have an integrated system of money management which makes the decision which ensures you profitable trades even in unfavorable market conditions

4. The trading software should know precisely when to make trades in order to make you the maximum profit. It needs to be able to identify trends when looking at the big picture.

5. Automated Forex trading software should leave your position open for as long as you are still making money on a trade - and know when to close the deal.

6. Monitors currency pairs in multiple markets and keeps track of large amounts of trades over time to give you the big picture of the market trends

7. The software absolutely must work with the Meta Trader 4 platform.

8. The software must be user friendly with the “Keep it Simple Stupid” approach to allow for effective and profitable trading.

9. Automated Forex trading software has to allow you to work with demo accounts to make yourself familiar with how the Forex market works and to adjust the software settings to suit your trading style and optimized its performance.

The automated Forex Trading software is for everyone, whether you’re at the beginner level or an expert in Forex trading. You’re not required to have any trading experience or knowledge in the Forex market to start using the Forex robot software. However, it is still good to familiarize yourself in a Forex course at the link below; especially you’re taking Forex trading as a business venture.

About the Author:

Richard U. Olson recommends the incredibly accurate Fully Automated Trading System that he uses to make consistent profits in the Forex markets. Grab his FREE e-course on Forex Trading Tips to achieve your financial freedom. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

New Improved Forex Autopilot System

2009-05-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

A new version of the Expert Advisor, Forex Autopilot System (FAPS) has been released. It appears to work better in any market direction and eliminates some of the weaknesses in the old system.

Below is a list of the lastest changes:

- The times are adjustable now. You can set the exact time you want FAPS to start and end your trading sessions.

- With the global MA indicator trend contol feature, it now works better no matter how volitile the market is

- It eliminates most of the possible drawdowns and increase profits considerably with its new optimized algorithm.

It’s interesting when you backtest the system to compare the results of the old and the latest version. The new version of Forex Autopilot doesn’t seem to have any problems trading the downtrend like the old version.

Forex Autopilot customer service has improved dramatically. They now provide telephone assistance to deal with any set up issues and technical problems.

In my opinion, the system is easy to set up, but for new traders, it might be a problem. After your purchase you will immediately be taken to the membership area. You will be taken step-by-step on how to download the files and set up your MT4 Trading Platform. You should be up and running within the hour.

If you get stuck, there’s also one-on-one training, a great forum to share ideas and live training calls. This membership site will definately help you become a profitable forex trader. It’s the best community online period.

I always suggest trading with a demo account intially so you can test the Forex Robot without having to gamble with real money.

Start Your Forex Trading Education

2009-05-29T05:21:00.000-07:00

by Nathaniel Dubois
Contributing Author

There is so much to learn for those who wish to trade in the forex market. A good place to start your forex trading education is with the study of support and resistance.

Two of the most widely discussed facets of technical analysis are the concepts of support and resistance. Although this study is very often regarded by beginning traders as complex, our purpose is to simplify the subject by focusing on the very basics of what beginning traders will need to know. A thorough study of support and resistance is not possible here, but there is a mountain of information available on the subject.

When you view a forex trading chart, you’ll see that price doesn’t usually move in a straight line. A price will go up, then down, then up again, giving the appearance of a zigzaged line.

When you draw a line connecting the lowest price points, that is your support line. To draw a resistance line, you would connect the highest price points. This is only a very basic idea to provide a picture; there is more to determining which bottom points and which top points need to be considered.

Since support is shown on a chart as a line connecting specific low points, it is easy to see how it tends to function as a floor and prevents the price from going lower. More often than not, prices will tend to bounce off this level rather than go through it. When the price does break the support level, it generally continues dropping until is reaches another support level.

One can view the resistance level as being the opposite of a support level. At this level, the price tends to find resistance as it climbs higher. And just as with support, price tends to bounce off this level rather than break through it. But once price manages to break through the resistance level, even by the smallest of amounts, it will more than likely continue rising until it finds another resistance level.

If a price breaks past a support level, that support level often becomes a new resistance level. The opposite is true as well, if price breaks thru a resistance level, it will often find support at that level in the future.

Support and resistance levels many times represent the prices that are most influential to a currency pair’s direction, and are therefore used by many technical traders to determine their entry and exit prices.

At first the concept and explanation behind identifying these levels seems easy, but as you’ll find out, support and resistance can come in various forms and it is much more difficult to master than it first appears.

One can identify many, many price patterns using only support and resistance. And those patterns will appear in any of the time frame charts. One can also develop an entire trading strategy based entirely on support and resistance levels. It is also possible to make a handsome living trading forex once one masters these concepts. It is recommended that you begin your forex trading education by mastering the study of support and resistance.

6 principles when playing gold forex

2009-05-29T05:19:00.000-07:00

Play Forex is like observing a fish out swimming.Fishs when the fish swim very regularly, at the swimming amuck. So when we look at swimming, you are sure you can guess the first is our direction? What impact the way people move in? Why have them at very disciplined and by now every victory, there was not time them in a certain direction at all? You can not know unless you can guess what they feel when swimming. Fish have a natural instinct to identify the circumstances and conditions surrounding environment, from which a response accordingly hop.Vi that, if understand the instinct that you can pool the judgments them a more accurate.

Not only on fish, or go back to it .That forex forex game is similar in that view: we need to develop the ability to recognize what is happening around us. Certainly we can not predict everything will be all on the forex market can be based on understanding of market circumstances, to prepare the secret in time to the principles including 6 gold (will show later) , to make selection more accurate in the business. Once training is pho know this time, you have certainly become more common in chốn market and can start with a business plan completely.

Here are 6 principles forex gold while playing, with 6 of the pronouns is very familiar: Who What When Where Why and How ( “Who,” “Why,” “Where,” “What”, “When” and “As is”

Who trades forex?
These objects do play forex?
“Know who you know, hundred percent match win.” Need to know who is participating in foreign exchange markets, why they are successful and how to compete with them?

? Why trade forex?
Why play forex?
Forex These bring very large profits, but not investors can obtain the benefits that number. You can be one of the investors make profits or not? It’s up to you

? Where should you trade?
Should start in business?
Select service providers that match the style of your business

? What should you trade?
Should business of any?
Select currency pairs, the penetration and leave the market, the methods managed money works best for you, help you can get the highest profit

? When should you trade?
When should the transaction?
Transaction when the situation seems favorable to the system of your business.

? How should you trade?
Transactions like?
Use the media to help maximize the ability to compete with your competitor another potential.

The Way to Trade Forex

2009-05-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

by Jay Lakhani
Jay Lakhani is a successful Forex and stock trader with a great experience as a mentor for the newbie Forex traders. He believes that the trader’s psychology and the money management basics should receive much more attention during the learning process than the usual market theory. His book «The Way to Trade Forex» is a good starter’s choice for the unexperienced Forex traders as it may put the whole education process on the right way. Readers will definitely try to find their own trading strategies and techniques that will comply with their emotional state and the trading character after finishing this book. Now you can download this book from my site for free. Being extremely useful to the beginning traders, «The Way to Trade Forex» is also an interesting and not too long read for others. But, of course, for people practically familiar with Forex trading, this book is barely something greater than a polite invitation to the author’s mentoring courses.

Euro Posts Small Gain as Economic Conditions Improve

2009-05-29T05:17:00.000-07:00

EUR/USD is currently trading with a small daily gain after a rather weird volatility demonstrated yesterday (it posted long spikes both up and down but closed near the open level). The U. S. fundamental released are quite optimistic. Although they should benefit U.S. currency more, the whole risk-aversion decrease favors such currencies as the euro more than such as the dollar. EUR/USD is now trading near 1.3280.

U.S. import prices rose by 0.5% in March, following 0.1% decline in February, while export prices decreased by 0.6% after falling by 0.3% in February. This is quite good for the U.S. companies as their products are becoming more competitive.

Initial jobless claims were at 654k — a little below the previous week’s value of 674k (revised from 669k).

U.S. trade balance deficit shrank unexpectedly fast in February — from $36.2 billion to $26 billion, as the imports declined strongly, while the exports rose in that month.

Dollar Grows against Euro for Third Day

2009-05-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

EUR/USD is falling for the third day today. It’s currently in the red zone but the most of the daily fall is in the past — in a form of a rather long downward spike. Traders expressed almost no reaction to the today’s U.S. fundamental news. EUR/USD is currently trading near 1.3229.

Wholesale inventories were down by 1.5% in February compared to January’s level. A 0.7% decline was reported a month ago. Market participants expected a 0.6% decline today.

U.S. crude oil inventories gained 1.7 million barrels last week and are now well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. With the current rate of growth they will surpass 400 million barrels by the end of the year.

133 Trading Tips

2009-05-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

Learn the basics of Forex trading. It’s amazing how many people simply don’t know what they’re doing. In order to compete at the highest level in the trading business and be one of the few truly successful participants you must be well-educated about what you are doing. This does not mean having a degree from a well-respected university - the market doesn’t care where you were educated.Forex trading is a zero sum game. For every long there is also a short. If 80% of the traders are on the long side, then the remaining 20% are on the short side. This means further that the shorts must be well capitalized and are considered to be strong hands. The 80%, who are holding much smaller positions per trader, are considered to be weaker hands who will be forced to liquidate those longs on any sudden turn in prices.Nobody is bigger than the market.The challenge is not to be the market, but to read the market. Riding the wave is much more rewarding than being hit by it.Trade with the trends, rather than trying to pick tops and bottoms.Trying to pick tops and bottoms is another common fx trading mistake. If you’re going to trade tops and bottoms, at least wait until the price action actually confirms that a top or a bottom has been formed before you take a position in the market. Trying to pin-point tops and bottoms in the foreign exchange market is very risky, but exercising a little patience and waiting for a proven top or bottom to form can increase your odds of profiting and somewhat reduce your risk.There are at least three types of markets: up trending, range bound, and down. Have different trading strategies for each.Standing aside is a position.In uptrends, buy the dips; in downtrends, sell bounces.In a Bull market, never sell a dull market, in Bear market, never buy a dull market.Up market and down market patterns are ALWAYS present, merely one is more dominant. In an up market, for example, it is very easy to take sell signal after sell signal, only to be stopped out time and again. Select trades with the trend.A buy signal that fails is a sell signal. A sell signal that fails is a buy signal.Let profits run, cut losses short.Let your profits run, but don’t let greed get in the way. Once you’ve already made a nice profit on a trade, consider taking either some or all of the money off the table and move on to the next trade. It’s natural to hope that one trade will end up as your “winning lottery ticket” and make you rich, but that is simply not realistic. Don’t hold the position too long and end up giving all your well-deserved profits back to the market.Use protective stops to limit losses.Use appropriate stop-loss orders at all times to cut your losses and never, ever sit back and let your losses run. Almost every trader at some point makes the mistake of letting his or her losses run in hopes that the market will eventually turn around in his or her favor but, more often than not, it simply leads to an even greater loss. You win some, you lose some. Simply learn to cut your losses, take your occasional lumps and move on to the next trade. And if you made a mistake, learn from it and don’t do it again. To avoid letting your losses run, get into the habit of determining an acceptable profit target as well as an acceptable risk tolerance level for each and every Forex trade before entering the market. Then simply place a stop-loss order at the appropriate price - but not so tight (close to the market) that the stop could quickly take you out of the position before the market has a chance to move in your favor. Using a stop is always the smart move.Avoid placing protective stops at obvious round numbers. Protective stops on long positions should be placed below round numbers (10, 20, 25, 50,75, 100) and on short positions, above such numbers.Placing stop loss is an art. The trader must combine technical factors on the price chart with money management considerations.Analyze your losses. Learn from your losses. They’re expensive lessons; you paid for them. Most traders don’t learn from their mistakes because they don’t like to think about them.Stay out of trouble, your first loss is your smallest loss.Survive! In Forex trading, the ones who stay around long enough to be there when those “big moves” come along are often successful.If you are a new trader, be a small trader (mini account) for at least a year, then analyze your good trades and your bad ones. You can really learn more from your bad ones.Don’t trade unless you’re well financed… so that market action, not financial condition, dictates your entry and exit from the market. If you don’t start with enough money, you may not be able to hang in there if the market temporarily turns against you.Be more objective and less emotional.Use money management principles.Money management increases the odds that the trader will survive to reach the long run.Diversify, but don’t overdo it.Employ at least a 3 to 1 reward-to-risk ratio.Calculate the risk/reward ratio before putting a trade on, then guard against holding it too long.Don’t trade impulsively; have a plan.Have specific goals and objectives.Five steps to build a trading system:Start with a conceptTurn it into a set of objective rulesVisually check it out on the chartsFormally test it with a demoEvaluate the resultsPlan your work and work your plan.Trade with a plan - not with hope, greed, or fear. Plan where you will get in the market, how much you will risk on the trade, and where you will take your profits.Follow your plan. Once a position is established and stops are selected, do not get out unless the stop is reached or the fundamental reason for taking the position changes.Any successful trading system must take into account three important factors: price forecasting, timing, and money management. Price forecasting indicates which way a market is expected to trend. Timing determines specific entry and exit points. Money management determines how much to commit to the trade.Don’t cherry-pick your system’s set-ups. Trade every signal.Trading systems that work in an up market may not work in a down market.Establish your trading plans before the market opening to eliminate emotional reactions. Decide on entry points, exit points, and objectives. Subject your decisions to only minor changes during the session. Profits are for those who act, not react.Don’t change during the session unless you have a very good reason.Double-check everything.Always think in terms of probabilities. Trading is all about thinking in probabilities NOT certainties. You can make all the “right” decisions and the trade still goes against you. This does not make it a “wrong” trade, just one of the many trades you will take which, through probability, are on the “loosing” side of your trading plan. Don’t expect not to have negative trades - they are a necessary part of the plan and cannot be avoided.The place to start your market analysis is always by determining the general trend of the market.Trade only with a strategy that you’ve proven to yourself.When pyramiding (adding positions), follow these guidelines:Each successive layer should be smaller than before.Add only to winning positions.Never add to a losing position. One of the few trade management rules that we can state we never break is ‘Never add to a losing trade’. Trades are split into winners and losers, and if a trade is a loser, the chances of it turning right around and becoming a winner are too small to risk more money on. If indeed it is a winner disguised as a loser, why not wait until it shows it’s true colors (and becomes a winner)before you add to it. If you do this you will notice that nearly always the trade ends up hitting your stop loss and does not look back. Sometimes the trade turns around before it hits your stop and becomes a winner and you can count yourself very fortunate. Sometimes the trade hits your stop loss and then turns around and becomes a winner and you can count yourself unlucky.Whatever the result, it is never worth adding to a loser, hoping that it will become a winner. The odds of success are just too low to risk more capital in addition to the initial risk.Adjust protective stops to the breakeven point.Risk ControlNever risk more than 3-4 percent of your capital on any tradePredetermine your exit point before you get into a tradeIf you lose a certain predetermined amount of your starting capital, stop trading, analyze what went wrong, and wait until you feel confident before you begin tradingDon’t trade scared money. No one ever made any money trading when they had to do it to pay the mortgage at the end of the month. Having a requirement to make X dollars per month or you will be financially in trouble is the best way I know to completely mess up all trading discipline, rules, objectives, and leads quickly to disaster. Trading is about taking a reasonable risk in order to achieve a good reward. The markets and how and when they give up their profits is not under your control. Do not trade if you need the money to pay bills. Do not trade if your business and personal expenses are not covered by another income stream or cash reserve. This will only lead to additional unmanageable stress and be very detrimental to your trading performance.Know why you are in the markets. To relieve boredom? To hit it big? When you can honestly answer this question, you may be on your way to successful Forex tradingNever meet a margin call; don’t throw good money after bad.Close out losing positions before the winning ones.Except for very short term trading, make decisions away from the market, preferably when the markets are closed.Work from the long term to the short term.Use intraday charts to fine-tune entry and exit.Master interday trading before trying intraday trading.Don’t trade the time frame. Trade the pattern. Reversal patterns, hesitation patterns and breakout patterns appear often. Learn to look for the pattern in any time frame.Try to ignore conventional wisdom; don’t take anything said in the financial media too seriously.Always do your homework and stay current on global events. You never know what’s going to set off a particular currency on any given day.Learn to be comfortable being in the minority. If you are right on the market, most people will disagree with you. (90% losers,10% winners).Technical analysis is a skill that improves with experience and study. Always be a student and keep learning.Beware of all tips and inside information. Wait for the market’s action to tell you if the information you’ve obtained is accurate, then take a position with the developing trend.Buy the rumor, sell the news.K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Stupid, more complicated isn’t always better.Timing is especially crucial in Forex trading.Timing is everything in Forex trading. Determining the correct direction of the market only solves a portion of the trading problem. If the timing of the entry point is off by a day, or sometimes even minutes, it can mean the difference between a winner or a loser.A “buy and hold” strategy doesn’t apply in Forex trading.When you open an account with a broker, don’t just decide on the amount of money, decide on the length of time you should trade. This approach helps you conserve your equity, and helps avoid the Las Vegas approach of “Well, I’ll trade till my stake runs out.” Experience shows that many who have been at it over a long period of time end up making money.Carry a notebook with you, and jot down interesting market information. Write down the market openings, price ranges, your fills, stop orders, and your own personal observations. Re-read your notes from time to time; use them to help analyze your performance.Don’t count profits in your first 20 trades. Keep track of the percentage of wins. Once you know you can pick direction, profits can be increased with multi-plot trading and variations in using your stops. In other words, now is the time to get serious about money management.“Rome was not built in a day,” and no real movement of importance takes place in one day.Do not overtrade.Have two accounts. One real account and the other a demo account. Learning doesn’t stop when trading real dollars begins. Keep the demo account and use it to test alternative trades, alternative stops, etc.Patience is important not only in waiting for the right trades,but also in staying with trades that are working.You are superstitious; don’t trade if something bothers you.Technical analysis is the study of market action through the use of charts, for the purpose of forecasting future price trends.The charts reflect the bullish or bearish psychology of the marketplace.The whole purpose of charting the price action of a market is to identify trends in early stages of their development for the purpose of trading in the direction of those trends.The fundamentalist studies the cause of market movement, while the technician studies the effect.Rising commodity prices generally hint at a stronger economy and rising inflationary pressure. Falling commodity prices usually warn that the economy is slowing along with inflation.The longer the period of time that priced trade in a support or resistance area,the more significant that area becomes.There are three decisions confronting the trader -whether- to go long, go short or do nothing. When a market is rising, the best strategy is preferable. When the market is falling, the second approach would be correct. However, when the market is moving sideways, the third choise - to stay out of the market - is usually the wisest.Channel lines have measuring implications. Once a breakout occurs from an existing price channel, prices usually travel a distance equal to the width of the channel. Therefore, the trader has to simply measure the width of the channel and then project that amount from the point at which either trendline is broken.The larger the Pattern, the Great the potential. When we use the term “larger”, we are referring to the the height and the width of the price pattern. The height measures the volatility of the pattern. The width is the amount of time required to build and complete the pattern. The greater the size of the pattern-that is, the wider the price swings within the pattern (the volatility ) and the longer it takes to build - the more important the pattern becomes and the greater the potential for the ensuing price move.The breaking of important trendlines. The first sign of an impending trend reversal is often the breaking of an important trendline. Remember however, that the violation of a major trendline does not necessarily signal a trend reversal.The breaking of a major up trendline might signal the beginning of a sideways price pattern, which later would be intedified as either the reversal or consolidation type.Sometimes the breaking of the major trendline coincides with the completion of the price pattern.The minimum requirement for a triangle is four reversal points. Remember that it always takes two points to draw a trendline.The moving average is a follower, not a leader. It never anticipates; it only reacts. The moving average follows a market and tells us that a trend has begun, but only after the fact.Shorter term averages are more sensitive to the price action, whereas longer range averages are less sensitive.In certain types of markets, it is more advantageous to use a shorter average and, at other times, a longer and less sensitive average proves more useful.When the closing price moves above the moving average, a buy signal is generated. A sell signal is given when prices move below the moving average.A buying signal on a two-moving average combination occurs when the shorter term of two consecutive averages intersects the longer one upward. A selling signal occurs when the reverse happens, and the longer of two consecutive averages intersects the shorter one downward.Shorter average generates more false signals, it has the advantage of giving trend signals earlier in the move. The trick is to find the average that is sensitive enough to generate early signals, but insensitive enough to avoid most of the random “noise”.Cutting losses is painful for every trader. The ability to cut one’s losses in time is the sign of a seasoned trader.A channel breakout suggests a target for the currency price equal to the width of the channel.Long term charts provide important information regarding long-terms or cycles. The trader can get a correct perspective regarding the real direction of the market in the long run, the strength or direction of the current trend occurring within that trend, or the possibility of a breakout from the long-term trend.Common Points All Of Reversal PattermsThe first signal of an impending trend reversal is often the breaking of an important trendlineThe larger the pattern,the greater the subsequent moveTopping patterns are usually shorter in duration and more volatile than bottomsBottoms usually have smaller price ranges and take longer to buildThe head-and-shoulders formation is confirmed only when the completion of the three rallies and their reversals is followed by a breach of the neckline. The failure of the price to break through the neckline on closing prices basis puts on hold or negates the validity of the formation.The double-top formation is confirmed only when the full completion of the two rallies and their respective reversals is followed by a breach of the neckline (the closing price is outside the neckline). The failure of the price to break through the neckline puts on hold or negates the validity of the formation.The flag formation is a reliable chart pattern that provides two vital signals: direction and price objective. This formation consists of a brief consolidation period within a solid and steep upward trend or downward trend. The consolidation itself tends to be sloped in the opposite direction from the slope of the original trend, or simply flat.A Breakaway gap provides the direction of the market.The runaway or measurement gap provides the direction of the market. This gap confirms the health and velocity of the trend.The runaway or measurement gap is the only type of gap that provides a price objective. The price objective is the previous length of the trend, measured from the runaway gap, in the same direction as the original trend.The exhaustion gap provides the direction of the market.Near the beginning of important moves, oscillator analysis isn’t that helpful and can be misleading. Toward the end of market moves, however, oscillators become extremely valuable.When the oscillator reaches an extreme value in either the upper or lower end of the band, this suggest that the current price move have gone too far too fast and is due for a correction of some type.The oscillator is most useful when its value reaches an extreme reading near the upper or lower end of its boundaries. The market is said to be overbought when it is near the upper extreme and oversold when it is near the lower extreme. This warns that the price trend is overextended and vulnerable.A divergence between the oscillator and the price action when the oscillator is in an extreme position is usually an important warning.Oscillator - the crossing of the zero line can give important trading signals in the direction of the price trend.Because of the way it is constructed, the momentum line is always a step ahead of the price movement. It leads the advance or decline in prices, then levels off while the current price trend is still in effect. It then begins to move in the opposite direction as prices begin to level off.RSI is plotted on a vertical scale of 0 to 100. Movements above 70 are considered overbought, while an oversold condition would be a move under 30. Because of shifting that takes place in bull and bear markets, the 80 level usually becomes the overbought level in bull markets and the 20 level the oversold level in bear markets.The first move of RSI into the overbought or oversold region is usually just a warning. The signal to pay close attention to is the second move by the oscillator into the danger zone. If the second move fails to confirm the price move into new highs or new lows, a possible divergence exists. At that point, some defensive action can be taken to protect existing positions. If the oscillator moves in the opposite direction, breaking a previous high or low, then a divergence or failure swing is confirmed.Stochastics simply measures, on a percentage basis of 0 to 100, where the closing price is in relation to the total price range for a selected time period. A very high reading (over 80) would put the closing price near the top of the range, while a low reading (under 20) near the bottom of the range.One way to combine daily and weekly stochastics is to use weekly signals to determine market direction and daily signals for timing(it depends from the type of the trader). It’s also a good idea to combine stochastics with RSI.Most oscillator buy signals work best in uptrends and oscillator sell signals are most profitables in downtrends. The place to start your market analysis is always by determining the general trend of the market. Oscillators can then be used to help time market entry.Give less attention to the oscillators in the early stages of an important move, but pay close attention to its signals as the move reaches maturity.The best way to combine technical indicators is use weekly signals to determine market direction and the daily signals to fine-tune entry and exit points. A daily signal is followed only when it agrees with the weekly signal (daily-weekly, 4 hour-daily, 4 hour-1 hour).The failure of prices to react to bullish news in an overbought area is a clear warning that a turn may be near. The failure of prices in an oversold area to react to bearish news can be taken as a warning that all the bad news has been fully discounted in the current low price. Any bullish news will push prices higher.-Elliot Wave Theory- A complete bull market cycle is made up of eight waves, five up waves followed by three down waves.-Elliot Wave Theory- A trend divides into five waves in the direction of the longer trend.-Elliot Wave Theory- Corrections always take place in three waves.-Elliot Wave Theory- Waves can be expanded into longer waves and subdivided into shorter waves.-Elliot Wave Theory- Sometimes one of the impulse waves extends. The other two should then be equal in time and magnitude.-Elliot Wave Theory- The Finobacci sequence is the mathematical basis of the Elliot Wave Theory.-Elliot Wave Theory- The number of waves follows the Finobacci sequence.-Elliot Wave Theory- Finobacci ratios and retracements are used to determine price objectives. The most common retracements are 62%, 50% and 38%.-Elliot Wave Theory- Bear markets should not fall below the bottom of the previous fourth wave.-Elliot Wave Theory- Wave 4 should not overlap wave 1.Support and resistance are the most effective chart tools to use for entry and exit points. For purposes of placing stop loss, support and resistance levels are most valuable.One of the commodities most effected by the dollar is the gold market. The prices of gold and the U.S. dollar usually trend in opposite directions.The Yen is sensitive to changes in the price or structure of the raw material markets.The commodity-producing countries (Canada, Australia, N. Zealand ) are more dependent on Japan than the other way around.The Yen is sensitive to the fortunes of the Nikkei index, the Japanese stock market and the real estate market.The majority of the pound transactions take place in London with a volume decreasing significantly in the U.S. market, and slowing down to a trickle in Asia. Therefore, in the New York market, many banks have to stop quoting the pound at noon.Swiss Franc has a very close economic relationship with Germany, and thus to the euro zone.The major markets are London, with 32 percent of the market,New York with 18 percent and Tokyo with 8 percent. Singapore follows with 7 percent, Germany has 5 percent and Switzerland, France and Hong Kong have 4 percent each.Don’t use the markets to feed your need for excitement.Don’t be too greedy or too cautious.by AKFOREX

The Benefits of Trading The Forex Market

2009-05-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

Historically, the FX market was available most to major banks, multinational corporations and other participants who traded in large transaction sizes and volumes. Small-scale traders including individuals like you and I, had little access to this market for such a long time. Now with the advent of the Internet and technology, FX trading is becoming an increasingly popular investment alternative for the general public.

The benefits of trading the currency market:

It is open 24-hours and it closes only on the weekends;

It is very liquid and efficient;

It is very volatile;

It has very low transaction costs;

You can use a high level of leverage (borrowed money) with ease; and

You can profit from a bull or a bear market.

Continuous, 24-Hour Trading

The currency exchange is a 24-hour market. You may decide to trade after you come home from work. Regardless of what time-frame you want to trade at whatever time of the day, there would be enough buyers and sellers to take the other side of your trade. This feature of the market gives you enough flexibility to manage your trading around your daily routine.

Liquidity And Efficiency

When there are a lot of buyers and a lot of sellers, you can expect to buy or sell at a price that is very close to the last market price. The currency market is the most liquid market in the world. Trading volume in the currency markets can be between 50 and 100 times larger than the New York Stock Exchange (Source: Oanda.)

When you are trading stocks, you may have experienced events where one piece of news accelerates or decelerates the price of the underlying stock you may have bought into. Perhaps a director has been kicked out by the shareholders of a company or the company has just released a new product and big investors are buying the shares of a particular company. Share prices can be drastically affected by the actions or inactions of one or a few individuals. So if you are relying on television reports and newspapers to get your news, most of the opportunities or warnings will have come too late for you to take advantage by the time you get them.

The value of currencies on the other hand is affected by so many factors and so many participants that the likelihood of any one individual or group of individuals drastically affecting the value of a currency is minute. Because of its sheer size, the currency market is hard to manipulate. The ability for people to engage in ‘insider trading’ is virtually eliminated. As an average trader, you are less disadvantaged. You are likely to be playing on relatively equal ground along with all the other traders and investors whom you are competing against.

Note about price gaps:

For those people who have already traded other markets, you probably know about price ‘gaps’. ‘Gaps’ occur when prices ‘jump’ from one price level to another without having taken any incremental steps to get there. For example, you may be trading a share that closes at $10 at the end of today but due to some event that happens overnight; it opens tomorrow at $5 and continues to go downwards for the rest of the day.

Gaps bring about another degree of uncertainty that may meddle with a trader’s strategy. Probably one of the most worrying aspects of this is when a trader uses stop-losses. In this case, if a trader puts a stop-loss at $7 because he no longer wants to be in a trade if the share price hits $7, his trade will remain open overnight and the trader wakes up tomorrow with a loss bigger than he may have been prepared for.

After looking at a couple of forex charts, you will realize that there are little price ‘gaps’ or none at all, especially on the longer-term charts like the 3-hour, 4-hour or the daily charts.

Volatility

Trading opportunities exist when prices fluctuate. If you buy a share for $2 and it stays there, there is no opportunity to make a profit. The magnitude of level of this fluctuation and its frequency is referred to as volatility. As a trader, it is volatility that you profit from. Large volume transactions and high liquidity combined with fewer trading instruments generate greater intra-day volatility in the currency market that can be exploited by day-traders. The high volatility of the currency market indicates that a trader can potentially earn 5 times more money from currency trading than trading the most liquid shares.

Volatility is a measure of maximum return that a trader can generate with perfect foresight. Volatility for the most liquid stocks are between 60 to 100. Volatility for currency trading is 500. (Source: Oanda.)

In this respect, currencies make a better trading vehicle for day-traders than the equity markets.

Low Transaction Costs

A currency transaction typically incurs no commission or transaction fees. For a forex trader, the spread is the only cost he or she needs to cover in taking on a position. In addition, because of the currency market’s efficiency, there is little or no ’slippage’ costs.

‘Slippage’ is the cost involved when traders enter the market at a price worse than the level they wanted to get into. For example, a trader wants to buy a share at $2.00 but by the time, the order gets executed, his gets to buy the shares at $2.50. That fifty cents difference is his slippage cost. Slippage cost affects large-volume traders a lot. When they buy large quantities of a commodity, it oversupplies the market with buy orders. This applies a pressure for the price to go up. By the time they get to buy all the quantities they wanted, the average price they got their commodities would be higher than the price they intended to get them for. Conversely, when they sell large quantities of a commodity, they oversupply the market with sell orders. This applies a pressure for the price to go down. By the time they finish selling all their commodities, their average selling price is less than what they initially intended to sell them for.

Due to lower transaction costs, minimum slippage and strong intra-day volatility, individuals can trade frequently at small costs. As an approximate, you may only expect to have a spread of 0.03% of your position size. To give you an example, you can buy and sell 10,000 US Dollars and this will only incur a 3-point spread, equivalent to $3.

Leverage

There are not a lot of banks or people who would lend you money so that you can use it to trade shares. And if there are, it would be very hard for you to convince them to invest in you and in your idea that a certain share is going to go up or down. Therefore, most of the time, if you have a $10,000 account, you can only really afford to buy $10,000 worth of stocks.

In currency trading however, because you use ‘borrowed money’, you can trade $10,000 of a currency and you only need anywhere between fifty (For a margin lending ratio of 200:1) to two hundred dollars ( For a margin lending ratio of 50:1) in your trading account. This makes it possible for an average trader with a small trading account, under $10,000 to be able to profit sufficiently from the movements of the currency exchange rates. This concept is explained further in The Part-Time Currency Trader.

Profit From A Bull And Bear Market

When you are trading shares, you can only profit when the price of a stock goes up. When you suspect that it is about to go down or that it is just going to be moving sideways, then the only thing you can do is sell your shares and stand aside. One of the frustrations of trading shares is that an individual cannot profit when prices are going down. In the currency market, it is easy for you to trade a currency downward so that you can profit when you think it is going to lose value. This is easy to do because currency trading simply involves buying one currency and selling another, there is no structural bias that makes it difficult to trade ‘downwards’. This is why the currency market has been occasionally referred to as the eternal bull market.

This is an excerpt, modified from the book: The Part-Time Currency Trader.

by Marquez Comelab

Forex Trading, What Hours Should I Be Ready For Trading?

2009-05-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Once you have decided to enter the Forex trading world you will find that FX trading has many advantages over other capital markets. Including among others; very low margins, free trading platforms, high leverage and around-the-clock trading.

It is my main concern in this article to let you know what hours you should be ready and focus for start trading, so you can expect the highest profits in your trades, and not just consider that around-the-clock trading means you should randomly trade through out the day.

In short, it is important to know what the best hours to trade are because if you want to find an appreciable number of profitable trades you need to enter the forex market at the best period of time, i.e., when the activity, the volume of transactions, is the highest.

At any given time; somebody, somewhere in the world is buying and selling currencies. As one market closes, another market opens. Business hours overlap, and the exchange continues as day becomes night and night becomes day. Giving you 5.5 entire potential trading days.

Forex Trading begins in New Zealand at Sunday 5pm EST, and then is followed by Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America in this order and through out the day and through out the week until Friday 4pm EST when the American market closes.

Other important facts every Forex trader should know are: the US & UK markets account for more than 50% of the forex market transactions; Forex major markets are: London, New York and Tokyo. Nearly two-thirds of NY activity occurs in the morning hours while European markets are open. And maybe one of the most important characteristics; Forex Trading activity is heaviest when major markets overlap.

So, the answer to the question; “What hours should I be trading?” is dictated by this last characteristic, you should trade when the major markets overlap. Now, when do they overlap?.

Considering the different time zones of the world and open and close times for Australian, New Zealand, Japan, America and Europe markets. We can arrive to the conclusion that there are two major time gaps when two of the major markets overlap during trading hours.

These hours are between 2 am and 4 am EST (Asian/European) and between 8 am to 12 pm EST(European/N. American).

So if you want to catch the best trading opportunities of the day and you are in the American continent you must be ready to wake up early or go to sleep late some times. Of course things change around the world. What’s the best region where to trade from if you can’t wake up early?… Maybe the Ukraine.

by Adrian Pablo

Sending Signals For Trading In FOREX

2009-05-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Forex signals are sent by a forex firm to their subscribers in order to buy and sell currencies. These signals are called entry and exit signals for the forex dealers. The firms, which send this forex signal, do so after tedious and meticulous research and analysis into the currencies that their dealers are trading in. For example a firm may send the entry and exit signals at designated time frames in real time. These will remain valid for a short period only after which they are going to be different.

Let’s say that there is a forex trading company say Acme Forex traders who send entry and exit signals to their clients in the following way

The first signal is provided to the trader at 08:30, and this signal is going to remain actual till 12.30

The trader will receive the second signal at 12.30, which would remain actual till 16.30.

The last signal would be sent to the trader at 16.30.

The transactions are given according to GMT. Please adjust for local time changes. The transaction shall be calculated till the signal is actual. The charges would be $300 per month per trader.

Forex dealers and experts provide forex-trading information and data to both institutional clients and individual investors and provide these kind of signals. Investors like to subscribe to credit worthy forex dealers / companies since their information and data would be genuine and more accurate. In fact many forex dealers would kill to get information before the rest of the market gets the same information. As forex dealing is a very competitive business.

These signals or forex indications are given to the forex dealers through the forex trading platform or hub. The signals or forex indicators are the specific entry and exit strategies. Therefore when you enter a currency trade buying currencies at lower price and then selling at higher price, you book a profit. currency pair. For example the forex dealer is trading in GBP/USD. The rate is for GBP/USD is .9800 . If you expect that Euro is likely to go up in the future you would buy the Euros today to sell them off at a later date thereby booking a profit. If you expect the dollars to appreciate, then you would buy the dollars selling them off at a later date to book profits.

Most forex dealers will get the information via email or straight on their computer screens. It is then up to the forex dealers to decide whether they want to sell / buy / hold the currencies till further information is given to them.

Those who contribute in giving the information on currency dealing are hedge managers, foreign exchange dealers located in the major financial markets of the world, professional stock brokers, finance managers and a host of other finance professionals. They make it their business to collect, analyze and disseminate information in such a way, that can be used by forex dealers to buy / sell / hold the forex.

Therefore the companies take extreme care to send the forex signals for the currency dealers.

by Gary Berg

Finding Reliable Forex Signals

2009-05-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

You guys know how hard it’s to find a reliable forex signals and most of the forex signals services are very expensive ranging from $199 to $500 per month. And worse of all, there’s no guarantee of this.

To find a good service, you must make sure that you get their free trial before you really subscribe to the service. 1 to 2 weeks is good enought to prove that whether they are reliable or not.

You want to find a forex signals service just because you don’t have time or you don’t have a good skills in trading forex. I understand your felling and that’s why I’ve created a blog for people who want to get the free forex signals.

But I have day job as well. I don’t post forex signals every day but if you can catch some, you got your money into the bank!

By that, I wish you to have a good trading in forex world!

Take care and God bless.

by Elisha Gan

Choosing the Right Forex Broker

2009-05-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Introduction

When you first start trading the forex market finding a broker is unlikely to be a major concern; aren’t all brokers the same anyway? Lets face it if you can find a trading strategy that you are comfortable with and become consistently profitable then that is the battle won, right? Unfortunately it isn’t that easy and the shame of it is that there are too many so-called brokers out there who want to rip you off.

Where Does This Mentality Come From?

The retail forex industry has been brought up on the fact that FX is worth $2 Trillion in volume every single day (in reality only a fraction of this comes from private speculators, the vast majority is generated by large banks and multinational corporations). This is quite a lure especially when we are reminded at how this figure completely dwarfs the stock market, and we’ve all heard how much you can make from stocks. Now add the statistic into the mix that between 90 and 95% (probably closer to 99%) of all retail speculators lose money and you have a bevy of firms climbing all over themselves to get their hands on this cash. Forex is billed as the way to become mega rich, leave your job and live the life you’ve always wanted but if it was that easy everyone would be doing it!

How do Retail Brokers Position Themselves?

To answer this question we need to briefly explain some market dynamics. The forex market is completely decentralised. This means that, unlike centralised exchanges such as the NYSE and LSE, there is no central location where each transaction can be traced and recorded nor do currencies have specialist market makers responsible for providing quotes for the entire market. Instead, the entities that act as market makers for the currency market are the World’s largest banks. These banks carry out transactions between each other on a regular basis, hence the term ‘interbank market’. In order for you to deal directly with these large banks you need to establish credit relationships with them which takes a vast amount of money and consequently most people cannot afford to do this. So this is where the retail brokers come in; they connect you with the large banks. Because they are representing many clients they have enough equity to establish credit relationships and deal with these banks, supposedly on your behalf.

This Position is Open to Exploitation

Retail Forex Brokers are the middleman between you and the interbank market so every time you place an order to buy EURUSD for example, your broker alters their currency holding positions with their large bank partners to reflect this. Rightly so your broker charges a fee for this service which usually comes in the form of spread (the difference between the bid and the ask). The spread they offer you is slightly larger than the spread they are offered in the interbank market so your broker can make a small profit on every trade you make. Everything sounds all well and good so far, agreed?

Now let me ask you a question: suppose you work in Las Vegas as a runner placing bets at sports books for several clients. Now you’ve been doing this for a while and you recognise that some of your clients are good at picking winners and some are good at picking losers. If you could make a little extra on top of your fee for running by doing the opposite of the clients who consistently lose bets would you do it? Now suppose that 99% of your clients lose money over a long enough period of time so all you have to do is bet against them all and you will make a fortune! Sometimes around the really big sporting events you get so busy you can’t place your clients’ bets and your bets quickly enough so you figure you’ll make sure you get in with good odds and then sort out your clients once you are done, meaning they get slightly or sometimes much worse odds than you. This mindset is greedy and unfortunate and you won’t have many friends but at least you would make a good retail forex broker!

Sorry to use a gambling analogy here (trading should never be confused with gambling) but it does explain the problem quite nicely. All you have to do to apply it to our situation is switch out a few words: Las Vegas is the interbank market, runner becomes retail broker, sports book becomes large bank, bets become client trades, running fee becomes spread, big sports events are big news items and the difference between the odds you get and the odds your client gets is the slippage you hand out.

Isn’t This Slightly Cynical?

Yes the analogy used is slightly cynical; it is not the case that every broker out there is guilty of these ‘bucket shop’ tactics (rest assured that every brokerage will deny it however) but it is far too common. Even bank traders can experience slippage at volatile times but the degree to which it occurs at the retail level is unacceptable. Furthermore you cannot use volatility as a defence when you begin to hound profitable traders with constant re-quotes, accusations of illegal scalping (no such thing even exists!) and forced account closure. And what about a brokerage going bankrupt without returning your funds? Is it any wonder that this article is questioning the honesty of some retail brokerages?

What About Regulation?

The retail market is still fairly young and therefore loosely regulated. However, there are two organisations that police the sector and they are beginning to step in and protect the consumer on a more regular basis. These organisations are the National Futures Association (NFA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Of the two the CFTC is most heavily involved in the regulation of fraud, manipulation and abusive trade practices in the retail forex sector. The CFTC.gov website is an excellent source of information on customer protection and on-going legal disputes against brokers and other entities.

Lets Talk About the Positives

It’s not all bad out there; certain firms do offer very attractive and honest services. Let us summarise some of the attributes you should consider looking for in a broker:

1. NFA and CFTC registered

2. No dealing desk, ECN style brokers

3. Variable spreads that reflect the volatility at interbank level

4. Firms that charge commission rather than a flat spread (the thinking here is the more you trade the more they make so it is in their interest to see you make profitable trades and continue to trade happily with them — less likely to be on the other side of your trades)

5. Friendly and efficient customer service

6. The offer to insure your capital in a secure bond (will protect client funds in the event of a broker’s bankruptcy)

7. Limit entries (your broker allows you to enter the market with a specified ‘chase factor’ of a few pips. If your order is not filled within the acceptable ‘chase factor’ your order is either partially filled or not filled at all — prevents ridiculous slippage at times of high volatility)

8. A good reputation within the industry (check independent sites for user reviews)

9. No BS marketing that focuses on the multi millions you will make within months of opening your account (these firms prey on inexperienced traders and gamblers who have no chance of being profitable)

10. Realistic and modest margin/ leverage (firms that offer leverage over 100:1 are encouraging you to trade big and lose you account to them quickly - you may wish to look out for a broker who offers you a choice of margin requirements)

Of course not all of these attributes can be classed as ‘golden rules’. If something is perceived as attractive then it is open to exploitation. For example, ECN brokers are becoming very popular and this has lead to several firms advertising an ECN service when they don’t really have the technology to provide one.

Do Your Due Diligence

I know it can seem tedious but researching your chosen broker is definitely time well spent. At the very least you should spend time browsing a broker’s website. You may like to make a list of things you like the sound of and things you don’t (remember, if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is). Contact their customer support and put these issues to their representatives and see if you are offered a satisfactory response (also a great test of their customer service dept. and general professionalism). I would also seriously suggest checking the CFTC website and browsing forums, discussion boards, blogs and user review websites for any information. My last suggestion here is that you share your good and bad experiences within trading communities. Although you will probably never hear about it your efforts will save your fellow trader his/ her time, money and probably a few grey hairs.

Good luck and happy hunting!

by David Thorpe

2009-05-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Trading the Forex market has become very popular in the last years. Why is it that traders around the world see the Forex market as an investment opportunity? We will try to answer this question in this article. Also we will discuss come differences between the Forex market, the stocks market and the futures market.

Some of the benefits of trading the Forex market are:

Superior liquidity.

Liquidity is what really makes the Forex market different from other markets. The Forex market is by far the most liquid financial market in the world with nearly 2 trillion dollars traded everyday. This ensures price stability and better trade execution. Allowing traders to open and close transactions with ease. Also such a tremendous volume makes it hard to manipulate the market in an extended manner.

24hr Market.

This one is also one of the greatest advantages of trading Forex. It is an around the click market, the market opens on Sunday at 3:00 pm EST when New Zealand begins operations, and closes on Friday at 5:00 pm EST when San Francisco terminates operations. There are transactions in practically every time zone, allowing active traders to choose at what time to trade.

Leverage trading.

Trading the Forex Market offers a greater buying power than many other markets. Some Forex brokers offer leverage up to 400:1, allowing traders to have only 0.25% in margin of the total investment. For instance, a trader using 100:1 means that to have a US$100,000 position, only US$1,000 are needed on margin to be able to open that position.

Low Transaction costs.

Almost all brokers offer commission free trading. The only cost traders incur in any transaction is the spread (difference between the buy and sell price of each currency pair). This spread could be as low as 1 pip (the minimum increment in any currency pair) in some pairs.

Low minimum investment.

The Forex market requires less capital to start trading than any other markets. The initial investment could go as low as $300 USD, depending on leverage offered by the broker. This is a great advantage since Forex traders are able to keep their risk investment to the lowest level.

Specialized trading.

The liquidity of the market allows us to focus on just a few instruments (or currency pairs) as our main investments (85% of all trading transactions are made on the seven major currencies). Allowing us to monitor, and at the end get to know each instrument better.

Trading from anywhere.

If you do a lot of traveling, you can trade from anywhere in the world just having an internet connection.

Some of the most important differences between the Forex market and other markets are explained below.

Forex market vs. Equity markets

Liquidity

FX market: Near two trillion dollars of daily volume.

Equity market: Around 200 billion on a daily basis.

Trading hours

FX market: 24hr market, 5.5 days a week.

Equity market: Monday through Friday from 8:30 EST to 5:00 EST.

Profit potential

FX market: In both, rising and falling markets.

Equity market: Most traders/investor profit only from rising markets.

Transaction costs

FX market: Commission free and tight spreads.

Equity market: High Commissions and transaction fees.

Buying power

FX market: Leverage up to 400:1.

Equity market: Leverage from 2:1 to 4:1.

Specialization

FX market: most volume (85%) is made on major currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD and AUD.)

Equity market: More than 40,000 stocks to choose from.

Forex market vs. Futures market

Liquidity

FX Market: Near two trillion dollars of daily volume.

Futures market: Around 400 billion dollars on a daily basis.

Transaction costs

FX market: Commission free and tight spreads.

Futures market: High commissions fees.

Margin

FX market: Fixed rate of margin on every position.

Futures market: Different levels of margin on overnight positions than day time positions.

Trade execution

FX market: Instantaneous execution.

Futures market: Inconsistent execution.

All this makes the Forex market very attractive to investors and traders. But I need to make something clear, although the benefits of trading the Forex market are notorious; it is still difficult to make a successful career trading the Forex market. It requires a lot of education, discipline, commitment and patience, as any other market.

by Raul Lopez

How To Get Started In FOREX Trading

2009-05-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

The foreign exchange market (Forex) offers many advantages to investors. But you need to know where to begin.

This short guide will give you the Forex basics, so you can quickly start participating in this fast growing market.

In the past, foreign exchange trading was limited to large players such as national banks and multi-national corporations. In the 1980’s the rules were changed to allow smaller investors to participate using margin accounts. Margin accounts are the reason why Forex trading has become so popular. With a 100:1 margin account, you can control $100,000 with a $1,000 investment.

A Learning Curve

Forex is not simple, though, so you’ll need some knowledge to make wise investment decisions. Although it is relatively easy to start trading on the Forex, there are risks involved.

Your first move as a beginner should be to find out as much as possible about the market before risking a dime.

Find A Broker

Forex traders usually require a broker to handle transactions. Most brokers are reputable and are associated with large financial institutions such as banks. A reputable broker will be registered as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as protection against fraud and abusive trade practices.

Open an Account

Opening a Forex account is as simple as filling out a form and providing the necessary identification. The form includes a margin agreement which states that the broker may interfere with any trade deemed to be too risky. This is to protect the interests of the broker, since most trades are done using the broker’s money.

Once your account has been established, you can fund it and begin trading.

Many brokers offer a variety of accounts to suit the needs of individual investors. Mini accounts allow you to get involved in Forex trading for as little as $250. Standard accounts may have a minimum deposit of $1000 to $2500, depending on the broker. The amount of leverage (how much borrowed money you can use) varies with account type. High leverage accounts give you more money to trade for a given investment.

Trades are commission-free, meaning that you can make many trades in one day without worrying about incurring high brokerage fees. Brokers make their money on the ’spread’: the difference between bid and ask prices.

Paper Trading

Beginning traders are strongly advised get accustomed to Forex by doing “paper trades” for a period of time. Paper trades are practice transactions that don’t involve real capital. They allow you to see how the system works while learning how to use the various software tools provided by most Forex brokers.

Most online brokers have demo accounts that allow you to make free paper trades for up to 30 days. Every new Forex investor should use these demo accounts at least until they are consistently showing profits.

Forex Software

Each broker has its own set of software tools for making transactions, but there are a few tools that are common to all Forex brokers. Real-time quotes, news feeds, technical analyses and charts, and profit-and-loss analyses are some of the features you can expect to see on most online brokers’ web sites.

Almost every broker operates on the Internet. To access a broker’s online services you’ll need a reasonably modern computer, a fast Internet connection, and an up-to-date operating system. Once your account is set up, you can access it from any computer just by entering your account name and password. If for some reason you are unable get to a computer, most brokers will allow you to make trades over the phone.

There are lots of ways to make money. Forex trading is just one more potential stream of income — if you are prepared to learn and practice.

by Ron King

FOREX Trading: Know The Risks

2009-05-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

You may see claims on some FOREX web sites implying that FOREX is a risk-free pastime. If so, this article aims to disenchant you.

In FOREX you are trading substantial sums of money, and there is always a possibility that a trade will go against you. There are several trading tools, though, that can minimize your risk. With caution, and above all education, the FOREX trader can learn how to trade profitably and minimize loss.

The Scams

FOREX scams were fairly common a few years ago. The industry has cleaned up considerably since then, but you still need to exercise caution when signing up with a FOREX broker. Do some background checking. Reputable FOREX brokers will be associated with large financial institutions like banks or insurance companies, and they will be registered with the proper government agencies. In the United States brokers should be registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). You can also check with your local Consumer Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau.

The Risks

Assuming you are dealing with a reputable broker, there are still risks to FOREX trading. Transactions are subject to unexpected rate changes, volatile markets and political events.

Exchange Rate Risk refers to the fluctuations in currency prices over a trading period. Prices can fall rapidly resulting in substantial losses unless stop loss orders are used (see below).

Interest Rate Risk can result from discrepancies between the interest rates in the 2 countries represented by the currency pair in a FOREX quote. This discrepancy can result in variations from the expected profit or loss of a particular FOREX transaction.

Credit Risk is the possibility that 1 party in a FOREX transaction may not honor their debt when the deal is closed. This may happen when a bank or financial institution declares insolvency. Credit risk can be minimized by dealing on regulated exchanges, which require members to be monitored for credit worthiness.

Country Risk is associated with governments that may become involved in foreign exchange markets by limiting the flow of currency. There is more country risk associated with “exotic” currencies than with major countries that allow the free trading of their currency.

Limiting Your Risk

FOREX trading can be risky, but there are ways to limit risk and financial exposure. Every FOREX trader should have a trading strategy; i.e., knowing when to enter and exit the market, and what kind of movements to expect. Developing strategies requires education, which is the key to limiting FOREX risk. At all times follow the basic rule: Never use money that you cannot afford to lose.

Every FOREX trader needs to know at least the basics about technical analysis and how to read financial charts. He should study chart movements and indicators and understand how charts are interpreted. There is a vast amount of information on FOREX trading available both on the Internet and in print. If you want to be successful at FOREX, then educate yourself so you know what you are doing.

Stop-Loss Orders

Even the most knowledgeable traders, however, can’t predict with absolute certainty how the market will behave. For this reason, every FOREX transaction should take advantage of available tools designed to minimize loss.

Stop-loss orders are the most common ways of minimizing risk when placing an entry order. A stop-loss order contains instructions to exit your position if the currency price reaches a certain point. If you take a long position (expecting the price to rise) you would place a stop loss order below current market price. If you take a short position (expecting the price to fall) you would place a stop loss order above current market price.

Stop loss orders can be used in conjunction with limit orders to automate FOREX trading. Limit orders specify that an open position should be closed at a specified profit target.

Placing An Order

As an example, if you take a short position on USD/CDN it means you expect the US dollar to fall against the Canadian dollar. The quote is USD/CDN 1.2138/43 — you can sell US$1 for 1.2138 CDN dollars or sell 1.2143 CDN dollars for US$1.

You place an order like this: Sell USD: 1 standard lot USD/CDN @ 1.2138 = $121,380 CDN Pip Value: 1 pip = $10 Stop-Loss: 1.2148 Margin: $1,000 (1%)

You are selling US$100,000 and buying CDN$121,380. Your stop loss order will be executed if the dollar goes above 1.2148, in which case you will lose $100.

However, USD/CDN falls to 1.2118/23. You can now sell $1 US for 1.2118 CDN or sell 1.2123 CDN for $1 US.

Because you entered the transaction by selling US dollars (buying short), you must now buy back US dollars and sell CDN dollars to realize your profit.

You buy back US$100,000 at the current USD/CDN rate of 1.2123 for a cost of 121,223 CDN. Since you originally sold them for CDN$121,380 you made a profit of $157 Canadian dollars or US$129.51 (157 divided by the current exchange rate of 1.2123).

The Benefits Of FOREX Over Stocks

2009-05-25T11:23:00.001-07:00

For hundreds of years stocks have been a popular investment. Companies issue stocks to raise capital for expansion and new projects. Each share of the stock represents a partial ownership in the company.
When the company does well and makes a profit, the value of the stocks rise. Stock owners can sell their shares for a profit, or hold on to the stock for even more gain in the future. Sometimes companies will issue dividends — part of the profits that are distributed to share holders.
Stock Exchanges
Stocks are traded on stock exchanges. Most stocks are bought and sold through brokers who charge a commission or fee for this service. United States stock exchanges include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (NASDAQ). Most stocks are listed only on 1 exchange, although large companies may have listings on multiple exchanges.
Long-Term To Day Trading
Stocks were traditionally seen as long-term investments. So-called “blue chip” stocks, those having proven value over many years, may form the backbone of an investment portfolio.
Short-term trading is a relatively new phenomenon in stock trading made possible by the advent of the Internet. Day traders attempt to take advantage of large daily fluctuations in the market by buying and selling many times in a single trading period. This is relatively risky, and any profits are reduced by the broker commissions charged on each transaction.
FOREX
The Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX) is quite different from the stock exchange. In contrast to the stock exchange, the FOREX is primarily a short-term market. Most traders enter and exit deals within a 24 hour period — sometimes within a few minutes. Many FOREX trades can be made in 1 day without building up a large brokerage fee, because FOREX trades are commission-free. Brokers earn money by setting a spread — the difference between asking and selling prices.
The FOREX is the largest financial market in the world. It handles transactions worth $1.5 trillion every day. By comparison, all the American stock exchanges combined handle daily transactions worth about $100 billion. The huge volume of FOREX allows it to be 1 of the most liquid markets in the world. There is always a buyer and seller for any type of currency, because the world economy relies on the movement of goods from country to country. The stock market is less liquid because participants may choose to hold their investments indefinitely or move on to other markets.
Non-Stop Trading 5 Days A Week
The FOREX is not based in any 1 location. Trading markets are located worldwide and, because of time zone differences, trades can be made 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Trading begins in Sydney, Australia, on Monday morning (Sunday afternoon New York time) and continues non-stop until Friday afternoon New York time. Stock exchanges have more limited trading hours. While it is possible to trade on exchanges worldwide, each exchange is independent and operates for just 7 hours a day. It is not possible to buy or sell a certain stock that is traded only on 1 stock exchange when that exchange is closed.
Other advantages of FOREX are:
it is more predictable than stocks; it follows well-established trends.
it allows high leverage — typically 100:1 as opposed to 2:1 on the stock market
it doesn’t require a large investment — mini accounts as small as $250 can get you started in FOREX.

The Benefits Of FOREX Over Stocks

2009-05-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Forex and Daytrading

2009-05-18T03:40:00.000-07:00

The best way to keep up with the latest on FOREX is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. Current info is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this article includes the latest available.

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Online trading is great way for serious investors to make money, but inexperienced traders often wind up with big losses. A good set of instructions can minimize the risks and save months of expensive trial-and-error learning.

Day Trading

Day Trading had its heyday during the bull market of the 1990’s. All the amateurs have since dropped out, but day trading is still being practiced by professionals. There are fewer opportunities in the current market, but skilled investors can still find them if they know what to look for.

FOREX Trading

The Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX), the world’s largest financial exchange market, originated in 1973. It has a daily turnover of currency worth more than $1.2 trillion dollars.

Unlike many other securities, FOREX does not trade on a fixed exchange rate; instead, currencies are traded primarily between central banks, commercial banks, various non-banking international corporations, hedge funds, personal investors and not to forget, speculators. Previously, smaller investors were excluded from FOREX due to the huge amount of deposit involved. This was changed in 1995, and now smaller investors can trade alongside the multi-nationals. As a result, the number of traders within the FOREX market has grown rapidly, and many FOREX courses are appearing to help individual traders increase their skills.

As a matter of fact, it’s advisable to take FOREX training even before opening a trading account. It is vital to know the market mechanics of FOREX, leveraging in FOREX, rollovers and the analysis of the FOREX market. Due to this fact, potential FOREX traders would do well to either enroll in a FOREX training courses or even purchase some books regarding FOREX trading.

There are pros and cons to enrolling into a FOREX course. For beginners a FOREX course is a rapid method of learning the basics of FOREX trading. Not much time is spent on history of the market or arcane economic theories. Often, on-line or phone support from a skilled FOREX trader is available to answer any questions. Also, the information is condensed and practical, often with graphs and charts.

The disadvantage is the price, as courses are more expensive than a paperback from the bookstore. Also, the course may just teach the approach of the trader who wrote it, and individuals have different trading strategies. The student may grow accustomed to the logic and focus of the teacher without coming to realise that nothing is predictable in the FOREX market, and many different strategies will bring profits in varying market circumstances. Also, knowledge of practical applications may not be enough, as the FOREX is highly unpredictable and there are many external factors, such as political issues, affecting the flow of finances in the market.

The best advice would be to do some background research on the FOREX market first, and then enroll in a course.

About the author:

Frank Hague has always been interested in the Stock Market.

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Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of FOREX. Now might be a good time to write down the main points. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what’s important.

Of course, it’s impossible to put everything into just one article. Even if you don’t know everything about FOREX, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

Three Important Forex Concepts for New Traders

2009-05-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

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As you enter the world of Forex you will find yourself learning and using many new concepts that you may not have used or heard before.

Three of this important concepts that you must understand are what “Pips” are, What “Volume” is and what you do when “Buying” and “Selling Short”. They may look more like four concepts but Buying and Selling are like the two faces on the same coin so we can consider them as a single concept.

Lets first introduce what Pips are. Maybe you have heard or read already how many pips a day you can make using some trading system. In short, currency pairs prices will go out to 4 significant digits. For example; if one currency pair is trading for 1.3451 then an increase to 1.3452 would be a “one-pip” increase in the price of this particular currency. This is an increase of one hundredth of a percent of the value of the currency pair you are trading. And depending the type of account you have, regular or mini, each pip will have a value of $10 or $1. So if you make 10 pips a day with a regular account you would have made $100 and with a mini-account $10.

Now we can talk about the Volume; trading Volume is a quantity that tells traders how much money is being traded at one particular moment. And the forex market is known by its high volume of trading during most of the time markets are open. Some times there can be spikes in the volume during some type of news breaks and during the time New York stock exchange is open. The volume of transactions in Forex, even in a slow day, will always be much higher than the volume traded in other large exchanges at their full capacity.

Now maybe the most obvious of the concepts. Buying refers to the acquisition of a particular currency pair to open a trade. Selling short refers to the selling of a particular currency to open a trade. When you Buy, you are expecting the price of the currency pair to increase with time, i.e., you buy cheap to sell high. In the case of Selling short, it looks a bit more complicated. Here the way to make money is to initially sell a currency pair that you think will lose value in a given period of time and then, once it happened, you will buy it back at the new price but now you can sell it at the previous greater price the currency had when you opened the trade, so you earn the difference in prices. I know it seems kind of tricky, but once you are in front of your trading station it will look much simpler.

Understand well these three concepts and you will start with solid steps you trading career.

About the author:

Adrian Pablo is a freelance writer with articles published in a number of places. Get a free report on Fibonacci Trading and learn more about the world of trading.

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Of course, it’s impossible to put everything into just one article. Even if you don’t know everything about FOREX, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

Forex Software Packages

2009-05-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

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If you plan to start trading FOREX online you will of course be using a software system. This system will make it easy for you to get information quickly about market prices and make trades. There are two types of FOREX software available, client based and web based.
As the FOREX market is a fast moving market and you will need up to the minute information to make informed transactions, it is up to you to see you have a high speed internet connection. Dial up internet access will absolutely not work for this. Another consideration could be the location of the servers used by your broker. If your broker’s servers are located quite a distance from you, say in another country, this could potentially slow down your transmissions. If you plan to trade online you will need a modern computer and high speed internet connection.

The next consideration would be which type of software, client based or web based? Web based software is housed on your brokers website. You will not have to install any software on your own computer. A web based software program will allow you to log in from any computer that has an internet connection. A client based software program, or one that you download into your own computer will limit you to transactions only on the computer it is downloaded on. Web based software programs are preferred by most brokers who think they are more safe and reliable. Web based software tends to be less vulnerable to attack from viruses and hackers during transmissions than client based software.

Any FOREX software should offer you real-time quotes and offer means to quickly enter and exit the market. These are minimal requirements of any trading software. Upgraded software packages are usually offered at an extra monthly fee by brokers.

Generally brokers will have client information housed on two severs kept in two different locations. This is to guarantee client data is kept as safe as possible. If there is a power failure or a problem with one server the data is sent back and forth from the second secure server and you will not notice an interruption. Regular back ups of these servers is another way that brokers keep financial data safe in case of server failure.

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Of course, it’s impossible to put everything into just one article. Even if you don’t know everything about FOREX, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

Forex Broker Commissions

2009-05-18T03:32:00.000-07:00

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Most forex brokers do not charge commissions. GFT Forex Brokers, like other forex brokers, are compensated by revenues from their activities as currency dealers, including proceeds from buying, selling, converting and holding currencies, interest on deposited funds, and rollover fees.

Many may wonder how brokers work without commissions. The forex dealer is like a middleman. Let’s consider the case of a bread middleman. He buys bread at a wholesale price and he sells it at a retail price. So if one is a baker, he can ask the middleman how much he would buy his bread for. Let’s say the middleman quotes $1, so he’s willing to pay $1 per loaf.

On the other side of the equation, let’s say you just finished his last slice of bread, and you needs a new loaf. So you call up the local middleman, and ask him how much he’s willing to sell you (a customer) a loaf of bread for. And he quotes the baker $1.25. That sounds reasonable, so you tell him to drop one off for you.

In this example, the bread middleman didn’t charge you a commission to either the baker or you, the customer. Instead he bought at one price and sold at another. He will let you buy from him at $1.25, and let you sell to him at $1. So every time the baker has bread to sell, he checks the middleman’s sell price. And when you want to buy a loaf of bread, you check the buy price.
In trading, this is known as the bid and ask. The bid is the price you can sell at, and the ask is the price you can buy at.

Considering forex broker commissions, the forex dealer will let the trader buy from him at 1.1971 and will let the trader sell to him at 1.1967. The difference 0.0004 is known as the spread. And this spread is where the forex middleman makes his money.

If the trader were to buy at 1.1971, then the instant the trader buys, he is down 0.0004, because if the trader wanted out of the trade, the best price he could sell it for is 1.1967. So as the forex dealer takes varying trades from people, each buying or selling, he can make money from this price gap. Each minimum increment, 0.0001 is referred to as a pip. So the spread in this example is 4 pips. In terms of dollars, for a forex contract of $100,000, this transaction would cost you $40 ($100,000 x 0.0004) or 4 pips. So the trader will find that some companies will advertise a spread of 3 pips on some currencies, usually ranging up to five on others. In forex trading, the tighter the spread is, the better.

Forex Broker Info provides detailed information on forex brokers, forex trading and market makers, and other forex-related topics. Forex Broker Info is the sister site of Incorporating in Florida Web.

Forex Trading Tips

2009-05-18T03:29:00.000-07:00

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Why do hundreds of thousands online traders and investors trade the forex market every day, and how do they make money doing it?

This two-part report clearly and simply details essential tips on how to avoid typical pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.

Trade pairs, not currencies - Like any relationship, you have to know both sides. Success or failure in forex trading depends upon being right about both currencies and how they impact one another, not just one.

Knowledge is Power - When starting out trading forex online, it is essential that you understand the basics of this market if you want to make the most of your investments.

The main forex influencer is global news and events. For example, say an ECB statement is released on European interest rates which typically will cause a flurry of activity. Most newcomers react violently to news like this and close their positions and subsequently miss out on some of the best trading opportunities by waiting until the market calms down. The potential in the forex market is in the volatility, not in its tranquility.

Unambitious trading - Many new traders will place very tight orders in order to take very small profits. This is not a sustainable approach because although you may be profitable in the short run (if you are lucky), you risk losing in the longer term as you have to recover the difference between the bid and the ask price before you can make any profit and this is much more difficult when you make small trades than when you make larger ones.

Over-cautious trading - Like the trader who tries to take small incremental profits all the time, the trader who places tight stop losses with a retail forex broker is doomed. As we stated above, you have to give your position a fair chance to demonstrate its ability to produce. If you don’t place reasonable stop losses that allow your trade to do so, you will always end up undercutting yourself and losing a small piece of your deposit with every trade.

Independence - If you are new to forex, you will either decide to trade your own money or to have a broker trade it for you. So far, so good. But your risk of losing increases exponentially if you either of these two things:

Interfere with what your broker is doing on your behalf (as his strategy might require a long gestation period);

Seek advice from too many sources - multiple input will only result in multiple losses. Take a position, ride with it and then analyse the outcome - by yourself, for yourself.

Tiny margins - Margin trading is one of the biggest advantages in trading forex as it allows you to trade amounts far larger than the total of your deposits. However, it can also be dangerous to novice traders as it can appeal to the greed factor that destroys many forex traders. The best guideline is to increase your leverage in line with your experience and success.

No strategy - The aim of making money is not a trading strategy. A strategy is your map for how you plan to make money. Your strategy details the approach you are going to take, which currencies you are going to trade and how you will manage your risk. Without a strategy, you may become one of the 90% of new traders that lose their money.

Trading Off-Peak Hours - Professional FX traders, option traders, and hedge funds posses a huge advantage over small retail traders during off-peak hours (between 2200 CET and 1000 CET) as they can hedge their positions and move them around when there is far small trade volume is going through (meaning their risk is smaller). The best advice for trading during off peak hours is simple - don’t.

The only way is up/down - When the market is on its way up, the market is on its way up. When the market is going down, the market is going down. That’s it. There are many systems which analyse past trends, but none that can accurately predict the future. But if you acknowledge to yourself that all that is happening at any time is that the market is simply moving, you’ll be amazed at how hard it is to blame anyone else.

Trade on the news - Most of the really big market moves occur around news time. Trading volume is high and the moves are significant; this means there is no better time to trade than when news is released. This is when the big players adjust their positions and prices change resulting in a serious currency flow.

Exiting Trades - If you place a trade and it’s not working out for you, get out. Don’t compound your mistake by staying in and hoping for a reversal. If you’re in a winning trade, don’t talk yourself out of the position because you’re bored or want to relieve stress; stress is a natural part of trading; get used to it.

Don’t trade too short-term - If you are aiming to make less than 20 points profit, don’t undertake the trade. The spread you are trading on will make the odds against you far too high.

Don’t be smart - The most successful traders I know keep their trading simple. They don’t analyse all day or research historical trends and track web logs and their results are excellent.

Tops and Bottoms - There are no real “bargains” in trading foreign exchange. Trade in the direction the price is going in and you’re results will be almost guaranteed to improve.

Ignoring the technicals- Understanding whether the market is over-extended long or short is a key indicator of price action. Spikes occur in the market when it is moving all one way.

Emotional Trading - Without that all-important strategy, you’re trades essentially are thoughts only and thoughts are emotions and a very poor foundation for trading. When most of us are upset and emotional, we don’t tend to make the wisest decisions. Don’t let your emotions sway you.

Confidence - Confidence comes from successful trading. If you lose money early in your trading career it’s very difficult to regain it; the trick is not to go off half-cocked; learn the business before you trade. Remember, knowledge is power.

The second and final part of this report clearly and simply details more essential tips on how to avoid the pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.

Take it like a man - If you decide to ride a loss, you are simply displaying stupidity and cowardice. It takes guts to accept your loss and wait for tomorrow to try again. Sticking to a bad position ruins lots of traders - permanently. Try to remember that the market often behaves illogically, so don’t get commit to any one trade; it’s just a trade. One good trade will not make you a trading success; it’s ongoing regular performance over months and years that makes a good trader.

Focus - Fantasising about possible profits and then “spending” them before you have realised them is no good. Focus on your current position(s) and place reasonable stop losses at the time you do the trade. Then sit back and enjoy the ride - you have no real control from now on, the market will do what it wants to do.

Don’t trust demos - Demo trading often causes new traders to learn bad habits. These bad habits, which can be very dangerous in the long run, come about because you are playing with virtual money. Once you know how your broker’s system works, start trading small amounts and only take the risk you can afford to win or lose.

Stick to the strategy - When you make money on a well thought-out strategic trade, don’t go and lose half of it next time on a fancy; stick to your strategy and invest profits on the next trade that matches your long-term goals.

Trade today - Most successful day traders are highly focused on what’s happening in the short-term, not what may happen over the next month. If you’re trading with 40 to 60-point stops focus on what’s happening today as the market will probably move too quickly to consider the long-term future. However, the long-term trends are not unimportant; they will not always help you though if you’re trading intraday.

The clues are in the details - The bottom line on your account balance doesn’t tell the whole story. Consider individual trade details; analyse your losses and the telling losing streaks. Generally, traders that make money without suffering significant daily losses have the best chance of sustaining positive performance in the long term.

Simulated Results - Be very careful and wary about infamous “black box” systems. These so-called trading signal systems do not often explain exactly how the trade signals they generate are produced. Typically, these systems only show their track record of extraordinary results - historical results. Successfully predicting future trade scenarios is altogether more complex. The high-speed algorithmic capabilities of these systems provide significant retrospective trading systems, not ones which will help you trade effectively in the future.

Get to know one cross at a time - Each currency pair is unique, and has a unique way of moving in the marketplace. The forces which cause the pair to move up and down are individual to each cross, so study them and learn from your experience and apply your learning to one cross at a time.

Risk Reward - If you put a 20 point stop and a 50 point profit your chances of winning are probably about 1-3 against you. In fact, given the spread you’re trading on, it’s more likely to be 1-4. Play the odds the market gives you.

Trading for Wrong Reasons - Don’t trade if you are bored, unsure or reacting on a whim. The reason that you are bored in the first place is probably because there is no trade to make in the first place. If you are unsure, it’s probably because you can’t see the trade to make, so don’t make one.

Zen Trading- Even when you have taken a position in the markets, you should try and think as you would if you hadn’t taken one. This level of detachment is essential if you want to retain your clarity of mind and avoid succumbing to emotional impulses and therefore increasing the likelihood of incurring losses. To achieve this, you need to cultivate a calm and relaxed outlook. Trade in brief periods of no more than a few hours at a time and accept that once the trade has been made, it’s out of your hands.

Determination - Once you have decided to place a trade, stick to it and let it run its course. This means that if your stop loss is close to being triggered, let it trigger. If you move your stop midway through a trade’s life, you are more than likely to suffer worse moves against you. Your determination must be show itself when you acknowledge that you got it wrong, so get out.

Short-term Moving Average Crossovers - This is one of the most dangerous trade scenarios for non professional traders. When the short-term moving average crosses the longer-term moving average it only means that the average price in the short run is equal to the average price in the longer run. This is neither a bullish nor bearish indication, so don’t fall into the trap of believing it is one.

Stochastic - Another dangerous scenario. When it first signals an exhausted condition that’s when the big spike in the “exhausted” currency cross tends to occur. My advice is to buy on the first sign of an overbought cross and then sell on the first sign of an oversold one. This approach means that you’ll be with the trend and have successfully identified a positive move that still has some way to go. So if percentage K and percentage D are both crossing 80, then buy! (This is the same on sell side, where you sell at 20).

One cross is all that counts - EURUSD seems to be trading higher, so you buy GBPUSD because it appears not to have moved yet. This is dangerous. Focus on one cross at a time - if EURUSD looks good to you, then just buy EURUSD.

Wrong Broker - A lot of FOREX brokers are in business only to make money from yours. Read forums, blogs and chats around the net to get an unbiased opinion before you choose your broker.

Too bullish - Trading statistics show that 90% of most traders will fail at some point. Being too bullish about your trading aptitude can be fatal to your long-term success. You can always learn more about trading the markets, even if you are currently successful in your trades. Stay modest, and keep your eyes open for new ideas and bad habits you might be falling in to.

Interpret forex news yourself - Learn to read the source documents of forex news and events - don’t rely on the interpretations of news media or others.

About The Author

Fiorenzo Fontana has held several senior positions in the financial services industry as a trader and analyst at UBS. Fiorenzo has built a career spanning more than 25 years in investment banking and capital markets trading. Mr. Fontana is a citizen and resident of Switzerland and a graduate of the Chiasso Business School, Switzerland.

Discover an Effective Forex Trading System

2009-05-18T03:26:00.000-07:00

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What is the importance of an effective Forex trading system? An effective system provides you the trader, incomparable prospects to increase your earnings. And why not?
The Forex market is the largest financial market in the world with average daily trading of the currencies going over US$1.6 trillion. One other thing, it’s the most liquid market there is, to trade in. Forex market or Foreign exchange market is the trading activity that refers to the synchronized buying of one currency, which is called the base currency while selling off a second currency, called the counter or quote currency. As you’ve probably gathered, these currencies are traded in pairs. Some of the most popular pairs are US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) and the Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD. This is done with the clear intent to profit from the appreciation of the e.g. U.S. Dollar. These three currencies together with the British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar and the Swiss Franc are the most popular currencies traded, accounting for nearly 70% of the trading done in the United States marketplace.

Why is there a need for an effective Forex trading system? One reason is because of the unique characteristics of the Forex trading market.

For one, Forex trading is conducted differently from the stock market or futures trading. There is no central physical location, where the transactions are conducted.

Another unique characteristic is a majority of the transactions are done over the telephone link ups or electronic exchanges, which makes this an over-the-counter or interbank market. This makes it ideal for the use of computers and technical analysis, to take advantage of profitable opportunities.

There are more chances to increase profits, because of the attractive pricing. Forex quotes are based on interbank prices regards of the transaction size.

Orders are effectively carried out, because orders are immediately confirmed on line or over the phone, you’ll know the rate at which the order was executed.

Finally, the margin system is in your favor. With 2% of the absolute value of the interbank contracts, you can still trade in the largest marketplace, provided you are able to maintain the margin requirements.

With all the benefits and differences a Forex market has, what makes it crucial to for you to have an effective trading system in place?

As with all trading activities, trading foreign exchange carries a great risk. You’ll need to ascertain for yourself what these risks are. The high degree of leverage is a double edged sword; it can work for or against your benefit.

You should gauge the level of your knowledge and experience. Should you hire a financial advisor? Have you decided on the amount you are willing to risk and at what financial level you are willing to take losses?

For with the unlimited potential to earn, comes the possibility of great financial loss. There is no fool-proof Forex trading system.

About the Author

Bob Hett offers great tips and advice regarding all aspects of Forex marketplace.

Beginners Forex Online Currency Trading

2009-05-18T03:25:00.001-07:00

If you are a beginner, entering into the Forex market, this article will give you a quick summary of the market and how it works.

FOREX is short for Foreign Exchange; so named because it comes from the international financial market.This is where different types of currencies from countries around the world are traded.

Starting in the 1970’s, the Forex market emerged alongside floating currencies and free exchange rates. Just like prices of stock shares, exchanging currency on the Forex market determines currency prices based on supply and demand.

The enormity of the quantities of money traded each day on the Forex market is staggering.This pace of exchange makes Forex the singularly most liquid financial market of all, with trades of 1 to 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars each day.

Because the Forex market deals in such an astonishing volume of liquid exchanges, traders can open and close positions very quickly; typically within seconds.This is because there are scores of willing buyers and sellers available 24 hours a day in time zones all around the world.

Forex online currency trading is distinct from the stock market, which is typically linked to long term investment strategies.Currency trading is typically used as a short term investment strategy, where minor price changes in currencies allow investors to use trading techniques for monetary gain. Still, there are some long term investors utilizing Forex, as well as short term investors who use credit to make large profits in the short term.

How Forex Works

Unlike the New York Stock Exchange or the Australian Stock Exchange, Forex markets there is no fixed center for Forex currency trading.Instead, trading happens over-the-counter 5 days every week, 24 hours per day, between major trading centers including London, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Singapore, and Zurich. Dealers in person and online at points all around the world are able to quote the price of any major currency.

Inversting Strategies: Technical Aspects

Clearly, one cannot jump into trading without sufficient understanding of the currency market. To achieve success in Forex trading, it’s important to learn to analyze markets just like the experts do.This process is called Technical and Fundamental Analysis.

Technical analysis involves following trend data on currency price fluctuations over a period of time.This data can be used to graph patterns and movement of currency prices that traders can evaluate for use in making trading decisions.

The pattern of pricing behaviour displayed by each currency can be affected by a variety of market conditions including events, overbuying and overselling, interest, and so on. Often, these patterns are displayed in graphic form and provided automatically by the brokerage firm through whom your trades are placed.

Fundamental analysis involves analyzing trends that include political circumstances, rumours and news stories, economic turmoil or progress, national interest rate setting, tax policy, economic growth or recession, and many other factors.The expectations, beliefs, and anticipations of those who trade in the Forex markets can also have a powerful effect in driving prices.

Earn Money Through Forex Trading

To reap profits from Forex trading, one must have determination, trading experience, and the ability to use Technical and Fundamental analysis for optimal trading behaviours.Investors who participate in the Forex markets may take advantage of a level playing field due to the liquidity and rapidly changing nature of the market, which prevents it from being overly influenced by any particular person or fund management.

Do You Have What It Takes To Work From Home With Forex Trading?

2009-05-18T03:23:00.000-07:00

With the advent of the internet, working from home now has never been easier with the myriad of choices for you to pick from. While a lot of the literature that has been discussed over the past few years is the data entry and employed work that people can work online, many people have not realised at the potential of the internet for investment trading. Today I won’t be discussing on aspects of traditional markets like stocks and bonds, futures or even equities and I won’t be discussing how investment in blue chips and hedge funds have been brought online to the internet. Today, this article will discuss how Forex can make you immensely wealthy, just by working at home.

For those not in the know, the paper trade market has been paired with the longevity and infinite nature of the internet. Now, anyone can interface, using investment matrix programmes that allow you to view Forex markets in real time, and make a living from home. The reason for the popularity of the Forex market is quite elementary, and can be attributed to several factors. In these dark economic times, many investors are pulling out of previously discussed investment markets and reaching into more unconventional markets like the FX.

The staying power of Forex (as long as world economies are decided by the currency denominator) means that there is always money to be made through the paper trade. Whether or not the market is going up or down, there is a way to profit from both sides of the market. And also, the very liquid nature of the FX market has pulled in a lot of investors into its paradigm. The fact is, many of the more popular markets like equities and blue chips have a lot of red tape when it comes to putting in or pulling out of investments and in terms of investments, time is money in investments. The FX market has no such barriers to entry, and it allows for many people to invest with a comfortable amount of money.

The fact that many online brokerage firms give a relatively good margin for your deposits helps in making Forex trading be seen as an advantageous investment choice. Ranging from 1 - 10% (which means over 10 to 100 times of the amount you credit), you have a larger playing field to run around your investments and diversify your portfolio. Add to that the ease of the internet, now anybody can make a lot of money on the Forex market. While I won’t say it is a magic pill to all of your life’s woes, I will say that the Forex market has the potential to make you quite a bit of money, when played right.

For those newbies, don’t worry so much as a lot of brokerage firms offer real time support as well as programs that can help you calculate your investment options as well as give you real time feeds and information on your decisions. This is critical to make the right decisions, safe decisions that will make you money and turn your work from home with Forex trading option into a profitable one.

FAP Turbo Settings: The Best Settings For A Successful Trader

2009-05-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

Today, there are many kinds of FAP Turbo settings that are used in trading, but the question is which of these system settings would be best for you? As you are using the FAP Turbo system for trading in the forex market, it is very important for you to put your own system to the best settings there is right from the start (that is, if your goal is to make a lot of profits in trading the quickest way). Through this article, you will be provided with everything you need to know in getting your system to the best settings it can have.

Being an amazing system that it is, your success still depends on how you set things up… and this is why right now people keeps searching for the best settings that they can have for their systems. But the fact of the matter is that no experienced user is going to spoon-feed you with the right settings to get the profits that they earn as you see it in the screenshot in their testimonials… and the reason for this is that if they did it, each trader will be using the same system, leading to a negative effect in the market for some currencies.

So that’s why it’d be crazy enough for them to give to you the best system settings. And even if you get to see the settings that they use online, never copy them. Why? Remember, there are lots and lots of people who are going to see that page and for sure they’re going to copy what they see, and the result? Everybody is going to lose money, and that means including you! And worse, what’s displayed online is just a trick for you to be diverted from the expert’s success in gaining great amounts of profits.

Now, the right thing to do is just take a good look at those settings, tweak them in any way you want that would be best for you, rather being an idiot like the others who’d run their systems the same way as the expert does. There’s also the forum online which will be able to guide you right as it can give you helpful advice on the different settings that you can use for all kinds of situations you’re going to be put into in trading. Remember that some of the users are more honest and experienced than the other guys out there, and you got no way to know who they are.

In general, some FAP Turbo guidelines are applicable to every case there is: take for example, if you are dealing with small sums, what you should do is not to focus on those long-term profits but instead focus on the short ones instead. Now, this is a tip that you can have from the documentation, forum, and the general forex training’s online information. If you don’t have any mentor who’s going to advice you as you trade, it’s best for you to study all of the information out there and decide which settings will suit you best. As for me, I wouldn’t pay attention to a site that says anything about a best system that you can use in trading forex!

Forex Robots Review - 10 Tips for Buyers

2009-05-18T03:20:00.000-07:00

Trading foreign currencies or Forex (FX) is a fast moving, volatile market where currencies are traded against each other 24 hours per day, Monday to Friday. It is a daily market of 3 trillion dollars.

If you are a novice, wish to start making money on the Forex market quickly, or do not wish to be tied to your computer for long periods, you might wish to consider investing in a Forex robot.

Forex robots are actually small pieces of software based on mathematical algorithms whereby they make unemotional decisions as to when you should trade or not,

which helps to take all of the guesswork out of knowing when you open or close a trade.

There are questions as to how successful they really are but the numbers look good.

Their success is such that around 25% of all forex trades are now done by robots.

There are numerous Forex robots available and they range from semi-automatic where you have final control, to fully automatic whereby you can leave your computer and let the Forex robot do the trading. In some instances you can actually switch off your computer and walk away.

Are these Forex robots scams? There are some robot scams out there but also some very reputable forex robots which are the complete solution and with which people are trading very successfully.

You will need to research carefully, check out reviews and make sure that the Forex robot you buy is the right one for you.

You will need to look for the following with your Forex robot:

Easy to use.
Automated system constantly updated.
One time fee at reasonable cost
Shown trading real time.
Option of low capital startup.
24 hour phone support
Demo account for trading practice
Proof of 95% success
Full 60 days “no questions asked” guarantee
Good reviews from existing customers and non-customers.

Forex robots will not make you an instant billionaire but with the right robot you will be able to look forward to steady, long-term profits on automatic while you are busy at work, sleeping or on vacation.

With the right guarantee and with the option to use demo software before committing your money, what have you got to lose?

Check out reviews, as mentioned before, do your research and find the forex robot which is for you.

Your FOREX Trading Philosophy

2009-05-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

“Easy money” is the allure that captivates many beginning FOREX traders. FOREX websites offer “risk-free” trading, “high returns”, “low investment.” These claims have a grain of truth in them, but the reality of FOREX is a bit more complex.

Mistakes Of The Beginning Trader

There are 2 common mistakes that many beginner traders make: trading without a strategy and letting emotions rule their decisions. After opening a FOREX account it may be tempting to dive right in and start trading. Watching the movements of EUR/USD for example, you may feel that you are letting an opportunity pass you by if you don’t enter the market immediately. You buy and watch the market move against you. You panic and sell, only to see the market recover.

This kind of undisciplined approach to FOREX is guaranteed to lose you money. FOREX traders must have a rational trading strategy and not make trading decisions in the heat of the moment.

Understanding Market Movements

To make rational trading decisions, the FOREX trader must be well educated in market movements. He must be able to apply technical studies to charts and plot out entry and exit points. He must take advantage of the various types of orders to minimize his risk and maximize his profit.

The first step in becoming a successful FOREX trader is to understand the market and the forces behind it. Who trades FOREX and why? Who is successful and why are they successful? This will allow you to identify successful trading strategies and use them yourself.

Accountability: Advantage Or Disadvantage?

There are 5 major groups of investors who participate in FOREX: governments, banks, corporations, investment funds, and traders. Each group has its own objectives, but 1 thing all groups except traders have in common is external control. Every organization has rules and guidelines for trading currencies and can be held accountable for their trading decisions. Individual traders, on the other hand, are accountable only to themselves.

The trader who lacks rules and guidelines is playing a losing game. Large organizations and educated traders approach the FOREX with strategies, and if you hope to succeed as a FOREX trader you must follow suit.

Strategies For Money Management

Money management is an integral part of any trading strategy. Besides knowing which currencies to trade and how to recognize entry and exit signals, the successful trader has to manage his resources and integrate money management into his trading plan. Position size, margin, recent profits and losses, and contingency plans all need to be considered before entering the market.

There are various strategies for money management. Many rely on the calculation of core equity — your starting balance minus the money used in open positions.

Core Equity And Limited Risk

When entering a position try to limit your risk to 1% to 3% of each trade. This means that if you are trading a standard FOREX lot of $100,000 you should limit your risk to $1,000 to $3,000. You do this with a stop loss order 100 pips (1 pip = $10) above or below your entry position.

As your core equity rises or falls you adjust the dollar amount of your risk. With a starting balance of $10,000 and 1 open position, your core equity is $9000. If you wish to add a second open position, your core equity would fall to $8000 and you should limit your risk to $900. Risk in a third position should be limited to $800.

Greater Profit, Greater Risk

You should also raise your risk level as your core equity rises. After $5,000 profit, your core equity is now $15,000. You could raise your risk to $1,500 per transaction. Alternatively, you could risk more from the profit than from the original starting balance. Some traders may risk up to 5% against their realized profits ($5,000 on a $100,000 lot) for greater profit potential.

These are the kinds of strategic moves that allow a beginner to get a foothold on profitable trading in FOREX.

Price Action: The Perfect Forex Trading System

2009-05-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

Trading the Forex market has become very popular in the last few years. But how difficult is it to achieve success in the Forex trading arena? Or let me rephrase this question, how many traders achieve consistent profitable results trading the Forex market? Unfortunately very few, only 5% of traders achieve this goal. One of the main reasons of this is because Forex traders focus in the wrong information to make their trading decisions and totally forget about the most important factor: Price behavior.

Most Forex trading systems are made off technical indicators (a moving average (MA) crossover, overbought/oversold conditions in an oscillator, etc.) But what are technical indicators? They are just a series of data points plotted in a chart; these points are derived from a mathematical formula applied to the price of any given currency pair. In other words, it is a chart of price plotted in a different way that helps us see other aspects of price.
There is an important implication on this definition of technical indicators. The fact that the readings obtained from them are based on price action. Take for instance a long MA crossover signal, the price has gone up enough to make the short period MA crossover the long period MA generating a long signal. Most traders see it as “the MA crossover made the price go up,” but it happened the other way around, the MA crossover signal occurred because the price went up. Where I’m trying to get here is that at the end, price behavior dictates how an indicator will act, and this should be taken into consideration on any trading decision made.
Trading decisions based on technical indicators without taking price action into consideration will give us less accurate results. For example, again a long signal generated by a MA crossover as the market approaches an important resistance level. If the price suddenly starts to bounce back off that important level there is no point on taking this signal, price action is telling us the market doesn’t want to go up. Most of the time, under this circumstances, the market will continue to fall down, disregarding the MA crossover.
Don’t get me wrong here, technical indicators are a very important aspect of trading. They help us see certain conditions that are otherwise difficult to see by watching pure price action. But when it comes to pull the trigger, price action incorporation into our Forex trading system will definitely put the odds in our favor, it will generate higher probability trades.

So, how to create a perfect Forex trading system?
First of all, you need to make sure your trading system fits your trading personality; otherwise you will find it hard to follow it. Every trader has different needs and goals, thus there is no system that perfectly fits all traders. You need to make your own research on various trading styles and technical indicators until you find a concept that perfectly works for you. Make sure you know the nature of whatever technical indicator used.
Secondly, incorporate price action into your system. So you only take long signals if the price behavior tells you the market wants to go up, and short signals if the market gives you indication that it will go down.

Third, and most importantly, you need to have the discipline to follow your Forex trading system rigorously. Try it first on a demo account, then move on to a small account and finally when feeling comfortably and being consistent profitable apply your system in a regular account.

Managing the Forex Accounts for You

2009-05-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

Managed forex accounts are a boon for those who don’t have the time to devote to the foreign exchange dealing. It’s also for those who don’t have the expertise to deal in the foreign exchange markets. Professionals are there for managing forex accounts. Management of these forex accounts is a very serious and a competitive business. Many investors like to allocate a portion their funds to forex accounts managed professionally. It helps them to diversify their risks and also mitigate any losses that may arise from other portfolios such as stock and bond market. Since forex transactions is a ball game separate from that of the stock markets, their profits and losses are also separate.

Therefore these currency-trading accounts can enhance one’s portfolios in a great way. The forex exchange accounts that are managed professionally must be able to provide the following, irrespective of which forex trading manager or account that you choose

A currency trading account not tied to the stock market operations

The forex managed account should be able to provide a better return than the treasury bonds and other such money market instruments

Professional expertise is a must. The firm should have good standing in the market and have professionals who have experience in dealing in foreign exchange accounts. Most foreign banks and transnational firms employ the best and have constantly out performed others. It’s not necessary that your forex account manager should be a Harvard Grad but in most cases it, they are better trained.

The firms that professionally handle forex accounts and forex trading must be able to leverage to give maximum profits.

The forex trading manager must be able to book profits in both the falling and rising currency markets.

Should provide for monthly / weekly reporting of the forex transactions as well as real time reporting if need be.

The forex accounts should be such that they are liquid in nature. They should give ease of withdrawal (of money) to the investors at particular time intervals and in cases of emergency too.

Depending on the firms that one chooses, there are various kinds of currency trading accounts that one can invest under. They may be called by several names such as Global forex accounts, aggressive forex accounts, and high value forex accounts etc.

For example the Global forex accounts might deal in many foreign currencies, many of which may not be the liquid currencies such as the Soviet Rouble or The Indian Rupee. Other accounts such as the aggressive forex accounts may deal in the most liquid of the accounts such as the US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar.

The forex trading accounts also differ on another account, that of the initial investment that is required. Some forex trading accounts may need an initial investment of US$ 10,000, others US$ 50,000, still others might require an initial investment of US $100,000.

Being professionally managed, the forex trading account managers make use of various statistical analysis tools to give the optimum and maximum results and profit. Therefore considering the factors as given, choose the currency-trading fund best suited for your needs.
About The Author
Gary Berg

Forex Trading Platform

2009-05-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

As the name says, the Forex trading platform is a place where you can sell and buy the forex. This can also be called the forex-trading station. All forex trading financial companies, banks, traders and brokers will provide their own trading hub. These currency trading or forex trading hubs use sophisticated software’s, which have, can perform various kinds of analysis such as technical and fundamental analysis. They also generate data, which is both numeric, and well as statistical base such as graphs, pies, regression data etc.

In most cases the trading stations or the platforms have real time streaming ticker line. This ticker line is being constantly updated and gives the buy / sell currency rate of major currencies in pairs. Forex dealers or traders also maintain fixed spreads on major currencies across the world, which are constant irrespective of the changing financial markets. Most of the trading stations will provide the following

Real time streaming of the major currencies in pairs.

Pricing which is competitive

Fixed spreads in 3-5 pips

Certainty of price for the currencies in buy and sell position

Another factor in the forex trade is that the more creditworthiness an institution or a forex trader is, the better access they have to market information and competitive pricing. This is then reflected also in the trading sessions that the subscribers and the investors utilize. They would have better access to interbank prices and therefore the cost of the execution for the trade in currencies would be better. The currency trade software’s provide the following in most cases

Real time streaming currency pair rates. One can click the suitable boxes provided to confirm the sale or the purchase of the desired currencies.

They allow the linkage to currency margin account, which means that you can have more purchasing power with less of investment.

Immediate confirmation of the sale / purchase of the currencies. Of course the cost would be debited to your account. This is done almost simultaneously and in real time.

These currency trade software will also show you the real time profit / losses that you have made in the currency transactions.

Investors must make sure that when they subscribe to these currency trade software’s, they read the terms and conditions as many trades may be subject to regulations and the agreement that may be drawn between the client and the websites / currency trade companies.

There are options provided whereby one can also limit or stop the open orders. These can also be cancelled or modified at a later stage in these forex trades. Reports on all forex and currency transactions can also be generated. These reports can be in the form of monthly / weekly reports. One can print these records or download them for later. There are many combinations and permutations, which are possible. Depending upon forex trading packages that each forex trader or financial company may provide, the forex trading stations may differ in features provided.
About The Author

Gary Berg

How To Survive As A Day Trader

2009-05-16T10:15:00.001-07:00

nyone who is in the day trading business for sometime now would readily agree that sticking with two to three day trading styles that work is advantageous. This is among the beneficial practices that ought to be implemented by those preferring simpler trading yet with ideal returns. Let’s be honest - don’t we all wish we just had some type of trading robot to do all the work for us? The sad fact is that most traders do everything manually. It is practical to master a technique that has a history of success.

It is advantageous for traders to focus on the ongoing trade as well as the style. In this type of business, there is no room for jacks of all trades. These people who frequently shift from one trading style to another normally face lots of losses due to untimely decisions that are brought by the lack of proficiency in the styles. A market that is erratic doesn’t show mercy to people who commit unwarranted mistakes and people who do not have specific systems are more likely to get victimized by such mistakes. People who are experts or specialized in some fields get a better pay in comparison to the people who know all the systems but are unable to make them work.

When traders commit to instruction in a certain trade approach, they find out each of the needed concepts. This way, the system and the trader will become parallel in development. Don’t just go out there and always try to get the best penny stocks you see. If you do that you are not better than folks hunting for discounts at the supermarket. Style comes in favour of the businessman, as he constantly concentrates on the business. If one is only using the style he is familiar with he no longer has to bother on dividing attention between the fast-paced changes in the trade and the decisions on what move to take next. Forming explicit approaches that leave room to form different important elements of trade such as financial and risk management. This business is not just about being able to build up a style or two and earning money along the process but also optimizing the power to earn more or to lessen the unnecessary risks encountered. Traders who made it big in life mastered all the necessary skills without wasting their time picking up irrelevant ones.

Knowing money management for example will help the trader allocate his accounts to those shares that are most lucrative after quickly evaluating the profits against the risks involved. Risk management, on the other hand, lets the trader achieve a good balance between fear of losing against greed on winning. Many things must be learned pertaining to day trading, and choosing a style is one of them. Have a look at my trading robot review if you want to know how to automate your trading using software tools.

Forex Trading Understanding Commissions Spreads and Trading Costs

2009-05-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

The forex market is quickly becoming one of the most popular markets for trading. Not only are the experienced traders looking to this market to maximize their trading returns, but many new, individual investors are now able to trade the Forex market - just as they do stocks and futures.
More and more individuals are seeing Forex not only as a new way to diversify their portfolio, but are also finding that it is becoming the most profitable component of their investments. And that’s because of the many advantages Forex offers over other markets like stocks or commodities. Here’s what you will typically see advertized about Forex:

- Unparallelled liquidity. It is the largest financial market in the world by far. Almost $2 trillion being traded daily!

- Excellent leverage potential. Individual investors have access to leverage of 100:1 and even 200:1

- No Commissions

- Low trading costs.

And yes, the Forex market really does offer all these advantages. But the last two points above talk about costs, and that’s what we’d like to focus on in this article.

Like any trading, there are costs involved, and, while these may be much lower than they used to be, it is important to understand what those are.

Let’s start by looking at stock trading, something that most of us investors are pretty familiar with. When trading stocks, most investors will have a trading account with a broker somewhere and will have investment funds deposited in that account. The broker will then execute the trades on behalf of the account holder, and of course, in return for providing that service, the broker will want to be compensated. With stocks, typically, the broker will earn a commission for executing the trade. They will charge either a fixed dollar amount per trade, or a dollar amount per share, or (most commonly) a scaled commission based on how big your trade is. And, they will charge it on both sides of the transaction. That is to say, when you buy the stock you get charged commission, AND then when you sell that same stock you get charged another commission.

With Forex trading, the brokers constantly advertise “no commission”. And, of course that’s true - except for a few brokers, who do charge a commission similar to stocks. But also, of course, the brokers aren’t performing their trading services for free. They too make money.

The way they do that is by charging the investor a “spread”. Simply put, the spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price for the currency being traded. The broker will add this spread onto the price of the trade and keep it as their fee for trading. So, while it isn’t a commission per se, it behaves in practically the same way. It is just a little more hidden.

The good news though is that typically this spread is only charged on one side of the transaction. In other words, you don’t pay the spread when you buy AND then again when you sell. It is usually only charged on the “buy” side of the trades.

So the spread really is your primary cost of trading the Forex and you should pay attention to the details of what the different brokers offer.

The spreads offered can vary pretty dramatically from broker to broker. And while it may not seem like much of a difference to be trading with a 5 pip spread vs a 4 pip spread, it actually can add up very quickly when you multiply it out by how many trades you make and how much money you’re trading. Think about it, 4 pips vs 5 pips is a difference of 25% on your trading costs.

The other thing to recognize is that spreads can vary based on what currencies you’re trading and what type of account you open.

Most brokers will give you different spreads for different currencies. The most popular currency pairs like the EURUSD or GBPUSD will typically have the lowest spreads, while currencies that have less demand will likely be traded with higher spreads. Be sure to think about what currencies you are most likely to be trading and find out what your spreads will be for those currencies.

Also, some brokers will offer different spreads for different types of accounts. A mini account, for example, may be subject to higher spreads than a full contract account.

And finally, because the spreads really are the difference between bid prices and ask prices as determined by the free market, it is important to recognize that they are not “guaranteed”. Most brokers will tell you that there may be times during periods of low demand, or very active trading when the spreads widen and you will be charged that wider spread. These do tend to be rarer situations because the volume in the Forex market is so large and demand and supply are generally quite predictable. But they do occur, especially with some of the lesser traded currencies. So it’s important to be aware of that.

In summary then, when trading Forex, understand that the “spread” is truly your most important consideration for trading costs. Spreads can vary significantly between brokers, account types and currencies traded. And small differences in the spread can really add up to thousands of dollars in trading costs over even just a few months. So be sure to consider carefully what currencies you are going to be trading, how frequently, and in what type of account and use those factors to help you decide which broker can offer you the best trading costs and allow you to keep more of your returns as net profits!

About the Author

Rich Cochrane specializes in forex trading strategies and researching low cost trading alternatives. For more information on how to save on your forex trading and pocket more pips

Forex Signals Reviewed

2009-05-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

I started in the FOREX market in June of 2002. With hardly any experience at all, I really did not know what I was getting into, other than I wanted to be a full-time trader making tons of money from home. Little did I know from the start that my lifestyle as I knew it was about to change drastically.

The Problem

I initially began with a demo account and did okay for a month. Throughout the course of a month I managed to compile 23 wins and 2 loses, for a net profit of $1,219. I thought to myself, this is excellent; I am ready to begin with a live account and to trade for myself. Moving from a demo account to a real my psychology was blind sided. I was afraid to trade using the same techniques and trading system I had used to become successful with my demo account. The ending wasn’t pretty. I ended up losing a lot of sleep, $4458 and the only thing I gained was un-wanted stress. Out of cash and with other investments failing, I needed to find something quick that was going to get me where I wanted to be financially.

The Solution

I did not need the stress of trading anymore, so I decided to look for a decent FOREX signals provider. I wanted a system that was going to make me money every month and better yet a system that would trade for me.

I tried program after program only to lose more money. It seemed as though either the signal providers sent too many signals or the FOREX signals were horrible to begin with. Still trying to work my day job as a CPA, I was not always able to catch every signal either. I was in desperate need of an automated FOREX trading system.

I happened to be browsing the internet one day looking for things such as FOREX signals, automated trading signals and FOREX profits. I did manage to stumble across an extremely reliable trading system that has averaged 600 pips per month over the past 3 years. I couldn’t believe my eyes, and they had the data to back up there trading track record. It’s 2006 and I have been using this piece of software for exactly 1 year now and I could not be happier. The software offered excellent signals that I was able to take in the evenings and if I wasn’t at my computer I had a text message sent to my cell phone so that I could call into the trading desk and place the trade. As of January 2006, my total net profit from trading has amounted to $82,000.

About the author:

Tim Rohrer is an established FOREX trader. There is only one forex signals system that has been providing an income for many years

Introduction to Bollinger Bands a Great Help in Forex Trading

2009-05-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

Forex trading has become one of the most looked after occupation for many persons around the world. This is due to its great advantages over other capital markets and its high potential profitability; among these advantages we can find its extremely easy accessibility thanks to the internet and its high liquidity and high leverage.

But in Forex as in all other speculative activities in the capital markets there is a major problem new and experienced traders will face every time they open their forex trading stations. This is how to predict the behavior of the Forex market over time in order to make the highest amount of profits and with the less risk possible.

One of the techniques used to predict the Forex market behavior is that based on Bollinger Bands.

These Bollinger Bands are what is called a technical trading tool used in the capital markets (including Forex) created by John Bollinger in the early 1980s. These technique was formulated based on the need for adaptive trading bands and the discovery that the volatility of the markets was a dynamic phenomena, not a static one as was widely believed at the time.

The first thing you should notice about Bollinger Bands is that they consist of a set of three curves drawn in a forex chart in relation to the currency prices. The middle band in the forex chart represents the intermediate-term trend, and it is usually a simple moving average, that serves as the reference base for the upper and lower bands. The interval separating the upper and lower bands from the middle band is calculated by using the volatility of the market; typically the standard deviation of the same data that were used for the average.

The default parameters used with these analysis technique is 20 periods for the average and two standard deviations for the gap between the bands. These parameters may be adjusted to suit your particular trading purposes.

In a future article I will talk about how these bands will give you a very good prediction on what the market will do next, based on the parameters and statistics built in the Bollinger Bands.

About the author:

Adrian Pablo is a Forex freelance writer with articles published in a number of places. Get a free report on Fibonacci Trading and learn more about the world of trading

Forex Trading Tips

2009-05-16T10:09:00.000-07:00