forex trading

Your Mother Could Make Money In Forex Trading
The question would be not whether she could but rather would she enter the Forex trading market. The Forex day trading arena is a veritable snake pit ripe for scam artists to bilk money out of unwary investors. On the other hand, it is a forum for educated traders with the correct education, tools, and trading strategy to make a handsome income.

Becoming a successful Forex trader basically comes down to four things; 1) attaining the correct education, 2) using Forex tools which 3) use your own personal trading strategy, and 4) finding the correct Forex broker to fulfill your requirements. Let's look at these individually:

Attaining the correct education. Your Mother may not know the difference between a Forex PIP and one of the backup singers for Gladys Knight. So would you send her to one of those infomercial Forex riches classes to find out? We hope not! There are literally hundreds of training courses and materials out there for proper training. Word of mouth recommendations might be the best path to follow here.

Forex tools can also do many things like send trading signals and various buy/sell alerts to your desktop or mobile device based on what your personal trading philosophy dictates. Many of these tools are software based and some are provided via your favorite Forex trading sites. Not all people base decisions based on these signals though and use things like technical and fundamental analysis to determine when to buy or sell.

It also is essential to develop your own personal trading strategy. Your ability to assume certain risks might not exactly be what other traders or your broker recommends. A Forex trading strategy is not something generic and involves your personal game plan.

Before trading Forex you need to set up an account with a Forex broker. You may feel overwhelmed by the number of brokers who offer their services online. Deciding on a broker requires a little bit of research on your part, but the time spent will give you insight into the services that are available and fees charged by various brokers.

One of the most important ways to make the greatest return (and, also carry a greater loss risk) in Forex trading is with the use of a margin account. These accounts may let you trade as much as $100k in currency for as little as $1000. Margin accounts are the lifeblood of Forex trading, so be sure you understand the broker's margin terms before setting up an account. You need to know the margin requirements and how margin is calculated. Does margin change according to the currency traded? Is it the same every day of the week? Some brokers may offer different margins for mini and standard accounts.

Used correctly and together, the above items can lead to a comfortable part or full time income. If you don't use all the information available to you, though, you may as well let Mom take the weekend visit to Vegas with her money to see Gladys Knight. Make sure that she has developed her own Forex trading strategy and has used "paper trades" many times before actually beginning trading for real. Better that ole Mom is equipped to make some real money rather than throwing it away on the gaming tables.

by Wayne Watson

What Is Rollover Interest In The Forex Market?
In the spot forex market, all trades must be settled in two business days. A rollover refers to the process of closing open position for today's value date and the opening of the same position for the next day's value date at a price reflecting the difference in interest rates between the two currencies.

In accordance with international banking practices, Forex brokers automatically rolls over all open positions to the next date at 5 PM EST for settlement.

Rollover involves exchanging the position being held for a position expiring the following settlement date. For example, for trades executed on Monday, the value date is Wednesday.

However, if a position is opened on Monday and held overnight, the value date is now Thursday. The exception is a position opened and held overnight on Wednesday. The normal value date would be Saturday; because banks are closed on Saturday the value date is actually the following Monday. Due to the weekend, positions held overnight on Wednesday incur or earn an extra two days of interest.

Trades with a value date that falls on a holiday will also incur or earn additional interest. Forex Traders can earn interest on rollovers, depending on the direction of their positions and interest rate differential between the two currencies involved.

For instance, the primary interest rates in Great Britain are much higher than in Japan, so if a trader buys GBP, he/she will earn interest at 5 PM EST time. on the other hand, if he/she sells GBP in this currency pair, he/she will pay interest at 5 PM EST time.

Overnight Interest/Rollover is automatically paid to a client's account after buying a currency with greater Interest Rate in its country, and charged to a client's account if the country issuing this currency has smaller Primary Interest Rates.

by Martin Maier

The Forex Market And Its Three Distinctive Elements
Although there are many distinctive elements of the Forex market, there are three that can be highlighted as helping new traders learn exactly what the foreign exchange market is all about. These distinctive elements are those that every new trader should know long before they make their first trade. The Forex system is one that is made to encompass the entire globe. It can be difficult to interpret and even more difficult to successfully trade within. The first step to being a successful trader is knowing how the system works. Before you even think about opening a Forex account, be sure that you are familiar with the foreign exchange market's three distinctive elements: geographical, functional, and participant.

Geographical

The Forex is a huge market that encompasses the entire globe. This is a market that spans from North America to Europe, to China, and back. There is no area it doesn't touch which makes the market so popular. There is simply something for everyone within the Forex market. Its easy 24 hour a day access makes it even more attractive for investors. No matter what time of day you want to trade, there will be someone trading in some distant location around the world. Although there is trading in the Forex in every corner of the globe, the major exchanges are Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bahrain, London, New York, San Francisco, and Sydney. The geographical element of the foreign exchange market can help new traders realize the size and volume of the Forex. It is simply unmatched in volume and size making it a powerful tool for investors everywhere.

Functional

The entire Forex market functions to transfer purchasing power between countries. When trades are made, partners are converting currency revenues into their domestic currency. When one country's purchasing power is strong, another country's purchasing power may be weaker. The Forex market also functions to obtain and provide credit for international trade and to avoid an exchange rate disaster. When it comes to international trade, the Forex is helpful because it helps the movement of goods between countries and offers credit for financing.

Participant

There are two main parts to the foreign exchange market. The first part is the interbank, which is often called the wholesale market. The second part is the client, which is often called the retail market. In these two categories are approximately five different types of participants. The first type of participant being the bank and non-bank foreign exchange dealers who buy at bid prices and sell at asking prices. This helps the efficiency of the market as a whole. An interesting thing to note is that by trading currencies, banks often make up to 20% of their profits.

The second type of participants is made up of individuals, and commercial and investment firms. This group consists of importers, exporters, tourists, and other portfolio investors. They use the market to help them invest. These are often the participants who use the Forex to hedge, which is a way to reduce their risk.

The third group type that seeks to profit from the foreign exchange market are s speculators and arbitragers. These people are out to make money for themselves. They are acting in their own self-interest. They seek profitable rate changes in order to help them profit and try to profit with the least possible risk involved. Large banks are sometimes a part of this group.

Also involved in the Forex are central banks and treasuries. They use it to change the value of their own currency, or to at least attempt to do so. This is something that they do with reserves. Their motive is not to profit but to influence the market. They want the value of their domestic currency to benefit their interests.

Foreign exchange brokers are the last of the five groups involved in the participant element of the Forex. These participants are those who facilitate trading but are not partners in the transaction. They typically charge a fee for their service, which is most often on a commission scale. They are often seen as go betweens for large traders.

by David Mclauchlan

Investment Myths And The Forex Markets
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 101: Make Money with Currency Trading
For those unfamiliar with the term, Forex (FOReign EXchange market), refers to an international exchange market where currencies are bought and sold. The Foreign Exchange Market that we see today began in the 1970's, when free exchange rates and floating currencies were introduced. In such an environment only participants in the market determine the price of one currency against another, based upon supply and demand for that currency.

Forex is a somewhat unique market for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is one of the few markets in which it can be said with very few qualifications that it is free of external controls and that it cannot be manipulated. It is also the largest liquid financial market, with trade reaching between 1 and 1.5 trillion US dollars a day. With this much money moving this fast, it is clear why a single investor would find it near impossible to significantly affect the price of a major currency. Furthermore, the liquidity of the market means that unlike some rarely traded stock, traders are able to open and close positions within a few seconds as there are always willing buyers and sellers.

Another somewhat unique characteristic of the Forex money market is the variance of its participants. Investors find a number of reasons for entering the market, some as longer term hedge investors, while others utilize massive credit lines to seek large short term gains. Interestingly, unlike blue-chip stocks, which are usually most attractive only to the long term investor, the combination of rather constant but small daily fluctuations in currency prices, create an environment which attracts investors with a broad range of strategies.

How Forex Works

Transactions in foreign currencies are not centralized on an exchange, unlike say the NYSE, and thus take place all over the world via telecommunications. Trade is open 24 hours a day from Sunday afternoon until Friday afternoon (00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday). In almost every time zone around the world, there are dealers who will quote all major currencies. After deciding what currency the investor would like to purchase, he or she does so via one of these dealers (some of which can be found online). It is quite common practice for investors to speculate on currency prices by getting a credit line (which are available to those with capital as small as $500), and vastly increase their potential gains and losses. This is called marginal trading.

Marginal Trading

Marginal trading is simply the term used for trading with borrowed capital. It is appealing because of the fact that in Forex investments can be made without a real money supply. This allows investors to invest much more money with fewer money transfer costs, and open bigger positions with a much smaller amount of actual capital. Thus, one can conduct relatively large transactions, very quickly and cheaply, with a small amount of initial capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market is quantified in lots. The term "lot" refers to approximately $100,000, an amount which can be obtained by putting up as little as 0.5% or $500.

EXAMPLE: You believe that signals in the market are indicating that the British Pound will go up against the US Dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the Pound with a 1% margin at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to climb. At some point in the future, your predictions come true and you decide to sell. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips or about $405. Thus, on an initial capital investment of $1,000, you have made over 40% in profits. (Just as an example of how exchange rates change in the course of a day, an average daily change of the Euro (in Dollars) is about 70 to 100 pips.)

When you decide to close a position, the deposit sum that you originally made is returned to you and a calculation of your profits or losses is done. This profit or loss is then credited to your account.

Investment Strategies: Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis

The two fundamental strategies in investing in Forex are Technical Analysis or Fundamental Analysis. Most small and medium sized investors in financial markets use Technical Analysis. This technique stems from the assumption that all information about the market and a particular currency's future fluctuations is found in the price chain. That is to say, that all factors which have an effect on the price have already been considered by the market and are thus reflected in the price. Essentially then, what this type of investor does is base his/her investments upon three fundamental suppositions. These are: that the movement of the market considers all factors, that the movement of prices is purposeful and directly tied to these events, and that history repeats itself. Someone utilizing technical analysis looks at the highest and lowest prices of a currency, the prices of opening and closing, and the volume of transactions. This investor does not try to outsmart the market, or even predict major long term trends, but simply looks at what has happened to that currency in the recent past, and predicts that the small fluctuations will generally continue just as they have before.

A Fundamental Analysis is one which analyzes the current situations in the country of the currency, including such things as its economy, its political situation, and other related rumors. By the numbers, a country's economy depends on a number of quantifiable measurements such as its Central Bank's interest rate, the national unemployment level, tax policy and the rate of inflation. An investor can also anticipate that less quantifiable occurrences, such as political unrest or transition will also have an effect on the market. Before basing all predictions on the factors alone, however, it is important to remember that investors must also keep in mind the expectations and anticipations of market participants. For just as in any stock market, the value of a currency is also based in large part on perceptions of and anticipations about that currency, not solely on its reality.

Make Money with Currency Trading on Forex

Forex investing is one of the most potentially rewarding types of investments available. While certainly the risk is great, the ability to conduct marginal trading on Forex means that potential profits are enormous relative to initial capital investments. Another benefit of Forex is that its size prevents almost all attempts by others to influence the market for their own gain. So that when investing in foreign currency markets one can feel quite confident that the investment he or she is making has the same opportunity for profit as other investors throughout the world. While investing in Forex short term requires a certain degree of diligence, investors who utilize a technical analysis can feel relatively confident that their own ability to read the daily fluctuations of the currency market are sufficiently adequate to give them the knowledge necessary to make informed investments.

by Rich McIver

Currency Trading Is Not The Monopoly Of The Nerds And The Geeks
The general perception is that any and every person who is involved in the business of trading of currency or foreign exchange is a person who has a super high IQ. To hear words and phrases like liquidity ratio, central bank intervention and inflationary demand makes us feel as if we are back in the boring and inherently avoidable lecture on economics that we were forced to attend in our college.

However, all these preconceived notions apart, forex or currency trading is not the domain for the super intelligent alone.

There is no doubt that you need brains to get involved in forex trading. Then, I bet you cannot name a single sphere of human activity that does not need the application of one's mind. A bit of brains and lot of research can help you make a tidy sum in currency trading.

Till recently, the forex trading market was not open to individual investors. To take part in the process of buying and selling of currency, you either had to be a big bank with lots of deposits and assets under your belt or you had to be a big financial institution that carried out the business of trading in forex as its primary activity. Today you do not need a lot of capital to earn money in currency trading. A few thousand dollars as the initial capital is sufficient to get you started.

The advantages of trading in currency are manifold. The biggest advantage is that the currency trading market is a market that remains open round the clock. No other financial market stays open and operation twenty-four hours a day. This round the clock functioning results in constant and immediate reflection of economic, political and social events. A smart investor can take advantage of the fluctuation to make huge profits.

Further, the forex market works without any centralized exchange. There is direct interaction between the persons involved in currency trading over the telephone or electronic network.

However, just because it is easy to enter the currency trading market does not mean it is easy to make profit in the currency trading market. It is very important to possess knowledge of the forex market. You will have to grasp and establish your command over basic concepts. You will have to understand the significance of the technical indicators of the functioning of the forex market. Trying to gain complete knowledge of the currency market without actually entering into the field is like trying to learn swimming without entering the water.

By arriving at a judicious combination of knowledge, instincts and risk, one can make a lot of money in the currency trading market, or the forex market as it is known as, with very little initial investment.

by Sara Chambers

FOREX 101: The Foreign Exchange Market,
The Foreign Exchange Market, or Forex market is a worldwide market where buying and selling of currencies takes place. These transactions take place 5 days a week, 24 hours a day and daily are worth approximately 1.5 trillion dollars (US). The Forex market opened in 1971 when the fixed currency exchanges market was closed. Thanks to the technology now available this market has grown from trading 70 billion dollars (US) a day to the current level.

There are approximately 5,000 institutions in Forex. Some are banks, some commercial companies and some foreign currency brokers. The largest Forex trading centers are located in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore and Paris.

As mentioned above, technology has produced a boom in the Forex market. With the advent of online investing even small investors can take advantage of the Forex market. Over the years many regulations have changed allowing smaller transactions to take place. There are no longer minimum transaction sizes.

Some of the advantages to Forex are:

Brokers earn money by setting the spread, they do not work on a commission basis. The spread is known as the difference between what a currency can be bought for and sold at. The market is open, as mentioned above, 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and is available to you at the push of a button over the internet. The Forex market is a huge one and with bids and ask offers and the high number of transactions taking place on a daily basis the market remains liquid. This means there is always a buyer and a seller for any currency type.

Because there are always movements between currencies even small changes can result in profits for investors. This is due to the fact that the market is broken down into what are called lots. Each lot is worth approximately 100 thousand dollars (US). Individuals can invest through what are called leverage loans. Generally a $1,000.00 investment can get you started.

by John Sanderson

Forex Made Easy for Everyone
Forex made easy is as simple as you would want it to be. The foreign exchange market is a worldwide market and according to some estimates is almost as big as thirty times the turnover of the US Equity markets. That is some figure to chew on. Forex is the commonly used term for foreign exchange. As a person who wants to invest in the forex market, one should understand the basics of how this currency market operates. Forex can be made easier for beginners to understand it and here's how.

Foreign exchange is the buying and the selling of foreign exchange in pairs of currencies. For example you buy US dollars and sell UK Sterling pounds or you sell German Marks and buy Japanese Yen. Why are currencies bought or sold? The answer is simple; Governments and Companies need foreign exchange for their purchase and payments for various commodities and services. This trade constitutes about 5% of all currency transactions, however the other 95% currency transactions are done for speculation and trade. In fact many companies will buy foreign currency when it is being traded at a lower rate to protect their financial investments. Another thing about foreign exchange market is that the rates are varying continuously and on daily basis. Therefore investors and financial managers track the forex rates and the forex market it on a daily basis.

Those who are involved in the forex trade know that almost 85% of the trading is done in only US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. This is because they are the most liquid of foreign currencies (can be easily bought and sold. In fact the US Dollar is most recognizable foreign currency even in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam etc).

Being a truly 24/7 market, the currency trading markets opens in the financial centers of Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York in that sequence. Investors and speculators alike respond to the ever-changing situations and can buy and sell simultaneously the currencies. In fact many operate in two or more currency market using arbitrage to gain profits (buying in one market and selling in another market or vice versa to take advantage of the prices and book profits).

While dealing in forex, one should have a margin account. Quite simply put if you have US$ 1,000 and have a forex margin account which leverages 100:1 then you can buy US$ 100,000 since you only need 1% of the US$100,000 or US$1,000. Therefore it means that with margin account you have US$ 100,000 worth of real purchasing power in your hand.

Since the foreign currency market is fluctuating on a continuous basis, one should be able to understand the factors that affect this currency market. This is done through Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis. These two tools of trade are used in a variety of other markets such as equity markets, stock markets, mutual funds markets etc. Technical Analysis refers to reading, summarizing and analyzing data based on the data that is generated by the market. While fundamental Analysis refers to the factors, which influence the market economy, and in turn how it would affect the currency trading. Of course there are other economic and non economic factors which can suddenly affect the trading of the forex markets such as the 9/11 tragedy etc. One needs to have a shrewd acumen and a few number crunching abilities to strike gold in the forex market.

by Brian Kolewe

Forex Trading — Opportunities for Individuals
Forex Trading-How Can Individual Investors Benefit?
Indeed large multinational and individual banks and other major financial institutions have dominated FX trading (also known as Forex trading), but there is a paradigm change in the nature and type of investing. According to one estimate, in the new millennium, there are over 6 million online investment accounts, up from 1.5 million in 1997. As a result, start-up firms now compete directly with financial institutions to serve investors in the new technologically driven economy, and the clear winner is the customer. The competition between the brick and mortar institutions and the Internet-based companies has dramatically lowered the costs of investing, and empowered the individual investor to take control of their own investment strategy in Forex trading.

We know Forex trading is direct access trading of currencies. In the past, foreign exchange trading was limited to large banks and institutional traders but recent advancements in technology have allowed small traders to take advantage of the many benefits of Forex trading using online trading platforms to trade. Virtually Forex trading is done 24 hours day and almost 5 ? days of a week. In the recent times, online trading has revolutionized the currency markets by making it accessible to the small and medium sized investor.

The Forex trading is perhaps the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average turnover of approximately $1.5 trillion. Foreign Exchange is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. The world's currencies are on a floating exchange rate and are always traded in pairs, for example EUR/USD or USD/JPY or USD/INR etc.

In the new millennium, the Forex trading has become accessible for an individual investor or small group of investors. In the current scenario, investors reap many benefits from Forex trading than stock market, e-mini futures and such other trading. Today mostly traders are choosing Forex trading than stock trading because there are approximately 4,500 stocks listed on the New York Stock exchange. Another 3,500 are listed on the NASDAQ. In spot Forex trading, you have 4 major markets, 24 hours a day 5.5 days a week. If you are so inclined, you have approximately 34 second-tier currencies to look at in your spare time. You can concentrate on the major forex and can find your trade. When you are investing in forex you can spend your afternoon on the golf course or with your spouse watching movie or celebrating holidays-in short it is easy and hassle free than stock/future market.

Not only is it an accessible, easy and less capital-intensive business opportunity, but it is much more cost efficient too to invest in the Forex market, in terms of both commissions and transaction fees. Generally, commissions for stock trades range from a low of $7.95-$29.95 per trade with on-line brokers to over $100 per trade with traditional brokers. Opposite to that, typically stock commissions are directly related to the level of service offered by the broker. At the high end, traditional brokers offer full access to research, analyst stock recommendations, etc. In contrast, on-line Forex brokers charge significantly lower commission and transaction fees.

by Anthony Trister

Reality of Online Forex Trading
Foreign exchange trading is the trading of currencies. Most currencies can be traded. Huge amounts of currencies are traded 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. On average $1.9 trillion is traded a day. The most traded are United States Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, Canadian Dollar, British Pound Sterling, Australian Dollar and Swiss Franc.

Many brokers will let you open an account with a starting balance of just $250. Though that may seem small, remember you will be trading on margin. Your $250 investment may let you control $25,000. As with all investments there are risks so make sure you take the time to study the markets and your exposure before making your first trades. I highly recommend that you do some paper trades first to make sure you have understood how the markets work. No risk training, just write down the trades you would have done for real and chart the prices. Buy and sell and see if you have the right strategy before making real trades.

A fast internet connection will allow you to do forex trading online. Your broker will give you many online tools to allow you to study the markets: Real time quotes, news feeds:

Visit different broker's websites and compare the services they offer. Some brokers give you the possibility to open demo accounts. Do so, to test their software and find the one you like best.

Before you start trading make sure that you have learnt the terminology: Market Order, Limit Order, Stop Order. You may find the definitions of these terms and more information at http://www.forex.value-guides.com/calc-forex.html Calculating Forex Profits And Losses.

All currencies have standard identifying code used worldwide, some examples are: EUR (European euros), GBP (United Kingdom pounds), AUD (Australian dollars). Of course you don't have to know them all but it may be good to be able to recognize all the major currencies codes so that you will be able to make quick decisions.

To make sound evaluations, you need information. Follow carefully the world's current events, economic and political news. You will be surprised to see how, what may seem to you as insignificant will cause the currencies markets to fluctuate wildly.

by David Jones

Introduction To Forex The Foreign Exchange Market
The Foreign Exchange Market — better known as Forex — is a world wide market for buying and selling currencies. It handles a huge volume of transactions 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Daily exchanges are worth approximately $1.5 trillion (US dollars). In comparison, the United States Treasury Bond market averages $300 billion a day and American stock markets exchange about $100 billion a day.

The Foreign Exchange Market was established in 1971 with the abolishment of fixed currency exchanges. Currencies became valued at 'floating' rates determined by supply and demand. The Forex grew steadily throughout the 1970's, but with the technological advances of the 80's Forex grew from trading levels of $70 billion a day to the current level of $1.5 trillion.

The Forex is made up of about 5000 trading institutions such as international banks, central government banks (such as the US Federal Reserve), and commercial companies and brokers for all types of foreign currency exchange. There is no centralized location of Forex — major trading centers are located in New York, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris, and Frankfurt, and all trading is by telephone or over the Internet. Businesses use the market to buy and sell products in other countries, but most of the activity on the Forex is from currency traders who use it to generate profits from small movements in the market.

Even though there are many huge players in Forex, it is accessible to the small investor thanks to recent changes in the regulations. Previously, there was a minimum transaction size and traders were required to meet strict financial requirements. With the advent of Internet trading, regulations have been changed to allow large interbank units to be broken down into smaller lots. Each lot is worth about $100,000 and is accessible to the individual investor through 'leverage' — loans extended for trading. Typically, lots can be controlled with a leverage of 100:1 meaning that US$1,000 will allow you to control a $100,000 currency exchange.

There are many advantages to trading in Forex.

— Liquidity — Because of the size of the Foreign Exchange Market, investments are extremely liquid. International banks are continuously providing bid and ask offers and the high number of transactions each day means there is always a buyer or a seller for any currency.

— Accessibility — The market is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. The market opens Monday morning Australian time and closes Friday afternoon New York time. Trades can be done on the Internet from your home or office.

— Open Market — Currency fluctuations are usually caused by changes in national economies. News about these changes is accessible to everyone at the same time — there can be no 'insider trading' in Forex.

— No commission — Brokers earn money by setting a 'spread' — the difference between what a currency can be bought at and what it can be sold at.

How does it work?

Currencies are always traded in pairs — the US dollar against the Japanese yen, or the English pound against the euro. Every transaction involves selling one currency and buying another, so if an investor believes the euro will gain against the dollar, he will sell dollars and buy euros.

The potential for profit exists because there is always movement between currencies. Even small changes can result in substantial profits because of the large amount of money involved in each transaction. At the same time, it can be a relatively safe market for the individual investor. There are safeguards built in to protect both the broker and the investor and a number of software tools exist to minimize loss.

by Norman Fleming

Forex Glossary, Here are some of the most common terms used in FOREX trading.

Ask Price — Sometimes called the Offer Price, this is the market price for traders to buy currencies. Ask Prices are shown on the right side of a quote — e.g. EUR/USD 1.1965 / 68 — means that one euro can be bought for 1.1968 UD dollars.

Bar Chart — A type of chart used in Technical Analysis. Each time division on the chart is displayed as a vertical bar which show the following information — the top of the bar is the high price, the bottom of the bar is the low price, the horizontal line on the left of the bar shows the opening price and the horizontal line on the right of bar shows the closing price.

Base Currency — is the first currency in a currency pair. A quote shows how much the base currency is worth in the quote (second) currency. For example, in the quote — USD/JPY 112.13 — US dollars are the base currency, with 1 US dollar being worth 112.13 Japanese yen.

Bid Price — is the price a trader can sell currencies. The Bid Price is shown on the left side of a quote — e.g. EUR/USD 1.1965 / 68 — means that one euro can be sold for 1.1965 UD dollars.

Bid/Ask Spread — is the difference between the bid price and the ask price in any currency quotation. The spread represents the broker's fee, and varies from broker to broker.

Broker — the intermediary between buyer and seller. Most FOREX brokers are associated with large financial institutions and earn money by setting a spread between bid and ask prices.

Candlestick Chart — A type of chart used in Technical Analysis. Each time division on the chart is displayed as a candlestick — a red or green vertical bar with extensions above and below the candlestick body. The top of the extension shows the highest price for the chart division and the bottom of the extension shows the lowest price. Red candlesticks indicate a lower closing price than opening price, and green candlesticks indicate the price is rising.

Cross Currency — A currency pair that does not include US dollars — e.g. EUR/GBP.

Currency Pair — Two currencies involved in a FOREX transaction — e.g. EUR/USD.

Economic Indicator — A statistical report issued by governments or academic institutions indicating economic conditions within a country.

First In First Out (FIFO) — refers to the order open orders are liquidated. The first orders to be liquidated are the first that were opened.

Foreign Exchange (FOREX, FX) — Simultaneously buying one currency and selling another.

Fundamental Analysis — Analysis of political and economic conditions that can affect currency prices.

Leverage or Margin — The ratio of the value of a transaction to the required deposit. A common margin for FOREX trading is 100:1 — you can trade currency worth 100 times the amount of your deposit.

Limit Order — An order to buy or sell when the price reaches a specified level.

Lot — The size of a FOREX transaction. Standard lots are worth about 100,000 US dollars.

Major Currency — The euro, German mark, Swiss franc, British pound, and the Japanese yen are the major currencies.

Minor Currency — The Canadian dollar, the Australian dollar, and the New Zealand dollar are the minor currencies.

One Cancels the Other (OCO) — Two orders placed simultaneously with instructions to cancel the second order on execution of the first.

Open Position — An active trade that has not been closed.

Pips or Points — The smallest unit a currency can be traded in.

Quote Currency — The second currency in a currency pair. In the currency pair USD/EUR the euro is the quote currency.

Rollover — Extending the settlement time of spot deals to the current delivery date. The cost of rollover is calculated using swap points based on interest rate differentials.

Technical Analysis — Analysis of historical market data to predict future movements in the market.

Tick — The minimum change in price.

Transaction Cost — The cost of a FOREX transaction — typically the spread between bid and ask prices.

Volatility — A statistical measure indicating the tendency of sharp price movements within a period of time.

by Norman Fleming

Forex Market Offers Opportunity And Information
The forex market is what is called an international exchange currency market, where currencies are exchanged on a daily basis. There are five forex market centers around the world — New York, London, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Zurich. One does not need to be on the trading floor, so to speak to be involved in the forex market. Today, forex trading can be done from home on a computer.

The forex market itself is basically a worldwide connection of traders, who make investment moves based on the price of currencies, or their values relative to other currencies. These traders constantly negotiate prices with other traders resulting in the fluctuation or movement of a currency's value. The value of a currency on the forex market also corresponds with supply. If there is greater demand for the Euro, let's say, then there will be less supply of it on the forex market, which means, in time, it will make a Euro more valuable compared to let's say the dollar. In short, in this forex market situation, one Euro would yield more dollars, subsequently weakening the dollar as well. Analyzing the forex market's fluctuations allows investors to make predictions on how a currency will move in relation to another currency. They then can make predictions and buy and sell currency accordingly.

While some people view the forex market as a place to see what their exchange rate will be when they travel abroad, others view it as an opportunity to make great gains in their financial planning and future.

by Jay Moncliff

How To Get Started In FOREX Trading
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

Online Forex Trading Do you know what Forex trading is?
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

Futures Versus Forex (Foreign Exchange Market)
Todays current futures market is quite unlike the futures of the 19th century. Todays future market is a worldwide one that includes manufactured goods, financial currencies and treasury bonds, and agricultural products.

When you speculate on futures it is not the actual good that is speculated upon rather it is the contract for the goods that is traded as value. Every futures contract includes a buyer and a seller. The following is an example of a futures speculation: A farmer agrees to deliver 1000 bushels of corn to a baker at a price of $5.00 a bushel. If the daily price of corn futures falls to $4.00 a bushel, the farmer's account is credited with $1000 ($5.00 — $4.00 X 1000 bushels) and the baker's account is debited by the same amount. Futures accounts are settled every day.

Using the above as an example this is how the contract settlement would play out: If the price of corn futures is still at $4.00 the farmer will have made $1000 on the futures contract and the baker will have lost an equal amount. However, the baker can now purchase corn on the open market at $4.00 a bushel — $1000 less than the original contract, so the amount he lost on the futures contract is made up by the cheaper cost of corn. Also, the farmer must sell his corn on the open market for $4.00 a bushel, less than what he anticipated when entering the futures contract, but the profit generated by the futures contract makes up the difference.

Speculators profit by daily fluctuations in the futures market by choosing to buy from the seller (buying short) or from the buyer (buying long).

The FOREX market has advantages over the futures market. FOREX is the largest financial market in the world. It is a liquid market and stop orders can be executed more easily and with less slippage than in other markets. The FOREX market is open 5 days a week, 24 hours a day. Traders can take advantages of opportunities as they become available. FOREX transactions are usually instantly executed. FOREX transactions are commission free. Brokers earn money on the spread.

Some investors feel that due to built in safeguards that FOREX trading is safer than futures trading.

by Jeff Slokum

FOREX-Euro below $1.45 as oil tumble lifts dollar
United States - (Recasts, adds comment and quote, updates prices, changes byline and dateline. Previous: TOKYO)
* Dollar extends gains as oil tumble accelerates
* Dollar index at 10-mo high, euro at 7-mo low sub-$1.45
* Oil sinks toward $105
* Sterling makes new lows as UK econ bearishness persists
By Jamie McGeever
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The dollar extended its rally on Monday to fresh 2008 highs against a basket of currencies as oil's startling fall toward $105 a barrel boosted expectations of lower global inflation and non-U.S. interest rates.

The euro fell to its lowest in seven months against the rampant greenback below $1.45, while sterling's dismal run continued and it fell to fresh historical lows.

Compounding an increasingly bleak UK economic outlook, the dollar's broad strength helped push the pound firmly below $1.80 to a fresh low since April 2006, and the pound also made new historical lows against the euro and a basket of currencies.

But the dominant theme driving financial markets on Tuesday was oil's tumble to $105.46/bbl following the downgrade of Hurricane Gustav on Monday to Category 2.

Oil is down almost 30 percent from its record peak just shy of $150/bbl in July. This suggests inflation around the world will come down in the coming months, giving central banks room to deliver growth-supportive interest rates cuts.

Australia's central bank cut rates by a quarter percentage point earlier on Tuesday to 7 percent, helping drive the Australian dollar down sharply to its lowest in a year.

Base rates in the United States have already been slashed in the past year to 2 percent while Japanese rates stand at only 0.75 percent. These rates are unlikely to go much lower.

"What does that mean? We will see mounting rate cut expectations, which means spreads will move in favour of the U.S. dollar and partly in favour of the yen," said Michael Klawitter, head of FX strategy at Dresdner Kleinwort.

"So consequently, the dollar in gaining by default. That's the key driver at the moment - what will we see with rates spreads in 2009."

At 0830 GMT the euro was down 0.8 percent on the day at $1.4485, below $1.45 for the first time since February and more than 15 cents off its all-time high struck mid-July.

The dollar index climbed 1.3 percent to 78.198, a near ten-month high.

The Australian dollar was down 2.1 percent at $0.8340, its lowest in a year, after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut rates a quarter point to 7 percent.

The dollar was up 0.5 percent against the yen at 108.58 yen , above a one-month low of 107.62 struck the previous day.

Sterling touched a two-year low of $1.7850 before pulling back to $1.7920, down 0.5 percent.

The Australian dollar fell to $0.8472, and hit a fresh one-year low of $0.8458. It had briefly risen as high as $0.8534 after the rate cut news.


MASSIVE MOVES

The moves, with global FX market liquidity returning to more normal levels as U.S. markets open after the Labor Day holiday on Monday, have been staggering.

Oil is down 8 percent from Friday's settlement close, its biggest one-day fall (because Monday was a U.S. holiday) in over five years and takes its fall from the July peak to almost 30 percent.

The euro is down almost 10 percent from its July peak, sterling has shed more than 10 percent against the dollar in barely a month, and the dollar index has appreciated by 10 percent since mid-July.

All eyes will be on ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet on Thursday when he speaks to reporters after, in all probability, keeping rates on hold at 4.25 percent.

With oil falling sharply, investors will be looking for signs his anti-inflation rhetoric is cooling. Maurice Pomery, head of currency strategy at IDEAGlobal, noted that the RBA was until recently one ofthe most hawkish central banks.

"I strongly believe others will follow sooner than expected," he said, with the possible exception of the ECB.

But even they will be forced to recognise the changing environment. And if they don't: "Nobody will take then at face value," said Klawitter at Dresdner.

The UK pound, already under heavy selling pressure after Britain's finance minister said at the weekend that economic challenges are the greatest in 60 years, fell further.

It fell 0.8 percent to a two-and-a-half year low against the dollar at $1.7849, a 12-year low on a trade-weighted measure at 88.5, and the euro earlier hit a record high of 81.62 pence.

To the extent that economic data will have any influence on trading Tuesday, attention now turns to euro zone producer prices figures and the latest snapshot of the U.S. manufacturing sector with the August ISM report. See.
Reuters,

FOREX: What Is It And How Does It Work?
The Foreign Exchange market, also referred to as the "Forex" is the biggest and largest financial market in the world. It has a daily average turnover of US$1.9 trillion- just imagine that amount of money! Don't you want to join this trillion-dollar industry?

Forex is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Currencies are traded in pairs, for example Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). So basically, Forex is trading.

There are two reasons to buy and sell currencies. About 5% of daily turnover is from companies and governments that buy or sell products and services in a foreign country or must convert profits made in foreign currencies into their domestic currency.

The other 95% is trading for profit, or what you call speculation. Investors frequently trade on information they believe to be superior and relevant, when in fact it is not and is fully discounted by the market.

On one side of each speculative stock trade is a participant who believes he has superior information and on the other side is another participant who believes his information is superior.

For speculators, the best trading opportunities are with the most commonly traded (and therefore most liquid- meaning its in cash or convertible to cash) currencies, called "the Majors." Today, more than 85% of all daily transactions involve trading of the Majors.

A true 24-hour market, Forex trading begins each day in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins in each financial center, first to Tokyo, London, and New York. Unlike any other financial market, investors can respond to currency fluctuations caused by economic, social and political events at the time they occur — real time- day or night.

The Forex market is considered an Over The Counter (OTC) or 'interbank' market. This is because the transactions are conducted between two counterparts over the telephone or via an electronic network. Trading is not centralized on an exchange compared to stocks and futures markets.

Understanding Forex quotes

Reading a Forex quote may seem a bit confusing at first. However, it's really quite simple if you remember two things: 1) The first currency listed first is the base currency and 2) the value of the base currency is always 1.

The US dollar is the centerpiece of the Forex market and is normally considered the 'base' currency for quotes. In the "Majors", this includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD. For these currencies and many others, quotes are expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the second currency quoted in the pair. For example, a quote of USD/JPY 110.01 means that one U.S. dollar is equal to 110.01 Japanese yen.

When the U.S. dollar is the base unit and a currency quote goes up, it means the dollar has appreciated in value and the other currency has weakened. If the USD/JPY quote we previously mentioned increases to 113.01, the dollar is stronger because it will now buy more yen than before.

The three exceptions to this rule are the British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD) and the Euro (EUR). In these cases, you might see a quote such as GBP/USD 1.7366, meaning that one British pound equals 1.7366 U.S. dollars.

In these three currency pairs, where the U.S. dollar is not the base rate, a rising quote means a weakening dollar, as it now takes more U.S. dollars to equal one pound, euro or Australian dollar.

In other words, if a currency quote goes higher, that increases the value of the base currency. A lower quote means the base currency is weakening.

Currency pairs that do not involve the U.S. dollar are called cross currencies, but the premise is the same. For example, a quote of EUR/JPY 127.95 signifies that one Euro is equal to 127.95 Japanese yen.

When trading Forex you will often see a two-sided quote, consisting of a 'bid' and 'offer'. The 'bid' is the price at which you can sell the base currency (at the same time buying the counter currency). The 'ask' is the price at which you can buy the base currency (at the same time selling the counter currency).

by Frederic Madore

Interested in FOREX Trading?
The Foreign Exchange Market (Forex) has no central exchange location yet it is the largest financial market in the world. It is over 3x's the size of the stock and futures markets combined and operates via an electronic network of a banks, corporations and investors.

Foreign exchange consists of a simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Currency is traded in pairs, in other words, one currency is traded for another. The major currencies are:

USD — United States Dollar
EUR — Euro members Euro
JPY — Japan Yen
GBP — Great Britian pound
CHF — Switzerland franc
CAD — Canadian dollar
AUD — Australia dollar

There are 2 types of investors involved in the Forex market.The first type of investor is the hedger. The hedger is involved in International trades and utilizes Forex trading to protect their interest in a transaction from adverse currency fluctuations. The 2nd type of investor is the speculator who invests in currency solely for profit.

Currency prices fluctuate due to a variety of economic and political factors. The major factors are:

Interest rates
International trade
Inflation
Political stability

There are many reasons investors take a great interest in FX trading Some of the major reasons are:

No fees
No middlemen
No fixed trade sizes
Low transaction cost
High liquidity
Instant transactions
Low margin / High leverage
24 hour market
Online access via online trading platforms
Always good opportunities to trade, unlike the stock market the market is never bullish or bearish.
No one entity can control the market
No insider trading can occur

To begin trading in the Forex market, an investor only needs a computer, a high-speed internet connection and an online trading currency account. A mini account can be opened for as little as $100.

These are some of the reasons why Forex trading has become quite popular in recent years. For more information on getting started in FX Trading visit http://www.fx-trading-guide.com/

by Jill Kane

Forex Trading — Understanding Commissions, Spreads and Trading Costs
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 (more on this later on)

— 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 Forex market really 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 understand what currencies you are going to be trading, how frequently, and in what type of account and use those factors to help decide which broker can offer you the best trading costs.

by Rich Cochrane

Forex: Benefits of Trading the Forex Market
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

Here I am going to give you a checklist on how to get started in forex trading from home in just 14 days and then be on target to make triple digit profits in under 30 minutes a day.

What inspired me to write this article is the "turtle experiment" where Richard Dennis taught a group of traders to trade in just 14 days and they went on to make hundreds of millions of dollars. You probably won't make as much money as this group but it shows anyone can learn and anyone can be successful, if they have the right forex education.

Lets get started and the first area to focus on is learning about forex charts and formations and all this information is available free online. You need to focus on long term trend following and base your strategy on breakouts.

We have written about these frequently simply look up our other articles. Once you have this mastered, check some indicators to time you're trading signals and take your time two great ones to start with are the stochastic and RSI, so look them up.

You will now have a simple robust forex trading strategy you can apply for profit. Don't think simple systems don't make money - they do. Simple systems are robust and easy to understand and will enable you to have confidence and discipline which is essential for currency trading success.

Discipline is what separates winners from losers.

You must be able to apply your trading system through losing periods with discipline until you hit a home run and if you cant do it - you don't have a system.

It's always good to get some lessons from the pros and some books which are from traders who have walked the walk and don't just talk the talk.

Here are a few which I think can help any trader.

The Disciplined Trader - Mark Douglas

This is simply one of the best books on trading discipline you will read and for any newbie trader who thinks discipline is easy, read it and you will see why its not and why most traders cant master it.

Another excellent book is.

The Way of the Turtle - Curtis Faith

The most successful of the turtle group we discussed earlier, its essential reading and very inspiring as well.

Finally I simply love the book - Trader Vic Methods of a Wall Street Master by Victor Sperandeo.

This guy is simply consistent decade after decade of huge returns and you get a bit of everything in this book.

The above 3 books will cost you less than a $100.00 but will give you some great insight on the discipline side and what it takes to be a winner and pay for themselves many times over.

When you come to trade your system, make sure that you have enough cash forget trading with $50 d and get a reasonable amount so you have staying power. $500 - 1,000 is a bare minimum and preferably $5,000.

Do not over leverage, take it gently to start, forget about 200:1 leverage and start at 10.

You are in this for the long run and you need to preserve equity and build your base.

Once your system is set you are ready to roll, don't believe all the people who say you should try and improve their system, or keep journals of your losses its complete waste of time.

You are going to lose, that's trading and the perfect system doesn't exist.

I have used the same system for 25 years and never changed it sure it losses but overall it gives me great annual profits for less than 30 minutes work a day and the system enclosed can do the same for you, allowing you to become a profitable forex trader from home.

Follow the above steps and you could be on the road to currency trading success in just 2 weeks and making profits in around 30 minutes day.

NEW! 2 X FREE ESSENTIAL TRADER PDFS ESSENTIAL FOREX TRADING COURSE

For free 2 x trading Pdf's, with 50 of pages of essential info on Becoming a Currency Trader From Home visit our website at: http://www.learncurrencytradingonline.com.

Forex Trading From Home - Become a Successful Trader in 2 Weeks!
By: Kelly Price

For 6 Advantages Forex Trading Has Over Other Investments
There are many different advantages to trading forex instead of futures or stocks, such as:

1. Lower Margin

Just like futures and stock speculation, a forex trader has the ability to control a large amount of the currency basically by putting up a small amount of margin. However, the margin requirements that are needed for trading futures are usually around 5% of the full value of the holding, or 50% of the total value of the stocks, the margin requirements for forex is about 1%. For example, margin required to trade foreign exchange is $1000 for every $100,000. What this means is that trading forex, a currency trader's money can play with 5-times as much value of product as a futures trader's, or 50 times more than a stock trader's. When you are trading on margin, this can be a very profitable way to create an investment strategy, but it's important that you take the time to understand the risks that are involved as well. You should make sure that you fully understand how your margin account is going to work. You will want to be sure that you read the margin agreement between you and your clearing firm. You will also want to talk to your account representative if you have any questions.

The positions that you have in your account could be partially or completely liquidated on the chance that the available margin in your account falls below a predetermined amount. You may not actually get a margin call before your positions are liquidated. Because of this, you should monitor your margin balance on a regular basis and utilize stop-loss orders on every open position to limit downside risk.

2. No Commission and No Exchange Fees

When you trade in futures, you have to pay exchange and brokerage fees. Trading forex has the advantage of being commission free. This is far better for you. Currency trading is a worldwide inter-bank market that lets buyers to be matched with sellers in an instant.

Even though you do not have to pay a commission charge to a broker to match the buyer up with the seller, the spread is usually larger than it is when you are trading futures. For example, if you were trading a Japanese Yen/US Dollar pair, forex trade would have about a 3 point spread (worth $30). Trading a JY futures trade would most likely have a spread of 1 point (worth $10) but you would also be charged the broker's commission on top of that. This price could be as low as $10 in-and-out for self-directed online trading, or as high as $50 for full-service trading. It is however, all inclusive pricing though. You are going to have to compare both online forex and your specific futures commission charge to see which commission is the greater one.

3. Limited Risk and Guaranteed Stops

When you are trading futures, your risk can be unlimited. For example, if you thought that the prices for Live Cattle were going to continue their upward trend in December 2003, just before the discovery of Mad Cow Disease found in US cattle. The price for it after that fell dramatically, which moved the limit down several days in a row. You would not have been able to leave your position and this could have wiped out the entire equity in your account as a result. As the price just kept on falling, you would have been obligated to find even more money to make up the deficit in your account.

4. Rollover of Positions

When futures contracts expire, you have to plan ahead if you are going to rollover your trades. Forex positions expire every two days and you need to rollover each trade just so that you can stay in your position.

5. 24-Hour Marketplace

With futures, you are generally limited to trading only during the few hours that each market is open in any one day. If a major news story breaks out when the markets are closed, you will not have a way of getting out of it until the market reopens, which could be many hours away. Forex, on the other hand, is a 24/5 market. The day begins in New York, and follows the sun around the globe through Europe, Asia, Australia and back to the US again. You can trade any time you like Monday-Friday.

6. Free market place

Foreign exchange is perhaps the largest market in the world with an average daily volume of US$1.4 trillion. That is 46 times as large as all the futures markets put together! With the huge number of people trading forex around the globe, it is very hard for even governments to control the price of their own currency.

by David Morrison

The Benefits of Trading The Forex Market
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

Introduction To Forex Trading
There are many markets: markets for stocks, futures, options and currencies. These are probably the most accessible markets for everyday traders like you and I. People easily understand the basics of trading shares, so I will occasionally use examples from that market.

I began trading shares first and then I moved on to trading currencies; therefore, most of the examples I will be using in this book are derived from trading currencies.

If you do not know a lot about currency trading, allow me to introduce it to you. It is what I trade and I believe that it is one of the best markets to trade because of its efficiency. The transaction costs to execute a trade are minimal and most brokers provide you with the tools and data you need to make your trading decisions, they usually provide them for free. The market is open 24 hours a day which allows you to design your trading hours around your daily commitments. It is very volatile, which is great for those people who are looking for day-trading opportunities.

The foreign exchange market is the market in which currencies are bought and sold against one another. People may loosely refer to this market under different labels, including foreign exchange market, forex market, fx market or the currency market.

The foreign exchange market is the largest market in the world, with daily trading volumes in excess of $1.5 trillion US dollars. All transactions involving international trade and investment must go through this market because these transactions involve the exchange of currencies.

It is the most perfect market that exists because it has a large number of buyers and sellers all selling the same products. There is a free flow of information and there are little barriers to participate.

The currency exchange market is an over-the-counter (OTC) market which means that there is not one specific location where buyers and sellers can actually meet to exchange currencies. Instead, transactions are conducted by phone, fax, e-mail or through the websites of brokers who specialize in currency trading.

The major dealing centres at the time of writing are: London , with about 30% of the market, New York , with 20%, Tokyo , with 12%, Zurich , Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Singapore , with about 7% each, followed by Paris and Sydney with 3% each. Because of the fact that these centres are all over the world, foreign exchange traders can execute transactions 24 hours a day. The market only closes on the weekends.

THE MAIN 'PLAYERS' IN THE FOREX MARKET

The five broad categories of participants are: consumers, businesses, investors, speculators, commercial banks, investment banks and central banks.

Consumers, including visitors of countries, tourists and immigrants, do need to exchange currencies when they travel so that they can buy local goods and services. These participants do not have the power to set prices. They just buy and sell according to the prevailing exchange rate. They make up a significant proportion of the volume being traded in the market.

Businesses that import and export goods and services need to exchange currencies to receive or make payments for goods they may have bought or services they may have rendered.

Investors and speculators require currencies to buy and sell investment instruments such as shares, bonds, bank deposits or real estate.

Large commercial and investment banks are the 'price makers'. They are the ones who buy and sell currencies at the bid-and-offer exchange rates that they declare through their foreign exchange dealers.

Commercial banks deal with customers on one hand, and with the Interbank or other banks, on the other hand. They profit by utilizing the bid-and-offer spread. The bid price is the exchange rate that the buyer is willing to buy and the offer price is the exchange rate at which the seller is willing to sell. The difference is called the bid-offer spread. They also make profits from speculating about whether the exchange rate will rise or fall.

Central banks participate in the foreign exchange market in their effective duty as banks for their particular government. They trade currencies not for the intention of making profits but rather to facilitate government monetary policies and to help smoothen out the fluctuation of the value of their economy's currency.

by Marquez Comelab