Trading Currency Blog

Larry Schade asked:


FOREX MARKET HOURSAt 7:00 pm Sunday, New York time, trading begins as markets open in Tokyo, Japan. Next, Singapore and Hong Kong open at 9:00 pm EST, followed by the European markets in Frankfurt (2:00 am), and then London (3:00 am). By 4:00 am, the European markets are in full swing, and Asia has concluded their trading day. The U.S. markets open first in New York around 8:00 am Monday, as Europe winds down. Australia will take over around 5:00 pm, and by 7:00 pm Tokyo is ready to re-open.All times are quoted in Eastern Standard Time (New York).FX or Forex, currency trading is the trading of one currency against another. In terms of trading volume, the currency exchange market is the world’s largest market, with daily trading volumes in excess of $1.5 trillion US dollars. This is orders of magnitude larger than the bond or stock markets. The New York Stock Exchange, for example, has a daily trading volume of approximately $50 billion. Currencies are traded for hedging and speculative purposes. Various market participants such as individuals, corporations, and institutions trade forex for one or both reasons. Corporate treasurers, private individuals and investors have currency exposures during the the regular course of business. The FXTrade Platform is an ideal platform to hedge any such exposure. An investor, who has bought a European stock and expects the EUR exchange rate to decline, can hedge his currency exposure by selling the EUR against the USD. Currency markets are ideally suited for speculative trading. The foreign exchange market has a daily volume in excess of 1.5 trillion USD, which is 50 times the size of the transaction volume of all the equity markets taken together. This makes the foreign exchange market, by far, the most liquid and efficient financial market of the world. Thanks to its efficiency, there is little or no slippage of market price for the execution of even large buy and sell orders. Traders are able to take advantage of intra-day volatility thanks to the low spreads and enter positions for short time periods, such as minutes and hours. Unlike equity trading, where restrictions limit a trader’s ability to profit from a market down turn, there are no such constraints on currency trading. Currency traders can take advantage of both up and down trends thus increasing their profit potential.The most commonly traded currencies are: USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD and AUD.The most commonly traded currency pair is EUR/USD.Forex Symbol Guide Symbol Currency Pair Trading Terminology GBP/USD British Pound / US Dollar “Cable” EUR/USD Euro / US Dollar “Euro” USD/JPY US Dollar / Japanese Yen “Dollar Yen” USD/CHF US Dollar / Swiss Franc “Dollar Swiss”, or “Swissy” USD/CAD US Dollar / Canadian Dollar “Dollar Canada” AUD/USD Australian Dollar / US Dollar “Aussie Dollar” EUR/GBP Euro / British Pound “Euro Sterling” EUR/JPY Euro / Japanese Yen “Euro Yen” EUR/CHF Euro / Swiss Franc “Euro Swiss” GBP/CHF British Pound / Swiss Franc “Sterling Swiss” GBP/JPY British Pound / Japanese Yen “Sterling Yen” CHF/JPY Swiss Franc / Japanese Yen “Swiss Yen” NZD/USD New Zealand Dollar / US Dollar “New Zealand Dollar” or “Kiwi” USD/ZAR US Dollar / South African Rand “Dollar Zar” or “South African Rand” GLD/USD Spot Gold “Gold” SLV/USD Spot Silver “Silver” CURRENCY PAIRSAll currencies are assigned an International Standards Organization (ISO) code abbreviation. In currency trading, these codes are often used to express which specific currencies make up a currency pair. For example, USD/JPY refers to two currencies: the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen. SPOT FOREX Spot foreign exchange is always traded as one currency in relation to another. So a trader who believes that the dollar will rise in relation to the Euro, would sell EUR/USD. That is, sell Euros and buy US dollars. The following is guide for quoting conventions: What does it mean to be “long” or “short” a currency?Being long means buying a currency. Being short means selling a currency. If a trader goes long USD/JPY, he or she buys US Dollars and sells Japanese Yen. Buying a currency is synonymous with taking a long position in that currency. A trader takes a long position in a currency if he or she believes it will appreciate in value.If a trader goes short USD/JPY, he or she sells US Dollars and buys Japanese Yen. Selling a currency is synonymous with shorting that currency. A trader would short a currency if he or she believes it will depreciate in value.CURRENCY TRADING: BUYING AND SELLING CURRENCIESAll Forex trades result in the buying of one currency and the selling of another (currency trading), simultaneously. Buying (”going long”) the currency pair implies buying the first, base currency and selling an equivalent amount of the second, quote currency (to pay for the base currency). It is not necessary to own the quote currency prior to selling, as it is sold short. A trader buys a currency pair if he/she believes the base currency will go up relative to the quote currency, or equivalently that the corresponding exchange rate will go up. Selling (”going short”) the currency pair implies selling the first, base currency, and buying the second, quote currency. A trader sells a currency pair if he/she believes the base currency will go down relative to the quote currency, or equivalently, that the quote currency will go up relative to the base currency. An open trade or position is one in which a trader has either bought or sold one currency pair and has not sold or bought back an adequate amount of that currency pair to effectively close the trade. When a trader has an open trade or position, he/she stands to profit or lose from fluctuations in the price of that currency pair.Forex is the backbone of all international capital transactions. Compared to the slim profit margins rendered in other areas of commercial banking, huge profits are generally produced in a matter of minutes form minor currency market movements. Some banks generate 60% of their profits from trading currency aggressively.Trading volume has been growing at a rate of 25% per year since the mid-1980s and therefore it is not difficult to accept the notion that the currency market is one of the world fastest growing industries. What used to require days to accomplish in Europe or Asia now oly takes a few minutes. Needless to say, technology has changed everything and millions of Dollars are moved from one currency into another every second of every day by major banks through computers and for the average investor, with the touch of a computer key.Foreign exchange is the backbone of all international capital transactions. Compared to the slim profit margins rendered in other areas of commercial banking, huge profits are generally produced in a matter of minutes from minor currency options market movements. Some banks generate up to 60% of their profits from trading currency aggressively. Transactions in foreign currencies take place when one country’s currency is purchased (exchanged) with another country’s currency. The price agreed upon or negotiated for the currency purchased is referred to as the foreign exchange rate. Major commercial banks in the money market centers throughout the world are responsible for the majority of foreign currencies bought and sold. Trading volume has been growing at a rate of 25% per year since the mid-1980s and therefore it is not difficult to accept the notion that the currency options is the world’s fastest growing industry. What used to require days to accomplish in Europe or Asia now only takes a few minutes. Needless to say, technology has changed everything and millions of Dollars are moved from one currency into another every second of every day by major banks through computers and for the average investor, with the touch of a phone.FOREX BASICS - What’s a PIP A “pip” is the smallest increment in any currency pair. In EUR/USD, a movement from .8951 to .8952 is one pip, so a pip is .0001. In USD/JPY, a movement from 130.45 to 130.46 is one pip, so a pip is .01. CALCULATING THE WORTH OF A PIP How much in dollars is this movement worth, for example, per 10,000 Euros in EUR/USD? How much is one pip worth per 10,000 Dollars in USD/JPY? We will refer to the size, in this case 10,000 units of the base currency, as the “Notional Amount”. The formula for calculating a pip value is therefore: (one pip, with proper decimal placement / currency exchange rate) x (Notional Amount) Using USD/JPY as an example, this yields: (.01/130.46) x USD 10,000 = $0.77 or 77 cents per pip Using EUR/USD as an example, we have: (.0001/.8942) x EUR 10,000 = EUR 1.1183 But we want the pip value in USD, so we then must multiply EUR 1.1183 x (EUR/USD exchange rate): EUR 1.1183 x .8942 = $1.00 This is in fact a phenomenon you will see with any currency in which the currency is quoted first (such as EUR/USD or GBP/USD): the pip value is always $1.00 per 10,000 currency units. This is why pip (or “tick”) values in currency futures, where the currency is quoted first, are always fixed. Approximate pip values for the major currencies are as follows, per 10,000 units of the base currency: USD/JPY: 1 pip = $.77 (i.e. a change from 130.45 to 130.46 is worth about $.77 per $10,000) EUR/USD: 1 pip = $1.00 (.8941 to .8942 is worth $1.00 per 10,000 Euros) GBP/USD: 1 pip = $1.00 (1.4765 to 1.4766 is worth $1.00 per 10,000 Pounds) USD/CHF: 1 pip = $.59 (1.6855 to 1.6866 is worth $.59 per $10,000)SpreadThe spread is the difference between the price that you can sell currency at ( Bid) and the price you can buy currency at ( Ask). The spread on majors is usually 3 pips under normal market conditions. Market HoursThe spot Forex market is unique to any other market in the world; trading 24-hours a day. Somewhere around the world a financial center is open for business and banks and other institutions exchange currencies every hour of the day and night, only stopping briefly on the weekend. Foreign exchange markets follow the sun around the world, giving traders the flexibility of determining their trading day and the ability to take advantage of global economic events.FOREX or The Foreign exchange rate market is an international market where various currency exchange transactions take place; this is in the shape of simultaneously buying one currency and selling another. The most commonly traded currencies are referred to as “Majors”; over 85% of daily transactions on Forex trading involve the Majors. These seven currencies are the US Currency (Dollar, USD), Japanese Yen (JPY), Euro (EUR), British Pound (GBP), Swiss Franc (CHF), Canadian Dollar (CAD) and Australian Dollar (AUD). The Forex system in operation today was established in the 1970s when free currency exchange rates were introduced, this period also saw the US Dollar overtake the British Pound as the benchmark currency. Prior to this and in particular during World War II, exchange rate remained more stable. Forex trading in simplest terms is the buying of one currency and the selling of another. Forex trading, also referred to, as “FX” is open to corporations, small businesses, commercial banks, investment funds and private individuals, it is the largest financial market in the world averaging a daily turnover of over $1 trillion dollars, making it a diverse and exciting market. It is a 24-hour market enabling it to accommodate constant changing world currency exchange rates . According to New York time, trading begins at 2.15pm on Sunday in Sydney and Singapore and progresses through to Tokyo at 7pm, London at 2am and reaches New York at 8am. This leaves investors free to respond to global political, economic and social events when they take place, day or night. Unlike trading on the stock market, the forex market is not conducted by a central exchange, but on the “interbank” market, which is thought of as an OTC (over the counter) market. Trading takes place directly between the two counterparts necessary to make a trade, whether over the telephone or on electronic networks all over the world. The main centres for trading are Sydney, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt and New York. This worldwide distribution of trading centres means that the forex market is a 24-hour market.



STRETCH

Kelly Price asked:


If you want to make money in forex trading you need to have a soundly based forex trading strategy. This is far easier to achieve than many traders think it is and here we will show you how to build one in 4 simple steps.

1. Success Comes From Inner Understanding

To succeed at forex trading you need to do it on your own and understand EXACTLY how and why your system works.

Even if you follow a vendor or someone else’s currency trading system, you can’t simply follow it you must learn it and have confidence in it.

If you don’t understand how your trading system will help you succeed, you won’t have confidence in it which will lead to a break down of discipline if you hit a losing period.

Keep in mind if you don’t have the discipline to follow your trading method, you don’t have a method!

2. Keep It Simple & Work Smart

Many traders believe the more effort they put into their forex trading strategy the more they will make - this is not true. You get rewarded for being right with your trading signal and that’s it.

Other traders think the more complicated their system is the more chance it has of succeeding but again - this is not true.

All the best forex trading systems are simple and this means they have fewer elements to break and are more robust in the face of brutal market conditions.

This is actually good news, as you need to work smart and not hard to succeed.

Simply focus on the right areas and learn them. If you do this, it will lead you to currency trading success.

3. A Successful Trading System

Here we can’t give you all that goes into a successful trading system - but we will give you some important basic elements you need to keep in mind when building one.

- Do not day trade, as you are guaranteed to lose. All short term volatility is random and you cannot get the odds on your side, either swing trade or follow long term trends.

- Base your system on the concept of support and resistance and breakout methodology.

- Do not predict with your system. Use momentum oscillators to confirm each and every trading signal.

If you predict that’s simply hoping or guessing and you won’t win.

Trade the truth of price action and confirm.

- Always place stops and assume the worst eventuality - you need to protect what you have above all else. As one trader I once knew said:

“If you take care of the losses the profits will look after themselves”.

4. The crucial Point You Need to Understand!

In forex trading 95% of traders lose.

This is simply in most instances down to the fact they don’t work smart and learn the right information.

They therefore don’t have confidence to apply their system with discipline.

You need to understand as part of your forex education that your method is important - but you need the right mindset to apply it.

If you want to learn currency trading you can, in fact anyone can - but you must learn how to trade currencies the right way and build a logical, simple forex trading strategy which, takes into account all the points we have made above.

If you do, you can build a forex trading strategy for success.



PEZZULLO

Avi Frister asked:


Forex, or Foreign Exchange, trading can be a very rewarding. In fact, it can be one of todays best wealth generating opportunities. Regular people like you and me are consistently making $500, $600 and more per day from the comfort of their home trading forex. Many do not know this, but the forex market is by far the largest market in the world. It is estimated that around $1.5 TRILLION is traded every single day. By far more then all the stock, bond and futures markets of all the world combined!

But what does a forex trader do? Simple, buy a currency at a low value and sell it at a higher value, and in the process profit from it! For example, buy Great British Pounds with US Dollars, wait for the Pound rate to go up and make money! This can be done several times a day if the forex trader is a day trader or several time a week or month if the trader is a forex swing trader. Lets look at the exclusive benefits forex trading offers:

1. The forex trader can start trading with as low as $300. Yes, today most on-line brokers will allow you to open an account with such a low sum making forex trading accessible for virtually everyone.

2. The forex trader does not have to own the money he or she is using to trade currencies. Through a concept called leverage, the traders broker will allow him or her to buy up to 400 times the value of the traders account. For example, if the trader has US $100 in his brokerage account he can buy/trade $4,000! If he has $1,000 he can buy/trade $40,000. That is how traders actually make $500, $600, or $700 per day trading forex, using the brokers money!

3. Many currency pairs are very volatile. Volatility means that they move a lot during the day, from side to side. This allows the forex trader to capture several price swings that this volatility causes. In fact, there are currency pairs that offer up to six daily swing opportunities, each one potentially allowing the trader to capture impressive profits.

4. With the right system the forex trader can trade with just following simple rules. If A happens and B happens then do C. This is called mechanical trading. It requires absolutely no discretion, interpretation or thinking from the trader.

5. The forex market is a 24 hour market. Never stops. This means that as a forex trader you can chose exactly when to trade. Some people have day jobs and do not have the necessary time to trade during the day so they can trade at night. People who make their living as forex traders can chose to trade any time of the day or night. The point being, a 24 hour market allows the trader a lot of flexibility.

6. An incredible benefit of the forex industry is that today all forex brokers allow traders to open free demo accounts. This means that the trader can test his strategies without risking a single dollar! In fact, I always test my trading strategies before going live. I make sure they work before risking real money. I know of no other business opportunity that allows you to see if it works before you spend money!

7. Making a living as a forex trader allows you to be truly free! No office, no workers, no inventory, no marketing worries, no advertising, no selling. For me this is one of the greatest advantages of being a forex trader. No headaches!

In conclusion, the forex market provides a lot of opportunities that many markets and industries do not provide. Many people hear the term forex and get a bit scared, they are afraid of the unknown. Do not be, forex trading is something that people have been using to generate wealth for many years. The reason many people have not heard of this opportunity until recently is that until not long ago trading currencies was reserved to the big dogs (banks, institutions, companies etc). Today with the help of the internet anyone can take advantage of on-line currency trading that was once reserved to an exclusive group.

Wish you well and I hope you found this article useful.



CASAVANT

Asoka Selvarajah asked:


Forex Trading is catching on like wildfire amongst private traders, and there are good reasons for it. Forex is the largest known financial market in the whole world, and the most liquid to trade in. Also, the requirements to open a currency forex trading account are much less stringent than for stock trades.

The term “Forex” is short for Foreign Exchange. The daily turnover in currency markets is currently $1.9 TRILLION dollars. Amazingly, this is over TEN times the average daily turnover of ALL the global equity markets put together. It’s more than 40 times the daily turnover of all securities on the New York Stock Exchange.

So what is Forex? In layman’s terms, Forex trading means the simultaneous buying of one currency and the selling of a second currency. In other words, the currencies are traded in pairs, i.e. one currency traded for another.

Interestingly, only 5% of the turnover in daily forex currency trades comes from companies and governments buying and selling products and services from foreign countries. These entities then engage in forex trades in order to convert their foreign currency profits back into their respective domestic currencies. Amazingly, the remaining 95% of turnover is pure speculation, i.e. forex trading entirely for profit!

If you’re new to FOREX currency trading, familiarize yourself with the most liquid currencies. These are the most traded, and where you stand your best chance of trading success. They include the US dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, British pound (also nicknamed “Cable”), Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and the Australian dollar.

The good news for small traders is that the Foreign Exchange Markets cannot really be manipulated. Their enormous size and liquidity, as well as the fact that forex markets are not under the jurisdiction of any one country means that no single investor can usually hope to move a major currency market in a serious manner (of course, there are always rare exceptions and George Soros’ famous exploits in taking the British Pound out of the EMS is a famous and extremely rare exception to the rule).

Forex Markets entertain a wide variety of participants with varying goals. Some enter the market with a long term investment goals, while other are day traders acting for the extremely short term only.

Forex trading, involving foreign currencies on an exchange, is not centralized. It takes place via telecommunications. Also, currency trading is open twenty four hours a day. Currency dealers will quote all the major currencies in every time-zone in the world.

Forex currency trading can be an extremely rewarding business, provided you thoroughly know what you are doing. However, like any other business there are always risks (and potentially disastrous ones) for the novice who foolishly dives in without thorough preparation.

Where there are risks, there are also rewards. The upside potential, with limited downside risk (provided you know how to place trades with discipline and exercise excellent risk management) can be enormous.

Hence, in order to profit from trading in Forex, it is critical that you become an excellent student first and really STUDY forex markets in particular and good online trading principles in general. The Forex markets lend themselves particularly well to Technical Analysis, i.e. forecasting via price charts.

Some general awareness of current events around the globe, be it political or economic, is important in order to understand underlying driving forces. However, don’t get too **** about this and focus your time on the hot air voiced by self-appointed economic market experts on business and market programs. Most of them know nothing about the process of trading itself, and their opinions are often plain wrong.

In conclusion forex trading can be a very attractive and highly profitable business. You can trade currencies very profitably from home and, depending upon your trading knowledge and appetite for risk, the sky’s the limit as to how much you can make. However, be prepared in advance to invest a large amount of time and practice before you start to make money from forex trading on a consistent basis.



FRITZE

Tyler Ziggler asked:


I wanted to show you how to trade currency online smartly. This is a tough business and I know most people I hear from have been sold on this idea of quick riches and a 24hr trading period. If only it was that simple. This is a tough business on a global market place. You’re going to be competing along side other individuals and huge banks. You have to know what you’re doing or you’ll lose all your money. You can’t wing it. You can’t know the basics and make it some profits. This is a business of little things. I’ll show you a little of what I’ve learned over my time trading.

The news is a big part of predicting the markets and it is an essential part of my daily routine. The best time to trade is when it the market is normal. You don’t want to trade during the calm before the storm. Economic news usually is scheduled to come out. It is the news stories about GDP, unemployment, interest rates, etc. Before one of these highly anticipated news stories, you’ll experience the calm. After they’re released, the storm. Don’t ever trade during these times because the market doesn’t “make sense” at that time.

A big skill to develop is reading candlestick graphs. That is the most common way of viewing currency graphs because it contains the most information and still looks organized. A lot of people just memorize different scenarios, but that isn’t good enough. Being able to look at any graph and instantly know what to expect is the key to success in this business.



PUCHALSKI

Dl Howard asked:


Foreign exchange (forex) currency trading, the largest financial market in the world, requires a minimum of capital to invest and the profits can be substantial. Once you have learned the basics of forex, you’re on the way to making money through the simultaneous buying or selling of currencies. Forex trading is instantaneous; as soon as you click the mouse, it’s done. The most commonly traded currencies, easiest to liquidate, are the U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, British pound, Swiss Franc, the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, and the Eurodollar.

Unlike the stock market, forex trading has no central exchange. With forex, you can make a profit whether the market is up or down vs. only making money when the stock market is on the rise. By taking the long position with a pair of currencies, the forex trader buys at one price and sells when it reaches a higher price. The other option for the forex trader is to go short by selling currencies, anticipating depreciation, and then buying back when the value falls. The forex trader can pick either direction, long or short, and if correct, he will generate a profit. You can also set up a certain point (limit order) based on the amount of profit you want to earn to automatically limit the order. In the same way, you can stop or close an order to automatically liquidate if the currency trade is going against you.

In general, the strength of a country’s economy determines the value of its currency. Other factors to take into consideration in forex trading are the political and social status of the country, interest and employment rates, and the overall stability of its government. You will learn to see patterns or trends as you become more familiar with the in’s and out’s of forex trading.

The Forex market is a 24-hour trading place, Sunday through Friday, giving you the option of trading at any time of the day or night. Unlike the stock market, it doesn’t close with the ringing of the bell. Forex online firms provide demos, guidance, and market news for the beginning investor. You can practice your skills in forex trading before actually investing real capital. Once you’ve learned the basics, a minimum investment is made, sometimes as low as $200.00. These “mini-trading” accounts are a good way to begin forex trading and often there is no commission attached to your trading. You don’t have to be a seasoned market analyst or economist to learn, enjoy, and make money with forex currency trading.



WELTE

Daniel Church asked:


Forex market trading is trading currencies worldwide. Just about every country in the world are involved in the forex trading markets, where money is bought and sold, based on the value of that currency at the particular time. As some currencies are not so strong, it is not going to be traded heavily, as the currency is stronger and worth more, more investors and traders are going flock to invest in that market at that particular time.

Forex trading takes place twenty four hours every day, where about two trillion dollars exchange hands every day. That amount of money eclipses other investment markets such as the stock markets and the futures markets. For example, the US stock market trades about 200 billion dollars everyday, while the commodities markets trade over 400 billion dollars each day. These figures give a good picture of how large and liquid the forex market is.

The currencies that are traded on the forex markets are from countries all over the world, though most of the investors’ trade on a few major currencies such as the US Dollar, Euro, the British Pound, the Japanese Yen, the Swiss Franc, as well as the Australian and Canadian Dollars. Every currency has it own three-letter symbol that will represent the particular currency that is being traded. For example, the Japanese Yen will be shown as JPY, the United States Dollar will be shown as USD, the Euro is EUR, and the British Pound will be displayed as GBP, while the Swiss France will show as CHF. You can trade among many currency pairs in one day, or you can just trade only one currency pair. The advantage of trading forex is there is not that much currency pairs to keep track of. Compare it to the stock market where there are thousands of different companies that offer their stocks in the market. Trying to research even a small number of all the companies listed will take a very long time.

Getting started in forex trading is not hard. In fact, setting up a forex trading account costs less than setting up say, a stock trading account. Many forex market makers allow individuals to create a trading account for only $300. The reason this is possible is because forex trading involves a lot of leverage, more leverage than other investment markets. The leverage can start at 100:1 and can get as high as 400:1. This means you can control a large amount of currency with a smaller capital outlay. For example, in a 100:1 leverage, you can trade $10,000 amount of currency using only $100. Though it needs to be reminded that though the use of leverage can generate high returns, it also means that it can cause spectacular losses. What’s more important that minimum account size, however, is to get educated in forex trading, such as learning technical trading tactics and keeping track of forex news.

Another advantage in trading forex, and a very important one at that, is the absence of brokerage fees. Over time, this will save you a lot of money, especially having in mind that forex trades are executed regularly. All said, forex trading provides a proven method of making huge profits, as long as you keep an eye on the pitfalls and get yourself educated.



BERNARD

Adam Hefner asked:


ding strategy is becoming more the domain of the individual trader as sophisticated software continues to level the playing field in the currency markets. Forex is short for foreign exchange and are the markets where currencies are traded. Plainly stated, it entails the trading of the various versions of money found around the globe. When you go on a trip overseas and exchange your US Dollars for the local country’s money, you are in reality participating in the currency markets.

The difference between this type exchange and that in the forex markets is that you are not primarily looking to book a profit from this exchange of currencies. One simply requires the native currency in order to having spending money with which to enjoy their trip. However, let’s assume that you retained a few bills of the local currency left over as your trip ends and you go to board your flight back home. You go to the foreign exchange booth at the airport and swap the local currency back into dollars. That action completes a full fledged currency trade.

Those who participate in the forex markets are seeking to purchase a chosen currency and subsequently convert it back to dollars thus yielding a short term trading profit. If one is bearish on a given currency, you are able to engage in what is called shorting a currency. This is in essentially betting that the targeted currency will decline against your core currency. The currency markets can be thrilling and lucrative. Forex trading also comes with additional lifestyle benefits.

Forex traders enjoy the liberty associated with being able to work from home or wherever else they desire. Unfortunately, a significant majority of the plethora of work at home programs come with high fees and little income. The forex markets have been in existence for centuries. The various forex markets around the world are legitimate enterprises which attract the most sophisticated of institutional and retail investors. Abundant proof has been established in the form of large fortunes generated through the trading of currencies.

The international character of the forex trading markets translates to trading going on virtually around the clock. Night owls are able to trade currencies into the wee hours of the morning. Early birds have the ability to commence trading long prior to the time normal stock markets open. Forex traders can make their own schedule and trade from any location with access to the Internet. A successful forex trader has a lifestyle which is universally envied.

Cutting edge automated software programs is able to grant an even higher level of freedom through the automated execution of currency trades. One simply has to select their given trading strategy and acceptable risk levels and let the robot go off to work. There is no longer a need to remain fixed to your monitor for endless hours.

The biggest error that many novice currency traders make is to engage in the arbitrary predicting of the movement of various currencies without the assistance of software. Fluctuations of valuations of currencies within the forex markets often are rapid and based upon convoluted events. Traders who strive to engage in this challenge alone often find themselves outmatched. Fortunately, there is now publicly available sophisticated automated trading programs which help in combat against other forex warriors.

Forex trading strategy executed by robots presents a prominent advantage relating to a robot’s ability to eliminate the adverse impacts many traders experience when emotions come into play. Novice forex participants many times experience the undesirable results when emotions begin to dictate trading decisions. Automated forex trading robots do not experience emotion and coldly trade guided by numbers and logic. Traders who are attempting to navigate the forex markets by intuition and guesses often don’t stand a chance against these machines.

HEAVENER

Justin Stewart asked:


When you look at the Forex market, you obviously know that is came about to accommodate the trading of currencies on a global scale. Today, there are almost as many currencies traded as there are countries to trade them. Currency markets have become one of the most popular day trading markets. Increasing numbers of investors and traders have been attracted to the market because of its high daily volume and its liquidity. Trading currencies occurs in a number of ways, however the ones that are the most common are the three that are discussed in this content.

Exchanging currencies with foreign banks - usually the most popular way of trading currencies with business travelers and vacationers. Normally, when people travel for either business or pleasure on an international basis, they trade their currencies for the type used in the country that they are visiting. In most cases, you would venture into a local bank and trade your currency there at their currency exchange window. This method works well for the business person and vacationer. Unfortunately, this method of trading currency is not suitable for the serious investor or trader since it only involves the basic exchanging of currencies without the ROI factor taken into consideration.

Forex (foreign exchange) - the most popular format for trading currencies on a global scale. Forex trading has grown significantly in popularity and dates back to the 1800’s when people used to wire transfer funds between London and New York City. Currently, the most popular trading in the forex market is done between the Euro and United States Dollar (USD). Since the forex is a global market, it operates 24 hours a day.

Additionally, as well as the fact that the trades are done on a direct basis, there are no contracts involved with Forex trading. Trading is done in what is called “lots.” This is the measurement of a currency trade, whereas stocks are normally traded in shares. The size or amount involved in a “lot” is usually determined by the broker involved in the trade, however, the common amount is normally around $25,000. Normally, the trader borrows most of the lot’s amount from the broker, since they do not need to cover the entire amount from their personal trading account.

Currency Futures - futures markets that are based on the currency market. These types of markets generally trade one currency for another on a contractual basis. The timeframe involved is normally three months with the most popular market being the EUR futures market where the trading is based upon the Euro to USD exchange rate. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which is now called the CME Group, is where one will find the most popular of the currency trades, and includes the following futures markets:

* CAD - The Canadian Dollar to US Dollar futures market

* CHF - The Swiss Franc to US Dollar futures market

* EUR - The Euro to US Dollar futures market

* GBP - The British Pound (Sterling) to US Dollar futures market



JOHANNESEN

Kelly Price asked:


If you want to make money trading currencies, then we will show you how to do this in simple steps. Here we will give you the basics and help you build a currency trading system for long term trading success.

Step 1 - Get the Mindset for Success

You cannot get currency trading success from others and there are plenty of people wanting to sell you automated forex robots and systems but they don’t work. If you want to win, you have to understand that you need work and learn currency trading for yourself. If you do this, you will have confidence in what you do and the discipline to follow your system.

Most traders fail because, they don’t have the discipline to follow their system and if you don’t have the discipline to follow it, you don’t have a system!

Step 2 - The Methodology to Base Your System On

The best, simplest and easiest to understand methodology, is to buy or sell breakouts of price, to new market highs or lows.

Look at any forex chart and you will see most major trends start and continue from new market highs or lows. If you can go with them, you can make a lot of money. Most traders don’t and that’s why the majority lose.

Most traders want to wait for a pullback, to buy at a “better price” and of course prices don’t pullback and they sit and watch, as the trend sails over the horizon and makes thousands of dollars in profit and their not in!

Go with breakouts and sure you miss the first bit of the move - but if it’s a good break, you will have a lot of profit ahead of you.

Step 3 - Basics of Your System

You need to understand support and resistance.

Look for levels that are considered important by the market and the more times the level has been tested the better. You then need to confirm that when a break starts, the odds are on your side and it will continue and for this you need to use momentum oscillators.

We have discussed these fully in our other articles but for now, you simply need to know they will help you determine price strength through the breakout point. If price momentum accelerating, the odds are on your side and you can enter.

Look up the stochastic and RSI for this - there great indicators and you can learn how to use them in about 30 minutes.

Step 4 - Money Management

You need to play great defence and defend your equity. Just like all the great football teams, if you have a great defence, the offence will get the opportunities and make them successful.

With breakout trading, your stop is close and obvious (below the breakout point) and you should trail it slowly as the market moves.

Don’t make the mistake of using too much leverage.

You can get up to 400; 1 but 20:1 is plenty, more traders lose due to over leveraging than any other reason.

Putting it all Together

You don’t need a complicated currency trading system, you need to keep it simple so your trading system is robust, in the face of brutal market conditions. The key though is discipline; you must be able to trade through losing periods, until you hit a home run.

If you want to make money trading currencies - you can. The above tips will help you and remember, work smart not hard, keep it simple, get the right mindset and you will enjoy long term currency trading success.



MYER