Discover Some Magic To Beat The Forex: The Elliott Wave Theory For Forex Markets

One of the best known and least understood theories of technical analysis in forex trading is the Elliot Wave Theory. Developed in the 1920s by Ralph Nelson Elliot as a method of predicting trends in the stock market, the Elliot Wave theory applies fractal mathematics to movements in the market to make predictions based on crowd behavior. In its essence, the Elliot Wave theory states that the market – in this case, the forex market – moves in a series of 5 swings upward and 3 swings back down, repeated perpetually. But if it were that simple, everyone would be making a killing by catching the wave and riding it until just before it crashes on the shore. Obviously, there’s a lot more to it.

One of the things that makes riding the Elliot Wave so tricky is timing – of all the major wave theories, it’s the only one that doesn’t put a time limit on the reactions and rebounds of the market. A single In fact, the theories of fractal mathematics makes it clear that there are multiple waves within waves within waves. Interpreting the data and finding the right curves and crests is a tricky process, which gives rise to the contention that you can put 20 experts on the Elliot Wave theory in one room and they will never reach an agreement on which way a stock – or in this case, a currency – is headed.

Elliot Wave Basics

• Every action is followed by a reaction. It’s a standard rule of physics that applies to the crowd behavior on which the Elliot Wave theory is based. If prices drop, people will buy. When people buy, the demand increases and supply decreases driving prices back up. Nearly every system that uses trend analysis to predict the movements of the currency market is based on determining when those actions will cause reactions that make a trade profitable.

• There are five waves in the direction of the main trend followed by three corrective waves (a "5-3" move). The Elliot Wave theory is that market activity can be predicted as a series of five waves that move in one direction (the trend) followed by three ‘corrective’ waves that move the market back toward its starting point.

• A 5-3 move completes a cycle. And here’s where the theory begins to get truly complex. Like the mirror reflecting a mirror that reflects a mirror that reflects a mirror, the each 5-3 wave is not only complete in itself, it is a superset of a smaller series of waves, and a subset of a larger set of 5-3 waves – the next principle.

• This 5-3 move then becomes two subdivisions of the next higher 5-3 wave. In Elliot Wave notation, the 5 waves that fit the trend are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (impulses). The three correcting waves are called a, b and c (corrections). Each of these waves is made up of a 5-3 series of waves, and each of those is made up of a 5-3 series of waves. The 5-3 cycle that you’re studying is an impulse and correction in the next ascending 5-3 series.

• The underlying 5-3 pattern remains constant, though the time span of each may vary. A 5-3 wave may take decades to complete – or it may be over in minutes. Traders who are successful in using the Elliot Wavy theory to trade in the currency market say that the trick is timing trades to coincide with the beginning and end of impulse 3 to minimize your risk and maximize your profit.

Because the timing of each sequence of waves varies so much, using the Elliot Wave theory is very much a matter of interpretation. Identifying the best time to enter and leave a trade is dependent on being able to see and follow the pattern of larger and smaller waves, and to know when to trade and when to get out based on the patterns you identify.

The key is in interpreting the pattern correctly – in finding the right starting point. Once you learn to see the wave patterns and identify them correctly, say those who are experts, you’ll see how they apply in every facet of forex trading, and will be able to use those patterns to trigger your decisions whether you’re day trading or in it for the long haul.

Discover Online Forex Trading

Foreign Exchange, commonly referred to as Forex or FX in short, is the trading in currencies of various countries. Every country or union of countries has its own currency. The purchasing of one currency by selling another currency is achieved in Forex trading.

Foreign exchange trade is the biggest financial market in the world. The volume in terms of amount in Forex transactions, happening daily all over the world is 100 times more than what is executed in stocks in NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). It has been estimated that on an average trades amounting to USD 1.5 trillion are being completed daily in the global Forex market.

Learn Forex Trading The Forex market with its higher volume of transactions done on a daily basis, provides exciting opportunities to the investors. But it equally carries inherent risk of potential loss. One should learn forex trading well before actually venturing into it.

The basic principle in the Forex market is that it deals with two currencies of different countries. One currency is bought against the selling of another currency. A single transaction in Forex is represented by means of two currencies as for example EURO/USD. In this notation it meant that Euro is bought against the sale of USD.

As in the stock exchange, there are two types of markets as spot and forward. The spot market, where the settlement is done immediately (in practice it is two banking days) has the largest volume of transactions. Two important Forex trade terminologies are spread and pips. Spread is defined as the difference between the selling rate (bid) and buying rate (ask) of a currency. A pip is the unit of small change a currency undergoes in the process of spread. The first thing a budding investor should do before entering the FX market is to thoroughly learn Forex trading.

Online Forex Trading Online Forex Trading is the new evolution in line with online share trading. It enables the investor to deal in the market in real time directly through brokers or bankers. Whatever purchases or sales made, are done by the investing public themselves but are executed through a brokers trading platform.

The advent of computers, internet and communications medium has made it possible to achieve this. With the click of a mouse, your purchase or selling instruction is carried out. The internet plays a vital part in the whole process of online Forex Trading, uniting or bringing together people all over the world.

Interest in online Forex trading is rapidly exploding because of its transparency and potential for rapid profit. With more people entering this market on a daily basis, this form of trading appears be here to stay.

Day Trading Forex—might Be A Bad Idea!

The Forex market has understandably become one of the most attractive and popular financial markets in the world. Operating around the clock via a decentralized network of central banks, investment institutions, hedge funds, and similar institutions, the Forex market allows traders to speculate on the movement of currency exchange rates. Players of the Forex tend to like these features most:

· Round the clock action—the Forex market constantly adjusts and is open 24 hours per day between Sunday and Friday afternoon.

· Less problems with gap down (when price starts out lower than its previous ending price due to factors that occurred when the markets were closed)

· Huge leverage (can get 1:100 margins)

· High volume

· Live trading (most traders are connected to the Forex market via an Internet platform that provides them with real time exchange rates)

· Commission-free trades (but most brokers tend to get the difference between bid and ask price which tends to equal 3 to 5 tenths of a penny on most transactions)

While all of these are very attractive characteristics for any investor, the truth is that there are a lot of people who find themselves on the wrong side of a trend and suddenly in trouble because they try using day trading as an investment strategy. Day trading essentially boils down to making a series of short, small trades in hopes of making a quick profit. A rich idea with often a poor outcome.

People can and do make very good money trading on the Forex market but the most common trait of successful investors is the use of a proven investment strategy, patience, and using pre-determined stops after making certain to do your homework. The ability to understand the emergence and direction of trends through analysis is a common trait in successful Forex traders.

Because day trading often involves multiple transactions made in rapid succession in order to make a profit, it is very hard to properly analyze the day’s events and your charts. Day traders are more prone to fear-basic panic selling and other decisions that lose money and lower profitability.

Day trading is also not a good idea with the Forex market because transactions are almost always conducted at the very limit of the margins (typically 1/100, or $1,000 is all most investors have in a given Forex transaction of $100,000, or one lot of currency). Because of this, even small fluctuations in the wrong direction can and often do spell disaster for day traders.

Indeed, there are day traders out there claiming to make a good living trading Forex and they no doubt exist—but they are rare. The volatile nature of the market, the lack of information, and the extensive use of margins in Forex all combine and make day trading possibly a bad investment strategy—period.

Currency Forex Trading: Betting The Ups And Downs

Total the amount of money involved in a day’s trading on the US stock and Treasury Bills markets by three, and you’ll still have less than a third of the amount of money which exchanges hands on the currency Forex--foreign exchange--market. The currency Forex market is where the money of one country--US dollars, for instance—is exchanged for that of another, like Japanese yen.

But unlike the world’s other economic markets, currency Forex trading is not centralized. There is no Wall Street or Throgmorton Street with an historic exchange building; Currency Forex trading exists only over telephone wires and Internet connections.

But exist it does; and it involve a global network of financial institutions, individuals, and banks all working around the clock and unhampered by international borders. Time and physical distance have no meaning in the currency Forex market.

At one time currency Forex trading was the domain of banks that held large amounts of money in various currencies so that they could participate in global investment and business opportunities. Individuals could participate in currency Forex trading only by going through their banks. But when exchange rates became unregulated the volume of currency Forex trading began to mushroom.

What Is Currency Forex Trading?

When either a private corporation or government wishes to either buy or sell products or services in another country, it has to engage in “bartering” its national currency against the currency of the country where it wishes to do business. There are also large numbers of investment firms who trade the currency Forex market as a more speculative part of their portfolios. For more info see http://www.e-forextradingsystem.com/ on e-Forex Trading.

And even individuals can participate in trading the currency Forex market, provided they have sufficient risk capital and are willing to do the homework necessary to master the art of currency Forex trading, which can be extremely complicated.

Currency Forex Trading At Home

Many individuals are drawn to the currency Forex market because they see it as a lucrative business which can be run from the convenience of their homes. All that is required is a personal computer with an Internet connection and a workstation organized with to create a minimum of distractions. They see the currency Forex market as both inflation and deflation proof, and a way to make money regardless of the worldwide economic situation.

Investors make or lose money when trading the currency Forex market depending on the fluctuations of the currency exchange rates. All currencies are constantly appreciating or depreciating in value when compared to one another, and it is up to the individual investor to understand how conditions around the globe will increase of decrease currency values before risking his or her money trading those currencies.

Comparing The Forex With Investing In Insurance

Investing in Forex is more risky but the gains that can be achieved are a lot larger than insurance, although insurance is a very good long term investment.

While there are innumerable kinds of life insurance available, they can be simplified into two general types: those that insure against death only and those that not only insure against death but make a provision for savings in addition to insuring. The first type is called term insurance.

It pays off only in the event of death. While it is worth nothing to the individual himself, since he never gets his hands on any of the money that went to pay the premiums, it does generally provide the maximum death benefits per dollar of premiums at the younger ages. Its sole purpose is to insure against death. As its name implies, it is written for a term—1, 5, 10, 20, 25 or 30 years—and if the term expires before the insured dies, that is that. There are no more premiums due and he gets nothing from the insurance company except the right to renew the policy for a longer term and/or the right to convert the policy to permanent insurance without a medical examination.

Policies other than term insurance cost more than term insurance initially and the additional premium provides essentially one thing savings for the person insured. Now the main question to answer from an investor's point of view is, "What do I get for this additional premium in the way of a return on my money?"

If a ten-year term policy is purchased the average net cost per $1,000 is $3.91 per year, and if a 20-year term policy is purchased the average net cost is $3.82. It gradually goes down according to the length of the policy, but if term insurance were bought each year, for just one year, the annual rate would be higher with each renewal since the older a person is the greater the likelihood of his death.

If he waits until he gets to age 55 the cost of term insurance rises tremendously. A five-year term policy at age 55 costs $21.85 per $1,000 and a ten-year policy $23.26. Term insurance usually may be maintained only until the insured is age 65. Thus, if a man kept term insurance to age 65, but died at age 66, his beneficiaries would get nothing and all of the premiums he had paid for this insurance would go down the drain.

These policies all provide nothing in the way of savings and there is no return on your money that you, the insured, will ever get. Your beneficiaries will get the face of the policy at your demise.

In contrast to term insurance there is permanent insurance. This is insurance that may be kept as long as the insured wishes to keep it. If the insured lives, he has built up a substantial cash value in his policy which he may take in cash or as income or which he may leave with the insurance company as "paid up" insurance.

The most popular form of permanent life insurance is convertible whole life insurance, sometimes called ordinary life or straight life.

Convertible life requires the lowest premium of all permanent insurance plans. Premiums may be paid on this policy as long as the insured lives or for a shorter period of time depending upon the objective of the insured.

Permanent insurance has a level annual premium for the duration of the premium paying period. The annual premiums in the early policy years are in excess of the actual premium needed to cover the risk. The excess premium is called the reserve and it is this reserve, together with interest earned on the reserve plus future earnings, which provide the cash needed to pay death claims in the later years.

If we consider that the 20-year term rate is the pure cost of insurance, and that the difference between this rate and the straight life rate represents the savings element of his premiums, you determine this savings element by subtracting $3.82 from $17.70, which equals $13.88. Over 20 years this savings element amounts to $277.60. For this total of $277.60 put in in premiums, $403.94 was collected—a profit of $126.34 over 20 years, or $6.31 per year.

The $277.60 was not put in all at once, but over a period of 20 years. Nothing was invested at the beginning of the 20-year period, and in the twentieth year the whole sum was invested, so that the average investment for the period was halfway between nothing and $277.60—$138.80. The return on this figure is the true return, and $6.31 per year on $138.80 is a little under 5%.

Let us consider the Retirement Income policy at 65, bought by a person 25 years old. Over a period of 40 years, he puts in $30.92, the annual premium, times 40, or $1,236.80. If the average net cost of the pure insurance feature is assumed at $7.79 per annum and the cost is subtracted from the total annual premium of $30.92, we get the investment in the savings element of the insurance, $23.13 times 40, or $925.20. For these invested savings the insured gets back $2,326.81 at age 65-40 years later-a profit of $1,401.61.

If we use the same reasoning in regard to the average amount invested over the period (one half of $925.20), we arrive at an investment of $462.60. The profit or return per year is determined by dividing the total profit of $1,401.61 by 40 years and we get $35 per year. This $35 represents a return on the investment of $462.60, or 7½% per year.

How good an investment is this $462.60 that grows to $2,326.81 in 40 years? It is almost identical with an investment of $462.60 which returns 4% per year if the 4% is left in the investment to be compounded annually. The discrepancy between the 7½% per year and the 4% is explained by compounding.

The 4% compounded is not a bad yield. It is roughly equal to the return of an insured building and loan association in the year 1962, but not as good as the better yielding ones.

Now the characteristic of the Retirement Income policy is that premium payments end at age 65. The insured is now entitled to $2,326.81 if he left his dividends in.

Further, the insured can have his $1,597 (due him if he took his dividends out) paid to him and/or his heirs at the rate of about $10.00 per month for 157 months (a full refund). If he is still living at the end of the 157 months, the insured would continue to receive $10.00 per month for the balance of his lifetime.

If desired, an alternate amount or alternate type of annuity could be selected.

In addition to the guaranteed amounts, there would, of course, be dividend income payable each month in accordance with the company practice. The present income dividend is about 10% extra per month.

All of the above income would be tax-favored as compared to ordinary investment income.

The income or annuity return per $1,000 of accumulated cash in the insurance policy is guaranteed by contract as of the date of issue for future delivery. It is interesting to note that the cost of an annuity at 65 has been increased seven times in the last 20 years as the science of geriatrics has prolonged life.

There is one type of policy which represents the savings element alone and does not provide the insurance element. This is the annuity. You make a cash payment early in life, or periodic payments throughout your life, in order to get an income when you retire or pass a certain age.

At age 25, for an annual premium of $100 for 40 years, you can get (a) $8,201.47 in cash at age 65 or (b) monthly payments of $51.34 for the rest of your life.

You have invested in 40 years 40 times $100 or $4,000, and at age 65 this has grown to $8,201.47. It has better than doubled.

To find the average annual return, we determine the profit ($8,201.47 less $4,000) which equals $4,201.47 and divide this by 40 to get an annual profit of $105.

The average investment is halfway between zero and $4,000 and is equal to $2,000. The annual return is thus $105 divided by $2,000, or 5¼%. This represents considerably less than 4% compounded annually.

If the option of $51.34 per month is selected instead of the sum total of $8,201.47, it takes between 13 and 14 years to exhaust the total, and if you live longer than this number of years, you have come out ahead.

Most other policies provide savings, and the return on these savings is what we are concerned with here. While the yield on the savings is low it must be pointed out that by entering into an insurance contract the insured is forced to save what he might otherwise spend. A second advantage in buying policies other than term policies is that if the insured falls on hard times these policies are worth something in cash to help tide him over; and if he can't keep up the premiums there is a cash reserve to pay premiums for awhile. If term insurance premiums cannot be met the policy lapses.

One insurance company took what it considered to be a typical year as regards death claims and determined what the insured's family got back in relation to what was paid. It determined that the average insured who was paid off that year collected $1.75 for every $1.00 put into premiums, and the average number of years each policy had been in force at the time of death was 22.6. The return was 4% per year, and the insurance company points out that the 4% return was tax free in that no income tax was taken out either as the policy went along or when final payment was made. This 4% equals 8% in income for a person in the 50% tax bracket.

The return on the savings element of life insurance can be determined by reference to the attached table. The major types of policy have been compared for ages 25, 40 and 55 as to annual premium, value of the policy in cash at different ages and monthly payments which can be received from age 65 to the end of one's life.

Two of the greatest benefits of life insurance depend on: (1) inheritance taxes and (2) the uncertainty as to when the insured will die. These factors are not related directly to return on investment but cannot be minimized in any consideration of life insurance.

Long term it is very difficult to lose money if not impossible and the returns can be good.

The Forex is more risky but you can limit your risk by using good Forex software.

Common Chart Indicators In The Forex Trading System

Common chart indicators in the Forex trading system are used by Forex traders as tools to help evaluate the market and minimize trading risks. There are several common charts that are read and evaluated by Forex traders to help them make knowledgeable trading decisions in the market. The charts include Bollinger Bands, MACD, Parabolic SAR, Stochastics, and Relative Strength Index, or RSI.

Bollinger Bands are common charts that are used to measure the volatility of the market. These bands act as mini resistance and support levels. Two trading strategies that involve the Bollinger Bands are the Bollinger Bounce and the Bollinger Squeeze. The Bollinger Bounce strategy goes with the idea that the price generally always returns to the center of the Bollinger Bands. The Bollinger Squeeze is a trading strategy that is utilized to catch breakouts early in the game. Bollinger Bands are best used in markets that are ranging.

MACD is used to catch trends early on and can also help traders to spot trend reversals. The MACD is made up of two moving averages, one slow and one fast, and a histogram, which consists of vertical lines that measure the distance between the two averages. Because of the fact that the MACD uses so many moving averages, there is a lag involved.

Parabolic SAR is an indicator that spots trend reversals, and the SAR stands for Stop And Reversal. This common chart indicator is the easiest of them all to interpret, because this indicator only gives signals that are bullish or bearish. The candlestick chart is used with this indicator, and when the dots are above the candles it is a signal to sell. If the dots on the chart are below the candles, it is a signal for the trader to buy. This common chart indicator is used best in trending markets that consists of downturns and long rallies.

Stochastics are common chart indicators that are used to indicate oversold and overbought conditions. When the moving average lines go above seventy it is an indication to the trader to sell because the market is overbought. When the lines are below thirty, traders are looking to buy because this means the market is oversold. Relative Strength Index, or RSI, is like stochastics because it indicates conditions of overbuying and overselling on the market.

Each common chart indicator has strengths and weaknesses. Smart traders use at least three or four of these indicators to gauge which way the market is going. Common chart indicators can be a valuable tool for Forex traders if they are analyzed correctly.

Copyright © 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved.

Choosing the Right Forex Software For You

You might be looking for a charting platform, or a trading platform. You could also be looking for an automated trading program, or a signal service. You are most probably looking for some form of assistance to help with your trading. This is really the holy grail for a lot of traders who do not have the time or the inclination to sit in front of a computer 16 hours a day. I have done that for a couple of years and done my 'chart-time', now its time to let the computer take care of it for me.

The best charting and trading platform is MT4, this allows you to also create custom indicators and expert advisors allowing you to auto-trade your account. Some people have created truly excellent Expert Advisors, and its like having your own forex trading guru sat at your computer 24/6, never getting tired, grumpy, hungry or anything else for that matter.

Provide a stable internet connection and power, and the EA will handle everything else for you. The problem is selecting the correct one, as there are so many out there.

Some criteria you should apply, when judging an EA are;

- Whether they will give you a free trial - Their FORWARD tested history as well as their backtested history - What modelling quality their backtests are run on (90% is the best available) - Whether they offer a money back guarantee should the EA fail to perform for you

Markets change, and so do the performances of EA's. The goal is really to find one that can perform consistently over different market conditions. The best we have seen yet in the market is the PointBreak EA. This was used by a private trading group by over a year before being recently released to the public.

PointBreak Expert Advisor (Very Aggressive Trading) has resulted 49.76% since October 2007.

This is the most aggressive setting available, the more conservative settings give smaller returns but correspondingly smaller drawdowns.

Choosing The Best Online Forex Trading Systems

Forex is not really new in the financial market. In fact, it is not only known by big players in the world, but also by small organizations and individuals lately. Now, forex is no longer ruled by the big players; people from all walks of life can actually do forex trading.

Before plunging in trading, you must know certain terms that are used in the market. One important term is the forex trading system. What it is all about, and what is its use.

The birth of the internet has changed the face of forex trading. Because of this very valuable tool, the FX market is easier to access, making it more convenient to small players. And all most importantly, all of this happens in real time, which is why online traders can actually make quick decisions regarding their trade.

Forex trading system is ergonomic and intuitive. All the necessary functions involved in forex trading can be done from your main screen. You can place a trade and leave an order. And not only that, you can also conduct margin analysis and position/order management.

There are many companies, located in different countries, which can provide you with a forex trading system. The very first thing that a system usually involves is investment of money. Some companies would require you to invest as low as five dollars while some can ask for as high as five hundred dollars for upfront payments. Forex systems greatly vary, and it depends largely on the company offering such service.

With the system, you can purchase companies, stocks, and make investments even in other places. You can enhance your wealth and personal preferences by investing in a forex trading system. By investing a certain amount of money, you can make even more money in the future. The forex trading system that many traders know about is built among leading companies, investors, and worldwide currencies.

The trading system can be offline or online. You are free to choose which system will work best for you. However, online trading systems are gaining more and more popularity because you have easy access to the money that you've invested. Offline trading systems usually involves a lot of paperwork; while with an online system, you can instantly invest, trade, move, and remove money faster.

All it takes is for you to learn about the investment, and how to trust the right brokers in case you may need to make additional decisions in the future. You must be involved with a company which you can communicate with any time during a business day. That particular company should be able to provide you with a telephone number, fax number, and email address. Steer clear from companies which do not disclose such information.

Without the right trading system, you can't trade effectively. Therefore you must choose a system which is suited for you as an individual. You must consider the trading style and the risk that it involves. A system which focuses more in risk and money management techniques is a good one. Look for a company who has been in business for many years and those with proven professional experience. It must also provide you with tools and strategies that will help you in developing your very own online trading system. If you select the right company, you can find one that is of best value for your money.

Choosing a good, and probably the best, forex trading system is one of the first things that you should learn in forex. There are three factors usually considered in choosing a forex trading system, namely: profitability, acceptability, and one that fits your daily routine.

Profitability is probably the most important consideration. People invest money to make profits, and a good system should provide that. It is shown in dollar amounts or pips/month.

Every system has a drawdown, and it is also expressed in pips. It is the biggest decrease in equity in the past. In comparing different systems, you should take a close look on its historical drawdown.

Also check for the systems profit and loss ration, as well as its win and loss ratio. The system should have consistency and you can effectively tell this by looking into their monthly or quarterly, and yearly results.

Once you've chosen a system, learn all about it, and you can expect to gain a lot from your investment.

Choosing A Good Online Forex Trading System

How you ever thought about doing a trade globally? Some people might be a bit hesitant to do such a thing, but the opportunity is just waiting for you out there. You don’t actually have to travel outside your country, if that's your concern. With the availability of the Internet, you can actually do forex trading on a global scale even in your own home, at work, and regardless of your location.

The FX market seems complex, especially to new traders, and they find it rather difficult to go about the trade. But nothing is impossible once you've learned the trade. It is a worthwhile venture that you might want to consider even on a tight office schedule.

Being employed in a particular company may not give you all the money that you would need to finance your everyday living. Doing some extra work is often recommended specially in today's times when money is difficult to find. Worry no more; the FX market is not far from your reach.

Identify your goals upon entering the FX market. This is the primary step, so that you will stay focused in your endeavor. Once you've set up a goal, you have to do all it takes to reach that goal, but it should be in a reasonable manner.

In going through forex trading, you will need an investment program, and a good one. Don’t settle for anything less because an effective way to succeed in forex trading is a good program.

Most rookies commit the biggest mistake of their lives by availing fake programs. The FX market is a huge industry, and the fact is, many scams and con artists abound the Internet, which actually provides useless materials for beginners. This often leads to frustrations of beginners because they've already failed even before they get to start the actual trade.

Find a legitimate forex investment program. Although it might require a bit of looking around, as well as a bit of your time, once you get what you’re looking for, you're in a good start.

You don’t have to settle with expensive programs, nor with programs promising easy and quick profits with less the risk. You must be aware that though the FX market offers a lot of opportunities, it is also surrounded with a lot of risks. To become like the pros, you need to learn the forex trading system; and you have to be serious in learning it.

A good program is dynamic. It provides daily advice, manuals, DVD materials, computer disks, and other important forex trading stuffs or resources to transform you into a succesful trader. Check if their previous clients are satisfied with their services, and see if the company has built a good reputation in the business.

Professional traders regard forex trading as a science, some thinks it's an art; and to start the real trade, you must undergo a lot of practice. After all, practice makes a perfect trader. Demo accounts are surefire ways to learn the different techniques used in the FX market. After you've mastered it, you can proceed to a mini account. Here you can do an actual trade but the risks are minimal. If you think you're quite ready, then get a regular trading account. This is a highly effective step-by-step process because you get to learn a lot of things while your practicing. Always maintain calmness, and act like the pros. You are about to make big money, one that you probably never imagined in your entire life.

Forex trading is done on a margin. Margin trading allows you to control more money than what is actually in your hands. For you to trade one million US dollars, you should have a security deposit worth ten thousand US dollars. This is a typical example with the rate at 1%.

The FX market spans around the globe, so you can trade twenty-four hours a day. If you choose to do margin trading, the spread rate is much lower compared to futures trading. The requirements are also quite low.

Familiarize yourself with all the in and outs of forex trading. Trading globally poses a lot of risk; you must learn to overcome all these risks in order to earn big profits. Get a good forex trading program.

Choosing A Forex Trading System – Part 5

No discussion of trading system evaluation would be complete without a discussion of drawdown. We must always look at the maximum drawdown of any trading system as it is very, very important.

The maximum drawdown of trading system is defined as the greatest peak-to-valley drawdown in a trading system’s equity. Let’s say for example that we have a trading system that reaches a particular equity peak of $100,000. Let’s further say that two weeks later, the trading system equity is at $80,000. In this example, let’s say that the $80,000 equity happens to be an equity valley. In that case, the peak-to-valley drawdown would be $100,000-$80,000 equals $20,000. This means that the maximum drawdown is $20,000.

So why is the maximum drawdown such an important measurement in our evaluation of a trading system? It’s because the maximum drawdown gives us a measure of the survivability of the trading system. A simple measure, but a measure nonetheless. Basically, when we look at the maximum drawdown we can say that this maximum drawdown can happen again at any time throughout the life of the trading system. This is particularly important when it comes to evaluating starting account size.

As an example, let’s say that you started to trade the system using an account funded with $10,000. Right off the bat, you can see that this would not be prudent, because as we can see from our maximum drawdown figure if we went into a drawdown immediately after starting our account our account balance would logically be wiped out.

We can see from this quick illustration that we definitely need to fund our account with more money than enough to cover the maximum trading system drawdown. It makes perfect sense to have a buffer of some sort as well.

I would exercise caution, if you are looking a trading system and the recommended account size is the exact same size as the maximum drawdown.

The maximum drawdown is an essential measure that gives us a better idea of what to expect when trading a particular system. A comparison of risk versus reward is an absolute essential in successful trading.

To Your Forex Trading Success!

Choosing A Forex Trading System

Forex market or Foreign Currency Exchange market is one of the biggest trading market in the world with over USD 1.3 Trillion traded in a day. It is drawing attention ever since it is open to Online trading. Forex trading can be very profitable if you take your time to do a proper research, understanding various options and choose a system that works for you. The most used Forex trading system may not be the most suitable for your needs.

There are many different kinds of Forex Trading Systems and you need to know a few facts as mentioned below, before choosing and funding a system.

1. Testimonials: Is there anyone out there who is trying to sell a system and show you testimonials from the people who actually didn't like the system? Highly unlikely. You should do proper research before indulging into a system that is completely new to you.

2. Impression: Do not be over impressed from high percentage of winning forex trades because a 90-95% winning trades with with average value $10 gets you $900. If you have 10% losing trade and unfortunately average losing trade is $200, then your account is reduced by $2000. This is an explanation that people often tend to ignore while doing Forex Trading or any trading in general.

3. Profit: Do you want to work with a Forex Trading system that breaks even? Why? If you keep the money in your home, you will still break even, then why take all the hassles of setting up an Forex Trading account and do all the work. Really speaking, you should always do some research on how profitable a particular trading system is?

4. Drawdown: The maximum drawdown of trading system is defined as the greatest peak-to-valley drawdown in a trading system’s equity. Maximum drawdown gives us a measure of the survivability of the trading system.

5. Time to profit: The actual time it takes to achieve the results with a particular trading system. You should plan to have a long and profitable relationship with your trading system.

Try to use a trading system that let you open a Demo account so that you can practice and learn about Forex Trading without risking any money.

Choosing a Forex Third Party Signal Provider

With the growing popularity and easy access to the foreign exchange (ForEx) market, more and more people are drawn to it as their financial vehicle of choice. Along with this popularity come all the extras. This includes all kinds of software, trading systems for sale, books, videos, and third party signal party providers. Today I’m going to touch on a few points when seeking out a third party forex signal provider.

Before we get into choosing a provider we need to have a good understanding of what a third party signal provider is. A signal provider is a trader or analyst that generates trades that in turn get placed on your account. You can have several signal providers trading your forex account or just one.

Like anything else, all third party signal providers are not created equal. At first glance a trader may look like a home run. That same trader may well end up completely torpedoing your entire account in one afternoon. To help make sure this doesn’t happen we’ll set down a few guidelines. These guidelines will give us something to look for when choosing our third party signal provider.

1. The first thing I look at is weather the trader is a winner or a loser. This may seem obvious to nearly everyone, but I often see losing signal providers with 50-100 people trading their signals.

2. The next thing I look at is how long they have been a winner. If a trader has been winning for a week that means nothing to me. I recommend that you don’t trade any signal provider with less than a few months of results to show you. Any one can place a few good trades one week and get lucky. If you are going to be trading this trader’s signals they need to be established.

3. Look at the max draw down. This is the largest peak to trough draw down in equity that the trader has historically had. Some traders refuse to take a loss. This causes them to hold on to losing trades forever or until they turn to a winner. Turning a loser into a winner sounds great, but it will eat up a huge chunk of margin and may never turn around. If it doesn’t turn in your direction, you will have your entire account destroyed by a trader that could have taken a 30 pip loss but held on until it was an 800 pip loss.

4. The first three are easy to look at. They will be displayed right on the main screen of signal providers to choose from. Once you get a few signal providers you are thinking of using, its time to dive a bit deeper into their history.

a. Look at their actual trades. Do they have a good win rate because they have opened a ton of trades all at the same time on the same currency pair? They may have 20 winners in a row. This looks great, but if you look a bit deeper you will see that its really only 1 winning trade places 20 times. Not as impressive is it? b. Look at their draw down on individual trades. Do they let a trade go 300 pips against them and then close it out when it hits 5 pips of profit? This is a trader who lets their losses run out of control and cuts their winning trades short. It’s not a trader that you want in control of your money. c. Do they add to losing positions? A trader who constantly adds to losing positions hoping it will turn for them is not someone you want trading your account.

5. Choose a signal provider that suits you. Some traders may provide larger returns over time, but take bigger risks leading to bigger draw downs. This might be OK with you. If you are more conservative and cannot stomach large drops in equity you probably should choose a more conservative trader.

These are just a few things to look for when choosing a third party signal provider to trade your forex account. You should always trade a demo account before opening a live account with real money. Remember it’s your account. In the end you choose the signal providers, and you are responsible for what happens.

Can You Afford To Invest In Forex?

An important question for all investors is: Can I afford to invest?

America always has been a land of promise. Whatever the course of our economy in the years immediately ahead, it is likely that opportunities for investment will be both numerous and attractive. Energetic new companies will emerge, looking for venture capital. Solid old companies will come forth with exciting new products. One industry or another will enjoy a boom period relative to the rest. And, of course, there will be casualties, too. There inevitably are.

For the observant investor this activity, properly evaluated and properly timed, will bring rewards. There will be chances to buy stocks before they have called attention to themselves and begun to rise, or to buy a Blue Chip, temporarily out of favor, at a depressed price. There will be stock splits, dividend increases, new issues, mergers, spin-offs, as well as the tidal rise and fall of stock prices all of this characteristic of the restless life of the market as a reflection of American business.

If you have never invested before, you are bound to be tempted.

Whether or not you yield will depend on your answer to the first hard question about investing: Can you afford it?

It is a lonely question and only you can answer it, for it involves not only how much money you feel able to invest, but what kind of person you are. Actually, it is several questions wrapped into one. You are asking, first, whether your financial condition permits you to invest; second, whether you can assume the risk implicit in stock investment; and, third, whether the market is a safe place for you to be.

Let's take them one at a time.

Your Financial Position: One point should be made clear at the outset: you don't have to be wealthy to invest. Among outsiders you can hear it said that stock ownership is a rich man's game. This can mean any of several things: that the market is too complicated for the little man, that brokers aren't interested in small orders, that only the person who can lose a bundle without feeling it should invest. However persuasive these arguments, they are all untrue.

The fact is—according to a recent New York Stock Exchange Survey—that almost half of all shareowners are in the $5,000—$10,000 a year income bracket. The median income of the 3,860,000 people who have become stockholders since 1956 is $6,900.

This would seem to suggest that an understanding of market operations is not too difficult to acquire, and that an attentive, interested broker is not too hard to find. It can also be assumed that these are shareowners with a fair appreciation of the value of a dollar and in no position to laugh off losses.

The goals a small investor can hope to achieve and the pattern of investment possible within the limits of a modest income will be outlined further on. The conclusion to be reached here is that investment is not a matter of enlarging a fortune you already possess, but of making available some money, however small the amount, to start with.

Regardless of your salary or income level, investment is possible if three conditions can be met:

1. If you are assured of a steady income.

2. If you are meeting your current running expenses and obligations.

3. If you have a cash reserve with which to meet unforeseen emergencies.

These conditions are, first of all, safeguards made necessary by the inescapable fact that stock prices fluctuate. Your judgment of when to buy, when to sell, and how long to hold should never be dictated by outside circumstances. Investment should be undertaken only with funds you can honestly and legitimately earmark as extra. With a regular income and your monthly bills paid, you know where you

stand and what amount can be put aside, in reserve, for any investment opportunity that arises. Or, of course, for emergencies. A sudden demand for ready cash—to pay a hospital bill, an insurance premium, or your income tax—should come, if possible, from your reserve, not from cashing in your investments. Whether your stocks are up or down, you are likely to take a loss—on the downswing because you may be selling at less than you paid, on the upswing because you may be selling at less than the potential.

A reserve also enables you to pick and choose. The fact that you have a few hundred dollars lying idle does not automatically mean the time is ripe to buy stocks. There's no hurry. As the professionals say, "The market is always there." If the trend of the market isn't to your liking, or the price of a stock is higher than you want to pay, a reserve allows you the luxury of waiting for a more favorable situation.

Finally, a reserve permits investment over a period of time rather than all at once. As you learn more about the market, you will hear both sides of this argument. Some experts feel you should back what seems to be a good situation with all the investment funds at your command. Others will warn against getting greedy, and advise partial investment here and there, at different times, to spread the risk. This is not the place to discuss the merits of these techniques. The point is to give yourself the flexibility of moving either way your judgment dictates.

Remember: your income need not be large, so long as it is regular and enables you to put aside a surplus after you have taken care of your bills and the possibility of trouble. The surplus need not be large, either. Saving, as has been said many times, is a matter of regularity. No one considers $5 too small an amount to put into a savings bank; don't worry if that's all you can save each week for your accumulating investment reserve. In most markets, brokers usually can suggest a number of sound, solid stocks, offering liberal yields, that sell for less than $20 per share.

There is no rule about the number of shares an investor must buy. If you can afford a single share (plus commissions), a broker will get it for you. As a matter of fact, through the Monthly Investment Plan you can buy a fraction of a share, although the Plan requires a minimum investment every month.

To invest in the Forex, you will probably need a float of around $400 and invest from $1 to $10 per pip to start with, then reinvest your profits.

So there is a much smaller outlay required to invest in Forex, although it is more speculative.

Good Forex software will help to reduce the risks involved.

Can Trading Futures, Forex Or Stocks Be Addictive?

Real addictions are a very grave matter and while trading doesn’t involve the consumption of any substances, there are those that believe that trading is truly addictive. The tremendous emotional rushes that most traders experience both prior to placing a trade and while in the middle of a big winner or big loser are an acknowledged part of trading, but are traders truly becoming addicted to trading?

Is there a need for help for traders, or is the situation one where the high percentage of traders that lose money is simply due to them still being in the learning curve and suffering the losses as a normal part of “paying your dues”? In this article we are going to investigate the matter and determine if there is sufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that trading is indeed addictive.

So what constitutes an actual addiction? There are two categories of addictions, physical dependence and psychological addiction. There is a considerable amount of information on both and certainly beyond the scope of this article, but a brief summary follows

From Wikipedia, the definition of “addiction” includes:

“Psychological addiction, as opposed to physiological addiction, is a person's need to use a drug or engage in a behavior despite the harm caused [emphasis added] - out of desire for the effects it produces, rather than to relieve withdrawal symptoms. …. it becomes associated with the release of pleasure-inducing endorphins, and a cycle is started that is similar to physiological addiction. This cycle is often very difficult to break.”

Also,

“Psychological addiction does not have to be limited only to substances; even various activities and behavioral patterns [emphasis added] may be considered addictions if they are harmful….”

From Merriam-Webster Online, the definition of “addicted”:

“1 : to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively”

So an addiction could be described as a person feeling the “need” to repeatedly engage in a particular behavior to satisfy a desire for the emotional effects that is has, the feelings that it produces. It is a desire that they have rationalized into a need, to which they have surrendered control, and they have allowed the behavior to develop into a habit. This is physiologically compounded by the endorphins released into the system that provide a physical feeling effect as well. Let’s look at some of the necessary practices (behaviors) of trading to achieve consistent profits and some of the behaviors exhibited by many traders and see if they fit the above.

One recognized critical practice for profitable trading is good risk management. At the heart if this is making sure that the risks you take are measured and calculated risks. You want to keep your losses small when they occur and avoid them all together when possible (such as NOT getting into bad trades). Key tools commonly used for controlling potential losses include risk / reward calculations and stop loss orders. Risk/reward calculations are necessary on every trade so that you know whether each trade is a sound business decision. Stops are used so that then a good trade is placed but the market doesn’t do what you’d expected. With the leverage in trading that can work for or against you, risk management is essential.

General money management is another critical practice to make sure that your trading business will still have the doors open months and years from now. It includes risk management but the focus is on a larger scale and a broader scope, such as looking at what percentage of your available capital you are placing on any given trade, regardless of the details of the specific trade.

These practices may appeal to the intellect, but how they feel is where traders get into trouble. There are several common mistakes repeatedly made by traders that bring large losses, missed profits, and ruin for many. These mistakes run in direct conflict with the known and established good practices for consistent and profitable trading, yet are made over and over again by the same traders. Since they are repeated, it would be reasonable to say that they have become habits. Let’s examine these habits from the perspective of the emotional response for the individual.

Trading without a plan, also known as entering a trade without an exit strategy for the trade. The trader doing this is usually not following a technical system and is going more on their hunches than sound calculations. This right here is an indicator that they are allowing their feelings to dictate their actions more so than their reasoning and rationale. If the market moves in their favor, it reinforces the decision to follow their intuition and feeds the ego in being right. Another very elemental factor is suspense. If one has the trade planned out and there are no surprises, it takes all the suspense out of it. Why do people love a good mystery novel or movie? They love sitting on the edge of their seats and reveling in the suspense of it all. When you know the end of the story it takes all the fun out of it and who wants that?

Refusal to use stops. The comment often heard by brokers is “No, I don’t want to get stopped out. I’ll just watch it.” This is true for initial stops and quite commonly for trailing stops after the market has moved in one’s favor. The trader is putting a lot of energy in to their feelings hope and anticipation. The ego is also being fed here, “knowing” that the market will do as they desire. As the move goes their way, they are experiencing a tremendous thrill, plus the validation they desire about them being a better trader than they truly are. When the market moves against them, the opposite feelings are amplified and only create a greater need to be validated. This also again, involves a lot of suspense and anticipation.

Over-trading regarding frequency, A.K.A. trading too often. Usually in this circumstance the trader is feeling the need to satisfy their perception of lack. They may have just experienced a string of losers or a very large loss and now feel that they have to recoup their losses and absolve themselves for the previous errors. They are feeling bad about themselves and rather than do what they know is right, they simply want to have the bad feelings go away.

Placing trades that are too large for the account. One of the more interesting aspects of this particular mistake is that besides the greed factor, people get a bit of a thrill going against the rules and particularly stepping outside their comfort zones. The simple act of rebelling or being adventurous is what many got a taste of when they first got into trading and how it is so different from what they’d ever done before. The new territory has its appeal and stepping out of the norms and standard rules has a strong gratification associated with it. Of course the greed factor is pretty strong here as well. Only risking 2-5% of your account and the prospect of a measly couple hundred dollars just doesn’t match up with the big numbers one had in mind with trading, or what’s heard often in the ads for the various trading systems available. When you’re only making $800 on this trade and you see and an that claims “I made $9,700 on my first three trades!!!”, that reasonable profit you made just isn’t very s atisfying.

One thing worth pointing out right now, and it directly relates to our subject is the fact that people will make mistakes. People only knowingly repeat them when there is a problem. If you get up out of bed in the morning and stub your toe on the footboard of the bed, you wouldn’t stand there and keep smashing your toe again and again. You’d stop, unless of course there was some sort of additional response that was strong enough to compel you to do it repeatedly until your foot was completely mangled. You’d only smash your thumb when hammering a nail once before you changed how you were holding the board – unless something was wrong.

In comparing the repeated trading mistakes with the established good practices, it is in the emotional responses of the mistakes being made. Suspense, personal absolution and validation, excitement, feeding the ego, being right. These can be very powerful and provide enough stimulus for the person that it over-rides their better judgment. The actions involved in the two sets are in direct contrast regarding both the financial results and how they feel to the trader. Knowing the outcomes for a given trade, keeping the risk small, managing money wisely – these are boring and provide no suspense. Lacking surprise and done with a knowing, good trading provides a much lower emotional confirmation of a traders ability on the emotional level. When you’re good and you know your good and produce consistent results, those consistent results are not a huge celebration. When you’re a rookie and you do well, it is much more gratifying, especially if you hit a big one. That’s a huge ego feed.

There is an inverse relationship between the discipline necessary for good trading practices and the emotions involved in unhealthy trading. The discipline itself runs 180 degrees against the satisfying emotions and denies them to the trader. That is one of the primary reasons that so many traders struggle with the emotional aspects of trading. It is the way that they are trading. They are trading in a manner that fuels their emotions, and established poor habits – both active and emotional habits. If they would focus on establishing healthy trading habits and practices, follow the established wisdoms and observe themselves in their trading, do the simple things that they are supposed to do, their emotions would not flare up so badly and they could begin to break the cycle.

Trading itself is not addictive. There are a great many traders that trade in a healthy manner and enjoy the lifestyle that goes with it. There are aspects of trading that set the stage for the individual to become addicted to trading unwisely. So it is not in the activity itself. It is the focus of the individual and the habits that they establish early on in their trading that determines whether or not they become addicted and suffer.

It is up to the individual to be aware of themselves and their practice to safeguard against addiction to poor trading. Education, assistance and proper guidance would be the best recommendation for traders, and these should be pursued as early as possible. The longer the habits are in place, the longer it takes to break them and re-establish healthy trading practices.

BROKER FOREX

A forex broker is defined as an individual, or a firm, that acts as a mediator, matching buyers & sellers for a fee or for the commission. A forex broker is also regularly employed to maintain & monitor the 24-hour Forex market place.

A forex broker is someone who engages in trading & investing online. In forex plenty of of them will be the investors in the forex & the traders will approach the market for the umpteenth time, but it will be first time for the investors & it can appear at times, daunting. This forces us to use the interactive forex brokers. Most of the people will be investing in the stocks & forex.

they can be sure that they will receive the highest level of service obtainable in the forex trading market. The forex broker offers customer support for different countries. they are present as a broker so as to clarify the concern they may have to regard the foreign currencies in trading. The interactive forex brokers can easily make a big success in trading.

The interactive forex brokers have plenty of years of experience in Forex online & all aspects of web trading. Forex Brokers tailor our accounts to suit our needs, taking into consideration our budget, requirements, & risk tolerance. The forex broker will understand the value of having the trust, direct access broker.

web trading is now a role plenty of people take on as part of everyday life in every business not only for the forex broker. The web is playing a large role in forex trading. The broker forex maintains the high standard which is built in plenty of companies, which is based upon having guaranteed customer satisfaction & security, All the customers are issued with a bank guarantee.

In today's society, for a majority of investments there is now some level of money exchange or transaction to be made, for trading on the stock market, or any other market foreign exchange is always involved. This has created a diverse market in the forex broker. Most people already have some level of dealing with currencies. The worth of the money you save & invest is determined through the worth of another country's money.

A bank guarantee offers the customers security & peace of mind. Years of the roles of a Forex Broker in forex online trading have provided the forex market trading with the best online brokers & the lowest cost brokers. All the customer information is regarded as highly confidential by the forex brokers. A Forex Broker does not disclose such information to third parties. Most of the companies provide all their clients with a bank guarantee to ensure the return of the invested sum.

WAN MOHD HIRWANI WAN HUSSAIN has been helping people succeed in business for over 25 years. Visit his website and learn how to generate your own exclusive leads http://forex-trader-broker.blogspot.com/

Bold Insights On The Euro's Performance In The Forex Markets

" A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner!" - Quote by an Addicted forex Trader

The forex, also designated the foreign trade market is the largest and greatest liquid exchange market in the planet. Unlike the stock exchange, the forex does not suffer a specified trading location or termination period. Instead, over $2 trillion are traded and sold every day. The forex never closes and exchange takes place twenty-four hours a day along the business week.

There are currently six significant currency pairs that are utilized and traded each day on the forex. These six pairs explain for up to 90 percent of the selling bustle each and every day. These embrace the euro and the US dollar (EUR/USD), the Japanese yen and the US dollar (JPY/USD), the US dollar and the Swiss Franc (USD/CHF), the Australian dollar and the US dollar (AUD/USD), the British pound and the US dollar (GBP/USD) and the US dollar and the Canadian dollar (USD/CAD).

Each of these currencies operates a bit differently in the forex and fluctuates a little on a regular basis. The Euro is extremely vital in the foreign exchange currency. It does not simply stand for one country, but a sum of twelve countries in Europe. The countries that are members of the European Union and identify the Euro as currency are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Out of the fifteen members of the European Union, just two do not respect the euro as the authorized currency. These are Denmark and the United Kingdom. Sweden recently began using the euro in 2005.

Currently the euro is comparative to the US dollar and is worth around 90 cents to the dollar. In 1999, all of the European countries locked the cost of their own currencies in reference to the euro. This implies that all of the currencies were valued round the same as the euro. These countries before long began using the euro as their money so that the currency could be utilized across the region and utilized immune from the demand for obtaining variant forms of currency. This change helped bloster the euro and become a more accepted form of currency.

The use of a unified currency across myriad countries has both advantages and disadvantages in connection to the forex. One of the notable advantage of the euro is that the barter rate is lowered, thereby making investment across environs easier. There are risks in the changes in the cost of the currency. This implies that companies see it risky to import or export beyond their currency domain and that yield could be lowered. Using a broad form of currency eliminates this worry. It creates a additional gamble free import and export room, which once relies thoroughly on intra-European exports.

Additional advantage of numerous countries using the euro is that it eliminates the demand for adjusting fees. When a individual or corporation has the requirement to exchange money, there is a fee desired. Many financial institutions levy assorted manner of percentage for adjustment and while it is a relative small amount, it adds up. Multiple changes add up all across Europe. Dropping these fees saves the economy in the long run.

When evaluating at the forex and the way the euro performs, it is crucially vital to recall that using one form of currency creates a deeper monetary market. This implies that the European markets are much more liquid than in the past. There The idea that it will create a deeper financial market implies it will act upon they way the consumers expend the currency all across the region. This will in turn, prompt to increased amounts of money that is played out on the stock market.

Now that the euro has become one of the biggest currencies in the planet, trading for it and with it will increase on the forex. The forex is customarily bedevilled by the US dollar, but the euro is forcing a hefty stand. The use of this currency all about the European countries is delightful in numerous ways and it is thoroughly established all over the globe. Both businesses and individuals gain from the use of the euro in these countries ,free of the fret of having to switch the money as much as in the past.

This information was a culmination from many different places and resources. You should never just believe one resource and you should study a subject from a few different perspectives.

Beware Of The Typical Forex Trading Scam

It’s very easy for new forex trading investors to get taken in by some sort of forex scam or another. This can include just about any idea under the sun that scammers can come up with. Usually the realm of forex scams can include, software and e-books that ‘guarantee’ a profit in the forex market, an unscrupulous market maker that spikes costumer accounts so they can get their fees, general false advertising, and even those with fake sites that just take your money and disappear.

The nature of the currency market tends to leave new investors vulnerable to such scams, simply because it fluctuates a lot and little is known about the market by the general population. It’s up to investors to educate themselves on forex trading, just as they would before making any other investment if they expect to do well. This includes being aware of common scams. In 2001 the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released nine tips investors in the forex market should keep in mind when looking for a broker:

• Stay Away From Opportunities That are Too Good To Be True • Avoid Any Company that Predicts or Guarantees Large Profits • Stay Away From Companies That Promise Little or No Financial Risk • Be Wary of Trading on Margin Unless You Know What That Means • Be Wary of Those Claiming To Trade in the "Interbank Market" because Its ‘Safer’ • Be Wary of Sending or Transferring Cash on the Internet, By Mail or Otherwise • Scams Often Target Members of Ethnic Minorities • Get the Company's Performance Track Record • Anyone Who Won't Give You Their Background Isn’t Worth the Risk

Many forex scams, as is common with other types of scams, rely on getting dollar signs to appear in their victims eyes in order to pull off the scam. If at any point in the decision making process you start to feel yourself getting overly excited by the prospect of making what seems like easy money, then set your plans aside for the time being and come back to them later. You’ll be much calmer and in a better position to decide if the broker or deal you are interested in is really worth it.

One of the most common scams simply involves selling a product or system online that will ‘guaranteed’ make you profits in forex trading. Be careful of online advertisements for these products, after all most of them contain information about the forex market that you can obtain by reading any other book on forex trading. It will give you information on the forex market if you are doing research, but it probably won’t give you the guaranteed secret to success.

Benefits Of Using Forex Software

As the Internet grows in popularity, more and more individuals are learning about the benefits of trading currencies on the Forex market. In recent years, Forex trading has become known as a great way of investing money. But if you do decide that you want part of the action, you should do some quick research on the Forex software packages on the market. They can help you trade easily and from the comfort of your home and office.

One great benefit about Forex software is that it can perform many tasks for you, and keep you up-to-date on the values of the currencies you are trading. If you had to do these tasks manually, you would have to spend many hours fiddling with newspaper reports, charts and graphs. But with the push of a button, you can know how and when to trade. With a general knowledge of where the currency is heading, you can allow your trades to run, or stop them as your position reverses.

But not only does Forex trading software allow you to manage your funds, it also provides you with the opportunity to withdraw or deposit money into your Forex account when you need to. This means you can leave your money in an interest bearing account until you are ready to trade. This way, you earn interest on your money and avoid having extra money sitting idly in your trading account.

Also if you want you can set up the Forex software so when the currency drops to a certain level or has reached a specified value, then it will automatically sell it for you. By doing this you are not only minimizing your risks, but it also means that you do not need to keep a constant watch and control over your profits.

However the best way of ensuring the software you are buying is right for your needs is to test it before you start investing your hard earn money. A good Forex software package will allow you to practice with the software using play money while you learn. Then once you are comfortable with trading, you can deposit some of your money into a trading account and start trading. It is best if you practice as much as possible before. This way you will be ready for any losses that may occur in the beginning. From the start it is best if you only invest small amounts of money when trading until you feel more confident with the software.

Forex software comes either as a desktop or Internet based package. The Internet software systems have several advantages over the desktop versions. One of these advantages is that you do not need to deal with maintenance issues. The software seller often looks after these technical goings-on. Security is another issue you don't have to concern yourself with.

The seller will already have in place more security measures than you can afford on a desktop version. The systems offer data encryption on a secure server and will therefore protect you for hackers and thieves. Plus, Internet based systems offer you more convenience than a desktop model. You can check your account no matter where you are in the world. All you need to do is key in your login and password information. You can then view your currency trading account in a secured environment.

Beat The Forex Market Everytime You Want And Earn Big Profit!

Forex training is a necessity for anyone with this interest. Forex training is always beneficial for a trader, even if he has a few months of practical knowledge in forex market. Forex training is very important if you want to get into the world of forex trading.

Forex training is available via online courses, advanced trading workshops and one on one mentoring. Forex training is a process which requires a continuous effort to apply the knowledge that can be gathered from reading Forex trading books, into practice.

Forex training is the key to successful Forex trading. The best place to get Forex training is from someone who is already involved in Forex trading.

Investing in a high-quality Forex training is a good step to becoming a successful trader in the market. The best place to get Forex training is online. Online method of Forex training is good for newcomer for it helps him to get prepared with nuts and bolts of the trading market. The reason that Forex training is so vital is because the Forex market is extremely competitive and volatile. Quality Forex training is the key to success.

Investing in the proper Forex training is just as important as the amount of money that you will invest in your live trading account. The key goal of the Forex training is to learn where in the brokers WebPages to find what information, what the different indicators mean and what indicators to use for comparison.

Successful Forex trading begins with a good Forex training. This will save you a lot a lot of time trying to learn it yourself and save you thousands of dollars trying to find the secret formula for successful trading. Profiting and winning in Forex Trading is not rocket science, you just need the right information and strategy to follow.

Avoiding Forex Market Risks

The Foreign Exchange or Forex market as it is more commonly known is purely to allow people to trade one currency for another. In fact this is by far the largest trading market in the world for the value of the cash that passes from buyers and sellers of currencies. Many of the trades which take place on the Forex market occur between large banks, central banks, multinational corporations, Governments, currency speculators as well as all other types of financial institutions and markets.

Currently, the trades occurring in Forex markets across the globe is well more than $1.9 trillion each day on average. However, the individual or retail traders make up only a small part of this market, and they often trade through a third party such as a Forex broker or a bank. This means the market mostly includes sophisticated traders who know what they are doing.

In fact, when some individual investors begin trading in the Forex market it can all seem a bit daunting. The learning curve can be steep if you cannot master the fundamentals, and you can easily lose more money than you can afford if you are not careful. However, some people can learn fast and they can master the basics of the market quickly. If you are not one of the fast learners, you may have beginners luck and your first few trades can make you money. But you should not depend on luck to survive for more than your first few trades. You need a solid foundation to recoup your capital and make a decent income from your trades.

There are many financial instruments which you can use for trading on the currency market. These include forwards and futures, options and spread betting. All of which are similar to those used in equity markets. However, as these instruments maintain a minimum trade size to the base currencies, a margin is included with each trading account.

Volatility is the essence of the currency market. Values for individual currencies rise and fall with news and information happening around the world. Sometimes the fall in a currency can be swift and can help to wipe out your entire account before you can react. So you must prepare for risks if you decide to trade on the Forex market. The market can change suddenly all because of decisions made by some government or corporation in a distant part of the world. A terrorist attack such as that which occurred on 9/11 did not only affect the Forex market in the US but the world over.

Therefore, if you want to become a successful investor in the Forex market, you must learn the fundamentals about the market and the currencies you wish to trade. Also, read press releases and other financial and political news from around the world. You will do do well by learning how to read graphs and charts about these individual currencies, Finally, sign up for a demo account with a broker and learn how to trade without using real money.

Avoid Forex Currency Trading Scams

Forex Currency trading swindlers often attract customers through advertisements in local newspapers, radio promotions or attractive Internet sites. These particular advertisements may flaunt low-risk high-return investment opportunities in foreign currency trading. They may even offer high paid currency-trading employment opportunities. Be very skeptical when promoters of foreign currency trading claim that their services or account management will earn high profits with minimal risks. Be wary if they claim that employment as a Forex currency trader will make you wealthy quickly.

Avoid opportunities that sound too good to be true. Forex currency trading that involves get rich quick schemes are generally swindles. Retired folks with access to their retirement funds are attractive targets for fraudsters. Once your money is gone, it is almost impossible to get it back. Be very careful of companies that will guarantee you a profit. Be careful as well, if they flaunt extremely high performance. These types of statements are generally false.

If the company tells you that written risk, disclosure statements are routine formalities imposed by the government, stay away from that company! Forex trading is very volatile and can be a huge risk for the uneducated and uninformed. If you cannot afford to lose money then do not get into the Forex currency trading market. Do not use your retirement funds for Forex currency trading; that would be extremely foolish.

Be very wary of online trading, it can be impossible to get a refund but it is very easy to transfer your funds. The internet is an easy way for fraudsters to reach potentially millions of people. The internet also can hide where a Forex trading company resides. If you transfer your money to a foreign location, it may be impossible to get it back.

You must get the background of the company you are dealing with. You should ask for all information in written form. Check with the Better Business Bureau as well. Do not rely strictly on information you here verbally. If you are not completely satisfied or comfortable with the information you find out then just do not deal with that company.

You may here the term ‘interbank’, it refers to a loose network of Forex currency transactions that are negotiated between financial institutions and other large companies. These are usually the only ones investing in the interbank market. So, be careful of a company that indicates that you should trade Forex in the interbank market. This can be a sign of an unscrupulous trading company.

Another term you may here is Margin trading. Margin trading can make you responsible for losses that are greater than the dollar amount you deposited. Many Forex currency traders will ask customers to give them funds, which they sometimes refer to as "margin." These sums can be in the range of $1,000 to $5,000. Those dollar amounts actually control a far larger dollar amount of trading and customers are not aware of this sometimes. So, in essence do not trade on margin unless you fully understand what it means and what you are doing. You must be prepared to accept losses that can exceed the margin amounts you have paid.

Automated Forex Trading: Clever Profit Making Technology

Why Forex trading?

This is probably one of the questions that you need a reasonable answer. There are hundreds of investments out there that you can prefer, but why go trading foreign currencies instead?

Forex investment is unique in various aspects.

Its trading volume is relatively huge compared to other market.

It has extreme liquidity or the capability of either buying or selling the currency without causing significant movement in the market price.

It has the largest number and variety of traders.

It is one of the markets that have long trading hours (24 hours each day, except during weekends.

Trading locations are almost everywhere, not just in the United States or major cities of Europe. There are different factors that affect foreign exchange rate.

Another whooping fact that will make you excited to go on Forex trading: it has an average turnover in traditional foreign exchange market of around $1.88 trillion daily, according to the Triennial Central Bank Survey of the BIS (Bank for International Settlements). Here are the daily averages of turnover on the Forex market for the last 17 years:

$500 billion (April 1989) $750 billion (April 1992) $1.18 trillion (April 1995) $1.48 trillion (April 1998) $1.16 trillion (April 2001) $1.88 trillion (April 2004)

From the figures alone, you will notice that the average trend of Forex turnover is increasing. It is estimated to reach as high as 2 to 3 trillion dollars within the next 8 to 10 years, if the number of traders around the world will continue to increase. As a matter of fact, everyone have the chance of getting a substantial slice of the Forex market wealth pie, especially that the Forex trading marketing is now on its automation process.

The concept of automation becomes the new trend to the foreign exchange trading market. The Interbank spot Forex market has also considered switching to the automated method as well.

There are several benefits that a Forex trader can derive from automated Forex trading. Here are some of such benefits and figure out why Forex trading as well as other investments (futures and commodities) prefer the automated process.

Through automated process, transactions can now be done in real time. Although manual systems have existed for quite some time now, it is difficult to achieve such benefit that the automated Forex system can offer to its traders. All of the trades can happen within a few milliseconds and can be a big plus for automated transactions against the manual system. In fact, there are problems that are addressed using automated Forex trading especially if the trader is losing a few times in a row that prevents him from making new trades. Such problem could be addressed using the automatic trading system.

With automated Forex trading, you will have a greater diversification. It means that you can trade in various markets in different time zones at a time. You can execute trades with traders from Singapore or London even it is already 12 midnight in the United States. This benefit allows you a multiple exchange model option. You can use varying trading models to evaluate short-term data. This means that you will be able to predict the trend for a shorter period of time, let us say from fifteen minutes to half an hour.

As previously mentioned, the Forex market is unique because of its extreme liquidity. This liquidity is increased when the market goes automated.

Risk management problems are solved through automated Forex trading. International checks, which are commonly used in making purchases on Forex market, are synchronized through automated technology. Since the transaction in an automated process is now on real time, there is a slim chance that the payments will be delayed, reducing the risk of non-payment by either parties. Although there are problems noted with the use of the automated system, it can be fixed through consistently-updated technologies.

With automated Forex trading market, the prediction of $2-3 trillion average daily turnover within the nest 8 to 10 years can be changed within the next 4 to 5 years. Given the quick yet efficient trades on varying time zones, automated Forex trading will now be among the existing lucrative business around the world.

Automated Forex Trading

Long gone is the time when only banks and private institutions could trade the Forex market. Now, individuals have access to trade their own money, and lots of it. The exchange of foreign currencies has since been open to private investors, central banks like Bank of America, and several countries. But now with the introduction of the Expert Advisor trading systems, the smaller trader can now automate their trades like the big companies do.

The systems allow the user to set their own parameters and trading guidelines. The program consists of software that has been develeoped for a specific type of trading style, not everyone trades the same. Some spot trade, some trade big, some hedge and so on and so forth. The developers of these types of software take into consideration any nuances of Forex trading as well as being aware that the market is trading 24 hours a day, even during weekends.

Without these types of systems in place, the trader would have to monitor the pair that is being trades on a constant basis along with monitoring opening and closing times which is almost impossible to keep up with. By using the Expert advisors a trader can setup trading signals to make life a bit easier such as a type of order, stop loss, trade entry, news tickers etc.

Some of the key benefits of using an automated trading system is that it gives the trader full control, but cuts out the emotional bond a trader has with his money...making the temptation to trade on a whim a lot less likely. This takes the guesswork out of trading if the trader implements the right trading signals for this trading style.

The EA is a mathematical algorythm and it performs solely on formulas, so if the EA doesnt perform like it should it can be changed, augmented and tweaked until the trader finds the recipe for success that they are looking for. Then, this process is repeated constantly to achieve a money making strategy.

Trading also involves the trends of the market, be it long-term or short-term. These trends play a big role in the amount of trades that a trader is involved in. The EA, if setup correctly, will take these trends in-stride and make the trades accordingly, minimizing the drawdown or losing trades. Using historical data, traders can analyze and test their trading theories and strategies, some EA's have a built-in function to record such data.

Almost every expert advisor system being developed now is made using the MetaTrader 4 platform since it provides reliable historical data that you can download from their site or any other, multilanguage support, solid and user-friendly interface.

Automated expert advisors are becoming the tool of choice for many traders and companies around the glode, most are free, but the ones that really rake in the money you have to pay for. You get what you pay for.

Are The Forex Brokers My Friends?

This is a very good question and sadly not one that enough investors think to ask. After all, when anyone first enters into Forex trading there will always be a lot things that you don’t know and your broker would seem to be the logical source of great information—right? Even the very notion of Forex trades being “commission free” is not actually accurate and it is therefore in the broker’s best interest to convince any investor to trade because that is when the broker makes their money.

It is true that Forex brokers do not get paid the typical commissions found in securities or commodities transactions. Instead, these “middlers of the Forex, make their money from a host of activities relating to a trade, including:

• Buying/Selling currencies • Converting and holding currencies • Interest on deposited funds • Rollover fees

In short, the Forex broker makes money from the difference between the bid and ask price. There was a time when only banks, major currency dealers, and other big players were the only ones who play in the Forex. However, brokers are often associated or somehow linked with an investment bank that guarantees the loans used to leverage a trade. These brokers buy a lot ($100,000) from a larger bank or investment vehicle and then sell it back to you—at the “ask” price.

The “bid” price is the amount that you can sell that position back to the broker for. If a position had an ask price of 1.1920 and a bid price of 1.1923 and you were to sell it immediately back to the broker, you would take a loss of .0003—or three pips. Those three pips are what the broker makes from the trade despite the fact that they technically have not charged a commission. Since the typical lot size on the Forex is $100,000, that means a trade costs $30 in the above scenario.

So, if the broker makes money from trades then it is likely they will advise you to trade often—maybe even advise setting really tight stops in order to prevent you from losing money while also creating more trades in the process. Trading too often on the Forex is not a great idea anyway because trends on the Forex tend to be towards long-term consistent price movements. Trading on news releases and increasing your number of trades puts you at greater risk of incurring loss.

Of course, just because a broker does make money from trades does not mean that they will provide you with bad information. Most brokers are very reputable and can provide you with sound investment advice. However, it is definitely better to understand the market and perhaps start out with “mini-lots” or even paper accounts before really jumping in with both feet. You will need a sound investment strategy, patience, and a lot of backtesting in order to be successful in Forex trading!

Apply “the Secret” To Forex Trading Success

The Forex market is the largest trading network in the world with $1.8 trillion dollars being exchanged every day. There are dozens of different currencies traded but the big players to focus on are all traded with the US dollar and include: EUR (Euro), GBP (British pound), JPY (Japanese yen), CHF (Swiss franc), AUD (Australian dollar), NZD (New Zealand dollar), and the CAN (Canadian dollar). Each of these currencies is exchanged with the currency of other nations at different exchange rates—which are always in a state of flux because the market trades around the clock (Sunday through Friday). The volatility and sheer size of the market means that there is ample fluctuation to produce big profits—and losses. The challenge for the investor, as always, is to predict which direction the rates of currency pairs will fluctuate.

The beginning point in any investment strategy is determining what type of analysis will be used to help guide enter and exit decisions. Investors who use fundamental analysis look at a nation’s interest rates and other economic indicators when deciding to enter or exit a position. Fundamental investors tend to trade based upon news releases and economic data from the nations involved in the currency pair.

Briefly, technical analysis involves the interpretation of price performance and chart patterns—all historical data. Some technical indicators used in this type of analysis include:

• Moving averages including Simple & Exponential • Breakout Points • Lines of Support & Resistance

Technical traders do not believe that the past necessarily predicts the future—but that long and short term trends can be identified and exploited to help guide current decisions on entry and exit points on positions. Technical traders try to identify current trends in the Forex market to determine entry and exit points. If they are correct, they can ride a trend (in either direction) for a profit until an exit point is reached (when the trend is ending).

The most successful traders on the Forex tend to look for long-term trends and favor technical analysis. Fundamental traders have to enter and exit positions very quickly in order to capitalize in price fluctuations caused by news events (interest rate changes, release of economic data, etc.) and are therefore more vulnerable due to excessive trading. If there truly was “a secret” to trading success on the Forex, the top investors all tend to agree on the following:

1. Choose currency pairs involving U.S. dollar (has volume to produce the price fluctuations necessary for big profits and the liquidity to enter/exit positions at will) 2. Find currency pair through backtesting that has most profit potential (pip movement) and least volatility through use of technical analysis 3. After determining trends, set stops and exit points for both protection and maximum profitability 4. Review charts once per day (overtrading and day trading can hurt your portfolio) 5. Remain patient and exit positions once technical decision point has been reached

If there really is a secret to trading success on the Forex it has to be patience. Trading strategies are never perfect because the market will never be predictable 100% of the time. There will be times when any strategy fails and stop points are reached before profits are realized. Continuous back testing, remaining patient, and setting stops are the true secrets of Forex success.

All About A Forex Quote

Forex Trading – All about a Forex Quote. The word FOREX is derived from the words “FOReign EXchange. Unlike other financial market in the world, Forex is open 24 hours every day where there is always a major financial center open where banks, dealers, hedge funds, corporations, individual investors and speculators are trading currencies.

The cumulative buy and sell of a currency causes the value of your Forex investment to move either up or down. There are numerous factors that cause the fluctuation of exchange rate. A country’s political, social and fundamental economic environment and their central banks fiscal policy, interest rate adjustment are some of the common factors. To have a better understanding how the currency exchange rate can affect the value of your Forex investment, this article will concentrate on the topic of Forex Quote.

Currencies are traded in pairs and each currency has its own symbol. For the Euro dollar- it is EUR, Japanese Yen - it is JPY, for the Pounds Sterling - it is GBP, and for the Swiss Franc - it is CHF. Hence, EUR/USD would be Euro-Dollar pair. GBP/USD would be pounds Sterling-Dollar pair and USD/CHF would be Dollar-Swiss Franc pair and so on and so forth.

You will always see the USD quoted first with few exceptions such as Pounds Sterling, Euro Dollar, Australia Dollar (AUD) and New Zealand Dollar (NZD. The first currency quoted is called the base currency. This is not surprising as the U.S. dollar is regarded as the central currency of the Forex market and is involved in nearly 90% of all Forex transactions.

So how are these currency pairs quoted on the Forex market? You will see two numbers on all Forex quotes. The first number is called the bid and the second is known as the offer (or the ASK) price. Take for instance EURUSD, you will see 1.4625/1.4630. The first quote of 1.4625 is the bid price, the price where traders are prepared to buy Euro against the USD Dollar. The second number 1.4630 is the offer or ask price and it is the price traders are prepared to sell the Euro against the US Dollar. You will notice that there is a difference between the bid and the offer price. This difference is known as the spread. Based on the previous EUR/USD quote, you know that 1 Euro is equal 1.4625 US dollar.

The way profit is measured of a currency is by “pips” or point. PIP is the acronym for price interest point. If the EUR/USD moves from 1.4625 to 1.4655 that is 50 pips. A pip or 0.001 is the last decimal place of a currency quotation with the exception of the Japanese Yen and Yen cross rates. A price movement for the USD/JPY from 111.10 to 111.60 will be 50 pips.

The objective and goal for all Forex Traders are to profit from foreign currency movements. The rewards of trading Forex are immense and the amount of money you can earn can be life changing and ultimately leads you to achieve financial freedom. This requires continuous and adequate understanding and training in Forex education. This education may include understanding technical analysis, chart pattern and formation, trade management such as stop loss and profit target and money management. And if you invest and get the right Forex Trading knowledge, you can enjoy long term currency trading success.