An Informative Forex Broker Review

According to our forex broker review, Gain Capital and Oanda come out on top.

Gain Capial has set a high standard with trailing stops. The trailing stop can only be entered as a separate order. Once the investor is in an order he can enter his trailing stop limit in pips to trail the market the distance the investor has set with the closest distance the investor can go being 10 pips. Gain Capital also has a facility whereby a trader can download 5 years of tick data on the 6 major currencies. In addition, an investor can also download a free DDE application whereby he can obtain live quotes.

While most brokers allow only the standard ($100,000) or mini ($10,000) lot size, Oanda gives traders the ability to trade any lot amount. Another attractive quality is that has its own user forum. In addition, Oanda has the capacity to have multi-denominated sub accounts other than in USD with no minimum deposit. The different currency accounts available include AUD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD & CHF. This allows the user to transfer between their primary account and their sub account easily, with the only restriction being that the investor cannot externally withdraw funds from a sub account, and withdrawals must come out of the primary account only.

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

Caution - Forex ahead

I remember when I first heard of Forex; I had no idea what Forex was all about, what traps or rewards it had to offer. My head was filled with confusion, worry and excitement, all at the same time.

Confusion because there was so much information about it all around the net, from strategies, datafeeds, trading platforms and backtested system etc, that the sheer volume of information was overwhelming. Then there were all the jargons, candlesticks and high and lows and trends and sideway movements, inside and outside days. I had no idea what it all meant.

Then I was also worried, too. Forex did not exactly have a 'good' reputation in the circles I was frequenting, not in the investment fraternity and definitely not in the public arena. As I looked further in to Forex and tried to figure out what it was all about, I got confusing messages from all over the place. Some people said it was a great way to make money and yet others said it was a great way to go bankrupt...

And I was also very excited about Forex as well. Before jumping on the Forex bandwagon, I'd dabbled in Stock Options. I found Options a reasonably safe way of 'playing' the market and make some money without ruining myself. But I also found it a bit boring and slow. For one thing, because I live in New Zealand, I was limited to certain times of the day where I could make profitable trades and of course the market is not open all week, either. This meant I was taking time away from my family and friends, not a good idea.

With Forex on the other hand, I'd have an opportunity to trade almost anytime that was convenient to me and I've also found that the software that you normally get for free when you open a Forex account is much better then the ones you normally have to buy to trade on the stock market. Not only that, but when you trade the stock market, you still have to pay for your own datafeed, which can be a substantial amount of money and the data is usually delayed unless you pay some extraordinary amount for your datafeed.

So you can see that even before you've made a single trade, you are already starting with a negative equity because of all the expenses you have to incur before you can actually start trading. And I haven't mentioned any of the other costs involved once you have made a trade. This includes brokerage fees and government charges that you have to pay every time you made a trade, even if you have lost on the trade!

Forex on the other hand offered an almost 'instant fix' of the 'just add water' variety, to the problems I had with Options. Better software, easy, 24 hour access to the market, almost all week, no government charges and very, very low commission rates. I did not have to pay extra for datafeeds and it also seemed like a very exciting, fun thing to do.

I think a lot of people have the same feeling about anything new. You buy a new car and it is the best thing...for a month. Things get even worse where money is involved. People seem to jump on any and all opportunities promising great returns and we seem to forget about common sense as we see the five letter word, money...

I must admit that I was the same when I'd first heard of Forex and all it's attractive 'features'. I thought Options are good, but Forex is better! I will make a million in no time at all. In fact I'd lost $7000.00 in the first week! But strangely enough, I made $1200.00 on my very first trade which lasted less than an hour and had made many trades that made anywhere between $120.00 to $4800.00! So what was going on?

I'd learnt a very obvious lesson in that week, I knew nothing about Forex! There is more to it than reading charts and having a 'gut-feel' about a trade. It's quite funny because I knew this lesson from my Options trading and yet I forgot it as quickly as I could say Forex. So, I had to do a quick reality check and 'compose' myself to see just what had happened and how I was going to prevent it from happening again.

The first thing I had to do was to go back to paper trading to make sure I'd still have a home to go to. Then I had to educate myself. I used to work as a software engineer and thinking back, I 'm quite amazed how much time I had spent on learning the ins and outs of writing programs. Why I thought being good at trading Forex would be any different I will never understand. Anything we do needs to be learnt and perfected and it requires time. Forex is no different. The one 'good' thing about Forex is that you quickly find out if you are right or wrong. With stocks and Options it could take weeks or even months, years to find out if you are on the right track or if you should go and beg on a street corner or sell your kids to slave traders, just kidding...

With Forex you know in a few short hours or even minutes, depending on your trading preference, what your next move should, celebrate or 'miserate', yeah, I know there is no such word...however, for a lot of people 'miserate' is unfortunately a real word! The statistics are really frightening not unlike those of gambling. But I think this is where the problem starts...

Most people don't treat Forex with the professionalism it deserves. You have to treat it like a business or trade. And as with any business or trade you have to learn the 'trade-secrets'. Is it difficult? No. Does it take time and effort? Yes, as does anything worth doing.

By Ference

The Forex Market And The Use Of Currency Options

Within the Forex market it is common for traders to use currency options in order to minimize their trading risk. A currency option is simply a contract which gives the holder of the option the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specified currency within a prescribed timeframe. Currency options are also widely used outside of the Forex markets and are particularly favored by companies trading in goods overseas.

Currency options are purchased as either call options or put options. A call option gives the purchaser the right to buy a particular currency, while a put option gives the purchaser the right to sell a specified currency.

The value of an option at its expiry date is equal to the value realized by the holder in exercising his option. If, for example, the purchaser gains nothing, the option is worth nothing. The value at any other time during the timeframe of the contract is said to be its "intrinsic" value and this is the value that can be realized if the purchaser decides to exercise his option.

The intrinsic value of a currency option is linked to what is known as the "strike price" which is the currency price specified in the option contract. A call option (the right to buy) has intrinsic value if the spot, or current, price is above the strike price. A put option (the right to sell) has intrinsic value if the spot price is below the strike price.

If the option contract has intrinsic value it is said to be "in the money", otherwise it is said to be "out of the money". When the strike and spot prices are equal then the contract is referred to an being "at the money" or "at par". Clearly a purchaser would only elect to exercise his option when it is in the money.

The pricing of options is a complex business and takes into account many different factors including both the spot value and time value. The latter is calculated from an expectation of future market conditions and such factors as the difference in interest rates between the currencies in question and the volatility of the market. The important point here is that options must be priced low enough to attract buyers but also high enough to attract writers (those selling and standing as guarantors on options).

In the Forex market currency options are used to offset the risks of unexpected movements in the market and effectively limit a trader's losses to the cost of purchasing the option. The seller of course takes a higher risk as, although he gains a premium on the sale, he also runs the risk of a virtually unlimited risk if the market moves against him.

Forex trades attract a particular form of option known as a "digital option". This form of option pays a specific sum of money at expiry if certain conditions are met. If these conditions are not met then the option pays nothing at all.

For the Forex trader it is simply a question of deciding in which direction the market is likely to move and then deciding upon a payoff should the market move as he expects within a given timeframe.

As an example of a digital option in action let's assume that the Euro is trading today at 1.6700 and that the trader expects that within three months it will be trading at 1.7300 and that he wishes to purchase a digital option. He looks around and decides to buy an option with a payoff of $7,000 at a purchase price of $1,200. If at the end of three months the Euro is trading above his predicted price of 1.7300 then he will receive $5,000. However, if the Euro is trading below 1.7300 he will receive nothing and will have effectively lost his original purchase price of $1,200.

By Donald Sounders

Forex Trading Without A Philosophy Is The Road To Ruin

If you are entering the world of Forex trading for the first time then you may well be starting to trade in the belief, as stated on almost every Forex website you visit, that trading offers a "risk free" profit and "high returns" for a "low investment". Well, there is certainly a grain of truth in these claims, but they do paint a somewhat simplistic view of trading which, in reality, is a little bit more complicated.

For most novice traders it is a case of opening an account and then diving straight into trading and, at this point, most newcomers make two mistakes. The first is to begin trading without any clear strategy for the trading decisions that they are making and the second is to let emotion rule their decision making. They pick a currency pair which they feel offers an opportunity for profit and jump straight in afraid that if they don't act now the opportunity will pass them by. They then watch as the market moves against them and close out their position in panic, only to then see the market recover. They've made their first loss and are probably far from happy.

Within the Forex market there are five major trading groups - governments, banks, corporations, investment funds and individual traders. Each of these groups has its own very specific set of objectives and more importantly, with the exception of individual traders, has a very specific set of rules and guidelines for trading and is held accountable for the trading decisions it makes. This leads to very disciplined trading and, more often than not, is why the larger trading groups are so successful.

To succeed in Forex trading the individual trader, having taken the time to study the currency markets and to learn the ins and outs of foreign exchange trading, must adopt a very disciplined approach to trading and must trade to a clearly defined strategy and philosophy.

Trading decision should never be based upon emotion and should only ever be made on the basis of a trader's knowledge and experience and a sound analysis of current market conditions. In particular a trader needs to apply his technical knowledge to the analysis of charts and to carefully and clearly plot out the points at which he will both enter and exit each individual trade. Doing this will not only maximize his profits but, most importantly, it will minimize his losses.

There are certainly substantial profits to be made in the Forex markets by individual traders but, to achieve these profits, two things are required. The first is a knowledge of the Forex market which can only be gained through study and experience. The second is a clear trading philosophy which gives a firm sense of direction to your trading decisions.

By David Shephard

Emotion in Forex Trading

You are so excited in Forex Trading! You want to make as much money as possible! You place a trade and the price against your trade, you think that price may come back to your track again. So, you wait and wait and wait.... Finally, your account was burnt and you got so upset....

Well, that's normally what a new trader will experience when they start to trade in forex. As a fact, we all human being have emotion. You feel excited when you just got started because forex trading can earn you a lot of money(if you do it right, yes). You feel excited to gain few profit and got out of the market and the price still go on your way.

There are few areas which will cause your emotion to control your trade. Let's find out what are they:

1. Greed. This is the number 1 Killer of forex trading. When you are greedy, you better train yourself not or you will be regret. When someone is greedy in trading the forex, they will put more and more money in and lose more and more. Never be greedy.

2. Invest more than you can lose. Well, I think you must know that trading forex is a high risk activity. Some newbies, they just know that its' a high-profitable investment but didn't know that this is as well a high risk investment. Never, never, never put the money you can't afford to lose in your account. You family, health, life is more important than making money.

3. Blindly trade. Trading forex is not about gambling. So, please equip yourself with forex education. If you don't know how trade, you better don't trade. It's worthy to put your first investment in education before you trade your first trade.

These are few major things that will affect our emotion in trading. So, master your emotion first will you master 80% of your trading.

God bless.

By Elisha Gan

Forex Trading Tips

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

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

1. Trade pairs, not currencies - Like any relationship, you have to know both sides. Success or failure in forex trading depends upon being right about both currencies and how they impact one another, not just one.
   
2. Knowledge is Power - When starting out trading forex online, it is essential that you understand the basics of this market if you want to make the most of your investments.
   

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

3. Unambitious trading - Many new traders will place very tight orders in order to take very small profits. This is not a sustainable approach because although you may be profitable in the short run (if you are lucky), you risk losing in the longer term as you have to recover the difference between the bid and the ask price before you can make any profit and this is much more difficult when you make small trades than when you make larger ones.
   
4. Over-cautious trading - Like the trader who tries to take small incremental profits all the time, the trader who places tight stop losses with a retail forex broker is doomed. As we stated above, you have to give your position a fair chance to demonstrate its ability to produce. If you don't place reasonable stop losses that allow your trade to do so, you will always end up undercutting yourself and losing a small piece of your deposit with every trade.
   
5. Independence - If you are new to forex, you will either decide to trade your own money or to have a broker trade it for you. So far, so good. But your risk of losing increases exponentially if you either of these two things:
   

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

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

6. Tiny margins - Margin trading is one of the biggest advantages in trading forex as it allows you to trade amounts far larger than the total of your deposits. However, it can also be dangerous to novice traders as it can appeal to the greed factor that destroys many forex traders. The best guideline is to increase your leverage in line with your experience and success.
   
7. No strategy - The aim of making money is not a trading strategy. A strategy is your map for how you plan to make money. Your strategy details the approach you are going to take, which currencies you are going to trade and how you will manage your risk. Without a strategy, you may become one of the 90% of new traders that lose their money.
   
8. Trading Off-Peak Hours - Professional FX traders, option traders, and hedge funds posses a huge advantage over small retail traders during off-peak hours (between 2200 CET and 1000 CET) as they can hedge their positions and move them around when there is far small trade volume is going through (meaning their risk is smaller). The best advice for trading during off peak hours is simple - don't.
   
9. The only way is up/down - When the market is on its way up, the market is on its way up. When the market is going down, the market is going down. That's it. There are many systems which analyse past trends, but none that can accurately predict the future. But if you acknowledge to yourself that all that is happening at any time is that the market is simply moving, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to blame anyone else.
   
10. Trade on the news - Most of the really big market moves occur around news time. Trading volume is high and the moves are significant; this means there is no better time to trade than when news is released. This is when the big players adjust their positions and prices change resulting in a serious currency flow.
    
11. Exiting Trades - If you place a trade and it's not working out for you, get out. Don't compound your mistake by staying in and hoping for a reversal. If you're in a winning trade, don't talk yourself out of the position because you're bored or want to relieve stress; stress is a natural part of trading; get used to it.
    
12. Don't trade too short-term - If you are aiming to make less than 20 points profit, don't undertake the trade. The spread you are trading on will make the odds against you far too high.
    
13. Don't be smart - The most successful traders I know keep their trading simple. They don't analyse all day or research historical trends and track web logs and their results are excellent.
    
14. Tops and Bottoms - There are no real "bargains" in trading foreign exchange. Trade in the direction the price is going in and you're results will be almost guaranteed to improve.
    
15. Ignoring the technicals- Understanding whether the market is over-extended long or short is a key indicator of price action. Spikes occur in the market when it is moving all one way.
    
16. Emotional Trading - Without that all-important strategy, you're trades essentially are thoughts only and thoughts are emotions and a very poor foundation for trading. When most of us are upset and emotional, we don't tend to make the wisest decisions. Don't let your emotions sway you.
    
17. Confidence - Confidence comes from successful trading. If you lose money early in your trading career it's very difficult to regain it; the trick is not to go off half-cocked; learn the business before you trade. Remember, knowledge is power.

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

1. Take it like a man - If you decide to ride a loss, you are simply displaying stupidity and cowardice. It takes guts to accept your loss and wait for tomorrow to try again. Sticking to a bad position ruins lots of traders - permanently. Try to remember that the market often behaves illogically, so don't get commit to any one trade; it's just a trade. One good trade will not make you a trading success; it's ongoing regular performance over months and years that makes a good trader.
   
2. Focus - Fantasising about possible profits and then "spending" them before you have realised them is no good. Focus on your current position(s) and place reasonable stop losses at the time you do the trade. Then sit back and enjoy the ride - you have no real control from now on, the market will do what it wants to do.
   
3. Don't trust demos - Demo trading often causes new traders to learn bad habits. These bad habits, which can be very dangerous in the long run, come about because you are playing with virtual money. Once you know how your broker's system works, start trading small amounts and only take the risk you can afford to win or lose.
   
4. Stick to the strategy - When you make money on a well thought-out strategic trade, don't go and lose half of it next time on a fancy; stick to your strategy and invest profits on the next trade that matches your long-term goals.
   
5. Trade today - Most successful day traders are highly focused on what's happening in the short-term, not what may happen over the next month. If you're trading with 40 to 60-point stops focus on what's happening today as the market will probably move too quickly to consider the long-term future. However, the long-term trends are not unimportant; they will not always help you though if you're trading intraday.
   

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

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

8. Get to know one cross at a time - Each currency pair is unique, and has a unique way of moving in the marketplace. The forces which cause the pair to move up and down are individual to each cross, so study them and learn from your experience and apply your learning to one cross at a time.
9. Risk Reward - If you put a 20 point stop and a 50 point profit your chances of winning are probably about 1-3 against you. In fact, given the spread you're trading on, it's more likely to be 1-4. Play the odds the market gives you.
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

16. Wrong Broker - A lot of FOREX brokers are in business only to make money from yours. Read forums, blogs and chats around the net to get an unbiased opinion before you choose your broker.
    
17. Too bullish - Trading statistics show that 90% of most traders will fail at some point. Being too bullish about your trading aptitude can be fatal to your long-term success. You can always learn more about trading the markets, even if you are currently successful in your trades. Stay modest, and keep your eyes open for new ideas and bad habits you might be falling in to.
    

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

By John Gaines

Forex Trading - Money Management For The Novice Trader

Before you start trading it is vital that you take the time to study the currency markets and that you start your Forex trading with a clear philosophy and a defined strategy. Once you start trading however it is equally important that you manage the funds available for trading with care.

As well as knowing which currencies to trade and being able to recognize entry and exit signals for trading, the successful Forex trader must be able to manage his resources and to incorporate money management into his trading plan.

There are a number of different strategies that can be applied to money management, but most of them will be based upon keeping a track of your core equity. Your core equity is the sum that you start trading with less the money that you have in any open positions. So, if you start trading with $10,000 and have $1000 in open positions then your core equity is $9000.

As a general rule, when starting out you should try to limit your risk to 1% to 3% of each trade. This means that if you are trading a standard Forex lot of $100,000 you should limit your risk to $1,000 to $3,000 and, for safety, should probably start at just $1,000. This can be achieved by placing a stop loss order 100 pips (where 1 pip = $10) above or below your entry position for a trade.

Over time your core equity will rise or fall and you can then adjust the dollar amount of your risk. Taking our example above, with a starting balance of $10,000 and one open position, your core equity is $9,000. If you then add a second open position, your core equity will drop to $8,000 and you should limit your risk to $900. Similarly, your risk in a third position should be limited to $800 and so on.

Using the same principal, as your core equity rises, you can also increase your level of risk. So, if trading is going well and you have made a profit of $5,000 your core equity is now $15,000 and you could raise your risk to $1,500 per transaction. As an alternative, you might also decide to risk more from any profit made than you are prepared to risk from your original starting capital. You might, for example, decide to risk up to 5% of any realized profits ($5,000 on a $100,000 lot) to give yourself a greater potential for profit.

The secret to success in Forex trading relies on many different factors and one extremely important element of your trading strategy lies in your ability to tightly control and manage the money that you have available for trading.

By David Shephard

Forex Signals - Are You Limiting Your Profits?

One of the greatest disadvantages for the Forex trader is the time that is needed to monitor the often fast moving and volatile currency markets so that advantage can be taken of entry and exit points for trading. For many traders this means sitting in front of their computer screen and watching the markets for hours on end.

One way around this problem is to make use of automation and place limits and stops on your orders. This way, you can walk away from your screen safe in the knowledge that, if nothing else, your losses at least will be kept to a minimum. The problem here though is that you also often miss out on potential profits because your limit order kicks in too early.

So just how do you solve this problem?

The simplest solution is to use a Forex signal service which will both monitor and analyze the markets for you and then notify you when necessary through a variety of different channels including onscreen notification, email, SMS and pager messages.

Forex signals services are provided on a subscription basis, paid either monthly or annually, and can also be provided by your broker as an extra service which can be integrated into their trading software.

Most signal services limited the number of currency pairs on which the service operates but the majority will offer services for the major trading currencies including the USD against the EUR, GBP, JPY and CHF. A number of companies also provide specialist services in less frequently traded currency pairs.

The majority of services use a combination of factors in identifying trends in the market and in recommending entry and exit points, but all are based in the main on a technical analysis of the currency markets. These services in essence compile currency charts and then use a variety of mathematical models to make their trading recommendations.

For example, they may use a simple moving average to trigger buy signals as currency prices move above the average line and sell signals as prices fall below the moving average. In addition, volume indicators can also be used to indicate levels of interest in the market with high volume, especially when it occurs close to the bottom of the market, indicating the possible start of a new trend and low volume pointing to investor uncertainty.

This of course is a somewhat simplistic picture used here only for illustration of the nature of Forex signal services. In reality a large number of tools are used, including those already mentioned and many others such as Bollinger bands and volatility and momentum, and these together form part of a complex mathematical model which generates the signals sent out to subscribers.

Services will of course vary considerably, as with anything else in life, and they are very much an aid to the busy trader and just one tool in his toolbox. They are certainly not infallible and only your own experience of using such services will really determine whether or not they are of sufficient benefit to you to warrant the cost of anywhere from about $50 to $200 a month.

One important point to remember is that Forex signal services provide you with advice and nothing more. It is up to you to take that advice and act upon it or not as your own knowledge and experience tells you. If you simply take the advice provided by the service and act upon it blindly then, if you have a very good service, you may come out on top but, in many cases, you will find that your trading is less than successful.

By David Shephard

Currency Trading Pros And Cons - What Every Forex Investor Should Know

If you're considering investing on the Forex market get the real scope with these currency trading pros and cons.

Trading currencies on forex has become a popular choice for many investors. As with every type of investment, there are risks and there are benefits. Some profit and some don't.

Before you begin to invest, careful evaluation of currency trading pros and cons can help you make sure you're on the most profitable path.

By knowing both sides of the equation, the good and the bad, you're in a much safer position to profit and enjoy currency trading for years to come.

Almost every investor has a busy schedule. Carving out time for learning, analyzing, and placing trades can be difficult. One of the benefits of the currency market it the very flexible trading schedule. The Forex market is open on a 24 hour, 6 day a week schedule.

Unlike the stock market where events can occur after the market is closed and you can take no action, the 24 hour open Forex allows you to trade whenever and reduce the potential for loss.

Bull or Bear Forex is Stable

A second benefit of currency trading is that fluctuations in the other markets don't.affect the currency market. A bull or a bear market does not affect the Forex market. Whenever there is a major purchase of stocks by many the share cost can rise as the market shares. With the Forex market, this does not happen.

A third benefit of the Forex market is that it is controlled by the entire market and not by big corporations. In stocks information is received directly from the companies within the stock exchange. There is no way to know whether a company is being totally honest with their filings. This presents unforeseen risks. Since big corporations don't.control the currency trading the chance of unforeseen risks is greatly reduced.

While there are many pros to trading currencies, there are also few risks involved. First off as with any investment, the value of your investment may fluctuate. You can't always rely on past results to predict future trends.

These fluctuations and other factors make trading foreign exchanges on margin very risky. This risk can be reduces by carefully considering your investment objectives, your level of experience, and the level of risk within your comfort zone.

There's a high degree of leverage involved that can work for you or against you. Make sure you don't.invest any money that you can't afford to lose.

Using Internet-based trading system can present some risks. While these are usually minimal, you should still take them into account before you make the decision to trade.

Things like software failure, Internet connection problems, and hardware problems can all happen at unforeseen times.

Failures, disruptions, or delays from these types of problems can happen. The foreign exchange market cannot control any of these issues.

For most investors the pros far outweigh the cons of currency trading. Only you can make the decision of whether Forex trading suits your investment personality.

Using the availability of practice accounts can help you determine if this type of investment is a good fit for you.

It will help you learn the market and make an educated decision about future investments.

By Mike Herman

Forex Trading Style: 7 Essential Indicators You Need

When developing your own forex trading style, there is a danger in becoming fascinated with indicators. The newer trader experiments with one, finds it doesn’t work so well, then switches to another, then another, etc.

The list below highlights 7 key indicators that can be woven into your forex trading style. You may not need to go any further than this. Stick with the 7, practice them, get to know them inside out, and get the satisfaction of developing your own successful forex trading style.

1. Candlesticks – watch for a hammer, doji, head and shoulders pattern, 1-2-3 formation, double top or bottom.
2. Trendlines – draw common sense trendlines across the highs in a downtrend or lows in an uptrend. Watch for price to break the trendline and come back and test it.
3. MACD – Watch for a difference between the highs and lows of MACD and price. When there is divergence watch closely for a good entry point once price has shifted in the direction of the divergence.
4. 200 EMA – this indicator is an all time favorite for traders across the board. On higher time frames (1 hour, 4 hour, daily) take note whether price is above or below the 200 EMA to give you the sense of price direction.
5. Pivot points – take note of previous support and resistance lines as price will come back to retest these levels time and time again.
6. Fibonacci – learn how to use this tool well and take particular note of the 50 and 62 retracement levels, especially when they coincide with trendlines or previous support/resistance.
7. Price itself – let price prove to you where it wants to go by setting entry orders rather than market orders when entering a trade. By setting an entry order, price has to reach the target you specify before pulling you into the trade.

No one indicator is enough to warrant entering a trade. Use a combination of these to get confirmation that the trade you are contemplating is high probability.

By Michael A. Jones

What to look for in FOREX Trading Software

With the growth of the Internet and its accessibility to the general masses, every FOREX broker maintains a software package for his clients to transact and get information about market prices online. With the increasing popularity of online trading with traders, the FOREX brokers are improvising their tools keeping in mind the clients needs in terms of software tools.

The two basic types of the FOREX trading software are - web based and client based. Since the most crucial functionality of the online trading tool must be the ability to provide market information at real time and updating it in the flash of a second; the software must be able to perform with minimal processing delay and must be accurate to deliver the entry and exit points for the trade.

The web based software is the one which is on the broker's website. There is no installation required on the client’s computer. The client based software is the one which is first downloaded and then installed on the client’s machine which is in synch with the broker’s. The web based client software is considered to be more popular due to their convenience, safety and reliability characteristics as the users can log in to them using their unique account from any computer and from any location over an Internet connection. Whereas the client based software has the restriction of using one chosen computer for every trade.

Another mandatory requirement for trading software is security or protecting the user’s critical data over the net. In the web based software the user information is secured with high-strength encryption to prevent viruses, intruders or hackers to access or modify the user’s data during transmission. Although the client based software is also secured during transmission, it has the shortcomings of the usage of a single trader’s computer and hence the possibilities for data loss are higher in this case.

The FOREX software is aided by a series of data servers which hold the web site content and user transactions. These servers are reliable in securing the user information and data integrity and ensure accurate transaction processing. Since servers are subject to power outages and natural disasters, at least two sets of servers in separate locations are maintained to ensure maximum uptime and data backups guaranteeing the integrity of the user’s financial data in case of server failure.

One of the problems in online trading software/tools is the processing or the data transmission delays. There are a number of factors that result in a delay in data transmission for software like Internet connection speeds and the physical distance between the client machine and main server. To avoid these obstacles in trading the FOREX traders should have a reasonably high-speed modern computer and a fast paced stable Internet connection to ensure the full functionality of the FOREX software offered by their broker. Also the broker must be chosen in the same area as one’s trading place to avoid the delays in this extremely volatile market.

Most popular trading software have integrated charting functions with a variety of viewing functions facilitating the access of real-time price quotes for most currency pairs and they allow the trader to buy or sell at market prices or enter and exit the market using stops or limits. Some brokers offer advanced packages like the ability to trade directly from the chart and full analytical functions in their software for a monthly fee.

By Jill Kane