Friday, December 25, 2009

What is Forex Trading

Interesting two part video on Youtube on forex trading for beginners.

I hope you find them useful and informative :)





Part I



Part II

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Forex for Beginners

Foreign Exchange or Forex is a globally trusted market used for the trading or exchange of currencies of different countries. It is the world’s largest financial market.

Tons of people from all walks of life are an active part of Forex or foreign exchange market. With the passage of each year, the Forex market is growing in size and becoming more accessible to the common people. It is the market of 21st century and people from all over the world are relaying on it to achieve their financial goals.

With the advancement in the technology and communication science, Forex has become a huge market but still it has more potential of growth and rise. In the years to come, it may become the trade of choice for many traders. The new generation of traders and investors is seeking exciting opportunities in Forex trade.

Foreign Exchange Education

Forex or foreign exchange trading is a very tricky and risky task. Without having proper training and education, one has very limited chances of success. The most important cause for the failure of Forex traders is their lack of Forex training and knowledge. A quality Forex Education or Training helps the Forex traders to improve their trading abilities and skills. Only a well educated or trained Forex trader understands the complexities and subtleties of Forex trade. Proper Forex training teaches the trader a sound trading strategy and an effective approach to currency trading. A qualified Forex trader can explore the opportunities much easily and extensively.

What should be done before forex market opens ?

A quality Forex training focuses on the market timing effect on trading and liquidity. The time when London market starts its proceedings is the busiest time of the market. The forex market’s startup time has a great effect on Forex market. No education or training system can neglect the importance of analyzing the effect of any Forex market’s opening and closing.

There is no hard and fast rule for Forex education. Success with Forex trading comes with experience, practice and learning new skills. With getting experienced, a trader get more disciplined and controlled in his emotions which is a must trait for Forex trader.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Forex Scalping Overview






A very informative educational video on scalping on a 10 minute chart.

Very useful for forex beginners. Take some time to watch this video if you want to go into scalping strategies.

Just take note that before investing in any forex trading account, practice with a trial/demo account before going live. Again, I wish to remind all readers that forex is a very volatile market that can make you tons of money and at the same time can clean your account out. It is a risky market and so you have to be able to cope with and manage these risks. And for a risk adverse person, personally I feel that the forex market is not for you.

However, it is a good experience for you to try something new. Just start with a small account if you want.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

FX Basics : Understanding Margin Calls and Contract Size

Margin Calculation

Margin is calculated in 2 ways: Used Margin and Free Margin.

Used margin is the amount of money used to hold open positions whilst free margin refers to the amount of funds available to place additional positions.

Calculating a Margin Call

Fail-safes have been put in place to help prevent a trader from going into the negative and owing their broker additional funds. This is commonly referred to as a Margin Call. In the Forex market, a margin call typically means that their open positions will be automatically closed.

While in other financial markets a client is called upon to send additional funds or the position(s) will be closed at market price.

The margin level is calculated by dividing the current equity in an account by the current amount of margin in use (used margin).

After dividing the equity by the margin move the decimal two places to the right. A trader whose equity is at $1,000 and who is using a $500 of margin would divide 1,000 by 500 which of course equals 2. Then move the decimal two places to the right; this trader's current margin level or percentage is thus 200%. At 100% margin level a trader is essentially using their entire available margin.

When the margin level drops to a certain percentage, trades will automatically be closed.

Understanding Contract Size in the Forex Market

Each standard lot traded in the Forex market is a $100,000 (of the base currency) contract. In other words, when trading one lot in a standard account, a trader is essentially placing a $100,000 trade in the market.

As such, without leverage, most investors would not be able to afford such a transaction. Leverage of 100 – 1 would allow a trader to place the same one lot ($100,000) trade with the post of $1,000 in margin. $100,000 divided by 100 equals $1,000, thus 100 : 1 leverage means that $1,000 of margin is able to control a $100,000 position.

Many retail Forex brokers also offer a mini account option. Mini accounts are essentially 10% the value of standard accounts, meaning that mini contracts are $10,000 (of the base currency). A trade of one mini lot would be a $10,000 trade. Trading with 100:1 leverage would mean that $100 of margin would control a $10,000 contract.

Understanding the basic terminology will help you in your forex trading escapade.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Forex Basics

To be successful in the forex market it is obviously necessary to understand the basics in foreign exchange. Knoing how to analyse charts and trends is one thing but it is equally important to understand the underlying reasons why various currencies around the world are constantly moving relative to each other.

Being able to understand what influences a currency movement and correctly predict a movement in one direction or another is what makes a successful forex trader. Let us look at the major influences :

1. Current Affairs

Be aware of the current affairs around the world especially within the major world economies. like USA, United Kingdom etc Monitor national and international news channels for such events as political unrest, social disorder and in particular financial news and major announcement by world leaders and financial leaders like Bernanke etc.

2. Unpredictable Events

A major natural disaster or significant terrorist activity can influence a sudden currency movement. You should always protect your trades from unpredictable events by using stop losses to minimize the affect of a sudden adverse currency movement.

3. Predictable Events

A political event such as a general election is predictable. A major international sporting event such the Olympic Games is predictable. The important thing here is to be able to understand which currencies are likely to be affected and in which direction they will move. It's not just the events themselves which may influence a currency movement but also the announcement of such an event. So be aware of the timing of such announcements.

4. Financial Reports

Be familiar with the timing of monthly financial reporting from countries of influence like USA . Announcements by world leaders concerning GDP, interest rates, inflation etc., will often influence currency movements. Monitor the financial results for the major international companies, particularly the banks and other major international financial institutions.

5. Rumors

It's difficult to avoid rumors but you should be very careful if making a trade based on a rumor because very often a rumor is simply no more than just a rumor and often a rumor is spread to fool traders into thinking the market will move one way when in fact the opposite happens.

6. Currency Pairs

You should pay particular attention to applying foreign exchange basics in the two countries concerned with your currency pairs. It is a fact that the US dollar has the strongest influence on other currencies particularly if one of the pair is a minor currency.

The problem for any beginner in forex trading is how to apply all this fundamental analysis to successful trading. The best advice I can give is to gain experience with fundamental analysis and how each type of influence effects currency movement before you use it to make real trades.

After a while you will develop a feel which will give you more confidence as you become familiar with the foreign exchange basics.

With these in perspective, welcome to the world of forex !

Friday, October 2, 2009

Forex Trading Overview

Close to $2 trillion is exchanged each day in the forex market and it comprises the largest market in the world. With more than three quarters of deals surviving less than a week forex trading is, for the most part, a high-risk, short-term, highly volatile market. It is a highly fluid market, a good deal more so than equities, with the many traders worldwide and the very high daily turnover rate.

The top ten most active traders, however, are responsible for nearly three quarters of total dealing volume. The trading activity that happens within the interbank market, which is formed by international banks, provide the market with bid and ask prices that are far closer than retail customers can get.

In 1972, at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, forex futures contracts, that are derivatives, were introduced and now make up around seven percent of the all foreign exchange volume.

Something else that has also taken hold and is another popular hedging strategy is foreign exchange options. Investors often buy these derivatives, which are contracts to purchase currency at a certain price on a future date, to counterbalance the decline in the price of a currency and any possible losses they might endure.

An additional means by which traders are capable of mitigating risk is through an exchange, in which both parties agree to switch one currency for another for a set period of time, and will then reverse the transaction after the period runs out.

Amongst financial markets the foreign exchange market is without competition and is a fast-paced, international currency exchange. International companies, prominent banks and financial organisations will ensure its huge popularity continues and its growth is guaranteed into the future.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Technical Analysis to Predict Price Movements

In brieft, technical analysis attempts to forecast future price movements by examining past market data.

Most traders use technical analysis to get a "big picture" or macro view on an investment's price history. Even fundamental traders will glance at a chart to see if they're buying at a fair price, selling at a cyclical top or entering a choppy, sideways market.

Technical analysts make a few assumptions as below :

  • History repeats itself in regular, fairly predictable patterns. These patterns, generated by price movements, are called signals. A technical analyst's goal is to uncover a current market's signals by examining past market signals.
  • Prices move in trends. Technical analysts believe price fluctuations are not random and unpredictable. Once an up, down or sideways trend has been established, it usually will continue for a period.
  • All market fundamentals are reflected in price data. Moods, differing opinions, and other market fundamentals need not be studied.

Getting in and get out of the FX market at the right time

Traders rely on price charts, volume charts and other mathematical representations of market data to find the ideal entry and exit points for a trade. Some studies help identify a trend, while others help determine the strength and sustainability of that trend over time.

Technical analysis can add discipline and minimize emotion in your trading plan. It can be hard to screen out fundamental impressions and stick with your entry and exit points as planned.

While no system is perfect, technical analysis helps you see your trading plan through more objectively and dispassionately.

Price chart types

Bar charts
The most common type of chart. Each bar represents a period of time - a "period" as short as 1 minute or as long as several years. Over time, bar charts show distinct price patterns.

Point & Figure Charts
Point & figure patterns resemble bar chart patterns, except Xs and Os are used to mark changes in price direction. Point & figure charts make no use of time scale to associate a certain day with a certain price action.

Candlestick Charts
Instead of a simple bar, each candlestick shows the high, low, opening and closing price for that period of time it represents. Candlestick patterns provide greater visual detail as they develop.


Technical Indicator Types

Trend
Trend indicators (moving averages, trend lines) smooth price data out, so that a persistent up, down or sideways trend can be easily seen.

Volatility
"Volatility" (Bollinger Bands eg)refers to the magnitude of day-to-day price fluctuations, whatever their directional trend. Changes in volatility tend to anticipate changes in prices.

Strength
Strength indicators describe the intensity of market opinion on a certain price by examining the market positions taken by various market participants. Volume or open interest are the basic ingredients of strength indicators.

Cycle
Cycle indicators indicate repeating market patterns from recurrent events such as seasons or elections. Cycle indicators determine the timing of a particular market pattern. (Example: Elliott Wave)

Momentum
Momentum indicators determine the strength or weakness of a trend as it progresses over time. Momentum is highest when a trend starts and lowest when the trend changes.

When price and momentum diverge, it suggests weakness. If price extremes occur with weak momentum, it signals an end of movement in that direction. If momentum is trending strongly and prices are flat, it signals a potential change in price direction. (Example: Stochastic, MACD, RSI)

Support/Resistance
Support and resistance describes the price levels where markets repeatedly rise or fall and then reverse. This phenomenon is attributed to basic supply and demand. (Example: Trend Lines)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

How Long Have You Been Trading in Forex ?

Well, it is not simply a matter of how long you have been in forex trading.

The important thing still lies in your understanding of the forex market, how the currency pairs move relative to one another. It is not a matter of a "gut feeling" to short sell or buy without a purpose.

Also, how you can make use of fundamental news and technical analysis to aid you in your decision making process. Fundamental news like bank rates, GDP, employment figures etc will have impact on the current movement as in technical charting which will help you determine long term trends.

Going blindly into the forex buy/sell without basic understanding of the highly volatile currency market can prove disastrous for many newbie trader as you can easily lose tons of money within minutes as much as you can earn that much if you understand how it works.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Expert Advisors In General

The best expert advisers can help you to make a lot of money with forex trading, while in contrast, a bad EA can simply drain you out on your cash.

So how do you tell them apart ?

Online EA reviews can be a mixed blessing when it comes to something as important as an expert advisor. In case you do not know, an EA is an automated currency trading system that runs on the popular platform known as Metatrader 4. Basically, you hook up the robot to your broker's software platform, set it to trade on auto for you at the position size etc that you want, and go enjoy your day.

The problem of course comes if things go against you and it starts to lose your money instead of making it. This is always a danger with forex systems and even more when they are trading on autopilot so you may not be aware of what is happening. Hence, it is extremely important to run the EA on a demo account first until you have absolutely everything clear or at least grasp the basic understanding of how forex market moves vis-a-vis fundamental news and technical charting.

Reviews can certainly help you to narrow down your search when you are looking for a forex robot that will save you tons of time analyzing the market and placing your trades. However, there are two possible problems with reviews. One is that some reviews that you will find online are simply copied from the sales page for the EA itself and the person might not have used the robot at all. In this case you will usually see a very positive review with no indication of the possible downside.

On the flip side, a review from somebody who has actually used the software themselves can be very valuable because it will often give you hints and tips about how to get the most from it.

The other thing that you may come across is a strongly negative review from somebody who could not make the EA work for them. There may be all kinds of reasons for this which are not the fault of the EA itself. Often, either the person could not figure out how to set it up and became frustrated with it, or they set their risk too high. A common recommendation for risk is 2% per trade. The laws of statistics mean that setting your risk too high will always lead to a busted bank sooner or later, but people who do not realize this will often blame the system that they were using. This can lead to some very vitriolic comments and forum posts and of course it is never recognized that it is the fault of the trader. It must be the system's fault !

What you should be looking for when you search through reviews for the best expert advisors is a general consensus, a balance of views.

Rather than simply going by a star system or whether the person liked the EA, check for specific points such as these :

- Is it suitable for somebody at your level? Is it aimed at beginners or experienced traders? Do you need to be taking a certain position size or using a particular broker to use this system?

- Is it easy to set up, and how much does that matter to you?

- Does it suit your trading style in terms of the amount of risk (stop loss settings for instance) and number of trades?

You may need to read between the lines a little bit to work out some of these points. For example, most EAs will claim to work for people at all levels, but a system that only makes a couple of trades a week is not going to make you much money on a micro trading account unless you take huge risks, so that's why the number of trades can be important. However, many people who buy a new forex robot are also trading using other methods and then it does not matter so much if a robot only trades a couple of times a week.

So do check out reviews when you are looking for the best expert advisors, but follow your own agenda when it comes to how seriously you take them.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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