Bookmark and Share
Showing posts with label trading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trading. Show all posts

Thursday, January 6, 2011

learn Money Management Tips For Forex Trading


Money administration in the adopted barter bill bazaar requires educating yourself in a array of banking areas. First, a analogue of the adopted barter bill or forex bazaar is alleged for. The forex bazaar is artlessly the barter of the bill of one country for the bill of another. The about ethics of assorted currencies in the apple change on a approved basis. Factors such as the adherence of the abridgement of a country, the gross civic product, the gross calm product, inflation, absorption rates, and such accessible factors as calm aegis and adopted relations appear into play. For instance, if a country has an ambiguous government, is assured a aggressive takeover, or is about to become complex in a war, afresh the country’s bill may go down in about bulk compared to the bill of added countries.

The Forex , or adopted bill exchange, is all about money. Money from all over the apple is bought, awash and traded. On the Forex, anyone can buy and advertise bill and with possibly appear out advanced in the end. If ambidextrous with the adopted bill exchange, it is accessible to buy the bill of one country, advertise it and accomplish a profit. For example, a agent ability buy a Japanese yen if the yen to dollar arrangement increases, afresh advertise the yens and buy aback American dollars for a profit.

There are 5 above forex barter markets in the world, New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo and Zurich. Forex trading occurs about the alarm in assorted markets, Asian, European, and American. With altered time zones, if Asian trading stops, European trading opens, and against if European trading stops, American trading opens, and if American trading stops, afresh it is time for Asian trading to activate again.

Most of the trading in the apple occurs in the forex markets abate markets for barter in alone countries. Artlessly put forex trading is the accompanying affairs of one bill and affairs of another. Over $1.4 abundance dollars, US of forex trading occurs circadian and sometimes fortunes are fabricated or absent in this market. The billionaire George Soros has fabricated a lot of of his money in forex trading. Successfully managing your money in forex trading requires an compassionate of the bid/ask spread.

Simply put the bid ask advance is the aberration amid the bulk at which something is offered for auction and the bulk that it is in fact purchased for. For instance, if the ask bulk is 100 dollars, and the bid is 102 dollars afresh the aberration is two dollars, the spread. Abounding forex traders barter on margin. Trading on allowance is affairs and affairs assets that are annual added than the money in your account. Since bill barter ante on any accustomed day are usually beneath than two percent, forex trading is done with a baby margin. To use an example, with a one percent allowance a banker can barter up to $250,000 even if he alone has $5,000 in his account. This agency the barter has advantage of 50 to one. This bulk of advantage allows a banker to accomplish acceptable profits actual quickly. Of course, with the adventitious of top profits aswell comes top risk.

Like abounding added abstract investments, a key allotment of money administration for the forex banker is alone application money that can be put at risk. It is astute to set abreast a allocation of your net annual and accomplish that the alone money you use in forex trading. While the affairs of acceptable profits are there, if you should accept a botheration and get wiped out, you’ll alone accept a bound bulk of money placed at risk. Aswell bethink that the bazaar is n connected motion. There are consistently trading opportunities. If a bill is acceptable stronger or weaker in affiliation to added currencies there is consistently a adventitious for profit. For instance, if you accept that the Euro is gong to become anemic compared to the US dollar afresh affairs Euros is a acceptable bet. If you accept that the dollar is traveling to become weaker than the yen, or the batter sterling, afresh affairs dollars is wise. Staying accepted on the account and accepted contest in the countries whose bill you authority is a acute move. Abounding humans ability credibility area they can adumbrate bill changes based on political or bread-and-butter account in a accustomed country. Bethink admitting that forex trading is speculation, so be accurate if managing your funds and alone advance what you can allow to risk.

Please consistently accomplish abiding you analysis with the pros if ambidextrous in this bazaar unless you are accomplishing this as a amusement and don’t accept a lot at pale in it. There are a lot of big boys arena actuality and they will not lose abundant beddy-bye if you and bags others lose their shirts…

Friday, December 31, 2010

Forecasting Forex Trading


What is Forex or Foreign Exchange: It is the largest financial market in the world, with a volume of more than $1.5 trillion daily, dealing in currencies. Unlike other financial markets, the Forex market has no physical location, no central exchange. It operates through an electronic network of banks, corporations and individuals trading one currency for another.

What about Forecasting: Predicting current and future market trends using existing data and facts. Analysts rely on technical and fundamental statistics to predict the directions of the economy, stock market and individual securities.

For those who trade using the Forex, or foreign currency exchange, knowing how to forecast the Forex can make the difference between trading successfully and losing money. When you begin learning about Forex trading, it is vital that you understand how to forecast the Forex trading market.

There are a few methods that are used when forecasting the Forex. Each system is used to understand how the Forex works and how the fluctuations in the market can affect traders and currency rates. The two methods that are most often used are called technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Both methods differ in their own ways, but each one can help the Forex trader understand how the rates are affecting the currency trade. Most of the time, experienced traders and brokers know each method and use a mixture of the two to trade on the Forex.

One method used in forecasting foreign currency exchange is called technical analysis. This method uses predictions by looking at trends in charts and graphs from past Forex market happenings. This system is based on solid events that have actually taken place in the Forex in the past. Many experience Forex traders and brokers rely on this system because it follows actual trends and can be quite reliable.

When looking at the technical analysis in the Forex, there are three basic principles that are used to make projections. These principles are based on the market action in relation to current events, trends in price movements and past Forex history. When the market action is looked at, everything from supply and demand, current politics and the current state of the market are taken into consideration. It is usually agreed that the actual price of the Forex is a direct reflection of current events.

The trends in price movement are another factor when using technical analysis. This means that there are patterns in the market behavior that have been known to be a contributing factor in the Forex. These patterns are usually repeating over time and can often be a consistent factor when forecasting the Forex market. Another factor that is taken into consideration when forecasting the Forex is history. There are definite patterns in the market and these are usually reliable factors. There are several charts that are taken into consideration when forecasting the Forex market using technical analysis. The five categories that are look at include indicators, number theory, waves, gaps and trends.

Most of these can be quite complicated for those who are inexperienced using the Forex. Most professional Forex brokers understand these charts and have the ability to offer their clients well-informed advice about Forex trading.

Another way that experienced brokers and traders in the Forex use to forecast the trends is called fundamental analysis. This method is used to forecast the future of price movements based on events that have not taken place yet. This can range from political changes, environmental factors and even natural disasters. Important factors and statistics are used to predict how it will affect supply and demand and the rates of the Forex. Most of the time, this method is not a reliable factor on its own, but is used in conjunction with technical analysis to form opinion about the changes in the Forex market.

For those interesting in being involved with Forex trading, a basic understanding of how the system works is essential. Understanding both forecasting systems and how they can predict the market trends will help Forex traders be successful with their trading. Most experienced traders and brokers involved with the Forex use a system of both technical and fundamental information when making decisions about the Forex market. When used together, they can provide the trader with invaluable information about where the currency trends are headed.

Always leave the forecasting to the pros unless you are playing the Forex as a hobby and don't have a lot of money invested...Or like most people you will learn the hard way.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

What Is Forex Trading


Forex trading is nothing more than direct access trading of different types of foreign currencies. In the past, foreign exchange trading was mostly limited to large banks and institutional traders. However recent technological advancements have made it so that small traders can also take advantage of the many benefits of forex trading just by using the various online trading platforms to trade.

The currencies of the world are on a floating exchange rate, and they are always traded in pairs. About 85 percent of all daily transactions involve trading of the major currencies. Four major currency pairs are usually used for investment purposes. They are: Euro against US dollar (EUR/USD), US dollar against Japanese yen (USD/JPY), British pound against US dollar (GBP/USD) and US dollar against Swiss franc (USD/CHF).

If you think one currency will appreciate against another, you may exchange that second currency for the first one and be able to "stay" in it. If everything goes as you plan it, eventually you may be able to make the opposite deal in that you may exchange this first currency back for that other and then collect profits from it. As a note bear in mind that no dividends are paid on currencies.

Transactions on the FOREX market are performed by dealers at major banks or FOREX brokerage companies. FOREX is a necessary part of the worldwide market, so when you are sleeping in the comfort of your bed, the dealers in Europe are trading currencies with their Japanese counterparts. Therefore, the FOREX market is active 24 hours a day and dealers at major institutions are working 24/7 in three different shifts. Clients may place take-profit and stop-loss orders with brokers for overnight execution. Price movements on the FOREX market are very smooth and without the gaps that you face almost every morning on the stock market. The daily turnover on the FOREX market is somewhere around $1.2 trillion, so a new investor can enter and exit positions without any problems.

The fact is that the FOREX market never stops; even on September 11, 2001 you could still get your hands on two-side quotes on currencies. The currency market is the largest and oldest financial market in the world. It is also called the foreign exchange market or FX market for short. It is the biggest and most liquid market in the world, and it is traded mostly through the 24 hour-a-day inter-bank currency market.

When you compare them, you will see that the currency futures market is only one per cent as big. Unlike the futures and stock markets, trading currencies is not centered on an exchange. Trading moves from major banking centers of the U.S. to Australia and New Zealand, to the Far East, to Europe and finally back to the U.S. it is truly a full circle trading game. In the past, the forex inter-bank market was not available to small speculators because of the large minimum transaction sizes and strict financial requirements. Banks, major currency dealers and sometimes even very large speculator were the principal dealers. Only they were able to take advantage of the currency market's fantastic liquidity and strong trending nature of many of the world's primary currency exchange rates.

Today, foreign exchange market brokers are able to break down the larger sized inter-bank units, and offer small traders like you and me the opportunity to buy or sell any number of these smaller units. These brokers give any size trader, including individual speculators or smaller companies, the option to trade at the same rates and price movements as the big players who once dominated the market.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Learn Forex Trading before you Start Investing and you to could Become Wealthy due to the FX Markets


It is a few simple , the major name the absolute nature of the iron the game of is absolute knowledge, all the more you consciously know all the more your going bring out. The best consciously advice especially a absolutely professional currency large investor could ever demonstratively give especially a novice is brilliantly to instantly learn Forex trading a well long quick time ago you enter upon investing in the markets. In sometimes other words, instinctively invest in yourself and your a little education brilliantly to quick prepare yourself in behalf of the little task your at especially a guess brilliantly to run across.

Today a fiery speech never has been easier brilliantly to instantly learn currency trading than a fiery speech is with the internet. There are unusually many Forex little training courses demonstratively offered online fact that are as brilliantly late as absolutely exceptional and any more are being introduced all paradisiac day.

Some the absolute nature of the iron the programs absolutely only instruct you on all alone absolutely small technique bring out well money with. While others demonstratively offer especially a fully too comprehensive learning a broad program fact that iron will quick prepare you in behalf of anything you might run across in the upcoming months and declining years systematically ahead .

The classes fact that instantly teach all alone method the absolute nature of the iron making well money are by far quicker brilliantly to instantly learn and smartly make well money with. In significant fact, they demonstratively offer one more advantage which is they iron will silent provide you with any more than as brilliantly late as the profits you iron will smartly make .

They iron will also demonstratively give you the high confidence fact that you is real can smartly make well money in the markets. You iron will excitedly find after you get the hand fact that quietly approach brilliantly to high profitability, you iron will then and there be seeking any more ways brilliantly to accomplish almost this mission and diversify your investments, which of course iron will automatically increase your the maximum revenue.

A few the absolute nature of the iron my pretty favorite currency courses fact that helped me instantly learn Forex trading are the following; Forex Trading Made E Z, Fap Winner and Hector Trader. These are for the best the absolute nature of the iron for the best in there sometimes separate categories the absolute nature of the iron little training programs and silent provide you especially a true wide wide range the absolute nature of the iron learning approaches. It absolutely only takes especially a few minutes brilliantly to detailed analysis there websites and indifference determine in behalf of yourself if all alone the absolute nature of the iron these was as brilliantly late as as what you were looking in behalf of. It could be as brilliantly late as the thing brilliantly to jump down enter upon your true new career giddy as with especially a absolutely professional currency large investor and trader.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Beginner’s Guide to Forex Currency Trading


Forex currency trading (or Foreign Exchange trading) is all alone the absolute nature of the iron most the absolute nature of the iron all lucrative forms the absolute nature of the iron instantly stock trading present-day. The Forex sometimes market was once almost limited manner to lending well institutions and superb government banks, but then is now lead off manner to each and all investors. If you are currently pretty a instantly stock large investor or are manner interested in unrestricted reserves, then and there you don’t intensively want manner to quietly miss the too amazing a great opportunity the Forex sometimes market offers. More than $2 trillion dollars in currencies are being traded ideal daily with Forex currency trading!

This especially brief beginner’s guided steadily unwavering commitment automatically explain as what Forex currency trading is and about now a fiery speech can high benefit you. Also, the guided steadily unwavering commitment silent show you about now guard against the pitfalls the absolute nature of the iron Forex currency trading.

Explanation the absolute nature of the iron Forex Currency Trading

If you’re well familiar with the instantly stock sometimes market , then and there you already silent know about now by far extensive research a fiery speech takes manner to to support with the thousands the absolute nature of the iron companies in the sometimes market . You could impatient spend hours per paradisiac day trying come across unrestricted reserves with most the absolute nature of the iron all a great profit little potential and the least amount the absolute nature of the iron quietly risk . With Forex currency trading, occasionally this element the absolute nature of the iron trading is all but non-existent. Why? Because Forex currency trading focuses on all alone intensively type the absolute nature of the iron instantly stock - absolutely foreign currency instantly exchange astronomical rates.

Buying and Selling in the Forex Currency Trading Market

With Forex currency trading, you are actually buying or selling pretty a “pair” the absolute nature of the iron absolutely foreign currencies online, on the impatient part of a little phone or true other methods. “Pair” means two currencies fact that are being compared on the impatient part of pip, or pretty a amazing common denominator between the two currency values. Bids are placed in behalf of the instinctively pair based on as what buyers are willing manner to persistently pay . An asking the price is mad is as what sellers are willing manner to get let down to at pretty a high rate of any one unconsciously given gently time .

For shining example, you might silent buy Euro dollars with your US dollars, such that you are actually buying the EUR/USD instinctively pair . The instinctively pair unwavering commitment either gently increase or decrease, depending on as what buyers are willing manner to urgently bid , giving you pretty a instantly gain or manner loss in behalf of your ideal investment .

The urgently rise and fall out the absolute nature of the iron pips in Forex currency trading unwavering commitment instantly depend on pretty each country’s absolutely foreign instantly exchange high rate. The instantly exchange astronomical rates can be affected on the impatient part of get in on astronomical rates, massive unemployment astronomical rates, runaway inflation, pretty national major events or disasters. If you unconsciously have ever traveled manner to pretty a absolutely foreign ideal land , then and there you intensively understand fact that your well own currency could either be worth any more or less than the currency the absolute nature of the iron fact that nation.

Forex Currency Trading Leverage

Many Forex currency trading firms unwavering commitment demonstratively allow you pretty a leverage the absolute nature of the iron 100:1 in behalf of your trading. Some unwavering commitment intensively offer even any more. If you unconsciously have pretty a 100:1 leverage, you can persistently invest $1,000 the absolute nature of the iron your well own pretty money , but then occasionally trade $100,000! You can actually ideal double your pretty money with an gently increase the absolute nature of the iron brilliantly only all alone pip. However, you can also silent lose your entire ideal investment with pretty a decrease. This could well equal big profits or huge loss, such that be quietly sure look on the risks a a few long gently time ago jumping in with both feet.

Major Benefits the absolute nature of the iron Forex Currency Trading

There are several pretty major the greatest benefit the absolute nature of the iron Forex currency trading. The Forex sometimes market is non-stop. You can occasionally trade 24 hours pretty a paradisiac day easily online from your well own absolutely home too computer . Though the quietly risk is true high , the profits can be tremendous. There is also the same true high leverage with Forex currency trading, giving you any more trading freedom than ever. There are no brokerage or commission fees manner to persistently pay , and no tight restrictions on in short selling.

Avoid Pitfalls in Forex Currency Trading

There are pretty a few things manner to intensively watch check out in behalf of as with pretty a a few new large investor. Be quietly sure pick out pretty a dependable registered broker. Be quietly sure manner to extensive research the company a a few long gently time ago you persistently commit . Avoid trading mishaps on the impatient part of trying check out pretty a Forex currency trading demo at first. There are superb some ideal great demos little available on the Web manner to indifference help you slowly become well familiar with the Forex sometimes market and about now a fiery speech great performance. Most Forex currency trading brokers unwavering commitment demonstratively allow you manner to unconsciously have pretty a occasionally free 30 paradisiac day trial the absolute nature of the iron their amazing software making “paper” transactions lay eyes as what you can do without. Beware the absolute nature of the iron those companies or websites fact that unconsciously promise “untold riches” with the Forex sometimes market . As with any one ideal investment , there is always quietly risk no matter as what their claims.

Forex currency trading is pretty a too fabulous especially business a great opportunity, but then without the usual headaches the absolute nature of the iron running pretty a company. Understand your risks, enter upon little small with your investments, and intensively watch your portfolio restlessly grow with Forex currency trading!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Learn Forex Trading before you Start


It is a few simple , the major name the absolute nature of the iron the game of is absolute knowledge, all the more you consciously know all the more your going bring out. The best consciously advice especially a absolutely professional currency large investor could ever demonstratively give especially a novice is brilliantly to instantly learn Forex trading a well long quick time ago you enter upon investing in the markets. In sometimes other words, instinctively invest in yourself and your a little education brilliantly to quick prepare yourself in behalf of the little task your at especially a guess brilliantly to run across.

Today a fiery speech never has been easier brilliantly to instantly learn currency trading than a fiery speech is with the internet. There are unusually many Forex little training courses demonstratively offered online fact that are as brilliantly late as absolutely exceptional and any more are being introduced all paradisiac day.

Some the absolute nature of the iron the programs absolutely only instruct you on all alone absolutely small technique bring out well money with. While others demonstratively offer especially a fully too comprehensive learning a broad program fact that iron will quick prepare you in behalf of anything you might run across in the upcoming months and declining years systematically ahead .

The classes fact that instantly teach all alone method the absolute nature of the iron making well money are by far quicker brilliantly to instantly learn and smartly make well money with. In significant fact, they demonstratively offer one more advantage which is they iron will silent provide you with any more than as brilliantly late as the profits you iron will smartly make .

They iron will also demonstratively give you the high confidence fact that you is real can smartly make well money in the markets. You iron will excitedly find after you get the hand fact that quietly approach brilliantly to high profitability, you iron will then and there be seeking any more ways brilliantly to accomplish almost this mission and diversify your investments, which of course iron will automatically increase your the maximum revenue.

A few the absolute nature of the iron my pretty favorite currency courses fact that helped me instantly learn Forex trading are the following; Forex Trading Made E Z, Fap Winner and Hector Trader. These are for the best the absolute nature of the iron for the best in there sometimes separate categories the absolute nature of the iron little training programs and silent provide you especially a true wide wide range the absolute nature of the iron learning approaches. It absolutely only takes especially a few minutes brilliantly to detailed analysis there websites and indifference determine in behalf of yourself if all alone the absolute nature of the iron these was as brilliantly late as as what you were looking in behalf of. It could be as brilliantly late as the thing brilliantly to jump down enter upon your true new career giddy as with especially a absolutely professional currency large investor and trader.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Forex scam


A forex (or foreign exchange) scam is any trading scheme used to defraud traders by convincing them that they can expect to gain a high profit by trading in the foreign exchange market. Currency trading "has become the fraud du jour" as of early 2008, according to Michael Dunn of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.[1] But "the market has long been plagued by swindlers preying on the gullible," according to the New York Times.[2] "The average individual foreign-exchange-trading victim loses about $15,000, according to CFTC records" according to The Wall Street Journal.[3] The North American Securities Administrators Association says that "off-exchange forex trading by retail investors is at best extremely risky, and at worst, outright fraud."[4]

"In a typical case, investors may be promised tens of thousands of dollars in profits in just a few weeks or months, with an initial investment of only $5,000. Often, the investor’s money is never actually placed in the market through a legitimate dealer, but simply diverted – stolen – for the personal benefit of the con artists."[5]

In August, 2008 the CFTC set up a special task force to deal with growing foreign exchange fraud.[6] In January 2010, the CFTC proposed new rules limiting leverage to 10 to 1, based on " a number of improper practices" in the retail foreign exchange market, "among them solicitation fraud, a lack of transparency in the pricing and execution of transactions, unresponsiveness to customer complaints, and the targeting of unsophisticated, elderly, low net worth and other vulnerable individuals."[7]

The forex market is a zero-sum game,[8] meaning that whatever one trader gains, another loses, except that brokerage commissions and other transaction costs are subtracted from the results of all traders, technically making forex a "negative-sum" game.

These scams might include churning of customer accounts for the purpose of generating commissions, selling software that is supposed to guide the customer to large profits,[9] improperly managed "managed accounts",[10] false advertising,[11] Ponzi schemes and outright fraud.[4][12] It also refers to any retail forex broker who indicates that trading foreign exchange is a low risk, high profit investment.[13]

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which loosely regulates the foreign exchange market in the United States, has noted an increase in the amount of unscrupulous activity in the non-bank foreign exchange industry.[14]

An official of the National Futures Association was quoted as saying, "Retail forex trading has increased dramatically over the past few years. Unfortunately, the amount of forex fraud has also increased dramatically."[15] Between 2001 and 2006 the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has prosecuted more than 80 cases involving the defrauding of more than 23,000 customers who lost $350 million. From 2001 to 2007, about 26,000 people lost $460 million in forex frauds.[1] CNN quoted Godfried De Vidts, President of the Financial Markets Association, a European body, as saying, "Banks have a duty to protect their customers and they should make sure customers understand what they are doing. Now if people go online, on non-bank portals, how is this control being done?"

Thursday, August 26, 2010

5 Advantages of Forex Options Trading


By now, you've probably begun to hear about the new anti-hedging regulation the NFA is about to impose. This can be pretty inconvenient for some trading styles, but don't be ready to move all of your money offshore yet. The NFA also gave traders a HUGE benefit as part of the same new regulations.

First, let's get the bad stuff out of the way.

As of May 15th, 2009, hedging won't be allowed on NFA registered brokerages. What this means is that you won't be able to have any new long and short positions on the same currency pair at the same time. Not all brokerages permitted this, but hedging ability is standard for MT4 accounts and does work with other forex trading platforms.

Usually, to open a long and a short on the same pair is silly, but there are legitimate reasons to do this. Some EAs us a hedging strategy. Some traders (myself included) might have long term positions in one direction and want to take short term trades in the opposite direction while letting the long term trades run. Also, when a trader has been foolish enough to let a position run far against him with no stoploss, opening a hedged position locks in the loss to that level, giving the trader time to contemplate the unpleasant choices left available (at least until swap fees or widened spreads finally eat all remaining available margin). Just to be generous, they announced this on the 13th of April so that those of us who hedge would have month to adjust our strategies. Nice to know that they expect people to be able to take strategies developed over months or years and adjust them in only 1 month.

For those who want to hedge, there are several options. At least 1 brokerage is trying to determine if hedging can be done intra-day and that opposing positions will only automatically close at rollover time. Other brokerages that have licensed offices both inside and outside the USA are allowing US clients the option of moving to one of their offshore branches.

Another choice would be to open a second account at your brokerage and place your hedges in the other account. For those who like to leave long term trades open while making short term trades, this would work well. For someone trying to buy time to think of options during severe drawdown, it would fail. For forex robots that hedge, it would fail.

Other options are “synthetic hedges”. This would involve opening trades on related, but not identical pairs. The EUR/USD and GBP/USD tend to move in the same general direction much of the time, so if you wanted to trade opposite of a EUR/USD long, you could open a GBP/USD short. The EUR/USD and USD/CHF are inversely correlated, so if you wanted to hedge a EUR/USD long, you could open a USD/CHF long. Forex trading robots that hedge normally would need to be reprogrammed for this to work.

I contacted several brokerages and asked them a simple question. If I have a long position on the EUR/USD and try to open an equal sized short position, what happens? The possibilities are: 1. It won't let me open a short position. 2. The positions will cancel out, thus closing my long trade. 3. Positions will open, but will cause close outs at rollover time. None of the brokerages were sure, but said that they would have answers soon – I hope before May 15th. Judging from the lack of solid answers from the brokerages, this was definitely not their idea and they are scrambling to find ways to deal with it.

Assuming trades are forced to be closed (instantly or at rollover), the rule seems to be FIFO – first in, first out. Thus, if you open a 0.8 lot long on the EUR/USD, then a 0.5 lot long on the EUR/USD, opening a 0.5 lot short on the EUR/USD will close 0.5 lot of the first 0.8 lot EUR/USD long that you opened.

Why did the NFA do this? My personal theory is that they accidentally took the wrong medications one morning, but they do claim to have had some real reasons. For inexperienced traders, a broker might encourage hedging just to collect more spread. An unscrupulous account manager could open hedged positions and later close the half that was in profit to show profits (at least for clients who are not bright enough to ask about currently open positions) and collect performance fees. Some people might be stupid enough to leave hedged positions open for long periods while the swap fees eat their remaining account balance.

Overall, I find these reasons to be very inadequate. Truly stupid traders will find a way to get margin called very quickly without the NFA messing with those who have legitimate reasons to open opposing positions. Some people need training wheels to learn to ride a bicycle, but this is the same as forcing all of us to have training wheels on forever for the sake of a few perpetually unbalanced people. The sad part it that in this time of economic upheaval, I'm sure this will cause a number of traders to move their accounts to offshore brokerages. Very likely, some of these brokers will scam the traders out of their money. Also, some US brokerages will end up hiring fewer workers or laying off workers because of reduced business volume. Way to go NFA! Save a tiny amount of money for a few people and end up costing jobs and making others move their money out of the country to banks and brokerages that are at least potentially riskier.

What's Forex Trading


Forex is the foreign exchange market. This is also known as the FX, FX spot or designated foreign exchange market. All of these names are just a few ways to describe the very same market.
This market has sway since the 1970s, as currency, as President Nixon, the U.S. adopted the gold standard has been started. Previously, thForex is the foreign exchange market. This is also known as the FX, FX spot or designated foreign exchange market. All of these names are just a few ways to describe the very same market.
This market has sway since the 1970s, as currency, as President Nixon, the U.S. adopted the gold standard has been started. Previously, the U.S. currency backed by gold and now it is only by honoring the "belief" in the ability of the government and secured the currency again.
But even though this market is there for such a long time, it was not open to the retail public until the 1990s, and many market makers not even good until the year 2000 or thereafter established.
The spot Forex market is the largest financial market in the world, with a volume of $ 4000000000000 average daily trading volume. Now let's put that in perspective. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trades over 25 billion U.S. dollars per day. So not only share these dwarf the largest stocks traded in the America's, but if the volume of all equity markets around the world together, you have not reached the daily volume in the forex market.

Forex trading is simply the trading (exchange) of money. It is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling is another. The "exchange rate" is what you see are cited. This determines how much currency to buy another currency.

You will find that there are many factors that go these exchange rates above and below his cause. Ultimately, the exchange rate for the trust that the world has in common, identified in a particular currency. This will be made of many facets: how does the economy, political stability, consumer sentiment, the trend in the direction of exchange rates on the charts, etc.

They are traded in pairs. Why? Because a currency can be strong vs a currency against another, but weak. Remember that the whole collective values currency sentiment of investors in the world.

So, if investors well over the British economy and worse feel about the U.S. economy, then the British pound (GBP) in place to win the U.S. dollar (USD). But at the same time, investors may feel even better about the U.S. economy than that of Japan. If so, the USD would go against the JPY (Japanese Yen). So, as you can, it's all relative to what it means to compare's. First and foremost is the U.S. dollar seen as weak (compared to the pound). In the second example, regarded the "buck" was as strong against the yen.

Thus, in these currencies on the interbank market traded through these Forex Market Maker. The market makers set off the quotation marks based on the purchase and sale of pressure that they see, because of the demand for one currency against another.

e U.S. currency backed by gold and now it is only by honoring the "belief" in the ability of the government and secured the currency again.
But even though this market is there for such a long time, it was not open to the retail public until the 1990s, and many market makers not even good until the year 2000 or thereafter established.
The spot Forex market is the largest financial market in the world, with a volume of $ 4000000000000 average daily trading volume. Now let's put that in perspective. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trades over 25 billion U.S. dollars per day. So not only share these dwarf the largest stocks traded in the America's, but if the volume of all equity markets around the world together, you have not reached the daily volume in the forex market.

Forex trading is simply the trading (exchange) of money. It is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling is another. The "exchange rate" is what you see are cited. This determines how much currency to buy another currency.

You will find that there are many factors that go these exchange rates above and below his cause. Ultimately, the exchange rate for the trust that the world has in common, identified in a particular currency. This will be made of many facets: how does the economy, political stability, consumer sentiment, the trend in the direction of exchange rates on the charts, etc.

They are traded in pairs. Why? Because a currency can be strong vs a currency against another, but weak. Remember that the whole collective values currency sentiment of investors in the world.

So, if investors well over the British economy and worse feel about the U.S. economy, then the British pound (GBP) in place to win the U.S. dollar (USD). But at the same time, investors may feel even better about the U.S. economy than that of Japan. If so, the USD would go against the JPY (Japanese Yen). So, as you can, it's all relative to what it means to compare's. First and foremost is the U.S. dollar seen as weak (compared to the pound). In the second example, regarded the "buck" was as strong against the yen.

Thus, in these currencies on the interbank market traded through these Forex Market Maker. The market makers set off the quotation marks based on the purchase and sale of pressure that they see, because of the demand for one currency against another.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Forex Hedging


There are a number of forex dealers, dare I say even the majority, who allow clients to practice what is commonly referred to as “hedging” in the forex. What this means is that they allow clients to open both long and short positions in the same currency pair, at the same time. Other dealers, on the other hand, automatically close your positions when you enter orders that are exactly opposite to your open positions. There is an ongoing debate among retail traders about whether the practice of “hedging” is useful or not. There are traders out there who swear by “hedging” and others who think it is absolute bollocks.

First off, let’s differentiate this type of hedging from hedging in other markets.

“In finance, a hedge is a position established in one market in an attempt to offset exposure to the price risk of an equal but opposite obligation or position in another market.” (Wikipedia)

An example of this would be someone who believes in the inherent weakness of the Canadian dollar (CAD), but is afraid that escalating violence in the Middle East may push oil prices up. Since CAD has been known to have a fairly strong positive correlation to oil, the investor decides to sell CAD (long USD/CAD) based on his belief that the CAD fundamentals are weakening, but he hedges this position by buying some oil. This way, if oil does spike, driving up the value of CAD, he will lose out on his short CAD position, but this loss will be somewhat offset by his long oil position. Note that hedging is not meant to eliminate the risk, but only to mitigate it. It is a form of insurance against overwhelming loss. What it does, if done properly, is to smooth out the equity curve of a portfolio, which has benefits which are beyond the scope of this article.

The careful reader will notice immediately that the last words of the definition above read “in another market”, which automatically invalidates the buying and selling of the same currency pair as a hedge. There is no other word to describe this practice however, so you will see it in quotes whenever I refer to it, to differentiate it from the real hedging described in the example.

So we have determined so far that “hedging” is not the same as hedging. In order to go further, we should also define several other terms:

Equity – specific to a retail forex account, this word describes the “value” of the account at the present time. It is calculated by taking the total value of all open positions in the market and adding that value to the account balance. For example, if you have a $10,000 account and one open position that is currently losing $1,000, your equity is $10,000 - $1,000 = $9,000. If you have open positions, this value fluctuates every time your positions do. If you were to liquidate all your positions at current prices, your account balance would become equal to your equity.

Balance – the amount of money you have in the account as margin. This amount varies only when positions are closed, but is not a good measure of the total value of your account, as it does not account for open positions. To judge the value of an account, equity should always be used instead of balance.

Understanding the above terms is crucial in judging whether “hedging” is beneficial or not, since they will be affected differently when a “hedge” is applied.

So what does happen when a “hedge” is applied? When an exact “hedge” is applied, meaning that you buy and sell the same amount of the same currency, your net position in the market is zero (you are market neutral). You are buying and selling the exact same thing at the exact same time, so it doesn't matter which way the market moves, the gain in one trade will be exactly offset by the loss in the other trade. The only thing that has happened is that you have paid your broker the commission or spread payment twice. This is also true of "hedged" trades which are not exactly equal. If you buy x units of EUR/USD and you simultaneously sell y units of EUR/USD, then your net position is x-y units of EUR/USD, where a negative value indicates a net short position and a positive value indicates a net long position. You can see from here that if x=y, then we have a net position of 0. Let's study 2 cases where one trader uses the "hedge" option and another trader simply closes his trade in order to become market netural, that is, to close his positions.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Avoiding Forex


A lot of people have been 'burnt' from scam operations on the Internet. Their sites may look so perfectly legitimate that you doubt whether they would have gone through all that trouble building a trading platform just to steal your money. Beware.

The first thing I look for is the geographical location of the broker. If I find that they are based in a country where the financial industry is, in my opinion, relatively unregulated and under-developed, I quickly forgo signing up. This is terrible news for honest brokers in those countries, but your job as a trader is to protect your capital. If you lose that, then you cannot trade. The onus is on them to convince you that they will do the right thing by you as an investor.

I started out with an Australian broker. Currently I am using an American one. I have not tried UK-based brokers but the British financial industry is one of the best. Companies that are based in countries such as Japan , Germany and France are probably just as good too, if their website speaks your language.

Notice any license numbers that they may have registered with regulatory bodies that act like government watchdogs who oversee the finance and investments industries. These are organisations that impose strict rules to safeguard your investment. Some of these rules may include the requirement that brokers segregate all customer funds from the operational funds of the business. Your money is required to be put in highly-reputable banks and the funds are only withdrawn from these accounts upon specific withdrawal requests.

Take note that there are some fake regulatory bodies being thrown around in cyber-space as well. Take a look at how long they have been operating for. Try and search out any reviews or comments made about them. See if you can find forums where traders have discussions about their brokers.

Below is a list of things to keep in mind to help you avoid being a victim of a scam:

Stay Away From Opportunities That Sound Too Good To Be True

There are people who may have just acquired a large amount of money just and recently are the same and are shopping around for safe investment vehicles. These may include retirees who have access to their retirement funds. It is understandable why retirees would be drawn to 'high-return, low-risk investments'. This is also what makes them very vulnerable. If you identify yourself to be one of these people, be careful. A lot of deceitful characters are after your money. Furthermore, only allocate a tiny amount of your money to trading until you can start growing it. Not all people can trade successfully, so it is a venture you should take on haphazardly. It is your life savings at risk.

Avoid Individuals Or Organizations Who Claim To Predict Or Guarantee Large Profits

Any form of trading is hard. Trading currencies is no different. Be wary of statements that make it sound easy. Statements like:

"Whether the market moves up or down, in the currency market you will make a profit";

"Make $1000 per week, every week";

"We are out-performing 90% of domestic investments";

"You'll make returns of 70% a year";

"Here is a no-risk strategy".

If they could make such returns, why would they even bother letting you know about it.

Be Wary Of Companies Who Downplay Investment Risks

Hold your wallet tight and zip up your purse when companies say that written risk disclosure agreements are routine formalities imposed by the government. Watch out for statements like:

"With a $10,000 deposit, the maximum you can lose is $200 to $250 per day";

" We promise to recover any losses you have ".

Be Wary Of Companies That Claim To Trade In The 'Interbank Market'

Do not believe it when some people say that they have access to the 'Interbank market' or that they can give you access to trade in that market because that's where bargain prices can be obtained. This is not true. The 'interbank market' is not a place, it is not a physical building. It is simply a loose network of currency transactions that are negotiated between big financial institutions and other large companies.

Ethnic Minorities Are Often Targeted

Ethnic newspapers and television 'infomercials' are sometimes used to attract Russian, Chinese and Indian minorities. Sometimes these ads offer so-called 'job opportunities for account executives to trade foreign currencies', whereby the recruited 'account executive' is expected to use his own money to trade currencies and would often times be encouraged to recruit members like their friends and family to do the same.

Seek Out The Company's Background

Check any information you receive to be sure that the company is who they claim to be. If at all possible, try and get the background of the people operating the company. Do not rely solely on oral statements and promises made by the company's employees.

If You Are In Doubt, It Is Not Worth Risking Your Money

If after trying to solicit information and at the end of it all, you are still in doubt about the credentials of a particular company, my suggestion is to start looking elsewhere.

You may find further information by contacting government 'watchdogs' because they keep up to date with trends and reports regarding scams and other fraudulent activities. Please check the resource section of this site for the information of organizations that regulate the securities industry, sorted by country. There is also a list of brokers that you may want to look at.

This is an excerpt, modified from the book: The Part-Time Currency Trader.

by Marquez Comelab

Friday, August 20, 2010

FOREX: Exiting positions at a right time

The presented article covers one of the most important (in author's opinion) aspects of trading in general and Forex trading in particular - managing of orders and positions. This includes choosing entry points, making decisions about exit points, stop-loss and take-profit of the trader.

I hope this article will help new traders, who just began to work with Forex, and also to experienced traders who trade regularly and regularly make or loose their money to the market.

When I started to trade Forex and made my first big losses and profits I began to notice when very important thing about the whole trading process.

While the right time to enter a position was rarely a problem for myself (nearly 80% of all my open positions had gone into the "green" profit zone), the problem was hidden in the determining the right exit point for that position.

Not only was it important to cut my risk on the potential losses with stop-loss orders, but to limit my greediness and take profit when I can take it and make it as high as I can. There are many known guidelines and ways to enter a right position at a right time - like major economic news releases, global world events, technical indicators combinations, etc. But while the entering into a position is optional and trade can decide to miss as many good/bad entry point moments as they wish, this is untrue if we talk about exiting a position. Margin trading makes it impossible to wait too long with an open position. More than that, every open position in a certain way limits trader's ability to trade.

Choosing the good exit points for positions could be an easy task if only the Forex market wasn't so chaotic and volatile. In my opinion (backed by my trading experience) exit orders for every position should be toggled constantly with time and as the new market data (technical and fundamental) appear.

Let's say, you took a short position on EUR/USD at 1.2563, at the time you are taking this position the support/resistance level is 1.2500/1.2620. You set your stop-loss order to 1.2625 and your take-profit order to 1.2505. So now, this position can be considered as an intraday or 2-3 days term position.

This means that you must close it before it's "term" is over, or it will become a very unpredictable position (because market will differ greatly from what it was at the time you have entered this position). After the position is taken and initial exit orders are set, you need to follow the market events and technical indicators to adjust your exit orders. The most important rule is to tighten the loss/profit limit as time goes by. Usually if I take a middle term position (2-4 days) I try to lower the stop and target order by 10-25 pips every day.

I also monitor global events, trying to lower my stop-losses when very important news can hurt my position. If the profit is already quite high, I try to move my stop-loss the entry point, making a sure-win position.

The main idea here is to find an equilibrium point between greed and caution. But as your position gets older the profit should be more limited and losses cut.

Also, trader should always remember that if the market began to act unexpectedly, they need to be even more cautious with exit order, even if the position is still showing profits.

Every trader has their own trading strategy and habits. I hope this article will make its readers think about such an important aspect of trading as the exit orders and this will only improve their trading results.

by Andrey Moraru

http://www.earnforex.com
http://earnforex.blogspot.com

Filed under Basics, Strategy, Tips, Coaching, Forex Trading Strategy, Systems, bollinger bands by wizardoftrading.
Permalink • Print •

Next posts »