Introduction to Forex Trading

The foreign exchange (FOREX) market is the purchase or sale of a currency against sale or purchase of another. The object in Forex is to exchange one currency for another in the expectation that the price will change so that the currency you bought will increase in value compared to the one you sold. Through Forex education and training it is possible to speculate the direction of the market and receive a good return on your investment.

The major participants in the FOREX include commercial and investment banks and central banks. Other participants include corporations, hedge funds, and millions of speculation traders like you. Some of the top banks in the world such as Bank of American, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley are major players when it comes to the FOREX. In order to make money within this realm, you will be competing against all of the major banks as well as individual traders.

When beginning in the FOREX, it’s important to select a reputable broker. After all, the broker is going to be the one paying you when it’s time to cash out. A broker acts as a middle man between you and the FOREX. When you place a trade in the FOREX, your position is filled by the broker and the broker sends the order off to the banks. When it’s time to be paid, your money is with the broker and they need to be able to cover your positions in the market. Most brokers offer a 3 to 5 pip spread on all the major currencies pairs, such as the ERU/USD, GBP/USD and the USD/JPY. A 3 to 5 pip spread basically means that the FOREX must move 3 to 5 pips before your trade is in profit. One pip can be worth any amount, depending on how much money you’re willing to risk per trade. There are two types of traders, fundamentalist and technical traders.

Fundamentalist study the cause of market movement, whereas technicians study the effect. Most traders identify themselves as both a technician and fundamentalist. Most fundamentalist will have knowledge of charts, indicators and chart analysis. Similarly most technicians are aware of the fundamentals. However, the problem is that the charts and fundamentals are often in conflict one another. It’s usually a wise decision to have a bit of training in both fundamentals and technical analysis. One of the most important factors in the FOREX is learning to manage your money.

Traders will experience losses in the FOREX; therefore it is essential that a trader utilizes proper money management. In many cases money management is a simple concept, yet to practice money management consistently is very challenging. Generally speaking money management is knowing when to cut your losses. For each trade, a trader should be looking to make three times the amount they plan to lose. This way a trader only has to be right 33% of the time in order to be in profit

Basics guide : The Facts about Forex Trading

Monday, November 12, 2007

Foundation #1: Currency Trading is not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme.

Currency trading is a SKILL that takes TIME to learn. Skilled Traders
can and do make money in this field, however like any other occupation or
career, success doesn’t just happen overnight. Here is a great ‘formula’
for success:
Practice + Patience + Persistence = Profits
As they say, there is no substitute for hard work and diligence. Practice
trading on a demo account and pretend the virtual money is your own real
money. Do not open a live trading account until you are profitable
trading on a demo account. Stick to the plan and you can be
successful.

Foundation #2: I highly recommend that you follow 1 or maybe 2 major currency pairs.

It gets far too complicated to keep tabs on all four. I also recommend that
traders choose one of the majors because the spread is the best and they
are the most liquid. The Euro/USD is the most commonly traded pair and
usually has the best ‘spread’ because of its liquidity. The USD/Swiss Franc is
usually the most volatile and moves the most during the trading week. The
USD/Yen moves a lot on the news out of Japan and normally the Pound
Sterling/USD is more stable in it’s moves than the other three.

Foundation #3: Follow and understand the daily Forex News and Analysis of the
professional currency analysts.

Even though this system is based solely on technical analysis of charts, it is
important to get a birds-eye view of the currency markets and the news that
affects the prices. It is also important that you know and understand what the
key technical ‘support’ and ‘resistance’ levels are in the currency pair that you
want to trade. Support is a predicted level to buy (where currency pair should
move up on the charts), resistance is a predicted level to sell (where the
currency pair should move down on the charts).
Fortunately, all the best Forex news and analysis is offered free on the
Internet. Here is what you should do first:
*While you are reading the daily news and technical analysis, write
down on a piece of paper what direction the analysts are saying
about the major currency pair you are following and the key support
and resistance levels for the day.

A. Go to http://www.forexnews.com/ and you will find 24hr news and analysis on
the spot FX markets. The site will give you the big picture of how the
economic calendar and central banks affect the currency markets. A
great resource.

B. Then go to http://www.fxstreet.com/ and click on the ‘Top Forex Reports’. Here
there is a wonderful listing of all the major daily currency analysis and
forecasts with support and resistance and direction forecasts.

C. Click on http://www.currencypro.com/ and go to ‘Today’s Market Research’ and
there you will find more excellent analysis on the Major Currency pairs.
Another great Forex Portal.

Foundation #4: Learn how to use the technical indicators in this course and
always trade with stop losses!

It is worth your time to be patient and learn how to use the technical
indicators on the charts that you will be reading about shortly.

6 It is important when you are trading Forex, to be disciplined and to stick to
a plan. Don’t just trade your ‘gut’ feeling. Use the technical indicators
outlined and always enter in stop losses on every trade. Remember that
everyone who trades has a different tolerance for losses. Depending on
your risk capital, and strategy, set your stop losses accordingly.

Posted by nineangels at 4:59 PM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)