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

Forex Risk Managenent Strategy

Thursday, November 15, 2007

The Forex market behaves differently from other markets. The speed, volatility, and enormous size of the Forex market are unlike anything else in the financial world. Beware: the Forex market cannot be controlled - no single event, individual, or factor rules it. As such, it is the closest market to what economists call ?a perfect market?! However, just like any other speculative business, increased risk entails chances for a higher profits as well as higher losses.

-Currency markets are highly speculative and volatile in nature-
Any currency can become very expensive or very cheap in relation to any or all other currencies in a matter of days, hours, or sometimes, in minutes. The unpredictable nature of currencies is what attracts an investor to trade and invest in this market.

-Exit the Forex market at profit targets-
Limit orders, also known as Take-Profit orders, allow Forex traders to exit the Forex market at pre-determined profit targets. If you are short (sold) a currency pair, the system will only allow you to place a limit order below the current market price, because this is the profit zone. Similarly, if you are long (bought) the currency pair, the system will only allow you to place a limit order above the current market price. Take-Profit orders help create a disciplined trading methodology and make it possible for traders to walk away from the computer without continuously monitoring the market.

Posted by nineangels at 2:54 PM 0 comments

Technical Strategy - Gann Numbers

W.D. Gann was a stock and a commodity trader working in the '50s, who reputedly made over $50 million in the markets. He made his fortune using methods that he developed for trading instruments based on relationships between price movement and time, known as time/price equivalents. There is no easy explanation for Gann's methods, but in essence he used angles in charts to determine support and resistance areas, and to predict the times of future trend changes. He also used lines in charts to predict support and resistance areas.

Posted by nineangels at 2:52 PM 0 comments

Technical Strategy - Recognizing the Trends

A trend refers to the direction of prices. Rising peaks and troughs constitute an up trend; falling peaks and troughs constitute a downtrend that determines the steepness of the current trend. The breaking of a trend line usually signals a trend reversal. Horizontal peaks and troughs characterize a trading range.

In general, Charles Dow categorized trends into 3 categories: (a) Bull trend (up-trend: a series of highs and lows, where each high is higher than the previous one); (b) Bear trend (down-trend: a series of highs and lows, where each low is lower than the previous one); (c) Treading trend (horizontal-trend: a series of highs and lows, where peaks and lows are around the same as the previous peaks and lows).

Moving averages are used to smooth price information in order to confirm trends and support-and-resistance levels. They are also useful in deciding on a trading strategy, particularly in futures trading or a market with a strong up or down trend. Recognizing a trend may be done using standard deviation, which is a measure of volatility. Bollinger Bands, for example, illustrate trends with this approach. When the markets become more volatile, the bands widen (move further away from the average), while during less volatile periods, the bands contract (move closer to the average).

Various Trend lines
Pattern recognition in Trend lines, which detect and draw the following patterns: ascending; descending; symmetrically & extended triangles; wedges; trend channels.

Posted by nineangels at 2:50 PM 0 comments

Technical Strategy - Waves and Gaps

Elliott's wave theory:
The Elliott Wave Theory is an approach to market analysis that is based on repetitive wave patterns and the Fibonacci number sequence. An ideal Elliott wave pattern shows a five-wave advance followed by a three-wave decline.

Trading Gaps
Gaps are spaces left on the bar chart where no trading has taken place. Gaps can be created by factors such as regular buying or selling pressure, earnings announcements, a change in an analyst's outlook or any other type of news release.

An up gap is formed when the lowest price on a trading day is higher than the highest high of the previous day. A down gap is formed when the highest price of the day is lower than the lowest price of the prior day. An up gap is usually a sign of market strength, while a down gap is a sign of market weakness. A breakaway gap is a price gap that forms on the completion of an important price pattern. It usually signals the beginning of an important price move. A runaway gap is a price gap that usually occurs around the mid-point of an important market trend. For that reason, it is also called a measuring gap. An exhaustion gap is a price gap that occurs at the end of an important trend and signals that the trend is ending.

Posted by nineangels at 2:42 PM 0 comments

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