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13‏/8‏/2009

Using Signals To Trade Forex

Using Signals To Trade Forex

By: Andre


Whatever you do, don't dive into the forex market without learning the key concepts and practices which will equip you in a suitable way to trade forex, for a profit and on a sustainable. Sustainable meaning that you can continue, without depleting your funds and being able to draw a solid income from this.

One of the key components that you will come across, when you decide to trade forex, is that of signals. The signals are traditionally provided by market analysts, who literally get paid to watch the markets, and seek out potential gains, or losses that, may be realized from a number of events. These can range from political, to even geographical phenomena that may affect the international markets, both on a stock basis in terms of companies listed on the stock exchange as well as the financials of the forex, futures and commodities markets. You should well have learned more about this when you decided to learn how to trade forex.

Dependent upon the amount you have to invest in your training, or if you are going ahead to trade forex for real, then you would want to establish a good working relationship with a suitable and professional brokerage, that may or may not offer the service of providing such signals. Dependent upon your account structure, the brokerage and the level of services available in terms of the signal services, you could be charged a nominal fee for this service, which of course differs according to the previously factors. What you have to remember is that the service is added value to you in that you literally do not have to sit and monitor the markets, but can rely on the signals sent to you by your chosen service provider.

As you begin to trade forex, and before deciding upon a suitable service provider for the signal notification, you should establish as to whether or not their reputation is up to scratch, inclusive of the reliability of their services and signals. Although one may not always get it right one hundred percent of the time, the provider you choose should at least have a majority correct signal record, and of course this is not referring to a retrospective analysis either.

The signals are normally delivered via your preferred method, which can be via email, sms or even a pager alert, and if you trade forex you will have to ensure that you are within reach of your computer or your chosen trading platform in order to make use of the signals that will be provided to you. A suitable signal provider will also provide the necessary entry and exit strategies or points that you should follow when you trade, which further adds value to such a suitable signal service.

Signals can in fact substantially reduce potential losses when you trade forex, but you should never lose sight of the fact that this practice does have an inherent amount of risk, and the more knowledge and practice that you gain will put you in a great position to be able to trade forex like a seasoned professional.

About the author:

Andre writes for Trade Forex Review, where they have a great blog, at Trade Forex Blog packed with articles and resources for trading forex and forex product reviews.

Forex The Beginning

Forex The Beginning
By: Dennis Killian


I decided to write this article to help the new people to forex trading decide what it is that they want. I have some friends that do very well in the forex trading market. So I have taken the advice I have gotten from talking to some of these traders and thought I would pass it on to you.

Now most of the guys that I know that trade forex do so using some sort of guide it might be a trading robot or a another type of trading software, it may also be a book on forex trading and then I have two friends that use a trading house that real people will help you and advise you on what to buy and when to sell.

What I will do is I will write a short story on each method that these friends of mine use and then let you make up your own mind as to what method you would like to try.

Before we get started I want make it clear that I make no promise of getting rich or making large sums of money trading forex. I do know that a great deal of money has been made trading forex, But I want to make it clear that when you trade forex that you are taking a risk and you could loose some or all of your investment.

Robots

Ok so lets get started. The first method I will talk about is the use of a Automatic Trading Robot. With a trading robot, the robot makes all the recommendations as to when to buy or sell and then you decide if you will follow the advice of the trading robot. This robot is a piece of software that is suppose to look at all the information and then decide what is best to buy and sell at that time.

Jim, a real good friend of mine told me not to long ago that he uses a robot called FAP Turbo. He also told me that Fap Turbo is one of the top rated robots being used today.

Now you can look at Fap Turbo at the following website:

http://automaticforextradingrobot.com/fapturbo/auto.php

I also have a friend that just trades on he stock market in penny stocks and he also uses a stock trading robot. Now I know this guy will not lead me in the wrong direction so I tend to believe what he tells me. He tells me he will not make a trade without looking at his trading robot first.

To look at this trading robot you can follow the link below:

http://www.stocktradingrobot.org/robotstock/file.php

Trading House

Jack and Frank both use what I call a trading house for advice. This is when you open an account and the using different methods find the best strategies for you to follow. You get real advice from real people.

Jack works with a company called Forex Signals Plus . With Forex Signals Plus you can trade foreign currencies alongside our professional forex traders as they place trades across our accounts. Our experienced, global Forex professionals monitor the markets six days a week and send you buy/sell forex trade signals in real-time.

To look at and evaluate Forex Signals Plus follow the link below:

http://forextradingalert.org/forex/forexsignals/1001.php

Now Frank works with a different company and he has had some great success. This company is called Easy-Forex® .

At Easy-Forex®, we feel the excitement of trading Forex and we want to show you how you can be part of the largest global market. When choosing which online platform to trade with, there are many different considerations. Here are some of the reasons why Easy-Forex® is your platform of choice.

Some of the benefits at Easy-Forex® Are:

1. Personal Account Managers

2. Personal Dealer

3. Live training, one-on-one help with first steps in online trading





Easy-Forex® has more benefits for a complete understanding and an inside look at Easy-Forex® follow the lin below ;



http://forextradingalert.org/forex/easyforex/landingpage.php

I hope this small article has helped and if you need more information or would like free access to a free ebook for beginners or intermediate traders than you can email me at

star27@charter.net and put Forex Info in the subject line and I will get right back to you ASAP.

Thank You and enjoy,

Dennis Killian

About the author:

Dennis Killian A specialist in forex trading advice and training.solar energy, solar panel, alternative energy, solar panel energy forex trading, forex trading system, forex signal, foreign currency market

Forex : the recipe of success

Forex: the recipe of success
By: GFSignals


Everyone, who wishes to achieve a lot in his life, clearly understands, that it is impossible to make your dreams alive without constant improving your skills and widening your outlook. You must always discover something new and be prepared to fast and unpredictable changes. Due to that it is usually said: "A man, who doesn't risk, doesn't drink champagne". Today there are so many possibilities of becoming a success, that it's unwise not to use even one of them. Let's take Forex market as an example. That's the real place, where you have a great chance of earning with the use of your mental skills, logics and analytical abilities.

At the same time you should know, that Forex is not a simple game like virtual one called "Monopoly". That's very serious thing and it isn't right place for playing games. The main thing, which success on Forex depends on, is the trader himself. Yes, you are the main part of your trading.

Remember, that you can't achieve any good result if you treat this process not serious. Before beginning the work in the market, you are to ask yourself what do you want to achieve and whether you are ready to risk. There are a lot of people, who are trading on the currency market quite successfully. For some of them Forex trading is the only thing the do for living.

When you are ready with your decision, it's the right time for going to the send step - careful and diligent study. You have to get to know as much as possible. Read books on the topic of Forex (there are o lot of ones nowadays), study the market analysis, analyze the situation on your own and of course, feel free to aks for an advice from more experienced and professional traders. Be sure, they'll help you. There are a lot of different forums, where you can talk to skilled Forex traders and get answers to all your questions. You can also use Forex Signals. That will help you in working out your own trading system in the future. But notice, that you shouldn't stop your study after achieving some success. Only constant improving your knowledge will keep you up to the mark.

Another important thing to think about before starting is money. Forex is a method of earning money with the use of money. It's some kind of investment. So, with an account of $100 you won't get profits of $1000 in a week.

And finally I'd like to say, that the success on Forex completely depends on the trader's desire to win and his ability to make changes in strategy according to the situation. So, be diligent, efficient and flexible in your trading in order to have big profits.

About the author:

GFSignals is a provider of high-quality and profitable Forex Signals, given by independent professional Forex traders. The latest information about Forex trading and our service can be found in our Trading Strategies Blog.

Forex Trading: The exact Forex Trading logic

Forex Trading: The exact Forex Trading logic

By: Tayor Mize

Generally Forex trading systems are made inedible technical indicators (a tender mean (MA) crossover, overbought/oversold conditions inside an oscillator, and that.) But could you repeat that? Are technical indicators? They are solely a run of data points plotted inside a chart; these points are derived from a algebraic formula useful to the fee of one agreed currency duo. Inside other terms, it is a chart of fee plotted inside a uncommon way with the intention of helps us think it over other aspects of fee.

Here is an valuable proposition on this definition of technical indicators. The detail with the intention of the readings obtained from them are based on fee proceedings. Take pro occasion a lengthy MA crossover indicate, the fee has dead up sufficient to get on to the fleeting cycle MA crossover the lengthy cycle MA generating a lengthy indicate. Generally traders think it over it equally �the MA crossover made the fee energy up,� but it happened the other way around, the MA crossover indicate occurred since the fee went up. Everywhere I�m tiresome to make at this time is with the intention of by the aim, fee behavior dictates how an indicator want play a role, and this must befall taken into consideration on one trading decision made.

Trading decisions based on technical indicators lacking taking fee proceedings into consideration want produce us a reduced amount of accurate results. Pro model, again a lengthy indicate generated by a MA crossover equally the promote approaches an valuable resistance level. If the fee suddenly starts to bounce back rancid with the intention of valuable level here is thumbs down top on taking this indicate, fee proceedings is telltale us the promote doesn�t aspire to energy up. Generally of the calculate, under this circumstances, the promote want take up again to fall down, disregarding the MA crossover.

Don�t make me ill-treat at this time, technical indicators are a very valuable aspect of trading. They help us think it over particular conditions with the intention of are otherwise trying to think it over by watching wholesome fee proceedings. But as it comes to influence the trigger, fee proceedings inclusion into our Forex trading logic want beyond doubt deposit the odds inside our act of kindness, it want generate privileged probability trades.

So, how to create a exact Forex trading logic? Initially of all, you need to get on to guaranteed your trading logic fits your trading personality; otherwise you want discover it tricky to stay on it. Each trader has uncommon needs and goals, hence here is thumbs down logic with the intention of impeccably fits all traders. You need to get on to your own investigate on various trading styles and technical indicators until you discover a thought with the intention of impeccably facility pro you. Get on to guaranteed you know the nature of whatever technical indicator used.

Secondly, incorporate fee proceedings into your logic. So you single take lengthy signals if the fee behavior tells you the promote wants to energy up, and fleeting signals if the promote gives you indication with the intention of it want energy down.

Third, and generally importantly, you need to be inflicted with the restraint to stay on your Forex trading logic rigorously. Try it initially on a sample tab, at that time move on to a minute tab and irrevocably as feeling comfortably and being regular profitable apply your logic inside a regular tab.

About the author:

Author: Tayor Mize Forex dealer Info provides detailed in turn on forex brokers, forex trading and marketplace makers, and other forex-related topics. Forex dealer in place of inside depth in turn visit:

A Comprehensive Forex Broker Register

A Comprehensive Forex Broker Register
A comprehensive forex broker list includes investment banks with dealing rooms, commercial banks with treasury operations, and online brokerages that serve a larger market. The investment banks with forex trading capabilities include Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Salomon Smith Barney, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Prudential Securities and Bear Sterns.Some of the brokerage services are not directly accessible for all customers. For example, inter-bank market dealers and treasury operations in commercial banks handle large customer orders themselves.The top commercial banks in the Forex Broker List, having inter-bank and treasury operations, are JP Morgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, CitiBank, Wachovia Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Fleet Bank, US Bank, HSBC Bank, Sun Trust Bank, Bank of New York, State Street, Chase Manhattan Bank, Key Bank, Branch Bank, PNC Bank, Lasalle Bank, South Trust Bank, MBNA America Bank, Fifth Third Bank.The online forex broker list of smaller forex accounts sees new entrants almost on a daily basis.The online forex broker list includes Forex Capital Markets, MG Financial Group, CMS Forex, Global Forex Trading, GCI Forex Direct, Forex.com, GAIN Capital, Real time Forex SA (Geneva), Global Forex, Commerce Bank and Trust, FX Solutions, Forex MHV, swissDirekt (Swiss), Goetz Financial Forex, NY Broker Borsentermin AG, Act Forex, Online Trader, Shield FX Online Currency Trading, Forex Trade Signals, CMC Group PLC, Foreign Currency Direct Limited (UK), FX Advantage, FXCM, Forex Millenium, ACM REFCO, REFCO Spot, Easy Forex, Online Forex Trading Inc., Lincoln Corporation, Global Trade Waves, Ltd., and CIBC FX Web Dealing.About the author:More forex trading tips at www.FXlovers.com

6‏/8‏/2009

Online Forex Trading Strategies

Online Forex Trading Strategies
Forex trading strategies are the key to successful forex trading or online currency trading. A knowledge of these forex trading strategies can mean the difference between a profit and a loss and it is therefore imperative that you fully understand the strategies used in forex trading.Forex trading is very different from trading in stocks and using forex trading strategies will give you more advantages and help you realize even greater profits in the short term. There are a wide range of forex trading strategies available to investors and one of the most useful of these forex trading strategies is a strategy known as leverage.This forex trading strategy is designed to allow online currency traders to avail of more funds than are deposited and by using this forex trading strategy you can maximize the forex trading benefits. Using this strategy you can actually utilize as much as 100 times the amount in your deposit account against any forex trade which will make backing higher yielding transactions even easier and therefore allowing better results in your forex tradingThe leverage forex trading strategy is used on a regular basis and allows investors to take advantage of short term fluctuations in the forex market.Another commonly used forex trading strategy is known as the stop loss order. This forex trading strategy is used to protect investors and it creates a predetermined point at which the investor will not trade. Using this forex trading strategy allows investors to minimize losses. This strategy can however, backfire and the investor can run the risk of stopping their forex trading which could actually go higher and it really is up to the individual trader to choose whether or not to use this forex trading strategy.An automatic entry order is another of the forex trading strategies that is commonly used and this strategy is used to allow investors to enter into forex trading when the price is right for them. The price is predetermined and once reached the investor will automatically enter into the trading.All these forex trading strategies are designed to help investors get the most from their forex trading and help to minimize their losses. As mentioned earlier knowledge of these forex trading strategies is vital if you wish to be successful in forex trading.

Forex Scalping Strategy

Forex Scalping Strategy

What is Forex Scalping?Forex scalping is the art of using high leverage and a large number of short term trades to steadily increase an account. Usually, only 1 to 5 pips are targeted for each trade. This type of trading appeals greatly to day traders and those looking to minimize the risk involved in trading currencies. Next to money management, "risk control" is the single most important trait to a surviving (and thriving) currency trader. The small amount of time that is spent in the market limits much of the risk in exposure in comparison to a longer term system. Also, the freedom involved in a speedy Forex scalping system in such a liquid market is a "magnet" that drives many traders from other markets to try their hand in currency. A disciplined and steady scalper could seamlessly double or triple an account, and spend only a fraction of the time in the market as a common day trader.Forex Scalping - The ProblemThough Forex scalping may seem like a preverbal "holy grail" at first glance, there are still many unseen hurdles that surround the controversial method of trading. If you do wish to add scalping to your trading toolbox, it is extremely important to pick a broker who can support a scalpers's system. You will quickly find that many brokers do not allow scalp trading, as the method of quickly entering and exiting trades may actually cause the broker to lose money at the dealing desk. Forex scalping also does not give the broker a means to trade against their clients which is a way of money making for them. Out of the hundreds of online Forex brokers, only a handful support scalping. It is a very thin line between scalping and short term trading. Generally if you hold trades for a minute or less, you may have problems with brokers. They could warn you and then if you continue shut down your account. However, if you trade in minutes or more, most likely you will not have problems with dealing desk brokers. Non dealing desk (ECN) brokers allow scalping where you can hold a position for seconds however the minimum to open an account is higher ($2,000 and above).Forex Scalping StrategyEffective Forex scalping strategies take advantage of extremely slight price fluctuations (sometimes only 1-3 pips) many times in order to steadily build an account. Because of the smaller number of pips gained per trade, larger than normal leverages play a key role in a successful Forex scalping strategy. By leveraging much more than a standard day trader in a liquid environment, a very skilled scalp trader is able to make just as much money as the day trader in a shorter period of time. However, this is an obvious double-edged sword. The market can just as easily move against you on a high leverage, which could produce substantial blows to your account.Also, it is important to take into consideration the physical and mental speed of a trader who will only stay in the market for seconds to minutes. Executing a scalping strategy by hand can be extremely difficult considering the quick amount of time you must be in and out of the market for your strategy to be affective. Many successful Forex scalping strategies are built to be automated; the rules to the system are coded into a trading platform to automatically perform scalp trades around the clock. Though it is completely possible to trade a Forex scalping strategy manually, the majority of today's traders would agree that automating the process based on a set of rules would be the best way to ensure speed and reliability. When choosing a platform to automate your scalp strategy, it is extremely important to stick with those platforms that allow the execution of your system on every tick (such as MetaTrader 4). This ensures that your entrances and exits will be on a per-tick basis, and will give you a much higher probable rate of success than those platforms who will execute your code more periodically.To understand the full challenge of scalping as a trading style, consider this: hard work and small gains accumulated over a decent period of time could easily be wiped out with one large loss. Finding a balance between profit levels and size of acceptable losses presents the most difficult challenge to scalpers' strategy.Forex scalping can be a good method of growing a managed Forex account quickly, but should not be looked at as the "holy grail" of trading. Most brokers do not support scalping, and a consistently profitable Forex scalping strategy can be very difficult to engineer. However, if much time and effort is spent in system optimization and setting up a good relationship with a scalp supporting broker, the benefits could be well worth the time spent.

Forex Trading- The Most Successful Forex Strategies

Forex Trading- The Most Successful Forex Strategies

you want to catch the serious profit in forex dealing you need to trend watch forex trends which are worse term. here we are going to give you a 3 step simple method which if you use it correctly, will help you catch every superior forex trend and lead you to long-term term currency dealing success.Most beginner traders don't bother trying to trend following forex lengthier term - instead they try forex scalping or day trading. These methods focus the trader on small moves and they hope to catch small profit however as most short term moves are random, this leads to equity eliminate.The other alternatives are swing trading and long term forex trend following and this article is all about the latter method. If you look at any forex chart, you will see long-term term trends that last for months or years. These moves can and do yield serious profit - present we will outline a simple method to get them.BreakoutsBy far the best way of catching the serious moves is to use a forex dealing strategy based around breakouts. A breakout is simply a move on a forex chart where a new high or low is made and resistance or support is broken.It's a fact that most leading moves start from new highs or lows.While it might appear that you are not buying or selling at the greatest level, you are in terms of the odds of the trend continuing. Most forex traders make the mistake of waiting for the breakout to come back and get in at a better price but these traders never get on board. The grounds for this is if a breakout occurs, then you have a new strong trend and a pullback is not very likely to occur.Most traders don't buy or sell breakouts and that's exactly why it's such a powerful method.The only point to keep in mind is a support or resistance which is ruined, should be valid and that means at least 3 points in at least 2 different times frames. The more tests and the greater the spacing between the tests the more valid the level is.ConfirmationOf course not every breakout keeps and some reverse, these are false and can cause losses. You therefore need to confirm each move. All you need to do to achieve this is to put a few momentum indicators in your forex trading system to confirm your dealing signal.These indicators give you an estimation of the strength and velocity of price and there are many to choose from. We don't have time to discuss them here (simply look up our other articles) but two of the greatest are - the stochastic and Relative Strength Index RSIStops and TargetsStop points are easy with breakouts - Simply behind the breakout point.If you have a serious trend then you need to be careful you can milk it, so don't move your stop to soon and keep it outside of normal volatility. If it is a huge move, trailing stops should be held a long-term way back and the 40 day moving average is a good level to use.You have to keep in mind that when the trend does eventually turn you are going to give some profit back. You don't know when the trend is going to end, so don't predict.It's ok to give a serious back, as that's the nature of trading forex. Keep in mind if you got 50% of all leading trend you would be very rich. When you are long-term term trend following you have accept giving a bit back and taking dips in open equity as the trend develops - this is noise and does not affect the long term trend.The above is a simple way to trend watch forex and catch the high odds moves that yield the serious profit. If you are learning forex dealing and want a simple method that is robust and will help you get every major move, then you should base your dealing on the above method.Now that you have all the winning strategies, you now need to have a winning broker, recently the CFD FX Report has reviewed these brokers and have come up with Best Forex Broker to find out this visit the website. Visit today and see why all the experts traders are using this site.To visit CLICK HERE

What's the Best Forex Strategy

What's the Best Forex Strategy?

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Many forex traders find themselves asking the age old question what's the best forex strategy? To know the answer to that question, one must look at the history of trading. Not just forex trading, but trading, in general.The moment that the first bell rang on the stock market floor, traders were coming up with strategies to beat the market. Obviously they didn't have the technology that most of us have at our disposal. They didn't have the thousand dollar charting platforms that so many traders are overpaying for, just for the privilege of using them, nowadays. So how do you think the successful traders of the past made their money?Well, one way was through fundamental analysis. They were able to comprehend a company's financial statements such as balance sheets, income statements, statement of cash flows, etc. to know a bargain when they saw one. But these kind of people would be categorized as investors, not traders. Traders generally believed in technical analysis over fundamental analysis.So how did traders of that generation made their money? Simple. They understood the concept of price action. Plenty of floor traders became rich just by paying attention to how the other floor traders were trading the respective stock.How come a concept as simple as price action has been pushed back in favor of all the technological bells and whistles that most people use in their day to day trading?People, today somehow feel that the best forex strategy has to be in these maze of indicators,colors, noises,and whatever else is en vogue nowadays. Its really quite sad that it has gotten to this point.Traders used to pride themselves on how they were able to truly understand the market, but in the present time we live in, they are more worried about understanding what their indicators are telling them.If you want to learn forex, then its a good idea to learn from our ancestors. The less is more approach has and will always result in more success. To find out more about price action and to get a forex trading education, make sure to visit Trading In The Buff.

Successful Forex Rading System

Successful Forex Rading System

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Forex Trading System2.1. What is a Forex Trading System?Forex trading system is the subsystem of the forex trading plan which governs when and at which price you open and close your trades. A trading system works on the signals given by technical analysis and/or fundamental analysis. The signals are taken to see if the trader should buy or sell a specific currency pair or must close the open position(s). Any currency trading system prevents information overload by filtering out the universe of technical and/or fundamental signals in such a way that only the most reliable (successful in the past) signals or signal combinations are acted upon.There are two kinds of trading systems - the discretionary and the mechanical. Discretionary trading systems expect the trader to use his or her own judgement to ascertain the importance of each of the technical or fundamental signals (whose number is potentially infinite) that he or she gets. Mechanical trading systems operate on a fixed number of technical or fundamental signals without the participation of the trader. Discretionary trading systems require the perpetual application of creativity (flexibility of approach) from the trader in the understanding of the changing market conditions. Mechanical trading systems require the creativity from the trader only in the forex system development phase.Discretionary forex trading systems are best employed by professional forex traders with a lot of experience (internalized practical market knowledge) against which they can determine the validity of any signal that they receive. These traders usually remember a large number of various signal patterns from the past (just like the master chessmen) that they can compare to the current market conditions, to make their analysis more objective. In essence, they use themselves (i.e. their brain) as their trading system - often very successfully - because human mind has the best pattern recognition power on the planet.Starting currency traders are advised to begin by following professionally created mechanical forex trading systems. Most of these systems are sold-out in the form of the forex signals that are usually developed by experienced traders who have found a way to systemize their knowledge of the markets into a working strategy. At the same time, the beginning traders can work on building their own knowledge base of the forex market through the quality forex books, educational courses, bank reports and newswires on this subject -so that they can too, with time, create mechanical trading systems from their own insights and intuitions (using the forex charting packages which allow to do this).Beginning without a proven mechanical forex trading system (that has positive mathematical expectation) drastically dilutes the chances of maintaining the capital. This is because any intuition or a hunch that the traders experience as a result of some newly gained knowledge of the forex market is likely to be overridden by one of the two emotional derivatives of their life-long programming towards the money - the greed and the fear. In other words, without exact adherence to an existing mechanical trading system the beginning trader will eventually succumb to his or her emotions. As a matter of fact, the only way the traders can acquire discipline in the early phases of their trading careers is by tight following the signals generated by a proven mechanical forex trading system.Note: Neural Network Packages (e.g. NeuroShell) emulate the process of human learning and can be used to accumualte the knowledge of the past technical and/or fundamental signal patterns (just like the mind of professional forex traders does) for the purpose of the future currency price forecasting.Quote: "A mechanical approach to the markets can be successful and this is backed up by the fact that approximately 80% of the $30 billion in the managed futures industry is traded by exact systematic methods", from the "The Ultimate Trading Guide" by John R. Hill, George Pruitt, and Lundy Hill.2.2. Components of a Forex Trading System.A regular forex trading system consists of two subsystems - the entry system and the exit system. These systems can operate on a different or the same set of inputs. The inputs can be technical or fundamental signals.A system consists of a number of rules which interpret the signals that it receives. The entry system evaluates the signals to determine if and at which level the positions should be opened. The exit system evaluates the signals to determine if and at which level the open positions should be closed.The propose of an entry system is to find market points which allow to open positions with high potential reward and low potential risk (high reward-to-risk ratio). The risk is defined as the pip distance from the entry price to the next support or resistance level lying opposite to the entry direction (above entry for sell and below entry for buy). The reward is defined as the pip distance from the entry price to the next support or resistance level lying in the direction of the entry (above entry for buy and below entry for sell). It is generally advised that the traders accept only the trades with the reward-to-risk ratio of over 2 (e.g. risk=60 pips, reward=130 pips). All the same, depending on the accuracy of a trading system (i.e. the percentage of the winning trades of all the past trades) this requirement might be shifted to a lower or a higher value without sacrificing the profitability of the system. This is because the true measure of the long term profitability of a forex trading system is neither the average per-trade reward-to-risk ratio nor the accuracy of the system but the combination of these two measures which is calculated as the mathematical expectation of a trading system. In the absence of the accuracy measure of a trading system (as is the case with some discretionary trading systems) - the trader ought strive to find entries with the greatest possible reward-to-risk ratio.Note: Elliott wave analysis allows to find entries with extremely high reward-to-risk ratios (e.g. just check some of reports on MTPredictor's site). It is worth noting that MTPredictor automatically calculates the reward-to-risk ratios and helps to find optimum entry points based on these ratios. Some Elliot wave software developers (e.g. Advanced Get) also supply their subscribers with detailed Elliott wave trading plans.The aim of an exit system is to protect the capital base and the unrealized profits. The capital base is shielded by ensuring that the trades are exited with a fixed loss when the reasons for holding them are no longer valid. This is done by triggering a stop-loss order on your forex brokerage account when the price crosses the level which defined your risk at the entry. If you are a discretionary trader, forcing yourself to place the slop-loss on each trade and to stick to it no matter what will make you very selective about your entries - which ought increase your profitability. The unrealized profits are protected either by a take-profit order which is triggered on your brokerage account when the price reaches the level which defined your profit at the entry or with the help of the trailing stop-loss which gradually locks in more profits as the price moves in your favour. In fact, the trailing stop-loss exit can be more suitable than the fixed take-profit exit if you wish to profit from the extending "character" of some impulse waves. In such a event the trailing stop-loss can be placed just a few pips opposite to the trendline which defines impulse wave. There is one more type of exit which can be used to protect the trader from missing trading opportunities - the time exit. A time exit is triggered if a trade hasn't reached either its stop-loss or take-profit level in the specified period of time. Exiting such trades reduces the chances that the capital will be tied up when better opportunities appear on the other currency pairs.Note: Most forex newswires (e.g. Marketnews) are a great source of real-time information on the location of the major support and resistance levels and clusters of large orders that are watched by professional forex traders and which can be used to manually update the position of your trailing stop-loss.2.3. Development of a Currency Trading System.Making a mechanical forex trading system involves a number of steps: 1) Selecting the inputs for the trading system - technical analysis or fundamental analysis tools which will generate the signals for the system; 2) Developing the rule-set which will operate on these signals; 3) Optimizing the parameters of the analysis tools used to produce the signals; 4) Backtesting and forwardtesting the system over historical price data. Each of these steps is covered in more detail below:2.3.1. Selecting the Inputs for the Trading SystemIt is important to base your selection of inputs to the system on a sensible premise about the way the currency markets operate. As an example, you can use 200-day moving average to determine if the market is in a long-term up or down trend because a large proportion of professional forex traders use this technical tool to measure market trendiness. It is also better to combine technical analysis tools of different type and scale because this increases the chances of finding high-probability entry points (those that are likely to be followed by sharp currency price moves in your favour), which should, in turn, contribute to the overall system accuracy.If you use technical tools only on the higher time-frame charts like the daily or the weekly charts this will increase the duration of the trades and the time periods out of the market - because the signals will take longer to form. Either of these outcomes can have detrimental impact on the trader and investor morale during the inevitable losing streaks as is shown by our forex trading simulator (Please note: The size of this page is 0,6 Mbs and it requires that you have Flash installed and Javascript enabled in your browser). which can last longer than they are naturally prepared to wait. This makes it important to focus on lower time-frame charts (e.g. hourly charts) for signal generation which will lead to shorter trade durations and, consequently, to quicker recoveries from the drawdowns. Shorter trade durations can also help to the trader to defeat the temptation to overtrade because he or she can expect to see the next entry signal in the next couple of days - not in the next couple of weeks.Quote: "Your freedom to choose your time-frame is too valuable to lose. Investors and margined speculators, on the other hand, can choose their own time-frames. This is one of their positional advantages, to use a favourite notion of Larry Hite* , one of the founders of Mint Investment Corp* - one of the largest of the futures fund operators. Investors and speculators can choose. Obviously it makes sense to choose time frames which match any natural rhythms that can be discerned in the currency markets." John Percival in his book "The Way of the Dollar".Note: If you are using the Elliott Wave analysis your average holding period will depend on the degree of the impulse or corrective waves that you are trading.Choosing which fundamental factors are best for your forex trading system (e.g. as inputs to your neural network) can be very hard because the effect of various economic indicators on the currency prices changes with time. In other words, the strength of correlation between the price of a currency pair and the fundamental factors relevant to it is not fixed (even with interest rate differentials). In contrast, the relationship between the price patterns (especially the classical price patterns) and trader psychology (the driving force behind most important price moves) remains fairly stable over the years. This is the reason why the forex traders are encouraged to dedicate most of their efforts to building trading systems around the technical analysis.Another all-important question is the time horizon of the prediction that the trader is trying to make with his system. Better not to try to forecast currency prices too far into the future. This is because the number and the complexity of interaction of various technical and fundamental factors rises geometrically with each trading day. It is, therefore, best to "leave" this task to high-end investment banks and houses which alone have the capacity to perform the necessary calculations inherent in longer-term currency course forecasting. It is more practical for the typical currency trader to concentrate on capturing the so-called "knee-jerk" market reactions driven by crowd emotionalism through the analysis of the current technical or fundamental conditions.Quote: "Rule 5: Be prepared for anything don't try to predict what will happen or when. Investing is a skill, not a science. The Zen swordsman dicsniplines body and mind to counter any blow spontaneously; he does not anticipate the moves of an opponent, for that impedes his ability to react. Likewise, professional investors know they cannot control the real estate or stock market, let alone the global economy. Instead, they train themselves to be financially intelligent, to think confidently and creatively when opportunities or problems arise." one of the The Seven Rules of Investing given in Robert Kiyosaki's book "You Can Choose to Be Rich".You should also try not to include too many indicators (over 12) in your forex trading system. This is because probability that the system will perform like it did in the past diminishes as you add more indicators to your system. As a rule, the larger the number of indicators in your system the longer the period of historical currency price data you need to backtest the system on.Note: There is no necessity to learn all the available indicators and technical analysis methods before you can start creating your own robust trading systems. It is usually enough to master just a few "basic" technical indicators and formations to start combining them to identify high probability entry and exit points. The fundamental and technical reports issues by the investment banks are one of the best sources of information on which technical and/or fundamental signals are watched by the professional trading community that you can include in your forex trading system. In the long run it is best to stick to a sound forex trading strategy, that has high probability of being profitable in the long-run, than to dissipate your capital among a variety of "promising" methods.2.3.2. Developing the Rule-Set which will Operate on the SignalsYou can create these rules based on your observation of how the prices move in relation to various technical and fundamental indicators. For example, you might notice that currency prices tend to resume trending behaviour after they correct toward and touch 200-day moving average. You can use this observance to formulate a rule which will enter the markets when the prices bounce off from the 200-day moving average. You could also notice that the prices tend to stop trending when they touch the outer daily Bollinger bands. You can use this information to create a rule which will exit the trades once the prices penetrate the outer daily Bollinger Band. Because making rule-sets for mechanical trading systems forces you to quantify your insights about the market this practice aids to clarify them.The rule-set of a forex trading system is in essence the clarified version of the weighing algorithms that you naturally create in your mind as you learn the technical and fundamental analysis and observe the price action. I say "weighing" because most of the technical rules are transcribed in your mind as fuzzy patterns (e.g. "The longer the shadows of a doji the more likely the reversal" or "The steeper the trendline - the more bullish or bearish the market sentiment."). When you make the trading system, you transfer your knowledge to the computer in the form that can be understood by it. Admittedly, the quality of the computerized model very often will fall short of the actual mental model that you keep in your head. Nevertheless, the real advantage of the "mechanicizing" your market knowledge is the power to objectively determine the validity of your trading ideas by the process of the backtesting. It should be noted that the closest the computers approach to simulating the complexity of human comprehension of the market patterns is in the neural network packages.Neural network packages can be especially effective if you wish to model your way of weighing the strength of support or resistance levels. For example, if you believe that fibonacci retracements are more reliable entry points if they are confirmed by reversal candlestick patterns and/or RSI divergence you can "ask" a neural network to search for past occurrences of this pattern combination and determine the actual numeric weight that should be placed on each of these technical signals for the entry or exit to occur. This process is very advantageous because it allows the computer to extend your natural pattern recognition ability by perfecting (or objectifying) the weights associated with each technical input/signal. This way you can objectively measure the strength or the beauty of the technical setups that you encounter in your trading (e.g. the resultant model might require the position to be opened if the total sum of signal weighs is bigger than 0,5 where a reversal candlestick signal is "worth" 0,15, fibonacci retracement is "worth" 0,3 and the RSI divergence is "worth" 0,45). In essence, your forex trading system is the description of how beautiful your trading setups should be, where "beauty" is defined as the convergence of confirming signals from different type and/or scale technical analysis tools. Advanced users of the neural networks can go even further by tying the position size (within the maximum percentage value set by their money management system) to the strength or the beauty of the technical setup. If done decently this practice will allow them to make the most of the best trading opportunities while simultaneously reducing the exposure on the less promising setups.Meta4: An fascinating parallel to weighing the signals in order to determine if the position should be taken or not is the way people fall in love. Each individual carries a certain number of unconscious or semi-conscious qualifiers that "describe" in more or less fuzzy terms the appearance, the character, the temperament of their likely mate. When you meet the person who posses enough of these traits (i.e. above some "threshold" or unconscious minimum) the cascade of the confirming signals sets your mind off into the love state. A similar process occurs in the mind of discretionary trader when the market action through all of its technical and/or fundamental signals (i.e. "when all the pieces fit") activates the hunch or intuition response from him or her. If you compare the brain of a discretionary trader to a neural network the hunch finds its direct expression in the output neuron. The similarity between the process of falling in love and experiencing a hunch is probably behind such market advices as "do not marry your trades" or "do not fall in love with your trades". To stretch the similarity further we can compare a stop-loss order to the practice employed by some of the married couples called the "boundary". The boundary is the some form of behaviour unacceptable to the other spouse which if violated will lead to the end of relationship. Yet another analogue is between adding to a losing position and trying to win a favour of an unloving partner - the more you invest the harder it is to let go and the more likely you are to end up destroyed financially (emotionally in the relationships). As a final comparison the neural networks allow to model the connections among the ideas in the human mind in a similar way that a website through all its external and internal links permits to express the specific mental idea-network of its creator.Quote: "I use all forms of technical analysis, but interpret them through gut feel. I do not believe in mathematical systems that always approach markets in the same way. Using myself as the "system," I constantly change the input to achieve the same output—profit!", Mark Weinstein in Jack D. Schwager's book "Market Wizards".Note: It should be marked that the effectiveness of your model will always be only as good as the inputs that you give or "feed" to it (as someone said - "Garbage in, garbage out"). This is because computers merely extend your pattern recognition ability and cannot be relied upon to think up a winning system on their own - if this was false, the markets would have been cornered long ago by the guy with the most powerful computer.2.3.3. Optimizing the Parameters of the Analysis Tools used to Produce the SignalsSome forex charting packages (e.g. TradeStation) permit to optimize the parameters of the technical indicators that you use in your forex trading system. Optimization allows to find parameter values of your indicators that result in the biggest profit (most frequently used measure of system performance in optimization) from the trading system over the past data. An good example of the optimization is looking for the best time-period parameters for a two-moving-averages crossover system. Commonly the periods of two moving averages are stepped from 1 to 50 in steps of 1 and the trading results for each of around 250 moving average combinations are recorded and then sorted to find the most profitable combination. Such process of going though all possible parameter combinations is called brute force optimization. As the number of indicators used in your system increases arithmetically the number of potential parameter combinations increases geometrically. The total number of parameter combinations is, therefore, said to be subject to combinatorial explosion. For example, to optimize a system with 5 indicators each of which has 50 different parameter values you would have to cycle through 312 500 000 (50^5) possible parameter combinations. The only way you can expect to quickly solve such huge optimization problems in your lifetime is through the use of generic optimizers (e.g. OptEvolve for the TradeStation or NeuroShell Trader Professional).Optimization of the time-period parameter of the cycle-based indicators like Stochastics permits to automatically adapt them to the cycles present in the market instead of using the default time-period values - which is the method originally used by the developer of Stochastics.As a final note, try not to over optimize your indicators because majority of the professional forex traders use default indicator settings. You are looking for trading setups where the smart money will be acting (as opposed to the general investor public) so it doesn't make much practical sense to use indicator settings that hardly any professional forex trader is aware of.2.3.4. Backtesting and Forwardtesting the System over Historical Price Data.Backtesting allows to see how your system would have performed if it was run during some period in the past. You optimize indicator parameters using the price data in the backtesting period. It is crucial that the time period that you backtest your system on is representative of the currency pair that you wish to trade - it should include all types of market conditions (trending, rangebound) and it should be as recent as possible. Once you are comfortable with the performance of your system you forward test it - you run it on the out-of-sample price data (the price data that would be immediate future to the backtesting period). This way you can see if the system is able to perform likewise to the way it did during the backtesting. The closer the system's performance during the forward testing is to its performance during the backtesting the more robust the system and the more assured you can be that it will continue to trade in a similar manner during the real-time trading. You could also wish to trade your system on a forex demo account for some time before beginning to trade it with the real money.Backtesting aids the trader or investor to determine if they are prepared psychologically for the live trading of a forex trading system. By examiningthe past performance of a system they can decide if the size of the drawdown, the number of the consecutive losses and the average duration of the trades are acceptable for them. For the complete list of the performance measures that you could wish to review before starting to trade with professionally-created mechanical trading systems please visit the forex signals page. In contrast to the mechanical trading systems the discretionary trading systems cannot be backtested because the discretionary traders cannot guarantee that they will react to a similar set of signals in the future in the same manner that they did in the past.2.4. Implementation of a Forex Trading System.There are two ways you can implement a forex trading system - either manually or automatically. Discretionary trading systems can only be followed by the manual placing of the trades. Mechanical trading systems are better followed though the use of automation.If you are following a discretionary trading system you will be generally screening the currency markets for the signals that you have outlined in your checklist. The checklist is the description of the technical or fundamental trading signals that your trading system's rule-set operates on. The checklist could also contain the guidelines on how often you should check your forex charts/forex newswires for the signals (using the economic news calendar provided by the forex newswires as your fundamental signal timing tool); in contrast, the mechanical forex trading systems will be going through their own checklists with every second, 24 hours a day - which no human being can possibly do. Having a elaborate checklist will help you to be more disciplined in the application of your system. It is better to write your checklist in the form of the questionnaire. You can automate your search for some technical signals with the help of those forex charting packages which allow you to set up the sound or email/SMS alerts to notify you whenever the technical signal of your interest is generated (e.g. in Intellicharts). The forex bank reports and the forex newswires frequently issue mini reports of technical conditions on the market which most often are merely the "filled-in" versions of the same checklist.Manual implementation of the mechanical signals is NOT recommended. Since the signals are generated by the computer you will always feel compelled to double-check them against you own experience - since no computer can model your thinking with 100% accuracy. This can lead to the delays and/or missing of some of the signals which can potentially undermine the system profitability, that rests on the principle of taking each signal exactly at the time it is generated. A lot is being said about the widespread lack of the discipline in taking the signals of the mechanical forex trading systems. This trouble can be easily overcome though the use of a reliable signal automation service. You solve all emotional troubles associated with the manual trading of the signals by simply automating this process. Elimination of the emotions from the trading through the use of the automated mechanical forex trading systems should explain their popularity amidst the multi-billion dollar hedge fund industry.An crucial aspect of mechanical system trading is the monitoring of its real-time performance. The concealed market dynamics (a particular way of reacting to technical or fundamental signals that an important grouping of forex market participants shares - or, systematic mass investor impulsiveness) that your system has captured during the back-testing may be switching or might already have changed at the time you start to trade your system with the real money. The single way you can say that the market dynamics that you are focusing on have changed or not is to compare the real-time and the past system perofrmance. If the system continues to perform like it did on the backtesting then you can conclude that the market dynamics it targets have not yet changed. If you notice important deviations in such system performance measures like the maximum peak-to-valley drawdown, the average duration of trades, the average value of the profits/losses, the maximum number of consecutive winners/losses, it can signal that an important shift in market dynamics is taking place (e.g. a group of investment banks have modified their trading models). The fastest way to update your system to the changes in market dynamics is available for the neural network packages - which allow to retrain your model over the most recent price history. Retraining a neural network involves readjusting its matrix of weighs which allows it to stay attuned to the current market conditions. If mechanical trading systems suffer form the paradigm shifts on the market - the same can be said of the human mind (discretionary trading systmes) which tends to be very inflexible once a partciluar way of doing things (i.e. trading style) is ingrained in it.2.5. Mastering System Trading.To master system trading you ought have the patience to wait calmly for the entry or the exit signal from your own forex trading system and act only on them - irregardless of the technical or fundamental conditions that you see in-between these signals. It is no wonder why the best traders prefer to compare themselves to skilful predators when they describe their trading style:Quote: "Top traders love the hunting metaphor to describe what they do. One of them, for example, claims he is like a cheetah. The cheetah can outrun any animal, but it still stalks its prey. It won't attack until it is right on top of its prey. In addition, the cheetah usually waits for a weak or lame animal to get close. Another top trader told me that he trades like a lion. He watches the herd for weeks until something other than his presence causes the herd to panic. When the herd panics, he then chases a weak or lame animal that appears most confused. The difference between an average hunter and a really skilled animal like the swift cheetah or the cunning lion is that the skilled hunter waits until the odds are overwhelmingly in his favor", from "The Ten Tasks of Top Trading" by Van K. Tharp.Quote: "Much of the time, even professionals don't have a clear picture of what is going on, but they have learned to have the patience to wait for select, specific setups. You must learn to trade on only the most recognizable and reliable patterns." from the "Street Smarts: High Probability Short-Term Trading Strategies".The most important rule of systematic trading is to take each and every trading signal that your system generates. Only by taking all the signals at the time they are generated can you count on replicating the past performance of your system. If you have the slightest suspicion that you will not be able to take all the signals - either due to the timing of the signals or your busy schedule - you should arrange for the signals to be automatically traded.At the end of the day, a forex trading system just like the money management system serves to protect yourself from your own destructive tendencies which very often mask themselves as the "well-meaning" hunches and gut responses. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't trust your instincts - only that you should base your trades on them only if you can eliminate emotions from your decisions. This is because a trading system is a method to profit from other traders' emotional instability, therefore, if you do not control your own emotions you will not be able to profit from any system. Removing the emotions from your manual trading can take years (!!!)- so it can be more practical and profitable to simply autotrade your system.Even if you start your currency trading career by following a professionally created forex trading system you will receive full satisfaction from the trading - in terms of profit and self-actualization - only if you make and trade a successful system of your own. One of the best books which can help you to start this fascinating journey is "Mechanical Trading Systems: Pairing Trader Psychology with Technical Analysis" by Richard L. Weissman.Quote: " In the meantime, it cannot be emphasized enough that, at the very least, genuine success in trading markets involves the adoption of a trading system. Without the discipline of such a system, the very best efforts are likely to be doomed to failure." Tony Plummer in his book "Forecasting Financial Markets: The Psychology of Successful Investing".There are no certainties in the forex trading, since the future will never be exactly the same as the past. There are only probabilities, which you can systematically put in your favour with the help of a established forex trading system.

Short Term Options Trading

Short Term Options Trading

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There are many traders who still consider options and warrants to be long term trading markets, but options can even be traded short term. It is important to understand that trading options short terms is not dramatically different from trading any other market but there are a couple of options specifics that need to be taken into account. In short term trading, the aptitude to steer the short term market is a key component for continued success. As an equity trader one has to learn to trade with the short trend of the markets to reduce market risk.An option trading is a strategy that does not depend on the market direction; in fact it does well in volatile markets. With options trading there are two methods through which you can enter a long trade and short terms trade. While a long fundamental trade can be entered either by buying a call or by selling a put, a short underlying trade can be entered either by buying a put or by selling a call.In short term options trading calculating risk reward is yet another important point that trader need to well aware of. Calculating the risk reward can be defined as the amount trader would risk if he or she were wrong and the amount trader would make if he or she were right. If we don't figure out this number, the chances are more where we may find the stock that may go in favor but the option goes against.If we compare long term and short term options trading, then both have their own advantages. However, buying short term options can be very beneficial as it gives more control. It very general that no one can exactly make prediction very clearly when it comes to stock trading. It's really hard to predict what will happen to a stock 3 months down the road. Though sometimes it is easier to predict which way the stock will be heading in just a few weeks as opposed to a few months. Thus, selling short term options allow capture more premiums over a longer time frame.Apart from this, it even works well and provides an excellent way for novice traders to trade. This is because as the price movement is so fast and dynamic that when things happen, beginners may not know what to do and be able to do it quickly. Moreover, it is an enormously lively options trading method where options are bought and sold very quickly in order to gain profit from the least intraday price swing or change in volatility.Today certainly short term option trading has gained its world-wide popularity. It has become extremely money-making method in the hands of options trading veterans and new comers in current extremely volatile market conditions.

Online Share Trading Guide


Online Share Trading Guide
By T. P. Gopinath, July 06, 2006. Some sections updated in Dec 2007.
http://www.calicutnet.com/articles/gopinath/online-trading

Introduction & Overview.
In July 2006, as I type this, I am just six months into the stock markets and online trading. In much the same way, this article / tutorial is meant for those who are new to share markets and online trading.
Old hands vs. beginners:
Friends, as I said in the opening remark, I am a beginner in the market and not an expert by any measure. Hence if you are a veteran, you are unlikely to gain here. Expect naivety rather than maturity. However I have earned some wisdom from the market in a short time and tried to be as accurate and factually correct as i could possibly. Also, an advice to global visitors - the context of this article is Indian.
The swearing in:
After taking an ICICI bank account in 2003, I was eager to enter the financial market. However due to ignorance of the share market and lack of money, I continued to wait.
Although I heard of DMAT (Dematerialisation of Shares - understand electronic format) and about the ease of online trading, I had to stay away from entering the stock markets.
Finally after more than two years, a friend started with HDFC bank and he introduced me to his online trading systems. Familiar with PCs and leading an online life, I found it very exciting.
In the back of my mind I had the hope of making enough money so that I can stop being an NRI. Also, being an IT professional I had the responsibility to at least know this important avenue available online for share trading.
ICICI online trading system is the scenario:
This article is in a form of a web optimized tutorial and it is rooted mostly on my experience and budding knowledge. ICICI online trading system has been used as an example. I only have a layman’s knowledge of economy and finance in general and hence don’t expect any great lecture.
What I can impart is an idea about online share trading in general and remind you about some lessons I learned through my reading and online share trading.

4‏/8‏/2009

The Seven Most Traded Currencies in Forex

The Seven Most Traded Currencies in Forex


The best way to keep up with the latest on FOREX is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. Current info is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this article includes the latest available.

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Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called lots. One
lot is equal to $1,000, which controls $100,000 in currency.
This is what is known as the "margin". You can control $100,000
worth of currency for only 1,000 dollars. This is what is called High Leverage.

Currencies are always traded in pairs in the FOREX. The
pairs have a unique notation that expresses what currencies
are being traded. The symbol for a currency pair will always
be in the form ABC/DEF. ABC/DEF is not a real currency pair,
it is an example of a symbol for a currency pair. In this
example ABC is the symbol for one countries currency and DEF
is the symbol for another countries currency.

Here are some of the common symbols used in the Forex:

USD - The US Dollar
EUR - The currency of the European Union "EURO"
GBP - The British Pound
JPN - The Japanese Yen
CHF - The Swiss Franc
AUD - The Australian Dollar
CAD - The Canadian Dollar

There are symbols for other currencies as well, but these
are the most commonly traded ones.

A currency can never be traded by itself. So you can not
ever trade a EUR by itself. You always need to compare one
currency with another currency to make a trade possible.

Some of the common PAIRS are:

EUR/USD Euro / US Dollar
"Euro"

USD/JPY US Dollar / Japanese Yen
"Dollar Yen"

GBP/USD British Pound / US Dollar
"Cable"

USD/CAD US Dollar / Canadian Dollar
"Dollar Canada"

AUD/USD Australian Dollar/US Dollar
"Aussie Dollar"

USD/CHF US Dollar / Swiss Franc
"Swissy"

EUR/JPY Euro / Japanese Yen
"Euro Yen"

The listed currency pairs above look like a fraction. The
numerator (top of the fraction or "left" of the / however
you want to SEE it) is called the base currency. The
denominator (bottom of the fraction or "right" of the
/however you want to SEE it) is called the counter currency.
When you place an order to buy the EUR/USD, for instance,
you are actually buying the EUR and selling the USD. If you
were to sell the pair, you would be selling the EUR and
buying the USD. So if you buy or sell a currency PAIR, you
are buying/selling the base currency. You are always doing
the opposite of what you did with to base currency with the
counter currency.

If this seems confusing then you're in luck. You can always
get by with just thinking of the entire pair as one item.
Then you are just buying or selling that one item. Thinking
like this will still enable you to place trades. You only
need to be aware of the base/counter concept for Fundamental
Analysis issues.

So why is it important to know about the base/counter
currency? The base/counter currency concept illustrates
what is actually taking place in a Forex transaction. Some
of you reading this, know that short-selling was restricted
in the stock market *(Short-selling is where you sell a
stock/currency/option/commodity first and then try to buy it
back at a lower price later). But in the FOREX you are
always buying one currency (base) and selling another
(counter). If you sell the pair you are simply flipping
which one you buy and which one you sell. The transaction is
essentially the same. This allows you to short-sell with no
restrictions.

You want to be able to short-sell with no restrictions so
you can make money when the market drops as well as when it
rises. The problem with traditional stock market trading is
that the market has to go up for you to make money. With
FOREX trading you can make money in all directions.

http://www.1-forex.com


About the Author


FOREX Trader and Freelance writer.

http://www.1-forex.com

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Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of FOREX. Now might be a good time to write down the main points. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important.

Of course, it's impossible to put everything into just one article. Even if you don't know everything about FOREX, you've done something worthwhile: you've expanded your knowledge.

Forex Trading Making Money with Money

Forex Trading Making Money with Money


The best way to keep up with the latest on FOREX is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. Current info is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this article includes the latest available.

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Forex trading is one of the growing markets for making money in today's world economy. If you are part of the forex trading game, you need well thought out and planned strategies. You also need up to the minute information and reliable data to help you along the way. With this said, in order to be successful at forex, you'll want to invest in high quality products to help you analyze, watch and track the forex market. No little project at all. The good news to you is that there are options out there to help you do just that.
First of all, realize that forex trading is an excellent market to trade in. It has the ability to make you money without a whole lot of investing. And, you can trade with whatever you have, not necessarily millions of dollars. To get into the forex market, it makes sense to pay attention to the numbers for some time. Then, you'll have a good feel for it long before your dollars are involved.

But, once you do get in, you'll need up to the minute information. Consider the purchase of and use of valuable forex trading software programs. These programs can help you to track what is happening and in some, it will help you to better analyze the information as well. Of course, this in turn will help you to make the right decisions about your investments.

While market trading is always risky, many find that forex trading, when done right, is one of the most profitable without much start up investment opportunities out there. With the ability that you have to monitor and respond virtually instantly to the world's market in forex, you are better able to make the right decisions which will then lead to those gains you are seeking.


About the Author

for more information please see http://www.forex-trading-help.co.uk


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Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of FOREX. Now might be a good time to write down the main points. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important.

Of course, it's impossible to put everything into just one article. Even if you don't know everything about FOREX, you've done something worthwhile: you've expanded your knowledge.

FOREX Trading Risks

FOREX Trading: Know The Risks


You may see claims on some FOREX web sites implying that FOREX is a risk-free pastime. If so, this article aims to disenchant you.

In FOREX you are trading substantial sums of money, and there is always a possibility that a trade will go against you. There are several trading tools, though, that can minimize your risk. With caution, and above all education, the FOREX trader can learn how to trade profitably and minimize loss.




The Scams

FOREX scams were fairly common a few years ago. The industry has cleaned up considerably since then, but you still need to exercise caution when signing up with a FOREX broker. Do some background checking. Reputable FOREX brokers will be associated with large financial institutions like banks or insurance companies, and they will be registered with the proper government agencies. In the United States brokers should be registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). You can also check with your local Consumer Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau.





The Risks

Assuming you are dealing with a reputable broker, there are still risks to FOREX trading. Transactions are subject to unexpected rate changes, volatile markets and political events.

Exchange Rate Risk refers to the fluctuations in currency prices over a trading period. Prices can fall rapidly resulting in substantial losses unless stop loss orders are used (see below).

Interest Rate Risk can result from discrepancies between the interest rates in the 2 countries represented by the currency pair in a FOREX quote. This discrepancy can result in variations from the expected profit or loss of a particular FOREX transaction.

Credit Risk is the possibility that 1 party in a FOREX transaction may not honor their debt when the deal is closed. This may happen when a bank or financial institution declares insolvency. Credit risk can be minimized by dealing on regulated exchanges, which require members to be monitored for credit worthiness.

Country Risk is associated with governments that may become involved in foreign exchange markets by limiting the flow of currency. There is more country risk associated with "exotic" currencies than with major countries that allow the free trading of their currency.


Limiting Your Risk

FOREX trading can be risky, but there are ways to limit risk and financial exposure. Every FOREX trader should have a trading strategy; i.e., knowing when to enter and exit the market, and what kind of movements to expect. Developing strategies requires education, which is the key to limiting FOREX risk. At all times follow the basic rule: Never use money that you cannot afford to lose.

Every FOREX trader needs to know at least the basics about technical analysis and how to read financial charts. He should study chart movements and indicators and understand how charts are interpreted. There is a vast amount of information on FOREX trading available both on the Internet and in print. If you want to be successful at FOREX, then educate yourself so you know what you are doing.

Stop-Loss Orders

Even the most knowledgeable traders, however, can't predict with absolute certainty how the market will behave. For this reason, every FOREX transaction should take advantage of available tools designed to minimize loss.

Stop-loss orders are the most common ways of minimizing risk when placing an entry order. A stop-loss order contains instructions to exit your position if the currency price reaches a certain point. If you take a long position (expecting the price to rise) you would place a stop loss order below current market price. If you take a short position (expecting the price to fall) you would place a stop loss order above current market price.

Stop loss orders can be used in conjunction with limit orders to automate FOREX trading. Limit orders specify that an open position should be closed at a specified profit target.

Placing An Order

As an example, if you take a short position on USD/CDN it means you expect the US dollar to fall against the Canadian dollar. The quote is USD/CDN 1.2138/43 -- you can sell US$1 for 1.2138 CDN dollars or sell 1.2143 CDN dollars for US$1.

You place an order like this: Sell USD: 1 standard lot USD/CDN @ 1.2138 = $121,380 CDN Pip Value: 1 pip = $10 Stop-Loss: 1.2148 Margin: $1,000 (1%)

You are selling US$100,000 and buying CDN$121,380. Your stop loss order will be executed if the dollar goes above 1.2148, in which case you will lose $100.

However, USD/CDN falls to 1.2118/23. You can now sell $1 US for 1.2118 CDN or sell 1.2123 CDN for $1 US.

Because you entered the transaction by selling US dollars (buying short), you must now buy back US dollars and sell CDN dollars to realize your profit.

You buy back US$100,000 at the current USD/CDN rate of 1.2123 for a cost of 121,223 CDN. Since you originally sold them for CDN$121,380 you made a profit of $157 Canadian dollars or US$129.51 (157 divided by the current exchange rate of 1.2123).

FOREX Trading Philosophy

Your FOREX Trading Philosophy


"Easy money" is the allure that captivates many beginning FOREX traders. FOREX websites offer "risk-free" trading, "high returns", "low investment." These claims have a grain of truth in them, but the reality of FOREX is a bit more complex.




Mistakes Of The Beginning Trader

There are 2 common mistakes that many beginner traders make: trading without a strategy and letting emotions rule their decisions. After opening a FOREX account it may be tempting to dive right in and start trading. Watching the movements of EUR/USD for example, you may feel that you are letting an opportunity pass you by if you don't enter the market immediately. You buy and watch the market move against you. You panic and sell, only to see the market recover.

This kind of undisciplined approach to FOREX is guaranteed to lose you money. FOREX traders must have a rational trading strategy and not make trading decisions in the heat of the moment.







Understanding Market Movements

To make rational trading decisions, the FOREX trader must be well educated in market movements. He must be able to apply technical studies to charts and plot out entry and exit points. He must take advantage of the various types of orders to minimize his risk and maximize his profit.

The first step in becoming a successful FOREX trader is to understand the market and the forces behind it. Who trades FOREX and why? Who is successful and why are they successful? This will allow you to identify successful trading strategies and use them yourself.


Accountability: Advantage Or Disadvantage?

There are 5 major groups of investors who participate in FOREX: governments, banks, corporations, investment funds, and traders. Each group has its own objectives, but 1 thing all groups except traders have in common is external control. Every organization has rules and guidelines for trading currencies and can be held accountable for their trading decisions. Individual traders, on the other hand, are accountable only to themselves.

The trader who lacks rules and guidelines is playing a losing game. Large organizations and educated traders approach the FOREX with strategies, and if you hope to succeed as a FOREX trader you must follow suit.


Strategies For Money Management

Money management is an integral part of any trading strategy. Besides knowing which currencies to trade and how to recognize entry and exit signals, the successful trader has to manage his resources and integrate money management into his trading plan. Position size, margin, recent profits and losses, and contingency plans all need to be considered before entering the market.

There are various strategies for money management. Many rely on the calculation of core equity -- your starting balance minus the money used in open positions.


Core Equity And Limited Risk

When entering a position 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. You do this with a stop loss order 100 pips (1 pip = $10) above or below your entry position.

As your core equity rises or falls you adjust the dollar amount of your risk. With a starting balance of $10,000 and 1 open position, your core equity is $9000. If you wish to add a second open position, your core equity would fall to $8000 and you should limit your risk to $900. Risk in a third position should be limited to $800.


Greater Profit, Greater Risk

You should also raise your risk level as your core equity rises. After $5,000 profit, your core equity is now $15,000. You could raise your risk to $1,500 per transaction. Alternatively, you could risk more from the profit than from the original starting balance. Some traders may risk up to 5% against their realized profits ($5,000 on a $100,000 lot) for greater profit potential.

These are the kinds of strategic moves that allow a beginner to get a foothold on profitable trading in FOREX.

FOREX: What Is It And How Does It Work

FOREX: What Is It And How Does It Work
?

The Foreign Exchange market, also referred to as the "Forex" is the biggest and largest financial market in the world. It has a daily average turnover of US$1.9 trillion- just imagine that amount of money! Don't you want to join this trillion-dollar industry?
Forex is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Currencies are traded in pairs, for example Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). So basically, Forex is trading.
There are two reasons to buy and sell currencies. About 5% of daily turnover is from companies and governments that buy or sell products and services in a foreign country or must convert profits made in foreign currencies into their domestic currency.
The other 95% is trading for profit, or what you call speculation. Investors frequently trade on information they believe to be superior and relevant, when in fact it is not and is fully discounted by the market.
On one side of each speculative stock trade is a participant who believes he has superior information and on the other side is another participant who believes his information is superior.
For speculators, the best trading opportunities are with the most commonly traded (and therefore most liquid- meaning its in cash or convertible to cash) currencies, called "the Majors." Today, more than 85% of all daily transactions involve trading of the Majors.
A true 24-hour market, Forex trading begins each day in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins in each financial center, first to Tokyo, London, and New York. Unlike any other financial market, investors can respond to currency fluctuations caused by economic, social and political events at the time they occur — real time- day or night.
The Forex market is considered an Over The Counter (OTC) or 'interbank' market. This is because the transactions are conducted between two counterparts over the telephone or via an electronic network. Trading is not centralized on an exchange compared to stocks and futures markets.
Understanding Forex quotes
Reading a Forex quote may seem a bit confusing at first. However, it's really quite simple if you remember two things: 1) The first currency listed first is the base currency and 2) the value of the base currency is always 1.
The US dollar is the centerpiece of the Forex market and is normally considered the 'base' currency for quotes. In the "Majors", this includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD. For these currencies and many others, quotes are expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the second currency quoted in the pair. For example, a quote of USD/JPY 110.01 means that one U.S. dollar is equal to 110.01 Japanese yen.
When the U.S. dollar is the base unit and a currency quote goes up, it means the dollar has appreciated in value and the other currency has weakened. If the USD/JPY quote we previously mentioned increases to 113.01, the dollar is stronger because it will now buy more yen than before.
The three exceptions to this rule are the British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD) and the Euro (EUR). In these cases, you might see a quote such as GBP/USD 1.7366, meaning that one British pound equals 1.7366 U.S. dollars.
In these three currency pairs, where the U.S. dollar is not the base rate, a rising quote means a weakening dollar, as it now takes more U.S. dollars to equal one pound, euro or Australian dollar.
In other words, if a currency quote goes higher, that increases the value of the base currency. A lower quote means the base currency is weakening.
Currency pairs that do not involve the U.S. dollar are called cross currencies, but the premise is the same. For example, a quote of EUR/JPY 127.95 signifies that one Euro is equal to 127.95 Japanese yen.
When trading Forex you will often see a two-sided quote, consisting of a 'bid' and 'offer'. The 'bid' is the price at which you can sell the base currency (at the same time buying the counter currency). The 'ask' is the price at which you can buy the base currency (at the same time selling the counter currency).
by Frederic Madore

3‏/8‏/2009

FX Trading Systems - Currency Trading For Beginners

FX Trading Systems - Currency Trading For Beginners

Finding a good FX trading system can be tricky at the best of times, even for the most gifted financial brain. You can spend days tracking the different trends and charts, have a whole array of FX trading software and still get it wrong. When trading foreign exchange you can predict the price movements down to minute percentage points of accuracy, only to have the price move in the complete opposite direction. This is not only heart breaking but it can also be very costly. Although FX Trading systems can provide a huge advantage on the market, there are many forex trading systems that simply don't allow for a big turn against their position. Managing risk is the most important aspect in any forex trading system. Get that right and you could have a very profitable FX Trading system.
The economy has been in a downward spiral, but this doesn't mean that you can't make money from forex trading. The market doesn't have to be going up to make a profit. In fact it can be easier to make money when the market is having some trouble. This generally brings more volatility into the markets and this in turn creates more opportunities. Especially if you have a good FX trading system in place.
FX Trading systems are often confusing and more, they contradict themselves. FX trading software for analysis of these charts can be a great way to let the computer do the hard work. Depending on the software it can turn an impossible job into a few easy decisions. Combine this with some good FX trading platforms and it can be lucrative. The secret is to stack the odds in your favor and that is exactly what a great forex trading system will do for you. It won't win every time but it should greatly increase your chances of success.
With currency trading systems the main consideration is timing. You must place your trades, no matter what instrument you are using, at the right time to gain the best price. Start to look into the future at events that may alter a currencies price eg. Rate rise etc. This can give you a huge advantage especially when you combine your knowledge with that of you forex trading software. Together you can create the perfect FX Trading systems.
Whenever dealing with a new financial instrument like forex you must know your limits and your margins. Never exceed your own limits and put yourself at the risk of financial ruin. The more work you put in the more chance you will have of succeeding. Do as many investment seminars and read any financial book that you can get your hands on. If you are dedicated then you can succeed, it really is as simple as that.
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The Right Way to Choose Forex Signal Software

The Right Way to Choose Forex Signal Software
By Kareechy Ken

When this is the case, you can end up feeling desperate. Don't go about things the wrong way. The right way to choose Forex signal software is to base your decision on past experience.
I'm not talking about your past experience, but the past experience of the ones running the signal software engine. If you opt for the cheapest software, there is a good chance that you won't do any better with the assistance of a signaler than you did on your own.
Make sure to shop around and find Forex Signal Software that has proven results. Don't just take the word of someone who has been paid to write a review of the software program or provider, either. Actually do some research. Find out who has the best reputation through viable clients. Search you blogs and websites for information regarding signalers that are proven to give decent returns and results.
When someone is doing well, with or without the help of signal software, they're usually quite happy to show you visible proof of their success. Make sure that you check out the signal software you're considering and make sure that there has been a steady stream of positive results before making the jump.
You also need to actually understand a little bit about the Forex before selecting the right Forex signal software. You can find programs that use aggressive trading techniques that may be a little risky but yield higher returns or you can select one that lets you have a little more say in the speed of trades.
There's no right or wrong way to go when it comes to this aspect of Forex software. It's up to you if you feel more comfortable putting your faith in a less aggressive software program that may yield lower returns on your trades. There's nothing wrong with using a not so aggressive program. You'll still see great strides over the way you were doing, making trades on your own.
It's just like most other aspects of trading, you need to be smart and do some research. Look before you leap, if you will. Don't forget, you can get ahead quickly with Forex software but there's a wrong way to go about doing things. Now you know the right way to choose forex signal software, so get started and make more money today.
I will tell you about how to choose forex software? and brief review by our expert ,see reliable list top 5 Forex Signal software at http://www.forexsignalsoftware.net.

Euro May Cash in on its Anti-Dollar Role Before the ECB Decision

Euro May Cash in on its Anti-Dollar Role Before the ECB Decision

Written by John Kicklighter, Currency Strategist
The dollar is near collapse; and its liquid counterparts stand to reap the benefits of the potential cross-currency winds. However, from a fundamental standpoint who stands to benefit the most? Those pairs that have pressed all the way to the edge of their recent historical highs against the ailing reserve currency (the British pound or Aussie dollar) are heavily dependent upon unpredictable risk appetite. The stalwart among the group is the euro.



Euro May Cash in on its Anti-Dollar Role Before the ECB Decision

Fundamental Forecast for Euro: Bullish

- German unemployment falls for the first time; but this improvement is a result of seasonal adjustments
- German consumer confidence rises for a third month
- What does the technical outlook for the euro look like?

The dollar is near collapse; and its liquid counterparts stand to reap the benefits of the potential cross-currency winds. However, from a fundamental standpoint who stands to benefit the most? Those pairs that have pressed all the way to the edge of their recent historical highs against the ailing reserve currency (the British pound or Aussie dollar) are heavily dependent upon unpredictable risk appetite. The stalwart among the group is the euro. Liquidity, a steady yield, bullish growth forecasts and a policy authority that is confident financial conditions are sound make for an appealing alternative for the most actively traded currency in the market. However, is the outlook truly as bright as the market is pricing in? More importantly; do speculators even care?

In trying to approach the first question, it is important to remember that valuing a currency is always done on a relative basis. For example, the euro could still rise against one of its major counterparts even when the economy is sinking as long as the Euro Zone is contracting at a slower pace. That being said, the objective answer is that the economy is not as stable as the strength of the currency would suggest. We will not see the first round of the German and Euro Zone second quarter GDP figures until August 13th. Nonetheless, expectations will readily discount each indicator that crosses the wires until then. This past week’s data further exposed a significant discrepancy between expectations and actual data. Surveys for consumer, business and economic sentiment all reported improvements in their July readings (though they were mostly still below the net expansion/contraction line). In contrast, the German unemployment rate has held at its highest level since December of 2007. Consumers are the foundation for economic health and will determine whether the Euro Zone will struggle to recovery or truly return to growth. Retail sales, factory orders and industrial production will all factor in to this outlook.

Each of these indicators will feed into the market’s unobserved and dynamic growth forecasting model; but the true benchmarks for economic activity will come from the ECB. The central bank is scheduled to announce rates on Thursday and both the market and economists suspect the benchmark will be left unchanged at 1.00 percent. The real value from the event comes from the statement that accompanies the announcement and President Jean Claude Trichet’s forum with the press shortly after the official release. Political pressure has intensified from some of the region’s largest economies to reign in stimulus to avoid stoking inflation. What’s more, the RBA has set a precedence in suggesting it was taking a cautious, hawkish turn; and the ECB no longer carries the burden to be the first. These factors aside though, the economy is certainly not stable enough to take such a passive (much less hawkish) approach. There are still economies suffering severe recessions; and even those that are considered relatively strong are still contraction. Should the group remove the safety net too soon, they run the risk of exacerbating a pull back that develops later.

Another generally accepted truism that has worked in the euro’s favor is that the region has remained otherwise financial sound while the UK and US were nearing structural collapse. However, many of the biggest risks to the broader markets going forward come from the Euro Zone. A premature draining of financial aid threatens to choke the economy, regional banks have yet to write off their losses (they will) and Eastern Europe threatens to default on its loans to the EZ in masse. All of these are considerations to keep in mind. – JK



Written by: John Kicklighter, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com
Questions? Comments? Send them to John at jkicklighter@dailyfx.com