FOREX - the foreign exchange market or currency market or Forex is the market where one currency is traded for another. It is one of the largest markets in the world.
Some of the participants in this market are simply seeking to exchange a foreign currency for their own, like multinational corporations which must pay wages and other expenses in different nations than they sell products in. However, a large part of the market is made up of currency traders, who speculate on movements in exchange rates, much like others would speculate on movements of stock prices. Currency traders try to take advantage of even small fluctuations in exchange rates.
In the foreign exchange market there is little or no 'inside information'. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as anticipations on global macroeconomic conditions. Significant news is released publicly so, at least in theory, everyone in the world receives the same news at the same time.
Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.2045 dollar.
Unlike stocks and futures exchange, foreign exchange is indeed an interbank, over-the-counter (OTC) market which means there is no single universal exchange for specific currency pair. The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours per day throughout the week between individuals with forex brokers, brokers with banks, and banks with banks. If the European session is ended the Asian session or US session will start, so all world currencies can be continually in trade. Traders can react to news when it breaks, rather than waiting for the market to open, as is the case with most other markets.
Average daily international foreign exchange trading volume was $1.9 trillion in April 2004 according to the BIS study.
Like any market there is a bid/offer spread (difference between buying price and selling price). On major currency crosses, the difference between the price at which a market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") to a wholesale customer and the price at which the same market-maker will buy ("bid") from the same wholesale customer is minimal, usually only 1 or 2 pips. In the EUR/USD price of 1.4238 a pip would be the '8' at the end. So the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.4238/1.4239.
This, of course, does not apply to retail customers. Most individual currency speculators will trade using a broker which will typically have a spread marked up to say 3-20 pips (so in our example 1.4237/1.4239 or 1.423/1.425). The broker will give their clients often huge amounts of margin, thereby facilitating clients spending more money on the bid/ask spread. The brokers are not regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (since they do not sell securities), so they are not bound by the same margin limits as stock brokerages. They do not typically charge margin interest, however since currency trades must be settled in 2 days, they will "resettle" open positions (again collecting the bid/ask spread).
Individual currency speculators can work during the day and trade in the evenings, taking advantage of the market's 24 hours long trading day.
Currency Trading
Investors and traders around the world are looking to the Forex market as a new speculation opportunity. But, how are transactions conducted in the Forex market? Or, what are the basics of Forex Trading? Before adventuring in the Forex market we need to make sure we understand the basics, otherwise we will find ourselves lost where we less expected. This is what this article is aimed to, to understand the basics of currency trading.
What is traded in the Forex market?
The instrument traded by Forex traders and investors are currency pairs. A currency pair is the exchange rate of one currency over another. The most traded currency pairs are:
EUR/USD: Euro
GBP/USD: Pound
USD/CAD: Canadian dollar
USD/JPY: Yen
USD/CHF: Swiss franc
AUD/USD: Aussie
These currency pairs generate up to 85% of the overall volume generated in the Forex market.
So, for instance, if a trader goes long or buys the Euro, she or he is simultaneously buying the EUR and selling the USD. If the same trader goes short or sells the Aussie, she or he is simultaneously selling the AUD and buying the USD.
The first currency of each currency pair is referred as the base currency, while second currency is referred as the counter or quote currency.
Each currency pair is expressed in units of the counter currency needed to get one unit of the base currency.
If the price or quote of the EUR/USD is 1.2545, it means that 1.2545 US dollars are needed to get one EUR.
Bid/Ask Spread
All currency pairs are commonly quoted with a bid and ask price. The bid (always lower than the ask) is the price your broker is willing to buy at, thus the trader should sell at this price. The ask is the price your broker is willing to sell at, thus the trader should buy at this price.
EUR/USD 1.2545/48 or 1.2545/8
The bid price is 1.2545
The ask price is 1.2548
A Pip
A pip is the minimum incremental move a currency pair can make. Pip stands for price interest point. A move in the EUR/USD from 1.2545 to 1.2560 equals 15 pips. And a move in the USD/JPY from 112.05 to 113.10 equals 105 pips.
Margin Trading (leverage)
In contrast with other financial markets where you require the full deposit of the amount traded, in the Forex market you require only a margin deposit. The rest will be granted by your broker.
The leverage provided by some brokers goes up to 400:1. This means that you require only 1/400 or .25% in balance to open a position (plus the floating gains/losses.) Most brokers offer 100:1, where every trader requires 1% in balance to open a position.
The standard lot size in the Forex market is $100,000 USD.
For instance, a trader wants to get long one lot in EUR/USD and he or she is using 100:1 leverage.
To open such position, he or she requires 1% in balance or $1,000 USD.
Of course it is not advisable to open a position with such limited funds in our trading balance. If the trade goes against our trader, the position is to be closed by the broker. This takes us to our next important term.
Margin Call
A margin call occurs when the balance of the trading account falls below the maintenance margin (capital required to open one position, 1% when the leverage used is 100:1, 2% when leverage used is 50:1, and so on.) At this moment, the broker sells off (or buys back in the case of short positions) all your trades, leaving the trader “theoretically” with the maintenance margin.
Most of the time margin calls occur when money management is not properly applied.
How are the mechanics of a Forex trade?
The trader, after an extensive analysis, decides there is a higher probability of the British pound to go up. He or she decides to go long risking 30 pips and having a target (reward) of 60 pips. If the market goes against our trader he/she will lose 30 pips, on the other hand, if the market goes in the intended way, he or she will gain 60 pips. The actual quote for the pound is 1.8524/27, 4 pips spread. Our trader gets long at 1.8530 (ask). By the time the market gets to either our target (called take profit order) or our risk point (called stop loss level) we will have to sell it at the bid price (the price our broker is willing to buy our position back.) In order to make 60 pips, our take profit level should be placed at 1.8590 (bid price.) If our target gets hit, the market ran 64 pips (60 pips plus the 4 pip spread.) If our stop loss level is hit, the market ran 26 (26 pips plus the 4 pip spread equals 30 pips) pips against us.
It's very important to understand every aspect of trading. Start first from the very basic concepts, then move on to more complex issues such as Forex trading systems, trading psychology, trade and risk management, and so on. And make sure you master every single aspect before adventuring in a live trading account.
Forex Pivot Points
It is useful to have a map and be able to see where the price is relative to previous market action. This way we can see how is the sentiment of traders and investors at any given moment, it also gives us a general idea of where the market is heading during the day. This information can help us decide which way to trade.
Pivot points, a technique developed by floor traders, help us see where the price is relative to previous market action.
As a definition, a pivot point is a turning point or condition. The same applies to the Forex market, the pivot point is a level in which the sentiment of the market changes from “bull” to “bear” or vice versa. If the market breaks this level up, then the sentiment is said to be a bull market and it is likely to continue its way up, on the other hand, if the market breaks this level down, then the sentiment is bear, and it is expected to continue its way down. Also at this level, the market is expected to have some kind of support/resistance, and if price can't break the pivot point, a possible bounce from it is plausible.
Pivot points work best on highly liquid markets, like the spot currency market, but they can also be used in other markets as well.
Forex Pivot Points
In a few words, pivot point is a level in which the sentiment of traders and investors changes from bull to bear or vice versa.
Why PP work?
They work simply because many individual traders and investors use and trust them, as well as bank and institutional traders. It is known to every trader that the pivot point is an important measure of strength and weakness of any market.
Calculating pivot points
There are several ways to arrive to the Pivot point. The method we found to have the most accurate results is calculated by taking the average of the high, low and close of a previous period (or session).
Pivot point (PP) = (High + Low + Close) / 3
Take for instance the following EUR/USD information from the previous session:
Open: 1.2386
High: 1.2474
Low: 1.2376
Close: 1.2458
The PP would be,
PP = (1.2474 + 1.2376 + 1.2458) / 3 = 1.2439
What does this number tell us?
It simply tells us that if the market is trading above 1.2439, Bulls are winning the battle pushing the prices higher. And if the market is trading below this 1.2439 the bears are winning the battle pulling prices lower. On both cases this condition is likely to sustain until the next session.
Since the Forex market is a 24hr market (no close or open from day to day) there is a eternal battle on deciding at white time we should take the open, close, high and low from each session. From our point of view, the times that produce more accurate predictions is taking the open at 00:00 GMT and the close at 23:59 GMT .
Besides the calculation of the PP, there are other support and resistance levels that are calculated taking the PP as a reference.
Support 1 (S1) = (PP * 2) – H
Resistance 1 (R1) = (PP * 2) - L
Support 2 (S2) = PP – (R1 – S1)
Resistance 2 (R2) = PP + (R1 – S1)
Where , H is the High of the previous period and L is the low of the previous period
Continuing with the example above, PP = 1.2439
S1 = (1.2439 * 2) - 1.2474 = 1.2404
R1 = (1.2439 * 2) – 1.2376 = 1.2502
R2 = 1.2439 + (1.2636 – 1.2537) = 1.2537
S2 = 1.2439 – (1.2636 – 1.2537) = 1.2537
These levels are supposed to mark support and resistance levels for the current session.
On the example above, the PP was calculated using information of the previous session (previous day.) This way we could see possible intraday resistance and support levels. But it can also be calculated using the previous weekly or monthly data to determine such levels. By doing so we are able to see the sentiment over longer periods of time. Also we can see possible levels that might offer support and resistance throughout the week or month. Calculating the Pivot point in a weekly or monthly basis is mostly used by long term traders, but it can also be used by short time traders, it gives us a good idea about the longer term trend.
S1, S2, R1 AND R2...? An Objective Alternative
As already stated, the pivot point zone is a well-known technique and it works simply because many traders and investors use and trust it. But what about the other support and resistance zones (S1, S2, R1 and R2,) to forecast a support or resistance level with some mathematical formula is somehow subjective. It is hard to rely on them blindly just because the formula popped out that level. For this reason, we have created an alternative way to map our time frame, simpler but more objective and effective.
We calculate the pivot point as showed before. But our support and resistance levels are drawn in a different way. We take the previous session high and low, and draw those levels on today's chart. The same is done with the session before the previous session. So, we will have our PP and four more important levels drawn in our chart.
LOPS1, low of the previous session.
HOPS1, high of the previous session.
LOPS2, low of the session before the previous session.
HOPS2, high of the session before the previous session.
PP, pivot point.
These levels will tell us the strength of the market at any given moment. If the market is trading above the PP, then the market is considered in a possible uptrend. If the market is trading above HOPS1 or HOPS2, then the market is in an uptrend, and we only take long positions. If the market is trading below the PP then the market is considered in a possible downtrend. If the market is trading below LOPS1 or LOPS2, then the market is in a downtrend, and we should only consider short trades.
The psychology behind this approach is simple. We know that for some reason the market stopped there from going higher/lower the previous session, or the session before that. We don't know the reason, and we don't need to know it. We only know the fact: the market reversed at that level. We also know that traders and investors have memories, they do remember that the price stopped there before, and the odds are that the market reverses from there again (maybe because the same reason, and maybe not) or at least find some support or resistance at these levels.
What is important about his approach is that support and resistance levels are measured objectively; they aren't just a level derived from a mathematical formula, the price reversed there before so these levels have a higher probability of being effective.
Our mapping method works on both market conditions, when trending and on sideways conditions. In a trending market, it helps us determine the strength of the trend and trade off important levels. On sideways markets it shows us possible reversal levels.
How we use our mapping method?
We use the mapping method in three different ways: as a trend identification (measure of the strength of the trend), a trading system using important levels with price behavior as a trading signal and to set the risk reward ratio of any given trade based on where the is the market relative to the previous session.
Mistakes in a Trading Environment
When it comes to trading, one of the most neglected subjects are those dealing with trading psychology. Most traders spend days, months and even years trying to find the right system. But having a system is just part of the game. Don't get us wrong, it is very important to have a system that perfectly suits the trader, but it is as important as having a money management plan, or to understand all psychology barriers that may affect the trader decisions and other issues. In order to succeed in this business, there must be equilibrium between all important aspects of trading.
In the trading environment, when you lose a trade, what is the first idea that pops up in your mind? It would probably be, “There must be something wrong with my system”, or “I knew it, I shouldn't have taken this trade” (even when your system signaled it). But sometimes we need to dig a little deeper in order to see the nature of our mistake, and then work on it accordingly.
When it comes to trading the Forex market as well as other markets, only 5% of traders achieve the ultimate goal: to be consistent in profits. What is interesting though is that there is just a tiny difference between this 5% of traders and the rest of them. The top 5% grow from mistakes; mistakes are a learning experience, they learn an invaluable lesson on every single mistake made. Deep in their minds, a mistake is one more chance to try it harder and do it better the next time, because they know they might not get a chance the next time. And at the end, this tiny difference becomes THE big difference.
Mistakes in the trading environment
Most of us relate a trading mistake to the outcome (in terms of money) of any given trade. The truth is, a mistake has nothing to do with it, mistakes are made when certain guidelines are not followed. When the rules you trade by are violated. Take for instance the following scenarios:
First scenario: The system signals a trade.
- Signal taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade.
Outcome of the trade : Positive, made money.
Experience gained: Its good to follow the system, if I do this consistently the odds will turn in my favor. Confidence is gained in both the trader and the system.
Mistake made: None.
- Signal taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade.
Outcome of the trade: Negative, lost money.
Experience gained: It is impossible to win every single trade, a loosing trade is just part of the business; our raw material, we know we can't get them all right. Even with this lost trade, the trader is proud about himself for following the system. Confidence in the trader is gained.
Mistake made : None.
- Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade.
Outcome of the trade: Neutral.
Experience gained: Frustration, the trader always seems to get in trades that turned out to be loosing trades and let the profitable trades go away. Confidence is lost in the trader self.
Mistake made: Not taking a trade when the system signaled it.
- Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade.
Outcome of the trade: Neutral.
Experience gained: The trader will start to think “hey, I'm better than my system”. Even if the trader doesn't think on it consciously, the trader will rationalize on every signal given by the system because deep in his or her mind, his or her “feeling” is more intelligent than the system itself. From this point on, the trader will try to outguess the system. This mistake has catastrophic effects on our confidence to the system. The confidence on the trader turns into overconfidence.
Mistake made: Not taking a trade when system signaled it
Second Scenario: System does not signal a trade.
- No trade is taken
Outcome of the trade: Neutral
Experience gained: Good discipline, we only need to take trades when the odds are in our favor, just when the system signals it. Confidence gained in both the trader self and the system.
Mistake made: None
- A trade is taken, turns out to be a profitable trade.
Outcome of the trade: Positive, made money.
Experience gained: This mistake has the most catastrophic effects in the trader self, the system and most importantly in the trader's trading career. You will start to think you need no system, you know better from them all. From this point on, you will start to trade based on what you think. Confidence in the system is totally lost. Confidence in the trader self turns into overconfidence.
Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system.
- A trade is taken, turned out to be a loosing trade.
Outcome of the trade: negative, lost money.
Experience gained: The trader will rethink his strategy. The next time, the trader will think it twice before getting in a trade when the system does not signal it. The trader will go “Ok, it is better to get in the market when my system signals it, only those trade have a higher probability of success”. Confidence is gained in the system.
Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system
As you can see, there is absolutely no correlation between the outcome of the trade and a mistake. The most catastrophic mistake even has a positive trade outcome, made money, but this could be the beginning of the end of the trader's career. As we have already stated, mistakes must only be related to the violation of rules a trader trades by.
All these mistakes were directly related to the signals given by a system, but the same is applied when getting out of a trade. There are also mistakes related to following a trading plan. For example, risking more money on a given trade than the amount the trader should have risked and many more.
Most mistakes can be avoided by first having a trading plan. A trading plan includes the system : the criteria we use to get in and out the market, the money management plan : how much we will risk on any given trade, and many other points. Secondly, and most important, we need to have the discipline to follow strictly our plan. We created our plan when no trade was placed on, thus no psychology barriers were up front. So, the only thing we are certain about is that if we follow our plan, the decision taken is on our best interests, and in the long run, these decisions will help us have better results. We don't have to worry about isolated events, or trades that could had give us better results at first, but then they could have catastrophic results in our trading career.
How to deal with mistakes
There are many possible ways to properly manage mistakes. We will suggest the one that works better for us.
Step one: Belief change.
Every mistake is a learning experience. They all have something valuable to offer. Try to counteract the natural tendency of feeling frustrated and approach mistakes in a positive manner. Instead of yelling to everyone around and feeling disappointed, say to yourself “ok, I did something wrong, what happened? What is it?
Step two: Identify the mistake made.
Define the mistake, find out what caused the mistake, and try as hard as you can to effectively see the nature of that mistake. Finding the mistake nature will prevent you from making the same mistake again. More than often you will find the answer where you less expected. Take for instance a trader that doesn't follow the system. The reason behind this could be that the trader is afraid of loosing. But then, why is he or she afraid? It could be that the trader is using a system that does not fit him or her, and finds difficult to follow every signal. In this case, as you can see, the nature of the mistake is not in the surface. You need to try as hard as you can to find the real reason of the given mistake.
Step three: Measure the consequences of the mistake.
List the consequences of making that particular mistake, both good and bad. Good consequences are those that make us better traders after dealing with the mistake. Think on all possible reasons you can learn from what happened. For the same example above, what are the consequences of making that mistake? Well, if you don't follow the system, you will gradually loose confidence in it, and this at the end will put you into trades you don't really want to be, and out of trades you should be in.
Step four: Take action.
Taking proper action is the last and most important step. In order to learn, you need to change your behavior. Make sure that whatever you do, you become “this-mistake-proof”. By taking action we turn every single mistake into a small part of success in our trading career. Continuing with the same example, redefining the system would be the trader's final step. The trader would put a system that perfectly fits him or her, so the trader doesn't find any trouble following it in future signals.
Understanding the fact that the outcome of any trade has nothing to do with a mistake will open your mind to other possibilities, where you will be able to understand the nature of every mistake made. This at the same time will open the doors for your trading career as you work and take proper action on every mistake made.
The process of success is slow, and plenty of times it is attributed to repeated mistakes made and the constant struggle to get past these mistakes, working on them accordingly. How we deal with them will shape our future as a trader, and most importantly as a person.
What a Good Forex Training Program Should Include
Should new Forex traders take Forex trading courses or join a Forex training program? Definitely yes; by now you have probably heard that only 5% of traders achieve consistent profitable results when trading the Forex market. The main reason for this is the lack of education. Don't get me wrong here, taking a Forex training program or a Forex trading course won't guarantee profitable results, nothing can, but choosing the right Forex training program or Forex trading course will definitely put the odds in your favor.
Before spending any amount of money on any Forex trading course or Forex training program there are some important aspects you need to take in consideration. There are many training programs available, but not every one of them suits the needs of every trader.
The first thing you should be looking in a Forex training program is the content of the material. Unfortunately, most courses or training programs focus or spend most of the time on basic concepts. Though these basic concepts are important, spending most of the course on them won't help the trader to make consistent results.
The following subjects are what I consider the most important aspects of trading and every training program or trading course should address:
Forex trading basics.
Review basic concepts such as: margin, type of orders, a little background, bid/ask, rollover, etc. You need to make sure you understand every single concept to perfection.
Main drawbacks of Forex traders.
Being aware of the common mistakes made by Forex traders and knowing how to handle them will prevent new traders from making those mistakes.
Technical and fundamental analysis.
These are the two main approaches adopted by Forex traders. Knowing how to properly apply each concept will definitely put the odds in your favor.
The three pillars of Forex trading. I consider that these three subjects have the most impact on every trader trading account.
Forex trading system development.
Having the right system is a must if you want to have consistent profitable results. Having a system that doesn't fit you will cause a series of problems that will make your trading account vanish away (second guessing the system, not following your system, etc.)
Money management.
This is considered by many successful traders to be the most important single aspect of trading. Money management helps to increase your profits geometrically and at the same time limit your losses (i.e. a good risk reward ratio of about 2:1 will make you money in a Forex trading system that is right only 38% of the time.)
Trading psychology.
Being aware and knowing hot to handle the psychological barriers that affect every trader decision will put the odds in your favor.
Other important aspects every training program should include are:
Developing habits for success (such as discipline patience, taking responsibility of every action, commitment, etc.,) understanding and taking our trading as a business, risk and trade management.
Another important aspect you should take into consideration when choosing a Forex training program is the mechanics of it, getting to know how the training program works.
A good Forex course will have the following:
A live conference room, to apply everything learned under live market conditions.
One-on-one coaching, every trader has different needs and requires special attention. For instance a trader wanting to improve the system and requires individual feedback from the instructor about it.
Online trading course, a course that could be accessible through internet. A plus is a course where you are able to access the course at the convenient time for you, so you don't have to change your lifestyle.
A forum, where members can talk just about everything related to the Forex market and the Forex training program.
Trading the Forex market is no easy task. It requires a lot of hard work. Making the right decision will definitely put the odds in your favor. Take your time when doing your diligence because it is a big and important step in a trader's trading career.
Forex Trading System
There are basically two types of Forex trading systems, mechanical and discretionary systems. The trading signals that come out of mechanical systems are mainly based off technical analysis applied in a systematic way. On the other hand, discretionary systems use experience, intuition or judgment on entries and exits. But which one produces better results? Or more importantly, which one fits better your trading style? These are the answers we will try to answer on this article.
We will first analyze the pros and cons about each system approach.
Mechanical systems
Advantages
This kind of system can be automated and backtested efficiently.
It has very rigid rules. Either, there is a trade or there isn't.
Mechanical traders are less susceptible to emotions than discretionary traders.
Disadvantages
Most traders backtest Forex trading systems incorrectly. In order to produce accurate results you need tick data.
The Forex market is always changing. The Forex market (and all markets) has a random component. The market conditions may look similar, but they are never the same.
A system that worked successfully the past year doesn't necessary mean it will work this year.
Discretionary systems
Advantages
Discretionary systems are easily adaptable to new market conditions.
Trading decisions are based on experience. Traders learn to see which trading signals have higher probability of success.
Disadvantages
They cannot be backtested or automated, since there is always a thought decision to be made.
It takes time to develop the experience required to trade successfully and track trades in a discretionary way. At early stages this can be dangerous.
Now, which approach is better for Forex traders? The one that fits better your personality. For instance, if you are a trader that finds it hard to follow your trading signals, then you are better off using a mechanical system, where your judgment won't play an important role in your system. You only take the trades that your system signals.
If the psychological barriers that affect every trader (fear, greed, anger, etc.) puts you in unwanted scenarios, you are also better off trading mechanical systems, because you only need to follow what your system is telling you, go short, go long, close a trade. No other decision has to be made.
On the other hand, if you are a disciplined trader, then you are better off using a discretionary system, because discretionary systems adapt to the market conditions and you are able to change your trading conditions as the market changes. For instance, you have a target of 60 pips on a long trade. But the market suddenly starts trending up pretty strongly, then you could move your target to say 100 pips.
Does it mean that trading a discretionary system has no rules? This is absolutely incorrect. Trading discretionary systems means that once a trader finds his/her setup, the trader then decides what to do. But every trader still needs certain rules that need to be followed, such as the size of the position, conditions that have to be met before thinking to get in the market, and so on.
I am a discretionary trader. The main reason I chose a discretionary system is that my trades are based on price behavior, and as you already know, the price behaves similar to the past, but it is never identical, therefore the outcome of every trade is unknown. However, I do have rigid rules on my system, certain conditions have to be met before I even think in getting in a trade. This keeps me out of trouble, once my setup is present and in accordance with the rules I have set, then I closely watch the price behavior and finally decide whether it is a good opportunity or not.
Whether you choose to be a discretionary or a mechanical trader there are some important points you should take in consideration:
- You need to make sure the Forex trading system you are using totally fits your personality. Otherwise you will find yourself outguessing your system.
- You also need to have some rules and most importantly have the discipline to follow them.
- Take your time to build the perfect system for you. It's not easy and requires time and hard work, but at the end, if done correctly, it will give you consistent profitable results.
- Before going live, try it on a demo account or even on a small account (I will go for the second option, since psychological barriers will be present.
Things You Should Know About Forex Trading
How difficult is it to make money trading the Forex market? How much time does it take to actually be able to make a living trading the Forex market? These and other important aspects of trading are to be discussed in this article.
Trading the Forex market has many benefits over other financial markets, among the most important are: superior liquidity, 24hrs market, better execution, and others. Traders and investor see the Forex market as a new speculation or diversifying opportunity because of these benefits. Does this mean that it is easy to make money trading the Forex Market? Not at all.
Forex brokers agree that 90% of traders end up losing money, 5% of traders end up at break even and only 5% of them achieve consistent profitable results. With these statistics shown, I don't consider trading to be an easy task. But, is it harder to master any other endeavor? I don't think so, consider musicians, writers, or even other businesses, the success rates are about the same, there are a whole bunch of them who never got to the top.
Now that we know it is not easy to achieve consistent profitable results, a must question would be, Why is it that some traders succeed while others fail to trade successfully in the Forex market? There is no hard answer to this question, or a recipe to follow to achieve consistent profitable results. What we do know is that traders that reach the top think different. That's right, they don't follow the crowd, they are an independent part of the crowd.
A few things that separate the top traders from the rest are:
Education: They are very well educated in the matter; they have chosen to learn every single and important aspect of trading. The best traders know that every trade is a learning experience. They approach the Forex market with humility, otherwise the market will prove them wrong.
Forex trading system: Top traders have a Forex trading system. They have the discipline to follow it rigorously, because they know that only the trades that are signaled by their system have a greater rate of success.
Price behavior: They have incorporated price behavior into their trading systems. They know price action has the last word.
Money management: Avoiding the risk of ruin is a primary subject to the best traders. After all, you cannot succeed without funds in your trading account.
Trading psychology: They are aware of every psychological issue that affects the decisions made by traders. They have accepted the fact that every individual trade has two probable outcomes, not just the winning side.
These are, among others, the most important factors that influence the success rate of Forex traders.
We know now that it is not easy to make money trading the Forex market, but it is possible. We also discussed the most important factors that influence the rate of success of Forex traders. But, how much time does it take to have consistent profitable results? It is different from trader to trader. For some, it could take a life time, and still don't get the desired results, for some others, a few years are enough to get consistent profitable results. The answer to this question may vary, but what I want to make clear here is that trading successfully is a process, it's not something you can do in a short period of time.
Trading successfully is no easy task; it is a process and could take years to achieve the desired results. There are a few things though every trader should take in consideration that could accelerate the process: having a trading system, using money management, education, being aware of psychological issues, discipline to follow your trading system and your trading plan, and others.
How to take a loss
There are quite a few books written on how to make money in the market. Some of them are even written by people who have made money as traders! What you don't see often, however, are books or articles written on how to lose money. “Cut your losers and let your winners run” is commonsensical advice, but how do you determine when a position is a loser? Interestingly, most traders I have seen don't formulate an answer to this question when they put on a position. They focus on the entry, but then don't have a clear sense of exit—especially if that exit is going to put them into the red.
One of the real culprits, I have to believe, is in the difficulty traders have in separating the reality of a losing trade from the psychological sense of feeling like a loser. At some level, many traders equate losing with being a loser. This frustrates them, depresses them, makes them anxious—in short, it interferes with their future decision-making, because their P & L is a blank check written against their self-esteem. Once a trader is self-focused and not market focused, distortions in decision-making are inevitable.
A particularly valuable section of the classic book Reminiscences of a Stock Operator describes Livermore 's approach to buying stock. He would sell a quantity and see how the stock responded. Then he would do that again and again, testing the underlying demand for the issue. When his sales could not push the market down, then he would move aggressively to the buy side and make his money.
What I loved about this methodology is that Livermore's losses were part of a grander plan. He wasn't just losing money; he was paying for information. If my maximum position size is ten contracts in the ES and I buy the highs of a range with a one-lot, expecting a breakout, I am testing the waters. While I am not potentially moving the market in the way that Livermore might have, I still have begun a test of my breakout hypothesis. I then watch carefully. How are the other averages behaving at the top ends of their range? How is the market absorbing the activity of sellers? Like any good scientist, I am gathering data to determine whether or not my hypothesis is supported.
Suppose the breakout does not materialize and the initial move above the range falls back into the range on some increased selling pressure. I take the loss on my one-lot, but then what happens from there?
The unsuccessful trader will respond with frustration: “Why do I always get caught buying the highs? I can't believe “they” ran the market against me! This market is impossible to trade.” Because of that frustration—and the associated self-focus—the unsuccessful trader does not take any information away from that trade.
In the Livermore mode, however, the successful trader will see the losing one-lot as part of a greater plan. Had the market broken nicely to the upside, he would have scaled into the long trade and likely made money. If the one-lot was a loser, he paid for the information that this is, at the very least, a range-bound market, and he might try to find a spot to reverse and go short in order to capitalize on a return to the bottom end of that range.
Look at it this way: If you put on a high probability trade and the trade fails to make you money, you have just paid for an important piece of information: The market is not behaving as it normally, historically does. If a robust piece of economic news that normally sends the dollar screaming higher fails to budge the currency and thwarts your purchase, you have just acquired a useful bit of information: There is an underlying lack of demand for dollars. That information might hold far more profit potential than the money lost in the initial trade.
I recently received a copy of an article from Futures Magazine on the retired trader Everett Klipp, who was dubbed the “Babe Ruth of the CBOT”. Klipp distinguished himself not only by his fifty-year track record of trading success on the floor, but also by his mentorship of over 100 traders. Speaking of his system of short-term trading, Klipp observed, “You have to love to lose money and hate to make money to be successful…It's against human nature what I teach and practice. You have to overcome your humanness.”
Klipp's system was quick to take profits (hence the idea of hating to make money), but even quicker to take losses (loving to lose money). Instead of viewing losses as a threat, Klipp treated them as an essential part of trading. Taking a small loss reinforces a trader's sense of discipline and control, he believed. Losses are not failures.
So here's a question I propose to all those who enter a high-probability trade: “What will tell me that my trade is wrong, and how could I use that information to subsequently profit?” If you're trading well, there are no losing trades: only trades that make money and trades that give you the information to make money later.
Forex Strategy: Trading with Stochastics
Stochastics are amongst the most popular technical indicators when it comes to Forex Trading. Unfortunately most traders use them incorrectly. In this article we will review the correct way to use this popular technical indicator.
George Lane developed this indicator in the late 1950s. Stochastics measure the current close relative to the range (high/low) over a set of periods.
Stochastics consist of two lines:
%K – Is the main line and is usually displayed as a solid line
%D – Is simply a moving average of the %K and is usually displayed as a dotted line
There are three types of Stochastics: Full, fast and slow stochastics. Slow stochastics are simply a smother version of the fast stochastics, and full stochastics are even a smother version of the slow stochastics.
Interpretation:
Buy when %K falls below the oversold level (below 20) and rises back above the same level.
Sell when %K rises above de overbought level (above 80) and falls back below the same level.
The interpretation above is how most traders and investors use them; however, it only works when the market is trendless or ranging. When the market is trending, a reading above the overbought territory isn't necessary a bearish signal, while a reading below de oversold territory isn't necessary bullish signal.
Trending market
When the market is trending is necessary to adapt the oscillator to the same conditions: When the market is trending up, then the signals with the higher probability of success are those in direction of the trend “Buy signals”, on the other hand when the market is trending down, selling signals offer the lowest risk opportunities.
Thus when the market is trending up, we will only look for oversold conditions (when the stochastics fall below the oversold level [below 20] and rises back above the same level) to get ready to trade, and in the same way, when the market is trending down we will only look for overbought conditions (when the stochastics rise above de overbought level [above 80] and falls back below the same level.
Taking all overbought/oversold signals during a trending market will lead us to many whipsaws. If you are not comfortable with the number of signals given, try expanding your trading to other currency pairs.
Trend-less market
During a ranging market we could use the interpretation explained above to trade off stochastics.
Divergence
Divergence trades are amongst the most reliable trading signals in the Forex market. A divergence occurs either when the indicator reaches new highs/lows and the market fails to do it or the market reaches new highs/lows and the indicator fails to do it. Both conditions mean that the market isn't as strong as it used to be giving us opportunities to profit from the market.
Stochastics can also be used to trade off divergences.
Price behavior
A price behavior can be incorporated into any kind of system or Forex strategy. When using divergences or overbought/oversold condition with a price behavior approach, the probability of success of our signals increases enormously. Why? Because price dictates at the end, how all indicators will behave, it also gives us a lot of information about the probable direction it will take in the future.
I hope this article helps you become a better trader.
Don't forget to read our risk disclaimer.
Forex Broker: Choosing the right Forex Broker
Sometimes it's hard to make a decision on which Forex broker to open our trading account, there are just too many of them. Most of them have different features, capabilities, weaknesses and advantages, for this reason I have created a checklist that can help you decide the broker to use in your Forex adventure.
1. Is it regulated?
The first question you have to ask yourself is: is the broker I want to use Regulated ? There must be no doubt about this first point. All regulated brokers must submit financial reports to regulatory authorities, and when they fail to do it, authorities have the right to fine them or terminate their membership. This enforces Forex brokers to keep transparent financial reports.
The brokers must be regulated by their local regulatory authorities, for instance, for brokers based in the US , they must be regulated by the NFA (National Futures Association) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), Swiss based brokers must be regulated by the FDF (Swiss Federal Department of Finance) and so on.
Also when a Forex broker is regulated allows investors to dispute any resolution, increasing the investor protection.
2. Trading Conditions
This point refers to the features of the trading platform and the trading conditions with the chosen broker. Amongst the most important factors are:
Spread - Obviously the smaller the spread on currency pairs the better the conditions are for investors and traders.
Platform execution - Trading execution refers to how fast and consistent are the execution of trades. Some brokers guarantee fast and transparent executions during normal market conditions.
Fractional trading – Some brokers allow investors and traders to trade on a fractional basis, instead of trading full lots “100,000 units” or “300,000 units”, they allow you to trade “163,345 units” or “325,911 units”. This is very helpful for trades risking certain percentage of their balance on each trade.
Safety of funds – We need to make sure our trading funds are kept in a segregated account or at least insured.
Trading platform – Easy to use and understand platform, is it reliable during fast moving markets? And what extra features it offers such as: one click buying/selling, trading directly from a chart, supports mobile devices, trailing stops, etc.)
Minimum investment – What is the minimum amount of money required to open a trading account? This aspect is very useful because before trading your full account, you need to test the waters and see how well you perform with an account with limited funds (after trading a demo account).
Margin (leverage) – What kind of leverage can be used with the chosen broker? Just to make sure our leverage requirements by our Forex strategy and methodology (leverage above 100:1 is not advisable).
Commissions – Some brokers charge commission, it is ok if they do if the spread is smaller than other brokers.
3. Diligence
Hopefully you have eliminated most brokers at this point. You should have 3 or 4 finalists. In this step do your diligences on forums, ask other traders about their experiences using their brokers, and so forth.
Some forums where you can ask for broker information are: ForexFactory, MoneyTec, ForexNews.
If brokers are registered by their local regulatory authorities, you can visit the regulator website and you will find plenty of information about Forex brokers. Some of them publish resolutions regarding Forex brokers.
Amongst the aspects you should ask and get informed are:
Customer service – This aspect is the most important of them all, are they rude to customers? Are they willingly to help customers? These are the questions you should ask in forums and fellow traders.
Slippage – Slippage is the difference between the price where the trade was executed and actual value of it. Do they honor stop loss and take profit levels? Do they guarantee it? If any one had any discrepancies, did their broker revert the result?
Manual execution – Some brokers don't like scalpers, if they catch someone doing it, they will put this trader into manual execution, so a dealer (human) must accept all transactions made by this trader. Do they do this?
Re-quotes – a re-quote happens when you click the buy/sell button and the platform doesn't accept our price, so it will give us another quote for that particular trade.
4. Testing
In this phase we should test our Forex broker, first on a demo account to see how it works, also test your system to see how it performs. If you are satisfied with the results, then try the same platform with limited funds to see how it performs on real trades. If you are satisfied again then open your full trading account with the chosen broker.
I hope this checklist help you all traders to take the right decision when choosing brokers.
Forex
FOREX - the foreign exchange market or currency market or Forex is the market where one currency is traded for another. It is one of the largest markets in the world.
Some of the participants in this market are simply seeking to exchange a foreign currency for their own, like multinational corporations which must pay wages and other expenses in different nations than they sell products in. However, a large part of the market is made up of currency traders, who speculate on movements in exchange rates, much like others would speculate on movements of stock prices. Currency traders try to take advantage of even small fluctuations in exchange rates.
In the foreign exchange market there is little or no 'inside information'. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as anticipations on global macroeconomic conditions. Significant news is released publicly so, at least in theory, everyone in the world receives the same news at the same time.
Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.2045 dollar.
Unlike stocks and futures exchange, foreign exchange is indeed an interbank, over-the-counter (OTC) market which means there is no single universal exchange for specific currency pair. The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours per day throughout the week between individuals with forex brokers, brokers with banks, and banks with banks. If the European session is ended the Asian session or US session will start, so all world currencies can be continually in trade. Traders can react to news when it breaks, rather than waiting for the market to open, as is the case with most other markets.
Average daily international foreign exchange trading volume was $1.9 trillion in April 2004 according to the BIS study.
Like any market there is a bid/offer spread (difference between buying price and selling price). On major currency crosses, the difference between the price at which a market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") to a wholesale customer and the price at which the same market-maker will buy ("bid") from the same wholesale customer is minimal, usually only 1 or 2 pips. In the EUR/USD price of 1.4238 a pip would be the '8' at the end. So the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.4238/1.4239.
This, of course, does not apply to retail customers. Most individual currency speculators will trade using a broker which will typically have a spread marked up to say 3-20 pips (so in our example 1.4237/1.4239 or 1.423/1.425). The broker will give their clients often huge amounts of margin, thereby facilitating clients spending more money on the bid/ask spread. The brokers are not regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (since they do not sell securities), so they are not bound by the same margin limits as stock brokerages. They do not typically charge margin interest, however since currency trades must be settled in 2 days, they will "resettle" open positions (again collecting the bid/ask spread).
Individual currency speculators can work during the day and trade in the evenings, taking advantage of the market's 24 hours long trading day.
Some of the participants in this market are simply seeking to exchange a foreign currency for their own, like multinational corporations which must pay wages and other expenses in different nations than they sell products in. However, a large part of the market is made up of currency traders, who speculate on movements in exchange rates, much like others would speculate on movements of stock prices. Currency traders try to take advantage of even small fluctuations in exchange rates.
In the foreign exchange market there is little or no 'inside information'. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as anticipations on global macroeconomic conditions. Significant news is released publicly so, at least in theory, everyone in the world receives the same news at the same time.
Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.2045 dollar.
Unlike stocks and futures exchange, foreign exchange is indeed an interbank, over-the-counter (OTC) market which means there is no single universal exchange for specific currency pair. The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours per day throughout the week between individuals with forex brokers, brokers with banks, and banks with banks. If the European session is ended the Asian session or US session will start, so all world currencies can be continually in trade. Traders can react to news when it breaks, rather than waiting for the market to open, as is the case with most other markets.
Average daily international foreign exchange trading volume was $1.9 trillion in April 2004 according to the BIS study.
Like any market there is a bid/offer spread (difference between buying price and selling price). On major currency crosses, the difference between the price at which a market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") to a wholesale customer and the price at which the same market-maker will buy ("bid") from the same wholesale customer is minimal, usually only 1 or 2 pips. In the EUR/USD price of 1.4238 a pip would be the '8' at the end. So the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.4238/1.4239.
This, of course, does not apply to retail customers. Most individual currency speculators will trade using a broker which will typically have a spread marked up to say 3-20 pips (so in our example 1.4237/1.4239 or 1.423/1.425). The broker will give their clients often huge amounts of margin, thereby facilitating clients spending more money on the bid/ask spread. The brokers are not regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (since they do not sell securities), so they are not bound by the same margin limits as stock brokerages. They do not typically charge margin interest, however since currency trades must be settled in 2 days, they will "resettle" open positions (again collecting the bid/ask spread).
Individual currency speculators can work during the day and trade in the evenings, taking advantage of the market's 24 hours long trading day.
Forex Trading Online - 7 Reasons Why You Should!
Below I will describe three basic principles that may come in handy for currency traders. They are very easy to implement and potentially take advantage of as you will see.
Principle 1
Some currency traders find that it is useful to always trade a given currency pair at the very same time every day. The reasoning for this is that most of the other traders buying or selling that currency pair may also trade at the same time. Major trading pits may also be working the exact same shift every day. This technique may be especially useful for currency traders who exploit technical analysis. Again, the reasoning for this is that it may be possible to standardize the trading conditions if one trades during the same time frame every day, if only for a very little bit. However, that small bit of standardization may yield several pips worth of profit. Nevertheless, it is readily obvious that the foreign exchange market can be very volatile and random.
Principle 2
Certain currencies trade with a certain volatility at a certain time. Once you've finished practicing your trading skills on a demo account and you decide to test the waters using your own investment capital, you may want to minimize the amount of liquidity and volatility to hedge your risk. Alternatively, you may want to increase the risk involved, and potentially increase your profit potential. (It should be noted that very heavy risk is involved under any circumstances.)
The foreign exchange market follows the sun around the world moving from the United States to Australia and New Zealand to the Far East, to Europe and finally back to the United States. Overall foreign currency trading volume is determined by which markets are open and the overlap in the times that these markets are open. Currency trading volume is relatively high 24 hours a day, but there are considerable peaks in activity when the British, European, and US markets are open simultaneously, which is from 1 pm GMT to 4 pm GMT. Pacific Rim markets, such as Japan and Hong Kong, show a dip in their trading volume while there is extensive volume in the US market at the very same time. Nevertheless, it is still possible to perform technical analysis on Pacific Rim currencies. By trading during a certain time frame, one may be able to either minimize or maximize the level of volatility (and risk) for a given currency pair.
Principle 3
Although the above is a general statement about the activity volume for certain currencies, it may be a good idea to attempt to capture the level of volatility for given currency pairs. You can potentially use Bollinger bands, a tool used by technical analysts, to quantify volatility. Bollinger bands compare volatility and relative price levels over time. Some currency traders cannot trade a day in their life without using Bollinger bands, while others may not find any use for them; it is really up to you to decide whether Bollinger bands are of any use to your specific situation.
I have described three basic principles that may potentially come in handy for currency traders in the foreign exchange market. They are very easy to implement and may reap rewards (or lack thereof) depending on market conditions. Hopefully these principles will help you come up with your own successful strategies for trading currencies in the foreign exchange market.
Principle 1
Some currency traders find that it is useful to always trade a given currency pair at the very same time every day. The reasoning for this is that most of the other traders buying or selling that currency pair may also trade at the same time. Major trading pits may also be working the exact same shift every day. This technique may be especially useful for currency traders who exploit technical analysis. Again, the reasoning for this is that it may be possible to standardize the trading conditions if one trades during the same time frame every day, if only for a very little bit. However, that small bit of standardization may yield several pips worth of profit. Nevertheless, it is readily obvious that the foreign exchange market can be very volatile and random.
Principle 2
Certain currencies trade with a certain volatility at a certain time. Once you've finished practicing your trading skills on a demo account and you decide to test the waters using your own investment capital, you may want to minimize the amount of liquidity and volatility to hedge your risk. Alternatively, you may want to increase the risk involved, and potentially increase your profit potential. (It should be noted that very heavy risk is involved under any circumstances.)
The foreign exchange market follows the sun around the world moving from the United States to Australia and New Zealand to the Far East, to Europe and finally back to the United States. Overall foreign currency trading volume is determined by which markets are open and the overlap in the times that these markets are open. Currency trading volume is relatively high 24 hours a day, but there are considerable peaks in activity when the British, European, and US markets are open simultaneously, which is from 1 pm GMT to 4 pm GMT. Pacific Rim markets, such as Japan and Hong Kong, show a dip in their trading volume while there is extensive volume in the US market at the very same time. Nevertheless, it is still possible to perform technical analysis on Pacific Rim currencies. By trading during a certain time frame, one may be able to either minimize or maximize the level of volatility (and risk) for a given currency pair.
Principle 3
Although the above is a general statement about the activity volume for certain currencies, it may be a good idea to attempt to capture the level of volatility for given currency pairs. You can potentially use Bollinger bands, a tool used by technical analysts, to quantify volatility. Bollinger bands compare volatility and relative price levels over time. Some currency traders cannot trade a day in their life without using Bollinger bands, while others may not find any use for them; it is really up to you to decide whether Bollinger bands are of any use to your specific situation.
I have described three basic principles that may potentially come in handy for currency traders in the foreign exchange market. They are very easy to implement and may reap rewards (or lack thereof) depending on market conditions. Hopefully these principles will help you come up with your own successful strategies for trading currencies in the foreign exchange market.
Forex Resources
This list of Forex resources contains URLs to other useful Forex sites - Forex forums, general Forex information resources, Forex signals providers and our partners. If you find a broken link, or wish to exchange links with us - please, contact us via our link exchange form.
Forex market news
ForexNews - Most important news and some good analysis
FXstreet - Many useful articles, constantly added expert commentaries and forecasts
DailyFX - Everything happening in Forex world is covered here
ForexCenter.net - The complete Forex portal offering live forex rates, forex charts, forex news, forex trading forecasts, technical analysis, currency converter, forex books & educational material
Forex charts and technical analysis
Incredible Charts - A very good resource to learn everything about charts
CurrencyVision - daily technical analysis of Forex and Metal markets
FX-Strategy - interesting strategy portal, but not free
Forex Software Reviews - Forex Software Reviews, Informations and News
Forex brokers
SaxoBank - one of the most competent trading organizations
AC-Markets - has its own Forex education tools, recommended for newbie
CMS Forex - one of the leading trading brokers
Futures Commission Merchant - RFXT, is the leading online futures commission merchant that strictly endorses fair business practice, foreign exchange regulation and increased investor protection.
Forex Trading Platform with Swiss Bank - Synthesis Bank has been active on international money markets since 1991. Today, it is one of the world's leading names in the trading of financial products, in particular on the Forex and CFD (Contract For Difference).
Forex signals and market forecasts
Profit Guide Forex - reliable Precise Trading System with free software that can generate your own signal.
E-Forex.ro - free trading signals, quite precise
Ivestica Ltd. - provides a free newsletter with forecasts
Open Forex - Foreign Exchange Trading, Forex Analysis and Forecasts
Surefire Forex Trading - Learn to trade the fx market with a proven forex trading method
Managed Forex Account - Our Forex Managed Account programs allow you to have a diversified exposure to Forex by letting experienced money managers trade in the foreign exchange market for you.
Forex Training - Work at Home Business Opportunity - Offers forex training - internet home based business opportunity. Work from home job.
Free Forex Signal ( Weekly Signal )
Forex forums and community sites
CommodityTrader Forum - Forex related forum
ForexFactory - a popular Forex discussion forum
LearnCurrencyTrading.com Forum - some experienced traders post there
DayTradingTheMarkets.com - The online community for day traders of stocks, options, futures, and forex.
MoneyTec - Forex related Forum dedicated to technical analysis.
Discuss hot topics on Forex - Forex Forum - Discuss hot topics on Forex to make more profits in trading.
ProfitingWithForex.com - Forex videos, blogs, podcasts, analysis and community
Forex trading information
TradeJuice - The largest selection of FREE day trading articles in the world
Investopedia.com - a large educational Internet resource about investing and trading.
Teach yourself Forex trading: Understanding forex markets - Teach yourself forex trading. Learn trading concepts with easy to understand tutorials. Tutorials help newbies learn basic and advanced concepts and also cater for expert traders. Teaching yourself forex is the right step to gaining financial freedom.
Forex Advice - Forex market articles, forex trading, forex information and education, forex news, forex money management, daily forex outlook, forex economic indicators.
Forex DayTrading Systems - A great source for Forex Day Trading Systems, Training, Charts, Courses, Books, Signals, News, Brokers, Insights and more.
Forex Glossary - Terms and terminology used in Forex Trading. Index of financial and investment terms.
Forex directories
TOP 100 Forex SITES
Forex Directory - Whole Forex in one place
Financial Links Online - Comprehensive Directory of the Top Financial Sites on the Internet.
Forex Web Directory - link to forex related sites and more business information.
Business Web Directory - a large resource of all kind of financial information.
Forex Supersite Directory - a directory of forex and currency trading sites online.
Forex market news
ForexNews - Most important news and some good analysis
FXstreet - Many useful articles, constantly added expert commentaries and forecasts
DailyFX - Everything happening in Forex world is covered here
ForexCenter.net - The complete Forex portal offering live forex rates, forex charts, forex news, forex trading forecasts, technical analysis, currency converter, forex books & educational material
Forex charts and technical analysis
Incredible Charts - A very good resource to learn everything about charts
CurrencyVision - daily technical analysis of Forex and Metal markets
FX-Strategy - interesting strategy portal, but not free
Forex Software Reviews - Forex Software Reviews, Informations and News
Forex brokers
SaxoBank - one of the most competent trading organizations
AC-Markets - has its own Forex education tools, recommended for newbie
CMS Forex - one of the leading trading brokers
Futures Commission Merchant - RFXT, is the leading online futures commission merchant that strictly endorses fair business practice, foreign exchange regulation and increased investor protection.
Forex Trading Platform with Swiss Bank - Synthesis Bank has been active on international money markets since 1991. Today, it is one of the world's leading names in the trading of financial products, in particular on the Forex and CFD (Contract For Difference).
Forex signals and market forecasts
Profit Guide Forex - reliable Precise Trading System with free software that can generate your own signal.
E-Forex.ro - free trading signals, quite precise
Ivestica Ltd. - provides a free newsletter with forecasts
Open Forex - Foreign Exchange Trading, Forex Analysis and Forecasts
Surefire Forex Trading - Learn to trade the fx market with a proven forex trading method
Managed Forex Account - Our Forex Managed Account programs allow you to have a diversified exposure to Forex by letting experienced money managers trade in the foreign exchange market for you.
Forex Training - Work at Home Business Opportunity - Offers forex training - internet home based business opportunity. Work from home job.
Free Forex Signal ( Weekly Signal )
Forex forums and community sites
CommodityTrader Forum - Forex related forum
ForexFactory - a popular Forex discussion forum
LearnCurrencyTrading.com Forum - some experienced traders post there
DayTradingTheMarkets.com - The online community for day traders of stocks, options, futures, and forex.
MoneyTec - Forex related Forum dedicated to technical analysis.
Discuss hot topics on Forex - Forex Forum - Discuss hot topics on Forex to make more profits in trading.
ProfitingWithForex.com - Forex videos, blogs, podcasts, analysis and community
Forex trading information
TradeJuice - The largest selection of FREE day trading articles in the world
Investopedia.com - a large educational Internet resource about investing and trading.
Teach yourself Forex trading: Understanding forex markets - Teach yourself forex trading. Learn trading concepts with easy to understand tutorials. Tutorials help newbies learn basic and advanced concepts and also cater for expert traders. Teaching yourself forex is the right step to gaining financial freedom.
Forex Advice - Forex market articles, forex trading, forex information and education, forex news, forex money management, daily forex outlook, forex economic indicators.
Forex DayTrading Systems - A great source for Forex Day Trading Systems, Training, Charts, Courses, Books, Signals, News, Brokers, Insights and more.
Forex Glossary - Terms and terminology used in Forex Trading. Index of financial and investment terms.
Forex directories
TOP 100 Forex SITES
Forex Directory - Whole Forex in one place
Financial Links Online - Comprehensive Directory of the Top Financial Sites on the Internet.
Forex Web Directory - link to forex related sites and more business information.
Business Web Directory - a large resource of all kind of financial information.
Forex Supersite Directory - a directory of forex and currency trading sites online.
Forex for Dummies
Forex Basics
If you've already read our What is Forex? section then you should know what Forex market is and what it is all about. If not, please, do so. There are five essential aspects of foreign currency market a beginner trader (and an old one as well) should be aware of:
Forex Fundamental Analysis
Forex Technical Analysis
Money Management
Forex Trading Psychology
Forex Brokerage
Understanding and mastering these sides of trading are crucial to organize your Forex trading experience.
Forex Fundamental Analysis
Fundamental analysis is the process of market analysis which is done regarding only "real" events and macroeconomic data which is related to the traded currencies. Fundamental analysis is used not only in Forex but can be a part of any financial planning or forecasting. Concepts that are part of Forex fundamental analysis: overnight interest rates, central banks meetings and decisions, any macroeconomic news, global industrial, economical, political and weather news. Fundamental analysis is the most natural way of making Forex market forecasts. In theory, it alone should work perfectly, but in practice it is often used in pair with technical analysis. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis:
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
What Moves the Currency Market?
Forex Technical Analysis
Technical analysis is the process of market analysis that relies only on market data numbers - quotes, charts, simple and complex indicators, volume of supply and demand, past market data, etc. The main idea behind Forex technical analysis is the postulate of functional dependence of the future market technical data on the past market technical data. As well as with fundamental analysis, technical analysis is believed to be self-sufficient and you can use only it to successfully trade Forex. In practice, both analysis methods are used. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis are:
The Law Of Charts
Candlesticks For Support And Resistance
Trend Determination
Money Management in Forex
Even if you master every possible method of market analysis and will make very accurate predictions for future Forex market behavior, you won't make any money without a proper money management strategy. Money management in Forex (as well as in other financial markets) is a complex set of rules which you develop to fit your own trading style and amount of money you have for trading. Money management play very important role in getting profits out of Forex, do not underestimate it. To get more information on money management you can read these books:
Risk Control and Money Management
Money Management (A chapter from The Mathematics of Gambling)
Forex Trading Psychology
While learning a lot about market analysis and money management is an obvious and necessary steps to be a successful Forex traders, you need to master your emotions to keep your trading performance under strict control of mind and intuition. Controlling your emotions in Forex trading is often a balancing between greed and cautiousness. Almost any known psychology practices and techniques can work for Forex traders to help them keep to their trading strategies rather to their spontaneous emotions. Problems you'll have to deal while being a professional Forex trader:
Greed
Overtrading
Lack of discipline
Lack of confidence
Blind following others' forecasts
These are very professional books on psychology written specially for financial traders:
Calming The Mind So That Body Can Perform
Emotion Free Trading
The Miracle of Discipline
Forex Brokerage
Every Forex trader like any other professional needs tools to trade. One of these tools, which is vital to be in market, is a Forex broker and specifically for Internet - on-line Forex broker - a company which will provide real-time market information to trader and bring his orders to Forex market. While choosing a right Forex broker things to look for are the following:
Being a professional company you can trust
Provide you with real-time quotes
Execute your orders fast and accurately
Don't take a lot of commissions
Support the withdraw/deposit methods you use
For beginning Forex traders I recommend these three broker companies, which are probably best Forex brokers to start with:
LiteForex - broker that supports MetaTrader 4 Forex trading platform and doesn't require a lot of money to start with.
FXcast - good because you can start trading Forex with as little as 1$. They have easy-to-use trading platform (FXcast Swing) along with a Metatrader 4 platform, while you can deposit and withdraw money via e-gold, WebMoney and many other ways.
ForexYard - Java based trading platform available, while you can deposit and withdraw money via e-gold.
If you've already read our What is Forex? section then you should know what Forex market is and what it is all about. If not, please, do so. There are five essential aspects of foreign currency market a beginner trader (and an old one as well) should be aware of:
Forex Fundamental Analysis
Forex Technical Analysis
Money Management
Forex Trading Psychology
Forex Brokerage
Understanding and mastering these sides of trading are crucial to organize your Forex trading experience.
Forex Fundamental Analysis
Fundamental analysis is the process of market analysis which is done regarding only "real" events and macroeconomic data which is related to the traded currencies. Fundamental analysis is used not only in Forex but can be a part of any financial planning or forecasting. Concepts that are part of Forex fundamental analysis: overnight interest rates, central banks meetings and decisions, any macroeconomic news, global industrial, economical, political and weather news. Fundamental analysis is the most natural way of making Forex market forecasts. In theory, it alone should work perfectly, but in practice it is often used in pair with technical analysis. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis:
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
What Moves the Currency Market?
Forex Technical Analysis
Technical analysis is the process of market analysis that relies only on market data numbers - quotes, charts, simple and complex indicators, volume of supply and demand, past market data, etc. The main idea behind Forex technical analysis is the postulate of functional dependence of the future market technical data on the past market technical data. As well as with fundamental analysis, technical analysis is believed to be self-sufficient and you can use only it to successfully trade Forex. In practice, both analysis methods are used. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis are:
The Law Of Charts
Candlesticks For Support And Resistance
Trend Determination
Money Management in Forex
Even if you master every possible method of market analysis and will make very accurate predictions for future Forex market behavior, you won't make any money without a proper money management strategy. Money management in Forex (as well as in other financial markets) is a complex set of rules which you develop to fit your own trading style and amount of money you have for trading. Money management play very important role in getting profits out of Forex, do not underestimate it. To get more information on money management you can read these books:
Risk Control and Money Management
Money Management (A chapter from The Mathematics of Gambling)
Forex Trading Psychology
While learning a lot about market analysis and money management is an obvious and necessary steps to be a successful Forex traders, you need to master your emotions to keep your trading performance under strict control of mind and intuition. Controlling your emotions in Forex trading is often a balancing between greed and cautiousness. Almost any known psychology practices and techniques can work for Forex traders to help them keep to their trading strategies rather to their spontaneous emotions. Problems you'll have to deal while being a professional Forex trader:
Greed
Overtrading
Lack of discipline
Lack of confidence
Blind following others' forecasts
These are very professional books on psychology written specially for financial traders:
Calming The Mind So That Body Can Perform
Emotion Free Trading
The Miracle of Discipline
Forex Brokerage
Every Forex trader like any other professional needs tools to trade. One of these tools, which is vital to be in market, is a Forex broker and specifically for Internet - on-line Forex broker - a company which will provide real-time market information to trader and bring his orders to Forex market. While choosing a right Forex broker things to look for are the following:
Being a professional company you can trust
Provide you with real-time quotes
Execute your orders fast and accurately
Don't take a lot of commissions
Support the withdraw/deposit methods you use
For beginning Forex traders I recommend these three broker companies, which are probably best Forex brokers to start with:
LiteForex - broker that supports MetaTrader 4 Forex trading platform and doesn't require a lot of money to start with.
FXcast - good because you can start trading Forex with as little as 1$. They have easy-to-use trading platform (FXcast Swing) along with a Metatrader 4 platform, while you can deposit and withdraw money via e-gold, WebMoney and many other ways.
ForexYard - Java based trading platform available, while you can deposit and withdraw money via e-gold.
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