Every forex expert is talking about Forex Killer for online forex trading. Lets see what this is all about.

The forex industry is the largest currency exchange trading industry on the earth today, with a daily turnover of 3 trillion dollars! Till late 90's only banks and large firms were allowed to trade in forex industry. You could also trade if you were a millionaire but now days have changed. Now even small investors are allowed to do forex trading through the internet. But this market is not only full of riches and exciting but it is also very risky.

To utilize the power of trading on internet and earn maximum by minimizing the risk involved, forex trading software was invented.

When it comes to forex trading, Forex Killer is very essential now but it is more essential to see that you choose the best software available online. There are so many companies available online competing to sell their software that choosing the right Forex Killer is quite a difficult task.

Buying and using a software requires you to go through few essential considerations of which the most important is security. Your Forex Killer should include a 128 bit SSL encryption which will prevent hackers from accessing any of your personal details and information such as credit card details, account balance, transaction history, etc.

Another important factor when it comes to software providing company is to check whether the software is reliable or not and that the software should run 24 hours a day without any problem. The company should provide technical support at any time needed. Security of highest level should be a must sought feature.

Automated online forex trading using a software is really a complicated process. Therefore, a manual explaining in detail how to use the software should be provided. A mentor should be provided by the company so that you not only understand how to use and fix problems using the software, should any arise, but also get useful instructions on online forex trading.

Once you ensure all of these features in the Forex Killer, no one can stop you from being successful in forex trading industry.

Proper Analysis Of The Forex Chart

In all media references, you may have heard about Foreign Exchange. Still, a lot of people have little idea when it comes to forex trading, especially reading the forex chart. People seldom realize its importance because they probably have not participated in it.

But it is actually quite easy to understand the forex chart, as long as you know what to look for. There are essentially two basic approaches for buying and selling currencies and this is where the understanding of a forex chart comes in.

First off is the Fundamental Analysis approach. This approach doesn? depend on forex charts at all. Instead, it uses economic and political factors to establish trades. Charts are essentially used just for reference regarding exiting and entering trades. The other approach is the Technical Analysis approach. This approach, meanwhile, tries to forecast the direction of prices by studying historical price movement on a particular chart. Technical analysts observe the relation between price and time.

To know how currencies are related to one another is very important. A forex chart always shows to your RIGHT, the value of the currency so one can buy a unit of the currency found to the LEFT. Recorded horizontally, time will be found somewhere at the chart? bottom alongside the price scale to the right. Price scale always stands for the currency to the east in the forward slash.

The most popular way of observing price or time movement on a forex chart is by means of the Japanese candle sticks. In order to watch price movement, one must pay attention to Japanese candle sticks. In case you don? know, a lot of traders depend on these sticks in making decisions in trading. A Japanese candle stick provides a way to examine price movement for a currency pair over a given timeframe. How much "time" each candle represents depends on the timeframe of the chart. If the chart below were a one-hour chart, each red and blue candle on it would represent the price activity for the currency pair over the course of one hour. If the chart were a daily chart, each candle would represent price activity for one day. It does not really matter what the timeframe is. You just have to remember that a candle represents price activity for the timeframe of whatever chart you are viewing.

The following are the basic parts and whatnot of a typical forex chart. The fat red section is the body of that candlestick. The lines protruding from the top and bottom are the upper and lower wicks. The bodies of the candles can be of varying sizes in a forex chart. There may also be times when there are no bodies in the chart at all. This is not something out of the ordinary. The same goes for the wicks. The wicks can be of varying sizes, or there just might not be any wicks at all. The length of the body and the wick is determined by the price range for that candle. Longer candles had more price movement during the time they were open. The very top of a candle? wick is the highest price for the currency pair, while the wick? bottom represents. When a candle is considered "bullish", this means there were more buyers than sellers during the time the candle was open.

Protect Yourself from Hackers

The question most often asked from investors is: Why are there so many different types of Forex trading software and which one is the best? The answer is quite simple. There are many different companies that have their own currency trading software and many offer them for free. That is why there is an abundance of advertisements online promoting each one for its unique attributes. Choosing the program that is going to meet or exceed your needs is another issue and the importance of it is very high for several reasons.

Forex trading software is an important part of any trading system. One of the most important elements that should be sought out in any software program is the security feature. Most currency trading software programs typically are equipped with 128 bit encryption and SSL. These are two highly required features of any Forex trading software program and will block hackers from gaining entry to your personal and financial details on your computer. Ensuring safe guards are in place before going online to trade foreign exchange is just smart business sense!

One of the good things to keep in mind while choosing a currency trading software program that is effective is that this market never closes. Literally. There is no shortage of buyers and sellers or Forex brokers ready to strike up a deal at any time of the day or night. Making sure that the Forex trading software has 24-hour support in that regard is also a very wise choice. Having technical support available at all times can actually enhance a traders success. Losing information in the middle of a trading transaction can be financially devastating and without technical help, it is likely not only will the investor have lost his trade prospect but also potential earnings.

It is in the best interest of the company who is distributing the currency trading software to provide the best type of software security wise as well as technical support. There are few companies who want hackers to steal your identity and money. They need the investor to secure a solid future for their brokerages so most will come equipped with the basic security and technical features. They depend on the investor's money to thrive so measures are typically taken to make very secure Forex trading software programs.

The pivotal parts that set many currency trading software programs above the next is the downtimes that they experience. Before deciding on any program, it is sensible to find out the potential companies down time with that specific program. A Forex trading software program that has relatively small downtimes and a capability to back up all information are the tools needed to get on the right Forex track!

European market inflation

One of the reasons why the foreign exchange developed rapidly was the rapid development of the Euro dollar market. In a Euro dollar market, US dollar is stored beyond the border of America banks. Similarly, the European market is refers to property depositing outside the currency rightful owner country market. A Euro dollar market was formed at first in the 50's, at that time Russia deposited its petroleum income beyond the US border, avoid being freeze by the US government. This has formed a large offshore US dollar national treasury which is beyond the control of the US government. The American government has formulated a law to prohibited US dollar from lending money for the foreigner. Because the degree of freedom of the Euro dollar market is bigger and the rate of return is bigger, therefore it has large attraction. Starting from the 80's, the American company starts to borrow loan from the offshore market, they discovered that the European market is a wealth center which consists of large amount of floating capital which could provide short-term loan.

London once was (until now still is) one of the main offshore market. In the 80's, the Bank of England in order to maintain its global finance industry center dominant position, using US dollar as England pound substitution to make loan, thus to become a Euro dollar market center. London's convenient geographical position (is situated between Asian and Americas market) also helps to maintain the European market as the dominant position.

Forex Development History

In 1967, a Chicago bank rejected to provide pound loan to a professor named Milton Friedman, because his purposed was to use this fund to sell short the British pound. Mr. Friedman realized excessively that the price ratio from the British pound to US dollar at that time was high, he wanted first to sell the British pound, after the British pound fell he buys back the British pound to repay the bank again. This family bank rejects the loan offer based on the "Bretton woods Agreement" which was established 20 years ago. This agreement has fixed the various countries' currency to US dollar exchange rate, and the price ratio between the U.S dollar and the gold is also fixed to 35 US dollars to each ounce of gold.

The Bretton Woods Agreement was signed in 1944, the purposed was to prevent the currency to escape between countries, and also to limit the international speculation, thus to stabilize the international currency. Before this agreement was signed, the gold remittance standard system which was widely used since 1876 - was leading the international economy system until the First World War. In the gold remittance system, the currency was at the stable level under the support of the gold price. The gold remittance system has abolished the old time king and the ruler which depreciates the currency value unlawfully, which will lead to inflation.

But, the gold remittance standard system is certainly imperfect. Along with a country economic potentiality enhancement, it can import massive products from overseas, until it exhausts the gold reserve of certain country. It resulted the supply of the currency reduces, the interest rate raises, the economic activity will start to decline until it reaches the recession limit. Finally, the commodity price falls to the valley, gradually attracts other countries to stream in, massively rushes to purchase this country commodity. This will pour gold into this country, this will increase this country currency supplies quantity, and it will reduce the interest rate, and will create the wealth. This is so called the "the prosperity - decline” pattern and is the circulation of the gold remittance standard system, until the trade circulation and the gold freedom was broken by the First World War.

After several catastrophes wars, the Bretton Woods agreement has appeared. The countries which signed the treaty agreed to maintain the domestic currency to US dollar exchange rate, as well as the necessity of the corresponding ratio of the gold, and only allow a small fluctuation. Countries are prohibited to depreciate the currency value for the gain trade benefit, only allows the country to depreciate not more then 10%. Enters the 50's, the continuous growth of the international trade causes the fund large-scale shift which produces because of the postwar reconstruction, this causes Bretton Woods system which establishes the foreign exchange rate to lose stability.

This agreement was finally abolished in 1971, US dollar no longer could convert to gold. Until 1973, each major industrialized nation currency exchange rate fluctuation has been more freely, mainly regulates by the foreign exchange market through the currency supplies and demand quantity. The business volume, the transaction speed as well as the price variability, have achieved a comprehensive growth in the 1970's, come along with the emerge of price ratio fluctuation, the brand-new financial tool, then only the market liberalization and the trade liberalization could be achieved.

In the 1980s, along with the published of the computer and correlation technology, the international capital has flow rapidly, and strongly related the Asia, Europe and America market. Foreign exchange business volume from 80's rises daily from 70 billion US dollars to 150 billion US dollars after 20 years.

Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market

Presently, there are various kinds of financial market, it is divided into: Stock market, interest market (including bond, commercial bill and so on), gold market (including gold, platinum, silver), futures market (including grain, cotton and kapok, oil and so on), option market and foreign exchange market or forex market and so on.

The foreign exchange market is a place to trade foreign exchange currency, or it is also a place for the transaction of all foreign currency. The foreign exchange market therefore is existence, because of:

Trade and investment
Import and export business, people pays one kind of currency when doing business, but when earns another kind of currency when receive the commodity. This means that, when settling account, business people will pay and receive different currencies. Therefore, they must convert the currencies that they received into the currencies that they could buy commodities. With this similar, when buying a foreign property a company must use the concerned country's currency to make payment, therefore, it needs to convert the domestic currency is concerned country's currency.

Speculation
Currencies exchange rates could fluctuate according to the demand and supply between two currencies. A Forex trader buys up one kind of currency in an exchange rate, but up casts this currency in another more advantageous exchange rate, he may gain. Speculation has occupied most of the Forex market.

Hedging
Due to the fluctuation between two currencies, those companies who owns foreign asset (for example factory), when these companies convert these properties into cost country currencies, there consist of certain risks. When the value of a foreign asset which is estimated based on foreign currencies remained unchanged, if the exchange rate changes, when converting this property value according to the domestic currency, there could be profit and loss. The company may eliminate such hidden risk through hedging. This carries out a foreign currency trading, its transaction result just counterbalances the foreign currency property profit and loss which produces by the exchange rate change.

Forex Market Development
The history of the Forex market as an international capital speculation market is much shorter compared the stock, the gold, the stock, the interest market, but it is developing in an astonishing speed. Today, the foreign exchange market daily trading volume has amounted to 150 billion US dollars, it’s scale has gone far beyond the stock, the stock and other finance commodity markets, it has became the world's most biggest sole finance market and the also the speculation market. Since the birth of the foreign exchange market, the fluctuation of the exchange rate of the Forex market is becoming bigger. In September 1985, 1 US dollar exchanged 220 Japanese Yen, but in May 1986, 1 US dollar only could exchange 160 Japanese Yen, in 8 months, the Japanese Yen has revalued 27%. In recent years, the foreign exchange market wave amplitude has been bigger, on September 8, 1992, 1 pound exchanged 2.0100 US dollars, on November 10, 1 pound exchanged 1.5080 US dollars, in the short two months, the pound exchanged US dollar exchange rate to fall more than 5,000, depreciated 25%. Not only that, presently, everyday the fluctuation of the exchange rate of the Forex market enlarges unceasingly, within a day the rise and drop 2% to 3% is commonly seen. On September 16, 1992, the pound exchanged US dollar from 1.8755 to fall to 1.7850, the pound on first lowers 5%.

Due to the large fluctuation of the Forex market, it has created more opportunities for the investor, attracted more and more investors to join this ranks.

:: Forex Charts

Forex charts assist the investor by providing a visual representation of exchange rate fluctuations. Many variables affect currency exchange rates, such as interest rates, bank policies, geopolitics, and even the time of day may affect exchange rates.

In order to help the investor attempt to predict when or in what direction a rate may change, advisors provide forex charts. Quality forex websites provide subscribers with a daily newsletter that includes a forex chart, forex signals and a forex forecast.

There are a variety of forex charts available for the investor to use and study. Some are very simple using only a couple of forex signals or indicators and are ideal for beginners. Others include 30 or 40 forex signals or indicators and live on-line streaming data so that the investor may analyze trades quickly and accurately.

In order to make an accurate forex forecast, it would seem that the more indicators, the better, but some analysts prefer a simpler system.

The idea behind studying forex charts is that history repeats itself. Instead of trying to “see the future”, a forex forecast evaluates the past. That is to say that the analyst who is responsible for attempting to predict future currency moves analyzes what happened to an exchange rate yesterday, last week, last month or last year and uses this knowledge to the best degree he knows how.

Some people trade short term, some intermediate term, and some long term. All three types of traders may benefit from the use of forex charts, just adapted to their own trading time frame.

Investors also create their own forex charts to evaluate their own performance. Creating a forex strategy for oneself is the goal of many investors. Instead of looking to a professional to analyze forex signals, these investors choose to create their own forex forecast.

Others, however, create their own strategy but also follow the opinions of professional currency traders at the same time. It all depends on your personal preferences.

There are other forex charts that deal with known correlations between two currency pairs, that is, how they move in relation to each other. Some exchange rates are known to affect other exchange rates, either by moving in the same or the opposite direction depending on the correlation.

Charts are available that explain these correlations in detail and show which pairs have strong correlations or strong negative correlations, so that an investor can use the movement of the exchange rate of one currency as a signal to trade another currency. These correlations are also the basis for some forex forecasts.

It can be difficult and overwhelming to enter the world of forex trading alone. Experts recommend education, practice with a demo account and advice from a reputable broker who is backed by a quality institution. Learning to read forex charts and evaluate forex signals is a skill that comes with time, skills that are essential when an accurate forex forecast is the the goal.

:: Introduction to Foreign Exchange Markets

Being the main force driving the global economic market, currency is no doubt an essential element for a country. However, in order for all the countries with different currencies to trade with one another, a system of exchange rate between their currencies is needed; this system, is formally known as foreign exchange or currency exchange.

In the early days, the system of currency exchange is supported solely by the gold amount held in the vault of a country. However, this system is no longer appropriate now due to inflation and hence, the value of one’s currency nowadays is determined through the market forces alone. In order to determine the value of a currency’s exchange rate, two main types of system is used which is floating currency and pegged currency.

For floating exchange rate, its value is determined by the supply and demand of the global market where the supply and demand is bound by all these factors such as foreign investment, inflation and ratios of import and export. Normally, this system is adopted by most of the advance countries like for example UK, US and Canada. All of these countries have a similarity where their market is well developed and stable in economic terms. These countries choose to practice this system due to the reason where floating exchange rate is proven to be much more efficient compared to the pegged exchange rate. The reason behind this is because for floating exchange rate, the market itself will re-adjust the exchange rate real-time in order to portray the actual inflation and other economic forces. However, every system has its own flaw and so does the floating exchange rate system. For instance, if a country suffers from economic instability due to various reasons such as political issues, a floating exchange rate system will certainly discourage investment due to the high risk of suffering from inflationary disaster or sudden slump in exchange rate.

Another form of exchange rate is known as pegged exchange rate. This is a system where the value of the exchange rate is fixed by the government of a country and not the supply and demand of the market. This system is called pegged exchange rate because the value of a country’s currency is fixed to another country’s currency. As a result, the value of the pegged currency will not fluctuate unlike the floating currency. The working principle behind this system is slightly complicated where the government of a country will fixed the exchange rate of their currency and when there is a demand for a certain currency resulting a rise in the exchange rate, the government will have to release enough of that currency into the market in order to meet that demand. However, there is a fatal flaw in this system where if the pegged exchange rate is not controlled properly, panics may arise within the country and as a result of that, people will be rushing to exchange their money into a more stable currency. When that happens, the sudden overflow of that country’s currency into the market will decrease the value of their exchange rate and in the end, their currency will be worthless. Due to this reason, only those under-developed or developing countries will practice this method as a form to control the inflation rate.

However, the truth is, most of the countries do not fully practice the floating exchange rate or the pegged exchange rate method in reality. Instead, they use a hybrid system known as floating peg. Floating peg is the combination of the two main systems where one country will normally fixed their exchange rate to the US Dollars and after that, they will constantly review their peg rate in order to stay in line with the actual market value.

The Foreign exchange market, or commonly known as FOREX, is the largest and most prolific financial market because each day, more than 1 trillion worth of currency exchange takes place between investors, speculators and countries. From this, we can deduce that the actual mechanism behind the world of foreign exchange is far more complicated than what we may already know, and that, the information mentioned earlier is just the tip of an iceberg.

Forex Trading Errors- How To Fix

When we are trading we will all from time to time make a mistake when forex trading and it is normal and sometimes can be looked upon as healthy, so as to know that the decisions will either make or break you. However, if this becomes severe to a point wherein you lose more than you can afford to, then you would have to take measures in order to avoid further damage. This is why when you are trading you must make sure that you only trade within your limits. If you can't afford to lose it, don't trade.

When trading you must make sure that you keep your emotions in tact, do not let them take over. If you let your emotions take over the result is more than likely to cause even more rash decisions and can cloud your strategies, producing even more disastrous results. You should aim for more positive months with good turnovers but face it; there are some periods wherein gain is not achievable.

Before trading you should make sure that you have a plan and part of that plan is to employ a money management technique; in case is where you went wrong the first time. You should always consider what your losses are going to be. Since most traders would tend to gamble as opposed to trade, instead of making a calculated risk, their bank accounts would be drained each time there is a loss. They don’t have a great capital management system which causes damaging effects. By managing the amount that you can afford to lose in thinking of all possibilities, you can be assured that you do not get bankrupt with forex.

You must make sure that you educate yourself as much as possible about the Forex Market, a great place for education lessons is the CFD FX REPORT They specialize in offering free Forex Education as well as helping you find the Best Forex Broker.

Each trader has their own attitude towards forex trading and what risks they are personally prepared to take, but learning about the inherent principles can go a long way in helping you develop your own style and making you more successful in the long run. You can also develop a trading system and make sure to be disciplined enough to follow what you have created. Remember create the plan, plan the trade and trade the plan. You should have this next to your trading screen at all times and never forget it. Remember that since your money is involved and that you are not participating in the market just to lose it, you have to think objectively and learn to foresee the consequences of your decisions.

Do not associate loss with the feeling of being a loser, in order to be a successful trader you will take losses and the best traders can handle them. When trading you should know that you can't pick the market 100% of the time, so there is going to be losses it is how you handle those losses to how successful you are. The forex market is an objective industry wherein sound decision-making and strategies are employed and not about judging your emotional capabilities and dealing with them. If you can't handles losses, or losing money, do yourself a favor and don't trade.

Forex Trading - The top 5 Tips

We have all heard and read how much money we can make from Forex Trading, so what are the real rules and tips that will make us money from Forex Trading? Below we will uncover the real tips for Success.

Below are the 5 Tips to Help make you big money, they are not listed in order of importance.

1. Never buy a Forex Robot.
This is simple if you had a program that would make real money would you sell it? No.. You would keep it. The simple truth is most of these people are selling these programs and that is how they make the money not from Forex trading. So beware.

2. Get Educated and Learn Fast

Anyone can learn Forex trading and anyone can make money, you don't have to be a genius. You don't need to spend long doing it either and you should be able to learn everything you need to know, in a couple of weeks and then your all set to trade. You should make sure that you have a trading plan and some rules.

3. The Best Proven Systems are Simple:

Make it simple, use some indicators and support and resistance. Forget trying to be clever or complicated, simple systems are far more robust than complicated ones and work. People will more often than not try and complicate things.

4. Make sure you have Risk and Money Management Rules

Success is built on money management and risk management and you need to learn about volatility and standard deviation of price and if you have no idea what it is make it part of your essential Forex education.

5. The Golden Rule is Discipline- Set the Rules and Stick to THEM

No matter how great of a trader you are you will have losses, so you need to ride them out and have discipline, which means having rules and sticking to them

Discipline comes from knowledge of what you are doing and the ability to keep your emotions under control. Holding discipline is the key to success

Anyone can Do It.

Anyone can make money from Forex trading and the effort you need to put in, will be well rewarded, as you get a great second or maybe even a life changing income. So don't forget that SIMPLE rules, simple strategy will make you the MOST MONEY FROM Forex Trading

Global Forex Trading

Forex is one of the greatest hommy work opportunity to make money. It gives an opportunity to make money from the comfort of your home and spending the time with family at the same time.

It is also an opportunity which you can do along with your existing day job. Forex means foreign exchange and Forex trading means is the trading between foreign exchanges.

Forex trading requires some knowledge about the way the Forex market runs. You have to learn about he factors both local and the global which affects the market.

If you want to succeed in this particular trading you must have the knowledge about the basics and facts.

Global Forex Trading offers the chance to deal in real time online currency trading that makes millions of forex brokers become more rich every day.

Global Forex Trading has less publicity that stock and commodities market and even the futures, even more than $2 trillion of currencies are transacted every day on the global forex market.

Compared to stocks and shares or commodity markets that have specific opening and ending trading times. At the same tim, Forex markets are available for trading anytime with price of currencies changes and fluctuates everytime.

Forex trading has become an extremely popular way to trade the global market, the largest and most liquid market in the world.

The Forex Trading market is open 24 hours a day. Forex trading also gives free commission and available on more than 60 currencies worldwide.

Global forex trading boasts that they provide the only forex trading platform that is suitable for both beginners and professionals.

Forex Trading has no restrictions of getting profits no matter what the market condition.

Nowday, the Global Forex Trading is available not only for the large investors but the smaller one can take a part too.

Leverage is the main key and powerful tool to Forex Trading wealth. You should have a good education in Forex trading to reach gain and profits consistently.

In Forex trading, you can get a leverage of 20 to 50 times commonly up to 100% margin in some special cases. In stocks or shares, you may be able to get it of 50 - 70% of your stocks or shares.

Leverage is the main key and powerful tool to Forex Trading wealth. You should have a good education in Forex trading to reach gain and profits consistently.

With that leverage comparison, you may be able become a millionaire fastest in Forex trading.

All things you need to know and learn it up in Forex trading ; knowing risk level - how much you are willing to lose, understanding the different forex trading systems as technical and fundamental and research the trading systems which you can be familiar with how they work.

Also learning the trading trends, price history, support and resistance lines, familiar with the fundamental economic factors and its issues that effect to the Forex market.

Global forex trading is something not many people consider for investment - because of less information - but worldwide forex trading continues and become more and more popular recently.

Individuals all over the world are investing in the Forex market and gaining thousands of dollars every day.

Rules For Forex Traders

Forex trading can deal with lots of money and so when you are trading you need to be sure that you have optimal conditions. Too many traders trade out of habit and this can be a dangerous thing because it may not mean you have the best conditions. As a matter of fact trading in poor conditions can cost you hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. Trading conditions will not always be optimal and you cannot wait to only trade when they are. It isnt about recognizing the perfect time to trade. Instead it is about knowing when not to trade. When the market is moving sideways or not really moving at all it is unwise to trade real money. You have no indications of what is going to happen and so you are making your decisions off of pure guess and that is a dangerous place to be in. Do not trade real money when you are ill or overly tired. The condition of your body can have a big effect on how your mind thinks. If you dive into trading and you are tired, worn out or just sick it will have an effect on how quick you think and what you think. Trading when your mind is not at a high will mean trouble. Give you body the time to rest and save your bank account the funds of you trading while sick or tired. There is almost nothing worse thantrading when you are emotionally distracted by other factors. It is horrible for two reasons. One your mind isn't on the trading take place, it is off trying to resolve or analyze the problem. The less focus you have the more mistakes you make. The second reason is that if you are emotionally distracted then you are already allowing your emotions to take precedence on your decisions. If you are emotionally distracted then the odds of you trading based on emotion are extremely high. And finally never trade with money you cant afford to lose or when you feel you have to make a certain amount. Those factors create unnecessary pressure on you and your trading. These pressures will translate into you making decisions you probably wouldn't otherwise make. You will feel pressured to push the rules you have laid out in hopes you get lucky and make money. Luck isn't a strategy that belongs in forex trading

A Quick Forex Guide for Traders

In this Forex guide we will review some steps you need to take care before you venture into your trading journey. Most traders venture into the Forex market with little or no experience in the Forex market. This results in painful experiences like loosing most of the risk capital, frustration because it seemed so easy to make money, etc.

The first thing you need to realize is that, it is not easy to make money. As every other endeavor in life, where important rewards are to come after mastering it, you need to work hard. You need to get very well educated and experienced before having the possibility to receive important rewards on it. The key on mastering the Forex market relies on commitment, patience and discipline.

Ok, you have decided you are going to trade the Forex market, you have seen several advertisings featuring how easy is to make money in the Forex market. You might think this is your opportunity to reach your financial freedom, right away, time is money, why waiting any longer if you have the opportunity to make money now. I know, I’ve been there, but you have a chance now, I didn’t, no body told me what I am going to tell you.

We, Forex traders, make transactions based on a set of rules. These sets of rules are what we call a Trading System. Our systems tell us the exact time where we need to get in the market and out the market in order to make a profit (i.e. buy low sell high.)

Creating a system is the first big step you need to take care first. Why is this so important? Because you need to build a system that suits your personality, otherwise you are going to find hard to follow it, thus hard to profit from. A system can be based on technical indicators or what we called a mechanical system or based on experience and intuition or what we call discretionary systems. I highly recommend using and trying first a mechanical system, because discretionary systems are dangerous during the early stages of a Forex trader (can lead to indiscipline.) With experience, on later stages, you will find out which signals work better and which ones to avoid.

The next step in this Forex guide is to try your system on a demo account. Most Forex brokers offer a demo account, an account with virtual money. This is an excellent choice to test your trading system as there is no money at risk. In this step you will figure out if the strategy works for you. If you feel comfortable trading it, then it is most likely to produce good results. How much time should you stay in this step? It varies, but you shouldn’t go one step further until your system gets consistent profitable results over a period of time. It can take many months, but remember, you need to be patient.

You must be honest to yourself; you need to take every single signal generated by your system, not only the signals you thought were going to work, otherwise, you are going to have problems in the next two steps.

Ok, by know you had consistent profitable results on your demo account. You might think its time to go full. Nope, nope, nope. There is a big difference between trading a demo and a real account. The most important difference lies on emotions (fear, greed, anger, etc.) These are psychological barriers that affect every single decision made by traders regardless of what he/she is trading (stocks, bonds, Forex, futures, grains, etc.) These emotional factors, in my opinion, are the most determinant factor that separates profitable traders from the others.

The next step in this Forex guide is specially designed to deal with emotions and to confirm the results obtained in the prior step (consistent results in a demo account.) At this step you need to trade in a real account with limited funds. Some brokers offer fractional lot trading. Meaning you are able to trade any desired amount (even cents.) The important thing here is that these emotions we’ve been talking about are present only when there is real money at risk. At this stage, you are going to see if you are really comfortable trading your system and if you are able to trade with such system, remember different systems produce different emotions. If you are able to produce similar results than those obtained in a demo account, then ready for the next step. If you didn’t, then you might need to create another system, there is chance your system never fit you. If you created consistent profitable results on this stage, you have a chance to produce similar results in the next one, on the other hand, if you didn’t produce good results in this stage, you will not be able to make on the next stage. Remember, you need to do things right, and be honest to yourself.

The last stage is trading in a real account with sufficient funds. If you are at this stage, and have passed successfully every prior stage, then you have a chance to make it, go ahead and try it, you need to be confident in yourself and in your system, your strategy have already produced consistent profitable results, there are reasons to believe you are going to make it. Very few traders fail at this stage (if passed successfully prior stages.)

Trading successfully is no easy task, it requires a lot of work, patience, discipline, and education. By completing the steps outlined in this Forex course, you have a chance to produce profitable results. I repeat it again, you need to be honest to yourself about the results obtained in every stage. Some times you might need expert guidance regarding your system development strategies.

Forex Trading System: Choosing between Mechanical and Discretionary Systems

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:

1. You need to make sure the Forex trading system you are using totally fits your personality. Otherwise you will find yourself outguessing your system.
2. You also need to have some rules and most importantly have the discipline to follow them.
3. 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.
4. 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).

How To Get Started In FOREX Trading

The foreign exchange market (Forex) offers many advantages to investors. But you need to know where to begin.

This short guide will give you the Forex basics, so you can quickly start participating in this fast growing market.

In the past, foreign exchange trading was limited to large players such as national banks and multi-national corporations. In the 1980's the rules were changed to allow smaller investors to participate using margin accounts. Margin accounts are the reason why Forex trading has become so popular. With a 100:1 margin account, you can control $100,000 with a $1,000 investment.

A Learning Curve

Forex is not simple, though, so you'll need some knowledge to make wise investment decisions. Although it is relatively easy to start trading on the Forex, there are risks involved.

Your first move as a beginner should be to find out as much as possible about the market before risking a dime.

Find A Broker

Forex traders usually require a broker to handle transactions. Most brokers are reputable and are associated with large financial institutions such as banks. A reputable broker will be registered as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as protection against fraud and abusive trade practices.

Open an Account

Opening a Forex account is as simple as filling out a form and providing the necessary identification. The form includes a margin agreement which states that the broker may interfere with any trade deemed to be too risky. This is to protect the interests of the broker, since most trades are done using the broker's money.

Once your account has been established, you can fund it and begin trading.

Many brokers offer a variety of accounts to suit the needs of individual investors. Mini accounts allow you to get involved in Forex trading for as little as $250. Standard accounts may have a minimum deposit of $1000 to $2500, depending on the broker. The amount of leverage (how much borrowed money you can use) varies with account type. High leverage accounts give you more money to trade for a given investment.

Trades are commission-free, meaning that you can make many trades in one day without worrying about incurring high brokerage fees. Brokers make their money on the 'spread': the difference between bid and ask prices.

Paper Trading

Beginning traders are strongly advised get accustomed to Forex by doing "paper trades" for a period of time. Paper trades are practice transactions that don't involve real capital. They allow you to see how the system works while learning how to use the various software tools provided by most Forex brokers.

Most online brokers have demo accounts that allow you to make free paper trades for up to 30 days. Every new Forex investor should use these demo accounts at least until they are consistently showing profits.

Forex Software

Each broker has its own set of software tools for making transactions, but there are a few tools that are common to all Forex brokers. Real-time quotes, news feeds, technical analyses and charts, and profit-and-loss analyses are some of the features you can expect to see on most online brokers' web sites.

Almost every broker operates on the Internet. To access a broker's online services you'll need a reasonably modern computer, a fast Internet connection, and an up-to-date operating system. Once your account is set up, you can access it from any computer just by entering your account name and password. If for some reason you are unable get to a computer, most brokers will allow you to make trades over the phone.

The Benefits of Trading The Forex Market

Historically, the FX market was available most to major banks, multinational corporations and other participants who traded in large transaction sizes and volumes. Small-scale traders including individuals like you and I, had little access to this market for such a long time. Now with the advent of the Internet and technology, FX trading is becoming an increasingly popular investment alternative for the general public.

The benefits of trading the currency market:

It is open 24-hours and it closes only on the weekends;

It is very liquid and efficient;

It is very volatile;

It has very low transaction costs;

You can use a high level of leverage (borrowed money) with ease; and

You can profit from a bull or a bear market.

Continuous, 24-Hour Trading

The currency exchange is a 24-hour market. You may decide to trade after you come home from work. Regardless of what time-frame you want to trade at whatever time of the day, there would be enough buyers and sellers to take the other side of your trade. This feature of the market gives you enough flexibility to manage your trading around your daily routine.

Liquidity And Efficiency

When there are a lot of buyers and a lot of sellers, you can expect to buy or sell at a price that is very close to the last market price. The currency market is the most liquid market in the world. Trading volume in the currency markets can be between 50 and 100 times larger than the New York Stock Exchange (Source: Oanda.)

When you are trading stocks, you may have experienced events where one piece of news accelerates or decelerates the price of the underlying stock you may have bought into. Perhaps a director has been kicked out by the shareholders of a company or the company has just released a new product and big investors are buying the shares of a particular company. Share prices can be drastically affected by the actions or inactions of one or a few individuals. So if you are relying on television reports and newspapers to get your news, most of the opportunities or warnings will have come too late for you to take advantage by the time you get them.

The value of currencies on the other hand is affected by so many factors and so many participants that the likelihood of any one individual or group of individuals drastically affecting the value of a currency is minute. Because of its sheer size, the currency market is hard to manipulate. The ability for people to engage in 'insider trading' is virtually eliminated. As an average trader, you are less disadvantaged. You are likely to be playing on relatively equal ground along with all the other traders and investors whom you are competing against.

Note about price gaps:

For those people who have already traded other markets, you probably know about price 'gaps'. 'Gaps' occur when prices 'jump' from one price level to another without having taken any incremental steps to get there. For example, you may be trading a share that closes at $10 at the end of today but due to some event that happens overnight; it opens tomorrow at $5 and continues to go downwards for the rest of the day.

Gaps bring about another degree of uncertainty that may meddle with a trader's strategy. Probably one of the most worrying aspects of this is when a trader uses stop-losses. In this case, if a trader puts a stop-loss at $7 because he no longer wants to be in a trade if the share price hits $7, his trade will remain open overnight and the trader wakes up tomorrow with a loss bigger than he may have been prepared for.

After looking at a couple of forex charts, you will realize that there are little price 'gaps' or none at all, especially on the longer-term charts like the 3-hour, 4-hour or the daily charts.

Volatility

Trading opportunities exist when prices fluctuate. If you buy a share for $2 and it stays there, there is no opportunity to make a profit. The magnitude of level of this fluctuation and its frequency is referred to as volatility. As a trader, it is volatility that you profit from. Large volume transactions and high liquidity combined with fewer trading instruments generate greater intra-day volatility in the currency market that can be exploited by day-traders. The high volatility of the currency market indicates that a trader can potentially earn 5 times more money from currency trading than trading the most liquid shares.

Volatility is a measure of maximum return that a trader can generate with perfect foresight. Volatility for the most liquid stocks are between 60 to 100. Volatility for currency trading is 500. (Source: Oanda.)

In this respect, currencies make a better trading vehicle for day-traders than the equity markets.

Low Transaction Costs

A currency transaction typically incurs no commission or transaction fees. For a forex trader, the spread is the only cost he or she needs to cover in taking on a position. In addition, because of the currency market's efficiency, there is little or no 'slippage' costs.

'Slippage' is the cost involved when traders enter the market at a price worse than the level they wanted to get into. For example, a trader wants to buy a share at $2.00 but by the time, the order gets executed, his gets to buy the shares at $2.50. That fifty cents difference is his slippage cost. Slippage cost affects large-volume traders a lot. When they buy large quantities of a commodity, it oversupplies the market with buy orders. This applies a pressure for the price to go up. By the time they get to buy all the quantities they wanted, the average price they got their commodities would be higher than the price they intended to get them for. Conversely, when they sell large quantities of a commodity, they oversupply the market with sell orders. This applies a pressure for the price to go down. By the time they finish selling all their commodities, their average selling price is less than what they initially intended to sell them for.

Due to lower transaction costs, minimum slippage and strong intra-day volatility, individuals can trade frequently at small costs. As an approximate, you may only expect to have a spread of 0.03% of your position size. To give you an example, you can buy and sell 10,000 US Dollars and this will only incur a 3-point spread, equivalent to $3.

Leverage

There are not a lot of banks or people who would lend you money so that you can use it to trade shares. And if there are, it would be very hard for you to convince them to invest in you and in your idea that a certain share is going to go up or down. Therefore, most of the time, if you have a $10,000 account, you can only really afford to buy $10,000 worth of stocks.

In currency trading however, because you use 'borrowed money', you can trade $10,000 of a currency and you only need anywhere between fifty (For a margin lending ratio of 200:1) to two hundred dollars ( For a margin lending ratio of 50:1) in your trading account. This makes it possible for an average trader with a small trading account, under $10,000 to be able to profit sufficiently from the movements of the currency exchange rates. This concept is explained further in The Part-Time Currency Trader.

Profit From A Bull And Bear Market

When you are trading shares, you can only profit when the price of a stock goes up. When you suspect that it is about to go down or that it is just going to be moving sideways, then the only thing you can do is sell your shares and stand aside. One of the frustrations of trading shares is that an individual cannot profit when prices are going down. In the currency market, it is easy for you to trade a currency downward so that you can profit when you think it is going to lose value. This is easy to do because currency trading simply involves buying one currency and selling another, there is no structural bias that makes it difficult to trade 'downwards'. This is why the currency market has been occasionally referred to as the eternal bull market.

Advantages of the Forex Market

What are the advantages of the Forex Market over other types of investments?

When thinking about various investments, there is one investment vehicle that comes to mind. The Forex or Foreign Currency Market has many advantages over other types of investments. The Forex market is open 24 hrs a day, unlike the regular stock markets. Most investments require a substantial amount of capital before you can take advantage of an investment opportunity. To trade Forex, you only need a small amount of capital. Anyone can enter the market with as little as $300 USD to trade a "mini account", which allows you to trade lots of 10,000 units. One lot of 10,000 units of currency is equal to 1 contract. Each "pip" or move up or down in the currency pair is worth a $1 gain or loss, depending on which side of the market you are on. A standard account gives you control over 100,000 units of currency and a pip is worth $10.

The Forex market is also very liquid. When trading Forex you have full control of your capital.

Many other types of investments require holding your money up for long periods of time. This is a disadvantage because if you need to use the capital it can be difficult to access to it without taking a huge loss. Also, with a small amount of money, you can control

Forex traders can be profitable in bullish or bearish market conditions. Stock market traders need stock prices to rise in order to take a profit. Forex traders can make a profit during up trends and downtrends. Forex Trading can be risky, but with having the ability to have a good system to follow, good money management skills, and possessing self discipline, Forex trading can be a relatively low risk investment.

The Forex market can be traded anytime, anywhere. As long as you have access to a computer, you have the ability to trade the Forex market. An important thing to remember is before jumping into trading currencies, is it wise to practice with "paper money", or "fake money." Most brokers have demo accounts where you can download their trading station and practice real time with fake money. While this is no guarantee of your performance with real money, practicing can give you a huge advantage to become better prepared when you trade with your real, hard earned money. There are also many Forex courses on the internet, just be careful when choosing which ones to purchase.

Foreign Exchange Made Easy for Everyone

Foreign Exchange made easy is as basic as you would expect it to be. The foreign exchange market is a worldwide market and according to some figures are almost as large as 30 times the turnover of the US Equity markets. That is some figure to chew on. Forex is the commonly used term for foreign exchange. As a person who wants to invest in the Forex market, one should comprehend the basics of how this currency market operates. Forex can be made easier for beginners to understand it and here's how.

Forex is the buying and the selling of foreign exchange in pairs of currencies. For example you buy US dollars and sell UK Sterling pounds or you sell German Marks and buy Japanese Yen. Why are currencies bought or sold? The answer is simple; Governments and Companies need foreign exchange for their purchase and payments for various commodities and services. This trade constitutes about 5% of all currency transactions, though the other 95% currency transactions are done for speculation and trade.

In fact many companies will buy foreign currency when it is being traded at a lower rate to protect their financial investments. Another thing about foreign exchange market is that the rates are ever-changing regularly and on daily basis. Therefore investors and financial managers track the Forex rates and the Forex market it on a daily basis.

Those who are involved in the Forex trade know that almost 85% of the trading is done in only US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. This is because they are the most liquid of foreign currencies. Which means the US Dollar can be easily bought and sold. In fact the US Dollar is most recognizable foreign currency even in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam.

Being a truly 24 hour market, the currency trading markets opens in the financial centers of Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York in that series. Investors and speculators alike respond to the shifting transactions and can buy and sell simultaneously the currencies. In fact many operate in two or more currency market using arbitrage to gain profits.

While dealing in Forex, one should have a margin account. Quite simply put if you have $1,000 and have a Forex margin account which leverages 100:1 then you can buy $100,000 since you only need 1% of the $100,000 or $1,000. Therefore it means that with margin account you have $100,000 worth of real purchasing power in your hand.

Since the foreign currency market is fluctuating on a continual basis, one should be able to comprehend the factors that affect this currency market. This is done through Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis. These two tools of trade are used in a variety of other markets such as equity markets, stock markets, mutual funds markets etc. Technical Analysis refers to reading, summarizing and analyzing data based on the data that is generated by the market. While Fundamental Analysis refers to the factors, which influence the market economy, and in turn how it would affect the currency trading.

Of course there are other economic and non economic factors which can suddenly affect the trading of the Forex markets such as the 9/11 tragedy etc. One needs to have a intuitive acumen and a few number crunching abilities to strike gold in the Forex market.

Foreign Exchange, Trade of Currencies

Foreign exchange is market where exchange of currencies takes place for another currency. Foreign exchange is the exchange activity takes place between currencies and provides liquidity and accessibility to the traders availing the service provided. Foreign exchange is referred as a market or network which provides service to the customers or traders all over the world. Foreign exchange is the market where exchange of currencies takes place for more and different number of foreign county. Foreign exchange is nothing but buying and selling of foreign currencies in exchange of another. In the foreign exchange market, more of number of foreign currencies will be exchanged by the members and other traders with fluctuations of market price.

Foreign exchange is created to provide more useful services to the customer, traders and participants. Some of the participants or traders of foreign exchange market are commercial banks, central banks, investment banks, brokers, registered dealers, global money managers

, option traders and speculators. The rate of exchange fixed for the foreign currency varies as per the demand and fluctuation of foreign exchange market. Foreign currencies will be exchanged based on the requirement and demand for other foreign currency. The difference in the rate of foreign currencies will be made on the political, economic factors and with reference to the stability of the market.

Since, the main purpose of foreign exchange market is buying and selling of foreign currencies, more county are coming forward to exchange their currency for another. The entry of any foreign currency is free and any number of counties can enter the foreign exchange market by buying and selling foreign exchange currencies. Nowadays, foreign exchange market becomes the general and common market for more number of buyers and sellers to buy and sell at a profit. Trading in a foreign exchange market helps the buyer and seller to come up with good foreign currencies and profits for the currencies. Sometimes, the foreign exchange market may finds fluctuations for the foreign currencies listed with respect to political and economic condition of the foreign currency in the market.

The main reason for the establishment of foreign exchange market is to have a uniform rate for the currency listed in the market. Foreign exchange is very similar to stock market, but the difference is that, here in the foreign exchange the exchange takes place with respect to the currencies. Though foreign exchange fetches the good demand in the market, the currency prices also finds fluctuation in the market. With more number of customers and traders, foreign exchange serves the purpose for which it is established and offer better opportunity to come up with different and more number of foreign currencies as per their requirement.

Forex Broker Guide

Introduction

The following is a list of questions you may like to consider before opening an account. You can use this checklist to narrow down your selection of companies that fit your requirements. You may also wish to refer to the forex broker rating page on this site to read about traders unique experiences with particular brokers.

1. Word of Mouth

• What do other traders say about the broker?
• What is their customer service like?

2. Customer Protection

• Is the broker regulated?
• What regulatory organisation are they registered with and what protections does it afford you?
• Are client funds insured against fraud?
• Are client funds insured against bankruptcy?

3. Execution

• What business model do they operate? i.e. Are they a Market Maker, ECN or no-dealing desk broker?
• How fast is their order execution?
• Are orders manually or automatically executed?
• What is the maximum trade size before you have to request a quote?
• Are all clients trades offset?

4. Spread

• How tight is the spread?
• Is it fixed or variable?

5. Slippage

• How much slippage can be expected in normal and fast moving markets?

6. Margin

• What is the margin requirement? e.g. 0.25% margin = max 400:1 leverage ), 0.5% margin = max 200:1 leverage, 1% margin = max 100:1 leverage, 2% margin = max 50:1 leverage, etc.
• Does the margin requirement change for different currency pairs or days of the week?
• At what point will the broker issue a margin call?
• Is it the same for standard and mini accounts?
  

7. Commissions

• Do they charge commissions? (Most market makers' commissions are built into the spread)

8. Rollover Policy

• Is there a minimum margin requirement in order to earn rollover interest?
• What are the swap rates like for going long or short in a particular currency pair?
• Are there any other conditions for earning rollover interest?

9. Trading Platform

• How intuitive and functional is it to use?
• Are there many disconnections during trading hours?
• How reliable is it during fast moving markets and news announcements?
• How many different currency pairs can you trade?
• Do they offer an Application Programming Interface (API) to allow you to automate your trading system?
• Does it offer any other special features? (e.g. One click dealing, trading from the chart, trailing stops, mobile trading etc.)

10. Trading Account

• What is the minimum balance required to open an account?
• What is the minimum trade size?
• Can you adjust the standard lot size traded?
• Can you earn interest on the unused margin balance in your account?

How to Read a Chart & Act Effectively

Introduction

This is a guide that tells you, in simple understandable language, how to choose the right charts, read them correctly, and act effectively in the market from what you see on them. Probably most of you have taken a course or studied the use of charts in the past. This should add to that knowledge.

Recommendation

There are several good charting packages available free. Netdania is what I use.

Using charts effectively

The default number of periods on these charts is 300. This is a good starting point;

• Hourly chart that’s about 12 days of data.
• 15 minute chart its 3 days of data.
• 5-minute chart it’s slightly more than 24 hours of data.

You can create multiple "tabs" or "layouts" so that it’s easy to quickly switch between charts or sets of charts.

What to look at first

1. Glance at hourly chart to see the big picture. Note significant support and resistance levels within 2% of today’s opening rate.

2. Study the 15 minute chart in great detail noting the following:

• Prevailing trend
• Current price in relation to the 60 period simple moving average.
• High and low since GMT 00:00
• Tops and bottoms during full 3 day time period.

How to use the information gathered so far

1. Determine the big picture (for intraday trading).

Glancing at the hourly chart will give you the big picture – up or down. If it’s not clear immediately then you’re in a trading range. Lets assume the trend is down.

2. Determine if the 15 minute chart confirms the downtrend indicated by big picture:

Current price on 15-minute chart should be below 60 period moving average and the moving average line should be sloping down. If this is so then you have established the direction of the prevailing trend to be down.

There are always two trends – a prevailing (major) trend and a minor trend. The minor trend is a reversal of the main trend, which lasts for a short period of time. Minor trends are clearly spotted on 5-minute charts.

3. Determine the current trend (major or minor) from the 5 minute chart:

Current price on 5-minute chart is below 60 period moving average and the moving average line is sloping downward – major trend.

Current price on 5-minute chart is above 60 period moving average and the moving average line is sloping upward – minor trend.

How to trade the information gathered so far

At this point you know the following:

• Direction of the prevailing trend.
• Whether we are currently trading in the direction of the prevailing (major) trend or experiencing a minor trend (reaction to major trend).

Possible trade scenarios:

1) Lets assume prevailing (major) trend is down and we are in a minor up-trend. Strategy would be to sell when the current price on 5-minute chart falls below the 60 period moving average and the 60 period moving average line is sloping downward. Why? Because the prevailing trend is reasserting itself and the next move is likely to be down. Is there more we can do? Yes. Look for further confirmation. For example, if the minor trend had stalled for a while and the lows of the past half hour or hour are very close to the 5 minute moving average then selling just below the lows of the past half hour is a better place to enter the market then just below the moving average line.

2) Lets assume prevailing (major) trend is down and 5-minute chart confirms downtrend. Strategy would be to wait for a minor (up trend) trend to appear and reverse before entering the market. The reason for this is that the move is too “mature” at this point and a correction is likely. Since you trade with tight stops you will be stopped out on a reaction. Exception: If market trades through today’s low and/ or low of past three days (these levels will be apparent on the 15 minute chart) further quick downward price action is likely and a short position would be correct.

3) A better strategy assuming prevailing trend down, 5-minute chart down, and just above days lows is to BUY with a tight stop below the day’s low. Your risk is limited and defined and the technical condition (overdone?) is in your favor. Confirmation would be if today’s low was a bit higher than yesterday’s low and the price action indicated a very short-term trading range (1 minute chart) just above today’s low. The thinking here is that buyers are not waiting for a break of today’s or yesterday’s low to buy cheaper; they are concerned they may not see the level.

4) Generally speaking, the safest place to buy is after a sustained significant decline when the bottoms are getting higher. Preferably these bottoms will be hours apart. By the third or forth higher bottom it is clear a bottom is in place and an up-move is coming. As in the example above your risk is limited and defined – a low lower than the last low.

5) The reverse is true in major up-trends.

Other chart ideas

• There are always two trends to consider – a major trend and a minor trend. The minor trend is a reversal of the major trend, which generally lasts for a short period of time.
• Buying above old tops and selling below old bottoms can be excellent entry levels; assuming the move is not overly mature and a nearby reaction unlikely.
• When a strong up move is occurring the market should make both higher tops and higher bottoms. The reverse is true for down moves- lower bottoms and lower tops.
• Reactions (minor reversals) are smaller when a strong move is occurring. As the reactions begin to increase that is a clear warning signal that the move is losing momentum. When the last reaction exceeds the prior reaction you can assume the trend has changed, at least temporarily.
• Higher bottoms always indicate strength, and an up move usually starts from the third or fourth higher bottom. Reverse this rule in a rising market; lower tops…
• You will always make the most money by following the major trend although to say you will never trade against the trend means that you will miss a lot of opportunities to make big profits. The rule is: When you are trading against the trend wait until you have a definite indication of a selling or buying point near the top or bottom, where you can place a close stop loss order (risk small amount of capital). The profit target can be a short-term gain to nearby resistance or more.
• Consider the normal or average daily range, average price change from open to high and average price change from open to low, in determining your intra-day price targets.
• Do not overlook the fact that it requires time for a market to get ready at the bottom before it advances and for selling pressure to work it’s way through at top before a decline. Smaller loses and sideways trading are a sign the trend may be waning in a downtrend. Smaller gains and sideways trading in an up trend.
• Fourth time at bottom or top is crucial; next phase of move will soon become clear… be ready.
• Oftentimes, when an important support or resistance level is broken a quick move occurs followed by a reaction back to or slightly above support or below resistance. This is a great opportunity to play the break on the “rebound”. Your stop can be super tight. For example, EURUSD important resistance 1.0840 is broken and a quick move to 1.0860, followed by a decline to 1.0835. Buy with a 1.0820 stop. The move back down is natural and takes nothing away from the importance of the breakout. However, EURUSD should not decline significantly below the breakout (breakout 1.0840; EURUSD should not go below 1.0825.
• After a prolonged up move when a top has been made there is usually a trading range, followed by a sharp decline. After that, a secondary reaction back near the old highs often occurs. This is because the market gets ahead of itself and a short squeeze occurs. Selling near the old top with a stop above the old top is the safest place to sell.
• The third lower top is also a great place to sell.
• The same is true in reverse for down moves.
• Be careful not to buy near top or sell near bottom within trading ranges. Wait for breakaway (huge profit potential) or play the range.
• Whether the market is very active or in a trading range, all indications are more accurate and trustworthier when the market is actively trading.

Limitations of charts

Scheduled economic announcements that are complete surprises render nearby short-term support and resistance levels meaningless because the basis (all available information) has changed significantly, requiring a price adjustment to reflect the new information. Other support and resistance levels within the normal daily trading range remain valid. For example, on Friday the unemployment number missed the mark by roughly 120,000 jobs. That’s a huge disparity and rendered all nearby resistance levels in the EURUSD meaningless. However, resistance level 200 points or more from the day’s opening were still meaningful because they represented resistance to a big up move on a given day.

Unscheduled or unexpected statements by government officials may render all charts points on a short-term chart meaningless, depending upon the severity of what was said or implied. For example, when Treasury Secretary John Snow hinted that the U.S. had abandoned its strong U.S. dollar policy.

Essential Elements of a Successful Trader

Courage Under Stressful Conditions When the Outcome is Uncertain

All the foreign exchange trading knowledge in the world is not going to help, unless you have the nerve to buy and sell currencies and put your money at risk. As with the lottery “You gotta be in it to win it”. Trust me when I say that the simple task of hitting the buy or sell key is extremely difficult to do when your own real money is put at risk.

You will feel anxiety, even fear. Here lies the moment of truth. Do you have the courage to be afraid and act anyway? When a fireman runs into a burning building I assume he is afraid but he does it anyway and achieves the desired result. Unless you can overcome or accept your fear and do it anyway, you will not be a successful trader.

However, once you learn to control your fear, it gets easier and easier and in time there is no fear. The opposite reaction can become an issue – you’re overconfident and not focused enough on the risk you're taking.

Both the inability to initiate a trade, or close a losing trade can create serious psychological issues for a trader going forward. By calling attention to these potential stumbling blocks beforehand, you can properly prepare prior to your first real trade and develop good trading habits from day one.

Start by analyzing yourself. Are you the type of person that can control their emotions and flawlessly execute trades, oftentimes under extremely stressful conditions? Are you the type of person who’s overconfident and prone to take more risk than they should? Before your first real trade you need to look inside yourself and get the answers. We can correct any deficiencies before they result in paralysis (not pulling the trigger) or a huge loss (overconfidence). A huge loss can prematurely end your trading career, or prolong your success until you can raise additional capital.

The difficulty doesn’t end with “pulling the trigger”. In fact what comes next is equally or perhaps more difficult. Once you are in the trade the next hurdle is staying in the trade. When trading foreign exchange you exit the trade as soon as possible after entry when it is not working. Most people who have been successful in non-trading ventures find this concept difficult to implement.

For example, real estate tycoons make their fortune riding out the bad times and selling during the boom periods. The problem with trying to adapt a 'hold on until it comes back' strategy in foreign exchange is that most of the time the currencies are in long-term persistent, directional trends and your equity will be wiped out before the currency comes back.

The other side of the coin is staying in a trade that is working. The most common pitfall is closing out a winning position without a valid reason. Once again, fear is the culprit. Your subconscious demons will be scaring you non-stop with questions like “what if news comes out and you wind up with a loss”. The reality is if news comes out in a currency that is going up, the news has a higher probability of being positive than negative (more on why that is so in a later article).

So your fear is just a baseless annoyance. Don’t try and fight the fear. Accept it. Have a laugh about it and then move on to the task at hand, which is determining an exit strategy based on actual price movement. As Garth says in Waynesworld “Live in the now man”. Worrying about what could be is irrational. Studying your chart and determining an objective exit point is reality based and rational.

Another common pitfall is closing a winning position because you are bored with it; its not moving. In Football, after a star running back breaks free for a 50-yard gain, he comes out of the game temporarily for a breather. When he reenters the game he is a serious threat to gain more yards – this is indisputable. So when your position takes a breather after a winning move, the next likely event is further gains – so why close it?

If you can be courageous under fire and strategically patient, foreign exchange trading may be for you. If you’re a natural gunslinger and reckless you will need to tone your act down a notch or two and we can help you make the necessary adjustments. If putting your money at risk makes you a nervous wreck its because you lack the knowledge base to be confident in your decision making.

Patience to Gain Knowledge through Study and Focus

Many new traders believe all you need to profitably trade foreign currencies are charts, technical indicators and a small bankroll. Most of them blow up (lose all their money) within a few weeks or months; some are initially successful and it takes as long as a year before they blow up. A tiny minority with good money management skills, patience, and a market niche go on to be successful traders. Armed with charts, technical indicators, and a small bankroll, the chance of succeeding is probably 500 to 1.

To increase your chances of success to near certainty requires knowledge; acquiring knowledge takes hard work, study, dedication and focus. Compile your knowledge base without taking any shortcuts, thereby assuring a solid foundation to build upon.