Forex Education

How many of us in the Forex market simply jumped in the market and started trading? I know that was my path. I tossed a few dollars in an account and figured losing it would be a paid lesson in how the markets work.

I can't say that this hasn't been a valuable path. I've learned some good lessons along the way:

it's important to let go of losses early so you have enough capital to sink your teeth into an opportunity that does work.
No indicator or strategy has all the answers -- stop looking for the holy grail of trading
The market can easily whipsaw you to tears if you aren't careful
If you place close stops they will often be taken out before the market goes your way

Really, the list of anecdotal learning is endless and difficult to put into words. However, I recognize that this isn't enough to make me a successful trader, though from time to time I'm starting to taste success. It's finally time for me to bite the bullet and learn more about trading.

No, don't worry, I'm not going to buy some stupid multi-thousand dollar Forex training course. That would be stupid. Forex trading is very related to trading in general and there is no shortage of information on either subject. To make a long story short I've purchased four books recently:

Currency Trading for Dummies
Swing Trading for Dummies
The 10 Essentials of Forex Trading
Technical Analysis for Dummies

All of these were available at a nearby bookstore -- so I didn't have to order something online and wait for delivery.

More importantly, let me list the credentials of the authors of the above books. Respectively, they are:

Mark Gallant: Chairman and founder, GAIN Capital Group. Brian Dolan: Chief currency strategist, FOREX.com
Omar Bassal, Head of Asset Management, NBK Capital
Jared Marinez, FXCHIEF and founder of The Market Traders Institute, Inc.
Barbara Rockefeller, International economist and trader

My advice? Never, ever, fail to look for the ideas of experts. Even if you don't agree with everything they say, which is appropriate, they should be able to increase your understanding and improve your own thinking.

I've had some days with a NAV appreciation of 10%, 20% or more. I'd like to have a lot more days like that... and I don't think that online sources created for the purpose of flogging affiliate commissions will do that for me.

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Forex is the largest and most happening financial market of the world

Forex is the largest and most happening financial market of the world. It is the venue where one currency is traded for the other. The market place is distinguished from the rest because of its high trading volume and geographical dispersion. A trader with sound knowledge of currency trading can earn substantial profit in forex market. Along with the knowledge of trading, he should have access to a few tools of forex trading. These tools are made to strengthen the confidence of a trader and can prove out to be a great help for a winning currency trading in forex. Being an awakened trader of forex market, you should remain aware about every latest happening of currency trading. Therefore, it’s important for you to have access to daily forex trading summary for important currencies and currency pairs. Add to this, a weekly forex trading summary is also beneficial as it will encompass detailed analysis of your sought subject. Tools that help you to access and monitor the interest rates, financial calendar, glossary database are also worthwhile. Apart from the above, there are several other tools of currency trading available around you. Several software containing detailed analysis and information about currency trading are also available at your disposal. All these tools and software packs are important for a successful forex trading. With access to such tools, a trader can easily execute his trading. Now, how to get these tools easily and satisfactorily? Well, it’s easy. With the availability of internet, you need not to get out of your home to access these tools and software packs. Just a single click and you can access valuable information and tools regarding currency trading in forex. Several online forex firms have been established only to offer you tools and software packs for forex trading. Some of them may charge money from you to download or access the software packs and tools. If you are not at all interested to cut your pocket, go for those forex firms, who offer free download facility. Online forex firms are beneficial in many ways. They not only offer you currency trading tools and software but also keen to give you an insight into the latest incidents of forex market. They also publish economic reports and influential topics on their websites with an aim to update a trader about what matter in currency trading. You can also access live charts of the forex market and trading secrets from such online firms. These forex firms are usually run by experienced professional, who own years of experience in currency trading. So, you can trust them. Thus trading in forex market has become easy with the availability of tools and software packs. And the advent of internet has made it easier. Today any one from any corner of the world can access forex trading tools for simplifying his currency trading.

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Forex market

Are you thinking of investing in foreign currencies? Your financial consultant can tell you why forex currency trading is better over any other markets. Forex trading has some features unique to itself, like the forex day trading market. Another good feature of forex market is it has large number of traders and is also very flexible in terms of working hours. Forex market operates 24 hours a day!
Going by the name, we understand that it involves exchange of money only during daytime. Hence one buy will always be equal to one sell of foreign exchange currency. The main objective is to not let any variation at the end of the day. In case of any discrepancies, the amounts of buys are tallied with the amount of sales. In normal trading, the closing price of last day may not tally with the opening price of the present day. Forex day trading ensures that there are no such fluctuations.
We will share all the little bits of information and also the tips to day trade in the forex market. Here you go:
Decentralization of activities – Since the forex day trading market is decentralized, any one can trade from any part of the world. Take this opportunity to trade on the market, even if you are not located in the place there.
24 hours operative – The market works 24 hours a day and round the year. Hence if some currency is at low in one part of the world due to closing hours, it may be stronger in another part of the world. Hence one may trade hoping for a consistent performance throughout the schedules.
Be an early bird – Always go for early trading. Currency prices are always on the early morning base. If you invest in the morning trades, you might see fair chances of the values appreciating in the later part of the day.
Get knowledgeable – To know the trading, you should learn it! Gain knowledge on the know-how of the market. Be an avid reader of financial articles and magazines. You can also take up some courses or examinations to arm you stronger.
Be a good observer – Always keep a constant watch on the trading sessions. You can do so for every one-hour or two hours. This will get you a clear picture on the ups and downs happening in the market.
Study price movements – Check for the market trends. Always follow the market trend when you a new entrant. Go along with the market flow.
Get your own technique – Once you start following the market trends, you need to set your own analysis into them. Develop your own techniques to understand the trades. You will come up with the best approach for yourself.
Picking up this trade is not an overnight job. When you achieve brilliant results on your trades, don’t go overboard. Be consistent with the same strategies till you establish your roots into the market.

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Forex news trading

Traders on the Foreign Exchange market, Forex market for short, can potentially make thousands of dollars based on the volatility and fluctuations of a country’s currency. To better themselves and have a leading advantage over other traders, some Forex traders and investors participate in a practice known as news trading. The risks are very high, but the potential gains can be worth thousands of dollars and many traders and investors use this technique.
The technique of news trading is quite simple. It is the trading of foreign currency immediately before or after an important economic news announcement. After such announcements, there is a high possibility that market prices will fluctuate, either for the better or worse, depending on the announcement. For example, if the U. S. Federal Reserve announces another increase of the interest rate, many traders might invest in the U.S. dollar as it is expected that its value will appreciate. The main advantage of news trading is the potential for a country’s currency to make huge gains or losses in very little time. Within minutes of an economic announcement, a country’s currency can gain or lose one hundred points almost instantly. The potential of huge profits attracts Foreign Exchange traders and investors, however there are various risks associated with news trading.
Like any investment, there is always a risk, and news trading on the Forex market is no different. Though the potential profits are huge, the losses are also equally as large. The dangers of news trading come from the fact that a trade must be made quickly or else you are going to lose. If you are caught on the bad side of a trade, your money will be gone quicker than you can blink your eye. You will lose money so fast that there won’t even be time for you to manually close your trades, leaving you with nothing. Stop-loss orders are also potentially dangerous as there is a high probability of slippage because of the sudden price fluctuation.
Though some investors and traders might get lucky trading news, there is only a small probability that you will make a profit. Even if you are an expert news trader, you should still be very, very cautious when participating in this practice. Successful news trading depends solely on how you get your news. The most successful news traders are the ones with the fastest news feeds and those that are able to quickly place their trades immediately after an announcement has been made. Even using other forms of news trading, such as placing orders above or below the market price is still a guessing game, and those traders in the market who base their trades on guesses, won’t have much money after a short time.
For many Forex traders and investors, their trades are dictated by technical indicators and price indexes. Hours are spent researching every indicator, taking every risk into account and then making a decision based on everything they have studied. However, for a Forex news trader, none of this matter, and the only thing they take into account is economical news announcements.
News trading is possible because the Forex market is always open, unlike many financial markets. In a financial market, securities trades of certain stocks are suspended when an important company announcement is being made. These announcements are usually made after the market has closed for the day. However, because the Foreign Exchange market is open 24 hours, any economic announcement will have direct affects on the currency of that country, and maybe others as well. In the Forex market, there are eight major currencies that are traded, as well as over seventeen derivatives to be traded as well. This means that on any given day, there will always be economic announcements from any of the major traded currencies. The major trader currencies are as follows:
U.S. Dollar (USD)

Great British Pound (GBP)

Euro (EUR)

Japanese Yen (JPY)

Australian Dollar (AUD)

Swiss Franc (CHF)

Canadian Dollar (CAD)

New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

Because of the availability of each currency, currency pairs, and its derivatives, such as USD/JPY, EUR/USD, AUD/USD, as well as several others, each currency can be traded at any given time because these currencies are globally traded.
Any Forex news trader or news investor will have to have the latest most up to the moment news announcements. Even if the news announcements are only a couple of minutes old, this can have devastating effects for any trader who has risked any sum of money. Most news traders like to keep an eagle eye on any news regarding economical activity, but most importantly news dealing with interest rates changes, FOMC rate decisions, retail sales figures, inflation indicators such as the consumer price index (CPI), producer price index (PPI), unemployment figures, industrial production announcements, boost in business and consumer confidence, as well as business sentiment surveys. Manufacturing sector surveys, trade balance release details, and foreign purchases of U.S. Treasuries may also prove useful for a news trader to better make decisions regarding when or when not to trade.
However, it should be remembered that these news announcements can have ranging impacts on a country’s currency, and after an announcement, the volatility of a currency may greatly fluctuate. It is important to take advantage of news that creates movements in volatility that will last for a few minutes or even hours. Trading on the Forex market based solely on news is a difficult and sometimes dangerous practice. However, there are some indicators that can make a news trader’s job easier, such as breakout indicators (Bollinger bands, breakout of a candlestick bar, or a price bar). Research has proved that news announcements can impact a currency’s value quite severely, in some cases it can gain or lose anywhere from 33 pips to 124 pips, opening up the ideal trading opportunity looked for by news traders. If a news trader is able to act quickly enough, even the smallest news release can be turned into a potential profit of thousands of dollars. However, it is important to remember the volatility of such announcements, and although the profits seem endless, the losses can happen too.
India's biggest corporate scandal in memory threatens future foreign investment flows into Asia's third-largest economy and casts a cloud over growth in its once-booming outsourcing sector.
The news sent Indian equity markets into a tailspin, with Bombay's main benchmark index tumbling 7.3pc in a firmer session for world markets and the Indian rupee fell.
Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of India's fourth-largest software services exporter, said in a statement that Satyam's profits had been massively inflated over recent years but no other board member was aware of the financial irregularities.
"If a company's chairman himself says they built fictitious assets, who do you believe here? This has put a question mark on the entire corporate governance system in India," said R.K. Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management in New Delhi.
Mr Raju, who founded Satyam more than two decades ago and who took it public in 1991, said about $1bn (£667m) or 94pc of the cash on the company's books was fictitious.
The 54-year-old Satyam chairman came under close scrutiny last month after the company's botched attempt to buy two construction firms partly owned by its founders, which Mr Raju said on Wednesday was a final attempt to resolve the problem of the fictitious assets.
"It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten," Mr Raju, a management graduate from Ohio University, said in his letter, adding he was prepared to face up to the legal consequences.
Satyam said its managing director and co-founder B. Rama Raju, Mr Raju's brother, had also resigned. It did not give any reason for the resignation.
The company's difficulties multiplied when the World Bank, a major customer, barred Satyam from new business, citing "improper benefits" given to Bank officials.
Just three months ago, Satyam received a Golden Peacock award from a group of Indian directors for excellence in corporate governance.
"I think there is no future for this stock. This case for India is similar to what happened to Enron in the US," said Jigar Shah, senior vice-president at Kim Eng Securities.
"It will not stop at Satyam. Many more companies will come into scrutiny like that. There is a strong possibility investments in India will be affected."

Protect yr company's stock prices

Not many might have noticed, however, a couple of weeks back a 6 year old article began going about the web as breaking news about United Airlines applying for Bankruptcy, caused as much as a 75 percent drop in the airline’s stock, highlighting the impact of information processing and its effects in new media.

Just to give you a backdrop of the story,

“The steep sell-off in United’s shares came after a news service in Florida distributed an old story posted on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Web site six years ago. The recirculated story gave the appearance that United had filed for bankruptcy protection again. In fact, the story was originally published Dec. 10, 2002, by the Chicago Tribune, marking the airline’s decision at that time to seek protection from creditors.

Moments after a headline for the story hit Bloomberg who took cue from this apparent ‘new story’, shares in United stock fell from about $12 a share to a low of $3, prompting a halt in trading of United stock.” (Source:Chicacgo Tribune)

Considering the volatile environment of the markets in general these days, such news might have irrevocable effects, in United’s case fortunately the truth came out and the stock recovered the losses later on. However, their reputation certainly might have been hampered a bit.

All this could have been avoided had they kept a track of their brand name and its mention and used the influence and reach of Social Media to thwart rumours in their bud. The best part is it wouldn’t have even consumed much time or cost anything, social media never does much anyway.

So how does one handle the flow of information on the web?

WATBlog suggests taking the following steps particularly with regards to managing news which can have a negative impact on your stock prices.
1. Connect with your investors through social networking sites:

The multiple options that most social networking sites give help in quickly reaching out to your target audience. You can create a group on Facebook or a community on Orkut specially for your investors, say ‘WATBlog Investor Community’ and reach out to your investors through your website or any other communication you already peruse. You can use the send message to members option to quickly connect with the users with messages that can be as short as 2 or 3 lines instead of the two page long PR that you need otherwise.

2. Become part of microblogging communities and track your brand mentions:

The way microblogging is catching on, it is inevitable that much like social networks which boast of over 100 million users, even services like Twitter, Pownce will have a major following. And as has often been seen lately, news spreads on these services really fast and we have seen instances of Twitter breaking news stories off late. Here is an very good read on Twitter as a news tool.

You can begin by following financial bloggers on twitter and other online journalists whose handles can be easily found through their websites and profiles. Next, start susbscribing to RSS feeds on keyterms like your brand name or stock symbol on Summize or Twitter Search as it is known now. This way you can keep yourself updated about any mention and reach out to the carriers of information. Endorse the fact that you are on twitter so that people can confirm any news about you that they have heard or want to share.
3. Subscribe to Google News Alerts and Popular Financial Blogs:

Subscribing is one of the best way to track topics online. Put in news alerts for your brand name, or the exchanges that you want to follow and you will keep getting updates. In United’s case this could have been very handy because the news wasn’t picked up immediately after Google News crawled the old page presuming (with valid reasons) to be new. The news could have been immediately blotted out had someone been tracking the brand. The same is the case with popular blogs, they have highly influential visitor base and are often looking for breaking news. Subscribing to blogs and alerts are easy as checking emails. WATBlog has in fact provided an in depth tutorial on RSS feeds and subscribing earlier.
4. Keep in Touch With Popular Forum Moderators

It wouldn’t be productively viable to monitor and be part of forum activities online, unless that is your job all the time. Hence, it would be a good idea to be in touch with forum owners or moderators to do the work for you to inform you if they see a new thread or topic about your company that is catching a lot of attention. You can then correct the information on the same platform and put an end to noise. The forum guys would be happy to assist because it also lends credibility to their own community. Even a huge network like Network18 use their Moneycontrol forum to promote and pitch their new offerrings.
5. Have a corporate blog and use it to provie complete details on the issue at hand

Numerous views and opinions have been published online on the importance of having a corporate blog and its benefits. Yet, many are still sluggish with their acceptance to these inherent benefits a communication platform like a blog provides. Nevertheless, build one if you don’t have one and use it to provide all the details about the issue at hand to your investors, customers and even employees. In the points mentioned before, given the fact that you have to reach out quickly the messages maybe short and to the point. With a blog you can go in depth and have a complete coverage of any misproduction of information for current and future reference. It will also help bury the negative news that would be floating around on the web.

If you look at the above points, most of them are not very different from a regular Online Reputation Management campaign. However, the scrutiny keeping in mind the latest developments was on the financial industry and aimed at marketers handling financial products and brand. We hope you find this information useful in extending your presence and making the most of it during time which require action online.

Also, though the tone of the post might intend a direct address to those responsible for a company’s brand to take part actively in social media, it need not quite be the case. The above mentioned activities can easily be assigned to a trainee or an intern to handle and keep track of. This will considerably save costs, time and effort on part of the organization while still being socially saavy.

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How to become A Currency Trader

If you are anything like me, you probably imagine that it is difficult to become a foreign currency trader. Perhaps there are rules, regulations and other hoops that have to be jumped through. Maybe you need large amounts of cash in order to get started.

No.

Becoming a Forex currency trader is incredibly simple!

Get A Demo Account
As I beginner I'd suggest you sign up with Oanda. Not only do they have a good reputation but they offer other advantages for a beginning trader as well:

You can sign up for a live account with very little initial capital.

You can execute trades of just about any arbitrary (small) size.

Of course, you can start with a free demo account before getting a live account. Just about everyone will recommend you do so, including me. However, at some point you need to trade with real money to learn about the psychological aspects of trading.

So, that's what I did. I started with $100 in my account and was off to the markets. Sweet, I'm a forex trader!

Learning To Trade Foreign Exchange
If you have a demo account, enter some trades. See what happens. Then, after the results come in, search for information about what happened. You'll find some helpful advice in blogs, such as mine, as well as various tutorial and forum sites. I would suggest that you buy a book or two on forex trading, technical analysis and perhaps something concerning the attributes of successful traders.

However, with a few dollars on the table, I realize that now the more difficult process starts. Now that I have a few dollars on the table I'm ready to start learning the lessons of the trade. Frankly, I won't be able to trade realistically if I am not actually risking my own money, so I have to do it this way. Of course, for most people, $100 is not a big enough sum of money to be a hardship if lost anyway.

So, I'm just blathering because the markets are currently closed for their regular weekend respite. I'm sitting in a precarious position because I have some open trades on my account and there is no telling what shape the market will be in when Sunday evening rolls around. I may be lucky and end up way ahead or I may be unlucky and lose my initial $100 payment. Another potential lesson is looming...

Oh, I should mention, these days Forex trading with a reputable company is quite safe. While there are large risks and large rewards, my risks are essentially limited to the capital that I have put into my account. With wise strategies I can limit risks further, but as a beginner it is comforting to know that I can't lose more than I let sit in my account no matter how foolish a beginner mistake I might make.

UPDATE:

I should stress that you could lose all the capital you put in your account, so do not start out with a large account with the idea that you will only conduct small trades. At the very least, create some sub-accounts and keep the majority of your capital out of harms way until you have blown up your play money account, learned a few lessons, and know how to protect your capital.

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Forex Scalping information

Okay, I've been trying to find information on forex scalping and the pickings are mightly slim indeed. In fact, the so-called information on the net is so bad I'm going to write up a small post of my own... because I'm sure if you found this page you are desperately looking for some real information.

What Is Scalping?
Quite simply, very short term trading.

Why Don't Brokers Like Scalping?
Well, some brokers don't like scalping because of how they are set up. If they are not able to execute your trades quickly or efficiently enough then they risk being the source of your profits.

Does Scalping Work?
I've seen some people claiming that it works great as well as others claiming that it is impossible to do profitably. The reality is that if you can predict the direction that an equity pair will move, either up or down, then you can hop into the market and grab a few pips when it happens.

How Easy Is It To Predict Equity Pair Price Changes?
Well, that's the million dollar question! I don't have any books to sell or anything, but a lot of people claim to have solutions for you. Personally, I think if they really had solutions that worked they wouldn't waste time telling you about it, they'd be busy trading. However, in an effort to be informative, when you spend enough time watching a market (which is quite boring) you'll get a feel for it's current state and how it is moving. Often, until conditions change, you can be fairly accurate with your predictions.

Can Anyone Do This?
If you find a market maker that doesn't mind scalping, you can try. However, you must know how to place stop and limit orders with their trading platform. In particular, it would be very nice if you were able to have someting known as a trailing stop. As well you will want to understand the concept of leverage as it applies to a forex account. Basically, I'd suggest throwing $100 at a starter account and playing around, carefully, until you've made enough bad decisions to learn how things work. After that, you should have the tools needed to try out various strategies.

How Much Effort Is It?
Scalping is very time consuming. You have to spend a lot of time watching the markets, to the point that it would be difficult to do well if you had an existing full time job. Also, scalping is very demanding from a psychological point of view, as you will have large amounts of your capital ready to put into play, but you may have to wait hours before you spot a good entry point. Then, upon entry, you might find you are back out with a small loss in no time. Alternately, you might get a small profit, take it, and then watch the market skyrocket after your exit. The shorter your trading is the more attention it will take and the more nerve wracking it will be.

Are You Scalping?
I'm thinking about it. I've been opening up a grid strategy to catch swing trades, but I have noticed that using half of the scalping mentality to accumulate positions in trends may be able to have a significant positive impact on my results. I guess I'll end up letting you know how things work out.

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Friday forex Recap

This has by far been my best trading week...

I might have made more in the past but it was admittedly just hit and miss combined with patience. This last week I've been following technical indicators and doing more than just hope for the best at Bollinger boundaries.

Sunday PM through Monday PM -- NAV +3.05%
Tuesday AM through Tuesday PM -- NAV +2.93%
Wednesday AM through Wednesday PM -- NAV +8.2%
Thursday AM through Thursday PM -- NAV +3.9%
Friday AM through Friday PM -- NAV +1.1%

During the business day I've been able to take positions for hours at a time and generally end up ahead. In the evenings the market seems to slow down, but I am now generally able to scalp out dollars using the 1m and 5m in concert.

Additionally, when I am behind in a day trade or a scalping position I am often able to spot a good reversal point and take advantage of that with a second position. Doing this a few times can earn back the losses on the original trade -- assuming it still appears to be a good idea to hold onto it.

Some things I've realized this week:

I now understand what people mean when they talk about not trading on Sunday or Friday. Now that I can begin to get a feel for the market I noticed that movement and opportunity were lacklustre during these periods.

I can scalp! This is awesome. It's powerful to be able to scratch pips out of the markets whether they are rising or falling. It's nice to know I can do this if I have a position I want to hold but that is making me nervous as it accumulates a loss before the expected move.

I don't know if these results will now be typical for me or not, but I do finally understand that it isn't impossible to work the markets and earn money.

As well, I understand that I don't want to be trading around news events. If I'm carefully looking for technical setups, the last thing I want is some huge sudden movement due to news. Not only will this potentially catch me on the wrong side of a trade, but it may throw off my ability to analyze things for a while

I should note that my net asset value increases are not compounded. I do skim off most of the gains and push them into a much less risky sub-account. I have no idea whether or not I can trade with the same style when the numbers get bigger. The psychology of seeing larger losses mounting, or higher gains accrue, may throw off my style and keep me from making any money.

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