? Why Forex
You might have pondered over this question and asked yourself a zillion times. WHY FOREX?
In spite of ‘N’ number of businesses that may attract you with promised profits, why should you opt for investing in Forex. Here I am going to list out the reasons why and it just might compel you to invest some money in it to Forex Trading.
LARGEST FINANCIAL MARKET
With $1.5 Trillion(yes, you read it right, its $1.5 Trillion) being traded daily, Foreign Exchange (Forex) has become the largest financial market since the past 3 decades and its domination has only increased if anything.
Forex Trading was left to the professionals till recently. However, now even average investors are willing to invest in it having witnessed its amazing capacity. This explains the sudden surge in the Forex market.
LEVERAGE in FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING(FOREX)
Frankly speaking, no business gives you a leverage as that of Foreign Exchange or Forex (FX) for short. No hidden formulas, no confusing strategies or no professional knowledge required, all you need is a decent application of technical analysis along with a logical money strategy.
Ofcourse, leverage can be as harmful as beneficial. No hindrance on risk management means this high leverage can lead to potential high losses or high gains.
TRADING 24 HOURS on FOREX
Forex is a 24 Hours trading opportunity. Its not going be like you wait for the forex shop to open. As a Forex Trader, you get the opportunity to trade 24 hours from Sunday 5:00 pm (ET) to Friday 4:30 pm.
This means you can do trading upon your convenience and based on your schedule. It also provides you the opportunity to act immediately upon golden breaking news from the market.
NO COMMISION FOR FOREX
There is no commission charged towards your profits on Forex. You are allowed to keep 100% of the profits that you make by trading on Forex Market. Thus, this makes Forex Market an attractive and lucrative field of business especially to those who would deal on a regular basis.
HIGH LEVELS OF LIQUIDITY OF FOREX
Another crowd puller is the high liquidity factor of Forex. With about 90% of all currency transactions comprising of 7 major currency pairs, this leads to these currency having price stability, smooth trends and high levels of liquidity. The liquidity is mainly coming from the banks that offer cash flow to the average investors, organizations and market professionals.
STEADY TRADING PROSPECTS
The Forex market is never stagnant, its always on the move. As Forex trading involves buying and selling of currencies, traders can most easily operate in a rising or falling market. This is due to the simple fact that there are always trading prospects whether a currency is rising or falling as its co-related to other currencies. Hence it does not matter whether the market is rising or falling, there are always opportunities for successful trading. All you need is to have a good trading strategy.
With an amazing speed, even large transactions are conducted in a matter of seconds.
Along with these major advantages, there are other pluses like the large profits the Forex Trading promises. It is very much possible for an amateur investor to gain decent profits provided he has made a good study of the market prior to investing. This article was originally written for Currency Trading Made Easy.
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How to be a successful forex trader
Any investor would be genuinely attracted by the Forex market due to its superiority over other financial markets. Some obvious attractions are the superior liquidity, better execution, 24 hours market and lots more. For details on the superiority of forex over other financial markets, you would love the "Why Forex?" article.
Making money in the Forex market might appear a cake walk to outsiders.
Does this mean that it is easy as pie to make money on the Forex market? Absolutely not! Since we now know that it is not as easy as it seems to make money on the Forex market, why do some traders succeed while others fail? That is not an easy question to answer. Something does set apart the profitable traders. They do not follow the crowd. These traders think independently from the crowd. How long does it take to see consistent profitable results in the Forex market? This, too, is not an easy question to answer. It varies from person to person. One thing is for sure - this cannot be done in a short time frame. It is a process that could take years to see desired profits.
Here are a few things to consider if you decide to trade in the Forex market that may hasten the process of realizing a profit: have a trading system in place, education, use money management, be aware of psychological issues and have the proper discipline to follow your trading system as well as your trading plan. Benefits of Online Forex Trading Thanks to the Internet being available to almost everyone, the Forex market may be accessed with ease. Computers are now able to make complex charts that are very beneficial when you go to trade in the Forex market. Forex traders can do business 24 hours a day no matter what their geographical location may be. Daily transactions in the Forex market have increased to two trillion USD. It is quite easy to open a forex trading account. There are even free practice accounts that can be set up which allow you to test your skills before you make any transactions with real money. Traders can trade with different currencies in different markets at the same time and not have a problem doing it.
Remember that
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Making money in the Forex market might appear a cake walk to outsiders.
Does this mean that it is easy as pie to make money on the Forex market? Absolutely not! Since we now know that it is not as easy as it seems to make money on the Forex market, why do some traders succeed while others fail? That is not an easy question to answer. Something does set apart the profitable traders. They do not follow the crowd. These traders think independently from the crowd. How long does it take to see consistent profitable results in the Forex market? This, too, is not an easy question to answer. It varies from person to person. One thing is for sure - this cannot be done in a short time frame. It is a process that could take years to see desired profits.
Here are a few things to consider if you decide to trade in the Forex market that may hasten the process of realizing a profit: have a trading system in place, education, use money management, be aware of psychological issues and have the proper discipline to follow your trading system as well as your trading plan. Benefits of Online Forex Trading Thanks to the Internet being available to almost everyone, the Forex market may be accessed with ease. Computers are now able to make complex charts that are very beneficial when you go to trade in the Forex market. Forex traders can do business 24 hours a day no matter what their geographical location may be. Daily transactions in the Forex market have increased to two trillion USD. It is quite easy to open a forex trading account. There are even free practice accounts that can be set up which allow you to test your skills before you make any transactions with real money. Traders can trade with different currencies in different markets at the same time and not have a problem doing it.
Online forex trading touts a lot of liquidity and flexibility. The trader can trade and access quotes in real time when he deals with online forex transactions. A very important benefit is that forex trading has virtually eliminated the bears and bulls of the trade. This is the only trade market that does not have these elements. There are no commissions, exchange fees or any other hidden costs involved with online forex trading. The trade is done very quickly and there is no delay of any kind. It literally takes just seconds to execute a trade or fill or confirm the same. Small traders have more leverage in the Forex market. There are indeed many benefits to online forex trading, but you also have to look at the other side of the coin. Online forex trading is risky. You should not invest any more money than you are willing to lose. Remember, it takes education, patience and practice to become good at forex trading.
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Forex Basics
Introduction
The simultaneous transaction of one currency for another.
An informal network of trading relationships between the world's major banks and other market participants, sometimes referred to as the 'interbank market'. The foreign exchange market has no central clearing house or exchange and is considered an over-the-counter (OTC) market.
The market for buying and selling currencies at the current market rate.
A spot transaction is generally due for settlement within two business days (the value date). The cost of rolling over a transaction is based on the interest rate differential between the two currencies in a transaction. If you are long (bought) the currency with a higher rate of interest you will earn interest. If you are short (sold) the currency with a higher rate of interest you will pay interest. Most brokers will automatically roll over your open positions allowing you to hold your position indefinitely.
The value of one currency expressed in terms of another. For example, if EUR/USD is 1.3200, 1 Euro is worth US$1.3200.
The two currencies that make up an exchange rate. When one is bought, the other is sold, and vice versa.
The first currency in the pair. Also the currency your account is denominated in.
The second currency in the pair. Also known as the terms currency.
USD = US Dollar
EUR = Euro
JPY = Japanese Yen
GBP = British Pound
CHF = Swiss Franc
CAD = Canadian Dollar
AUD = Australian Dollar
NZD = New Zealand Dollar
For a full list, see ISO Currency Codes
EUR/USD = "Euro"
USD/JPY = "Dollar Yen"
GBP/USD = "Cable" or "Sterling"
USD/CHF = "Swissy"
USD/CAD = "Dollar Canada" (CAD referred to as the "Loonie")
AUD/USD = "Aussie Dollar"
NZD/USD = "Kiwi"
Futures Commission Merchant. An individual or organisation licensed by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to deal in futures products and accept monies from clients to trade them.
A market maker provides liquidity for a particular currency pair by standing ready to buy or sell that currency by displaying a bid and offer price. Market makers earn their commission from the spread between the bid and offer price.
ECN is an acronym for Electronic Communications Network. A Forex ECN does not operate a dealing desk, but instead provides a marketplace where multiple market makers, banks and traders can enter competing bids and offers into the platform either inside or outside the spread, allowing traders to trade on those prices. Orders are matched to the best available bid/offer price for a small fee or commission.
A dealing desk provides prices and executes trades.
An acronym for 'No Dealing Desk'. A no dealing desk broker acts as an agent, matching up orders to one or more liquidity providers connected to their platform.
One of the participants in a transaction.
The sell quote is displayed on the left and is the price at which you can sell the base currency. It is also referred to as the market maker's bid price. For example, if the EUR/USD quotes 1.3200/03, you can sell 1 Euro at the bid price of US$1.3200.
The buy quote is displayed on the right and is the price at which you can buy the base currency. It is also referred to as the market maker's ask or offer price. For example, if the EUR/USD quotes 1.3200/03, you can buy 1 Euro at the offer price of US$1.3203.
The smallest price increment a currency can make. Also known as points. For example, 1 pip = 0.0001 for EUR/USD, or 0.01 for USD/JPY.
The value of a pip. Pip value can be fixed or variable depending on the currency pair and base currency of your account. e.g. The pip value for EURUSD is always US$10 for standard lots and US$1 for mini-lots. A simple way of calculating pip value is as follows: Divide 1 pip by the exchange rate and multiply it by the lot size to get the base currency pip value. To convert it to your account currency, multiply it by the applicable exchange rate. For example;
EURUSD = 0.0001 / 1.30000 = €0.0000769 * 100,000 = €7.69 * EUR/USD 1.30000 = US$10.00 pip value (fixed)
USDJPY = 0.01 / 120.00 = US$0.0000833 * 100,000 = US$8.33 pip value (variable)
The standard unit size of a transaction. Typically, one "standard" lot is equal to 100,000 units of the base currency, or 10,000 units if it's a "mini" lot, and even 1,000 units if it's a "micro" lot. Some dealers offer the ability to trade in any unit size, down to as little as 1 unit!
The difference between the sell quote and the buy quote or the bid and offer price. For example, if EUR/USD quotes read 1.3200/03, the spread is the difference between 1.3200 and 1.3203, or 3 pips. In order to break even on a trade, a position must move in the direction of the trade by an amount equal to the spread.
Trading with standard lot sizes, generally 100,000 units of the base currency.
Trading with mini lot sizes, generally 10,000 units of the base currency.
Trading with micro lot sizes, generally 1,000 units of the base currency.
The deposit required to open or maintain a position. A 1% margin requirement allows you to control a $100,000 position with a $1,000 margin deposit.
The extent to which you are using borrowed funds to gear your account. Increasing your leverage magnifies both gains and losses. To calculate leverage used, divide total open positions by account equity to get the leverage ratio. e.g. If a trader has $1,000 in his account and opens a $100,000 position, he is leveraging his account by 100 times, i.e. 100:1 leverage. If he opens a $200,000 position with $1,000 in his account, he is leveraging his account by 200 times, i.e. 200:1 leverage.
An order which is executed by dealer intervention.
The order is executed by the broker without dealer intervention or involvement.
The difference between the order price and the executed price.
The extent to which equity is lost in a trading account from a trade or series of trades, measured from peak to subsequent trough, most commonly in percentage terms.
Support is a technical price level where buyers outweigh sellers, causing prices to bounce off a temporary price floor.
Resistance is a technical price level where sellers outweigh buyers, causing prices to bounce off a temporary price ceiling.
Common Order Types
An order to buy or sell at the current market price.
An order to buy or sell at a specified price level.
An order to restrict losses at a specified price level.
An order to buy below the market or sell above the market at a specified level, believing that the price will reverse direction from that point.
An order to buy above the market or sell below the market at a specified level, believing that the price will continue in the same direction.
One Cancels Other. An order whereby if one is executed, the other is cancelled.
Good Till Cancelled. An order stays in the market until it is either filled or cancelled.
Common Trade Types
A position in which the trader attempts to profit from an increase in price. i.e. Buy low, sell high.
A position in which the trader attempts to profit from a decrease in price. i.e. Sell high, buy low.
Common Trading Styles
A style of trading that involves analysing price charts for technical patterns of behaviour.
A style of trading that involves analysing the macroeconomic factors of an economy underpinning the value of a currency and placing trades that support the trader's outlook.
A style of trading that attempts to profit from riding short, medium or long term trends in price.
A style of trading that attempts to profit from buying technical levels of support and selling technical levels of resistance. The upper level of resistance and lower level of support defines the range.
A style of trading whereby a trader attempts to profit from fundamental news announcements on a country's economy that may affect the value of a currency, usually seeking short term profit immediately after the announcement is released.
A style of trading that involves frequent trading seeking small gains over a very short period of time. Trades can last from seconds to minutes.
A style of trading that involves multiple trades on an intra-day basis. Trades can last from minutes to hours.
A style of trading that involves seeking to profit from short to medium term swings in trend. Trades can last from hours to days.
A position whereby the trader attempts to profit from holding a currency with a higher interest rate and shorting a currency with a lower interest rate.
A style of trading that involves taking a longer term position that reflects a longer term outlook. Trades can last from weeks to months.
A style of trading that involves the human decision making process for every trade.
A style of trading that involves neither human decision making or involvement, but uses a pre-programmed strategy based on technical or fundamental analysis that automatically places trades via automated trade execution software.
Example Trade
Assume you have a trading account at a broker that requires a 1% margin deposit for every trade. The current quote for EUR/USD is 1.3225/28 and you want to place a market order to buy 1 standard lot of 100,000 Euros at 1.3228, for a total value of US$132,280 (100,000 * $1.3228). The broker requires you to deposit 1% of the total, or $1322.80 to open the trade. At the same time you place a take-profit order at 1.3278, 50 pips above your order price. In taking this trade you expect the Euro to strengthen against the U.S. dollar.
As you expected, the Euro strengthens against the U.S. dollar and you take your profit at 1.3278, closing out the trade. As each pip is worth US$10, your total profit for this trade is $500, for a total return of 38%.
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Introduction To Forex trading
I will start off with a nice intro, a one that will give insight to even a newbie on Forex trading
It would be in your best interest to acclimatize yourself to the basics of Forex Trading before taking the plunge as it possesses huge risks and opportunities as well. Its the largest and most liquid market of the world
A glossary is also provided at the bottom of this article for assistance to newbies
Overview
Foreign exchange, forex or just FX are all terms used to describe the trading of the world's many currencies. The forex market is the largest market in the world, with trades amounting to more than USD 1.5 trillion every day. Most forex trading is speculative, with only a few percent of market activity representing governments' and companies' fundamental currency conversion needs.
Unlike trading on the stock market, the forex market is not conducted by a central exchange, but on the “interbank” market, which is thought of as an OTC (over the counter) market. Trading takes place directly between the two counterparts necessary to make a trade, whether over the telephone or on electronic networks all over the world. The main centres for trading are Sydney, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt and New York. This worldwide distribution of trading centres means that the forex market is a 24-hour market.
Trading Forex
A currency trade is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another one. The currency combination used in the trade is called a cross (for example, the Euro/US Dollar, or the GB Pound/Japanese Yen.). The most commonly traded currencies are the so-called “majors” – EURUSD , USDJPY , USDCHF and GBPUSD .
The most important forex market is the spot market as it has the largest volume. The market is called the spot market because trades are settled immediately, or “on the spot”. In practice this means two banking days.
Forward Outrights
For forward outrights, settlement on the value date selected in the trade means that even though the trade itself is carried out immediately, there is a small interest rate calculation left. The interest rate differential doesn't usually affect trade considerations unless you plan on holding a position with a large differential for a long period of time. The interest rate differential varies according to the cross you are trading. On the USDCHF , for example, the interest rate differential is quite small, whereas the differential on NOKJPY is large. This is because if you trade e.g. NOKJPY, you get almost 7% (annual) interest in Norway and close to 0% in Japan. So, if you borrow money in Japan, to finance the trade and buying NOK, you have a positive interest rate differential. This differential has to be calculated and added to your account. You can have both a positive and a negative interest rate differential, so it may work for or against you when you make a trade.
Trading on Margin
Trading on margin means that you can buy and sell assets that represent more value than the capital in your account. Forex trading is usually conducted with relatively small margin deposits. This is useful since it permits investors to exploit currency exchange rate fluctuations which tend to be very small. A margin of 1.0% means you can trade up to USD 1,000,000 even though you only have $10,000 in your account. A margin of 1% corresponds to a 100:1 leverage (or 'gearing'). (Because USD 10,000 is 1% of USD 1,000,000.) Using this much leverage enables you to make profits very quickly, but there is also a greater risk of incurring large losses and even being completely wiped out. Therefore, it is inadvisable to maximise your leveraging as the risks can be very high. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled "Trading Conditions" found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.
Why trade Forex?
24 hour trading
- One of the major advantages of trading forex is the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day from Sunday evening (20:00 GMT) to Friday evening (22:00 GMT). This gives you a unique opportunity to react instantly to breaking news that is affecting the markets.
Superior liquidity
- The forex market is so liquid that there are always buyers and sellers to trade with. The liquidity of this market, especially that of the major currencies, helps ensure price stability and narrow spreads. The liquidity comes mainly from banks that provide liquidity to investors, companies, institutions and other currency market players.
No commissions
- The fact that forex is often traded without commissions makes it very attractive as an investment opportunity for investors who want to deal on a frequent basis.
- Trading the “majors” is also cheaper than trading other cross because of the high level of liquidity. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled "Trading Conditions" found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.
100:1 Leverage
- Leverage (gearing) enables you to hold a position worth up to 100 times more than your margin deposit. For example, a USD 10,000 deposit can command positions of up to USD 1,000,000 through leverage. You can leverage the first USD 25,000 of your investment up to 100 times and additional collateral up to 50 times.
Profit potential in falling markets
- Since the market is constantly moving, there are always trading opportunities, whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relation to another currency. When you trade currencies, they literally work against each other. If the EURUSD declines, for example, it is because the U.S. dollar gets stronger against the Euro and vice versa. So, if you think the EURUSD will decline (that is, that the Euro will weaken versus the dollar), you would sell EUR now and then later you buy Euro back at a lower price and take your profits. The opposite trading scenario would occur if the EURUSD appreciates.
Important Forex Trading Terms
Spread
- The spread is the difference between the price that you can sell currency at ( Bid) and the price you can buy currency at (Ask). The spread on majors is usually 3 pips under normal market conditions. For more information on the trading conditions at Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your Client Station and open the section entitled "Trading Conditions" found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.
Pips
- A pip is the smallest unit by which a cross price quote changes. When trading forex you will often hear that there is a 3-pip spread when you trade the majors. This spread is revealed when you compare the bid and the ask price, for example EURUSD is quoted at a bid price of 0.9875 and an ask price of 0.9878. The difference is USD 0.0003, which is equal to 3 “pips”.
- On a contract or position, the value of a pip can easily be calculated. You know that the EURUSD is quoted with four decimals, so all you have to do is cancel out the four zeros on the amount you trade and you will have the va value of one pip. Thus, on a EURUSD 100,000 contract, one pip is USD 10. On a USDJPY 100,000 contract, one pip is equal to 1000 yen, because USDJPY is quoted with only two decimals.
Trading Scenario – Trading Rising Prices
If you believe that the Euro will strengthen against the dollar you'll want to buy Euro now and sell it back later at a higher price.
| • You buy Euro | We quote EURUSD at Bid 0.9875 and Ask 0.9878, which means that you can sell 1 Euro for 0.9875USD or buy 1 Euro for 0.9878 USD . In this example you buy Euro 100,000, at the quote price of 0.9878 (ask price) per Euro. |
| • The market moves in your favor | Later the market turns in favour of the Euro and the EURUSD is now quoted at Bid 0.9894 and Ask 0.9896. |
| • Now you sell your Euro and get the profit | You sell Euro at a Bid price of 0.9894. |
| • The profit is calculated as follows | Sell price-buy price x size of trade (0.9894 minus 0.9878) multiplied by 100.000 = USD 140 Profit (Note that the profit or loss is always expressed in the secondary currency) |
Trading Scenario – Trading Falling Prices
If, on the other hand, you believe that the Euro will weaken against the dollar, you'll want to sell EURUSD .
| • You sell Euro | We quote EURUSD at a Bid price of 0.9875 and Ask price of 0.9880 and you decide to sell Euro 100,000 at a Bid price of 0.9875. |
| • The market moves in your favour | The Euro weakens against the dollar and the EURUSD is now quoted at bid 0.9744 and ask 0.9749. |
| • Now you buy back your Euro | You buy EUR at an ask price of 0.9749. |
| • Your Profit/loss is then | Sell price-buy price x size of trade (0.9875 minus 0.9749) multiplied by 100.000 = USD 1260 Profit |
Remember that trading EUR 100,000 as we have done in our examples, does not mean that you have to put up Euro 100,000 yourself. On a 2% margin means that you have to deposit 2.0% of Euro 100,000, which is
Euro 2,000 on margin as a guarantee for the future performance of your position.
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