Cerind Forex

Forex Trading Education

2007-07-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Stocks Or Foreign Exchange - Which One?

2007-07-05T02:42:00.000-07:00

Many people would like to invest in stocks or Forex but are not really sure of the difference between the two and don’t know which is the right choice for them.

There is little doubt that there are many options out there for you. But, it is hard to say which the right choice is until you gather some information about them and then make the right choice.

Stocks? Forex?

Stock trading is similar to owning part of a company or organization. You purchase the stocks so that the company can then use this money to reinvest to increase their profits. Most people know about the stock trading market and have a basic understanding of how it works.

On the other hand, though, not many realize what Forex trading actually is. Forex trading is a type of investing that deals with currency trading.

In its basic form, you cash in US dollars for the currency of another country. You cash out when you make a profit or to cut your losses short.

The Forex market is a truly global marketplace where billions of dollars are traded everyday. Here, you can make a lot of money and lose a lot of money fairly quickly.

Making The Choice

Forex trading is a relatively new method of investing. It is a good choice for someone who is willing to take greater risk for a greater reward.

In stock trading, you can make smaller profits in the short-term and only in the long-term can you make a significant profit.

It is often wise for the beginner to dabble in stocks trading before looking at Forex trading. It is an excellent way to get your feet wet without a whole lot of risk.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that anyone who is a beginner in the field of investments should pay close attention to details here. It is important for both types of investments that due diligence is paid in order to make any money.

Study both forms of investments and do some paper trading. This simply means you make decisions to buy or sell but don't put any real money down.

The key here is to track results like you would do for a real trade. Initially, you will make mistakes, so go easy on yourself.

With experience you will start to make profits on a consistent basis. When this happens, start putting some money on your trades.

Good luck with your investment efforts.

******

Mike Singh is a successful webmaster and publisher of financial websites. He provides stock market help and articles on how to read forex charts at his website: http://www.forex-made-ez.com.

Forex Broker: Choosing the Right Forex Broker

2007-07-05T02:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's hard to make a decision on which Forex broker to open our trading account, there are just too many of them. Most of them have different features, capabilities, weaknesses and advantages, for this reason I have created a checklist that can help you decide the broker to use in your Forex adventure.

1. Is it regulated?

The first question you have to ask yourself is: is the broker I want to use Regulated ? There must be no doubt about this first point. All regulated brokers must submit financial reports to regulatory authorities, and when they fail to do it, authorities have the right to fine them or terminate their membership. This enforces Forex brokers to keep transparent financial reports.

The brokers must be regulated by their local regulatory authorities, for instance, for brokers based in the US , they must be regulated by the NFA (National Futures Association) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), Swiss based brokers must be regulated by the FDF (Swiss Federal Department of Finance) and so on.

Also when a Forex broker is regulated allows investors to dispute any resolution, increasing the investor protection.

2. Trading Conditions

This point refers to the features of the trading platform and the trading conditions with the chosen broker. Amongst the most important factors are:

Spread - Obviously the smaller the spread on currency pairs the better the conditions are for investors and traders.

Platform execution - Trading execution refers to how fast and consistent are the execution of trades. Some brokers guarantee fast and transparent executions during normal market conditions.

Fractional trading – Some brokers allow investors and traders to trade on a fractional basis, instead of trading full lots “100,000 units” or “300,000 units”, they allow you to trade “163,345 units” or “325,911 units”. This is very helpful for trades risking certain percentage of their balance on each trade.

Safety of funds – We need to make sure our trading funds are kept in a segregated account or at least insured.

- Forex Blog

- Forex Resources

- Course Demo

- Compare Courses

- Free Course

- New to Forex?

- Affiliates

Trading platform – Easy to use and understand platform, is it reliable during fast moving markets? And what extra features it offers such as: one click buying/selling, trading directly from a chart, supports mobile devices, trailing stops, etc.)

Minimum investment – What is the minimum amount of money required to open a trading account? This aspect is very useful because before trading your full account, you need to test the waters and see how well you perform with an account with limited funds (after trading a demo account).

Margin (leverage) – What kind of leverage can be used with the chosen broker? Just to make sure our leverage requirements by our Forex strategy and methodology (leverage above 100:1 is not advisable).

Commissions – Some brokers charge commission, it is ok if they do if the spread is smaller than other brokers.

3. Diligence

Hopefully you have eliminated most brokers at this point. You should have 3 or 4 finalists. In this step do your diligences on forums, ask other traders about their experiences using their brokers, and so forth.

Some forums where you can ask for broker information are: ForexFactory, MoneyTec, ForexNews.

If brokers are registered by their local regulatory authorities, you can visit the regulator website and you will find plenty of information about Forex brokers. Some of them publish resolutions regarding Forex brokers.

Amongst the aspects you should ask and get informed are:

Customer service – This aspect is the most important of them all, are they rude to customers? Are they willingly to help customers? These are the questions you should ask in forums and fellow traders.

Slippage – Slippage is the difference between the price where the trade was executed and actual value of it. Do they honor stop loss and take profit levels? Do they guarantee it? If any one had any discrepancies, did their broker revert the result?

Manual execution – Some brokers don't like scalpers, if they catch someone doing it, they will put this trader into manual execution, so a dealer (human) must accept all transactions made by this trader. Do they do this?

Re-quotes – a re-quote happens when you click the buy/sell button and the platform doesn't accept our price, so it will give us another quote for that particular trade.

4. Testing

In this phase we should test our Forex broker, first on a demo account to see how it works, also test your system to see how it performs. If you are satisfied with the results, then try the same platform with limited funds to see how it performs on real trades. If you are satisfied again then open your full trading account with the chosen broker.

I hope this checklist help you all traders to take the right decision when choosing brokers.

******
Source: http://www.straightforex.com

2007-07-03T00:32:00.001-07:00

Technorati Profile

Fundamental Analysis On Forex Trading

2007-06-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

It has become imperative for every forex trader to learn how to predict the price trend and which method or software is the best.

When you do forex trading, it is very important to understand the difference between fundamental analysis and technical analysis. A quick explanation of the difference among the two types of analysis is: fundamental analysis focuses on money policy, government policy and economic indicators such as GDP, exports, imports etc within a business cycle framework while technical analysis focuses on price action and market behavior, especially on chart and technical indicators.

Needless to say both schools are equally disparaging about the other, and both believe their techniques are infinitely superior. But the reality is that it has become increasingly difficult to be a purist of either persuasion. Fundamentalists need to keep an eye on the various signals derived from the price action on charts, while few technicians can afford to completely ignore impending economic data, critical political decisions or the myriad of societal issues that influence prices.

Generally speaking, fundamental analysis can only judge which direction the market will move, and technical analysis can supply both direction and rough currency rate.

Keeping in mind that the financial underpinnings of any country, trading bloc or multinational industry takes into account many factors, including social, political and economic influences, staying on top of an extremely fluid fundamental picture can be challenging. Meanwhile, forecasting models are as numerous and varied as the traders and market buffs that create them. Different people can look at the exact same data and come up with two completely different conclusions about how the market will be influenced by it. At the end, some may make huge profit and some lose their money. You can not say fundamental analysis is easy.

Remember, fundamental analysis is a very effective way to forecast economic conditions, but not necessarily exact market prices. For example, when analyzing an economist's forecast of the upcoming GDP or employment report, you begin to get a fairly clear picture of the general health of the economy and the forces at work behind it. However, you'll need to come up with a precise method as to how best to translate this information into entry and exit points for a particular trading strategy.

Tip: If you are new to do forex trading and do not trade frequently, you can mainly use fundamental analysis for your trading.

Don't disturb yourself by information overload. Sometimes traders fall into this trap and are unable to pull the trigger on a trade. Normally, your first feel is the answer for you to do forex trading. At that time, you are sure which currency is strong and which country's economy is good. The more simple, the more useful.

However, trading a particular market without knowing a great deal about the exact nature of its underlying elements is unbelievable. You might get lucky and snare a few on occasion but it's not the best approach over the long haul.

For forex traders, the fundamentals are everything that makes a country tick. From interest rates and central bank policy to natural disasters, the fundamentals are a dynamic mix of distinct plans, erratic behaviors and unforeseen events. Therefore, it is very important to understand fundamental analysis and use them on forex trading.
About the Author

Paul Zou is the blogger of Make Money Online, Online Investment and Work At Home. Featured information for you to work at home and make money online. You can contact him at email:paulzou@yahoo.com

FOREX Trading Strategy - The Secret of Timing

2007-06-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Once you've identified a trading opportunity, the next step is to decide EXACTLY when to buy - and this is where many traders go wrong.

Here we explain how to incorporate better market timing into your FOREX strategy - so that you can make bigger profits.

Most traders time their entry levels incorrectly, so here's the right way to do it:

Using Support and Resistance Correctly

A basic wisdom of market timing is buy low, sell high- well, the reality is, if you try this in FOREX trading, you'll end up losing money. First, let's define what support and resistance means

A support level is a historical price that traders come in, and buy to support the market¨C and the more times it's tested, the more valid the support will be.

Conversely, a resistance level is a level on the charts that resisted prices from moving higher- again the more times it's tested, the more significant it becomes.

Why Buy Low and Sell High doesn't Work

Buy low, sell high is accepted wisdom by the majority of traders - but this logic is fundamentally flawed - use it in FOREX trading, and you're asking for trouble. Why? - If you wait for a pullback, you're going to miss some of the biggest moves.

Think about it - what if a currency starts to trend and doesn't pullback? (How often have you seen this?) If you're waiting for a pullback that never comes, you'll never get in on the trade ¨C and you'll miss a major opportunity.

You Need to Feel Uncomfortable

When Trading in the FOREX market, you should usually feel uncomfortable (and that's why most traders don't make these trades) - as no one likes to buy or sell after the market has started trending - but doing this will make you money.

The fact is, the more comfortable you feel when entering a trade at support, the less likely the trade will be a big winner.

During any given year, most of the big moves in currencies, take place from new MARKET HIGHS with NO pullback.

If you base your FOREX Trading strategy around waiting for a warm comfy entry, at key support, you're going to miss the biggest and most profitable trades ¨C so step away from the losing majority of traders.

Your FOREX trading strategy should give you a different mindset - most traders buy low and sell high - so you should buy high and sell higher ¨C i.e. you should be doing the opposite of what the crowd are doing.

Don't worry - most traders lose money, and their FOREX Trading strategy is based on the flawed logic we have just discussed - so not doing what they do makes total sense. Therefore, look for breakouts through support and resistance - and sell and buy respectively.

Its Tough Mentally - But it Makes Money!

Sure, it's hard to do - the majority don't agree with you - and no one likes to go against the majority. However, it's the right thing to do, to make your FOREX trading successful. Think about what we've just said, and you'll see it makes logical sense.

Has this Happened to You?

How many times do traders buy into support, and the market breaks support, stops them out and continues to decline. On the other hand, another common scenario is, price never get to support - it simply goes higher - and the trader misses the chance to get in on the trend.

This type of trading is tough mentally - that's why 90% of traders don't do it - they want to be comfortable - well being comfortable is great, but you'll lose money.

Breakouts work, and if you use them in your FOREX Trading strategy, you won't be comfortable on entry - but you'll make money - and that will more than compensate.

The way to succeed in FOREX trading is to do what the losing majority don't do - then you can join the elite 10% of traders who make the big profits - try it and see!

About the Author

New! A valuable FREE Currency Trader CD containing 9 critical trading reports, tips, strategies and forex trading info. Visit our web site now and grab your CD http://www.tradercurrencies.com.

Why Trade the FOREX?

2007-06-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

My purpose for writing this article is to demonstrate to you the advantages of trading on the FOREX market. However, there is one myth that I want to dispel before I go further. The myth is that there is a difference between trading and investing. To dispel that myth I quote from Al Thomas, President of Williamsburg Investment Company, who wrote "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It". He said "Everyone who invests is a trader, only the time period is different." It is a lesson that I took seriously after taking a beating in the stock market in 2000.

So now, let's compare features of currency trading to those of stock and commodity trading.

Liquidity
The FOREX market is the most liquid financial market in the world around 1.9 trillion dollars traded everyday. The commodities market trades around 440 billion dollars a day, and the US stock market trades around 200 billion dollars a day. This ensures better trade execution and prevents market manipulation. It also ensures easily executable trading.

Trading Times
The FOREX market is open 24 hours a day (except weekends) which means that in the US it opens at 3:00 pm Sunday (EST) and closes Friday at 5:00 (EST), allowing active traders to choose the times they want to trade. Commodities trading hours are all over the board depending on which commodity you are trading. Including extended trading times US stocks can be traded from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm (ET) on weekdays.

Leverage
Depending on your FOREX account size, your leverage may be 100:1, although there are FOREX brokers that offer leverage of up to 400:1 (not that I would ever recommend that kind of leverage). Leverage in the stock market can be as high as 4:1, and in the commodities market, leverage varies with the commodity traded but it can be quite high. Because the commodity markets are not as liquid as the FOREX market, its leverage is inherently riskier. Although I was never shut out of a commodity trade by the day limit, the fear was always in the back of my mind.

Trading costs
Transaction costs in the FOREX market is the difference between the buy and sell price of each currency pair. There are no brokerage fees. For both the stock and the commodity markets, there are transaction costs and brokerage fees. Even when you use discount brokers, those fees add up.

Minimum investment
You can open a FOREX trading account for as little as $300.00. It took $5,000 for me to open my futures trading account.

Focus
85% of all trading transactions are made on 7 major currencies. In the US stock market alone there are 40,000 stocks. There are just over 200 commodity markets, although quite a few are so illiquid that they are not traded except by hedgers. As you can see, the fewer number of instruments allows us to study each one more closely.

Trade execution
In the FOREX market, trade execution is almost instantaneous. In both the equity and commodity markets, you count on a broker to execute your trades and their results are sometimes inconsistent.

While all of these features make trading the FOREX market very attractive, it still requires a lot of education, discipline, commitment and patience. All trading can be risky.

About the Author
Dr Susan Walker has been an environmental consultant for more than 20 years and has dabbled in trading for longer than she cares to remember. Please visit her at www.creative4xtrader.com and she will give you, absolutely free, a copy of the great little e-book, "FOREX FREEDOM".

Forex Trading Education - The London Open Checklist

2007-06-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

A thorough Forex trading education must include an understanding of the effect market timings can have on trading and liquidity.

One of the most active periods of the day is from the time the London market opens. Often around that time good trading opportunities will appear.

As part of your Forex trading education, learn to analyze market conditions around London open and begin to recognize good setups.

The following questionnaire and checklist will help.

London Open Preparation

About 15 to 30 minutes before London open check the answers to these questions:

Are the MACD indicators on the 4 hour and 1 hour charts in agreement? If they are not going in the same direction be very careful!
Is there MACD divergence on the 4 hour, 1 hour, or 15 minute chart? Look for other clues to confirm that price may go in the direction of MACD divergence.
On the 4 hour chart what is the overall trend?
Do a Fibonacci calculation on the last swing high and low and see if price is pulling back to an optimum retracement level or whether it is reaching a key extension level.
Note price in relation to the 200 EMA (Exponential Moving Average) on the 4 hour, 1 hour and 15 minute charts. Is price bucking the trend? In other words, is price above the 200 EMA on the 4 hour and 1 hour chart but below it on the 15 minute? Then be prepared for price to go long at some stage. (Draw the opposite conclusion if price is below the 200 EMA on the 4 hour and 1 hour chart but above it on the 15 minute chart.)
Are any Economic Reports imminent?
As the candle closes on the 15 minute chart at London open, do you see any distinctive candle patterns such as tweezers, or doji's or hammers indicating price exhaustion?
If I entered a trade right now in a particular direction, what would be the risk and where would I place my stop?
Within a few minutes of London open, if you see a number of factors converging from the analysis above, make a decision one way or the other:
Trade
Wait for clearer signals or a better entry point

Carrying out an analysis in this way each day at London open will do much to increase your Forex trading education.

It will make you aware of what is happening on the charts and in the marketplace and help you to arrive at conclusions.

There is no magic formula involved with Forex trading education. Put simply, successful Forex trading is the result of years of hard work, study, practice, and experience often gained through painful trading scenarios.

Eventually the newer trader learns mental discipline, and how to control the emotions - probably the biggest part of a Forex trading education.

Practice a procedure like the one above day after day and begin to see some progress as you get nearer the time you make profits consistently from currency trading.
About the Author

For a free pivot point calculator, Fibonacci calculator and the best free economic calendars click here:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/tools.html

For a free candle & chart pattern recognition reference tool click here:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Candle-Chart-Patterns

See how to use trendlines to get an optimum trade entry point:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/trendline.html

Market Open by Malaysia Time

2007-06-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

6.00 am - Australia Open
7.50 am - Japan Fundamentals
8.00 am - Asian Open
10.00 am - Singapore, Hong Kong Open
11.00 am - Asian Slowing
3.00 pm - Europe Open
3.45 pm - Eurozone Fundamentals
4.00 pm - London Open
5.00 pm - Tokyo Close
5.30 pm - UK Fundamentals
9.00 pm - New York Open
9.30 pm - USA Fundamentals
11.00 pm - Europe Close
1.00 am - London Close
6.00 am - New York Close

Complete Guide for Forex Trader

2007-06-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

Click & download forex ebook:

241 Forex
4 Hour MACD Trading System [rar]
80 Trading Strategies For Forex
A Quick Guide To Trading Forex
Amazing Forex System
FX Power Trading Course
FX Wizard
Forex For Everyone
Forex Online Manual For Successful Trading
Forex Trader E-book
Forex Trading with Candlestick and Pattern #1
Forex Trading With Candlestick And Pattern #2
Forex Trading Course
Forex Trade Book
Forex Trading For Maximum Profit [djvu]
ICWR Forex Trading Strategy
NFP Trading System [rar]
Not So Squeezy
One More Zero How To Trade Forex Like A Pro In One Hour
Peter Bain TradingSmarts [rar]
Practical Fibonacci Methods For Forex Trading
Rapid Forex Trading E-books [rar]
Realtime Forex
RTFX Online Forex Tutorial
Study Book For Successful Forex Dealing
The Day Trade Forex System : The Ultimate Guide To Forex
Trading For A Living In The Forex Market
Trading System eZine [rar]
Trading The NFP Report
VanessaFX Advanced Systems

Definitions of Forex...

2007-06-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Foreign Exchange.
www.fx-forex-trading.com/glossary.htm

Term commonly used when referring to the foreign exchange market.
www.forextradingplus.com/glossaryforexterms-e-f.htm

An abbreviated name for foreign currency. See also FX
www.candlestrength.com/stock-trading-glossary.htm

Short for "Foreign Exchange". Refers generally to the Foreign Exchange trading industry and/or to the currencies themselves.
www.gcitrading.com/glossary.htm

Industry term - Same as Foreign Exchange
www.cambridgefx.com/currency-exchange/forex-directory.html

An abbreviation of foreign exchange.
www.trading24.org/forex-market-trading/market-terminology.php

Any type of financial instrument that is used to make payments between countries is considered foreign exchange. The list of instruments includes electronic transactions, paper currency, checks, and signed, written orders called bills of exchange. Large-scale currency trading, with minimums of $1 million, is also considered foreign exchange and can be handled as spot price transactions, forward contract transactions, or swap contracts. ...
www.pathtoinvesting.org/dictionary/words_f.htm

Forex is short for foreign exchange. When one speaks of a forex profit or loss, he is talking about the increased or decreased value of an investment caused solely by currency movements. For example, if an investor thought that the dollar was weak, he might purchase German money markets. The investor's account might earn 3% annualized, but the real profit or loss could be in how the DM (German mark) moves against the US$ (United States dollar). ...
www.garyascott.com/currez/glossary.html

The simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another.
absolute-futures.com/forex/glossaryd-g.html

Short for "foreign exchange market", an over-the-counter market where currencies are traded. Forward contract - The sale or purchase of a commodity for delivery at a specified future date, usually a private transaction that is not conducted over an exchange. Free milling - Ores of gold or silver from which the precious metals can be recovered by concentrating methods without resorting to pressure leaching or other chemical treatment.
www.freebuck.com/reference/glossary/f.htm

Where money from one country is exchanged for that of another.
www.e2.co.uk/finance/stocks_shares/glossary.html

The FOREX or Foreign Exchange market is the largest financial market in the world, with an volume of more than $1.5 trillion daily, dealing in currencies. Unlike other financial markets, the Forex market has no physical location, no central exchange. It operates through an electronic network of banks, corporations and individuals trading one currency for another. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOREX