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Monday 20 December 2010

What is Forex trading?

The term Forex is derived from the foreign exchange with the trading of the foreign currencies popularly known as Forex trading and the place where the forex trading is done is known as the Forex market.

The currency of any country commands its own price with reference to the currency of any other nation. The difference between the values of these two currencies is taken into account during the Forex trading.

The Forex market is a 24 hour, 5 days a week cash market where currencies of different nations are traded through global Forex dealers. Foreign currencies are continuously bought and sold across local and international Forex markets and the value of a particular currency may change against other international currencies from time to time. The goal of Forex trading is to earn profit from foreign currency value movements. Forex trading is always done in a pair of currencies like the EURO/USD or AUD/USD.

With Forex trading, usually it is desirable to trade only when it is expected that the currency you are buying is likely to increase in value relative to the currency you are selling. However, the Forex market is mostly speculative. Forex Trading is the largest financial trading market in the world. In Forex trading, when you buy the currency of a particular country, you are investing your money in the economy of that particular country. If the economy of that particular country is healthy, then the value of your investment will increase, and you will make a profit and if the economy of that county is in bad shape then the value of your investment may decrease and you may end up in a loss. Usually the Forex market is considered as the most volatile market in the world.

The Forex market came into existence way back in the year 1971. Till recently the requirement for the start of Forex trading required a huge investment and only individuals and companies with tens of millions of dollars could afford to trade in the Forex market. But the scenario has changed now completely and you can get started with an investment of as little as $50. Most of the trade in the Forex market includes U.S. Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY), UK Pounds (GBP), Swiss Francs (CHF), Canadian Dollars (CAD) and Australian Dollars (AUD) and these currencies are considered as the most popular currencies in the Forex trade. Since the Forex market is open 24 hours, you can trade in the Forex market any time that suits you best.

When you opt in to trade in the Forex market it is desirable that you buy a foreign currency at one price, wait until it has increased in value, and then sell your holding of foreign currency. But it may require a considerable amount of time and it tests the patience you have but it will mean than you have a better chance to actually register the significant profit from the trading. There is considerable risk involved in the Forex trading, supposing the foreign currency that you expect to increase in value, falls in value instead and then you make a loss on the trade straight way. This is the condition portrayed for the long term investments but in the real terms in a Forex market nobody is going to hold on to their foreign currency for months or years. Most of the Forex trade transactions are completed within seven days at the most and Forex trading involves very small short-term changes in currency values. These short-term changes take place within a few hours in any day. This gives you the scope of not loosing a big amount of your investment from any particular deal but it also does not guarantee you a significant gain from the deal.

The Foreign Exchange Market

The Foreign exchange market deals with the trading of different foreign currencies. One currency is traded for another in the foreign exchange market only. Presently the foreign exchange market is by far the largest financial market in the world. The trade in a foreign exchange market includes trading of different currencies between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. Individuals constitute a very small fraction of this foreign exchange market and they participate only through brokers or banks and most of the times they are subject to forex scams. The foreign exchange market is unique because of many factors such as its trading volumes, its geographical dispersion and the extreme liquidity of the market. Beside that the large number and variety of traders in the market and its long trading hours that is round the clock operation throughout the week except on weekends make it unique. The average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets is estimated to be over $3 trillion. This is more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world's equity markets. Foreign exchange trade has more than doubled since 2001; this is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset. The internet trading platform has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. Essentially the foreign exchange market is an over the counter market where the dealers negotiate directly with each another. The biggest foreign exchange trading centre is the UK. Majority of the foreign exchange trade is handled by the institutions like Deutsche Bank, UBS AG, Citigroup incorporated, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Capital, Bank of America, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley. These large international banks frequently provide the market with buy and sell prices of the different currencies. Minimum trading size for most of the deals is usually kept at 100,000 units of that particular currency; this is a known popularly as a standard lot. Unlike a stock market, the foreign exchange market is divided into levels of access. This is due to volume of transactions. Central banks of various countries also participate in the foreign exchange market to align currencies to their economic needs. The bank may trade on behalf of customers, but much of the trading is done by the banks for their own account. A major fraction of this market comes from the financial activities of various companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services, their trades often have small/ big short term impact on market rates. There are two types of retail brokers who participate in the foreign exchange market such as the brokers offering speculative trading and brokers offering physical delivery of the bought currency. The foreign exchange rate fluctuations are generally caused by actual currency flows as well as by expectations of changes in currency flows caused by changes in GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, budget and trade deficits or surpluses and other economic conditions of that particular country. The foreign currencies are traded against one another; each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product. Although exchange rates are affected by many factors, in the end, currency prices are a result of supply and demand forces, thus its value, are not influenced by any single element, but rather by several. There are few specific terms that are used frequently in the foreign currency trade like spot. A spot transaction is a two-day delivery transaction, this trade represents a direct exchange between two currencies, it involves the shortest time frame. Next is the Forward, in this type of transaction, money does not actually change hands until some agreed upon future date. Another is the swap, in a swap; two parties exchange currencies for a certain length of time and agree to reverse the transaction at a later date. Speculation also plays a major part in the foreign exchange market and it may cause some currencies to fall or gain for a short time period.

How Does Online Forex Work?

The forex market is a huge international exchange where different currencies are traded; it came into existence way back in the year 1997. Previously the forex market was restricted to the big players like the large banks, financial institutions and the central banks of different countries as the requirement for the investment were very high and most of the times it used to be in the millions of dollars. Still it is estimated to be the largest financial market in the world and the forex market is not governed by the rules of any particular country. The forex market is usually open from Sunday to Friday, on 24 hour basis. In general Forex trading is the buying and selling of different currencies. The currencies are bought and sold in pairs and this is done simultaneously. There are people who make a lot of money with forex trading after the forex trading became possible for the small investors due to the popularity of the internet which ultimately gave rise to the online forex trading. Online Forex trading is getting very popular as the days are passing by.

Mostly the currencies like Euro, Japanese Yen, U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, British Pound, Australian dollar, and the Swiss franc rule over the forex market and most of the transactions are done in the market include them. The U.S. dollar is considered to be the strongest of them all as many commodities are internationally priced in Dollars like the gold and petroleum products and these products always require the payment in U.S. dollar only. The Forex exchange is quite different from Stock Exchanges; the forex exchange does not have a physical location. There are a lot of factors that influence the Forex rate like economic factors including the interest rates and inflation, political factors such as political unrest in other countries and major changes in government cause up and down changes in the Forex rate. However, these things tend to be short-term, and don't affect it for long. The major factor that affects the fluctuation in the rate of the forex is the surplus or the shortage of any particular currency.

Online Forex trading is usually done through various sites that are easy to find by surfing on the Internet. Most of these sites provide a wealth of information for the first time trader. Most of these sites are managed by the forex brokers or the forex dealers. They tell you about the history of Forex trading, how to invest in the trade, tips on being successful, etc. These sites allow you to open a forex trading account with as little as $300 and you are ready to start trading in the forex market. These sites are open for anyone who is interested in foreign currency trading. There is lot of information available on the net that may help you to formulate your own set of strategies for earning the profits. But, there are no guarantees that you will make money or that you won't make money. It is only you and your sheer intelligence that leads you to earn the great riches from the forex market. The online forex trading provides you the opportunity to earn as much as you can from the online Forex trading. These sites also provide you the opportunity to learn and feel the real market before investing any money by allowing you to trade in the virtual forex market. The online forex trading allows you to feel the real throbbing and pulsating international forex market once you get an account with the online forex dealer to reap the benefits of the trade.

Thursday 16 December 2010

Forex Scalping For Beginners



More new forex traders try forex scalping methods or day trading than any other methodology. This article is all about the facts you need to know so lets get started on our forex scalping for beginners review of the basics.

The first and most important point is - it doesn't work!

You will see lots of vendors on the net try and entice you with great copy and track records which look just too good to be true and they are - Why?

Because none of them have been traded in real time - all are simulated in hindsight KNOWING the closing prices. If you look at the disclaimer you will see the one below (standard CFTC) or similar - read it carefully:

"CFTC RULE 4.41 - Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under-or-over compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown".

Put this disclaimer of a forex scalping system and you can say anything you like and make up any track record you like - it's as simple as that.

Forex scalping or day trading is a good story but that's all it is - it won't make you money,because the underlying logic is flawed.

Consider this:

You have millions of people trading trillions of dollars and to try and say what this vast group of people all with different investment objectives and subject to their emotions will do in a few hours is rubbish.

Traders are not logical and price volatility in a day or a few hours is totally random.

Trying to base your forex trading strategy on trying to find order in these short periods is simply doomed to failure.

Volatility is daily time periods is random -you can't get the odds on your side because support and resistance levels wont help you and you may as well base your trading and marketing timing on flipping a coin.

Don't believe me?

Try and find a forex scalping or day trading system with a real long term track record of profits and you won't find one - if you do let me know I have been looking for over 25 years.

If you want to win at forex trading and enjoy currency trading success you need to use longer time periods that will allow you to get the odds on your side with your forex trading system and that means forex swing trading or long term trend following.

This will allow you to trade the odds and enjoy forex success long term.

Today, traders are looking for easy ways to make money and of course there are none and you wouldn't expect there to be with the profits you can make - but if you work smart and get a system that can help you execute your forex trading signal in line with the odds and you can win.

So their you have it - our view of forex scalping for beginners and our view is don't try it, or you will lose all your money quickly.

Forex Trading For Beginners - A Lesson from the Turtles for Forex Success



Here we are going to outline the story of "the turtles" who were a group of people who had never traded before and went on to make over $100 million in just four years. This article is all about learning forex trading for beginners and the lessons that you can learn from the turtles, for long term forex success.

The story begins over 20 years ago in 1983, when trading legend Richard Dennis decided to prove that anyone could learn currency trading - with the right training so, he conducted an experiment.

He gathered a group of 14 people together, from all walks of life, both sexes, various ages, who had varying levels of education and then set about teaching them to trade in just 14 days.

After the 14 days training was completed, he had taught them a forex trading strategy to execute in real time and set them up with real money and real accounts - the result?

This group of traders went on to make $100 million dollars in just 4 years and many went on to become trading legends.

So what can you learn from this experiment?

The first point is - it shows the potential of trading using leverage and although you may not make as much money as the turtles with your forex trading system, it shows that anyone can learn if, they have a desire to learn and the right education.

It also shows that trading is a specifically learned skill, not some god given gift and that all people can learn. It showed that to win at forex trading you don't' need to work hard but work smart and get the right forex education, rather than knowledge for knowledge sake.

Perhaps the most important point that you can learn from the experiment is:

If you read the writings and interviews with formal turtles, they all stress that the system was easy to learn, the hard part was following it with discipline.

This is a common problem for any involved in trading.

It's hard to continually execute your trading signals with discipline, when you are in a period of drawdown and losses. This is why it is so vital to have the knowledge and confidence in what you are doing to hold your discipline.

THE REAL KEY TO SUCCESS

Is inner understanding of what you are doing, to enable you to have the confidence to execute your trading strategy with discipline.

Today, many traders simply don't want to do this - they want to follow a guru or expert and think they can give them success with no effort and of course they lose.

Dennis knew that for his disciples to trade successfully, he had to teach them how and why the method worked, so they understood what they were doing and could hold their nerve.

The fact is currency trading success looks easy to achieve but it eludes most traders, because they can't hold their nerve and trade with discipline.

While the turtle experiment took place over 20 years ago, the lessons it can teach us are as valid today as they ever were.

Forex trading for beginners looks straightforward to most newbie's - but the turtle lesson shows us, not only what you need to do but give any trader inspiration in their trading career with the success that they achieved.

This story inspired me to trade and hope it inspires you to.

Open a Mini Forex Trading Account




Learning about this subject will help you more in the long run than you may realize, until the time comes when you really need it.

Open a small online FOREX trading account first before considering of investing big if you're a beginner. FOREX trading is risky if you dont have enough experience. If your meaning is to get some experience and not interested in making big investment yet, you can begin by investing $50 - $100 first and see how it goes. To trade with such small amounts is the best way to get known with FOREX marketplace. It is greatly better than working with demo accounts, where you're not genuinely risking your money and there are no returns at all with these accounts.

You can start an online FOREX trading account and some website let you register from as little as $50. Do not laugh small accounts are a good customs to get your feet wet before invest all your money inside. Also, mini FOREX trading does not undergo the illiquidity of many futures mini-contracts, as everybody feeds from the same currency team. Not only that, you can begin trading in 5 minutes or less. You can immediately deposit the margins of the deals and trade instantly.

In the beginning of this article, we went over the basics. Now, we will look at this topic a little more in-depth.

Small accounts are a great way to start and develop your important trading expertise. Consider to wish a FOREX trading platform with high competitive spreads. This way will save your FOREX trading expenses. It can be as low as 3 to 5 pips, depending on how greatly money you want to trade.

I would want to give a few tips before you start an online FOREX trading account. Everybody is emotionally close to their money. You must have emotional detachment from your FOREX trading account. Otherwise, each taint trade will swarm you with stress, fret and fright. Just be calm when you trade and you can do greatly better.

Having this information handy will help you a great deal the next time you find yourself in need of it.

Forex Trading - 3 Simple Tips for Triple Digit Profits

If you incorporate these two tips in your forex trading strategy then you can increase your forex profits dramatically and really supercharge your gains so here they are. The first one is.

1. Reduce Your Trading Frequency 

Many traders think the more they trade the more their profit potential will be and they don't like not being in the market in case they miss a big move. They end up trading to much and taking low odds trades and lose.

You don't get rewarded for how often you trade - you get rewarded for being right with your trading signal and that's it.

I know trades who trade only a few times a year and make triple digit profits.

Their not interested in the buzz of trading, just taking trades they know will be big trends they can hold and make money with.

2. Do Not Diversify!

You will here a lot about not putting your eggs all in one basket as a way to reduce risk but there is a problem - it dilutes profit potential and most traders who start trading in forex simply don't have big enough accounts to diversify.

When you see a high odds trade on your forex trading system then you need to focus on it and not be tempted take other marginal trades for the sake of it, this leads onto the next point.

3. Load the Trade Up 

Another common wisdom is only risk 2% per trade - but for most forex traders this is too little and simply ensures they get stopped out by normal volatility.

Let's say you are trading a small account of $3,000, risking 2%, that's just $60!

You won't make much risking that.

Risk and reward go hand in hand, so the more you risk the more you can make.

This doesn't mean that you have to be rash but you need to take calculated risks at the right time and if you believe in a trade load it up.

If you have a small account then you should be risking between 10 - 20% on these trades. The high odds trades don't come around often, so you need to milk them for all there worth.

Finally....

If you don't like risk or try and restrict it to much, you will simply consign yourself to failure. You also need to have the courage to hit trades hard at the right time and be patient to wait for the high odds set ups to emerge.

If you are a trader who wants to make more money from their trading then the above 3 tips will help you do so and enjoy currency trading success.

Forex Training - Tips for Success

Forex training if you have never traded forex markets before you need it! Why? Because 95% of traders lose because don't get proper forex education. This article is all about getting the right forex training to win.

The first point to keep in mind is anyone can learn currency trading it's a learned skill not a gift from god but the vast majority to lose. While forex trading looks easy, it's not - but if you learn the right information and avoid the myths you can win and win big time. Let me tell you a story to inspire you.

Trading legend Richard Dennis set out to prove that anyone could win at trading and he set about training a group of people, of all ages, both sexes and different levels of education - in just 14 days. He then sent them off to trade - the result of this experiment?

They made $100 million dollars in just 4 years and the rest is history.

So what education did he give them?

The education was based around a simple robust forex trading system (based on breakouts and trend following) which was simple to understand and have confidence in and this was then combined with robust money management.

Dennis however gave them something more - a total understanding of the system and the confidence to apply it with discipline.

You will often here that discipline is the key to success - and it is, because if you don't have the discipline to apply your method, you really have no method!

Discipline is the key and it comes from within.

If you want to trade you need to learn a currency trading system you can have confidence in, ignore the myths and work smart to get one you're happy and have rock solid confidence in and then you need to apply it.

The vast majority of forex traders don't bother learning the right information they try and follow someone else and when losses come they have no confidence and throw in the towel.

They also fall prey to myths that are perpetrated and these are the most common ones:

- To win at forex trading you need to predict prices. - Day trading makes money. - Markets move to a scientific theory. - Buy low sell high is a great way to trade. - Following a system with a hypothetical track record will make money. - You can trade expert news stories and win.

ETC

There are many more but these are very common and they all see traders lose.

Getting the RIGHT Training

So what you need to do is get some forex charts and learn how to spot repetitive patterns and some momentum indicators to help you confirm movements and then have the confidence and discipline to execute your trading signals in line with your system.

Finally - do not think discipline is easy pick out some books by the great traders and study what they say. Get yourself a copy of Market Wizards by Jack Shcwager and the disciplined Trader by Mark Douglas and it will really ram home how important discipline is.

The Potential

Well Richard Dennis proved what could be done with the right forex training and if you follow the above you could enjoy currency trading success and build wealth quickly.

Your forex training will determine your success, so work smart not hard, be disciplined at all times and good luck!

Becoming a Currency Trader - 3 Vital Tips For Success

So you want to become a currency trader and make big profits? Well, the good news is everything about currency trading can be learned, by those people who can get the right currency trading education. Here we will give you 3 vital tips for currency trading success.

1. Your On Your Own 

Success rests on your shoulders.

If you think you can follow expert news stories, or buy success from someone else, you're wrong. Success comes from within and no one else can make you rich.

Becoming a currency trader is not easy and you wouldn't expect it to be, with the rewards on offer but it's not hard either.

You simply need to get the right forex education and work smart.

If you have a desire to succeed, a willingness to learn and accept responsibility for your actions, you can get past first base.

2. Mindset is More Important Than Method 

Forex trading is essentially simple.

A robust simple method combined with discipline is all you need to succeed.

Your forex trading system should be simple - simple systems tend to be far more successful than complicated ones, as they are more robust in the face of brutal ever changing market conditions.

Having a good method is only part of being successful as an FX trader, you have to have the right mindset as well and this is the hard bit!

This means having confidence in what you are doing which leads to the discipline to apply your trading method and stick with it, when you hit a losing streak.

This is why you can't follow anyone else to success and you have to have knowledge and confidence in what you are doing. If you don't, you simply will never acquire the vital trait of discipline.

It's mental discipline that separates winners from losers in forex trading and we cannot stress how vital this trait is.

3. You Have To Have This!

95% of traders lose with their forex trading strategies and you have to have an edge.

An edge is "the something" that will help you win while the vast majority of traders fail and if you don't know what it is you don't have one!

All successful traders have different edges but they all have confidence in them and see their edge as something that sets them apart form the majority of losing forex traders.

If you don't have an edge you wont win - period.

Becoming a currency trader is not easy - but it's not hard.

Anyone can be successful if they have the right mindset and they want to be but most people simply don't want to do what is necessary for success.

The effort you put in can lead you to an income that is simply life changing. It is the final frontier of the free economy and can help you build real wealth quickly.

Anyone can do it could you become a currency trader and enjoy success?

There is only one way to find out!

Forex Trading Basics - What You Need to Succeed!



Success in FOREX trading is a matter of having the right knowledge and the right timing of the market. If you can combine these two elements, you have an opportunity to succeed in trading the FOReign EXchange (FX or FOREX) market.

Until very recently, the forex markets had been the trading grounds of the ultra rich and thus out of the reach of the average person. The trading units during that time were just too large for most ordinary investors to handle. Today, though, because there are foreign exchange brokers who have broken down the larger sized inter-bank trading units into smaller units, it allows more people to become involved in trading on the forex.

What follows are a few thoughts on the basics of trading in this specialized market. This section constitutes having the right knowledge element from the above forumla. As it continues, you will see where the right timing aspect comes into play.

Trading on the foreign exchange market involves the trading one currency for another. Each day, due to international trade and business elements or the political or current events in the various countries whose currencies are being watched, any given currency may fluctuate in price. A profit can be had in the FX by knowing when the currency of one country will fluctuate as against the currency of another country, and in which direction.

It is important to note that currencies are always traded and priced in pairs. When trading one foreign currency for another, usually the currency listed first is the stronger of the two. For example, GBP/USD indicates the relative dominance in strength of the British Pound in relation to the US Dollar. For instance, in today's trading the the value of one US dollar to the British pound is: 1 = 1.9534. In other words, one GBP is valued at $1.9534 dollars.

Depending upon which direction the two currencies are expected to go during the course of the day's trading, one could buy a contract on one or the other currency in order to initiate a trade. And then once that currency has made its move, sell that contract back in order to extract the profit from the trade. An open position on the forex is a trade in which a trader has bought or sold a particular currency pair without having made a corresponding trade to buy or sell back the equivalent amount to close the trade position.

Prices are quoted to the fourth decimal point in the forex market. For example, the GBP/USD might be bid at 1.9534 and offered at 1.9537. Profits are recorded in terms of pips or "percentage in point." A pip is the smallest price change in forex trading ï؟½" for most pairs this is equal to .0001 or one one hundredth of one percent, or one basis point. In the above example, we can see that the spread is 3 pips wide.

The only exception to this method of computation is the Japanese Yen (JPY), which is quoted only to the second decimal point. For example, 117.89 in JPY to the US dollar equals one dollar being worth 117.89 yen.

Learning how to trade on the forex market requires a different trading mindset from the traditional mindset of trading on the stock market. In trading the forex, everyone has the same information available to determine the currency fluctuations. In addition, in order to be successful it is helpful to have or be following a system of trading which can help you to choose your trading positions. This can be a system which uses either a fundamental or a technical approach to trading.

Getting the Goods on Forex With Proper Education




The word is out. Did you know 95% of the people who trade forex lose money. What is up with that? You really need the right information and it is available to each of us. It's time to get rid of the myths and come into the right mindset.

Now do not get me wrong. Foreign exchange trading can be risky so if you don't have money to lose do not trade or get the right information. Learn the correct knowledge and reduce the risk.

You do know each one of us creates his or her own wealth. We all are accountable to our selves for the actions we take. I choose to research and act. I believe it's a good principal to follow.

There are a lot of people selling you poor or faulty systems. There are systems that actually work from reputable traders. You can learn from them and apply the right tools to make profit.

A major reason traders fail is lack of discipline in their trading practice. Learn your system and why it works and stick to it and you will acquire the discipline needed.

There are some myths that people spread about forex. One is that like the stock market no one can predict the movements in the currency market. Another myth is that complicated systems are best. You need to find one you understand.

Trading is an acquired skill. You need to build confidence as a result of profitable trades. This will come with a desire to learn the proper way of trading.

Courses in Currency Trading - Tips On Choosing The Best



There are many courses in currency trading to choose from online and here we will look at some considerations you should make, when choosing a currency course which can help lead you to currency trading success.

Ignore any currency trading course that make the following statements:

- They Can Predict Currency Prices with Scientific Accuracy

No one can do this. If prices were scientific, we would all know the price in advance and there would be no market. Forex trading is a game of odds, NOT certainties

- They will Reveal Unknown Secrets

If someone really did have important secrets they wouldn't be revealing them in a course! By there very nature there not secrets anymore as they have been revealed.

There are actually no secrets to successful currency trading, if you get the right forex education you will have them all available to you, the key is putting the elements together to work for you.

- You Can Earn a Regular Income

This is rubbish! Markets are un-predictable in short time frames and you can lose money. anyone who says you can earn X Pips per month is not telling the truth.

- You can earn Money Scalping or Day Trading

No you cant - why? Because volatility in short term time periods is random.

It's obvious that you can't tell where millions of humans are going to push prices in a few hours. If you try forex day trading, the odds are you will lose - period.

- If a Track Record Looks to Good To Be True It Is!

You will very often see a track record with very big gains and hardly any losses and you will also see this disclaimer or similar:

"CFTC RULE 4.41 - Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under-or-over compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown".

It's meaningless, as it enables anyone to make any track record they like in hindsight, knowing the closing prices. A forex trading system with one of these should be treated with suspicion and avoided.

What To Look For

Firstly you should look for a 100% money back guarantee with no penalties or handling fees.

You are trusting what the vendor says in terms of helping you get a successful forex trading strategy and its only right to expect, it should deliver what you say.

Make sure the vendors methods suit your trading style - i.e if you are a patient trader, long term trend following is great, if you are not so patient, look for a forex swing trading method.

Make sure the logic is revealed.

The method should be simple and logical and that you have confidence in it - you need confidence to follow any method as without it you won't have discipline and this is the essential difference between winners and losers. You should also ask if the person is a trader and ask some questions just to see what answers you get.

You would be surprised at how many forex courses are not written by traders - but simply are from marketing people, who have no trading experience.

Choosing a currency trading course is essentially common sense.

You should use the above as guidelines to help you and if you want to learn currency trading from a course, there are some good ones around but the vast majority are junk.

This checklist will help you find the good ones.

Courses in currency trading can be a big help to you, so get one your comfortable with and starting enjoying some currency trading success.

Getting a Solid Forex Trading Education

There are a lot of Forex trading courses online that promise to teach you everything you need to know to jump into the market with confidence. If you are new to Forex, though, how can you tell which ones will truly provide you with the solid Forex trading education you need?

A reputable course should training material on all the fundamental concepts for beginners, including:

*Exchange rates *Fixed rates versus floating rates *Currency pairs *Bid Prices versus Ask Prices *Spreads *Lot Sizes *Margins, Margin Calls and Leverage *Pips Values and their role in calculating profit and loss *How to evaluate leading economic indicators *How to read Forex signals and charts

This is just the bare minimum. A really good course should also walk you through a variety of trading examples, and show you how to perform 'test trades' yourself using a demo account with a reputable broker.

Another thing you can do to help speed your learning process is to immerse yourself in the literature of the market. There are scores of books and magazines available on the subject both online and off. You might want to have a look at the free, online magazine called Currency Trader (http://www.currencytradermag.com/).

Finally, consider enhancing your knowledge of other financial marketplaces. You'll find some concepts and terms repeated when reading about how to trade on the Stock Market, or how things like interest rates fluctuate for bonds, bills and other instruments.

This is especially useful if you feel more comfortable in one area of financial knowledge than other because you'll be able to see some related concepts from Forex in a context with which you are already familiar.

Forex Trading Education - 2 Simple Tips To Start Winning

In this article I'm going to share with you 2 uncommon tips that most losing traders don't know about. Try demo trading with these tips in mind, and chances are you'll find that you'll become a better trader.

Tip #1 - Trade Less

This doesn't mean that you should pay less attention to your trading charts. What I mean is that you should enter into fewer trades which have a higher probability of winning.

Many new traders make the mistake of entering into every single "decent" trade setup that they see. The problem with this approach is that these traders are concentrating too much on maximizing their chances of winning (more trades, more chance to win right?), without considering that they are actually increasing their chances of losing too! Generally speaking, the more trades you enter into, the more risk you are taking.

Forex trading is a risky business, so try not to increase the amount of risk that you're already taking. When you enter into trades less frequently, you'll naturally choose those with a higher probability of winning, and NOT enter into trades with a lower probability of winning.

Remember, in Forex trading, it's not about how many times you win, but how MUCH you win. Even if you only have one successful trade each month, it's enough for you to be rich if you can be consistent about it.

Tip #2 - Put Your Eggs In One Basket

I'm sure you've heard of the phrase, "Never put all your eggs in one basket" which refers to the diversification of your funds. Generally, this is good advice.

However, in the Forex market, a better piece of advice would be "Only put SOME of your eggs in one basket".

Similarly to Tip #1, placing too many trades at the same time will dramatically increase your risk of losing. Trading too many currency pairs at the same time, is a tactic used by many inexperienced (and often losing) traders. They think that by diversifying their trades, they can better limit their potential losses.

This is a big mistake unless you have a large capital pool to trade with.

If you only have $2,000 of capital to trade with, for example, your stop loss levels are going to be very tight if you have too many trades open at the same time.

This often results in most of your stop losses being triggered, causing you to immediately lose in your trades.

Forex Day Trading For Novices

Most newbie forex traders go for forex day trading as a basis for their forex trading strategy, as they see it as a low risk way to trade and an opportunity to make small regular profits. This article is all about day trading for novices and what they need to know.

The rise of online forex trading, tighter spreads and lower minimums has led to an influx of day traders and there are plenty of vendors offering day trading or scalping systems which claim to make big profits but there is a problem.

They all lose - because day trading by its very nature is bound to fail. If you see a day trading forex track record chances are it has a disclaimer on it like the following one - take a read and you will see its not reality:

"CFTC RULE 4.41 - Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under-or-over compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown".

Of course it's simulated knowing what happened and vendors can and do make up track records to sell to greedy naïve traders and the greedy herd all lose.

So why doesn't day trading work then?

It's obvious we have countless millions of traders all with their own different forex trading strategies and views and to say you can predict what they will do in a few hours is totally absurd.

Humans are not predictable in short time frames their the total opposite!

All the volatility in short term time frames is random, daily ranges cannot act as support and resistance and anyone trying to trade the data is wasting their time - its simply not valid.

If you want to win:

Keep in mind you need the odds on your side and that means trading longer term.

If you do, this you're using valid data where you can win and it really is as simple as that. The shame is many day traders work hard (far harder than a lot of the traders who make big gains) but they lose through ignorance of how and why markets really move.

Day trading for novices is simply a quick lesson in how to wipe out account equity - PERIOD.

Forex Trading - 3 Profitable Tips

Forex trading is a highly risky activity, and this unfortunately results in a large number of losing traders in the market. In this article I'll give you 3 tips that have helped me become a profitable trader...

Tip #1: Less Is More

Inexperienced traders often make the mistake of thinking that the more complicated a trading system is, the better it is. As much as this "logic" seems reasonable, it's actually not true in the world of Forex trading.

For example: The more technical indicators you use, the more you'll miss out on profitable trades. There are many good trading systems based on trending markets, and they typically use an average of 4 to 5 different technical indicators.

Having a system that's too complex distracts you from obvious market trends and chart pattern formations. The human brain isn't wired to handle too many sources of information at one time, so having a complicated trading system will often take your eyes off the big picture... I've often seen new traders suffer from such short-sightedness which led them into trading against the market trend. It's an obvious mistake, but it's a mistake that many traders still make today

Tip #2: Trading Is Not An Exact Science

Many traders expect market fluctuations to always follow a certain pattern: a pattern that mimics the human weaknesses of greed, fear, pride and impatience.

Although the market does reflect these emotions in price movements, the EXTENT of these movements are rarely similar. A piece of bad economic news may lead to a large, sustained fall in price, while a similar piece of bad news may only lead to a small and temporary sell-off.

You see, the market is subjected to its traders' expectations, and these expectations change and evolve through time. While the emotions associated with trading are always reflected in the market price, WHERE they show themselves will differ. The same people who feel greedy when prices rise today, may not be feeling greedy again tomorrow when prices rise even further!

Forex Trading Basics - What You Need to Succeed!

Success in FOREX trading is a matter of having the right knowledge and the right timing of the market. If you can combine these two elements, you have an opportunity to succeed in trading the FOReign EXchange (FX or FOREX) market.

Until very recently, the forex markets had been the trading grounds of the ultra rich and thus out of the reach of the average person. The trading units during that time were just too large for most ordinary investors to handle. Today, though, because there are foreign exchange brokers who have broken down the larger sized inter-bank trading units into smaller units, it allows more people to become involved in trading on the forex.

What follows are a few thoughts on the basics of trading in this specialized market. This section constitutes having the right knowledge element from the above forumla. As it continues, you will see where the right timing aspect comes into play.

Trading on the foreign exchange market involves the trading one currency for another. Each day, due to international trade and business elements or the political or current events in the various countries whose currencies are being watched, any given currency may fluctuate in price. A profit can be had in the FX by knowing when the currency of one country will fluctuate as against the currency of another country, and in which direction.

It is important to note that currencies are always traded and priced in pairs. When trading one foreign currency for another, usually the currency listed first is the stronger of the two. For example, GBP/USD indicates the relative dominance in strength of the British Pound in relation to the US Dollar. For instance, in today's trading the the value of one US dollar to the British pound is: 1 = 1.9534. In other words, one GBP is valued at $1.9534 dollars.

Depending upon which direction the two currencies are expected to go during the course of the day's trading, one could buy a contract on one or the other currency in order to initiate a trade. And then once that currency has made its move, sell that contract back in order to extract the profit from the trade. An open position on the forex is a trade in which a trader has bought or sold a particular currency pair without having made a corresponding trade to buy or sell back the equivalent amount to close the trade position.

Prices are quoted to the fourth decimal point in the forex market. For example, the GBP/USD might be bid at 1.9534 and offered at 1.9537. Profits are recorded in terms of pips or "percentage in point." A pip is the smallest price change in forex trading ï؟½" for most pairs this is equal to .0001 or one one hundredth of one percent, or one basis point. In the above example, we can see that the spread is 3 pips wide.

The only exception to this method of computation is the Japanese Yen (JPY), which is quoted only to the second decimal point. For example, 117.89 in JPY to the US dollar equals one dollar being worth 117.89 yen.

Learning how to trade on the forex market requires a different trading mindset from the traditional mindset of trading on the stock market. In trading the forex, everyone has the same information available to determine the currency fluctuations. In addition, in order to be successful it is helpful to have or be following a system of trading which can help you to choose your trading positions. This can be a system which uses either a fundamental or a technical approach to trading.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Forex Basics: An Exchange Rates Tutorial



Profits are gained and lost on the foreign exchange, or 'Forex', market due to fluctuations in the exchange rate. This fact may seem like common knowledge, but one should not take for granted how exchange rates are determined.

There is actually a very rich history behind the concept of the exchange rate, and it is important that you understand why things came to be as they are -- as well as how to capitalize on that knowledge.

This quick tutorial on exchange rates will help you do just that.

First, let us look at the simplest definition of an exchange rate. An exchange rate is the value of one currency in relation to another. If one U.S. dollar is worth $1.20 Canadian, then the exchange rate is 1:1.2, or 1.2 for the CAD/USD currency pair.

What does this really mean, though? Why is it that one currency can be worth more than another, and who decides?

If you look back to the earlier part of the 20th Century, you'll recall that most currencies of the world were back by precious metals, like silver and gold.

It used to be that the United States followed the 'gold standard', which 'pegged' the Dollar to the price of 1 ounce of gold. All other currencies were then 'pegged' to the Dollar and allowed to fluctuate in either direction by a margin of no more than 1 percent.

This type of exchange rate, although it allowed for minor fluctuation, was considered a "fixed exchange rate".

Now, fast-forward to the latter half of the century, and you find that the 'gold standard' has been dropped, along with the fixed rate model of exchange. Instead, the foreign exchange market now operates primarily on a 'fluctuating exchange rate'.

Fluctuating exchange rates are governed by the market forces of supply and demand. If the demand for a currency exceeds the supply, then the exchange rate (and value) of that currency will rise.

Likewise, if the supply of a currency exceeds market demand, then the value of that currency (and its exchange rate) will drop.

We see this happening today with the U.S. Dollar. In order to keep up with government spending, the federal reserve prints more and more dollars, then sells them to other countries as 'debt'.



The market forces which previously gave the dollar its strength -- such as oil exports and oil transaction denominated in U.S. dollars - have eroded. Thus, we not only find the exchange rate of the dollar weakened, but also the exchange rates of many of our closest trading partners.

The Japanse Yen, for example, has fallen even more than the dollar. Part of this is due an overall crash in the Asian market, but it is also linked to the fact that much of Japan's economic growth at the end of the last century depended upon exports to the United States.

This is just one example of how market forces affect exchange rates, but it is a useful one for examining some of the factors involved in rate fluctuations.

If you would like a real world exchange rate tutorial, I recommend opening a demo trading account with an online broker. Do some test trades to get a feel for things, and make note of current exchange rates.

Then, make sure you stay abreast of world and financial news, and see if you can spot the relationships between major announcements and rate fluctuations!

Learn Currency Trading - 5 Common Deadly Mistakes

If you want to learn currency trading you need to get the right forex education and avoid the mistakes of the losing majority. The mistakes below are common ones but there easy to avoid and you must do so if you want to enjoy currency trading success.

1. Following a Vendor Blindly 

One of the most common errors is to think someone else can give you success - they can't.

Most systems sold are junk - but even if you do find a good one, how can you follow it with discipline if you don't know how it works?

You cant to have discipline to follow a system you must have confidence in it so you need to take the time to develop your own trading system or have total confidence in someone else's logic.

2. Trading News Stories 

We have more news at our disposal than ever before and all those stories are very convincing - but that's all they are stories. The news reflects the greed and fear of the crowd and they lose longer term - try and trade news stories and you are guaranteed to lose as well.

The best way for any novice to trade is to simply follow the reality of price action on a forex chart and trade it - your trading the truth not an opinion and that is the only way to win.

3. Day Trading

Simply the dumbest way to trade.

It doesn't work as all short term volatility is random and you can't get the odds in your favour.

Don't believe me?

Try and find a forex day trader with a real ( not simulated ) track record that's made real dollars over the long term. Let me know if you find one I have been searching for 25 years and still not found one!

Avoid day trading at all costs!

4. Trying to Predict Forex Prices 

If you try and predict prices in advance you're hoping or guessing and that won't get you anywhere in life and certainly not forex trading.

You must not predict wait for momentum to confirm a turn and you can look up how to do this in our other articles - it is essential to confirm a price turn, rather than simply guess when it might come.

5. Markets are Scientific 

It's amazing how many people buy into this myth yet it's obviously not true.

Why?

Because if prices did move to a scientific theory, there would be no market, as we would all know the price beforehand and there would be no market. The reason a market moves is because we all have different opinions of where the price may go.

The far out investment crowd love scientific theories and like to follow the works and methods of gurus such as:

Gann, Elliot and Fibonacci.

Well they made no money with their theories in forex trading and neither will you.

So if you want to learn currency trading correctly avoid the common mistakes enlcosed and work and getting a simple forex trading system which will help you trade the odds, you can understand and can apply with discipline.

If you learn currency trading the correct way ( and 95% of traders don't ), then you can enjoy currency trading success and create a life changing income - good luck!

On Making Risk Less Risky

Bearing in mind, that risk itself is similar to taking a journey towards a target you are not sure to reach safely, it is fair to assume that the less knowledge we have about a particular thing we wish to engage in, the greater the uncertainty we will face.

To get the odds in our favour to reach our goal successfully, we need to study the following four points first.

1.What could be a possible cause of derailment of our proposed investment. 2.What are the things that could stand in the way of reaching a successful outcome. 3.What are the valid arguments for, and against, the probability of success or failure. 4.What is the extent of our awareness of the risk we are taking, or are we making a decision under partial ignorance.

Applying these tests before making a decision is important. Since it not easy to know the answers to all the questions, many people do not bother and tend to be guided by their intuition.

To play the forex market by intuition, to back horses by intuition, to play in casinos by intuition, all this of course, is a formula for disaster.

If the more information we have about what we need to know provides a greater chance of success, then we must make it our business to get it. Knowledge and information, are the odds you need in your favour. Whatever the investment, it is not prudent to make a decision under ignorance. If you cannot accumulate enough information about the investment you want to make, stay away from that deal and wait for another.

Of course, there are different types of investments, and therefore information and knowledge has to be pertinent to the particular investment.

If we are talking about horses racing, we would need to know about the state of the going, meaning does the horse like soft ground, or hard ground, does it run better on a left hand turn track or a right hand turn track, what distance is it best at, what draw has it got, who is the jockey, what opposition is it running against etc.

When we are talking about a football game, there are equally a series of questions that have to be answered. Are all the star players in the team, are they playing at home, against whom are they playing, and so forth.

Playing the markets is a game based on a great deal of skill, but sometimes there are certain conditions which demand extreme caution, because any amount of skill can be derailed by events not always available for consideration in good time.

Currency markets are vulnerable to a large number of factors which must be taken into account, especially when volatile conditions are present.

One can either study the particular field, or be guided by experts and consultants who like some doctors, can be good, or extra good, but it is still better to take their advice than to do it alone. Of course if you only have a small cold, there is probably no need for a doctor. In the case of a major illness, you turn to the doctor. By the same ruling, if you invest very small money, you tend to use your own brains, but when playing in hundreds of thousands, it is prudent to seek the best help one can get, or certainly gather a great deal of knowledge and information before making a move.

By careful process in gathering as many odds in your favour before firing, you will find that things will turn out more profitable, and certainly less risky.

Precaution is an enemy of risk. Everybody knows that it is wise to take precaution, but not all take it. The few that do all they can, are wealthier and healthier, than the many who tend not to bother.

Forex Education - A Lesson from History for Forex Success

Here we are going to look at the story of "the turtles". If you don't know who they were, then you should study this group of traders, as learned to trade in just 14 days and made $100 million, in just 4 years! There is much to learn and it's an inspiring story, so let's look at it.

The story begins in 1983, when trading legend Richard Dennis decided to prove that anyone could be a trader, if they had the right mindset, the right education and the right trading system.

He picked a group of people who had never traded before.

This group consisted of both sexes, various ages and various levels of academic achievement and variety of occupations from a security guard to a boy fresh from school.

He then set about teaching them to trade in 14 days.

He set them up with trading accounts and the results were astounding:

This group of traders went on to make $100 million in four years and many went on to become trading legends.

So what can you learn from the experiment?

The first lesson is, anyone has the potential to be a successful trader and every thing about currency trading can be learned.

Secondly, if you have the right forex education you can do it quickly, 14 days is not a long time to learn any trade!

Hang on! - You maybe saying:

If everyone can learn to trade, why do 95% of forex traders wipe out their accounts?

When Dennis taught the turtles, he used a simple method - but he rammed home two:

1. You need to have mental discipline to follow any system because if you don't, you have no method at all. He made sure that the traders knew exactly how and why the system worked, to give them the confidence and discipline to follow it.

Most traders simply never get confidence in what their doing, as they follow others or simply have no well thought out forex trading strategy and trade with their emotions.

2. Dennis also taught the traders to play great defence first. This meant strict money management to protect their equity above all else.

Just like any great football team you build from the back.

There is no point in having a great offensive line, if your backs can't protect you and it's the same in trading.

The Key Combination

Dennis essentially knew that you can teach anyone a trading system - but that's not enough, you need to combine this with mental discipline.

A lot is written about discipline in trading yet, few new traders really understand how hard it is to maintain it.

To keep executing a trading system when it's losing is tough!

Of course all systems will lose and you have to have the confidence, discipline and money management in place to ride the period out.

Could You Be Successful?

The story of the turtles actually inspired me to trade back in the eighties.

The reason it's so inspiring is because it shows anyone can make money with the right mindset and the right education.

Sure not everyone is going to become as rich as "the turtles" - but the opportunity exists and everyone can earn an income that more than compensates for the effort.

So the moral of the story is work smart, get a simple system, have confidence in it and apply it with discipline - if you can do that your on the road to currency trading success and a life changing income.

Forex Trading Education - The Key To Becoming A Winning Trader

Many traders only look at how to make money in Forex trading, and don't pay enough attention on how to avoid losing money. As you might guess by now, the real key to becoming a profitable trader is damage control.

Unfortunately, many people don't like to hear about this truth because it's not sexy or exciting. They think Forex trading is like gambling; fortunes can be made and lost in a single day. This is partially true, except that many more fortunes are lost rather than made.

And that's why this is one of the hardest concepts to practice in live trading. We are all so used to thinking that trading is an exciting activity, when true profitable trading actually involves a lot of hard work, analysis and risk management... hardly exciting at all!

How Winning Traders Trade

Winning traders always focus on both the winning and losing potential of every trade. To them, trading is a business. And as with any business, there are risks. No one can predict the future and the best thing anyone can do is to make an effort to measure the potential upside gains, given the downside risks. If the upside potential doesn't justify the downside risk, don't trade.

Good traders always ask themselves the question: "What's the worse that can happen in this trade?", or "Will I be able to take the potential loss?"

Winning traders actually focus more on the risks rather than the potential rewards. Damage control to them is more important than trying to make money.

And when you take care not to lose money, the profits will naturally come rolling in.

So How Should You Trade?

Just before you begin your trading day, you should always look towards one goal: To trade without suffering a loss. This should be your highest priority; your priority is not to make the most money. If you manage to not lose any money at the end of a trading day (even if you only break even), then you should congratulate yourself!

Friday 3 December 2010

Forex Charts - Avoid This Common Deadly Mistake or Lose

If there is one basic mistake traders make and continue to make it's the one in this article and if you make it you will simply lose all your money and do it quickly, so here is the forex chart mistake to avoid.

The mistake is the forex prices can be predicted on forex charts.

No they can't...

Of course if you are predicting you are hoping and guessing and that won't get you far in any venture in life, let alone forex trading.

Of course there are many vendors who will tell you prices can be predicted with scientific accuracy and the naØ£¯ve trader swallows it.

The most popular scientific theories are based around the works of - Gann, Elliot wave and Fibonacci.

These guys never made money with their theories and neither will you - because the fact that markets move at all, proves there is no scientific theory... If there were a scientific theory, we would all know the price in advance and there would be no market - common sense really.

Other forex traders predict but they don't believe in scientific theories - their just trying to buy low and sell high and this doesn't work either.

For example - a trader sees the price dip to just above support, assumes it will hold and executes his trading signal. Of course sometimes it works, most of the time it does not.

Rather than hoping guessing or predicting - you need to get the odds in your favour. Forex trading is a game of odds not certainties but get them on your side and you can make a ton of money.

The Way To Win With Forex Charts

Lets say you see prices dip to support you don't buy you wait for momentum to turn up (you can read about momentum oscillators in our other articles) this gives you advance warning of a shift in price velocity and shows the level is likely to hold.

You can also use momentum to follow a break of support and trading breakouts is very profitable.

It's a fact that most big bullish or bearish moves start from new market lows or new highs and by following the breaks with momentum on your side you can catch the biggest trends.

So remember:

The next time you see someone say they can predict market tops or bottoms with 90% market accuracy - you know their lying and that if you try and predict with your forex charts, you simply lose all your money and do it quickly.

Use your forex charts correctly. Trade the odds, confirm each move with momentum and enjoy long term currency trading success.

Forex Education - Vital Tips to Get the Right Education to Win

There is lots of forex education available free online and here we are going to give you some tips on finding the best that can lead you to currency trading success.

Here are your forex info sources to look up.

1. FREE Info

Most of what you will need can be found free on the net. Many of the e-books sold by vendors simply rehash what is found on the net and you can avoid paying for it by simply seeking out the right sources - search around and see what you find and you will stumble upon some good sources.

If you are your trading on forex technical analysis you can find everything you need to know about indicators and chart patterns to build your own trading system. For a novice trader this is the best way to trade, avoid trading news - it's simply stories that reflect the losing majority, so avoid it.

Your aim is to trade the truth and simply follow price trends and everything you need can be found free - you need something more but I will return to this in a moment.

2. Expert Systems

All over the net claiming they can make you rich with mechanical systems and most will lose. Why? Because - they rely on clever marketing copy and simulated track records done in hindsight. If you see an ad that looks to good to be true pass it by, it is - has never been traded and simply put together by a marketing company.

3. Forex forums.

I took a look around a few of the top forums before I wrote this article and my look confirmed by suspicion full of losing traders.

The guys giving advice are generally people who can't make any money trading forex and it makes them feel better and big to give out their wisdom.

I have been a trader for 25 years and never bothered using forex forums and don't think you should either.

4. The Edge

To make money you need a method and that's easily constructed from free info on the net which we touched on in point 1.

You can easily build a system based upon breakout methodology, support resistance and a few momentum indicators and win at forex - just one word of caution:

Discipline

You will have heard how it's essential in currency trading and it is but it's very hard to acquire that's why 95% of traders wipe out their equity quickly.

To ram home the importance of discipline, go to your local online bookstore and pick up some books by traders who have walked the walk, rather than simply talk the talk.

A few essential books are:

Market Wizards EDIT - Jack Schwager

This book interviews trading legends and lots of them and is one of the most popular investment books of all time and with good reason

The Way of the Turtle - Curtis Faith

This book tells the story of the turtles a group of 14 traders who became legends after learning to trade in 14 days and then earning $100 million in just 4 years.

The Disciplined Trader - Mark Douglas

A bit repetitive but rams home the importance of discipline better than any book I have ever read.

The three books above you can pick up for about $60.00 and their worth every cent.

They can explain far better than me my discipline is vital yet so hard to achieve.

Always keep in mind if you don't have the discipline to trade your forex trading system, you don't have one!

Trading looks easy yet few succeed - the ones that do build their own trading methods to get confidence which is the first step to trading with discipline.

Do the above get your method from free sources and the books above and you will have a head start on your way to learning currency trading the right way and get vital forex education, to help you win and win big.

Forex Education - The Scientific Theory of Market Movement




Human nature is constant and humans decide the price in any market and many new forex traders as part of their forex education look to follow one of the many scientific theories to help them predict market movement and enjoy currency trading success, let's look at them...

You will see lots of forex trading systems say they can predict market tops and bottoms with scientific accuracy but how accurate are they?

The major scientific theories are those based upon the works of Fibonacci, W D Gann and Elliot.

The above theories and any others that claim that markets move to science are wrong markets don't and cant by there very nature.

Why?

Because humans are not logical and do not conform to a universal ideal and this should be pretty obvious as if there was a scientific theory of human nature we would all know the price in advance and there would be no market.

It's a fact that if any of the so called scientific theories worked everyone would follow them and of course they don't. Fibonacci, Gann and Elliot made no money with their theories but that still doesn't stop the far out investment crowd claiming they work when they quite obviously do not.

Trade to Win By Trading the Odds

If you want to win at forex trading, don't look for something that doesn't exist and look at the right way to trade forex markets to win and that means trading the odds.

An essential part of your forex education should be that, forex is a game of odds NOT certainties. Don't let this dishearten you though - if you learn how to trade the odds and use a simple soundly based forex trading strategy you can win and win big.

The fact is markets move based upon the supply and demand fundamentals and human perception of them. At certain times greed and fear take hold and humans push prices to far from fair value and a price spike occurs.

These short term price spikes are easy to see on a forex chart and can be traded for profit. Sure you won't win every trade- but if you win more than you lose, keep your profits small and run your profits you can make huge profits.

Today science has enriched our lives and we marvel at some of the advances that are made. You can however only apply science in certain areas and forex trading is not one of them.

Keep It Simple!

Forex trading remains and always will be, odds based game and if you think about it 95% of traders lost 50 years ago and 95% lose today despite all the advances in science and forecasting.

Forex trading relies on a simple method and your ability to execute it with discipline through periods of losses to achieve currency trading success.

If you get the correct forex education and learn how to do this, you may not be perfect with every trade - but you will make a lot of money.

What Is The Hardest Thing A Stock, Futures Or Forex Trader Will Ever Have To Do?



Visit forums, join memberships, purchase tuition with member areas for support, read books, talk to fellow traders etc and you can be guaranteed you will come across many who will be struggling with a whole host of reasons why. Some will even appear as experts but beneath the surface are struggling with some aspect of their own trading system or style. But do you know what the hardest thing any trader will have to do is?

1. Learn the jargon - no way, this is easy and it just takes time.

2. Find a profitable trading system - there are hundreds of thousands of them, in fact many are just given away for free nowadays.

3. Back test and paper trade - c'mon, I know many people don't like hard work but you're way off here.

4. Learning to read charts - kids like reading charts as they look at the green thing and they say, "Hey that's going up", or if they see a red thing they say "that's going down".

5. Setting goals - important because if you don't have a goal, you're floating aimlessly; but not the hardest.

6. Thinking successfully - no matter who you are or where you are there is always something you are good at. If this is so you already know how to be successful.

7. Being true to yourself - knowing who you are is indeed a quality that sets one apart from the rest and is therefore one of the hardest things a trader will ever have to learn, but not the hardest.

8. Cut losses short - it is hard to do this for many but it is definitely not the hardest.

9. Logging trades - as we are lazy this is done by a very few, but this does not make it the hardest, not by a long shot.

10. Keep emotions at bay - trading without emotions is very hard, but as we are humans the proper definition is more like managing emotions; but either way it is not the hardest thing a trader will ever have to do.

11. Remain independent - listening to other's advice whether it is a newsletter, internet forum, or just your buddy next door is very easy to do as we like to follow other people by nature so to do the opposite is hard, but not the hardest.

12. Sticking to the rules of a plan or system - this is indeed hard but not the hardest, and the reason is because this is too general a statement; many people trade with only rules for analyzing or entering or exiting, but most never have a complete set of rules for all three.

13. Sticking to the rules for all three (analyzing, entering and exiting) - getting closer but still not there just yet.

14. Holding on to winning trades - BINGO!

If we look back to points 12 and 13, I made about sticking to rules for exiting, this should start to open your eyes to the hardest thing a trader will ever have to do - hold on to winning trades.

Why is this so difficult?

For one, most place more emphasis on seeking opportunities and rules for entering than on anything else to do with running a trading business. And this is exactly how the whole "trading" thing is marketed. Very few traders have rules for exiting.

But even those that do have rules for exiting, only a small minority will stick to them, and this is because we as traders can not get past thinking about the money. Money rules us as traders and probably rules us in our lives too.

If you go back over all the points above I can tell you that all of them contribute in some way to the most difficult thing a trader will do; hold on to winning trades.

For example, if you think you're a successful trader then why would you cut your profits short?

Because if you thought you were a success you would know yourself and where you need emotional management, you would learn any jargon and how to analyze, you would have a goal, and you would have a plan to go with it, which means you would have a system with rules for analyzing, entering and exiting, and you would have a fair idea how this system performs, which means you would have back-tested or paper traded it, and you'd cut losses short and you'd log all trades, you'd remain independent, and finally you'd stick to all the rules.

What a trader will face is the situation where they cut a profit short and take a look at what they made for that trade; this will send out a good feeling throughout their body. What will compound this feeling is if they look a little later on to see their decision was justified because the trade would have resulted in a loss if they'd not closed it out earlier.

The problem is this good feeling we are experiencing is encouraging bad behaviour whether it's breaking rules, trading without a plan or whatever. To continue on this path will lead you to having to find more winning trades because the trades you do get wrong will cost you more than what you make from the profitable ones.

Now here comes the litmus test: If you cut a profit short only to see it would have been a lot more profitable had you held on longer or used your exit rules then this should hurt - I mean really hurt, but not because of the lost opportunity but because you see it as a failure on your part. If it doesn't then success means very little to you.

All traders will go through the process of seeing themselves in a winning trade only to see it end up as a loss. This is inevitable. Apart from having someone look over your shoulder to prevent you breaking rules or cutting profits short, the only person who can do this is you! If you find yourself cutting profits short then look for your weakest links in your trading business. I have given you many here to ponder.

Learn Forex Trading From A Mentor



With Forex trading being such a lucrative business, more and more people want to get into it and require training in order to become skilled enough to trade. There are two main methods to learn Forex trading, traditional book learning and live training. Each has its good and bad points.

It's not impossible to learn Forex from books; it's just more difficult to translate that knowledge into the real world of trading. When you trade in a live market it's a very different dynamic.

The popular method to learn Forex trading is to buy an e-book, course or go to a seminar. All of these options will require you to learn to trade in a theoretical way. What I mean by this is, you will learn techniques, theories and tricks that do work but are still only theory until they are applied in the real market.

Learning from a book can be confusing if you have a tough time processing so much information all at once. Without being able to apply the techniques and strategies that you've read about, it is difficult to know which ones work best and whether or not they are still relevant, as books can take years to write and publish, and the Forex market is constantly changing and updating.

After you have all the theory under your belt, there is no better option than learning from a live trader. A mentor will be able to show you how to read the market, what effect news will have, what times to avoid, and many other hidden factors that are almost impossible to list in one publication. This is a process of learning Forex through osmosis

Trading in a live market, gives you the advantage of real world situations. But trading a live market alone, will probably leave you pretty stressed out. By using the services of a live mentor, you can avoid much of that stress, and more importantly avoid making costly mistakes.

This is simply a better way to learn Forex. You can trade in a safe way, knowing that help and advice is at hand whenever you need it.

Which method you choose to learn Forex will depend greatly on your learning style and preferences. If you find that books are an excellent way for you to learn, then go with a more traditional course. However, if you are one of many who find it hard to translate what they read into real life, the live trading method may be better for you.

You Can Learn The Forex Trading Holy Grail


This is a very special message to everyone searching for the forex trading Holy Grail system. I intend to reveal it in this article. Before I begin, I would like to say that anything worthwhile in life takes time and effort to master. Trying to learn forex is no different

It's quite common to find traders that don't make money even when there were plenty of profitable trades. How does this happen? The short answer is they trade through fear, and fear makes you lose focus of the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that you will have losing trades, and you will have winning trades. The fearful trader loses money because they tend to jump in on the loosing trade, get scared, stop trading, and miss the winning trades.

When you finally realize that your emotions are the cause of your losses, you will be amazed at how a small shift in attitude can turn a losing month into a winning month. You will also find that you can learn forex trading better when you are relaxed.

So the first holy grail in trading is: "if you are not in control of your emotions, your emotions are in control of you" and for the most part, our emotions are illogical. Ask Spock.

One important truth about indicators is that they are only designed to present price action in a different way. Price action itself is the absolute truth about what is currently happening in the market. Price action is what is happening to your bars, and what resistance/support levels are being reached/breached. If you can understand the driving force behind these moves, you can better understand the market.

When you trade, try to think about the other traders in the market. What are they thinking? Institutional players know how to gauge this sentiment, because beginner traders are very predictable. So learn to read the Forex market in this way. Never forget that price is moving because other traders are making it move.

"Never forget that it's the sum total of the actions of all the traders in the market that drives its movements."

Most people search for the "system" first and then try to trade it without understanding why and how it works. This is very difficult to do, as you will not have confidence in it. It is better to find a system that makes sense to you, and is closely related to price action.

When you learn forex trading, you can never ignore the other factors affecting the market. You must have a holistic view. Did news just come out that strengthens the dollar? Did price just reach the 200 ema on the 4 hour chart? Did a head and shoulders just form? is price hitting the top of a channel on the daily chart? It does not matter what system you use to pull the trigger, if you ignore everything else.

You don't have to be an expert on everything, but you do need to know what may spoil your trade. Most of my losing trades are due to something I missed, not the market.

"Learn how to take a holistic view of the Forex market, and keep track of the bigger picture"

It is very easy to overlook and dismiss the importance of this information. It is probably stuff you have heard before. While you learn Forex, you will see this advice repeated over and over again. There is a very good reason for that; all successful traders understand this information, and are successful because of it.

An Introduction To Forex Scalping




Scalping for quick small profits is a very popular Forex trading strategy, requiring immense discipline and focus. True Forex scalpers make between 10 and 100 trades each day. If a trade goes against them they get out of quickly rather than holding on and hoping that it will turn around. A Forex scalping system goal is to make 5-15 pips per trade.

The aim of a Forex scalper is to buy or sell a pair of currency at the bid or ask price and then exit the trade quickly when it's in profit by a few pips. Using this strategy of taking a small amount of pips out of the market at a time, can quickly compound into big gains as long as a strict exit strategy is used to prevent losing trades absorbing all profits.

Generally Forex scalpers use the 1 min, 5 min and hourly charts to locate trades that can make them a small profit. Because the Forex scalper is only aiming to make a few pips per trade it is essential to use a broker with low spreads and instant execution of trades.

A few things that can improve your chances of being successful as a Forex scalper are:

- Ensure that you know when news relevant to your currency pair will be released. - Write down the previous days Open, High, Low and Close. - Learn some basic candlestick patterns so you can identify them when they occur. - Draw in major trend lines, pivot points and support and resistance on both the daily and hourly charts of your currency pair. - Determine the major direction for the day, Bullish or Bearish, trading in the longer term direction will help trades to be more successful. - Move your stop to break even you are 10 pips in profit. - If the trade is taking to long to become profitable or you don't feel comfortable with it, get out.

An advantage of Forex scalping is that the small targets of 5-15 pips are easier to accomplish. One of the difficulties Forex traders have is when the trend reverses during a trade, because Forex scalper's get in and out of the market quickly this is less likely to happen. Many people have been successful with Forex scalping, so there is proof that it can be a profitable Forex trading method. A disadvantage is that the risk to reward ratio is lower than other Forex trading methods. As the gain per trade is so low, one losing trade can wipe out all the gains for a day. This means it is extremely important to set and move a stop loss.

There are a few traps that new Forex traders fall into when they begin Forex scalping. They may become hooked on making random profits, especially if they are initially successful. This can result in the trader taking more risky trades and not sticking to their plan. A second trap is trying to make up for the losses of yesterday. New traders often think about how they can win back the money they lost a previous day, this tends to cloud their judgment and may result in emotional trades that are doomed for failure.

Types of Forex Trading Orders





To trade the Forex market, traders must understand the different type trading orders. The following are some of major types of orders that can be found on most Broker trading platforms if one would to trade Forex.

Market Order - A market order is an instant order to buy or sell a currency pair at the current market price and is used to enter or exit the market quickly. Under normal market conditions without any major news release, market orders are executed instantly. When a market order is placed, what the trader means is simply to buy or sell the currency pair at whatever price it is traded now. Under extreme volatile market conditions, especially during major news release, it is possible for a trader to get re-quoted. This means that when prices are moving very rapidly, the price requested may have already changed by the time the order is received by the broker. If this occurs, the broker will immediately provide the trader with a new quote price. The trader can then choose whether to execute the re-quoted price. However, it is important to note that under no circumstances will a market order be filled unless the trader agreed to it.

Limit (Entry) Order - A limit order is a pending order placed to buy or sell a currency pair at a specific price to enter the market. The order essentially contains two variables: price and time. The trader specifies a price at which he is willing to buy or sell a certain currency pair and also specifies the time that the order should remain active. A limit order can be entered either as GTC (Good till cancelled) or GFD (Good for the day). A GTC (Good till cancelled) order will remain active in the market until the trader decides to cancel it. The broker will not cancel the order at any time. It is the responsibility of the trader to remember that he or she possesses the order. A GFD (Good for the day) order will remains active in the market until the end of the trading day. As the currency Spot market is an ongoing market, the end of day will normally be 00.00 GMT on the broker trading platform.

Stop (Exit) Order - A stop exit order is a pending limit order placed to buy or sell a currency pair at a certain price in order to exit the market. The order contains the same two variables, price and time. The difference between a limit order and a stop exit order is that stop order is used to exit the market whilst limit order sole purpose is for entering the market. In Forex trading, Stop exist orders are used for various reasons. To exit the market once a trade loss has occurred. Use to exit the market when the trader profit target is reach.

Trailing Stop Order - A trailing stop for a sell order sets the stop price at a specified number of pips below the market price.

OCO (One Cancels the Other) Order - An OCO order is a mixture of two limit and/or stop orders. Two orders with price and time variables are placed above and below the current price. When one of the orders is executed the other is automatically cancelled.