Sunday, January 25, 2009

Forex Economic Indicators

The execution of fundamental analysis in the Forex market is done through the use of economic indicators. These indicators point to the state of some economical factors in the country whose currency you wish to trade with.Economic indicators are published by various sections of the government and private companies. These statistics are analyzed by market investors to predict the direction of the Forex trading market. Forex economic indicators are published at fixed time intervals, and are followed by any

Forex Vs Currency Futures

If you have read our article comparing forex to equities you probably already know why Forex is a superior market in measuring up to the equities market. In this article we will evaluate the Forex market in conjunction with the currency futures market. Of course there are various points of distinction between each of these markets – historical, philosophical and technical to name a few. In this article we will review some significant differences between the two markets that reflect the way you trade and make money in each of them.

Why is Online Forex Trading Profitable?

The online Forex market has existed since the early 70's. Only in the past few years though, it has become accessible to millions of people through the development of the internet. Because the Forex market is available 24 hours a day, it's the only market that allows you to trade at your convenient time.Today, because the economy is much more dynamic than it used to be, and the world has become a global village, economic conditions in various countries are also constantly changing, according to such factors as production rate, inflation and unemployment.As a result, the rate of a specific currency changes and moves up and down in comparison to other currencies. This is the main reason of the process of rate fluctuations in the online Forex market.In order to evaluate and predict these Forex market changes a trader can use fundamental analysis or technical analysis as a tool for investment

The Employment Cost Index (ECI)

The ECI is an important Forex employment indicator, and is published in a quarterly report from the U.S. Department of Labor. It measures the growth of employees' compensation, and this includes the wages and benefits that employees get.The information in the survey is based on a report that is held at the end of the month every quarter. The information that is tracked by the ECI is the wages movements, the fringe benefits and the bonuses that are given to employees at various levels of the organizations.

"If Done" Orders

This Forex trading order is executed only when the previous order is also executed. This way you can work on other currency orders and not have to worry about executing of a specific order. An "if done" order can be illustrated with the following example. Let's say you want to buy a certain currency, but also want to place a stop to make sure you do not lose much money on the trade. You then place two Forex trading orders- one for the first buying of the currency, and the other for the stop. The second order for the stop will be placed as an "if done" order, in order to make sure that the stop will be placed only when the first

Consumer Credit Forex Indicator

The consumer credit index is published by the federal reserve every fifth business day of the month. This Forex trading measure is used to evaluate consumer spending. This measure is liable to make considerable changes and fluctuations in its value.Consumer credit consists of three categories: auto, revolving and other. All in all this indicator is less important than the CPI, but it can also help y

Major Forex Economic Indicators

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - The sum of goods and services produced by domestic or foreign companies.Industrial Production - A measure of the production change, industrial capacity and resources of a country's factories, mines and utilities.Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) - A monthly index of a country's manufacturing conditions, including new orders, supplier delivery times, inventories, prices, employment, export orders, and import orders

Forex Trading Uptrends

An uptrend is a Forex trading trend that occurs when the general direction of the Forex trading currency you are trading is upward.Forex uptrends are used by traders to make profits while the trend lasts and until it reverses. The goal of most technical traders is to identify a strong uptrend and to profit from it until it reverses, and with this Forex trading trend strategy, you are able to cut down on unnecessary losses. The best way to use uptrends is to sell the currency once the new peak become lower than the previous peek.

Online Forex Trading Profits

Another example of an online Forex trade: If you buy EUR/USD, this means you are buying euros, and simultaneously are selling dollars. Your expectation therefore is that the euro will appreciate (go up) relative to the US dollar.If you believe that the US economy will weaken and this will hurt the US dollar, you would execute a buy EUR/USD order. By doing so you will buy euros in the expectation that the currency will appreciate against the US dollar. If you believe that the US economy is strong and the euro will weaken against the US dollar you would execute a sell EUR/USD order. By doing so you have sold euros in the expectation that they will

The Household Survey

The Unemployment Rate - This index is calculated through the division of the number of people unemployed by the number of people in the labor force.There are other employment indicators in the employment report but these are the relevant ones for

Consumer Credit Forex Indicator

The consumer credit index is published by the federal reserve every fifth business day of the month. This Forex trading measure is used to evaluate consumer spending. This measure is liable to make considerable changes and fluctuations in its value.Consumer credit consists of three categories: auto, revolving and other. All in all this indicator is less important than the CPI, but it can also help you gain an understanding of the online Forex trading market

Limit orders

Forex Trading Limit entry orders are executed only if the currency price touches but not breaks the price you set. Limit orders are done when traders want to set the limit price. These orders are executed only if the currency reaches the limit price you set. Limit orders are used when you want to buy and sell a currency only if it reaches a certain price or better. Let's say the currency pair EUR/USD is worth 1.245, and you buy a limit order of 1.249. This means that the transaction will be executed only if the currency price rises to 1.249.

Forex account activation and confirmation

Because we are dealing with real money accounts, you are required to verify your details and your email, through various needed steps. Before you sign the terms and conditions of the Forex trading account, make sure you understand what the site is offering. You should make sure you understand about the various conditions that include:- The Forex site's hours of operation and the availability of live support.- The bid/ask spread that the site offers for major currencies, in relation to what other sites offer.- Make sure that proper leverage is available through the margin per trade.- Find out about The minimum account size and lot size.- Check that there are no small print or hidden commissions that the site's operators prefer you don’t know about.- If you can, try out the Forex trading platform, as well as the charting and technical analysis options beforehand.- Check the general contract and make sure you save it along with the requoting policy on your computer.

How to Place Different Types of Forex Trading Orders

In this page we explain about the different forex order types available for online Forex trading. The most important things to remember about placing a Forex trading order is this: Always understand the orders you place. Never place an order which you are not entirely knowledgeable about. You'll be able to see the orders available for you after you open your trading account, so soon after check and learn about the different ones you can make.There are various Forex trading order types to choose from, and each order has its advantages and disadvantages, which will described in later pages

Stop orders

A stop order is placed to accumulate profits or to prevent losses. To place a stop order, simply specify the price where you'd like to place the stop on. Stop orders are sometimes names stop loss orders, and can occur for both bid and ask transactions.A stop loss order is a type of Forex Trading limit order that serves as a protection against a large drop in currency price. If the currency price falls beneath the price you set, it is automatically sold, thus ensuring you do not lose too much money.

The Forex Trading Bid & Ask Prices and Spread

This page covers everything you need to know about the bid and ask prices in the online Forex trading market, From the definition of Forex bid & ask prices, to the use of the bid & ask spread.A Forex Trading Bid price is the price at which the market is prepared to buy a specific currency pair in the Forex trading market. This is the price that the trader of Forex buys his base currency in. In the quote, the Forex bid price appears to the left of the currency quote. For example, If the EUR/USD pair is 1.2342/47, then the bid price is 1.2342. Meaning you can sell the EUR for 1.2342 USD.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Currency market


Contracts on Forex market within the IFC Markets are performed due to SPOT conditions. A spot transaction is a straightforward (or outright) exchange of one currency for another. The spot rate is the current market price or 'cash' rate. Spot transactions do not require immediate settlement, or payment 'on the spot'. By convention, the settlement date, or value date, is the second business day after the deal date on which the transaction is made by the two parties.

Margin Requirement


Clients must have approximately 1% of the value of the positions they hold in their account for each lot of currency being traded (approximately 100:1 leverage). This amount does not change after 5:00 PM New York time, which is the rollover cut off, but stays constant at approximately 1% per lot the entire day and overnight. There is also an important safety feature imbedded in this system that prevents clients from losing more money than they have in the account. Once the account equity -- meaning the total floating value of the account -- falls below the margin requirement of approximately 1% per lot, the dealing desk will close all positions

Why Trade a Mini Account?


The GFM Mini trading account uses the same state-of-the-art trading platform as the regular trading account. There is no additional software to download.Account SizeThe minimum amount that is required to open a GFM Mini trading account is $300. Of course, due to the high leverage and the extremely volatile nature of the Forex market, the recommended minimum investment size is $1,000.

MG FOREX


We liked the dynamic news feature. If you’re wondering why this is such a buzz with us you probably haven’t traded the forex markets enough to realize that the markets can turn on a dime with any economic announcements, or other just released news items that can effect the currencies. Knowing what is happening with the market due to a new announcement could mean the difference of making money or losing it - it’s therefore imperative that the forex trader has the facility to view live announcements (even if they’re just summaries, or headlines).
MG Forex also allows free access to ForexNews charting and news package which is not a bad feature, however, it would’ve been better if MG partnered with ForexNews so that the remaining trading features offered by MG could have been integreated inside the ForexNews package. Unfortunately though to maintain free access to ForexNews’ platform the client must keep a balance greater than US$500.
One other aspect that we liked was the 400:1 leverage offered!

Develop a Disciplined Trading Strategy without Focusing on P/L


The Mini account can be a useful asset in assisting traders to cultivate a disciplined trading strategy without focusing on P/L. When trading larger volumes on the standard account, traders with smaller account balances tend to watch their equity fluctuate and base trading decisions on emotional reactions to these fluctuations. For example, traders tend to resist closing-out trades at a loss, using the rationale that the market will turn around. Traders also tend to immediately take their profits when the market is moving in their direction, rather than maximizing their gains by letting their profits run. For example, a 20-pip profit on a 100,000 Euro trade is $200. For a $5000 account, this is equivalent to 4% of the account equity, compelling the average trader to take their profit, though the trade has a 100-pip profit potential. On the reverse side, no one wants to realize a $200 loss, so traders tend to hold a losing position until the loss is too much to bear. On the Mini account, this same example would translate to $20, which takes all the emotion out of the P/L, since $20 is insignificant to most traders. A Mini account allows traders to focus on the proper chart points, trade signals, and really learn currency trading without paying attention to their $P/L. In the long run, this will lead to more profits and less losses. Until clients are completely comfortable trading currencies on a highly leveraged basis, trading smaller amounts on The GFM Mini is highly recommended.

Short Term Interest Rates

FOREX is the world’s largest and most liquid trading market. In our opinion ,FOREX is one of the best home business you can ever venture in. Even though regular people have had the opportunity to take part in trading foreign currencies for speculations (in the same way banks and large corporations do) since 1998, it is just now becoming the cool, hip, new "thing" to talk about at parties, business events, and other social gatherings.
Even though it has been somewhat of a loosely guarded secret, every day more and more investors are turning to the all-electronic world of FOREX trading because of what they perceive as its numerous benefits & advantages over traditional trading vehicles, like stocks, bonds and commodities.
But, still, whenever something seems new or is just becoming a part of social conversation, news articles, and water cooler gossip, misconceptions have to be overcome, the mind has to be open and the slate has to be clear for starting out fresh with the CORRECT information.
So, in this article, it is my attempt to give you some solid, but not over-detailed, information on just what the heck "FX" (FOREX) means, what it is, and why it exists.
Here's an explanation (one I feel you'll appreciate) of what FOREX is and how a bunch of traders, operate in this market
The Foreign Exchange Market, also referred to the "FOREX" or "FX" market, is the spot (cash) market for currency.
But, don't mistake FX as trading the futures market, where you buy a contract to purchase a particular currency at a future price in time.
So, you're probably wondering where it's at ... or ... how to access the FX market?
The answer is: FX Trading is not bound to any one trading floor and is not centralized on an exchange, as with the stock and futures markets. The FX market is considered an Over-the-Counter (OTC) or 'Interbank' market, due to the fact that the entire market is run electronically, within a network of banks, continuously over a 24-hour period.
Yes, if that's the first time you've heard about an all-electronic market, I know this may sound somewhat intriguing to you.

Why Trade a Mini Account?

The GFM Mini account is designed for those new to online currency trading and those with limited investment capital. There is a smaller deposit required to open a GFM Mini account and trading sizes are 1/10th the size of a regular account. The smaller trade size greatly reduces the risk associated with currency trading. Although the GFM Mini account provides as much leverage as a regular account, clients have the opportunity to take smaller size positions, taking on less total risk. The GFM Mini is intended to introduce traders to the excitement of currency trading while minimizing risk.

Introducing Broker Program


To insure GFM's leading positions in providing high quality online Forex trading all over the globe, GFM offers special program, called Introducing Broker (IB) Program. Our IB (Introducing Broker) program is the program, which makes it possible for individuals who do not want to invest their own money in the Forex market to still take part in the process of trading. It is an extremely successful tool in attracting more traders from all over the world. The program allows our IB partners to participate very successfully in all benefits of a Global Forex Market without bearing extremely high expenses on IT (internet technology), software, expensive equipment, 24 hours/day technical support, highly paid dealers and personnel, opening big accounts in Clearing Houses, etc. We invite to mutually beneficial cooperation Brokers, Banks, and Financial Institutions, even individuals from all over the world, interested in establishing their presence on a Global Forex Market. We will provide you for free with necessary material to build your own web sites, links to our Demo And Real servers, Back Office, necessary software, links and phone numbers to our Dealing Desk.If your clients open a Real account, you will receive commission on a currency per each trade your client performs (a trade is a round-turn, i.e. entering and exiting the market). You can also charge your clients your own commissions at the rate that you choose. For example, if you charge $10 per trade, then you gain: $5 (from us if 1pip cost $5. Usually it is more.) + $10 (your charge) = $15 just for one trade. We have clients who sometimes perform about 25-30 trades per day, which means you gain $375-$450 per day from just one client!Also, if your clients open an investment account, you will receive 2% from an amount of his/her investment. You can share his/her profit in returns as well.We collect those commissions from clients' accounts for our IB's and pay them to the IB's in one transaction once a month, after last business day of the month and no later than 5 business days into the next month.

Oanda


The charting package that came equipped with the platform was not bad. It wasn’t the best charting package we had seen, but it altogether was not the worst either. Some time frames that we like to monitor were not available which was disappointing (time frames that are not available include: 10min, 15min, 2hr, 4hr, 8hr, 12hr, 1week, 1month).
Oanda has the capacity to have multi-denominated sub accounts other than in USD with no minimum deposit. The different currency accounts available include: AUD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD & CHF and allows the user to transfer between their primary account and their sub account easily with the only restriction being that you cannot externally withdraw funds from a sub account, it must all come out of the primary account.
One other little thing that might go unnoticed by others is that Oanda display the volume currently available at the current market price. It is only seen when you place an order - it can give you an idea of what size order can be taken.
The orders screen is nothing new, however, where the orders can go is unique. Oanda do not have any restrictions on how close you can place a stop or limit order to where the current market is (I have experienced placing limit orders within the spread)!
Similarly there are no real restrictions on attaching stop and limit orders bar just covering the spread and adding one pip. Orders also have a variety of expiry times allowing you to place an expiry time of 1 hour (the earliest) to 1 month (the largest) on your orders

How to start forex trading

Why should you consider foreign exchange, or forex trading? One compelling reason is that it is a huge business, trading nearly two trillion U.S. dollars on a daily basis. The potential to make money is out there for the well-informed trader. The forex market is the largest in the world. It is larger than the U.S. stock market, and has a daily trading volume larger than all the world's stock markets combined. The following list provides a few reasons why forex trading is a smart move.It's EasyIf the idea of trading on the stock market is intimidating, you're not alone. There is no way that anyone, including professional brokers, can know enough about all the stock options. Therefore, many traders specialize or focus on particular areas of the stock market, and many individuals are left to rely on the opinions of the professionals, who may or may not be good at their craft.Trading on the forex market, in contrast, is much simpler. The primary currencies traded are the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen, and the British pound. There is less to keep track of, so conducting research and analysis can be much easier.You Can Do it from HomeIf you're interested in getting involved in forex trading, all you need is a computer and a bit of time. Granted, conducting some research is wise if you want to make the best choices. But once you have an idea of your strategy, you can conduct transactions online for minimal fees and without having to pay a professional to do it for you (although this is an option). There are a number of online options for trading foreign exchange, so you'll need to conduct some research to determine the best choice for you. If you know others who trade this way, ask for their preferences. Conducting a simple Google search on forex trading will yield many results, so review and choose carefully.

How to Start Stock Market Trading

You need to fulfill some basic requirements for stock market trading. These are the first steps before starting stock market trading.Firsts you should have the bank ac. don’t worry is you have existing saving a/c, it is enough. Not any special account is opened for that. A saving account is require for financial transaction like debiting money in case of purchasing of shares and credited money in case of any sale or any other expensed on the part of share transactions. If you don’t have any saving yet, you can open a.c with any of the bank.Second thing you need dmat account. Almost all the banks provide dmat account facilities. So you can open with any of the bank. You have to just make a call to the concerned bank executives or go directly to the bank or you can inquire on the website about various pre needs, requirements, charges and procedure of a dmat account. Basically dmat ac is same as saving ac, main difference is that saving account involves financial transaction on the other hand dmat account involves shares transactions.Finally you need a trading account if you want to sell or purchase in stock market. You can open your trading ac in the bank or in other financial institutions. There are many financial institutions which provide trading account faculties. Now you are ready for stock market trading.Stock Market Trading Tips Tricks or how to get success in stock market tradingBuy low and sell at high – this is the basic trick to make money in the stock market of India. Every one who want to make money buys at low prices ands share at high prices.Up and down these both are the nature of any sock market. If stock market is going up it will definitely go down and if it going down it will go up. The people who can imagine its nature then he can get success in a very short time and who are not able to understand get success in a long time. Read More stock market tips and online stock trading tipsSome peoples make big mistakes when buy stock at high prices. So don’t try to buy shares at high prices otherwise you should have sure knowledge and idea for that or you are an expert in stock market trading.It is always seen that long term investment in stock market is considered better that short term investment.There you will find many stock market agents, adviser and financial firms. Don’t west your money by giving these fees and advice charges. Make market search, analytics decide yourself whether it is profitable to invest in a particular share or not.It is kind of business and it involves risk factor like other business. Always remember those who can take high risk can earn huge profit. But it doesn’t applicable in all cases. But if you are small investor and have limited money to invest then you should not try to take big risk as you don’t have enough money to invest further. It is other matter if you want to take chance it is your life.There are many other ways to make online money. Make online money over the web with adsense. Have a look for other money making ways Make Money online.Hope these stock market trading tips tricks will guide you little to invest in any stock market like stock market of India, New York stock exchange, Bombay stock exchange or national stock exchange.

Leverage


You are probably wondering how a small investor like yourself can trade such large amounts of money. Think of your broker as a bank who basically fronts you $100,000 to buy currencies and all he asks from you is that you give him $1,000 as a good faith deposit, which he will hold you for but not necessarily keep. Sounds too good to be true? Well this is how forex trading using leverage works.
The amount of leverage you use will depend on your broker and what you feel comfortable with.
Typically the broker will require a minimum account size, also known as account margin or initial margin. Once you have deposited your money you will then be able to trade. The broker will also specify how much they require per position (lot) traded.
For example, for every $1,000 you have, you can trade 1 lot of $100,000. So if you have $5,000 they may allow you to trade up to $500,000 of Forex.
The minimum security (margin) for each lot will vary from broker to broker. In the example above, the broker required a one percent margin. This means that for every $100,000 traded, the broker wants $1,000 as a deposit on the position.

Forex Vs Stock

The differences between the Stock Market and Forex Market are significant. We will explain the advantages and disadvantage of the stock market and the forex market. Choosing which one to participate in is up to the trader. It depends on their wants and needs, and the amount of time they wish to invest into trading.
That isn't hard at all, is it? And will earn a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert's word on forex market.

How You Make Money

In the FX market, you buy or sell currencies. Placing a trade in the foreign exchange market is simple: the mechanics of a trade are very similar to those found in other markets (like the stock market), so if you have any experience in trading, you should be able to pick it up pretty quickly.
The object of Forex trading is to exchange one currency for another in the expectation that the price will change, so that the currency you bought will increase in value compared to the one you sold.

What is FOREX?


The Foreign Exchange market, also referred to as the "Forex" or "Retail forex" or "FX" or "Spot FX" or just "Spot" is the largest financial market in the world, with a volume of over $4 trillion a day. If you compare that to the $25 billion a day volume that the New York Stock Exchange trades, you can easily see how enormous the Foreign Exchange really is. It actually equates to more than three times the total amount of the stocks and futures markets combined