Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Forex Essentials

As you know, Forex trading is a lucrative and convenient way to make money using just a basic computer and internet connection. And, for that reason thousands of people dive right into Forex trading without really knowing what they are doing to begin with.

In order to avoid losing your shirt in Forex trading, you’ll need to consider a couple of essentials…

Essential #1

Decide how much money you are willing to put in and risk. Yes, risk is involved and providing you can accept that money has gone (until further notice) the easier it will be for you to stop yourself from interrupting trades and panicking over emotional aspects of the trading game (this is the one thing that kills of most traders before they get past their first week).

Essential #2

Find yourself a well-established Forex broker. Currency trading is not for the faint at heart so you want a broker that has been at this for a long time. Remember that a broker who has been at it for a lot of years must be doing something right. Furthermore, a broker that understands any software that you might be using is the best type of broker you can have.

Essential #3

Take advantage of up-to-date publications and other tools. Your broker should have a list of these that are available for easy access via the internet. Just remember that education is something that you shouldn’t take lightly. The more you know the more chances of your being successful in this market.

Whilst you don’t always need to know much about Forex trading to be good at it (using software), it’s always a good idea to know a little more about where your money is going so that you are never at the mercy of software to dictate your financial future.

I highly recommend using FAP Turbo to automate the process of your Forex trading activities, not only so you can significantly reduce the risks involved, but so you can free up 99% of your time to learn a little more about what’s going on behind the scenes.

Again, you don’t have to…particularly when you’ve got a trading robot as efficient as FAP Turbo on your side, but still highly recommended for future opportunities.

For more information on FAP Turbo Click Here!

10 Things to Consider Before Investing in Forex

Before trading in the forex market for the first time, here are 10 items to consider before you get started. Even if you just started trading forex, take these to heart and I think you will improve your chances of success considerably, even if only two or three of these ring a bell with you.
So let’s get started…

1. Currencies trade in pairs, unlike stocks or commodities. In stocks you either buy Google (GOOG) or IBM, and in commodities you will buy oil or gold, etc., but you are dealing with one financial instrument. In currencies, you are always dealing with two currency pairs at once. Ex. EUR/USD, USD/JPY, etc. Therefore, know the outlook for both countries at hand.
2. Trading in currencies is cheaper than any other financial market because there are no commissions. All you pay is the market maker’s spread (which all financial markets have too). The cheaper your costs, the quicker you can get into the profits!
3. Open a demo account and learn to trade it first before “going live” with real money. You will usually learn how to avoid some mistakes and also get familiar with the broker’s trading platform before you have hard earned money at risk. You can open a demo account here.
4. Get educated. I can’t tell you how many people that I see that “dive into trading” this market and they don’t know how little they know. Be willing to spend that little amount because it may save you thousands in the end.
5. Know where to find the data that comes out on each country and be aware of when it’s coming out.There are several sites out there that are good about having all of this data in one handy place. Here is one that I’d suggest looking into.
6. Start out with a “mini account”. Many traders seem to want to start off with a “standard account”. However, this is the quickest way for the new trader to lose money that I know of. The “trading size” is so large (in number of currency units controlled) that if you are wrong, you are bad wrong! In fact, a standard account would cause 10 times the losses that a mini account would cause on the same exact trade. You can open a live account here.
7. Start off trading small. By that, I mean to trade one mini lot per order at first. Start off with only one order in the market at any one time. Once you get profitable with that, then you can increase your lot size. However, if you can’t make money with a one mini lot trade, you wouldn’t have made money with 5 mini lots at risk. In fact, your loss would be five times bigger.
8. Start off with a “well capitalized” account. Many traders start off saying “How much do I have to start an account with?” when they should ask their broker “How much is practical to start out with?” You will find that most mini accounts should be started with at least $3,000 to $5,000 dollars yet in the industry they will let you start with $200 to $300 dollars. Too little of capital = too high of percentage of the account risked on each trade. That’s the logic behind this point.
9. Risk ONLY 1-5% of your account balance maximum. If you have to risk more of your account than that on a trade, then you don’t have enough money in your account or your stops are excessively wide. Most people err on the former rather than the latter.
10. Start off trading the most liquid pairs out there. These will be the ones with the smallest spreads between the buy and sell quotes. This will be pairs like EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, EUR/CHF, etc.

If you keep these 10 things in mind as you get started trading, you will be doing yourself (and your account) a favor. I’ve never seen anyone “live by these” and regret it.

10 Forex Trading Essentials

These 10 Forex trading essentials are a high-level peek at the pitfalls that catch many traders. Compare your trading style with these simple fixes and if you are not employing some or all of them, you are placing yourself at a higher risk level.

1) Increase your time perspective - If you are not a well seasoned Forex trader, you shouldn't even look at a price chart of less than 60 minutes. The randomness of the normal transactions which occur in Forex will distort your judgment of the true picture. Use longer time frames, such as 60 minute, 4 hour and daily charts when planning your trades.

2) Reduce your position size to 5% Maximum - Having more than 3 to 5 percent of your trading capital on the table is a major no no. High leverage makes it very easy to get in away over your head. This combination snares many traders and can rapidly destroy your account. You need to have the ability to ride the volatility waves common in Forex.

3) Give your trade time to work - You can only use this option effectively if your position is sized safely... as per 2) above. Prices will fluctuate dramatically in Forex, and you need to be sure that a loss really is a loss before you close a trade that is moving against your plan. A 30 pip stop loss will often kick you out of a trade, just as it's about to turn in your direction. You need to allow for larger price swings... if you have determined the major price trend, be patient and let the odds work in your favor.

4) Reduce your dependence on technical indicators - Due to the fact that technical indicators get their data from past events, the reality is they have no ability to predict the future. Pro's that enjoy success using these indicators, often profit from the knowledge of how the masses are likely to react to this data, rather than the information itself. You need to determine the major trend (a simple moving average will show you this) and hop aboard. Use a longer time frame, as in 1). The largest players in Forex rely about 25% on technical indicators when making their trading decisions.

5) Trade only one or two currency pairs - And stick to the majors... not the crosses. Currency prices are driven primarily by fundamental data. In order to anticipate what is likely coming down the road, you need to follow some basic data for each of the countries involved. Trading too many currencies will make it difficult to keep up to date. There is equal opportunity to profit from each of the pairs, so wait until your experience level has matured and the information tends to sink in without as much effort on your part before you start to trade more currencies.

6) Average in and out of your trades - If your trading account is less than $50,000 have your broker enable mini-lots for your account. This will allow you to average in and out of your trades... a great way to add more flexibility to your account. If this applies to you and your broker doesn't offer mini lots, find a new broker... this is an important need to do.

7) Follow the data for your currency pair(s) - Know what data is pending for release. Volatility often increases dramatically when these releases occur. The safe strategy is to exit your positions prior to major releases... this is the way many of the larger accounts handle these situations. Data releases can often cause a change to the trend. Take them seriously.

8) Determine the trend and get aboard - As with any type of trading, the safest bet is to determine which way prices are trending, and then trade in that direction. You don't need anything fancy... a simple moving average on your candlestick chart is sufficient. Zoom your chart out to be sure you have the big picture. Compare where the price is now, relative to where is has been for a significant amount of time (at least a month). Use caution if the current price is near upper or lower extremes, as there may be a trend change once that extreme is reached.

9) Know when to take a profit - A winning position can quickly turn into a loser if you set your sights too high. Don't be afraid to take your profit - or a part of your profit at 20 or 30 pips. The price waves in Forex make it ideally suited to averaging into and out of positions by using multiple entry and exit points for each position. This is exactly where your mini lots can help! The benefit of spreading out your position is that your overall risk is reduced.

10) Stop listening to "Gurus" - Don't fall into the trap of believing everything, or even most things, you hear. The trading world is overflowing with gurus only too willing to offer their opinion on the future. It will only be an opinion, nothing more. They may seem to have convincing data, but trust your own brain. You need to weigh the economic data from your countries... that is what drives currency prices. The enormous size and nature of Forex ensure there is no insider information. You have access to the same data as everyone else in the game. In time, your own instinct will guide you to your goals, and that is what you need to trust.

Article Source: http://www.ApprovedArticles.com

David Stevenson is a professional Forex trader and actively trades the currency market. He has built a website to help new or struggling traders profit from trading currencies. Please visit www.make-money-trading-forex.com for additional information.

Top 10 Things A Forex Trader Must Learn

I had some serious issues with my computer this week after I downloaded some damn software that was not useful to me at all.It got me thinking of some of the things a forex trader needs to learn how to .This is just a list and hopefully we can add on it in time.

1. Enter orders. - Yes seems easy until you make a 1million order with only 1k in your account then it goes 10 pips against you.
2. Read Charts. - Most of us understand English but can we really understand what a bar chart, a kagi chart, renko chart is telling us?
3. Use Technical Analysis.- This is a life long project but you had better understand the nitty gritty of your indicator and what it can or cannot do.
4. Manage risk. - Please know how much to risk and when.Nothing is worse than a forex gambler.Learn different money management techniques and understand which one works for you. Without this, you shall make more money for your forex broker than yourself.
5. Learn your trading system. - Learn how to make your own systems and how to test your system. Of course if you don’t know what your trading indicator is doing, there is no way you can make a system.
6. Learn how to control your emotions.- This is the hardest part. If you cannot control your emotions ,you should not be trading. There is nothing wrong with being cold hearted once your trade is on. Don’t get too excited about the latest holy grail forex system. Don’t get too down when you have some serious draw down with your forex system and don’t get too excited with it either.
7. Learn some computer stuff. - This week my computer was down. I didn’t go online. Nothing is worse than you taking a trade and your computer shuts off and you can’t get it on again. You are in the online business learn how to control your worst enemy…..your computer.
8. Learn when to say no.- learn how to take your loses and know when not to marry your forex position. A stubborn trader is a broke trader. Don’t let your losses become too large and know when your indicator is failing. Nothing is worse than a stubborn trader with an ego.
9. Learn how to make a trading plan. - Over time call it a business plan. But learn how to make a trading plan please. It looks easy but a trading plan can take a 30% winning forex trading strategy to a winning forex trading strategy.
10. Know that you will probably never become George Soros. You can only make a profit. Of course another genius will be born but don’t think it’s going to be you….yet!

There should be no rush in learning how to trade the forex market. Instead of thinking about trading capital ,think about learning capital when you are less than 3 yrs old in the forex market. Don’t bother about making money in the beginning but assume you are a 5th grader who just enjoys trading. There is no 5th grader who gets a job as a chemist however how good they are in chemistry. On the same note, there is no new trader ( less than 5 yrs) who makes consistent profits. I know a few but yes they paid their dues first. So should you.

10 Things to Consider when Choosing an Online Forex Broker

There are so many things to think about before trading on the Forex market. It is the biggest market in the world, with the most potential for gain. However, with that comes the most potential for devastating loss as well.

Among the different issues you need to consider prior to jumping into the Forex market are personal goals, flexibility in capital, trading strategy, and many others. In this article, the focus is the different aspects to look at when choosing your broker.

The broker you choose can of course have a huge impact on the success of your trades. Here are some criteria to consider before choosing a Forex broker:

1. Foundation: It is no surprise that the number of online Forex brokers is growing rapidly. For this reason exactly, you need to check and double check a brokerage before signing anything. Forex brokers do not stand alone; they are almost always associated with some large bank or lending institution. This is of course a result of one of the basics of the Forex market; high leverage. Most Forex brokers offer at least a 100:1 leverage, which usually means very large sums of money. It is therefore important to research who and what is backing the brokerage and how strong its foundations are, before deciding to trade with them.
2. Legitimacy: Due to the growing number of Forex brokers mentioned above, it is also important to verify the legitimacy of a brokerage before signing any contracts. Every Forex broker must be registered with the Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It is important to check on the broker’s website for any additional financial information and statistics about the brokerage. If it is not there, check on the parent company’s site, and if you cannot locate this information, this should raise a red flag.
3. Competitive Spreads: After determining the integrity of the Forex broker, now you need to evaluate the quality of their offering. Forex brokers make their money using spreads. A spread is the difference in pips between the buy and sell price of a currency. The difference in spreads between Forex brokers is comparable to the difference in commissions taken by stock market brokers. It is of utmost importance to find a broker with the smallest spreads, which will ensure maximum profit for the trader.
4. Resources: In today’s Forex market, the average broker offers a wide variety of services. The actual trading is done using the broker’s trading platform, which must be tested and evaluated before deciding on a broker. It is important to ensure that the platform competes with the market standard of including real time charts, integrated technical analysis tools, live news and updated market data, and sometimes support for trading systems. Some brokers also offer technical and fundamental analysis as part of their service, as well as economic calendars, and other useful tools. Try to get the most out of your broker; it will make all the difference.
5. Leverage Flexibility: One of the biggest advantages of the Forex market is of course the leverage. In no other market can you make a $200,000 transaction with as little as $500 balance in your account. However, large leverage is not always the right choice for all traders. The higher the leverage, the greater the risk. So if you have limited capital, higher leverage will increase your opportunities, but if capital is not an issue, lower leverage is the way to go. The important think to verify is that the broker offers different options based on your trading needs.
6. Account Types: Similar to leverage, the account type you choose very much depends on your trading needs. To read all about the different account types, click here. When choosing a Forex broker, it is important to make sure that they offer different types of trading accounts.
7. Lenient Margin Rules: Since Forex trading offers you the unique opportunity to trade with someone else’s money (the leverage is a loan for all intents and purposes), you do not have complete control over your own transactions. Since the risk you are taking is with the funds that belong to the brokerage, your broker can determine just how much risk you are allowed to take. So if a brokerage has strict margin rules, you might encounter a sharp decline in one of your positions, and before it gets a chance to recover and make you some profits, your broker could have made a margin call, liquidating your account. This will result in great losses for you. It is important to ensure that the broker’s margin rules are not too strict.
8. Demo Account: This might have been first on the list if it was in order of importance. Before risking your own money, it is absolutely crucial you trade with a demo account. There are people who will argue that a demo account is no indication of your success when trading real money, and they might be right. The platform might be more developed with real trades, and natural pressures might cause major differences in the results. However, demo accounts are the best option a trader has to test a trading strategy and evaluate how they are as a trader. It might not be perfect, but it is better than the alternative of jumping straight into the deep water.
9. Emotionless Trading Features: One of the guiding principles in successful Forex trading is “Leave emotion out”. You need to trade in a cold and calculated way so as not to let your emotion get the best of you. This is done by setting yourself Stop-Loss and Take-Profit points in the broker’s trading platform and under no circumstances deviating from them. Most modern Forex brokers offer these features, just make sure your broker is one of them, and not stuck in the last century when it comes to Forex trading platforms.
10. Accessibility: This is not something unique to Forex brokers or even the Forex market. Just like any other service or company, before you sign a contract with a Forex broker, test out their customer service and support. Are they accessible? If you have a problem whether it is technical or general, is there someone there whose sole job is to provide you with better service? If not, this should yell to you to stay away. When it comes to Forex brokers and their service, the difference between high and low quality customer support can cost you thousands of dollars and sometimes more. This must be examined well before signing up with a Forex broker.

The Forex retail market is always growing and understandably so. It has the greatest potential for profit out of any global market. However, don’t rush into it, check your broker against the above criteria, establish a trading strategy, examine the market using technical and fundamental analysis, and always remember “The trend is your friend”.

Is FAP Turbo software a scam?

When looking at potential Forex trading software programs online, many people fall prey to clever little tricks and tactics employed by the program owners to inflate or distort the program’s effectiveness.

One such tactic is by displaying the "back test" results.

The back test results represent the results of the software running in demo mode and although they can give a decent representation of how well the software can perform, they also can be doctored to fit the bill.

The thing you need to pay attention to is the equity curve (showing your potential rise in earnings each day/week/month).

After visiting the FAP Turbo website and looking at the back test equity curve, FAP Turbo seemed at first like so many of the other Forex trading programs out there...a little too good to be true for my liking.

So, in order to establish whether the FAP Turbo system is legit or not, we need to consider the following factors:

1. Winning Percentage

The first and foremost key to a good Forex robot is the winning percentage it produces. Now, many people take figures that are produced over a couple of weeks as golden, but the real secret is to look at long term figures for a better representation.

The beauty of FAP Turbo is that the winning rate in the past 9 years has been 95% on average, with live testing showing even better winning percentages.

Clearly, the software can make you money from this factor alone.

2. Drawdown

Drawdown is also an important consideration when choosing Forex trading software because it measures the maximum percentage of capital that the software has lost you.

It's worth knowing that the average Forex trading software can have drawdowns of around 10 or even 20 %. After evaluating and reviewing the FAP Turbo system, we were excited to see that their software boasts an average drawdown of just 0.35%...very impressive.

As you can see, these figures are pretty promising when it comes to Forex trading software that will make you money on autopilot.

What we found out during our extensive review (see bottom of article) is that the FAP Turbo software seems to trade for long term rather than short term, and makes you money from trends that are more stable as a result (probably why the success rate is more predictable for so many people).

We also noticed even before trying out the software that the videos, screenshots and other elements of proof on their website are pretty consistent...because the back test results and the live results share a similar pattern of equity growth, whereas many bogus schemes will show inconsistencies in their results because their back tests are falsified to inflate the true performance (using different rules in demo mode compared to real live trading).

When you consider the substantial evidence and the impressive trading figures that FAP Turbo has been delivering for nearly 10 years now, it's hard to turn a blind eye to such a powerfully automated trading machine.

The Two Types of Forex Robots and Why They Make a Difference To Your Success

In this article, we’ll be looking at ways to identify the best Forex trading software for you, and how to avoid being ripped off by overpriced software that doesn’t produce real results with your money.

It’s important to know what you’re looking for in order to avoid being ripped off full stop, so let’s take a look…

Which is the best Forex trading robot on the market?
What you need to know is that there are essentially 2 different types of software (aka robots) that are widely used. Depending on your situation, one will be more suitable than the other.

Scenario 1 – You understand Forex trading fairly well.

If this is the case, you are far better suited to a software program that allows you to incorporate your trading skills. There are certain Forex trading systems that allow you to choose you own entry and exit points based on the trading signals it provides for you. This means that you stand to make more money, more quickly, but not only do you need to know what you’re doing, you also need lots of free time (both day and night) to be able to fully exploit the opportunities occur each day…

Scenario 2 – You wouldn’t know what successful Forex trading was if it fell through your roof.

In this case, there are trading robots available which are designed not only to pick out the ideal entry and exit points in a market, but also open and close the trades with your broker automatically on your behalf.

Obviously, even an experienced trader will find this approach attractive too, because of the obvious advantage of the time saved and the ability to let the software run 24/7 and pick out the best opportunities in the market whilst you sleep.

It’s clear to see why so many trading robots are being used by everyday people to exploit one of the biggest opportunities to make money on the internet that has come about since computers and the web were created.

What was once a privileged activity restricted to and kept top secret by banking firm insiders and foreign currency exchange dealers, is now a global money spinning wheel that anybody, including you can dip their hands into for maximum return on your investment.

Sure, there is risk involved but that risk is containable and controllable. What’s more interesting is the sheer amount of money that can be accumulated over a few weeks of letting a robot trade for you.

Now that’s what I call lazy wealth!

Forex Trading Indicators

Forex trading can be very complicated and risky at the same time. Therefore, it’s no surprise that so many people are turning to Forex trading indicators (sometimes referred to as trading robots) to handle their money, their trades and their risks and rewards in general.

The Myth about Forex Trading Indicators

Sadly, even the most powerfully advanced Forex trading robot is not going to automatically make you a millionaire overnight.

This is because no matter which way you look at it, trading is always attached to some form of risk, no matter how big or small. Of course, the better the trading robot, the lower your risks. But ultimately, if you want guaranteed return on investment from putting money into something, then you’re better off applying for a high interest bank account (which, as I write this, is actually risky in itself due to the poor economy!).

The Facts about Forex Trading Indicators

Despite these obvious warnings, there is no denying that sheer potential of money to be made by any single individual from anywhere in the world is too much of a temptation to simply ignore.

Knowing the basics before you get started with help you tremendously, even if you do decide to use a software program to automatically trade for you.

Before we discuss the right software for the job, let’s take a quick look at the basic principles of Forex trading…

The Two Types Of Indicators

Forex trading is based on indicators. Indicators tell you when prices are moving up and down so that you can spot opportunities as they arise (allowing you to buy low and sell high). There are two types of indicators in Forex trading…

1. Continuation indicators

These follow trends such as moving averages. These types are the easiest to use for Forex trading to see trends going up and down in the markets.

Moving averages are better suited to markets that experience trends, which there are many.

Moving averages can be very flexible and allow you to make decisions on your trades outside the purely technical factors that other trading indicators are based on.

2. Velocity/Momentum indicators

These types will analyze the velocity or momentum of price movement
Both these types of indicators define and organize the patterns into an understandable set of tools which can be used as quick reference for your trades.

They essentially signal where the strong and weak points are in differing markets and ultimately spot potential trading opportunities for you.

They are best applied to non-trending or sideways markets and basically use an oscillator to display the continuous rate of rise and fall in market prices to show patterns and trading opportunities. They essentially help to reveal triggers where a market has been flat for some time.

By applying both indicators to spot potential trading opportunities, you will see the best results in your Forex trading activities.

Although many are put off by the complications of Forex trading, a simple piece of software can handle such confusion and deal with the different types of indicators to pick out wining trades for you, automatically.

Whilst many Forex trading software programs (also known as trading robots) can be unreliable, there are a small number of Forex robots that exist today that are producing real money making results for everyday people who know nothing about Forex trading at all.