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  • The Forex Market and This Economy

    Michael Fredericks 4:25 pm on August 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , Currency Trading, , , ,

    The biggest question right now is how the Forex market is being affected during these difficult economical times. It seems that even during a looming recession, Forexs performance is holding steady on the currency market and Forex forecasts are correct.

    Although nothing is truly stable at the moment. Being in the market means being prepared for anything. Forex is susceptible if there are big changes, and were nervous as to whether or not we can handle.

    But anyone who is familiar with the Forex market knows we are a competition zero sum game. In other words, you get back what you put into it.

    Of course no one could predict the world-wide recession, or that the US dollar would lose so much worth after the market crash in September 2008. True, Forex market is affected by the occurrences to other markets, but in no means are we helpless.

    Even until banks and Wall Street began to disclose their mistakes and downfalls of their books the US dollar held at a steady rate. We had absolutely no structure to backup any of our investments and foreign investors had to take second looks into current plans and future investments that were in the works. One by one our investors were jumping ship and our market recoiled.

    The conventional wisdom at a time like this would be to turn towards Asia. Asian currencies are seen as strong especially in light of the entire region’s growth in terms of both production and of demand. The crowd is going to be pursuing Asian investment because it may be seen by some as a safe bet despite the uncertain times.

    Other people ask if the Swiss currency will improve, and if they should be buying from them now because the technical recession is far from over.

    But Asian markets have a reputation for strength in the face of crisis, because such a large market will always have demands for certain commodities. Forex forecasts is aware of the economy shifts taking place and plans to focus more on changing regions, vying to be currency investors and keeping our heads high.

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  • Explore Ways to Learn Forex Online

    Jane MacRae 8:17 am on August 17, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , , Currency Trading, , financial investment, foreign currency trading, , , , , learn forex online, money exchange, online forex course, online forex courses

    Nowadays, you do not need to have large capitals to enter the Forex (aka foreign exchange) market. This can be exciting news for average investors. However, it is important to learn enough about this type of investment before you get your feet wet. The easiest way to do so is probably to learn Forex online, and you can do so in a number of ways.

    * Learn the Jargon

    If you have just stepped into the Forex market, you may find that people around you often speak with terms which are foreign to you. It is important that you also learn those jargon so that you can easily listen to and learn from others. To do so, you can simply go to your favorite search engine and type “forex terms” or “forex jargon”. Once you find a good list of terms, make sure you spend some time mastering them.

    * Take Online Courses For Free

    It may not be wise to invest in an expensive course to start your investment venture. You can simply take the advantage of free online courses, and there are no shortage of them. Again, you can do so by searching for “free online forex course” on the like with your favorite search engine. Alternatively, you can go to a message board frequented by investors and ask if anyone there knows of any good, free courses you should try.

    * Learn From the Experts

    There are many professionals, with years of experience in forex trading, who offer their teaching services online. The downside of such courses is that they usually are not free. But the upside is that taking such a course is almost like having a personal tutor, or a mentor who will be there to answer any of your questions, and help clear up anything you find confusing.

    Check with people in the market and listen to their recommendations for a good paid online course. Often, those who were once in the same boat as you are in now will be more than happy to help you out.

    * Make Use of Free Trial

    When you feel you have had enough knowledge, you will want to have some real experience. A smart way to go about, without putting your pocket at risk, is to sign up for a demo or test account with transaction sites that offer such, and most of them do. For about thirty days, in most cases, you can actually try your hands at forex trading for free. These demo accounts will not only let you know whether you are ready to risk your money on the real thing, they will also help you gain hands-on experience.

    Just like many other business opportunities, there is no way you can achieve something without putting in your efforts. Forex trading opens up a world of possibilities to many of us, but you really need to furnish yourself with sufficient knowledge. To learn forex online could be an efficient way leading to your success both in terms of time and cost.

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  • How About Currency Trading? (Part II)

    Ahmad Hassam 9:01 am on August 14, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: AUD/JPY, , , , , currency pairs, currency traders, Currency Trading, EUR/CHF, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, , , , GBP/JPY, , , , NZD/JPY, , , , ,

    Cross currency pairs are as important as the major currency pairs that involve USD on either side of the transaction. The most active traded crosses focus on the three non USD currencies namely EUR, GBP and JPY. These crosses are known as the euro crosses, sterling crosses and the yen crosses. The most actively traded cross currency pairs are: EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY, EUR/CHF, and NZD/JPY. Sometimes you will find more action in the cross currency pairs. Crosses enable currency traders to directly target trades to specific individual currencies to take advantage of news or events.

    You may notice that the currencies are combined in a seemingly strange way when you look up at the currency pairs. For instance, if sterling-yen (GBP/JPY) is a yen cross, why it is not being also referred to as yen-sterling (JPY/GBP)? The answer is that those quoting conventions were evolved over the years. These conventions have been designed to reflect traditionally strong currencies versus traditionally weak currencies with the strong currency coming first.

    The first currency in the pair is known as the base currency. It is the base currency that you are buying or selling when you buy or sell a currency pair. The second currency in the pair is known as the counter currency. So if you buy 100,000 EUR/JPY. You have just bought 100,000 Euros and sold the equivalent amount in Japanese Yen.

    Therefore you can say currency trading involves simultaneously buying and selling. Going long in currency trading means having bought a currency pair! When you are long, you are looking for the prices to go higher. You want to sell at a higher price from that where you bought. It will make you a profit. If you are long and the price goes down, you will make a capital loss.

    In currency trading, going short means selling a currency pair! In other words, you have sold the currency pair, meaning you have sold the base currency and bought the counter or secondary currency. You go short in anticipation of the price going further down when you anticipate the price of a currency pair going down. This will make you a profit later when you exit your position by going long. Unlike stock trading where you had to observe the up tick rule before you could go short. In currency trading there is no such rule. In currency trading going short is as common as going long.

    Its called squaring up if you have an open position and you want to close it. You need to buy or go long to square up if you are short. You need to sell or short to go flat if you are long. Having no position in the market is known as being square or flat. Selling high and buying low is the standard currency trading strategy just like in any other trading.

    When you open an online currency trading account, you will need to pony up cash as collateral to support the margin requirements established by your broker. A clear understanding of how P&L works is especially critical to online margin trading. Profit and Loss is how traders measure success and failure.

    Profit and Loss calculations are pretty straight forward. They are based on position size and the number of pips you make or lose. A pip is the smallest increment of price fluctuation in currency pairs. Most of the currency pairs are quoted up to four decimal places except those involving JPY; they are only quoted up to 2 decimal places. Suppose GBP/USD quote is 1.2963. If the price moves from 1.2963 to 1.2983, it has gone up by 20 pips (1.2983-1.2963). Pip is the increase or decrease in the fourth decimal digit. Pips are also referred to as points.

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  • How to Backtest Automated Forex Systems

    Mike Ashford 8:54 am on August 14, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: automated forex systems, , , Currency Trading, , , , forex systems, forex traders, , trading capital

    Automated forex systems are a great boon for forex traders. The ability to always be trading without the need of your presence is a great way to increase your profitability when trading forex. However, getting the wrong automated forex system to trade can cause major lose.

    That is why it is important to backtest your automated forex system before you use your trading capital. However, you need to be able to do proper back testing for you to get the most out of your system.

    1. Use Proper Forex Software for Backtesting

    If you are going to risk thousands of dollars in forex trading, then you can afford getting proper forex back testing software. It is not enough to get software that is does basic testing. A forex trader needs to invest in forex software that is reliable and whose results can be verified. Get the proper forex trading tools and you may never need to worry about the viability of your forex trading system.

    2. Get enough Forex Trading Data

    The forex market is ever evolving and there is a need to test your automated forex strategy in different forex trading environments. There are a lot of forex data providers who provide such data for free. Your forex broker can also be a good source for such data.

    Other than just the quantity of the data, make sure that your source also has quality data. If you test your automated forex system on quality and enough data, your chances of your back testing results being replicated are higher.

    3. Do not Over-Optimize

    Every time you change the parameters of your forex robot, you are likely to get unreliable results. Over optimizing or curve-fitting a forex system to give you better results on unrealistic parameters will give you a forex trading system that only works on paper but not in the real world.

    Curve fitting normally occurs when the forex trader is using too many parameters. Try and keep the automated trading system as possible. If you create a simple forex robot and it shows profitable results on back testing, then it is more likely to work than a curve fitted forex system.

    4. Adequately Test Your System

    I have seen automated trading system that only work in one currency market. Most of the time such trading systems have been curve fitted. Before you trade your own funds in any forex robot, ensure that you have back tested the system on different time frames and also different currency markets.

    The more time frames an automated forex system is profitable, the more likely it will work in a real environment. I have found that the best automated systems are the once that confirm that a trade is on in a higher time frame as well as in a lower time frame.

    Take your time when back testing. Do not be lazy about it as it is crucial to making you a better forex trader. I never trade an automated forex system without back testing it thoroughly first.

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  • Forex Autopilot System Or Forex Automatic Trading Robots?

    Marty Alison 8:22 am on August 13, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , Currency Trading, , , foreign currency, , , fx trading, , ,

    When you look online for Forex automatic trading robots or an Autopilot system for trading Forex currency, you will be bombarded with results. They will tell you that you can make money in your sleep. There is a difference between an autopilot system and a robot.

    A Forex autopilot will be different from a Forex bot. The bots will run your account for you, the autopilot system will tell you what and when to buy, but you’re pulling the trigger. The choice is really up to you which style you would like to bid from.

    There are plenty of autopilot systems out there and you will need to do some research for ones to buy. First I would suggest doing research and find the ones that seem more functional than fancy. Check demonstrations on the website and see if the interface is something you would like to work with.

    Look for demonstrations on life accounts with real money. This is a good way for the suppliers of the auto pilot system to have to answer their claims. Unfortunately it’s really hard to tell with the demonstrations if they are doctored or not.

    The best way to really test the Autopilot system is to agree to a 30 day free trial or what ever money back guarantee offer they give you. Simply create a dummy broker account and put in a few hundred dollars you have to test it, or even use a practice account using fake money. This will get you used to the system and give you a chance to learn how to use it.

    Before deciding on a Forex automatic trading robots or autopilot system, you must be familiar with the workings of Forex trading. It’s easy to do but there is high risk to losing your money. 70% of traders tend to loose their money in the long run. I suggest manually trading before you use a program like this. It may give you good tips for now, but there’s always the chance that it chooses wrong and it’s up to you to be able to discern a good trade and a bad trade.

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  • Learn Forex Trading Tips

    Bart Icles 10:16 am on August 11, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , , Currency Trading, , forex guide, , forex tutorial, , ,

    Many people these days make extra money through forex trading. If you are one of the millions who have been lured by the rewarding yet unpredictable world of forex trading, it is important that you learn forex trading tips before you start dealing with real money. Although the forex market can allow you to make money easily, it can also take away all your investments in under a minute. As a beginner, it is important that you keep your distance from the forex market and learn the most that you can about it before you finally decide to start engaging in currency trading.

    One of the most valuable tips you will have to remember about forex trading is to learn forex trading techniques at length before you step into the market. One false move and you easily destroy your trading career forever. Learning about forex trading techniques will help you a lot in making your income levels soar as you engage in this volatile yet profitable market.

    It is important that you are able to follow the different trends that occur and are practiced in the forex market. By following these trends, you will be able to determine when the market is going to experience a decline and when it will start to rise again. This can also help you judge when to join and when to exit trading. The market trends will also form the basis for your strategies that will differ according to the different scenarios that the market can pose.

    There are also certain house rules that forex investors observe. You can learn more about these rules through enlisting yourself to forex courses. There are different forex courses online, some of which are free of charge and some will cost you a small amount of money. Whatever form of investment your forex education will require from you, be assured that it will help much in making you familiar with the basics of forex trading, as well as how you can develop different strategies for different circumstances.

    If you learn forex trading tips, you are actually taking the first few steps in ensuring that your trading career will be worth your while. It is important that throughout your learning process until the time that you are already actively engaging in forex trading, you are able to keep your senses keen and alert. This will help you absorb information as you come across them, and you will also be able to make immediate responses to the different changes that can happen in the forex market.

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  • Candlestick Charting Explained

    Ahmad Hassam 4:01 pm on August 10, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , , , charting trades, , Currency Trading, , , , , , , , , , ,

    Unless you understand Candlestick charting, you cant trade and invest effectively. Many options exist for the charting of currencies with the advancement of technology. There are several types of charts. The four main charting methods are: 1) Line Charts, 2) Point and Figure Charts 3) Bar Charts, and 4) Candlestick charts.

    The three charting methods pale in comparison with the candlestick charting for a number of reasons. One of the best features of candlestick charting is its visual appeal and readability. With a simple glance on the candlestick charts you can understand whats going on with the price of a currency pair.

    You can easily spot the opening and closing price of a currency pair on a candlestick charts. You can also get a sense of how the price is trending with the candlestick charts. These price levels can be an important area of support and resistance for a given day. You can also tell whether the buyers or sellers have dominated a given day.

    Why should traders choose candlestick charts over other types of charts when analyzing price action of currency markets? Candlestick charts feature specific patterns that you can identify and use to decide when its best time to buy, sell or wait on a trade.

    Traders need easy to read charts that allow them to make quick decisions and efficiently analyze patterns. Candlestick charting offers those benefits and many more. The need for a consistent and dynamic charting method is more important than ever. Trading is becoming more and more complex. The following four pieces of information are combined to make a candlestick:

    Opening Price: The first piece of information used to create a candlestick is the price at which a particular currency pair opens on a given period.

    High Price: The top of the candlesticks wick corresponds to the highest price reached during that given period. If a currency pair opens at a certain price and then trades consistently lower than that price throughout that period, there wont be any wick at all above the candle.

    Low Price: The bottom of the candlesticks wick corresponds to the lowest price that a currency pair reaches during a period.

    Closing Price: The closing price of the currency pair at the end of a given period is the last piece of information used to create a candlestick.

    You can gain far more insight into a periods trading by looking at the candlestick than you can by looking at another type of charting tool. Candlesticks that represent bullish price action appear white on the chart. Candlesticks that represent bearish price action appear black.

    You can tell right away that the up day has a white candle and the down day has a black candle. That simple difference alone clearly reveals the nature of price action that took place during that period.

    Candlestick charts quickly clue you on the type of buying and selling thats been going on during a given period and where it may occur again.

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  • Online Forex Trading - Trading Done Easier!

    Bart Icles 7:12 am on August 10, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , , Currency Trading, , forex broker, forex made easy, forex market, forex pips, , mini forex trading, online forex

    Making money has never been easier now with the advent of online Forex trading. Be it any business, foreign or local, the Internet has already provided many advantages especially to online trading system. The online trader can now make easier and more profitable investments online through Forex trading software’s. The software programs make the trader’s task hassle free by making and closing deals automatically – including the decision-making process, thus leaving the trader stress-free.

    With an online Forex trading system, the traders and brokers can react to relevant market changes immediately, thus helping them make profitable trades while averting disastrous ones. It’s really easy to learn Forex trading with an online currency trading program software. Any trading can practice safely and effectively on demo accounts using virtual money. Doing so gives the trader the chance to learn all the necessary and basic lessons involved with Forex trading. Using such methods spares the trader the risk of losing real money in the process of his learning.

    Online Forex trading basic courses have the advantage of being learned at the students’ preference and pace so will not in any way interfere with other personal activities. The student-trader can adjust the lessons around his daily activities and commitments so can make the learning process more in-depth and effective. There are also more advanced online currency trading software’s for the more advanced and experienced traders offered by many firms and individuals. Software programs like these contain the basic tips, techniques and other related information to help the trader make trading simpler and more successful.

    In order to get the right software programs to suit a traders trading system, traders can always get some useful tips from software reviews to weed out the good ones from the forgetful ones. These reviews can be made as basis when one plan to buy into a Forex trading program or account and should therefore not be underestimated. Do the needed research personally and don’t trust what the sellers or resellers are advertising as this can be biased at times. Doing online Forex trading is an activity that needs constant updates and upgrades, so keep alert and cool for possible market changes and developments.

    Online Forex trading is a highly volatile and unpredictable market, and any one hoping to become the next instant millionaire or simply want to keep their investments safe needs to learn to make full use of the helpful programs correctly. Forex trading like all other business ventures has its risks, so the trader needs to have all the help he can get his hands own.

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  • Learn To Trade the Breakout (Part III)

    Ahmad Hassam 12:52 pm on August 8, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , , , Currency Trading, , , , , , , , ,

    Suppose you want to detect a trend reversal breakout. You can identify it through the MACD divergence signals. You should look at how the MACD histogram is performing when you spot a potential breakout scenario on a currency pair chart.

    Is the MACD histogram also forming higher peaks if the currency pair has been making new highs? If it is so, you can safely assume that the uptrend is likely to continue. Any breakout to the downside will be short lived and probably false.

    However, suppose the MACD histogram shows a bearish divergence. This is a strong signal that a downside breakout is more likely to be sustained than false. The reverse holds true for a bullish MACD divergence. In case of a bullish MACD divergence, the chances are high for an upside breakout.

    However, MACD divergence signal seldom occurs. But you should immediately take note when it makes an appearance. It is a strong signal for a trend reversal. Another momentum indicator that can help you anticipate when the prices are at the verge of breaking out is the RSI. You can use both for confirming a trend reversal.

    RSI stands for the Relative Strength Index (RSI). The RSI measures the relative changes between the higher and lower closing prices over a period of time. A reading of 30 or lower indicates that the currency pair is oversold. A reading of 70 and above indicates that the currency pair is overbought.

    However, an uptrend could register a prolonged period of overbought conditions whereas a downtrend could register a prolonged period of oversold conditions. The most useful way of applying RSI is through its divergence signals.

    Bullish divergence occurs when a currency pair declines to a new low. But the RSI makes a higher low like that in MACD. A bearish divergence appears when the currency pair rallies to a new high. But RSI makes a lower high instead.

    Remember that it is very difficult to predict with 100% accuracy the success of a breakout so you should always use proper risk analysis when planning a trade. Using momentum indicators like MACD and RSI can sometimes provide clues to internal trend weaknesses. These clues work since momentum proceeds price change for the breakout trading strategy.

    Before implementing the breakout trading strategy, detail technical analysis of the current and past price action must be carried out in order to tilt the odds of success in your favor. Trading breakout can be a very profitable strategy if it is applied sensibly after thorough analysis.

    Breakouts frequently occur along trendlines. A trendline breakout could signal a reversal or continuation of trend. Price breakouts may be triggered by sudden forex related news or comments or unexpected geopolitical events. In case of a trend continuation, this break may indicate a temporary interruption in the prevailing trend or signal that the trend will continue but at a slower pace.

    A channel basically consists of two parallel trendlines which can be drawn to encapsulate the price action. Trading channel breakout is a very profitable strategy among the currency traders.

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  • Small Stop Loss Forex Trades

    Caden James 1:17 am on August 8, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: , , Currency Trading, , , , , , ,

    As a foreign currency trader, you’re gonna lose when you take these trades. You’re gonna to lose often, too. You’re going to get tired of losing. You’re going to start thinking maybe you know nothing about trading. You’re going to question your ability all together and consider giving up. Don’t. If you know you’re going to lose often in advance, why on earth would I tell you these are no-brainer trades you must take to skyrocket the equity in your Forex account? Its simple: reward-to-risk.

    Small, strategically-placed stop losses are the single most important key to your Forex trading success. Why? Because your success is always tied to the stop loss. How much you can make on a trade is directly tied to that stop loss. I love to show a little math with my writing so lets get into this.

    The basics you need to know are as follows: account base equity is $2000, you’re going to place a trade with a 100-pip stop loss and a take profit of 120 pips, and finally, you’re going to risk 2% on this trade or $40. That means that each pip is worth $0.40. Your potential gain from this trade is $48. Cool enough. Lets say you win this one. Awesome. You’re now rockin’ with a $2048 Forex account. Life is good.

    Now, lets look at a series of trades with nice, tight stops. You’ve got four trades here well look at. These all have 12-pip stops with, say, 60-pip potential. These trades are not out-of-the-ordinary nor are they impossible to find. Keep following me. The juicy stuff is coming up right now.

    The first three trades stop out. Lets look at the math. By the way, Im starting this one out with a $2000 account just to compare the two sets of trades equally.

    The first trade has a 12-pip stop at 2%. That means each pip is worth $3.30. You always, always, always round down to the nearest dime anytime you’ve got under $100,000 in your Forex account. You stopped out so you multiply that by your 12-pip stop loss and you’re out $39.60. The next trade is worth 2% again, and since these trades could all be happening simultaneously, were going to make things easy and stick with the $2000 equity for all of them. These pips are worth $3.30 like before.

    Again, you’ve taken a no-brainer trade that just bit the dust. Grrr Stupid market. Don’t go there. Don’t start over-thinking or getting emotions involved. Keep it mechanical, non-emotional, and completely financial. Youre out another $39.60. So what.

    Now your account is at $1920.80 and you’re feeling uneasy about taking the next no-brainer, small-stop trade. But, you do it anyway because some chic named Caden told you to. Here we go.

    You’re risking 2% yet again and you’re still at $3.30 per pip. Well, crap, this one stopped out, too. You’re down $39.60 for a total of $118.80. That’s about 6% of your account gone in a short while. Ugh, do you really have to take all of these no-brainer, small-stop trades? Haven’t you suffered enough?

    Yes, you do and no, you haven’t. They are no-brainers. That means you do it. Period. Its a rule all foreign currency traders should follow yet so few do. Perhaps that’s why only about 3% of Forex traders ever make any real cash in the foreign currency market. Hmm food for thought.

    Lets trade.

    The final trade of the day is the same as the others: 12-pip stop with a 60-pip take profit. This one wins! Now, lets do the math and figure this bad boy out.

    You’re risking 2% again so your pips are $3.30 each. You hit your take profit at +60 pips. I don’t know about your math skills but mine tell me that’s a win of $198 on that stupid, no-brainer, small-stop Forex trade. Lets look a little deeper.

    You won a 100-pip stop loss trade for 120 pips. You got $48 and were happy with that. Awesome or is it?

    You just took a royal bath with three losing trades in a row. You were down $118.80 and feeling like a loser until you won that final trade. After calculating your returns on those 4 trades which were a whopping 75% loss-rate, you’re up $79.20″far more than you made on that 120-pip gain earlier. Remember, that one was only worth $48.

    You know whats really cool? You could even lose two more trades of the same type as above, win the 6th trade, and be at $2000″exactly what you started with! That’s an 83.3% loss rate to come out at break even. Are you kidding me?

    This is just a small but vital secret you must always remember as a foreign currency trader. The power of the small stop loss is huge, my friend. Trade it like a machine and its easy to watch your account grow”and grow”and grow”and grow.

    You get my point. Trade it.

    If you have a small Forex account you want to grow into an equity-exploding MONSTER, I invite you to come see me at Simply Signals and let’s turn that dinky account into something really spectacular. My goal is 400% equity growth in 12 months for all of my clients. Try and find a stock broker or other investment vehicle that can do that for you! Come see me and let’s trade!

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