Forex & Financial Problem

Having a diversified portfolio is key to successful financial planning and having some funds in higher risk areas makes sense too. Whether you choose Futures, Options or Foreign Exchange trading, all are good ways to expand this section of your portfolio.

If you are looking at Forex, then an excellent tool is to use a proven automated pilot program. Trading programs have evolved considerably since their advent several years ago and now you can find several programs that are very sophisticated and are reasonably priced. The latest one to have broad appeal is Fap Turbo. One of the many attractions this software has is it’s track record of trading live accounts. Fap Turbo also has a very good support community and you can participate actively via phone and email. Although the program is easy to set up and use, it is always reassuring, if nothing else, to be able to contact people who can help you out if you are having any problems.

Forex Earning Potential

Forex currency exchange trading is one of the fastest growing trade markets in the world. It is also the biggest with an estimated 1.8 trillion dollars being exchanged every single day.

With these stats to it's name it should come as no surprise that one of the major reasons for thisexponential growth is the fact that Forex trading offers incredible earning potential.

This is also why large multi-national corporations have been investing in foreign exchange for years and more and more individuals are utilizing currency trading to supplement their incomes and some are even living purely off the profits they make.

Forex Technical Analysis=>

Technical analysis is the process of market analysis that relies only on market data numbers - quotes, charts, simple and complex indicators, volume of supply and demand, past market data, etc. The main idea behind Forex technical analysis is the postulate of functional dependence of the future market technical data on the past market technical data. As well as with fundamental analysis, technical analysis is believed to be self-sufficient and you can use only it to successfully trade Forex. In practice, both analysis methods are used. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis are:

The Law Of Charts

Candlesticks For Support And Resistance

Trend Determination

Money Management in Forex

Even if you master every possible method of market analysis and will make very accurate predictions for future Forex market behavior, you won't make any money without a proper money management strategy. Money management in Forex (as well as in other financial markets) is a complex set of rules which you develop to fit your own trading style and amount of money you have for trading. Money management play very important role in getting profits out of Forex; do not underestimate it. To get more information on money management you can read these books:

Risk Control and Money Management

Money Management (A chapter from The Mathematics of Gambling)

Forex Fundamental Analysis=>

Fundamental analysis is the process of market analysis which is done regarding only "real" events and macroeconomic data which is related to the traded currencies. Fundamental analysis is used not only in Forex but can be a part of any financial planning or forecasting. Concepts that are part of Forex fundamental analysis: overnight interest rates, central banks meetings and decisions, any macroeconomic news, global industrial, economical, political and weather news. Fundamental analysis is the most natural way of making Forex market forecasts. In theory, it alone should work perfectly, but in practice it is often used in pair with technical analysis. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis:

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

What Moves the Currency Market?

Forex for Dummies

Forex Basics

If you've already read the "What is Forex?" section then you should know what Forex market is and what it is all about. If not, please, do it. There are five essential aspects of foreign currency market a beginner trader (and an old one as well) should be aware of:

Forex Fundamental Analysis

Forex Technical Analysis

Money Management

Forex Trading Psychology

Forex Brokerage

Understanding and mastering these sides of trading are crucial to organize your Forex trading experience.

Advantages of trading the Forex Market

• High Leverage (low margin): Generally forex brokerage service providers offer a
leverage of 100:1. This means for every $1,000 you place in your account you have
access to trade with $100,000 worth of contracts.
The traders can utilize a small amount of funds in order to take a large position. If you
should happen to incur a loss, your broker will close your position when the loss equals the balance in your account.
• Liquidity: The forex market trades between $1.5 and $2 trillion daily. The market
orders are almost filled instantaneously and the market is too large for any one to
control.
• 24 Hour trading: The forex market operates 24 hours a day from Monday morning
Sydney – Australia time to Friday evening New York (EST) time. Therefore traders
have immediate access to information, their accounts and transaction ability. 
• Trade both sides of the market: You can profit from price movements in either
direction, whether prices are going up or down. You can profit in a bear or a bullish
market and the economy of any country is irrelevant to make profits.
• Low trading costs: Forex brokers will only charge you for the difference of a bid and ask price.
sell price quote. There are no commissions or other charges payable buy the trader.

What is margin?

Margin is a performance bond, or good faith deposit, to ensure against a

trading losses. The margin requirement allows traders to hold a position much 
larger than the account value. 
In the event that funds in the account fall below margin requirements, your require
broker will close some or all open positions. This prevents clients' accounts 
from falling into a negative balance, even in a highly volatile, fast moving 
market. 

For example, let's say you have an account with $10,000. That means you have $10,000 of usable margin. If you use $7,000 to Ask 7 lots o f USD/JPY, you now have $3,000 of usable margin left, meaning that you are allowed to lose $3,000 before you are under the margin requirement. The account equity remains at $10,000 until you begin to make or lose money on the position. Now, if the USD/JPY decreases to the point that you end up losing the $3,000 which is left in your account, then the broker will close all of your positions to ensure that you do not lose more than you have in your account.

Important: be aware of the risks

Finally, it cannot be stressed enough that trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for everyone. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. Remember, you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment, which means that you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. If you have any doubts, we recommend that you seek advice from an independent financial advisor.

How is Forex traded?

The mechanics of a trade are virtually identical to those in other markets. The only difference is that you're buying one currency and selling another at the same time. That's why currencies are quoted in pairs, like EUR/USD or USD/JPY. The exchange rate represents the purchase price between the two currencies.

Example: the EUR/USD rate represents the number of USD one EUR can buy.
If you think the Euro will increase in value against the US Dollar, you buy Euros with US Dollars. If the exchange rate rises, you sell the Euros back, and you cash in your profit. Please keep in mind that forex trading involves a high risk of loss.

Forex in a nutshell

The Forex market is the largest financial market on Earth. Its average daily trading volume is more than $3.2 trillion. Compare that with the New York Stock Exchange, which only has an average daily trading volume of $55 billion. In fact, if you were to put ALL of the world's equity and futures markets together, their combined trading volume would only equal a QUARTER of the Forex market. Why is size important? Because there are so many buyers and sellers that transaction prices are kept low. If you're wondering how trading the Forex market is different then trading stocks, here are a few major benefits.

• Many firms don't charge commissions – you pay only the bid/ask spreads.
• There's 24 hour trading – you dictate when to trade and how to trade.
• You can trade on leverage, but this can magnify potential gains AND losses.
• You can focus on picking from a few currencies rather then from 5000 stocks.
• Forex is accessible – you don't need a lot of money to get started.

What you should know

Lately, currencies have been on a rollercoaster ride with record breaking highs and lows. The world of foreign exchange is dominating news headlines; but what does it mean, and more importantly, what do you need to know before you get on board?

First of all, it's important that you understand that trading the Foreign Exchange market involves a high degree of risk, including the risk of losing money. Any investment in foreign exchange should involve only risk capital and you should never trade with money that you cannot afford to lose.

Why Currency Trading Is Not For Everyone

Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for everyone. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. Remember, you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment, which means that you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. If you have any doubts, it is advisable to seek advice from an independent financial advisor.

Why Trade Currencies?

Forex is the world's largest market. With about 3.2 trillion US dollars in daily volume and 24-hour market action, we believe it is a true "step above" the equities market for the serious trader. Some key differences are:

• Many firms don't charge commissions – you pay only the bid/ask spreads.
• There's 24 hour trading – you dictate when to trade and how to trade.
• You can trade on leverage, but this can magnify potential gains and losses.
• You can focus on picking from a few currencies rather then from 5000 stocks.
• Forex is accessible – you don’t need a lot of money to get started.

Example of a Forex Trade:

The EUR/USD rate represents the number of US Dollars one Euro can purchase. If you believe that the Euro will increase in value against the US Dollar, you will buy Euros with US Dollars. If the exchange rate rises, you will sell the Euros back, making a profit. Please keep in mind that forex trading involves a high risk of loss.

How Forex Works

The currency exchange rate is the rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another. It is always quoted in pairs like the EUR/USD (the Euro and the US Dollar). Exchange rates fluctuate based on economic factors like inflation, industrial production and geopolitical events. These factors will influence whether you buy or sell a currency pair.

Calculating Profit and Loss

For ease of use, most online trading platforms automatically calculate the P&L of a traders' open positions. However, it is useful to understand how this calculation is formulated:

To illustrate an FX trade, consider the following two examples. Let's say that the current bid/ask for EUR/USD is 1.46160/190, meaning you can buy 1 euro for 1.46190 or sell 1 euro for 1.46160.  Suppose you decide that the Euro is undervalued against the US dollar. To execute this strategy, you would buy Euros (simultaneously selling dollars), and then wait for the exchange rate to rise. So you make the trade: to buy 100,000 Euros you pay 146,190 dollars (100,000 x 1.46190). Remember, at 1% margin, your initial margin deposit would be approximately $1,461 for this trade.  As you expected, Euro strengthens to 1.46230/260. Now, to realize your profits, you sell 100,000 Euros at the current rate of 1.46230, and receive $146,230  You bought 100k Euros at 1.46190, paying $146,190. Then you sold 100k Euros at 1.46230, receiving $146,230. That's a difference of 4 pips, or in dollar terms ($146,190 - 146,230 = $40).  Total profit = US $40.  Now in the example, let's say that we once again buy EUR/USD when trading at 1.46160/190. You buy 100,000 Euros you pay 146,190 dollars (100,000 x 1.46190).  However, Euro weakens to 1.46110/140. Now, to minimize your loses to sell 100,000 Euros at 1.46110 and receive $146,110.  You bought 100k Euros at 1.46190, paying $146,190. You sold 100k Euros at 1.46110, receiving $146,110. That's a difference of 8 pips, or in dollar terms ($146,190 - $146,110 = $80).  Total loss = US $80

More leverage means more opportunity - and more risk

It's crucial to remember: increasing leverage increases risk. To limit downside risk, monitor your account regularly and use stop-loss orders on every open position.

FOREX.com: No debit balances, no margin calls

At FOREX.com, your risk is only limited to funds on deposit. There are no margin calls in forex trading, so if your account falls below required levels, for your protection we will close out all positions automatically. You'll never lose more money than you have in your account.

Leverage & Margin

Leverage trading, or trading on margin, means you aren't required to put up the full value of the position. 

Forex trading offers more leverage than stocks or futures - up to 200 times the value of your account. Of course keep in mind that increased leverage also increases your risk.

What's a pip?

Forex prices are often so liquid, they're quoted in tiny increments called pips, or "percentage in point". A pip refers to the fourth decimal point out, or 1/100th of 1%.

For Japanese yen, pips refer to the second decimal point. This is the only exception among the major currencies.

Bids, asks and the spread

Just like other markets, forex quotes consist of two sides, the bid and the ask: 

The BID is the price at which you can SELL base currency.
The ASK is the price at which you can BUY base currency

Cross currencies

Currency pairs that don't involve USD at all are called cross currencies, but the premise is the same.

Majors not based on the US dollar

The three exceptions to this rule are the British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD) and the Euro (EUR). For these pairs, where USD is not the base currency, a rising quote means the US dollar is weakening and buys less of the other currency than before.

In other words, if a currency quote goes higher, the base currency is getting stronger. A lower quote means the base currency is weakening.

Understanding Forex Quotes

Reading a foreign exchange quote is simple if you remember two things:

1. The first currency listed is the base currency
2. The value of the base currency is always 1.

As the centerpiece of the forex market, the US dollar is usually considered the base currency for quotes. When the base currency is USD, think of the quote as telling you what a US dollar is worth in that other currency.

When USD is the base currency and the quote goes up, that means USD has strengthened in value and the other currency has weakened. Rising quotes mean a US dollar can now buy more of the other currency than bef

The world's most traded market, trading 24 hours a day

With average daily turnover of US$3.2 trillion, forex is the most traded market in the world.

A true 24-hour market from Sunday 5 PM ET to Friday 5 PM ET, forex trading begins in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins, first to Tokyo, London, and New York.

Unlike other financial markets, investors can respond immediately to currency fluctuations, whenever they occur - day or night.

Who trades currencies, and why?

Daily turnover in the world's currencies comes from two sources:

• Foreign trade (5%). Companies buy and sell products in foreign countries, plus convert profits from foreign sales into domestic currency.
  
  
• Speculation for profit (95%).

Most traders focus on the biggest, most liquid currency pairs. "The Majors" include US Dol

What's Forex?

"Forex" stands for foreign exchange; it's also known as FX. In a forex trade, you buy one currency while simultaneously selling another - that is, you're exchanging the sold currency for the one you're buying. The foreign exchange market is an over-the-counter market.

Currencies trade in pairs, like the Euro-US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar / Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). Unlike stocks or futures, there's no centralized exchange for forex. All transactions happen via phone or electronic network.