Forex-Exchange.orgSix Forex Trading Tips for Newbiesby: Gerald NjugunaYou have decided to be a trader in the forex market, and you have no idea on how to begin. Let's first start by defining what the forex market is and what it does. The term "forex", also known as the foreign exchange is a market for the sale and purchase of all kinds of currencies. It originated in the early 1970's when floating currencies and free exchange rates were first introduced. At this time, the forex market traders were the ones who set the value of one type of currency against another. Nowadays, the market forces determine the value of a currency against another. One unique aspect of the Forex market is that very little trading qualifications are required of anyone intending to trade therein. Independence from external control ensures that only the market forces influence the currency prices. As the largest financial market, with trades reaching up to 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars, or USD, the money moves so fast, it’s impossible for a single investor to substantially affect the price of any major foreign currency. In addition, unlike any stock that is rarely traded, forex traders are able toand close any positions within seconds, because there are always a number of willing buyers and sellers. 1. The first thing you need to do isa forex account. You will have to fill an application form which includes a margin agreement stating if the broker will be allowed to intervene with any trade when it appears too risky. Since most trades are done using the broker's money, it is only logical that he protect his interests. However, once you have established an account, you can fund it and begin trading in the forex market. 2. Adopt a trading strategy, that has proven to be successful for you. Remember that strategies will work differently for different traders, so don't try to adopt a strategy that works well for another trader. It might backfire on you. The two available approaches are either technical analysis or fundamental analysis. A combination of the two is a more preferred choice for experienced traders. 3.Understand that prices move by trends. Forex has a popular saying, “The trend is your friend.” There are certain movements that have been studied over many years in order to identify a pattern in the trend. These trends need to be understood in order to understand a good trading strategy. For small accounts that are $25,000 and under, trading with a trend may help improving your odds when compared to bi-directional trading. Most newbie’s will look to trade in any direction, when they should be trading with a trend. 4. Ensure you know which are the top five currencies pairs in the foreign exchange. These are USD/Yen, Swiss franc/USD, Euro/Yen, Euro/USD and Pound/USD. 5. For newbies, it is advisable to maintain two accounts to ensure you learn to play the trading game. Keep one real account, one that you will actually use to trade real money; and the second account should be a demo, one that you can use to test alternative moves in the trading game. You can easily use your demo account to shadow the trades in your real account so you can widen your stops to see if you are being too conservative or not. 6. Always examine the one hour, four hour and daily charts that concern your trades. Although you can trade at 15 and 30 minute time intervals, doing so requires a handful of dexterity.
About The Author Comments (0) 15.01.2007. 13:37 High Yield InvestingWhat does High Yield Really Mean? High yield investing has taken on a totally new dimension since the introduction of the internet and the basic personal computer. In the United States, a high yield account is considered to be anything over 5% monthly. Of curse as the old adage goes, the higher the yield the larger the risk. This is true. You can not expect to earn more than an average percentage rate with less risk. It just doesn't make sense. When discussing high yield interest accounts, are we talking about a savings account that produces a 5.4% annual percentage return? Well, yes. And no. It depends on who you are and what you consider to be possibilities and realistic. By now most of us have heard about investment programs that claim to be able to produce ridiculously high returns. Traditional investors cringes when they hear terms like 25% per month for one year plus the return of principle, and they nearly quiver when they hear claims of 300% in eight weeks. Certainly these high yield investment programs must be scams. How can it be possible to produce such returns in such a short amount of time? And why isn't everyone out there doing this if it can really happen? If these high yield investments hold any water then in just five short years we could wipe out poverty and homelessness and no child would ever go to bed hungry or sick again! Are High Yield Investments Scams? Believe it or not this question is not a simple yes or no response. It can't be. The short and safe answer would be yes, they are scams. However, it is important to understand what they are and why they have not all been shut down by the government if they are nothing more than a way to steal your money. High yield investment programs are not a place to try to earn an income. They are extremely volatile and unpredictable. People can and do make money from them, and sometimes it's a significant amount of money. But don't get excited and start rushing out to re-mortgage your house just yet. Read every single disclaimer on a high yield investment program website and they will all say the exact same thing. High yield investing comes with the risk of losing money. Never invest more than you can stand to lose. Why? Because every high yield investment program will eventually crumble and those with money invested are going to lose. High yield investment programs are based on principles similar to gambling. While most of do not, there are people in the world who make their living traveling around to casinos and gambling. Is it a scam? No. In fact most of us at least respect the fact that the individual is competent enough at playing casino games that they can earn a living at it regardless of how we feel about gambling ourselves. The same applies to earning a living from high yield investment programs. Most investors do not even consider them real investments and scoff at those who attempt to earn a living through high yield investing. Most people who are able to fund their lifestyle and earn a living through high yield investment programs started in using one of two methods. They either jumped in with both feet at the first program that sounded good to them and lost everything they invested or they researched high yield investment programs until their fingers went numb before ever investing a dime. Either way, both parties came to the conclusion that to come out ahead in high yield investments programs they would have to do ample research and completely understand the system and principles before they were going to succeed. Earning a living through high yield investment programs takes a system that is easy to implement and follow to prevent early closing and hefty losses. This system takes a lot of due diligence and of course, some very specialized knowledge about forex trading and even gambling. Reading the website's method of investment can tell the average high yield investor a lot about the security, or lack thereof, for any particular program. Most will admit to trading in forex, which any average investor can do with a little knowledge and research. Some will tell you that they are trading in commodities as well and some admit that they are also gambling with the investors' money, literally. Any website that says they are gambling using fool proof methods of winning should absolutely be avoided at all costs. There is no fool proof method of gambling. High yield investing is probably something to be avoided altogether, although that is an individual choice only an individual investor can make. However, if you choose to get involved with a high yield investment program and you loose your money, that was your choice as well. Just like it is possible to loose money in the stock market, you are likely to loose money in high yield investments. An investor that looses money in the stock market doesn't typically file a lawsuit against the broker, so why are people so quick to file lawsuits and complaints when they loose money in high yield investment programs? The answer is unpleasant but for the most part it is true. Greed. We can accept that there are poor investments out there and should we loose three or four thousand dollars in a bad investment we accept it as part of the potential outcome of investing. Yet because we got excited and our minds started spending the money we were hoping to see through a high yield investment now suddenly the people who run these programs are thieves. High yield investments are investments even if they do border on scams and you run the risk of losing your money. Remember the basic principle of any investment? The higher the return the more likely you are to lose your money. High yield investments are incredibly risky and some of them are actually scams. Scam artists are everywhere and if there are people in the world who are willing to fork over thousands of dollars in the unrealistic hope that they can turn it into ten of thousands of dollars in a relatively short period of time then there will be people who are willing to steal that money from potential investors. People are willing to donate their money to any valuable cause, so there are people who are willing to set up phony charities to steal donations from giving people. That certainly doesn't make every charity a scam and people aren't going to stop donating to charities of their choice. Just as there are individuals who will take advantage of people's kindness and desire to give to charities, there are individuals who are interested in scamming money from people who are trying to improve their financial portfolio through high yield investment programs. That doesn't mean every single high yield investment program is a scam. The one thing all high yield investment programs do have in common is that sooner or later they will all fold, even those that start out being profitable. Just because a high yield investment program starts off producing the returns that it proposed in the beginning doesn't mean that it will continue to do so over a long period of time. This is how the high yield investor gets dramatically burned. One or two programs that delivers for a period of time doesn't mean it's time to quit the job and devote all the available resources to high yield investing. It means that one or two programs are doing well. They will not do well forever and sooner or later they will crumble. That is the nature of high yield investing. High Yield versus Conservative Investing Which investment strategy is right for you? Only an individual investor can answer that question for their own interests. Some people can tolerate the significant risk factors while others prefer the stability of the more conservative and conventional methods of investing. Some people are more willing to take a gamble than others, and by all means high yield investing is a form of gambling. There are dramatically fewer scams in conventional investing. Some people will always believe that high yield investing is a scam and there is nothing that will convince them otherwise. Just because some people are able to be successful doesn't mean that a program is not a scam. And just because something is a scam doesn't mean that some money can't be made anyway. Does it make it right or real or worthwhile? Again this is something that each individual investor needs to determine for themselves. For solid investment advice and a clearer path to investment success, independent advice and research is the best way to go. For all kinds of independent investment advice, stop by onlinetradingideas for comprehensive investment strategies, advice, and independent research. This site is particularly useful for making the most from conventional trading ideas and profiting from forex trades without having to enter the realm of high yield investment programs. About the Author Bobby Ryatt, If you enjoyed reading this articles, then go to my website where I have lots more on the subject. You will have free to use material and tips, No more guessing or taking risks after this. http://www.onlinetradingideas.com http://onlinetradingideas.blogspot.com Comments (0) 07.01.2007. 18:57 Things You Should Know Beforeng A Forex AccountForex or Foreign exchange has been more visible in many business portfolios ever since small investors were given a chance to join in the currency exchange realm. Even with the presence of pressure and the rigors of a day job, numerous traders still aspire to enter and profit from the Forex markets. There are available Forex accounts that lets you practice your trading skills for 1 month without risk. There are quotes, currency pairs, technical charts and analysis and 24 hour news regarding your account. The amount of the mini practice account is $5,000 while the standard practice account costs $50,000. The minimum investment in a standard Forex account ranges from $5,000 to $10,000. There are different types of foreign exchange accounts and most traders keep two or more accounts while trading. These accounts are basically categorized according to how much capital a broker can invest. Generally there are three types of Forex accounts namely: 1. Mini account which is ideal for beginners who have an initial capital of less than $10,000. Basically, one is allowed to engage in Forex with just $250. Mini account can be a good starting point which can build up the confidence of new and less experienced traders in the market. With just a small capital, one should not expect a high profit; nevertheless your money is subject to low risks of loss. 2. Standard account which requires a trader an initial investment of $2,000. 3. Premium accounts with significant amounts of capital required. These accounts can have different trading services and tools for innovation. With the presence of these kinds of accounts, it is worth pointing out that a good managed Forex account can do miracles in trading. A trader can gain much by choosing a managed account backed up with good track records. Aside from these facts, certain benefits are worth mentioning such as: * Managed Forex accounts can let a trader participate in trading market without the hassle of monitoring it 24 hours. * Managed accounts are handled by professionals * There are managed accounts that are not attached to the stock market, thus assets can be more diversified. * Greater profit maximization can be possible in both falling and rising markets. * Assets are liquid and can be withdrawn regularly * Monthly reports of account are accessible and there is a real time management of account. Choosing a right account and investing in it poses a risk. It is important therefore to know what steps are to take in order to minimize. Here are the few things to remember whenng a Forex account: 1. In signing up for an account, identification is necessary; this is required by the Federal Law to avoid fraud. A trader will be asked to sign a margin agreement. Prepare the necessary documents and read the agreements thoroughly to avoid confusions. 2. Try the practice or demo account to learn the basics of trading. There are brokers who impulsively leap into trading and quickly lose their money. Take your time and learn how the trading process works. 3. Avoid being emotional while in a trade. Traders should stick to their decisions and not let their emotions control them. Foreign exchange can be considered as the biggest and most interesting markets in the world. Certain individuals, even inexperienced ones get hooked on trading it. Beforeng a Forex account, it is but necessary to be knowledgeable in all the aspects involved in trading. About the Author Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro you'll discover the best Forex Account tips, tricks, and techniques at http://www.tradingknowhow.com Comments (0) 07.01.2007. 18:51 New comments:
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