Showing posts with label Forex Trading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forex Trading. Show all posts

January 19, 2008

Myths In Trading World

Myth #1 – Trading System is mechanical and thus takes away your emotions and judgement

Trading System itself takes up only a percentage of trading. Joe started his trading career by attending a power trading system course and realized soon that no matter how good the system is, more than 90% of his course mates including himself cannot follow the system due to trading psychology. Those who succeeded immediately after the course are found out to be experienced and professional traders who already mastered trading psychology.
Besides trading system, the other 2 important components in trading are money management and trading psychology. Due to the fact that no trading system is perfect, the need for money management and trading psychology will never turn obsolete.

Myth #2 – Trading Psychology can only be acquired though actual trading

This myth used to be true until Joe made a break through and realised that trading psychology can be trained and conditioned using Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). However, it must be taken noted that NLP by itself will not turn a novice into an expert because the trading battlefield can never ever be simulated fully. What NLP can do is to bring a novice trader to a higher stage prior to entering the trading battlefield and drill the trader so well that regardless of fear, greed or impatience, the trader will relentlessly follow the planned strategy. Such drilling is similar to that of military drilling of soldiers so that they will attain braveness and courage and continue to act upon the command of the commander even in the bloody and merciless battlefield. NLP can also help experienced trader improve on his performance by deleting undesired traits and patterns in his trading and imprint desired patterns. As such, a main bulk of trading psychology can be acquired and trained with new science and training methodology such as NLP.

Myth #3 - Great Traders Can Predict the Market Direction

All traders can predict the market, but some will be correct half the time. In fact, traders who try and predict market direction are not termed as traders, but speculators or worse gamblers. All great traders understand that it is impossible to predict the market, so they do what is next best, prepare. Great traders are fully prepared for whichever condition the market goes and win trading in any circumstance. Do note that I am not speaking about analyst and have nothing against them. In fact most excellent analyst never predicts the market but speak of trends and probabilities which are different from prediction. Probably the best people to predict the market are people who can move the markets like terrorists or Guru Joe who holds the crystal ball.

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October 9, 2007

Online Currency Trading requires Patience

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This adage often brings back the memories of my past days when I was trading initially in the currency exchange market. Indeed, there’s nothing more hurtful than losing your invested money in the FX market. But, online currency trading is like life where you’ve got to learn from your wrong moves and keep moving on. Learning the basic skills of online forex trading could be easy but, practically, one needs to acquire the advanced skills to play safe through thick and thin of FX trading.

I have traded in forex for many years and, if you count on me, I must tell you that the secret of successful trading lies largely on the hunch and in tuition of a trader. Technically expressed, you should have the accurate forex alerts signals to be able to make the right moves in the currency market. However, this is easier said than done as the skills of the online currency trading takes a long time to master. This is why while a few people are able to boost their forex pips in a short span of time, the others take a long time to achieve the same or maybe, some of them get frustrated and just give it up! The reality is that not many people are ready to be entirely devoted to the perilous process of online forex trading.

Having said this, I still wonder why some people choose to be a dare-devil and risk their money instead of simply following an established and renowned online forex trading broker system. I began trading in 1997 and there is one important thing I have learnt in my trading career so far, i.e., you have to got to be patient to learn the tricks of making right moves at the right times and profit from your trading.

Since I have led quite a successful career in forex trading, I have been sharing the tips and tricks of online currency trading with many traders around the worldt hrough G7 Forex Trading System which as you know has remained pretty successful for many traders so far. My G7 Forex Trading System is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step trading manual offering in-depth online forex trading review.

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August 26, 2007

Forex Markets & Its Trading Characteristics

There are a number of reasons why FOREX trading is such a great way of entering the capital markets. Among them we can find it’s easy accessibility thanks to the use of the internet, the fact that currency trading is all commission-free and also the low transaction costs involved.

Thirty Days of FOREX Trading: Trades, Tactics, and Techniques
by Raghee Horner

The foreign exchange (forex) market is one of the most dynamic markets in the world. Its flexibility and 24-hour accessibility offer traders tremendous profit-making opportunities. But it takes more than a firm understanding of the tools and techniques of this discipline to make the most of your time in the forex market. What it really takes is the guidance of someone who has participated, and prevailed, in this type of fast-paced environment.

In Thirty Days of Forex Trading, Raghee Horner—one of today's top forex traders and a master teacher of trading systems—shares her experiences in this field, by chronicling one full month of trading real money...

There is one important characteristic about Forex that makes it what it is. This important characteristic is that there is not a single unified foreign exchange market in the world. Instead of this, due to the over-the-counter nature of currency markets, there exists a number of interconnected marketplaces, where many different currency instruments are traded. What this implies is that there is not a single dollar rate in the world, but different rates, depending on what bank or market maker you are asking a quotation to. In practice these rates are often very close as you can easily find on the web.

As a piece of general knowledge you must learn that the main forex trading centers are placed in New York, London, and Tokyo, but this doesn’t mean they are the only ones; there are other banks throughout the world that also participate. For example, as the Asian trading session ends, the European trading centers open, then the US session, and then the Asian centers open again. This kind of “continuos” market has the advantage that traders can react to news immediately, instead of waiting for the markets to open.

There are many factors that can influence the exchange rate of a particular currency. These rate fluctuations are usually caused by changes in inflation, GDP growth, interest rates, budget and trade deficits or surpluses, and other macroeconomic conditions of the country emitting the particular currency. Also major news that are released publicly can affect the prices of currencies; so many people have access to the same news at the same time that they can shake a currency price really hard.

According to a specialized study, the most heavily traded products on the spot market are: EUR/USD - 28 %, USD/JPY - 18 %, GBP/USD - 14 % and the US currency was involved in 89% of transactions, followed by the euro (37%), the yen (20%) and sterling (17%).

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Forex KISS Strategy: Profits For Sure?

Most experienced traders consider that the best and most profitable of the capital markets is without doubt the Forex market. During many years Forex trading had been not for everyone but the sole domain of the major banks, large financial institutions and countries central banks; for example the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Fortunately these days, thanks to the internet the market has been opened to anyone willing to learn the appropriate techniques in forex trading and with the intention of making substantial profits using the same pathway the large institutions use to consistently make pretty high profits from trading in the Foreign Exchange market.

The Forex markets are open 24-hrs a day during most of the week, allowing forex traders a huge flexibility to enter end exit their trades. As long as the markets keep open the prices will be constantly fluctuating and reacting to news and market conditions. All this activity can be easily seen by looking at the forex charts. And is thanks to this fluctuations that traders can have the potential of profitable trades the whole day.

But the simple potential of high profits is not enough to feed your bank account. What you need is a reliable system that will turn the profit potential into real cash for you. Here is where the KISS strategy can work marvels for you if you know how to implement this great and reliable forex system.

What is the Forex KISS strategy?. In short; this forex trading strategy is an original system that relies on the long operating week of the currency markets and it shows you how to make a wise use of your stops and entry orders applying them in such an order and sequence that you can easily duplicate your account capital in less than three months without having to worry everyday about losing much money from your account. Maybe the only drawback of the system is that you have the keep your computer working on the markets most of the week. The goood news is the system works alone most of the time.

KISS if without doubt one of those Forex system that will make many people turn to the currency markets as a reliable source of income.

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What are Pips on Basic Forex Trading

If you are a forex trader, everything is usually about pips. For example, you might say, "I am up 35 pips for the day," or, "I made 127 pips on my last trade."

Although this sounds like a lot of fun, it would probably be helpful to explain what a pip actually is.

Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders
by John L. Person

Written with the serious trader in mind, Forex Conquered:

  • Examines what it takes to develop a trading system, how to evaluate it from a hypothetical standpoint, and apply it in real-world forex trading situations

  • Covers the fundamentals of candlestick charting and explains how to utilize them

  • Highlights the benefits that leading price indicators like Fibonacci price corrections, extensions, and projections analysis have to offer

  • Introduces Elliott wave theory and illustrates how to apply this method in the forex market

  • Outlines three effective trading systems based on pivot points—the stochastics system, the MACD histogram system, and the pivot point moving average system—that can be immediately implemented in your forex trading endeavors

  • Explores essential trade and risk management issues

"Pip" stands for "percentage in point." Sometimes, people also refer to pips as "points." Basically, a pip is the smallest price unit for a currency. It is the last decimal point in every exchange rate or currency pair.

For most currencies, this means a pip is 0.0001. Therefore, if you bought USD/CHF 1.2475 and sold at 1.2489, you made 14 pips.

However, there are exceptions. One is USD/JPY. This currency pair only has two decimal places so that a pip is equal to 0.01.

Pips are very important because they are the basis by which a profit or loss is calculated.

What is a Pip Value?
Even when you utilize different currency pairs and deal with fluctuating prices, the pip usually remains the same. If the USD is the base currency, you divide the pip (which is usually 0.0001) by the exchange rate. If the USD is the quote currency, the pip value is always just one pip, such as 0.0001.

Therefore, if the exchange rate for USD.CHF is 1.2489, it goes like so:

0.0001 / 1.2489 = 0.0000800704

That probably seems like a small number, but remember that with forex trading, you can leverage small sums of money to move large amounts of currency. Therefore, it is entirely possible to make a profit off of such a small number.

For example, if your broker lets you trade with leverage of 100:1, you only need to put up $1000 to buy a standard lot of $100,000. You can see that trading in larger lots boosts the pip value so that your profit or loss is also affected, like so:

If you trade on $1000 in currency, your pip value is calculated thusly:

0.0000800704 X 1000 = $0.08 per pip.

This means that you have a profit of $112.14; not bad.

With forex trading, you don't invest in a single company or group of companies as you do with stocks or mutual funds, for example. Instead, you're investing in a particular national economy. You are pinning hopes on one nation's economic health versus that of another.

Therefore, fundamental analysis is very important. When trading currencies you need to know about the countries economic situation.

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August 19, 2007

Advantages of Investing your Money Globally

Investors in the United States are blessed with a number of advantages. Liquid equity markets, a large number of listed companies and comprehensive disclosure combine to make the US equity markets exceptionally attractive. However, that attractiveness inevitably leads to lower returns for investors because of the overall efficiency of the market.

International Investments
by Bruno H. Solnik, Dennis W. McLeavey

Provides an authoritative and classic treatment in the field of international investments, with a clear exposition of theory and recent empirical research.

In contrast, international markets offer greater opportunities simply because they are smaller and not as widely pursued. For an investor willing to dig a little deeper into an investment, international investments can be a goldmine. But investing abroad can still offer substantial benefits for the investor who prefers leaving the heavy analytical lifting to a mutual fund.

The first and most obvious advantage of international investing is diversification. Other economies, be they in Western Europe, Russia, or Southeast Asia, will have a different set of economic circumstances than the United States at any given point in time. If the United States falls into a recession, Ukranian or Chinese equities may nevertheless be roaring along. A broadly invested portfolio will not be as adversely affected by negative movements in any one of its component companies or countries.

An internationally invested portfolio also allows an investor to capitalize on the higher growth rates available in developing economies. Many developing economies in Europe and Asia are currently growing much faster than the United States as they "catch up" to more developed countries. Companies operating in these countries have a built-in growth advantage. They have the "wind at their backs" - a growing economy will increase most business' revenues without any increase market share.

International companies are often significantly cheaper than US companies. This means that the same dollar of capital invested will often return substantially more in operating earnings and earnings per share than a comparable company in a comparable industry in the US. The price discount reflects the risks of investing abroad, but there is often also a discount for illiquid or hard-to-understand investments. This discount compensates investors for the increased research and complexity involved in international investments.

Finally, international investments can offer quite a few psychological advantages. Investing abroad means putting capital where it is most needed. Particularly for developing countries, foreign investment allows the kind of accelerated growth that lifts people and countries out of poverty. Furthermore, ownership of international investments will encourage you to keep up on current events in that country and make you into a more informed global citizen.

The exact nature of the company and country you are investing in will affect the balance of these advantages. Investing in developed western European nations is a good diversification strategy, for example, but you may not enjoy the higher-than-usual growth rates of investing in a developing country. Likewise, less developed countries frequently offer high discounts in relation to their US competitors, but the increased volatility of these investments will make them less useful as a diversification strategy.

The potentially high rewards of investing internationally are balanced by risks. These risks vary by country, but there are a few common threads. International companies frequently offer less disclosure. A company's website, investor information and news may not be available in English, which makes it difficult to keep tabs on portfolio companies. Investors also face currency risk - for example, if the dollar is appreciating strongly it may be difficult for your overseas investments to keep up. Finally, legal issues and country issues are always a concern in developing countries, as these countries may enact regulatory, tax or ownership laws that adversely impact investors.

However, there is indisputably money to be made abroad, and smart money will follow the opportunity. After weighing advantages and disadvantages, informed investors can frequently buy a very profitable stake in the global economy.

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August 13, 2007

Foreign Markets Investment Advice

Foreign markets make up close to 50% of all opportunities for investing in stocks and bonds. As the world of business becomes more globalized, investors are seeking new avenues to invest and diversify with, but there are special issues to consider when investing in foreign markets. There can be great advantages to investing internationally as long as you keep the risks in mind. Most investment advisors recommend diversifying your portfolio with 10% to 20% of your investments being made in the international markets. A good understanding of your specific goals and the additional risks are important to making sound investment choices.

When investing in foreign markets, it is important to keep track of the exchange rate between the market currency and the US dollar. The impact of the exchange rate is opposite to the rise or fall of the dollar. For example if you were to invest in the German stock exchange, the Deutsche Börse AG, you would need to keep track of the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Euro. As the Euro rises against the US dollar, you will earn more, if the dollar rises, you will earn less. The stronger the dollar the less a US investor will earn over time in a foreign market. Diversifying in several foreign markets can help mitigate the risk and still allow an investor to reach the higher returns available from other markets.

One option for global diversification in your portfolio is to purchase American Depository Receipts. ADRs are the easiest way to purchase foreign shares. American banks issue ADRs and the certificates represent indirect ownership in specific foreign firms. ADRs allow an investor to buy, sell, and receive all dividends in US dollars, making the tax paperwork much easier to follow. If a company pays dividends those payments are sent through a US clearinghouse and promptly paid in US dollars.

Publicly traded sponsored ADRs are registered with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC). There are two levels of sponsored ADRs; Level I ADRs are typically purchased OTC and generally represent either smaller companies or companies that cannot list on the larger exchanges. The Level I ADRs are exempt from US reporting rules. Level II ADRs are listed on the NYSE or Nasdaq exchanges and must report using the SEC Form 20-F.

Direct purchases of foreign stocks are made through one of the foreign exchanges in the foreign currency. Direct purchases usually have slightly lower transaction costs, but the costs of changing currencies can limit the advantage. If you want to invest in a specific foreign company, however, it may be the best way for you to do that. To find out which exchange the company you are interested in works with, use the company website for investor information.

Many US investment firms offer a third alternative. You can purchase global mutual funds that are diversified across many countries. These individual funds are available with concentrations in a given market (such as the German Stock Exchange), region (such as South America or Europe), or specific industries (such as high tech or energy related stocks). These mutual or bond funds offer a great way for you to invest internationally and still be able to make easy trades. Most of these mutual funds are listed on the New York Stock exchange and can easily be purchased through your broker.

To find foreign market investment opportunities or to learn more about the markets some great resources are the World Federation of Exchanges (http://www.world-exchanges.org), The Bureau of Economic Analysis (www.bea.gov), or the Federal Reserve (www.federalreserve.gov).

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August 1, 2007

The Money Trading: G7 Forex Trading System Review

The forex, or foreign currency exchange market, is the largest market in the world. The daily trading volume for the forex is over 1.9 trillion dollars dwarfing the stock market. This article will explain how to make money trading successfully and avoid the pitfalls of first-time forex traders.

The forex is referred to as an interbank market because it has no specific location like New York Stock Exchange. The market is open from Sunday afternoon eastern time twenty four hours per day until Friday afternoon eastern time making it very desirable to trade because it doesn’t close at the end of the day like the stock market.

To make money trading is accomplished by going through a forex broker and buying and selling currency pairs such as the GBPUSD (British Pound/US Dollar). A person can make money when the market is going up or going down. It used to be that to make money trading the forex market you had to be a bank, an institution like a large company, or be a millionaire. In the past decade this has changed and forex brokers will allow someone to open an account for only a few hundred dollars. I will explain later in this article why you should not open an account for as little as $250 in the forex market to make money trading.

Let me give you an example of a trade. You might buy the EURUSD (euro/us dollar) pair at 1.3660 with a stop of 1.3630 and an open limit. Your forex broker will give you a free trading platform where you can buy and sell these currencies. 1.3660 is the level you buy at. The stop is in case your trade goes the wrong way and you don’t want to wipe out your account, so you would limit it to a 30 pip stop or stop loss. A pip means price interest point. We are trying to make pips in our forex account with each currency making different dollar values. The EURUSD trades at about a dollar a pip and we might make 50 pips or 50 dollars on our trade when we reach our limit or target in a mini account or 500 dollars in a regular account.

There are two different kinds of forex accounts to make money trading. A forex mini account which you can open with a few hundred dollars or a regular forex account which you can open with about five thousand dollars. In the mini account, you make about a dollar a pip and in a regular account, you make about 10 dollars a pip.

How can one get started in the forex market to make money trading? Our company, Provident Trading, is a forex education company. We buy inexpensive forex e-books ($100 or under), trade the methods, and publish the results for our subscribers in our free forex newsletter. We have recently reviewed the G7 Forex Trading System. While many make claims that their systems are profitable, we prove it by trading them.

For the forex trading beginner, you can start out with a free demo forex account. You can practice in the demo account before you put your money into a real account. What is remarkable about the G7 Forex Trading System is that with the purchase of the book, you can get a month of free daily trading signals or trades like the example above.

Forex trading signal companies generally charge hundreds of dollars for their trades which makes it difficult for a forex beginning trader to start with signals in a forex mini account. The author of the G7 Forex Trading System charges less than a hundred dollars per month for his signals. When Provident Trading purchased the forex system, we received 8 weeks free of forex trading signals. We made 300 pips in June trading just the signals and as of today, July 27th, we have made 312 pips. We feel this is the best system we have ever evaluated and in an industry that charges thousands of dollars and typically doesn’t teach people how to trade profitably, this is truly the way to get started in the forex market to make money trading.

So why not open a forex account with as little as $250? In a word, drawdown. In the forex world, drawdown means when your account goes down. Not every trade will make you money. You might have a drawdown of 220 pips before your account goes back up. Forex brokers entice new forex traders to open a mini account with a couple of hundred dollars, the new trader has a few losses and their account is gone. 95% of new forex traders lose their accounts. So in order to make money trading in the forex market, we recommend opening a forex mini account with no less than $1,000.

Provident Trading recommends FX Solutions as a forex broker for the beginning trader opening a forex mini account. If you begin with something like fifty thousand dollars, we recommend Dukascopy. In summary, the best way to begin in the forex market to make money trading is to purchase the forex e-book of the G7 Forex Trading System for under one hundred dollars and receive one month free of forex trades, a value of one hundred dollars. After the free month of trades, the forex trades are only one hundred dollars a month, the best value we can find in the forex and will work with even a forex mini account. The forex trading beginner can make money trading by learning the system in the book, all the while trading the free signals and making money.

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