Forex Trading: Cutting Thru The Smoke And Mirrors

“What is forex trading and how can I make money doing it?” You may have asked this question before, but getting a straight answer is easier said than done. The purpose of this article is to cut through any misconceptions and provide you with a clear and systematic way to turn a profit. By following these essential guidelines, you will assure your trades are consistent, savvy and successful!
1. Trade in Pairs, Not with Currencies – It is similar to any relationship in day to day world. You need to know both the sides. Success or failure in this currency market depends on knowledge of both the currencies, not only one.
2. Do Your Homework! (Fx Trading History) – Before you begin trading, make sure to learn the basics of the forex market. Forex trading is heavily affected by global news, both real and perceived. Knowing how to discern between the two only reinforces your success.

What are your options?

You can file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy depending on your financial condition. Filing for bankruptcy has become harder following the introduction of the new federal bankruptcy laws. The new federal bankruptcy laws were introduced to minimize the number of bankruptcy filings.
As per the new bankruptcy laws, you have to take a Means test if you want to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. When you take a means test, your income is compared to the median income of a household in the state in which you are residing. If it is found that your income is below the state median income, you qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Why do debtors avoid filing bankruptcy?

Debtors usually avoid filing bankruptcy because it leaves a scar in your credit report for a period of 7 to 10 years. Moreover, if you file bankruptcy, you are not able to enjoy many financial benefits. For instance, if you apply for a job, you may not get recruited at a place of your choice as employers are reluctant in recruiting candidates that have filed bankruptcy.
Similarly, if you want to buy an insurance policy or stay on rent, the insurance carrier and the landlord respectively may not be willing to offer you benefits as per your choice. And getting a fresh loan on favorable terms is practically a far cry. You can get extensive information about bankruptcy from an attorney who is well versed and will be able to guide you in taking the bankruptcy procedure to completion effectively.

Be Realistic When You Start Trading The Forex Market

Currency trading experts understand the power of maximizing every dollar they invest into the forex market. Their approach to investing stems from a heavy set of fundamentals and principles gathered through a solid forex education. This is one of the keys to succeeding in the forex market.
There are plenty of software programs that all claim to yield a high return on the dollar but the safest approach to using software to forecast market trends and swings is to use a proven system. For this reason, it is always good to look for a system that has already been proven by a wide group of investors. Successful traders would not continue to use a particular program if they were losing money.
Automated software bots have been gaining momentum for many years. Savvy investors and traders use these programs to help them track and monitor key pieces of information such as trading start and stop signals. They are an essential tool to an investor.
With many new investors hitting the market, they can attest to the power

The Risk And Reward Of Online Forex Trading With Margins

Safeguards can be put in place to prevent this from happening, and these are called “stop loss orders”. Stop loss orders will mean that your account automatically closes the transaction when the currency you are trading falls to a certain low. These stop loss orders can limit losses, while allowing for profitable trading
One of the problems which is often overlooks by foreign currency traders is the broker, on seeing a currency drop may intervene and counteract your transaction. They see your deposit margin account is falling low because of a shift in currency, and they may close it. If you are riding out a downturn, expecting the trend to change and your broker closes your position you will lose your deposit funds. In order to continue riding this downturn until the shift to an upwards trend occurs; you will be required to make an additional deposit into your margin account.

Stop-loss discipline

As you can see from the description above, there are significant opportunities and risks in foreign exchange markets. Aggressive traders might experience profit/loss swings of 20-30% daily. This calls for strict stop-loss policies in positions that are moving against you.
Fortunately, there are no daily limits on foreign exchange trading and no restrictions on trading hours other than the weekend. This means that there will nearly always be an opportunity to react to moves in the main currency markets and a low risk of getting caught without the opportunity of getting out. Of course, the market can move very fast and a stop-loss order is by no means a guarantee of getting out at the desired level.
But the main risk is really an event over the weekend, where all markets are closed. This happens from time to time as many important political events, such as G7 meetings, are normally scheduled for weekends.
For speculative trading, we always recommend the placement of protective stop-lossorders. With Saxo Bank Internet Trading you can easily place and change such orders while watching market development graphically on your computer screen.

Spot and forward trading

When you trade foreign exchange you are normally quoted a spot price. This means that if you take no further steps, your trade will be settled after two business days. This ensures that your trades are undertaken subject to supervision by regulatory authorities for your own protection and security. If you are a commercial customer, you may need to convert the currencies for international payments. If you are an investor, you will normally want to swap your trade forward to a later date. This can be undertaken on a daily basis or for a longer period at a time. Often investors will swap their trades forward anywhere from a week or two up to several months depending on the time frame of the investment.
Although a forward trade is for a future date, the position can be closed out at any time - the closing part of the position is then swapped forward to the same future value date.

Dealing Spread, but No Commissions

When trading foreign exchange, you are quoted a dealing spread offering you a buying and a selling level for your trade. Once you accept the offered price and receive confirmation from our dealers, the trade is done. There is no need to call an exchange floor. There are no other time-consuming delays. This is possible due to live streaming prices, which are also a great advantage in times of fast-moving markets: You can see where the market is trading and you know whether your orders are filled or not.
The dealing spread is typically 3-5 points in normal market conditions. This means that you can sell US dollars against the euro at 1.7780 and buy at 1.7785. There are no further costs, commissions or exchange fees.
This ensures that you can get in and out of your trades at very low slippage and many traders are therefore active intra-day traders, given that a typical day in USDEUR presents price swings of 150-200 points.

Base Currency and Variable Currency

When you trade, you will always trade a combination of two currencies. For example, you will buy US dollars and sell euro. Or buy euro and sell Japanese yen, or any other combination of dozens of widely traded currencies. But there is always a long (bought) and a short (sold) side to a trade, which means that you are speculating on the prospect of one of the currencies strengthening in relation to the other.
The trade currency is normally, but not always, the currency with the highest value. When trading US dollars against Singapore dollars, the normal way to trade is buying or selling a fixed amount of US dollars, i.e. USD 1,000,000. When closing the position, the opposite trade is done, again USD 1,000,000. The profit or loss will be apparent in the change of the amount of SGD credited and debited for the two transactions. In other words, your profit or loss will be denominated in SGD, which is known as the price currency. As part of our service, Saxo Bank will automatically exchange your profits and losses into your base currency if you require this.

Multiplatform Released

Pro-Account: ForexGen would like to offer all professional traders that the minimum deposit for Pro-Account is still $1000 and this offer is available till the end of current year 2008.
No Dealing Desk: ForexGen is giving the chance for more traders to trade NDD by decreasing the minimum deposit of opening NDD account to be $ 10,000.00.
Monthly Contest: ForexGen is announcing a Demo Contest for each month to gather professionals and beginners in one contest where all traders are able to join and subscribe without any kind of restrictions…

Forex Trading Tools A to Z

Here you will find out selection of the best, most reliable and consistently effective trading tools. We’ve tried them out, had our experts put them to the test and determine their overall value and integrity. The tools we’ve selected are beginner-friendly, yet offer lots of new information to keep growing and seasoned traders on their toes.
We are confident that once you experiment with our trading tools you’ll need to look no further for the most comprehensive and broad spectrum of quality currency trading tools online. The Forex Profit calculator computes the profit of a trade made on the currency market from compounding your average pip gains, per month.

What is a Transaction Cost and How to Calculate It?

It is considered to be much more cost- efficient to trade in Forex in terms of both commissions and transaction fees. An online website for example charges no fees or commissions and at the same time offer traders an access to all relevant market information and trading tools. On the contrary, online stock trade commission ranges from $7.95 - $ 29.95 per trade and up to $100 or more per trade with full service brokers.
Another thing to consider, which is an important point is the width of the bid / ask spread. Regardless of the deal size, foreign exchange dealing spreads are normally or common in 3-4 pips (anyway a pip is .0001 US cents) in the major currencies. Generally, the width of the spread in a foreign exchange market transaction is less than one tenth (1/10) that of a stock transaction, which could contain a .125 or one eight (1/8) wide spread.
Since transaction costs are paid via bid/ask spread, there has to be no charges to trade or hidden fees. There are instances that there would be extra charges asked by good brokers for some non compulsory services or access to particular reports. A smaller spread is visibly better. Since brokers are taking the other side of all the customer trades, brokers gain profit by making the spread between the bid and offer prices. You may find that find spreads vary by broker.

FOREX TRADING TIPS

Discover the importance of forex trade balance to import and exporLearn about the price of forex transaction costs, selling or purchasing in Forex trading market. Learn to calculate rates and transaction costs of currency trading t values and their related impact on currency trading. Discover how interest rates are part of the influencing forces of the forex market. Learn to use this information for successful trade For instance, most people when buying or selling a security or stock, pays a commission to their broker and that commission can be considered as the fee or transaction cost for doing that stock deal. When evaluating a potential transaction, it is crucial to think about these costs that might prove significant. Mostly, in financial markets, the initial cost for these transactions is commission which is paid to brokers upon trade execution. This costs becomes increasingly important the shorter the holding time of an investment.
Many market models disregard transactional costs, presumptuous instead those markets are non resistant. While this thought is invalid, for many applications such costs are low enough that they can be disregarded. The lesser the cost for a transaction, the more effective and competent a market is said to be. The Foreign exchange market and stock market have lower costs for such transactions of any major asset class.

The Australian Dollar (AUD)

found solid support at 0.9020 on three occasions but rallies were subdued as the market is nervous to buy too aggressively in the current market. October Trade Balance -2379mn vs. -1700mn forecast. Overall the AUD/USD traded with a low of 0.9021 and a high of 0.9116 before closing the US session at 0.9090.Looking ahead, Australian Unemployment Rate forecast at 5.9% vs. 5.8% previously and Employment change is expected at 5k vs. 25k previously.
Oil & Gold (XAU) rallied in Asia but was sold off again with Oil in the US session before finishing broadly where it began. Overall trading with a low of USD$1115 and high of USD$1147 before ending the New York session at USD$1132 an ounce. Strong Crude numbers were ignored as Crude printed fresh multi month lows below $71 a barrel. Crude Oil was down -$1.95 ending the New York session at $70.67

TECHNICAL COMMENTARY

Currency
Sup 2
Sup 1
Spot
Res 1
Res 2
EUR/USD
1.4611
1.4626
1.4735
1.4905
1.5091
USD/JPY
86.59
87.32
88.05
89.52
90.77
GBP/USD
1.5973
1.6126
1.6270
1.6516
1.6722
AUD/USD
0.8907
0.8947
0.9095
0.9189
0.9322
XAU/USD
1118.00
1124
1132.00
1199.00
1179.00
OIL/USD
69.50
70.00
70.80
72.50
75.0
Euro – 1.4735Initial support at 1.4626 (November 3 low) followed by 1.4611 (0.382 of 1.3749-1.5144). Initial resistance is now located at 1.4905 (Dec 7 high) followed by 1.5091 (Dec 4 high)
Yen – 88.05Initial support is located at 87.32 (Dec 4 low) followed by 86.59 (Dec 2 low). Initial resistance is now at 89.52 (Dec 8 high) followed by 90.77 (Dec 4 High).

The Japanese Yen (JPY)

with risk aversion again prevalent in the Asia and European sessions the downside was tested on most crosses and the USD/JPY. Q3 GDP was revised lower to 0.3% vs. 1.2% previously as Capex was very weak. Overall the USDJPY traded with a low of 87.35 and a high of 88.73 before closing the day around 88.00 in the New York session.
The Sterling (GBP) came under pressure as the UK budget was put under the microscope and UK's Darling slapped a 50% tax on bankers bonuses. October Trade Balance was -7.1bn vs. -6.85bn forecast. The cable struggled to rally off lows with the rest of the majors in New York and was very weak on most crosses. Overall the GBP/USD traded with a low of 1.6165 and a high of 1.6379 before closing the day at 1.6260 in the New York session. Looking ahead, BOE Rate decision forecast to remain at 0.5% and keep QE at 200BN.
The Australian Dollar (AUD) found solid

Currencies Outlook Daily

(USD) was strong for most of the day as risk aversion remained elevated and markets focused on bad news stories outside of the US. Stocks in the US session finished on a positive note and this led to the USD paring back gains. Helping sentiment was BoA announcement they had repaid $45bn in TARP money. DJIA +51 points closing at 10337, S&P +4 points closing at 1095 and NASDAQ +10 points closing at 2183. Looking ahead, Weekly jobless claims forecast at 460k vs. 457k previously.
The Euro (EUR) new 5 week lows in Asia were seen on stoploss runs before consolidation and a small bounce the rest of the day. Weak Oil and a negative rating watch on Spain are hurting sentiment towards the single currency. Overall the EUR/USD traded with a low of 1.4667 and a high of 1.4784 before closing at 1.4730. Looking ahead, Swiss Rate Decision forecast to remain at 0.25%.

Dollar/Yen

made a significant bearish movement on Wednesday. On the 3 hour chart the currency pair broke down the 87.40 support level, was limited by the 87.36 bottom, and is now correcting upwards toward the key 88.67 resistance, the break of which may be a serious threat to the bearish outlooks. Short term signals are expected to remain increasing, so be prepared for possible further upward corrections. Let us remind that the Japanese government wants a weaker Yen, which could fundamentally limit the bearish momentum. Immediate support is 87.36. Break bellow this level may trigger stronger decreasing impulse. Penetration of the first resistance at 88.67 might cause further strengthening of the Dollar towards 89.15. The CCI indicator is leaning upwards on the 1 hour chart, suggesting insignificant bullish pressure.
Technical resistance levels: 88.67 89.15 90.09Technical support levels: 87.36 86.60 85.81

How to Use the Currency Trading Centre

is book has been developed to help the Forex beginner, though experienced and professional currency traders may find it a handy reference.Beginners and novice Forex traders are likely to benefit from reading the entire text, starting with the first Chapter, which provides a basic overview of what currency trading is, and how to get started.The chapters are set out in a logical flow, but do not need to be read in order to make sense, as each works as a discrete unit unto itself. You may prefer to focus first on those chapters that you feel will complement your particular knowledge base best. Read our forex glossary is a glossary of terms (listed alphabetically) used in the Forex business, that will prove helpful, and may serve as a valuable reference as you become an experienced currency trader

How the Economy is Affecting Softball

Honestly, I'm getting real sick of hearing about it. The economic crisis is everywhere on TV, in the news, on the internet.
I guess it's partly my problem as I probably watch the news or read the papers too much but I like to be informed.
However, right now, I feel I am "over-informed" about this damn recession.
Sadly, it's also having an effect on our favorite sport. I suspect many times have cut down on long trips or on the purchasing of expensive equipments. There are certainly parents that have also cut down on private instruction, buying the latest bat or playing on a very competitive travel ball team because of the cost.

There appears to be a bearish

GBP/USD
The pair continues to hold its range-trading pattern with no clear sign of direction. The price sits evenly between the Bollinger Bands on all charts, and continues to float in neutral territory on all oscillators. Waiting for a clearer signal might be the right choice today.
USD/JPY
There appears to be a bearish cross forming on the hourly chart's Slow Stochastic, signaling an imminent downward correction. The Bollinger Bands on the 30 min. chart also appear to be tightening, indicating some volatility could take place in the near future. Going short might be the right strategy today
USD/CHF
On the daily chart the moderate bullish price movement continues within the upwards channel which still has yet to be breached. The 4-hour chart is also joining that notion with the Slow Stochastic pointing to the continuation of upwards momentum. Next testing point should be around 1.0195. Going long appears to be preferable today

GBP/USD

GBP/USD
The pair continues to hold its range-trading pattern with no clear sign of direction. The price sits evenly between the Bollinger Bands on all charts, and continues to float in neutral territory on all oscillators. Waiting for a clearer signal might be the right choice today.
USD/JPY
There appears to be a bearish cross forming on the hourly chart's Slow Stochastic, signaling an imminent downward correction. The Bollinger Bands on the 30 min. chart also appear to be tightening, indicating some volatility could take place in the near future. Going short might be the right strategy today

The Yen underwent

The Yen underwent a trend reversal during last week's trading session. The Yen dropped against all the major currencies, including the Dollar, the Euro and the Pound. The Yen saw its sharpest slide against the Pound as the GBP/JPY pair rose by 600 pips and is currently trading around the 148.30 level.
The Yen's downtrend came as a result of the negative Japanese economic data which was published last week. The Preliminary Industrial Production report for October rose by 0.5%, failing to reach expectations for a 2.5% rise. In addition, the Japanese Capital Spending report, which measures the change in the total value of new capital expenditures made by businesses for this year's third quarter, dropped by 24.8%. This has shown that the Japanese economy has yet to recover from the recession, and that recovery may take longer than expected. Also last week, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to leave Interest Rates at 0.10%, the lowest rates in the industrial world. This has also contributed to the weak Yen

The Euro tumbled against most of the major

The Euro tumbled against most of the major currencies during last week's trading session. The Euro's depreciation took place mainly against the Dollar and the Pound. The Euro dropped about 200 pips against the Dollar and the EUR/USD pair is now trading around the 1.4860 level.
It seems that there are two main reasons for the Euro's downfall last week. The first was the European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to leave the Euro-Zone's Interest Rates at 1.00%. The decision has left investors confused about whether the Euro-Zone economies are truly on the verge of putting the crisis behind them, or is it still to soon to tell. The second was the sharp uptrend of the Dollar, which took place due to the U.S Non-Farm Employment Change's unexpected positive figures. The combination of the uncertain outlook of the Euro-Zone and the upbeat data from the U.S have boosted the Dollar and weakened the Euro as a result.

However, the Non-Farm Employment Change result on Friday has put an end to the bearish trend. The end result showed that the payrolls on the U.S have declined by merely 11,000 in November, the best figures since the recession began. In addition, the Unemployment Rate has unexpectedly dropped from 10.2% to 10.0%. This result was truly unexpected, especially due to the former ADP forecast, boosting the Dollar as a result.
Looking ahead to this week, a lot of interesting data is expected from the U.S economy. Traders are advised to pay special attention to two major publications: The Trade Balance on Thursday and the Retails Sales reports on Friday. A continuation of positive figures has the potential to further boost the Dollar. In addition, traders should also follow Fed Chairman Bernanke's speech today. Bernanke is expected to refer to the economy's outlook, which could create volatility in the market.