Archives for September 2007

Forex

What is Forex? Forex stands for foreign exchange. Forex is a market that deals with the exchanging currencies in real time all over the world. If you are looking for a great opportunity to trade foreign currencies, Forex can be a great market to trade in.

Forex is the largest financial market in the world. The Forex market accounts for almost 2 trillion dollars in average daily turnover each day. Forex can be a great way to trade, because with the foreign exchange market, you simultaneously buy and sell currencies, exchanging one currency for another. For instance, trading the US dollar for the Japanese Yen.

Today, many investors can easily trade Forex from the privacy of their own home. There are many platforms and software that can allow almost any investor to buy, sell and check charts and information instantly. There is no center market for Forex, Forex runs on a network and continues 24 hours a day, starting from Sydney, Australia.

For most investors that are interested in trading Forex, the good news is that you don’t have to have lots of capital to trade Forex. Most investors can start with a relatively small investment of about $250. A great advantage to Forex trading is that you can leverage the initial investment amount up to 200 times your investment in certain situations. So if you are looking for a great way to trade, with a low initial investment, research Forex, to see if this type of trading is right for you to invest in.

?Three Main Characteristics of the Forex Market

While there are many characteristics of the Forex market, there are three that help new traders learn exactly what the foreign exchange market is all about. These characteristics are those that every new trader should know long before they make their first trade. The Forex system is one that is made to encompass the entire globe. It can be difficult to interpret and even more difficult to trade successfully within. Knowing how the system works is the first step to being a successful trader however. So, before you even think about opening a Forex account, be sure that you are familiar with the foreign exchange market’s geographical, functional, and participant characteristics.

Geographical Characteristics

The Forex is a huge market that encompasses the entire globe. This is a market that spans from the United States to Europe, to China, and back. There is no area it cannot touch. This is one thing that makes the market so popular. There is simply something for everyone with the Forex market. It is easily accessed due to it being open all day in every country. Its 24 hour access makes it even more attractive for investors. No matter what time of day you want to trade, there will be someone trading in some distant location around the world. Although there is trading in the Forex in every corner of the globe, the major exchanges are Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bahrain, London, New York, San Francisco, and Sydney. The geographical characteristics of the foreign exchange market can help new traders realize the size and volume of the Forex. It is simply unmatched in volume and size. This makes the Forex a powerful tool for investors everywhere.

Functional Characteristics

The entire Forex market functions to transfer purchasing power. This is done between countries. When trades are made, they are allowing partners to convert currency revenues into their domestic currency. When one country’s purchasing power is strong, another country’s may be weaker. It also functions to obtain and provide credit for international trade and to avoid an exchange rate catastrophe. When it comes to international trade, the Forex is helpful because it can help the movement of goods between countries and offer credit for financing.

Participant Characteristics

There are two main parts to the foreign exchange market. The first part is the interbank, which is often called the wholesale market. The second part is the client, which is often called the retail market. Throughout these two categories, there are approximately five different types of participants. The bank and non-bank foreign exchange dealers are those that buy at bid prices and sell at asking prices. This helps the efficiency of the market as a whole. An interesting thing to note is that by trading currencies, banks often make up to 20% of their profits.

Individuals and commercial and investment firms make up the second type of participants. This group consists of importers, exporters, tourists, and other portfolio investors. They use the market basically to help them invest. These are often those participants that use the Forex to hedge, which is a way to reduce their risk.

Speculators and arbitragers are the third group type that seeks to profit from the foreign exchange market. These people are those that are out to make money for themselves. They are acting in their own self interest. They seek profitable rate changes in order to help them profit and try to profit with the least possible risk involved. Large banks are sometimes a part of this group.

Central banks and treasuries are also involved in the Forex. They use it to change the value of their own currency, or to at least attempt to do so. This is something that they do with reserves. Their motive is not to profit but to influence the market. They want the value of their domestic currency to benefit their interests.

Lastly, foreign exchange brokers are the last of the five groups involved in the participant characteristic of the Forex. These participants are those who facilitate trading but are not partners in the transaction. They typically charge a fee for their service, which is most often on a commission scale. They are often seen as go betweens for large traders.

Calculating FOREX Profits and Losses

FOREX currencies are traded in much smaller divisions than cash. Whereas the smallest division in US cash is the penny ($0.01), US currency can be traded on the FOREX in divisions of $0.0001. This smallest division is called the pip (short for Price Interest Point – sometimes just called ‘points’). Since currencies are traded in large lots of (say) $100,000 – small movements in value can generate substantial profits and losses. In a lot of US$100,000 one pip is worth $10 so an increase in 40 pips (4/10 of one cent) can generate a profit or loss of $400.

Currencies are traded in lots of various sizes. The standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency. A unit is the currency name e.g. one unit of US dollars is the dollar. So a standard lot of US currency is worth $100,000. FOREX trades can have lots of various sizes – a mini lot is 10,000 units, but the most trades are done using standard lots.

Various currencies have different sized pips. The US dollar is expressed in pips of 0.0001 while the Japanese yen is expressed in pips of 0.01. The value of a pip depends on the size of a lot and the currency pair traded. Currency pairs with USD as the quote (second) currency (e.g. CAD/USD) always have a pip value of $10 per standard lot or $1 per mini lot. A pip value calculator can be used to calculate other currencies.

Order Types

A trader has at his disposal different types of orders to make FOREX trades. A clear understanding of each type of order is necessary to be a successful FOREX trader.

Market Order – is an order to buy or sell at the current market price. They can be used to enter or exit a trade. Market orders should be used with care because in fast-moving markets there may be a difference between the price seen at the time a market order is given and the actual price of the transaction. This is due to slippage – the amount the market moves in the few seconds between giving an order and having it executed. Slippage could result in a loss or gain of several pips.

Limit Order – is an order to buy or sell at a certain limit. They can be used to buy currency below the market price or sell currency above the market price. When buying, your order is executed when the market falls to your limit order price. When selling, your order is executed when the market rises to your limit order price. There is no slippage with limit orders.

Stop Order – is an order to buy above the market or to sell below the market. They are most commonly used as stop-loss orders to limit losses if the market moves contrary to what the trader expected. A stop-loss order will sell the currency if the market falls below the point set by the trader.

One Cancels the Other (OCO) – this order is used when placing a limit order and a stop-loss order at the same time. If either order is executed the other is cancelled, allowing the trader to make a transaction without monitoring the market. If the market falls, the stop-loss order will be executed, but if the market rises to the level of the limit order, the currency will be sold at a profit.

Example OCO Transaction:

Buy: 1 standard lot EUR/USD @ 1.3228 = $132,280
Pip Value: 1 pip = $10
Stop-Loss: 1.3203
Limit: 1.3328

This is an order to buy US dollars at 1.3328 and to sell them if they fall to 1.3203 (resulting in a loss of 25 pips or $250) or to sell them if they rise to 1.3328 (resulting in a profit of 100 pips or $1,000).

Here’s another example:

The current bid/ask price for US dollars and Canadian dollars is

USD/CDN 1.2152/57

…meaning you can buy $1 US for 1.2152 CDN or sell 1.2157 CDN for $1 US.

If you think that the US dollar (USD) is undervalued against the Canadian dollar (CDN) you would buy USD (simultaneously selling CDN) and wait for the US dollar to rise.

This is the transaction:
Buy USD: 1 standard lot USD/CDN @ 1.2157 = $121,570 CDN
Pip Value: 1 pip = $10
Stop-Loss: 1.2147
Margin: $1,000 (1%)

You are buying US$100,000 and selling CDN$121,570. Your stop loss order will be executed if the dollar falls below 1.2147, in which case you will lose $100.

However, USD/CDN rises to 1.2192/87. You can now sell $1 US for 1.2192 CDN or sell 1.2187 CDN for $1 US.

Because you entered the transaction by buying US dollars (buying long), you must now sell US dollars and buy back CDN dollars to realize your profit.

You sell US$100,000 at the current USD/CDN rate of 1.2192, and receive 121,920 CDN for which you originally paid CDN$121,570. Your profit is $350 Canadian dollars or US$287.19 (350 divided by the current exchange rate of 1.2187).

?There’s No Room for Emotions in Forex Trading

“Go with your gut.”

When it comes to forex trading, that’s a trading strategy that is bound to lose you money ??” unless your gut is highly trained and impervious to emotion. The trick to making money in the currency exchange market is to avoid making emotional decisions and follow a carefully thought out strategy that takes the current market and history into account.

Forex trading is a highly volatile market. Emotions tend to run high ??” and low ??” and either of those extremes can influence your trading decisions, unless you have a strategy planned in advance, and stick to it, no matter what you THINK you’re seeing at the moment. The keys to success in Forex are system, analysis and perseverance. Note that emotion is not one of them. Going with your gut is a losing proposition in forex trading.

Letting your emotions rule your decisions can hurt your trading in several different ways. It’s the reason that most experienced traders tell novice traders that they need to develop a system ??” and stick to it no matter what. The system tells you when to buy, what to buy, when to trade and what to trade for. By sticking to your system even when you want to fly in the face of accumulated data, you’ll maximize your profits.

A system based on technical analysis of historical market trends is one of the most potent tools that you can utilize if you’re just getting started in forex trading ??” and many traders with years of experience continue to use their system to keep the profits rolling in. In fact, many will tell you that when their ‘gut instinct’ and their system collide, the system is almost always right.

The third key is perseverance. Analysis of trends in the market will show you that the market moves in dips and spurts within overall patterns that are predictable. No trend moves smoothly in an up or down line ??” there are inevitable periods of time when values suddenly spiral up or down based on some outside factor. These are the times when emotion can hurt your portfolio. When a currency that you’re holding takes a sudden dip south, it’s tempting to succumb to panic trading, cut your losses and run even if your system tells you to hold on. On the other hand, it’s easy to catch the rising excitement as a trade starts increasing in value and scramble to buy more of the same. These are exactly the times to rely most heavily on your trading system. It will tell you exactly when to trade for maximum profit.

Using a mechanical system takes the emotion out of your trading, eliminating one of the key factors that people fail. Your system doesn’t get stubborn about proving a theory. It isn’t swayed by bad news, or elated by good news. It doesn’t hold onto a bad trade hoping against hope that if it just holds on long enough, the trend will turn around and become a moneymaker.

To be effective, your system ??” whether you develop your own or adopt one created by someone else ??” should identify the entry point of your trade, the exit point of your trade, mitigating factors, and an exit strategy. In laymen’s terms that means:

– Under what conditions should I acquire a currency?

For instance, you may have a buy order for when a particular currency drops more than 5 pips because your analysis tells you that that’s likely to be as low as it goes.

– Under what conditions should I trade that currency for another ??” and which one?

There are two reasons to exit ??” to maximize your profit, or minimize your loss. That means you have a set stop-loss order and a set take-profit order at which point to cash out your trade.

– What factors will I allow to change that decision?

If you’re not careful, this is where emotion will sour deals for you. While the money market moves in predictable patterns, there are always individual variations of a trend within those patterns. If you’ve taken those variations into account, it will be far easier to decide when a factor really does make a difference, and when it’s just wishful thinking.

– How will I trade out of a currency?

Your exit strategy may be as simple as ‘a stop-loss order when my loss hits 5% or a take-profit order when I’ll make 40% profit’.

By employing a system to tell you when to get in, out or stick, you’ll minimize the impact of your emotions on your trading and maximize your proft.

?Crossing Currency ??” What’s This Mean to Forex Traders?

Learning to trade on the foreign exchange, also called the Forex, market can be both exciting and profitable. In order to trade successfully on the Forex it is essential to understand the way the market works, the terminology and the trends. Brokers and financial institutions are often the best way for traders to learn how to use the Forex for profit.

When an investor or individual wants to trade one type of currency for another, it is called exchanging currency, or crossing currency. Currency crossing is the main goal of trading on the Forex. For example, if a business or investor has US dollars and needs to trade those into Japanese yens, a broker would do this on the Forex. Many investors trade currency to make a profit. When a certain type of currency is bought at a low exchange rate, the currency can be sold once the rate increases to turn a profit.

Crossing currency on the Forex is one of the most profitable ways to earn money for many investors. The Forex is unlike any other type of market in the world. The foreign exchange market is extremely liquid and involves over two trillion dollars everyday. The top three currencies that are most traded on the Forex are the US dollar, the Japanese yen and the Euro. All of these currencies are traded the most out of all other forms of currency.

Learning to cross currency in the Forex can be complicated. The biggest factor in trading on the Forex is having knowledge about the Forex and how it works. In addition, there are many benefits of using the Forex for trading. Crossing currency gives traders the leverage to make large profits while keeping the risk of losing capital to a minimum. In ideal conditions, an investor that puts in $500 could potentially make over $100,000.

With the foreign exchange currency being so large, it is very liquid. Crossing currency using the Forex allows a large amount of flexibility for the trader and investor. The Forex gives the trade the ability to buy and sell currency quickly so that they are never stuck in any investment. When investors use online trading as their form of crossing currency, the trading platform can be pre-set to the preferences of the trader. If the trade is not going as expected, the platform can be set to stop the trade, allowing the trader to lose less money while using the Forex.

Crossing currency also allows traders and investors to profit in rising and falling markets. This is another difference between the stock market and the foreign exchange market. With the stock market, an investor can only make money when the shares are on the rise. When there is a falling “bear” market or the stocks decline, investors cannot make money on the stock market. When crossing currency in the Forex, this is not true. This is one appealing factor of trading on the Forex. Investors can make large amounts of profits when a currency pair is either up or down. Crossing currency in the right direction can always make profits.

Another appealing benefit of using the Forex for currency crossing, or trading is that the Forex is always open. When investing the in the stock market, the trading is limited to when the market is open. It has a definite closing time during the business week. This is not true of the foreign exchange currency. The Forex is open all the time and does not close. Traders benefit from the ability to trade twenty-four hours a day using the Internet.

Learning to trade on the Forex can be easy when new investors go through an experienced broker or financial institution. Also, there are many ways to learn how to trade on the Forex using free demo accounts available on the Internet. These websites offer valuable resources and free ways for the new investor to practice using the Forex. This is very important for those who want to learn the ins and outs of crossing currency before opening an actual account. Mini Forex accounts are also a good way for the new investor to trade currency without having the risk of a regular account. A mini account allows traders to use a smaller amount of money as their initial investment.