Posts Tagged ‘forex trading’

Forex — The Anxiety Is Killing Me!

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

It’s tough, isn’t it? Having an investment available and being patient enough to just allow it to run its course is something that is difficult for even the most seasoned of veterans—but especially so for those trading on the Foreign exchange! The Forex, or Forex market, is where nations, expenditure banks, and other investors arrived at exchange currencies. Nearly two trillion dollars exchange hand in a given 24-hour period of trading (the market is open 24 hours per day, Sunday through Friday) making the Forex the largest and most fluid market on the planet. Investors love the Forex since it is simple and has plenty of opportunity for profit thanks to its volatility.

However, while those fluctuations in exchange rates can result in large profits—they can just like easily zero out a free account! In fact, they can cause losses to mount even quicker than potential profits because Forex accounts tend to be highly leveraged—as much as 100: 1—or even more in some instances!

Fear, greed, even faith—all of these very basic and real human emotions play very huge roles in the decisions made by investors. The fear of loss {is a very} real and valuable human emotion designed to help us evade danger and survive—but it can kill you when it comes to trading on the Foreign exchange!

Every investor on the Forex—every single one—will lose from time to time if they trade long enough. The market is constantly right and we humans can never achieve this level of perfection—not even the investment gurus like George soros get it right every time. Like it or not, investing is a gamble—a calculated risk. Investors increase their odds of success on the Forex by identifying probably the most profitable currency pairs with all the least volatility and then place stops using their order to insure against catastrophic loss.

However, despite brilliant technical analysis and the best investment strategy, a loss will happen. Fear can play two damaging roles at this point: Fear can either frighten the investor away into not investing again; or even, it can compel the actual investor to “get back in? on a position quickly to make their losses back. In both cases, fear is now guiding investment decisions and can ultimately lead to skipped opportunities and potentially higher losses.

Backtesting is a typical tactic practiced by many of the top investors on the forex market. To do this, an investor an amazing theoretical portfolio performance history. This is accomplished through the use of current asset criteria to the hypothetical portfolio and then evaluating the accuracy from the strategy. How accurate is it in predicting price movements? If you can consistently identify long term trends using the strategy at least 70% of the time, then the theory has merit.

You do not need to backtest forever before investment again but definitely carry on this practice while making an investment on the Forex to be able to further refine your strategy and test its success. Whatever you do, avoid allowing fear to compel for you to do the opposite—that is over trade! A series of small losses will eventually add up to a big loss so never enter a position unless the charts indicate it really is wise to do. If your strategy is sound and also the charts correct, then you will be very successful on the forex market even when the occasional losses are considered!

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IC Markets ECN Is The Nations Best

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

There are a number of forex brokers in Australia to select from, having options is a good thing however it can even be extremely confusing particularly if you are new to forex trading. Just to save you some time I thought that I’d talk about my experiences withthe different kinds of forex brokers and which type I prefer.

The most crucial things to look for in choosing a forex broker is to know what kind of broker they are, are they a market-maker or straight through processing (STP) broker or are they a direct markets access (DMA) or electronic communications network (ECN) broker. Usually it’s the market-marker or STP brokers that spend a lot of money advertising to obtain new business, the primary reason for this is because they typically make money from client losses. DMA or ECN brokers on the other hand pass on all of your trades to an investment bank and therefore they don’t hold the other side of their client’s trades, these types of forex brokers typically impose a commission on each trade rather than a widened spread.

 Sad to say in Australia there is almost no choice if you are looking for a DMA or ECN broker. I’ve got accounts and traded with all the forex brokers in the nation and have only discovered one true ECN broker in Australia however there are around 10 market maker or STP brokers to choose from.

I’m not about to take the trouble calling the market-maker and STP brokers which i have managed however let’s just say that all are precisely the same, they advertise themselves as someone who has tight spreads and high leverage but the troubles are always the same, slow performance, re-quotes, server outages, slippage, stop placement limits, stop hunting, and the list goes on. Save yourself from the issues which will undoubtedly develop if you deal with such a broker and go with a DMA or ECN broker.

DMA and ECN brokers don’t have any hidden agendaand try to put in efforts to make you more successful any time you trade, they don’t have limits on stop placement nor do they limit your trade sizes, there won’t be any re-quotes and executions speeds are generally much quicker than with any other form of broker. It is for these reasons that trading with a DMA or ECN broker is the sole option for active forex traders.

After looking all over I have found only one forex broker in Australia who’s a real ECN, the broker is IC Markets. I have traded with IC Markets for over twelve months now and have never had any difficulties with, order execution or rate, spreads are tight and are often zero that is really normal with ECN brokers. I’m able to trade 50 standard lots with no troubles, an order this size could be impossible to place using an STP or market-maker broker. Because of the tight spreads and deep liquidity scalping with IC Markets is a dream come true, this is just impossible todo with any market maker or STP broker.

Not surprisingly I’ll only attest to ICMarkets from my experience, I often advise that you try out their platform on your own and find how IC Markets ECN forex offering is best in Australia

Low Latency Your Forex Trading Edge

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

Latency is defined as the delay in the time it takes for data to travel from point A to point B. In the case of Forex trading, this equates to the distance between your broker and their respective liquidity sources.

 

Latency tends to be one of the most overlooked aspects of Forex trading. From a trader’s perspective the focus has always been on the front end trading software. However, reductions in latency should be one of the most important considerations in selecting a Forex broker. It is essential that an STP broker that connects to various liquidity sources lessen the time that trade messages takes to reach those sources of liquidity.

 

The Case for Colocation

 

As is the case with many businesses, a major key to success is “location, location, location”. Numerous studies have shown that the most effective way to limit latency is to make sure the physical location of the broker’s servers are in close physical proximity to the data source. DivisaFX accomplishes this by locating their servers within the same facility where Currenex hosts their servers.  This means that trade messages travel the shortest distance possible and offer clients precious milliseconds advantage over other brokers.

 

Many algorithmic and high frequency traders take advantage of the improved execution times by hosting their trading system in a collocation with their broker. Through a partnership with TradeSpotFX, traders can now use the VPS (Virtual Private Server) service to reduce latency and maximize the effectiveness of their expert advisor or other automated trading system they might use.

 

Another benefit of server collocation is security. Financial institutions are required by law to adhere to the strictest levels of security and data integrity. They must also maintain server uptime of 99.99% so numerous backups are implemented to insure uninterrupted trading for clients of DivisaFX.

 

MetaTrader 4 White Label Special

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

TradeSpotFX, LLC (mt4bridge.com) announces for a limited time “at cost pricing” (the same cost as for a Metatrader 4 White label from Metaquotes) for the transfer of your Metatrader 4 white label. If you are an existing MT4 white label and are looking for a stable state of the art liquidity/brokerage solution you can now tap into the official Currenex Metatrader 4 integration (“bridge”). Through its partnership with TradeSpotFX your customers can also take advantage of the VPS (Virtual Private Server) services to lessen latency and maximize the effectiveness of their expert advisor or whatever trading system they might use.

 

Latency and server problems are a thing of the past as all of Tradespot servers are in a co-location facility, the same location as Currenex and the same as the tier 1 banks that provide the liquidity.

 

The highly experienced and professional team at TradeSpotFX will handle the setup and integration of your white label. One of the most experienced groups handling Metatrader 4 and having setup numerous brokers and white labels dating back to Metatrader 3.

 

TradeSpotFX will supply Tier 1 Currenex liquidity provided by Divisa Capital which will power the MT4 system. Brokers will now be able to offer their clients a an Institutional type MT4 solution deployed in a short amount of time.

 

Contact your TradeSpotFX representative today to find out more.

 

TradeSpot FX – the technology division of the Divisa Capital Group is a team of highly experienced individuals who specialize in Foreign Exchange technology solutions. Our goal is to assist new and existing Brokers, IB’s and Money Managers to configure and operate their own fully automated

FX business

 

TradeSpotFX offer a variety of Forex products, services and tools that include everything you need to successfully grow and expand your business. If you are interested in increasing your efficiency and profitability, contact one of our representatives and we will arrange a private meeting to take you through the finer details of our products.

Currency Market: Simply The Largest, Most Liquid Asset Class On Earth

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Foreign exchange is a trading platform for currencies. Those who take part in the Forex market in essence attempt to increase their earnings by taking advantage of the fluctuations in the exchange rates existing between currency pairs.

The huge trading volume in the currency market makes it the largest, most liquid asset class in the world, even surpassing the equity market you probably frequently see or hear about. Trading in the currency market is much simpler in comparison to trading in stocks, but definitely not less lucrative.

For one, there are only thirty currency pairs compared to the plethora of stock offerings. At the same time, there are no central clearing houses for the Forex market, and brokers and dealers are able to negotiate directly with one another. In recent years, advancements in both computing and Internet technologies now allow for foreign exchange traders to keep track of price movements and execute trades from the comfort of your own home or office.

To enter the currency market you would need to create a Forex account through a broker. Aside from brick and mortar brokerage firms, they can also be found on the Internet. The terms of business among brokers are essentially dissimilar hence it is advisable to check out a good number of them before choosing one. With so many brokerage firms today, getting opinions from other traders either by visiting web forums or browsing through reviews could help you find the best from the rest. An amazing aspect to Forex trading is that you may control contracts of sizeable amount without spending too much. The reason behind this is that majority of broker companies allow, even encourage buying at a margin. To give an example, by using leverage you can buy a two-hundred thousand dollar currency contract for only a hundred thousand dollars.

Taking part in Forex trading requires guts. Quite simply, people who are indecisive and those with slow reaction times do not prosper in the currency market. Forex trading can be extremely lucrative, and stories of people becoming millionaires out of this financial market are not at all uncommon. Also, it requires a high level of astuteness. It has a steep learning curve, but once you’ve overcome that hurdle, you can see your portfolio expand prodigiously.

A Beginners Guide To Forex Trading

Friday, November 4th, 2011

New in the Forex market? This market may sound really complicated and scary to tackle but it’s not. Just like in any kinds of trade, you make money when you buy low and sell high. Forex trading is simply trading currencies in the Forex market.
Forex is the largest financial market in the world. It generates trillions of dollars of currency exchanges everyday and it operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week therefore, also making it the most liquid market in the world.

In the world of Forex, trading in this very liquid market is very unique compared to other financial market like stocks. Since the Forex market operates 24 hours a day worldwide, which starts at Sydney and ends in New York, trading is not centralized in one location. You can trade in Forex whenever you want regardless of the local time.

In the past, Forex trading was only offered to large financial institutions, like banks. And, it was also only offered to large companies, multi-national corporations and large currency dealers. This is because of the large and extremely strict financial requirements the Forex market imposed. This means that individual traders and small businesses are not able to participate in this liquid market.
However, in the late 90s, Forex was made available to individual traders and small businesses. This is due to the advances in the communications technology. High speed internet made it possible for people to enter the Forex market and have become one of the best make money at home businesses.

Forex trading is getting more and more popular each day. Besides, who wouldn’t want to trade in the largest and the most liquid financial market in the world? Trading in Forex will certainly give you the opportunity to earn a lot of money. However, trading in this ever liquid market also has its risk. It is a fact that many people who traded in Forex lost a substantial amount of money and some of these people are seasoned traders.

This is why it is very important for you, as a beginner trader in the Forex market, to have the proper knowledge and education on how to trade in the Forex market. Firstly, there are hundreds or even thousands of available websites in the internet that offers Forex education. Some of these websites offer dummy Forex trading where you can practice trading in the Forex market using dummy money.
These programs will really take you closer to actually trading in Forex. Many experts say that you’ll never really understand how Forex really works until you traded in the market. So, if you want to learn how to trade Forex, you may want to sign up for a dummy account that numerous Forex trading websites offer.

With a dummy account, you can trade Forex by not using real money at all. With this program you can practice your knowledge and skills in trading in the Forex market and not waste money.
To get started in trading in this market, all you need is a computer with a high speed internet connection, a funded Forex account, and a trading system like Metatrader 4. These three simple things are enough to get you started in Forex trading.

In order for you to minimize the risk of losing money, you need to have some basic knowledge in charting before you start trading. In most Forex trading systems, Forex charts are there to assist you with your trades. Forex charts are a visual representation of the exchange rates of currencies. This is where you will mostly base your decisions to buy and sell currencies. You have to learn how to read the different Forex charts in order for you to successfully trade in the Forex market.
Each Forex chart is different although they represent the same fluctuations. For example, in the daily Forex chart, you can evaluate market trends in the past 24 hours to help you make decisions on the next 24 hours of trading. In the hourly chart, you can use this chart to spot trends within the day. And, in the 15 minute chart, where it can help you recent currency fluctuations in a 15 minute interval to help you decide on which currency to buy and sell. Sometimes, there are 5 minute chart available to better help you get closer to the action.

These are the basics on how to trade in the Forex market. Always remember that aside from the promising earning potential that you can have in the Forex market, there are also underlying risks that you have to consider. It is therefore wise to trade in this market with a proper investment plan and strategy. If you are just starting out to trade in Forex, consider opening a dummy account to help you practice trading Forex with Metatrader 4 without risking money.

How To Be A Foreign Exchange Trader

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Being a forex or foreign exchange trader no longer means you have to work for a bank in one of the world’s financial centers. These days you can trade on your own behalf, from anywhere.

Since the rise of the internet many people are doing this from their own homes, making money in their spare time or even making a full time income. But what is forex trading and how does it work?

A foreign exchange trader deals in currencies. He or she will sell one currency that seems to be falling in value, to buy another that seems to be rising. There are always two currencies involved in a trade (a currency pair) because when you want to buy dollars you have to have another currency to exchange for them.

In the beginning it is best to be involved with just one currency pair. Most people start out trading in the EUR/USD market, that is the euro against the US dollar. This is the biggest forex market. There is plenty of information available for this market and it tends to have lower costs and be relatively stable.

Nevertheless forex is a very volatile market. This means that the prices can rise and fall steeply and quickly. The risk is high. It is easy to lose money. In fact, some losses are inevitable, so you should manage your account so that you never risk too much on one trade. You can use stop losses so that your broker will automatically sell if the price goes a certain way against you. The aim is not to have no losses, but to make sure that your profits are higher than your losses so that you end up with a net gain.

You will need access to a computer with a high speed internet connection any time that you want to trade. Unless you use a robot to control your currency trading, you will also need time where you can concentrate on learning a profitable system and then on trading itself. You pretty much need to be able to lock yourself away in a room to do this, at least for a couple hours a day. It is no good trying to trade from your desk at your day job with your boss interrupting you, or using a computer in the family den with kids climbing on your knees wanting to play games. You must be fully concentrated on the movements in the market or you could miss the right moment to either open or close a trade.

If you are a cautious person who likes a solid investment with predictable low returns, you should not become a currency trader. Forex traders are people who enjoy risk and love the challenge of trying to turn a profit in a fast moving market.

It helps if you are strongly focused on your goals and not easily swayed by emotion. It is important not to let fears of losses or dreams of huge wealth divert you from your strategy. You also need to stay aware of financial news, not only in your own country but in all of the major world powers, because this will affect the forex markets. With these characteristics and a good trading system in place, a foreign exchange trader can reap substantial gains from his or her investment.

A Decisão De Desvalorização Da Moeda Por Parte Do Banco Central Suíço

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Na terça-feira, 06 de Setembro, o Banco Nacional Suíço (SNB) decidiu estabelecer uma taxa mínima de 1,20 francos suíços por euro.

O SNB comprometeu-se a comprar moeda estrangeira em quantidades ilimitadas de forma a garantir que a taxa mínima permaneça neste nível.

Com esta medida o SNB visa desvalorizar o franco, a fim de ajudar a estimular as exportações e a indústria do turismo.

O efeito deste anúncio foi imediato e o euro valorizou 9% contra o franco em apenas algumas horas após a notícia.

Os analistas especularam que os traders de forex que até agora viam o franco suíço como moeda de refúgio voltar-se-ão para o iene, moeda que tende a atrair cada vez mais atenção. .

Nos últimos meses, o franco suíço continuou a atrair os investidores que procuram um porto seguro desde que a crise de dívida soberana assombra a zona euro .

Apesar da economia suíça ser aclamada pela sua robustez, os indicadores económicos mais recentes dão conta de uma crescente debilidade.

Em boa verdade, a taxa de desemprego suíça no primeiro trimestre foi de 4,11 passando a 2,77 milhões no segundo trimestre.

Durante o segundo trimestre o crescimento do PIB do país caiu para 0,4% em comparação com um crescimento de 0,6% no primeiro trimestre, o valor mais fraco desde o segundo trimestre de 2009. As vendas a retalho caíram 7,4% para 1,9% em Julho.

A decisão do Banco Nacional poderá ter sido influenciada pelo BAK Basel, um dos principais institutos de pesquisa na Suíça, que recentemente cortou a previsão de crescimento económico para 0,8% em 2012.

Why Direct Market Access In Forex Matters To You.

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

The Forex market is notorious for being a decentralized market which also has been historically segmented. This has resulted in inconsistent trade execution on the part of most brokers since they operate in assorted capacities. Direct Market Access (DMA) instantly enables traders to transact their orders directly with sources of liquidity or principally Interbank participants.

A Forex DMA broker acts as in an agency capacity as opposed to being a market maker.  The complete transparency of a Forex DMA offers many benefits:

 

Forex DMA orders are exclusively grounded on two variables – (1) Price and (2) the time that the order is sent. The result is efficient execution where requotes are rare no matter of the market circumstances.

Forex DMA pricing is based on institutional standards of 1/10th of a pip pricing as opposed to ½ or 1 pip pricing. Retail brokers typically quote using ½ to 1 pip to get the difference in their favor.

Forex DMA brokers also provide trading anonymity which affords the trader a even playing field.

Different traditional brokers that offer fixed spreads, a Forex DMA broker offers variable pricing that reflects the genuine market conditions in the Interbank Forex market. Brokers that pass fixed spreads are most likely acting as in the capacity of a market maker and assuming the risk on the client orders.  While this is not inherently negative, it brings down transparency and calls into doubt the order handling process.  DMA forex brokers extinguishes this concern.

Until recently, DMA trading has only been available for larger institutions and hedge funds. With a tremendous advance in trading technology, DMA can now be accessed by the trading public through the DMA brokers.

 

Forex DMA via Currenex is offered by DivisaFX which acts in an agency capacity to transfer customer orders to 11 top tier banks within the Interbank market

 

Who Are The Participants In The Forex Market?

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

The forex market is all about trading between countries, the currencies of those countries and the timing of investing in certain currencies. The FX market is trading between counties, usually completed with a broker or a financial company. Many people are involved in forex trading, which is similar to stock market trading, but FX trading is completed on a much larger overall scale. Much of the trading does take place between banks, governments, brokers and a small amount of trades will take place in retail settings where the average person involved in trading is known as a spectator. Financial market and financial conditions are making the forex market trading go up and down daily. Millions are traded on a daily basis between many of the largest countries and this is going to include some amount of trading in smaller countries as well.

From the studies over the years, most trades in the forex market are done between banks and this is called interbank. Banks make up about 50 percent of the trading in the forex market. So, if banks are widely using this method to make money for stockholders and for their own bettering of business, you know the money must be there for the smaller investor, the fund mangers to use to increase the amount of interest paid to accounts. Banks trade money daily to increase the amount of money they hold. Overnight a bank will invest millions in forex markets, and then the next day make that money available to the public in their savings, checking accounts and etc.
Commercial companies are also trading more often in the forex markets. The commercial companies such as Deutsche bank, UBS, Citigroup, and others such as HSBC, Braclays, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, and still others such as Goldman Sachs, ABN Amro, Morgan Stanley, and so on are actively trading in the forex markets to increase wealth of stock holders. Many smaller companies may not be involved in the forex markets as extensively as some large companies are but the options are stil there.

Central banks are the banks that hold international roles in the foreign markets. The supply of money, the availability of money, and the interest rates are controlled by central banks. Central banks play a large role in the forex trading, and are located in Tokyo, New York and in London. These are not the only central locations for forex trading but these are among the very largest involved in this market strategy. Sometimes banks, commercial investors and the central banks will have large losses, and this in turn is passed on to investors. Other times, the investors and banks will have huge gains.