Saturday, February 28, 2009

Forex Trading

Foreign Currency Exchange (Forex) Trading allows an investor to participate in profitable fluctuations of world currencies. Forex trading works by selecting pairs of currencies and then measuring profit or loss by the fluctuations of one one currency's market activity compared to the other. For example, fluctuations in the value of the $ U.S. Dollar are measured against another world currency such as the £ British Pound, € Eurodollar, ¥ Japanese Yen etc. Being able to discern price trends in market activity is the essence of all profitable trading and this is what makes foreign currencies so exciting, currencies are the world's 'best trending' market. This gives Forex investors a profit making edge that is unavailable in most other markets.

Forex Trading is being called 'today's exciting new investment opportunity for the savvy investor'. The reason is that the Forex Trading Market only began to emerge in 1978, when worldwide currencies were allowed to 'float' according to supply and demand, 7 years after the Gold Standard was abandoned. Up until 1995 Forex Trading was only available to banks and large multinational corporations but today, thanks to the proliferation of the computer and a new era of internet-based communication technologies, this highly profitable market is open to everyone. The Forex Trading Market's growth has been unprecedented, explosive, and continues to be unequaled by any other trading market.

Unlike traditional trading which brings buyers and sellers together in a central location (trading floors) in Forex Trading there is no need for a centralized location. Forex is a market where worldwide traders conduct business by high-speed Internet connections with the Interbank Foreign Currency Exchange via Forex Clearinghouses (also called Forex Brokerage Firms). Forex has not only become the fastest growing trading market, but also the most profitable trading marketplace in the world.

Simply stated, Forex is the most profitable because it is the world's largest marketplace. The Foreign Currency market as a whole accounts for over 1.2 trillion dollars of trading per day (as determined by the fourth Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity, 1998. This figure is understood to be significantly higher today). To put this into perspective, on any given day the Foreign Currency Exchange Market activity is vastly greater than the Stock Market. It is 75 times greater than the New York Stock Exchange where the average total daily value (using 1998 figures) of both foreign and domestic stocks is $16 billion, and much greater than the daily activity on the London Stock Exchange, with $11 billion.

Furthermore, in addition to being the world's largest and most profitable market, The Foreign Currency Exchange Market is the world's most powerful and persistent trading market regardless of negative economic indicators. This is because currencies 'trend' better than every other market due to their macro-economic nature. Unlike many commodities whose supply and demand fundamentals can literally change overnight (as we found in the sudden dot com 'market adjustment' and even more abruptly on September 11, 2001), currency fundamentals are much less random, and far more predictable. This is well illustrated in the way interest rates are changed gradually and only in small increments.

Other examples of fundamental predictability are illustrated by the following statistics. Of the $1.2 trillion day trading in Foreign Currency Exchange, 83% of spot foreign exchange activity and 95% of swap activity involves US Dollars. The Euro is the second most active currency at 37%. The Japanese Yen (24%) and the British Pound Sterling (10%) are ranked third and fourth. The Swiss Franc is 7%, and the Canadian and Australian Dollars account for 3%.

Spot Forex is the type of forex trade in which self-traders concentrate most of their investment activity for reasons that are self-explanatory. By definition, a Spot Forex transaction is a currency trade transaction that has a settlement (liquidation) within a maximum of 2 working days following the closing of the trade. Therefore Spot Forex allows the self-trader high liquidity. Another popular feature for well-advised Spot Forex self-traders is the strong profit potential from continual market fluctuations by buying a specific currency when it is weaker and selling it when it is stronger, and the continual pairing of strong currencies against weak ones. This potential for profit or loss is amplified by the effect of leverage. Leverage is a term that describes what can be achieved when a smaller amount of money controls a much larger amount of money. With regards to Forex Trading for example, a leverage-factor of 100 can allow the trader to hold a 100,000 US Dollar position with a modest 1,000 US Dollar margin deposit. Online Forex day trading focuses its investment activity largely on Spot Forex because of the 'risk manageability' of in-and-out trading plus the potential to generate excellent and highly liquid profits.

"Few financial industries generate as much excitement and profit as currency exchange. Traders around the world enter trades for weeks, days or split seconds, generating explosive moves or steady flows, and money changes hands quickly at a staggering daily average of a trillion US dollars. Forex profitability is legendary. George Soros of Quantum Fund realized a profit in excess of 1 billion dollars for a couple of days work in September 1992. Hans Hufschmid of Soloman Brothers, Inc. netted $28 million for 1993. Even by Wall Street standards, these numbers are heartstoppers".*

Forex Software

The Foreign Exchange market has been massively expanding in recent years. It has been growing continuously and is now the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average of 3 trillion dollars in transactions. The growth of the Foreign Exchange market brought about a growth in the online Forex market as well. It is no surprise that as a result, massive amounts of new and varied Forex software have been developed and are now widely available and distributed. Such software includes: beginner Forex software, Forex prediction software, professional Forex software, Forex training software, Forex analysis software, Forex simulation and more. While all have been developed with the end-user in mind, not all are equally useful for the end user. Many lack the basic features that such software ought to have and many others are unable to provide the tools that users needs.

Amongst the variety of software that's out there, eToro is a clear stand out. Since its launch, eToro has made a name for itself as a leader in the industry and has broken records with its high volume of users. This is, without a doubt, because unlike other platforms eToro is highly unique, reliable and fun, visually engaging and informative, easy to use and educational, global and intimate.

With eToro, one can familiarize or re-acclimatize himself with the Forex market. One can practice his trading skills, and by doing so, one can improve them. eToro offers ample rehearsal opportunities that help sharpen one’s decision-making tools. One can also try out different strategies at eToro without any risk by trading virtual money at real market rates. Once one is ready to take the risk of putting their strategies to the test of real trading, they can do so at optimal trading conditions. At eToro one can also delve to the bottom of the market’s theory without having to struggle with endless numbers, illegible terminology, and incomprehensible graphs. Rather, at eToro one can enjoy the simplicity of charts, the excitement of the latest market news, and the commitment of the ever-supportive eToro team. The advantage of eToro is that it combines all other specialized Forex software into one: eToro is a software for beginners and a software for professionals, a software for training and a software for simulation.

source: http://www.etoro.com

Forex overview

What is Forex? Forex is an abbreviation of Foreign Exchange (also referred to as FX) and it is the largest financial market in the world.

The Forex market is the place where currencies are traded (currencies are money that is used as an exchange medium). In other words, it is the place where currencies are being sold and bought. In the Forex market all currencies are traded in real time.

Trading with currencies always means that there are two simultaneous transactions taking place. If a currency is being bought, it is also being sold. To better understand this notion, think of currencies as both the goods you are buying AND the method with which you're paying for the goods.

Since the Forex market is the place where currencies are traded in real time, people may trade one currency for another and make a profit off of this transaction. Profits are made when one is able to determine which currency's value will increase by the end of a pre-determined time period (such time periods may be short or long). The Forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week and it is based in four major cities: New York, London, Sydney, and Tokyo. The Forex market is open to individuals over the age of eighteen.

While Forex trading may sound daunting, it really isn’t. It can be easily comprehended and understood without prior experience in finance or economy. It is challenging and exciting, thought provoking and manageable, stimulating and filled with opportunities.

Some Forex Basics:

  • The first currency listed in a currency pair is called the "base currency".
  • The “base currency” is usually the U.S. Dollar. Traders will generally trade the U.S. Dollar against another currency, which is called the “counter currency”.
  • Currencies are quoted in pairs. For example: The pair U.S. Dollar and JPY will be quoted in the following way: USD/JPY equals to 2.5 (This means that 1 U.S. Dollar can buy 2.5 JPY).
  • When a quote increases, it means that the “base currency” has risen in value and the “counter currency” has weakened in value. For example: If the USD/JPY quote used to be equal to 2.5 but is now equal to 2.6, then this means that the dollar has strengthened (because 1 U.S. Dollar can now buy 2.6 JPY as opposed to the mere 2.5 JPY it could buy beforehand.)

Now that you know a thing or two about the Foreign Exchange market, we invite you to explore eToro—the Revolutionary Forex Trading Platform. You too can make your mark in the Foreign Exchange market. Use eToro as your gateway to the ever-growing world of Forex trading.

source:http://www.etoro.com

Euro Profitability chance against 1.4672

As long as price is above 1.4672 (ideally, price remains above 1.4744), we still suggest bullish and expecting even a minor rally to at least 1.4980 if you don't count the Fibonacci zone, which does not begin until 1.5168.
Support line is at 1.4770 coming much below there would begin to put in doubt the bullish outlook, if so, still a risky game unless support line will reach and be stable for a while.

Professional Tutor by Forex Worldwide Training and Support

There are plenty of self-selected experts online promoting their secret method to succeeding in the world of investing. A careful look at this market, however, reveals a tragic truth: These are the same old stories retold by hucksters looking to earn a buck. They jump on a particular stock that did well, they “reverse engineer” the trend line, they have their system ghostwritten, and then they promote “a forex training system like you’ve never seen before”.

The problem is we’ve seen it before. Again and again. It’s not a training system; it’s a focus on one part of technical analysis or another (often by people who don’t know the definition of technical analysis). They throw around words like “Fibonacci” or “Bollinger Bands” as if they themselves invented the term.

The tragedy is that “newbie” investors can get sucked in to the promises of huge earnings. They shell out for the ebook. And they’re left confused or overly-confident. Either way, they lose.

How does one succeed in the market? The truth of the matter is, one can succeed with solid, foundational forex training, and then back up that training with support and advice from real trading professionals, and then back up that training and that support with experience.

That’s where VIRT® Professional Tutor by Forex Worldwide Training and Support comes in. In a world of “me-too” content, VIRT® Professional Tutor is real forex training. This organization ignores the hype and instead focuses on doing one thing really, really well. They offer comprehensive, competent training delivered in a compelling way.

Their forex training is comprehensive and competent because it gives every level of investor a place to start. Are you brand new to forex investments? There’s a novice section. Are you experience in forex investments? There’s an advance section. Each section covers a wealth of material that truly takes the learner on a journey from basic introductions, step-by-step through the concepts.

Forex training for novices at VIRT® Professional Tutor is made up of 6 modules covering such diverse but fundamental topics as Market Terminology, Business Environment, Predictability, Capital Management, Probability Study, and Application of Entry Point System. Each module contains 5 to 9 lessons that look at that topic in-depth. Each lesson ends in a quiz to help the student uncover the effectiveness of their learning.

Forex training for advanced investors at VIRT® Professional Tutor is made up of 4 modules covering expert topics like Advanced Fibonacci, the Rule of 8, Fundamentals, and System Development. Again, each module contains several lessons and finishes with a quiz.

This material is compelling in its delivery. There’s text, of course, and interspersed throughout the text are videos and interactive content – including graphics and graphical stories – to explain the concepts and illustrate with real world examples. The text talks about a concept and then a graph is shown to demonstrate an example in real life and to drive home the point.

This level of training enables investors of all backgrounds and investing experiences to enter markets confidently and to exit investments profitably. But to back up their training, a support forum is also available where investors can interact and where expert traders can offer advice, guidance, and mentorship to participants.