Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 11:16 am. 0 comments
If you have started your Forex trading training you may initially have a challenge with understanding how orders are placed. I remember when I first started reading about the Forex and practicing in a demo account, it took me a while to understand how stops and limits worked in relation to price.
This article sets out the main rules governing the placement of orders with a free graphic download in the resource box at the end which you can keep on your desktop and refer to at anytime until the rules have ’sunk in’. You will find this lesson extremely important if you are in the early stages of your forex trading training.
Here are the basics:
1. In each currency pair, the first currency is the base currency which you either buy or sell. For example, in the case of EUR/USD, if you believe the euro is going to strengthen against the US dollar you would place a BUY order (go long). If you believe the dollar will strengthen against the euro, you would place a SELL order (go short) for the EUR/USD currency pair.
2. In your dealing station you will notice two prices quoted for each currency pair, a BID price and an ASK price. The difference in the two prices is known as the pip spread the dealer takes from every trade. For the major currency pairs this can be between 3-5 pips.
NOTE: When you place a BUY order you will enter the trade at the ASK price. When you place a SELL order you will enter the trade at the BID price.
3. There are two types of orders you can use to enter a trade:
A market order is an order to buy or sell at the market price the moment you enter the trade by clicking your mouse button.
An entry order is an order to buy or sell when the market price reaches a certain target or level you anticipate from your technical analysis.
Note: Avoid market orders as they seldom give you the best entry point unless you really understand the market. An entry order allows you time to analyze key price levels and set the order to be executed only if price pulls back or reaches that level. This way you enter the trade at an optimum level.
Stops and Limits
Once you have calculated your trade and anticipated how far you think price will go, you need to enter a limit order so the trade will automatically exit at that profit level. In the case of a buy order, your limit will be set above the entry price. In the case of a sell order, your limit will be set below the entry price.
For your protection you then need to set a stop order. If price goes against you your trade will exit at a loss according to the number of pips you have calculated that you can afford to lose taking into account your equity. In the case of a buy order, your stop would be below the entry price. If the case of a sell order, your stop would be above the entry price.
As part of your Forex trading training, it is important to get very familiar with the software you are provided with from your online broker. Practice, practice, practice, making entry orders, and setting the entry price and the stop and limit levels.
It is easy in the early days of Forex trading training to get mixed up with direction. You may wish to place an entry order to sell (go short) and inadvertently put a buy order in instead only to get a shock when you see a minus figure under the pip column steadily growing.
The details explained above are available in a graphic you can keep on your desktop and refer to at any time you are trading. Just go to the link in the resource box below and get a copy.
Then as part of your daily Forex trading training, refer to it each time you place a trade in your demo account until your understanding of the rules of order entry, bid and ask price, stops and limits, come automatically without thinking.
You will be laying a solid foundation for more advanced Forex trading training steps so you can concentrate your mental energies on price and chart analysis rather than being sidetracked by confusion over basic order rules.
The powerful 200 EMA strategy - easy for newer traders:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/200EMA-forex-strategy.htm
For a free candle & chart pattern recognition reference tool click here:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Candle-Chart-Patterns
For the best free economic calendars plus a free pivot point calculator and Fibonacci calculator click here:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/tools.html
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 8:17 pm. 0 comments
Trading online is now so much easier and far cheaper than using a broker, that is why there are some many people electing to trade online rather than having to go through the hassle of phoning a broker directly every time they want to place a trade.
However the major draw back of trading online is that you are trading on your own. And as any seasoned trader, whether they are trading online or offline will tell you the biggest challenge is having a reliable trading system that you can use in your online trading.
An online trading system means you enter into a trading position when all the trading signals are met through your online trading system using a check list.
The only way you are going to be able to succeed as an online trader is if you have a strict set of guidelines you can follow in a trading system and having the discipline to stick to them
Having and using a predetermined system of trading will enable you to take the emotion out of the trading decisions you make thereby greatly increasing your chances of success in trading online.
There are many online trading systems available on the internet and in book stores, and most of them do work to a certain degree. But picking an online trading systems depends on your style of trading, which is possibly hard to do if you have not been trading for any considerable length of time.
All you can do when you find an online trading system that you think may be profitable is to back test it. What is back testing? It is simply taking the chart of a stock currency or indices and going back in time and then advancing the chart bar by bar and making a decision on what you would do…(either go long or go short) with the information you have at hand.
To do this back testing properly for online trading you have to make sure you do not cheat by seeing what happens further on in the chart. What I do is put my cursor on the slide button on the chart, shut my eyes and basically go back in time. That way your decisions can not be coloured by what you have seen prior on the chart.
To find out about a trading system that uses the time and price concept visit: http://www.tradingslingshot.com
Hil Smith is the author of http://www.tradingslingshot.com which is a website with free educational material for online trading.
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 7:23 pm. 0 comments
Ways to make money online are invented every day, and there are more and more of them. Some of them can help you make a lot of money, some of them make money by themselves and some of them just take the money away from you. The systems that they use are very different, and there are some that are problematic, but a lot of them can help you make a lot of money, and some of them help you make easy money.
The Forex system currency trading is based on the international currency exchange trade. This means, that the base of the system are the different currencies. The trade is based on the fluctuations of the values of currencies. In the system, you can buy and sell national currencies, and make money because the value of the currencies varies.
Because it is an online system that means that you can make the money online for 24/7. The international exchange just does not stop when the sun goes down in your country, but it goes on during the whole night when you sleep. Or when you should sleep. Or when the other stock exchanges are closed. It also means, that you can make money whenever it suits you, not just when the market is open. If the graveyard shift is the time when you would like to work and make money, you can because the Forex system currency trading is open all the time.
This way you can also use some websites next to your regular work, because you can still go to your job and work there, then after you get home and take care of your family, you can work on the site, while you have your own peace and time to work. So getting some extra money next to your job does not have to obstruct your regular life, and can be easy for you.
So try the Forex system currency trading websites, and try to get as much money from the currency exchange market as you can.
For more information about Forex System Currency Trading, feel free to visit us at: http://www.currency-trading-zone.com/Forex-System-Currency-Trading.html
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 7:21 pm. 0 comments
Would you like to have a side income that gives you a few thousand dollars each month? I certainly won’t mind. In fact I liked it so much that I made it into a full time career! That’s just me though (and several thousand people in the world) we like what we do so much because we don’t have to answer to a boss, or have time-tables or office politics or work stress. The way forward is to trade Forex, not any other market but the forex market.
The world’s largest market is the Forex market; at last count it trades a whooping 3 trillion dollars a day! Can you make just a couple of thousand with 3 trillion dollars floating around? Of course you can!
To achieve that you will need an education into the world of currency trading or more commonly known as Forex. There is a lot of information floating on the internet to help you along your way. Almost every broker also comes equipped with a short tutorial about the wonders of Forex.
Have I scared you enough yet? It sounds too good to be true isn’t it? The truth is it is too good to be true; Forex trading is not about making easy money. Having a side income of a couple of thousand of dollars is highly probable. But to get there you got to equip yourself with the necessary tools. As mentioned a lot of information can be got for free. What cannot be taught is experience, and that is one of the most important aspects of trading.
When you really get down to it, getting a side income is not difficult or complicated. Here are some tips to help you on your way:
1. Read up on the market you want to invest in, it is usually a good idea to read up before investing a single cent.
2. Get a good broker; with the advent of technology every thing becomes automated. This makes it so convenient for you to trade. In the past your broker had to be human that means you could trade only during working hours. With internet trading, you can trade anytime, anywhere, not anyhow though. A good broker will ensure that the orders you give gets filled immediately. Also a good broker will always honor your profits, so you never have to worry about your money.
3. Take action, remember fortune favors the bold! A lot of folks take the knowledge they receive and bury it deep. Why? It’s not like the knowledge is going to give you an income! You got to take action, use the knowledge you acquired and get cracking. Every moment you lose, means more of YOUR money is going into someone else’s pocket.
4. Be positive and believe. Not talking about religious ecstasies here, what is important is that you focus on the emotion of happiness. Yes you read correct, you concentrate on being happy and the positive feelings will set in. When you have that believe that you will succeed then you have just written your own paycheck!
The above tips are just a general guide for you if you want to invest in any market. Investing is the only way to grow your money. Working a day job will give to you a stable income. To shorten the time require for you to build a fortune and retire rich, you have to learn investment. So chest out stomach in, and get cracking!
Dr. Joshua Geralds is a successful Investment Specialist with over twenty years experience increasing the income of people world wide. Visit http://www.pipsalot.com to learn how to make steady profits through safe trading and down load your FREE e-book “Money Management” for a limited time only!
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 9:42 am. 0 comments
Newcomers to trading the foreign exchange currency markets do well to accept the observation of experienced seasoned traders that the idea of a perfect Forex trading tool is an illusion.
While no perfect Forex trading tool exists, using a combination of tools to identify a converging of favorable market factors can yield a majority of high probability trades over a period of time.
Trendlines certainly deserve close consideration and many successful traders add them to their collection of Forex trading tools.
It should be stated at the outset that trendlines by themselves do not provide a strong enough signal to warrant making a trade. They are a useful addition and provide confirmation of signals from other tools. (See resource box for a visual example of using a trendline as a trade entry point)
The Three Trendline Strategy
Consider these three main types of trendlines you need to know and use if you are going to make any sense of trendlines.
Trendlines are lines drawn across significant lows in an uptrend, and significant highs in a downtrend. The more candles to the left and right of the lowest candle in an uptrend or the highest candle in a downtrend make the low or high point more significant.
1. Short Term Trendlines
Draw these lines across the most recent two lows (for an uptrend) or highs (for a downtrend). These are best observed on a smaller time frame such as a 15 minute or 30 minute chart.
2. Medium Term Trendlines
These are best observed on a higher time frame such as a 60 minute chart. Again connect the nearest significant low to current price action to the previous significant low in an uptrend or the nearest significant high to current price action to the previous significant high in a downtrend.
3. Long Term Trendlines
Use higher time frames such as the 4 hour chart or the daily chart to draw long term trendlines using the same method described for Medium Term Trendlines.
The long term trendline can be a powerful Forex trading tool. Keep in mind that the daily chart is used prominently by traders of big institutions. Such traders probably do not engage in small moves on an intra day level. They are more concerned about taking a position on a currency pair.
The daily chart is consulted by them when making decisions. So by drawing a trendline on a daily chart you can present to yourself graphically just where price is and where it is likely to either possibly bounce and retrace or continue with the current momentum.
Using Trendlines As An Effective Forex Trading Tool
Trendlines on the short time frame merely give you a defined picture of current price action. These trendlines are broken often during the course of a day. It is probably not a good idea to enter trades based on trendline breaks from a small time frame chart. Their main use is to give you a clear, instantly recognizable graphical representation of current price behavior.
However, here is where trendlines can prove to be a useful Forex trading tool:
If you notice price coming back to test a trendline on the higher time frames, (anything over 30 minutes), look at other factors. For example:
- Draw in horizontal lines to mark key support and resistance using previous highs and lows.
- Draw Fibonacci retracement and extension levels.
- Calculate the daily pivot points and put them on your chart.
- Have the 200 EMA (Exponential Moving Average) shown on your charts.
Now, if price were to bounce or touch the trendline on the medium to higher time frames, that is, on the 60 minute, 4 hour, or even daily charts, does that price point also coincide with or match up with one of the other indicators mentioned above?
If for example the trendline intersects with a pivot point which is also a Fibonacci 50% or 62% retracement, or 127% or 162% extension, then you have a convergence of factors. If you entered a trade at that point there is a high probability you will catch at least 10 to 20 pips on the first move on the bounce.
Looking for such opportunities takes patience. They don’t come up so often but when they do you can be ALMOST guaranteed a successful trade if you keep your first profit target to a reasonable level.
If trading multiple lots, then be sure to take your first profit at the 10 to 20 pip level and let one or two other lots run if price continues in the direction you anticipate. At the same time of course you would move up your stop to break even point after taking first profit so your trade can now run without risk.
Employ trendlines as a Forex trading tool with caution and discretion. Covering your charts with every trendline possible will only result in confusion and blurry analysis.
One or two trendlines at key or significant swing points, (price highs and lows) can give you a defined, clear picture of price action, which, when coupled with your other Forex trading tools, can result in profitable trades.
See how to use trendlines to get an optimum trade entry point:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/trendline.html
How do you trade the non-farm payroll report? Read this:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/forex-strategy-non-farm-payroll.htm
For the best free economic calendars plus a free pivot point calculator and Fibonacci calculator click here:
http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/tools.html
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 12:22 am. 0 comments
It’s really nice to be able to trade forex and have a life too. You know, I hate being glued to the screen; I just can’t do it. So, I developed a way to trading in just 10 minutes a day.
It’s nothing revolutionary, and it combines nicely with my philosophy that brokers eat scalpers. Here’s what I do.
1) Open daily charts for each of the currencies that I want to trade. Let’s say I want to trade the four majors and USD/CAN. So I open up those five charts.
2) Next I setup the indicators that I want on each chart.
3) Then I save everything as a template. That way when I open my charting program, it’s all there. I don’t have to re-open the currencies. I don’t have to put the indicators back on there. It’s all ready to go.
4) Then just once a day (usually in the evening) I open my charting package and tab through the charts. It’ only takes a simple glance to see if there is a trade developing. If there’s a trading, I enter it.
5) That’s it!
I’ve also does this setup with the 4 hour charts. The only difference is that I check the charts more that once per day (maybe three times).
People wiser than I have said that the easiest money in forex is on the daily. If you’ve been scalping, you might want to crossover and have a look that this style of trading. (It’s also far less stressful that other forms of trading.)
Do you want to learn more about how I trade? I have just completed my brand new guide, “Forex Trading - What Finally Worked For Me”.
Download it free here: Forex Trading
Nathan Pennington is a forex trader and the author of Winning Forex Trading -THE Definitive Guide
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 9:13 am. 0 comments
Day trading is basically the buying and selling of stocks over a relatively short period of time, sometimes minutes. It was once only available to floor traders and investment banks but now the Internet has made day trading accessible to anyone with a computer system. There is good money to be made (and lost) using this method.
As an example, a day trader might buy 1000 shares of stock A at 10:00 as the price begins to move upwards on good news, then sell it at 10:04 when the stock price has risen (for example, by $0.50). The day trader would make $500 profit, less his commission which with today’s low commission rates of around $30 or less per trade, that’s a nice $440 or better, excluding taxes.
Day trading usually follows one of two approaches, either beating the spread or attempting to catch short term trends. The spread is the difference between what is being offered for a stock (the bid) and the price being asked for the stock (the ask). With spread trading, you attempt to buy at the ‘bid’ and sell at the ‘ask’ as many times as possible. Spread traders can make hundreds of this type of trade every day.
ECNs or Electronic Communication Networks are a recent development. They are completely electronic exchanges with very low commissions and very fast execution of orders. As a method of encouraging traders to use their networks, some ECNs offer incentives in the form of a rebate. In some cases, this can allow a day trader to make money simply from buying and selling a stock at the same price.
Day trading can be very profitable if you get it right, but you need to research as much as possible and take advantage of the free simulation software that is available for you to practice with before you take the plunge. Remember, day trading isn’t for the faint hearted!
To find out more about day trading software, take a look at my Day Trading Blog
Practice before you dive in with free simulation software at my Day Trading Blog
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 8:58 pm. 0 comments
For the past five years my sole source of income has been profits made from trading on the forex market. Over that time period, many people, perhaps somewhat envious of my ability to earn money from home without having to report to a boss, have asked me what it takes to trade for a living. How can one arrive at a point where one feels confident enough to leave ones regular employment, strike off on ones own with no guarantee of a regular paycheck, and put what might conceivably be ones entire savings up to that point at risk in the markets?
While I unfortunately cant actually give you confidence in your ability to make it on your own, nor the stomach to risk your hard earned savings, I can tell you the practical steps that I took to get where I am today. These steps do not include the obvious ¨learn of the existence of the forex market¨, as presumably you already know something about forex trading, or you wouldnt be reading this article.
Furthermore, while these steps have been applicable to trading the forex market in my case, one could easily apply the same principles to becoming a professional trader in the equities markets, derivative markets, etc.
Step 1) Start saving your money.
To trade professionally you need a bankroll, and one that is large enough to withstand the ups and downs that are a natural part of trading. For me, this was easy. I had been putting money aside ever since I started working. Those like me that have been raised to understand and appreciate the value of saving, will accomplish this quite naturally. However, if you are a habitual spender and are accustomed to living paycheck to paycheck without putting anything extra aside, be prepared to expend some serious effort curbing your habits and learning to save instead of spend. How much money will you need? Unfortunately I cant answer that specifically because it will depend on the trading strategy that you use, the amount of leverage you plan on trading with, and the amount of money that you need to take out in profits. You should count on having a bare minimum though, of a full six months salary saved up before beginning full time trading. One years salary would be still better. Keep in mind that the larger your bankroll, the more money you can earn without risking an unnecessarily large percentage of your bankroll.
Step 2) Get an education.
You cant start trading before you know something about the market you are trading in. This education does not have to be formal (as in University classes), and you do not have to understand economic forces as well as Alan Greenspan prior to getting started. You should, however, have a basic understanding of why the market that you are trading in exists, how buying and selling on that market works, and the strategy that you are going to employ to take your profits out of the market. There are a lot of totally free resources on the internet that are worth your time to read (and there are a lot of opinions and ideas that are NOT worth your time, but reading some of those that are not worthwhile is part of the process of developing
discernment about what is and is not a good resource).
There are also some inexpensive trading courses on the internet that are useful. Part of the education process is coming up with a trading strategy that you are comfortable with, as well as a money management strategy to ensure the long term viability of the trading strategy. There are many good trading strategies out there, but regardless of which one you choose, you must understand that the traders that are successful cut their losses early and let their winning trades run. This can be somewhat more difficult than it sounds, but is really the key to making money trading.
Step 3) Sign up for a demo trading account and start practicing while you are not at your regular job (or, if you have free time and internet access at your job, WHILE you are at your regular job).
We list some good forex brokers at forex-rates, so if you are planning to trade currencies, be sure and sign up for a demo account with one of the listed brokers. In order to get a real feel for the trading strategy that you have chosen, you will have to do a lot of practice, so take your time with this step. Dont start trading with real money until you have an actual
history of successful demo trading
Step 4) If you are making money trading on paper and are comfortable with your trading strategy, go ahead and get started trading for real on a part time basis. Don’t include all of your savings as part of your trading bankroll yet. Start slowly and gain a comfort level. As your confidence builds, move money from your savings to increase the size of your bankroll.
Step 5) When you can estimate that your average gains from real trading (from step 4) are at a level where, if you were to trade full time using your current bankroll, you would be making profits that slightly exceed your current employment salary, you are ready to quit your job and trade full time. Remember, you want your trading profits to exceed your present salary. This will give you the opportunity to maintain your current financial level, but at the same time continue to increase your trading bankroll, which will enable you to earn more and more money as the size of your available funds grows larger.
It is important to have patience with yourself at each of the steps mentioned. Maintain emotional equanimity and understand that fear and greed are a traders most dangerous nemesis. If you can keep these emotions under control and maintain the discipline established while following these steps, you can look forward to making it as a professional trader.
Samuel Garcia is a full time forex trader based in San Jose, Costa Rica. He considers that being a successful trader is 90% due to proper money management and emotional discipline, rather than the trading strategy employed. Visit http://www.forex-rates.biz
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 8:16 am. 0 comments
Forex trading strategies are a very powerful way to increase your profits in Forex. Once you learn some of these strategies, you’ll instantly get an unfair advantage over the majority of other people who don’t know it.
Then by applying one or two of them simply, you’ll notice an obvious increase in your profits.
So How Can You Discover Fast, Effective Forex Strategies?
Here are the most common two ways to learn the insider secrets to Forex for maximum profits…
1. Learning by Time and Trial and Error
This is the path that most people make, and it makes them spend years of trying to make a profit in Forex, while they barely can succeed to do it.
Finally after years of trying and losing lots of money in the failing trades and deals, they discover some insider tips that really work and start applying them. But the loss is the time and valuable money that they have lost - while they could use faster methods to get results faster.
2. Learning from Skilled Forex Mentors and Experts
There are some elite experts in the Forex market that have being doing it for years and have discovered by time some of the most powerful and amazing Forex strategies.
So now they are happy to help other people make more profits in Forex too - instead of seeing them lose money. So you can use their valuable knowledge and wealth of information from their proven Forex courses easily and fast.
These courses give you a big advantage because you no longer have to choose the training programs or classes that cost from $2,000 to as high as $30,000. Yes, of course the information shared in these programs will bring you bigger profits in long term. But by these home study courses you will both save money and get the same valuable information.
Would you like to discover the insider secrets to Smarter Forex Trading? It’s easy and fast, and you can use them even if you are new to Forex investing.
You can check out this FREE guide on proven Forex Trading Strategies to find out easy, fast techniques to make profits from Forex like a Pro!
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 8:02 pm. 0 comments
If you said you wanted to make money forex trading, traders - both pros and amateurs - would tell you go for it, but be careful. This warning would not be a fear inducing advise, just a reasonable tip that would ensure the right mind setting for what is a truly profitable business which is not free of risks.
When anyone seriously sets out to make a profit from forex trading, traders education and tools are essential and are the only way to properly manage the risks involved.
Whether it is forex trading or any other investment option, investing by yourself will always involve a risk, and usually the greater the risk the greater the profit potential. Does this mean that in order to avoid risks you are condemned to low yield investments?
No, what this means is that if you want a higher return on your money, you have to be well prepared to face and defeat that risk thus turning your forex trading operation -or any other investment option you choose- into a profitable one.
Usually we are afraid to take on the forex or the stock market by ourselves and it is a reasonable fear, because if you do not know what you are doing you will get hurt.
The solution is then not to stay away from the forex market, but to seek for forex trading or trader education and tools designed to help you perform with the necessary consistency to ensure a positive balance.
Making money through forex trading is no different than any other trading operation, as your goal will be to properly manage the risks involved thus allowing for more profitable trades than losing ones.
There is truly big money to be made within the forex market but a profitable trading operation calls for reliable trader education and tools.
Nowadays some of those tools provide the average Joe with the edge of an expert trader by delivering real time 24 hour market analysis with unparalleled accuracy and efficiency, even being able to place and close trades all on their own.
Learn about reliable educational trading-trader resources and tools to ensure a solid start within the forex market at The Forex Trading Review.