52 Post

Forex Updates!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Hey,

I havent been much updating the blog with latest stuff as i have been quite busy with other stuff. Anyways A belated Merry Christmas to all of you's.

I have decided to give away blogging to the bank 2 away to everyone instead of just to the subscribers. Here is the link. It is in Torrent format .

http://www.ebookee.com/BloggingtotheBank2-0_146839.html

Enjoy.

Hopefully I will get free in the next few days and put up some decent forex ebooks for download. Till then enjoy the ones in our forex ebooks section!

Sterling drops to record low!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Sterling dropped to a record low versus the euro on concern that the Bank of England may lower its interest rates again in the beginning of next year. The greenback is soft across the board as momentum market participants took profits.

The BOE rate cut speculation arose last week when the Bank of England released its December monetary policy meeting minutes, which showed a unanimous vote for a 25-bp rate cut this month. Also, the bank heightened the impact of recent financial market turmoil and the consequent credit market tightness on the economy and inflation. The BOE and Fed are both likely to have a couple of rate cuts in the coming year, which weigh on their currencies.

In contrast, the European Central Bank may keep its benchmark rate unchanged. The euro rose to 0.7311 versus the sterling, and tested a resistance level at 1.45 against the dollar.

Financial markets in Australia, Hong Kong and the UK are closed for the Boxing Day. Currency trading will remain very light towards the end of this year.

Tomorrow will see US durable goods orders report, weekly job report and consumer confidence. Durable goods orders are seen to rise 2.0% in November, compared with a 0.2% decline in the previous month. Core durable goods orders are likely to increase 0.3%, versus a prior month¡¯s reading of ¨C0.4%. Weekly initial claims are expected to change from 346k to 342k. US consumer confidence is estimated to fell from 87.3 to 86.5.

EURUSD will face interim resistance at 1.45, followed by 1.4530 and 1.4550. Additional ceilings will emerge at 1.4580, backed by 1.46. Support starts at 1.4470, backed by 1.4430, 1.44 and 1.4380. Subsequent floors are eyed at 1.4350.

GBPUSD encounters interim resistance at 1.98, backed by 1.9850 and 1.9870. Subsequent ceilings will emerge at 1.99, followed by 1.9930 and 1.9980. On the downside, support begins at 1.9760, followed by 1.9730 and 1.97. Additional floors are eyed at 1.9670, backed by 1.9650 and 1.9620.

USDJPY encounters interim resistance at 114.50, backed by 114.80 and 115. Subsequent ceilings will emerge at 115.30, followed by 115.50 and 116. On the downside, support begins at 114.20 and 114, followed by 113.80. Additional floors are eyed at 113.50, backed by 113.20 and 113.

Download Forex Made Easy: 6 Ways to trade the Dollar

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Hey all ,

Well, I have been pity keen on updating my Forex blog since quite a few days. I have been posting Forex books mostly or whipping up an article or two. I am looking forward to make the trading experience for our visitors much better.

All the recent Forex Books I have added are mainly on the Home Page with pics and reviews of them and of course the download link.

Up here , we have Forex made easy by James Dicks. I personally find this particular Forex Book of decent use to newbie Forex Traders and even Amateur Investors. Inspite of a few negative reviews of Forex Made Easy doing the rounds on the net, I believe it has a decent value attached to it.

Forex Made Easy by James Dicks is quick paced and informational. The books deals with relatively advanced techniques as well.

Well, now that we have the download for Forex made easy , you can check it out with out spending a dime and let me know whether you share the same views as me or not.

DOWNLOAD FOREX MADE EASY: 6 Ways To Trade the Dollar by James Dicks.

Like I always say, if you liked this post or the other content we have on our Forex Blog, do vouch for us by leaving back an appreciative comment or two(or even a critical comment for that matter) , Give us a digg or stumble or some link love from your own site/blog/forum.

And regarding the "Blogging to the bank 2.0" I promised to our email subscribers, don't worry I have not forgotten it. Its still very much on. The promotion is still very much running, so you haven,t signed up to receive it for free just as yet, I suggest you do so now.

Last but not the least, check out this Forex Video Course Which I would recommend to you as an excellent start up kit in the world of Forex.

Thanks all! Enjoy

The Yen Slumps further!

Hey all,

I have been on a forex books posting spree for quite a while. Now, going back to whats actually happening in our Fx Market, The yen has suffered a major setback against all major currencies on Friday trading session. The greenback managed its best against the Yen since the 7th of November.

Sterling Goes in deep waters

The sterling continued to drift lower, falling to a record low versus the euro at 0.7254 as market sentiment anticipates the increased likelihood for additional BoE rate cuts in the coming year. With recent economic data from the UK remaining soft, combined with dovish commentary from the BoE – we expect the Bank to cut rates by another 25-basis point in January and possibility for further easing in the first half.

Retail sales were largely unchanged at 4.4% y/y, while slightly higher on the monthly reading to 0.4%.

Now, focussing on more statistics

Cable holds steady near 1.9830, with support seen at 1.98, backed by 1.9765 and 1.9720. Additional floors are eyed at 1.97, followed by 1.9650 and 1.96. On the upside, resistance begins at 1.9875, followed by 1.99 and 1.9930. Subsequent ceilings will emerge at 1.9960 and 2.

Figures and statistics supported by forexnews

Now, if you liked this story, you might like to give us a digg or a stumble or check out the Forex Books in our FOREX BOOKS SECTION

Or simply check out our homepage for the latest forex books we added including Forex Conquered, How I traded for a living, Mastering the Elliot Wave and much more.

Enjoy and do leave your comments back!

The Simplest Introduction to Forex Trading Ever

Friday, December 21, 2007

Plenty of Forex Articles have been written which aim to Introduce Forex Trading to a complete newbie/beginner. Even we have a few basic forex articles aiming to target that particular audience.

But looking back on them I thought, they were a little to complex for my liking. Since I have started the Beginner section I am writing this Introduction keeping that in mind.

So here goes the Simplest Introduction to Forex/Forex Trading/Currency Trading/Day Trading

Forex is the most fluid and largest Financial market in the world!
Forex literally stands for Foreign Exchange. And thats what it does-- Exchange Foreign Currencies.

Now why exchange Foreign Currencies?

Well, For Profit of course! Forex Trading is the business of buying and selling Currencies.

So basically, we look to buy currencies when they are of low cost hoping to sell them and making a profit when they become costlier.

Traditionally, Forex Trading( FX/day trading/currency trading/Foreign exchange/currency Exchange refer to one and the same) was reserved for Banks and advanced Investors.

But, Today nearly a person in every family in the United states is involved in Forex Trading.

Which brings us to another question. Why Forex? Why to invest in Forex instead of the huge number of other business/investment opportunities.

To answer this particular question, you must read this article of mine -- Why Trade Forex?

Now, moving ahead-- Why the sudden boom in Forex Trading.

This has been a direct result of advent of PC and the Internet which has brought the largest financial market online.

The Currencies are always traded in pairs. Most of the Forex Market is depended on the Four major currency pairs EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF.

EUR=EURO
USD=US dollar
JPY= Japanese Yen
GBP=Great Britain Pound
CHF=Swiss Franc

Each pair will have a particular value at a particular time.

To give a THEORITICAL example

if USD/JPY was equal to 1.00 today. That means that for one US dollar , you could buy one Japanese Yen.

The next day Imagine the Same USD/JPY now equals 1.5 , This means the USD dollar value has increased and now you can buy 1.5 JPY for 1 US dollar.

So, we look to make a profit by buying currencies that we think will have their value incremented in the near future.

Well, This brings us to the end of this Article.

Hope I was clear, If you have any doubts , do leave a comment!
and if you liked it do give a stumble or a digg!

Free Download The Day Trader's Manual By William F Eng

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Here is the Latest Forex Treat for our visitors. It is one which was requested. So here we go.

The Day Trader's Manual by William Eng DOWNLOAD HERE

Contents:

Part One - the Theory of Day Trading

1. Time, Price, and the Day Trader
2. Strategies for Profitable Day Trading
3. Day Trading Approaches Defined by Market Action
4. Chaos Theory and the Day Trader

Part Two - The Science of Day Trading

5. Tape-Reading Techniques
6. Spread Trading
7. Trading Market Profile
8. Using Chart Patterns
9. Mathematical Approaches to Day Trading
10. Sequential Patterns in Day Trading
11. Elliott Wave Theory and Day Trading

Part Three : The Art of Day Trading

DO check out my previous post with Regards to this Forex Video Course which promises a lot with a Money back gurantee

Currency Trading For Dummies!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Okay. Here we go. Another Forex EBook for download.

Currency trading for dummies!

Thank You for all the requests for ebooks that have been emailed, IMed, posted on the shoutbox.

We will try to complete such request. Please be patient and do understand if we cant get the ones you have requested.

Thanks and i hope you didn't miss downloading "Mastering Elliot wave" by Glenn Neely.

In case you missed it, don't worry, its still very much here!

Mastering Elliot Wave by Glenn Neely and Eric Hall

Monday, December 17, 2007

Mastering Elliot Wave by Glenn Neely and Eric Hall

Hey, Another Popular Forex Ebook for download. We had a few requests to make this book available. So here is it .Enjoy!!

DOWNLOAD HERE!


If you have a particular book in mind which you would like to see. Let us know and we will make our best effort to make it available to you for FREE!!


Mastering Elliot Wave: Presenting the Neely Method: The First Scientific, Objective Approach to Market Forecasting with the Elliott Wave Theory

Here's a review!

Elliot wave principle, Elliot wave, Mastering Elliot Wave, Glenn Neely, Eric hall, Forex ebooks, free downloads, forex ebook

If you are looking for a general introduction to Elliott Wave theory and practice, then this book is definetly not for you. In that case, I rather suggest starting with Prechter's "Elliott Wave Principle" from 1979.

If you are prepared to spend a lot of time working through the large number of conditions contained within this book, however, (especially using your own data) you will find this a most rewarding endeavor. Wave theory is not for the faint-hearted, it requires a lot of patience and application to give you the building blocks to come up with a view of the market.

Trading for a living by Alexander Elder

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Another excellent book for our readers for free!!

"TRADING FOR A LIVING BY DR ALEXANDER ELDER"

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Below is a review of the book!

Dr. Elder is a practicing psychiatrist. He is of Russian origin and today he is well-known in Russia after his Moscow course of lectures on short-term investment in 1996.

The first half of the book focuses simply on psychology. The stock market is in fact just a reflection of the human psychology. As the Dr Alexander Elder points out in this book"Trading for a living" , so many people who are educated think that because they are "school smart" that they must be able to master the financial markets just as well. It's the psychology and the mentality that goes into it. The author likens a typical losing trader (in other words, most traders!) to an alcoholic in denial. Traders are addicted to losing money. They get such a thrill from trading that they don't care if they win or lose.

The second half (Trading for a Living) is the core of the book. It is various trading strategies and technical information. If you're an experienced trader, you'll recognize most of it. The rule is simple: "buy low, sell high" or "short high, cover low". I think the author did an excellent job of covering a wide variety of strategies and trading tools. If you are new to trading, it may confuse the daylights out of you.

This book is a must have for anyone venturing into online trading. Dr. Elder lays out the three essentials of becoming a successful trader: Mind, Method and Money Management.

1. Mind: The psychological aspect of trading. Tells you to observe your own emotions as you trade.

2. Method: Technical analysis. Almost every major indicator is discussed here.

3. Money Management: Gives you some tips on how much to risk.

I have found a lot more detailed information in this book compared to the ones i have read so far. I would rate the book 10/10 if not more than that. It is truely and really a good piece of work . If you don't mind the high price, buy the real version or else download from us for FREE!!!

We are committed to provide highly informational and popular Forex ebooks for free to our visitors.

The book is really worth it though. You will not be disappointed. I highly recommend it to the traders who look forward to improve the quality of their lives.

You might like to browse through our huge collection of forex ebooks!

The complete Day Traderby Jake Bernstein PART1 AND 2

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Most so called books for specifically for "day traders" are so generalised in their look out that their techniques and advice can only be used by swing-traders and even by longer-term investors. This one is different. The author, Jake Bernstein, who has given decent forex books in the past strongly advocates real day trading, when no securities ever kept overnight. Therefore, his techniques are usable for very short term trading only.

The list of popular books by Jake Bernstein include

Jake Bernstein - Commodity Cycles.zip
Jake Bernstein - How to Trade the New Single Stock Futures.pdf
Jake Bernstein - Market Master.pdf
Jake Berstein - Introduction To Technical Analysis.pdf

Jake Bernstein - Timming Short Term Price Swings in S&P.pdf

Right now.. You can download the complete day trader vol 1 and 2 from us!!

Jake Bernstein - The Complete Day Trader Vol I.pdf

Jake Bernstein - The Complete Day Trader Vol 2.pdf

You might like to browse through our huge collection of forex ebooks!

Forex Conquered by John L Person- DOWNLOAD FOR FREE

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Hey,

Here we have a very Popular Forex book "Forex Conquered" by John L. Person. Download for free!! and enjoy and BOOK MARK US.. we are going to have lots more Forex eBooks coming soon.

Forex Conquered by John L. Person is a very popular forex book that illustrates easy to learn strategies for better trading in the forex market. This book will give you exact and detailed information on factors like how to on when to increase lot size, how to manage risk, whats the best time to move stops, and how to use automated trading programs.

And lots more, In this book he explains clearly as to how an individual retail Forex trader can build a "black box" Forex system. Forex Conquered is presented in seven sections and covers all applicable topics including but not limited pivot points, candle charts, Fibonacci, stochastics, money management, and game psychology.

You might like to browse through our huge collection of forex ebooks!

10 Essential tips for online Forex Traders

Monday, December 10, 2007

Hey,

Here is the latest addition to our articles section.

10 ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR NOVICE FOREX TRADERS

If you are new to the world of online FOREX trading you will realise its not as simple as people make out to be or what the ever so promising Forex Brokers promise.
The fact is most people who dont know the in and out of online forex trading will lose and lose quickly.

To win at currency trading online you need to have the right FOREX strategy - Here are 10 tips and if you incorporate them in your trading strategies, you should get a head start in your thirst for consistent FX profits

1. Don't believe the hype
You will see lots of people selling forex ebooks for "only" $100 which promises to make you strike gold in the world of online forex trading. Yes , their is good advice out there - you can get all the information you need free on the internet.

2. Don't day trade
The biggest myth of FOREX trading is you can make money FOREX day trading or Forex Scalping.
You can't!
Many novice traders fall for this myth and lose quickly and wonder why.
As I always say All short term volatility is random and there is no way of predicting where prices may go" up or down", so you might as well flip a coin.

For more on Forex Scalping , read this Article

If you want proof that FOREX day trading systems don't work, ask any vendor for a real time profits track record over the long term and you will not be able to fine one.

3. Work smart not hard
There is a lot of difference in hard work and smart work.You don'thave to work hard in online FOREX Trading, you need to work smart. This means focusing on getting the RIGHT FOREX education and learning and understanding the FOREX tools that actually work in the market not just hypothetically . If you focus on getting the right Forex information, you should be able to learn how to trade in a fortnight.
You will not be rewarded in FOREX trading market for working hard and spending lot of time, you get rewarded for being right and that means working smart.

4. Risk = Reward
If you don't like the idea of risk forget currency trading and pick up something else .
Many traders simply want to avoid as much risk as they can, putting stops to close, or snatching profits. If that's you - you will NEVER achieve currency trading success.
You need to be open minded and accept risk and losses to succeed in online FOREX Trading.

This is because to be a successful Forex trader, you need to be a enterpreneur and have to take risk, not avoid it. No Risk, no reward!

5. Do It on your own
Have confidence in your ability to understand the Forex Market. You are responsible for your own success.
If you follow someone else's strategy you will not have the right mindset to succeed. If you lack discipline and might want to quit after suffering a few losses. Do it on your own and your chances of success are manifolded.

6. Get a simple method
Simple methods always fare better than complicated ones, as they are much more easier to understand and follow.
There is never a correlation between how complicated a trading system is and how much profit it will make.
If you are just starting out in online forex trading, use support and resistance, a breakout methodology and some confirming indicators and that's just about it.
The above way of trading is perfect and will help you should get you the big profits from the big moves.

7. Trade Breakouts
A timeless way to trade FOREX markets.
It works well and will continue to work, simply look in our ebooks section for this powerful methodology.

8. Be patient
You do not get rewarded for how frequently you trade FOREX online- However, You do get rewarded for being quick on your feet and spotting and acting on the best trades and these don't come around very often.
Be patient and only trade FOREX signals from your system - don't be tempted to just trade for the sake of trading Forex.

9. Be realistic
There is potential for huge money in Forex Market, so what's realistic? The best Forex traders compound around 50 - 100% annualy so this is a good number to aim for or may be slightly lower.
These gains will compound quickly and build real wealth in the longer term.
Be realistic and don't try to become an overnight millionaire.

10. Know your edge
If you were good enough to understand the 9 forex tips mentioned above, you will understand that you must have an edge to make money in the long run in online FOREX market.

If after , devising your very own Online FOREX Trading strategy you don't know what your edge is - then you don't have one!
You need to know what your edge is over the majority of the losing traders to win in the Online Forex market.

Final words
If you incorporate the above 10 Forex tips in to your online FOREX Trading plan, You should be on your way to become a good Forex Trader.
Welcome to the world of Online FOREX trading! and Best of Luck!

You might like to read other articles in our Forex Articles section or download one of the huge number of forex ebooks in our Forex Ebooks section.

Gary Smith- How I Trade for a Living - Download now!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Now Master the Currency Market by Trading from Home! This Forex ebook how I trade for a living "Gary Smith deals in reality. If you are an amateur investor and interested in learning how to trade for real profits, not just all hype no substance trading platforms, this book is a must read for you.

In this Forex Ebook Gary Smith recounts the obstacles he overcame on his wat to trading mastery and describes the strategies, indicators, and insights he used to reach his goals."
Download

You might also check the huge number of ebooks in our Forex Ebooks section

Freedom Rocks trading platform review:Freedom rocks ROCKS!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Freedom Rocks trading platform review:Freedom rocks ROCKS!

Hey, here is a review of freedom rocks platform. It has as many critics as its supporters.

Yeah.. so lets get started with the review!

Yes, it does have an MLM aspect to it IF you want to share the product with others. It is a refreshing twist to finally have a product one can use and make money WITHOUT telling another soul, if they want to. So for me, whether or not you like or not, or are indiferent to MLM/NWM really doesn't have any bearing on what the product is and what it can do in helping me/others diversify their investments by entering the FOREX market. So, I say to those who hate MLM, ..JUST GET OVER IT !!!

I've been curious about the FOREX market for quite a few years now, but whenever I took a look at learning it, I was always leary of the systems out there that cost so much and have you try to outguess the market by reading charts, etc. Plus, those late night hours really didn't seem worth it.

So, last fall (about Sept 06) when someone I know emailed me about FreedomRocks, I became curious, but put it on the 'back burner' for a month or so. Then, after watching the movie and listening to a couple of calls (one with the owner and designer of the product), I decided to use the FREE trial to see if it was as easy as it was made out to be. So, i decided to make a little plunge in the freedom rocks platform.

Also, the owners were quite conservative and answered to questions straight forwardly. No tall claims or hype thats not worth with freedom rocks.

So, I invested some time in the demo on the FREE trial beginning about the end of Nov, '06. I was lucky enough to extend my trial through December. I was very much impressed with the ease of their system, and the returns in Dec were pity decent.

So, onthe 1st of January I decided to pay the monthly fee of $100 to use the software, and kept demo trading. At one particular point of time I had around a dozen demos opened with 3 brokers using various strategies to see how things would play out.

Since some of my demos had quite high margins (against the advice of FreedomRocks I must add) I did have 3 of the dozen that margined out by the end of January. Still, all the demos that were left and did have the margins low as well as better currencies chosen, did very well indeed.

So, on Feb 28 I took the actual plunge and opened a live account. For the next 10 days or so I watched as my account dipped to a 50% 'paper loss'. It was kind of 'interesting', I will say, but I just kept on doing what the system is set-up to do and waited for things to work out.

What I learned through that period was a confidence in this system that it DOES work as it claims AS LONG as you follow the system to wach single and don't try to 'change/adjust' anything. Even though this downturn in early March was global and massive, my account DID NOT come close to being margined out.

I also took note of Freedom rocks suggestion to take out profits periodically when the account is up until you have your inital investment back in your pocket, and that's what I have done. It took me about four months to get my initial investment back and now I am trading essentially on 'house funds'.

Todate, even though I am down in paper losses of nearly 30% , I know that I am earning interest daily and always buying low and selling high, so I can't loose (unless I get a margin call, which I've taken care of by following the system and what I've heard on the company calls).

For those whose experience has been negative with freedom rocks and there are quite a few of these people it might be a good idea to ask yourself a few questions, assuming you can be really truthful with the answers you give. I say this because I see things being said that are not what I've been hearing from the company for nearly 9 months now.

An interesting list of questions to answer for those who traded and lost with freedomrocks

So, did you follow the system verbatum? Did you listen to the corp calls where Mark answers anyones quesions about anything to do with the system and the market? Did you go through the excellent webinar trainings and follow everything laid out there and in print to set-up your trades? Did you demo trade long enough to really be comfortable and confident with this system BEFORE you choose to open a live account?



I'll end this 'reviewl' by asking you a couple more questions: How much dollars have you lost with other FOREX programs 'promising' to teach you how to profit in this risky but exciting market? What are you going to do now that you've cancelled one of the fewbut simple to learn and use systems for trading in the FOREX and for hopefully profiting in the FOREX.....OR, have you now totally given up on ever profiting from the FOREX?

Wishing you all the very best in trading or in whatever you choose to do for your investments.



You might also like read the review of Easy Forex trading platform here

You might like to browse through our huge collection of forex ebooks!

4 Simple Tips to choose a Forex Broker

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Finding a Forex broker for your trading needs is a difficult process for the most of us .Hence, there is a necessity of outside assistance. Trading in the unpredictable Forex market without a broker could possibly lead to disastrous results for the normal investor. Even choosing the wrong Forex broker for your needs will lead to the same disastrous results.

• It is very important that you be sincere in researching any prospective brokerage firms to handle your financial portfolio. A good Forex broker will supply you with successful clients contact info with out any hesitation. Check out their client history and you should get a pretty good idea about them. Note that testimonials by traders should be used as a part of research in finding the right forex broker but not the deciding factor as many brokers have "special" clients who will speak just positive about them.

• Another good way to test the reliability of any Forex broker is the amount of information, literature and tutorials that they are giving to you. Most Forex brokers out there are of a decent reputation as well as a solid background.But, there are quite a few out there that don't have a good history or no history and it is wise to avoid such forex brokers.

• Another simple but good avenue to find out about prospective forex brokers is to ask your aquaintaces about the forex brokers they deal with. This will not only give you prospective referrals to great Forex brokers but will also equip you with decent ideas and resources that you may not have located. If you get a referral, be sure to do your own research on the broker. DO not commit to any broker until you have completely analysed them.

• A Forex trading margin heavily influences your money and various Forex brokers offer different margins. If you find a Forex broker, who is giving you a margin of ten to one isn't a very good find so it's worthwhile to put some time in research. Remember that forex market is all about customer service and catering to the customers.

So, if your prospective Forex broker doesnt return your calls with a reasonable turn around time ,Better look for another!



You might like to read other Forex related articles in the Articles section or browse through our huge collection of forex ebooks!

Link Exchange with Other Forex Blogs

Hello,

If you have a Forex related blog, forum or useful site, I would be interested in a link exchange. I am mainly looking to exchange links with currency trading sites, but anything related to financial trading will probably work too.

Please, leave a comment to this post with your commercial proposition and then we will discuss it.

Currency Converter

Monday, November 26, 2007

Pip Calculator

Fibonacci forex video

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Hey Guys,

Here is one of the most famous Fibonacci Forex videos doing the rounds on the net. Enjoy!!

Easy Forex Trading Platform REVIEW!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Hey there, Here is the review of Easy Forex Trading platform!

Before choosing Easy Forex trading system, or any other online forex broker/agent for that matter, we advise investors to clearly understand the possible risks of the venture. Not to mentions that, trading in the Forex market should always be undertaken with risk capital.

Whenever you are in need of choosing a good forex trading platform, the investors must look at the overall package that you gain. It is somewhat similar to choosing a bike or a school for your kids, you would want to see competitiveness in all the features , outstanding benefits and clear excellence. In this regard I would definetly recommend you the EASY FOREX TRADING PLATFORM.

Ill jot down the reasons quickly for you!

Internet Based Platform With out the Need to Download Software – It is truely online trading. Unlike most other trading systems, there is no need whatsoever to download any software. You can trade the Forex online 24hours round the clock from any net activated pc anywhere in the world.

Start Trading From As meagre as $25 with Unique Features – You can open a simple trading account for as minute as $25 and start trading within few minutes of your initial deposit. Another feature is that deposits and withdrawals can be made through PayPal or Credit Card.
Registration is free and simple.

Unique "Freeze rate" Trading Feature – You can freeze a particular rate you see on your monitor for a certain period of time and then decide if you want to make the trade or not.

Live Training and Personal Services – An Easy Forex representative will train you as soon as you register there– you will be getting your own Account Service Manager. Your account can be tailored to suit your own trading style and spreads can be tailored as well.

Competitive Spreads – The spreads are competitive and you can trade with one of the lowest margins of all the trading systems. Also, in some cases they will allow spreads to be adjusted to suit the individual forex trader.

Guaranteed Rates and Stop-Loss – and also you may set an automatic Take Profit rate if you like.

No Hidden charges and No Additional Collateral Required for Trading – and you are never ever charged for profit withdrawals or deposits for that matter.

Special Incentives provided to Frequent Traders - If you are a frequent trader and do large number of trades in short time frame, you will be offered a tailor made account to suit your exact wants/needs (the spreads, leverage ratios, sms alerts, etc…

Unhindered access to Daily Forex Outlooks and Forecasts, Live News, Rates and more…

Working with reputable business partners and leading banks world wide - Liquidity is provided by UBS.

Full Transparency in their terms , Total Control of your account, Ultimate level of Data Security and Privacy.
Special Tailor-Made Terms to Individual Forex Traders/Investors.
Refer-a-Friend awarding Programs.

And Much much More...

Conclusion:

In summary, we believe Easy Forex Trading Platform offers the best value for money in the current crop of trading platforms. Registration is fast and easy with. The spreads they provide are very competitive and margins are one of the lowest around!

Easy Forex is a golbal organisation working with leading banks like UBS!

You can join them here - Easy-Forex

20 Rules To Stop Losing Money in Forex Market!

Monday, November 19, 2007

20 Rules To Stop Losing Money in Forex Market!

1. Dont blindly trust others opinions - It's your money at stake, not theirs.Use your brains too. Do your own analysis and make decisions.

2. Don't believe in Any company - Trading is not like investment. Just concentrateon the numbers and forget the press releases.

3. Don't break your own rules - You made them up for tough situations, just like the one you are probably in right now!

4. Never try to get even - Trading is never a game of catch-up. Every position will and must stand on its merits. Take your losses with patience and analytically, and take the next trade with unhindered discipline.

5. Don't trade over your head - If your last name isn't Buffett or Cramer, don't try tp trade like them. Concentrate on playing the game with good tactics, and don't worry about making or losing money.

6. Don't seek the Holy Grail! - There is no secret trading formula that will fetch you unlimited profits, other than good risk management. So stop searching for it.

7. Don't forget your discipline - Learning the basics is pity easy. Most newbie traders will fail in due course as a result of lack of discipline, not a lack of knowledge.

8. Don't try tochase the crowd - Listen to the beat of your heart . By the time the crowd acts, you might be too late…..or too early.

9. Don't trade the obvious pattern - The prettiest patterns can set you up the most painful losses. "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is".

10. Don't ignore the warning signs at any trustable sources -Major losses rarely come without any warning. Do keep a look out for warnings!

11. Don't count your chickens - Profits aren't booked until the trade is closed. The forex market gives and the market takes away with great fury with out a damn for any one.

12. Don't forget your plan - Always Remember the reasons why you took the trade in the first place, and don't get blinded unnecessarily by volatility.

13. Don't have a shrewd paycheck mentality - The market only pays off big time when you're right, and your timing is really, really ON TIME ;).

14. Don't join groups - Trading is not a team sport requiring unity . Avoid stock boards, chatrooms and financial news on TV. You dont wanna repent later and will end up cursing the group!

15. Don't ignore your intuition - Respect the little voice that tells you what to do, and what to avoid. That could be the voice of the winner trying to get into your thick head.

16. Don't hate losing in the market- Expect to win and lose with great regularity. Expect the losing to teach you more about winning, than the winning itself. Thats FX market for you.

17. Don't fall into the complexity hole - A well-trained eye is much more effective than a stack of automated indicators. Common sense is more valuable than a backtested system. AS they say common sense is very uncommon.

18. Don't confuse execution with opportunity - Overpriced software which promise you results won't help you trade like a pro. Pretty colors and flashing lights make you a faster trader, not a better one.

19. Don't project your personal life in trading forex- Trading gives you the perfect opportunity to discover sometimes just how screwed up your life really is.

20. Don't think its entertainment - Trading should be boring most of the time, just like the real job you have right now. But never look for entertainment in there. You wont get it!


You might like to read other Forex related articles in the Articles section or browse through our huge collection of forex ebooks!

Video: Top 10 mistakes Forex Traders make!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Here is a decent video on top ten mistakes that new forex investors make when they start trading.

If these can be avoided, a successful trading career awaits!


Top 10 Biggest Mistakes Forex Traders Make - Click here for the funniest movie of the week

More forex ebooks coming soon! and forex events!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Well, in coming few days lots of Forex Ebooks are going to be added in our forex ebooks section as well as articles. Be sure to return back to us to check them out!

We are going to forex news ticker back as well. The problem we had with the forex news ticker we had on our site was that it was a java application and it aske

anotherd for permission to be played to each new visitor raising a red flag.

So, the forex events ticker is laid to rest for now and will revived soon.

Another feature that will be added is the 10 minutes chart for forex trading


And yeah. as usual we will update our site with the latest forex events as they happen.

UPDATES On the Site!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Well,

Lots of updates and features added on the site.

• First of all check out our EBook section, tons of ebooks there now
• Then We have added the Daily Forex Report Feature. You will see todays market report.
• Another feauture is the current Market news which is at the bottom of the page
• Then we have added the email subscription feature. Now you can stay in tune with whats the latest happening on our blog. We will keep updating you through our newsletter.
• And most apparent of all the updates. The sites look- A totally revamped look.

Do let us know what you feel of the updates!

Forex Glossary!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A

Aggregate
RiskTotal amount of exposure a bank has with a customer for both spot and forward contracts.

American Option
An option which may be exercised at any valid business date through out the life of the option.

Appreciation
Describes a currency strengthening in response to market demand rather than by official action.

Arbitrage
A risk-free type of trading where the same instrument is bought and sold simultaneously in two different markets in order to cash in on the difference in these markets.

Around
Used in quoting forward "premium / discount".

Ask Price
Ask is the lowest price acceptable to the buyer.

Asset
In the context of foreign exchange is the right to receive from a counterparty an amount of currency either in respect of a balance sheet asset (e.g. a loan) or at a specified future date in respect of an unmatched forward Forward or spot deal.

At Best
An instruction given to a dealer to buy or sell at the best rate that is currently available in the market.

At or Better
An order to deal at a specific rate or better.

At-the-Money
An option whose strike/exercise price is equal to or near the current market price of the underlying instrument.

At Par Forward Spread
When the forward price is equivalent to the spot price.

At the Price Stop-Loss Order
A stop-loss order that must be executed at the requested level regardless of market conditions.

Auction
Sale of an item to the highest bidder. (1) A method commonly used in exchange control regimes for the allocation of foreign exchange. (2) A method for allocating government paper, such as US Treasury Bills. Small investors are given preferential access to the bills. The average issuing price is then computed on the basis of the competitive bids accepted. In some circumstances for government auctions it is the yield rather than the price which is bid.

Average Rate Option
A contract where the exercise price is based on the difference between the strike price and the average spot rate over the contract period. Sometimes called an "Asian option".





B Back Office
Settlement and related processes.

Back to Back
(1) Transaction where all the obligations and liabilities in one transaction are mirrored in a second transaction. (2) Transaction where a loan is made in one currency in one country against a loan in another country in another currency.

Balance of Payments
A systematic record of the economic transactions during a given period for a country.(1) The term is often used to mean either: (i) balance of payments on "current account"; or (ii) the current account plus certain long term capital movements.(2) The combination of the trade balance, current balance, capital account and invisible balance, which together make up the balance of payments total. Prolonged balance of payment deficits tend to lead to restrictions in capital transfers, and or decline in currency values.

Balance of Trade
The value of exports less imports. Invisibles are normally excluded, and is otherwise referred to as mercantile or physical trade. Figures can be quoted on FoB/ FaS , customs cleared, or Fob export, FoB export.

Band
The range in which a currency is permitted to move. A system used in the ERM.

Bank Line
Line of credit granted by a bank to a customer, also known as a " line".

Bank Notese
Bank notes are paper issued by the central or issuing bank and are legal tender, but are not usually considered to be part of the FX market. However bank notes can be converted, in some counties, into FX. Bank notes are normally priced at a premium to the current spot rate for a currency.

Bank Rate
The rate at which a central bank is prepared to lend money to its domestic banking system.

Barrier Option
A family of path dependent options whose pay-off pattern and survival to the expiration date depend not only on the final price of the underlying currency but also on whether or not the underlying currency breaks a predetermined price level at any time during the life of the option. See Down and Out call/put, Down and in call/put, Up and out call/put, Up and in call/put.

Base Currency
The currency in which the operating results of the bank or institution are reported.

Base Rate
A term used in the UK for the rate used by banks to calculate the interest rate to borrowers. Top quality borrowers will pay a small amount over base.

Basis Point
One per cent of one per cent.

Basis Price
The price expressed in terns of yield maturity or annual rate of return.

Basis Convergence
The process whereby the basis tends towards zero as the contract expiry approaches.

Basis Trading
Taking opposite positions in the cash and futures market with the intention of profiting from favorable movements in the basis.

Basis
The difference between the cash price and futures price.

Basket
A group of currencies normally used to manage the exchange rate of a currency. Sometimes referred to as a unit of account.

Bear
A person who believes that prices will decline.

Bear Market
A market in which prices decline sharply against a background of widespread pessimism (opposite of Bull Market).

Bid Price
Bid is the highest price that the seller is offering for the particular currency at the moment; the difference between the ask and the bid price is the spread. Together, the two prices constitute a quotation; the difference between the two is the spread. The bid-ask spread is stated as a percentage cost of transacting in the foreign.

Big Figure
Refers normally to the first three digits of an exchange rate that dealers treat as understood in quoting. For example a quote of "30/40" on dollar mark could indicates a price of 1.5530/40BIS: Bank of International Settlement.

Bilateral Clearing
A system used where foreign currency is limited. Payments are usually routed through the central banks, and sometimes require that the trade balance is equaled every year.

Binary Options
A binary "call" (or "step up") is like a standard European call option except that the pay off at expiry is fixed at one unit of the counter currency, if the call expires in the money.

Black-Scholes Model
An option pricing formula initially derived by Fisher Black and Myron Scholes for securities options and later refined by Black for options on futures. It is widely used in the currency markets.

Booked
The recording of a transaction outside the country where the transaction is itself negotiated.

Boris
Slang for Russian trading.

Break Even Point
The price of a financial instrument at which the option buyer recovers the premium, meaning that he makes neither a loss or gain. In the case of a call option, the break even point is the exercise price plus the premium.

Break Out
In the options market, undoing a conversion or a reversal to restore the option buyer's original position.

Bretton Woods
The site of the conference which in 1944 led to the establishment of the post war foreign exchange system that remained intact until the early 1970s. The conference resulted in the formation of the IMF. The system fixed currencies in a fixed exchange rate system with 1% fluctuations of the currency to gold or the dollar.

Broker
An agent, who executes orders to buy and sell currencies and related instruments either for a commission or on a spread. Brokers are agents working on commission and not principals or agents acting on their own account. In the foreign exchange market brokers tend to act as intermediaries between banks bringing buyers and sellers together for a commission paid by the initiator or by both parties. There are four or five major global brokers operating through subsidiaries affiliates and partners in many countries.

Brokerage
Commission charged by a broker.

BUBA
Bundesbank, the reserve bank of Germany.

Bull
A person who believes that prices will rise.

Bull Market
A market characterized by rising prices.

Bulldogs
Sterling bonds issued in the UK by foreign institutions.

Bundesbank
Central Bank of Germany.

Butterfly Spread
(1) A futures butterfly spread is a spread trade in which multiple futures months are traded simultaneously at a differential. The trade basically consists of two futures spread transactions with either three or four different futures months at one differential.
(2) An options butterfly spread is a combination of a bear and bull spread trade in which multiple options months and strike prices are traded simultaneously at a differential. The trade basically consists of two options spread transactions with either three or four different options months and strikes at one differential.





C Cable Transfer
Telegraphic transfer of funds from one centre to another. Now synonymous with inter bank electronic fund transfer.

Cable Transfer
Telegraphic transfer of funds from one centre to another. Now synonymous with inter bank electronic fund transfer.

Cable
A term used in the foreign exchange market for the US Dollar/British Pound rate.

Call Option
A call option confers the right but not the obligation to buy stock, shares or futures at a specified price.

Call
An option that gives the holder the right to buy the underlying instrument at a specified price during a fixed period.

Capital Account
Juxtaposition of the long and short term capital imports and exports of a country.

Carry
The interest cost of financing securities or other financial instruments held.

Carry-Over Charge
A finance charge associated with the storing of commodities (or foreign exchange contracts) from one delivery date to another.

Cash
normally refers to an exchange transaction contracted for settlement on the day the deal is struck. This term is mainly used in the North American markets and those countries which rely for foreign exchange services on these markets because of time zone preference i.e. Latin America. In Europe and Asia, cash transactions are often referred to as value same day deals.

Cash and Carry
The buying of an asset today and selling a future contract on the asset. A reverse cash and carry is possible by selling an asset and buying a future.

Cash Settlement
A procedure for settling futures contract where the cash difference between the future and the market price is paid instead of physical delivery

CBOE
Chicago Board Options Exchange.

CBOT or CBT
Chicago Board of Trade.

CD
Certificate of Deposit.

Central Bank
A central bank provides financial and banking services for a country's government and commercial banks. It implements the government's monetary policy, as well, by changing interest rates. Reserve Bank of India is the central bank of India which performs the role of maintaining orderly conditions in the forex market by intervention through various instruments like cash reserve ratio, bank rate, open market operations and moralsuation.

Central Rate
Exchange rates against the ECU adopted for each currency within the EMS.Currencies have limited movement from the central rate according to the relevant band.

Certificate of Deposit (CD)
A negotiable certificate in bearer form issued by a commercial bank as evidence of a deposit with that bank which states the maturity value, maturity rate and interest rate payable.CDs vary in size with maturities ranging from a few weeks to several years. CDs may normally be redeemed before maturity only by sale on the secondary market but may also be redeemed back to issuing bank through payment of a penalty.

CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US Federal regulatory agency for futures traded on commodity markets, including financial futures.

CHAPS
Clearing House Automated Payment System.

Chartist
An individual who studies graphs and charts of historic data to find trends and predict trend reversals which include the observance of certain patterns and characteristics of the charts to derive resistance levels, head and shoulders patterns, and double bottom or double top patterns which are thought to indicate trend reversals.

CHIPS
The New York clearing house clearing system. (Clearing House Interbank Payment System). Most Euro transactions are cleared and settled through this system.

CIBOR
Copenhagen Interbank Rate, the rate at which the banks lend the Danish Krone on an unsecured basis. The rate is calculated daily by the Danmarks Nationalbank (the Danish Central Bank), based on rules set out by the Danish Banker's Association.

Closed Position
A transaction which leaves the trade with a zero net commitment to the market with respect to a particular currency.

Closing Purchase Transaction
The purchase of an option identical to one already sold to liquidate a position.

CME
Chicago Mercantile ExchangeCock Dates (see broken dates).

Coincident Indicator
An economic indicator that generally moves in line with the general business cycle such as industrial production.

Comex
Commodity Exchange of New York.

Commission
The fee that a broker may charge clients for dealing on their behalf.

Compound Option
An option on an option, the dates and price of such option being fixed.

Confirmation
A memorandum to the other party describing all the relevant details of the transaction.

CPI
Consumer Price Index. Monthly measure of the change in the prices of a defined basket of consumer goods including food, clothing, and transport. Countries vary in their approach to rents and mortgages.

Contract Expiration Date
The date on which a currency must be delivered to fulfill the terms of the contract. For options, the last day on which the option holder can exercise his right to buy or sell the underlying instrument or currency.

Contract Month
The month in which a futures contract matures or becomes deliverable if not liquidated or traded out before the date specified.

Contract
An agreement to buy or sell a specified amount of a particular currency or option for a specified month in the future (See Futures contract).

Correspondent Bank
The foreign banks representative who regularly performs services for a bank which has no branch in the relevant centre, e.g. to facilitate the transfer of funds. In the US this often occurs domestically due to inter state banking restrictions.

Cost of Carry
The interest rate parity, where the forward price is determined by the cost of borrowing money in order to hold the position.

Cost of Living Index
Broadly equivalent to Retail Price Index or Consumer price.

Counterparty
The customer or bank with which a foreign exchange deal is executed.

Counterparty Risks
Foreign Currency Inter-bank Exchange (FOREX) instruments are Positions (Buys and/or Sell) between the Client and its Counterparty and, unlike exchange-traded foreign exchange instruments which are, in effect, guaranteed by a clearing organization affiliated with the exchange on which the instruments are traded, are not guaranteed by a clearing organization. Thus, when the Customer purchases an OTC foreign exchange instrument, it relies on the Counterparty from which it has purchased the instrument to fulfill the contract. Failure of a Counterparty to fulfill a Position could result in losses of any prior payment made pursuant to the Positions well as the loss of the expected benefit of the transaction.

Country Risk
Factors that affect currency trading unique to the specific country include political, regulatory, legal and holiday risks.

Coupon Value
The annual rate of interest of a bond.

Coupon
(1) On bearer stocks, the detachable part of the hide behind nominee status. Certificate exchangeable for dividends.
(2) Denotes the rate of interest on a fixed interest security.

Cover
(1) To take out a forward foreign exchange contract.
(2) To close out a short position by buying currency or securities which have been sold.

Covered Interest Rate Arbitrage
An arbitrage approach which consists of borrowing currency A, exchanging it for currency B, investing currency B for the duration of the loan, and, after taking off the forward cover on maturity, showing a profit on the entire set of deals. It is based on the theorem of interest rate parity (one of the key theoretical economic relationship) which says that the return on a hedged foreign investment will just equal the domestic interest rate on investments of identical risk. When the covered interest rate differential between the two money market is zero, there is no arbitrage incentive to move funds from one market to another.

CPSS
Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems.

Crawling Peg (Adjustable Peg)
An exchange rate system where a country's exchange rate is "pegged" (i.e. fixed) in relation to another currency. The official rate may be changed from time to time.

Credit Risk
The risk that a debtor will not repay; more specifically the risk that the counterparty does not have the currency promised to be delivered.

Cross Deal
A foreign exchange deal entered into involving two currencies, neither of which is the base currency.

Cross Hedge
A technique using financial futures to hedge different but related cash instruments based on the view that the price movements between the instruments move in concert.

Cross Rate
An exchange rate between two currencies, usually constructed from the individual exchange rates of the two currencies, as most currencies are quoted against the dollar.

Cross-Trade
A cross-trade transaction is a transaction where either the buy broker and the sell broker are the same, or the buy broker and the sell broker belong to the same firm.

Currency
The type of money that a country uses. It can be traded for other currencies on the foreign exchange market, so each currency has a value relative to another.

Currency Basket
Various weightings of other currencies grouped together in relation to a basket currency(e.g. ECU or SDR). Sometimes used by currencies to fix their rate often on a trade weighted basket.

Current Account
The net balance of a country's international payment arising from exports and imports together with unilateral transfers such as aid and migrant remittances. It excludes capital flows.

Current Balance
The value of all exports (goods plus services) less all imports of a country over a specific period of time, equal to the sum of trade and invisible balances plus net receipt of interest, profits and dividends from abroad.

Cycle
The set of expiration dates applicable to different classes of option.





D Day Order
An order that if not executed on the specific day is automatically canceled.

Day Trading
A Day Trading deal is a currency exchange deal which renew automatically every night at 22:00 (GMT time) starting the day the deal was made and until it ends. The deal ends in one of the following events:
1.Termination initiated by you.
2.The day trading rate has reached the Stop-Loss rate you predefined.
3.The deal end date.

As long as the deal is open, it is charged a renewal fee every night at 22:00 (GMT time).

Deal Date
The date on which a transaction is agreed upon.

Deal Ticket
The primary method of recording the basic information relating to a transaction.

Dealer
An individual or firm acting as a principal, rather than as an agent, in the purchase and /or sale of securities. Dealers trade for their own account and risk in contrast to the brokers who do trade only on behalf of their clients.

Declaration Date
The latest day or time by which the buyer of an option must intimate to the seller his willingness or unwillingness to exercise the option.

Deficit
Shortfall in the balance of trade, balance of payments, or government budgets.

Delivery
The settlement of a transaction by receipt or tender of a financial instrument or currency.

Delivery Date
The date of maturity of the contract, when the final settlement of transaction is made by exchanging the currencies. This date is more commonly known as the value date.

Delivery Risk
A term to describe when a counterparty will not be able to complete his side of the deal. This risk is very high in case of over the counter transactions where there is no exchange which can stand as a guarantee to the trade between the two parties to the contract.

Delta
The change in the value of the option premium made fully paid by the capitalisation of reserves and given relative to the instantaneous change in the value of the; underlying instrument, expressed as a coefficient.

Delta Hedging
A method used by option writers to hedge risk exposure of written options by purchase or sale of the underlying instrument in proportion to the delta.

Delta Spread
A ratio spread of options established as a neutral position by using the deltas of the options concerned to determine the hedge ratio.

Depo
Deposit

Derivatives
A broad term relating to risk management instruments such as futures, options, swaps, etc.. The contract value moves in relation to the underlying instrument or currency. The issue of derivatives and their control following large losses by banks and corporates has been subject of much debate.

Desk
Term referring to a group dealing with a specific currency or currencies.

Details
All the information required to finalize a foreign exchange transaction, i.e. name, rate, dates, and point of delivery.

Devaluation
Deliberate downward adjustment of a currency against its fixed parities or bands which is normally accompanied by formal announcement.

Direct Quotation
Quoting in fixed units of foreign currency against variable amounts of the domestic currency.

Discount
Less than the spot price example: forward discount.

Discount Rate
The rate at which a bill is discounted. Specifically it refers to the rate at which a central bank is prepared to discount certain bills for financial institutions as a means of easing their liquidity, and is more accurately referred to as the official discount rate

Domestic Rates
The interest rates applicable to deposits domiciled in the country of origin. Value and values may vary from Eurodeposits due to taxation and varying market practices.






E Economic Exposure
Reflects the impact of foreign exchange changes on the future competitive position of a company in the sense of the impact it can have on the future cash flows of the company.

Economic Indicator
A statistics which indicates current economic growth rates and trends such as retail sales and employment.

ECU - European Currency Unit
A basket of the member currencies. As a composite unit, the ECU consists of all the European Community currencies, which are individually weighted. It was created by the European Monetary System with the eventual goal of replacing the individual European member currencies.

Effective Exchange Rate
An attempt to summarize the effects on a country's trade balance of its currency's changes against other currencies.

EFT
Electronic Fund Transfer.

Either Way Market
In the Euro Interbank deposit market where both bid and offer rates for a particular period are the same.

EMU
European Monetary Union.

EMS
European Monetary System.

EOE
European Options Exchange.

Epsilon
The change in the price of an option associated with a 1% change in implied volatility (technically the first derivative of the option price with respect to volatility). Also referred to as eta, vega, omega and kappa.

ERM
Exchange Rate Mechanism.

Euro Clear
A computerized settlement and depository system for safe custody, delivery of, and payment for Eurobonds.

European Union
The group formerly known as the European Community.

Exchange Rate Risk
The potential loss that could be incurred from an adverse movement in exchange rates.

Exercise Price (Strike Price)
The price at which an option can be exercised.

Exotic
A less broadly traded currency.

Expiry Date
The last day on which the holder of an option can exercise his right to buy or sell the underlying security.

Expiration Date
(1) Options - the last date after which the option can no longer be exercised.
(2) Bonds-the date on which a bond matures.

Expiration Month
The month in which an option expires.

Expiry Date
The last date on which an option can be bought or sold.

Exposure
The total amount of money loaned to a borrower or country. Banks set rules to prevent overexposure to any single borrower. In trading operations, it is the potential for running a profit or loss from fluctuations in market prices.





F Fast Market
Rapid movement in a market caused by strong interest by buyers and/or sellers. In such circumstances price levels may be omitted and bid and offer quotations may occur too rapidly to be fully reported.

Fed
The United States Federal Reserve. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Membership is compulsory for Federal Reserve members. The corporation had deep involvement in the Savings and Loans crisis of the late 80s.

Fed Funds
Cash balances held by banks with their local Federal Reserve Bank. The normal transaction with these fund is an inter bank sale of a Fed fund deposit for one business day. Straight deals are where the funds are traded overnight on a unsecured basis.

Fed Fund Rate
The interest rate on Fed funds. This is a closely watched short term interest rate as it signals the Feds view as to the state of the money supply.

FEDAI
Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India) is an association of all dealers in foreign exchange which sets the ground rules for fixation of commissions and other charges and also determines the rules and regulation relating to day-to-day transactions in foreign exchange in India. The FEDAI has commonly recognised 38 currencies for dealing.

Federal National Mortgage Association
A privately owned but US government sponsored corporation that trades in residential mortgages. Its activities are funded by the sale of instruments commonly known as Fannie Maes.

Federal Reserve Board
The board of the Federal Reserve System, appointed by the US President for 14 year terms, one of whom is appointed for four years as chairman.

Federal Reserve System
The central banking system of the US comprising 12 Federal Reserve Banks controlling 12 districts under the Federal Reserve Board. Membership of the Fed is compulsory for banks chartered by the Comptroller of Currency and optional for state chartered banks.

Fiscal Policy
Use of taxation as a tool in implementing monetary policy.

Fixed Exchange Rate
Official rate set by monetary authorities for one or more currencies. In practice, even fixed exchange rates are allowed to fluctuate between definite upper and lower bands, leading to intervention by the central bank.

Fixing
A method of determining rates by normally finding a rate that balances buyers to sellers. Such a process occurs either once or twice daily at defined times. Used by some currencies particularly for establishing tourist rates . The system is also used in the London Bullion market.

Flat/Square
Where a client has not traded in that currency or where an earlier deal is reversed thereby creating a neutral (flat) position. example: you bought $500,000 then sold $500,000 = FLAT .

Float
(1) see Floating exchange rate.
(2) Cash in hand or in the course of being transferred between banks
(3) Federal Reserve Float arises from the system where cheques sent to the Federal Reserve Banks are credited sometimes in advance of the depositing bank loosing the reserve.

Floating Exchange Rate
When the value of a currency is decided by the market forces dictating the demand and supply of that particular currency.

Floor
(1) An agreement with a counterparty that sets a lower limit to interest rates for the floor buyer for a stated time.
(2) A term for an exchanges trading area (cf. screen based trading), normally the trading area is referred to as a pit in the commodities and futures markets.

FOMC
Federal Open Market Committee, the committee that sets money supply targets in the US which tend to be implemented through Fed Fund interest rates etc.

Foreign Exchange
The purchase or sale of a currency against sale or purchase of another.

Foreign Position
It means a position under which one party hereto agrees to purchase from or sell to the other party hereto an agreed amount of foreign currency.

Forex
An abbreviation of foreign exchange

Forex Deal
The purchase or sale of a currency against sale or purchase of another currency. The maximum time for a deal is defined when the deal opens, the deal can be closed at any moment until the expiry date and time. A deal cannot be closed on its first 3 minutes, due to technical reasons.

Forward Contract
Sometimes used as synonym for "forward deal" or "future". More specifically for arrangements with the same effect as a forward deal between a bank and a customer.

Forward Cover Taking
forward contracts to protect against movements in the exchange rate.

Forward Deal
A deal with a value date greater than the spot value date.

Forward Points
The interest rate differential between two currencies expressed in exchange rate points. The forward points are added to or subtracted from the spot rate to give the forward or outright rate depending on whether the currency is at a forward premium or discount.

Forward Rate
The rate at which a foreign exchange contract is struck today for settlement at a specified future date which is decided at the time of entering into the contract. The decision to subtract or add points is determined by the differential between the deposit rates for both currencies concerned in the transaction. The base currency with the higher interest rate is said to be at a discount to the lower interest rate quoted currency in the forward market. Therefor the forward points are subtracted from the spot rate. Similarly, the lower interest rate base currency is said to be at a premium, and the forward points are added to the spot rate to obtain the forward rate.

Free Reserves
Total reserves held by a bank less the reserves required by the authority.

Front Office
The activities carried out by the dealer , normal trading activities.

Fundamental Analysis
Analysis based on economic and political factors

Fundamentals
The macro economic factors that are accepted as forming the foundation for the relative value of a currency, these include inflation, growth, trade balance, government deficit, and interest rates.

Funds
A term for USD/CAD/FungiblesInstruments that are equivalent, substitutable and interchangeable in law. May apply to certain exchange traded currency contracts offered on a number of exchanges.

Futures Contract
A contract traded on a futures exchange which requires the delivery of a specified quality and quantity of a commodity, currency or financial instruments a specified future month, if not liquidated before the contract matures.

Futures Exchange-Traded Contracts
They are firm agreements to deliver (or take delivery of) a standardized amount of something on a certain date at a predetermined price. Futures exist in currencies, money market deposits, bonds, shares and commodities. They are traded on an exchange with the clearing corporation gauranteeing the contract and moreover the trade is done on a mark to market basis.

FX
Foreign Exchange.





G G5
The Group of Five. The five leading industrial countries, being US, Germany, Japan, France, UK.

G5
The seven leading industrial countries, being US , Germany, Japan, France, UK, Canada, Italy.

G10
G7 plus Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden, a group associated with IMF discussions. Switzerland is sometimes peripherally involved.

Gamma
The rate at which a delta changes over time or for one unit change in the price of the underlying asset.

GNP Deflator
Removes inflation from the GNP figure. Usually expressed as a percentage and based on an index figure.

GNP Gap
The difference between the actual real GNP and the potential real GNP. If the gap is negative an economy is overheated.

Gross Domestic Product
Total value of a country's output, income or expenditure produced within the country's physical borders.

Gross National Product
Gross domestic product plus " factor income from abroad" - income earned from investment or work abroad.

Gold Standard
The original system for supporting the value of currency issued. This system was in vogue before 1973 when the fixed exchange rates were prevalent.

GTC "Good Till Cancelled"
An order left with a dealer to buy or sell at a fixed price. The order remains in place until it is cancelled by the client.







H Hard Currency
A currency whose value is expected to remain stable or increase in terms of other currencies.

Head and Shoulders
A pattern in price trends which chartist consider indicates a price trend reversal. The price has risen for some time, at the peak of the left shoulder, profit taking has caused the price to drop or level. The price then rises steeply again to the head before more profit taking causes the the price to drop to around the same level as the shoulder. A further modest rise or level will indicate a that a further major fall is imminent. The breach of the neckline is the indication to sell.

Hedge
The purchase or sale of options or futures contracts as a temporary substitute for a transaction to be made at a later date. Usually it involves opposite positions in the cash or futures or options market.

Hedging
A hedging transaction is one whose main aim is to protect an asset or liability against a fluctuation in the foreign exchange rate rather than profit from the exchange rate fluctuations.

Hyperinflation
Very high and self sustaining inflation levels. One definition being the period while inflation exceeds 50% until it has drops below that level for 12 months.





I ICCH
International Commodities Clearing House Limited, a clearing house based in London operating world wide for many futures markets.

IFEMA
International Foreign Exchange Master Agreement.

IMF
International Monetary Fund, established in 1946 to provide international liquidity on a short and medium term and encourage liberalization of exchange rates. The IMF helps its members to tide over the balance of payments problems with supplying the necessary loans.

IMM
International Monetary Market part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that lists a number of currency and financial futures Implied volatilityA measurement of the market's expected price range of the underlying currency futures based on the traded option premiums.

Implied Rates
The interest rate determined by calculating the difference between spot and forward rates.

In-the-Money
A call option is in-the-money if the price of the underlying instrument is higher than the exercise/strike price. A put option is in-the-money if the price of the underlying instrument is below the exercise/strike price.

Inconvertible Currency
Currency which cannot be exchanged for other currencies either because it is forbidden by the foreign exchange regulations or the currency witnesses extreme volatility that it is not percieved to be a safe haven for parking the funds.

Indicative Quote
A market-maker's price which is not firm.

Indirect quote
See reciprocal currency.

IPI
Industrial Production Index. A coincident indicator measuring physical output of manufacturing, mining and utilities.

Inflation
Continued rise in the general price level in conjunction with a related drop in purchasing power. Sometimes referred to as an excessive movement in such price levels.

Info Quote
Rate given for information purposes only.

Initial Margin
The deposit required by the Broker before a client can trade/transact a deal to have some cushion in the event of default by the party.

Interbank Rates
The forex rates large international banks quote to other large international banks. Normally the public and other businesses do not have access to these rates.

Interest Rate Risk
The potential for losses arising from changes in interest rates

Interest Rate Swaps
An agreement to exchange interest rate exposures from floating to fixed or vice versa. There is no swap of the principal. The principal amount is notional as at the end of the tenure only cash flows related with the interest payments (whether payment or reciept) are exchanged.

Intervention
Action by a central bank to effect the value of its currency by entering the market. In India the intervention by Reserve Bank of India is confined to the events of extreme volatility.

Intra Day Limit
Limit set by bank management on the size of each dealer's Intra Day Position.

Intra Day Position
Open positions run by a dealer within the day. Usually squared by the close.

IOM
Index and Options Market part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

ISDA (International Securities Dealers Association)
Organization which foreign currency exchange banks have formed to regulate inter-bank markets and exchanges.





J J Curve
A term describing the expected effect of a devaluation on a country's trade balance. It is anticipated that import bills rise before export orders and receipts increase.





K Kiwi
Slang for the New Zealand dollar.

Knock In
A process where a barrier option (European) becomes active as the underlying spot price is in the money.

Knock Out
has a corresponding meaning although the option may permanently cease to exist.





L Lay Off
To carry out a transaction in the market to offset a previous transaction and return to a square position.

LDC
Less developed countries, often used with respect to secondary debt market.

Leading Indicators
Statistic that are considered to precede changes in economic growth rates and total business activity, e.g. factory orders.

Leads and Lags
The effect on foreign trade payments of an anticipated move in the exchange rate, normally a devaluation. The importers speeden up the payment for the imports and exporters delay recieving payment for the exports.

Liability
In terms of foreign exchange, the obligation to deliver to a counterparty an amount of currency either in respect of a balance sheet holding at a specified future date or in respect of an un-matured forward or spot transaction.

LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offer Rate)
British Bankers' Association average of interbank offered rates for dollar deposits in the London market based on quotations at 16 major banks. Effective rate for contracts entered into two days from date appearing.

LIFFE
London International Financial Futures Exchange.

Limit Order – Reserved Day Trading Deal
An order to perform a Day Trading deal at a rate pre-defined by the customer, when and if such rate comes up in real market time. The Limit rate is superior to the existing rate at the time of reservation. The reservation order lasts for a period defined by the customer, and is associated by the necessary collaterals to facilitate the potential Day Trading deal, when and if activated, under the pre-defined terms.

Limited Convertibility
When residents of a country are prohibited from buying other currencies even though non-residents may be completely free to buy or sell the national currency and the foreign institutional investors also have the liberty to buy and sell shares on the stock exchange of that country.

Liquidation
Any transaction that offsets or closes out a previously established position.

Liquidity
The ability of a market to accept large transactions without having any major impact on the interest rates.

Long
A market position where the Client has bought a currency he previously did not own. For example: long Dollars.





M M0
Cash in circulation . Only used by the UK.

M1
Cash in circulation plus demand deposits at commercial banks. There are variations between the precise definitions used by national financial authorities.

M2
Includes demand deposits time deposits and money market mutual funds excluding large CDs.

M3
In the UK it is M1 plus public and private sector time deposits and sight deposits held by the public sector.

M4
In the US it is M2 plus negotiable CDs.

Make a Market
A dealer is said to make a market when he quotes both the bid and offer prices at which he stands ready to buy and sell.

Managed Float
When the monetary authorities intervene regularly in the market to stabilise the rates or to push the exchange rate in a required direction. It is also called the dirty float which we have in India.

Margin
Collateral that the holder of a position in securities, options, Forex or futures contracts, has to deposit to cover the credit risk of his counterparty. Other definitions to MARGIN, used in other areas are:
(1) Difference between the buying and selling rates, also used to indicate the discount or premium between spot or forward.
(2) For options, the sum required as collateral from the writer of an option.
(3) For futures, a deposit made to the clearing house on establishing a futures position account.
(4) The percentage reserve required by the US Federal Reserve to make an initial credit transaction.

Margin Call
A demand for additional funds to cover positions

Marginal Risk
The that a customer goes bankrupt after entering into a forward contract. In such an event the issuer must close the commitment running the risk of having to pay the marginal movement on the contract.

Mark - To - Market
The profits and/or losses are tallied at the end of the session according to the closing prices of the security and the account is "marked to the market" daily. The party will be called upon to make good the losses if there has been an adverse movement in the prices and it can book the profits in case there has been a favorable movement in the prices.

Market Value
Market value of a forex position at any time is the amount of the domestic currency that could be purchased at the then market rate in exchange for the amount of foreign currency to be delivered under the forex Contract.

Maturity
Date for settlement of the transaction which is decided at the time of entering into the contract.

MITI
Japanese ministry of International Trade & Industry.

MM
Money Markets

Money Supply
The amount of money in the economy, which can be measured in a number of ways. In India we have four measures of money supply i.e M1, M2, M3, M4.

Mutual fund
An open-end investment company. Equivalent to unit trust.





N Nickel
US term for five basis points.

Nostro Account
A foreign currency current account maintained with another bank. The account is used to receive and pay currency assets and liabilities denominated in the currency of the country in which the bank is resident.

Not Held Basis Order
An order whereby the price may trade through or better than the client's desired level, but the principal is not held responsible if the order is not executed.

Note
A financial instrument consisting of a promise to pay rather than an order to pay or a certificate of indebtedness.





O Offer
The rate at which a dealer is willing to sell the base currency.

Official Settlements Account
A US balance of payments measure based on movement of dollars in foreign official holdings and US reserves. Also referred to as reserve transaction account.

Off-Shore
The operations of a financial institution which although physically located in a country, has little connection with that country's financial systems. In certain countries a bank is not permitted to do business in the domestic market but only with other foreign banks. This is known as an off shore banking unit.

Old Lady
Old lady of Threadneedle Street, a term for the Bank of England.

One Cancels Other Order
Where the execution of one order automatically cancels a previous order also referred to as OCO or 'One cancels the other'.

Open Market Operations
The central bank operations in the markets to influence exchange and interest rates.

Open Position
Any deal which has not been settled by physical payment or reversed by an equal and opposite deal for the same value date. It can be termed as a high risk, high return proposition.

Option Class
All options of the same type - calls or puts -listed on the same underlying instrument.

Option Series
All options of the same class having the same exercise/strike price and expiration date.

Option
A contract conferring the right but not the obligation to buy (call) or to sell (put) a specified amount of an instrument at a specified price within a predetermined time period.

Over The Counter (OTC)
A market conducted directly between dealers and principals via a telephone and computer network rather than a regulated exchange trading floor. These markets have not been very popular because of the risks both the parties face in case the other party fails to honour the contract. They were never part of the Stock Exchange since they were seen as "unofficial".

Out-of-the-Money
A put option is out-of-the-money if the exercise/strike price is below the price of the underlying instrument. A call option is out-of-the money if the exercise/strike price is higher than the price of the underlying instrument.

Outright Deal
A forward deal that is not part of a swap operation.

Outright Forward
Foreign exchange transaction involving either the purchase or the sale of a currency for settlement at a future date.

Outright Rate
The forward rate of a foreign exchange deal based on spot price plus forward discount/premium.

Overheated (Economy)
Is an economy on a high growth rate trajectory placing pressure on the production capacity resulting in increased inflationary pressures and higher interest rates.

Overnight Limit
Net long or short position in one or more currencies that a dealer can carry over into the next dealing day. Passing the book to other bank dealing rooms in the next trading time zone reduces the need for dealers to maintain these unmonitored exposures.





P Package Deal
When a number of exchange and /or deposit orders have to be fulfilled simultaneously.

Par
(1) The nominal value of a security or instrument.
(2) The official value of a currency.

Parities
The value of one currency in terms of another.

Parity
(1) Foreign exchange dealer's slang for your price is the correct market price.
(2) Official rates in terms of SDR or other pegging currency.

Permitted Currency
It means a foreign currency which is freely convertible i.e a currency which is permitted by the rules and regulations of the country concerned to be converted into major reserve currencies and for which a fairly active and liquid market exists for dealing against the major currencies.

Pip
See point. (0.0001 of a unit).

Point
(1) 100th part of a per cent, normally 10,000 of any spot rate. Movement of exchange rates are usually in terms of points.
(2) One percent on an interest rate e.g. from 8-9%.
(3) Minimum fluctuation or smallest increment of price movement.

Political Risk
The potential for losses arising from a change in government policy or due to the risk of expropriation (nationalisation by the government ).

Position
The netted total exposure in a given currency. A position can be either flat or square ( no exposure), long, (more currency bought than sold), or short ( more currency sold than bought).

PPI
Producer Price Indices. See wholesale price indices.

Premium
(1) The amount by which a forward rate exceeds a spot rate.
(2) The amount by which the market price of a bond exceeds its par value.
(3) Options, the price a put or call buyer must pay to a put or call seller for an option contract.
(4) The margin paid above the normal price level.

Prime Rate
(1) The rate from which lending rates by banks are calculated in the US.
(2) The rate of discount of prime bank bills in the UK.

Principal
A dealer who buys or sells stock for his/her own account.

Profit Taking
The unwinding of a position to realize profits.

Purchasing Power Parity
Model of exchange rate determination stating that the price of a good in one country should equal the price of the same good in another country after adjusting for the changes in the price due to the change in exchange rate. Also known as the law of one price.

Put Call Parity
The equilibrium relationship between premiums of call and put options of the same strike and expiry.

Put Option
A put option confers the right but not the obligation to sell currencies, instruments or futures at the option exercise price within a predetermined time period.





Q Quote
An indicative price. The price quoted for information purposes but not to deal.





R Range
The difference between the highest and lowest price of a future recorded during a given trading session.

Rate
The price of one currency in terms of another. It has the same meaning as the term parities.

Recession
A decline in business activity. Often defined as two consecutive quarters with a real fall in GNP.

Reserve Currency
A currency held by a central bank on a permanent basis as a store of international liquidity, these are normally Dollar , Deutschemark, and sterling.

Reserves
Funds held against future contingencies, normally a combination of convertible foreign currency, gold, and SDRs. Official reserves are to ensure that a government can meet near term obligations. They are an asset in the balance of payments.

Resistance
A price level at which the selling is expected to take place.

Retail Price Index
Measurement of the monthly change in the average level of prices at retail, normally of a defined group of goods.

Revaluation
Increase in the exchange rate of a currency as a result of official action.

Reuter Dealing
A system for screen based trading that has been in operation since the early 1980s now has a matching optional enhancement known as Dealing 2000-2.

Risk management
The identification and acceptance or offsetting of the risks threatening the profitability or existence of an organisation. With respect to foreign exchange involves among others consideration of market, sovereign, country, transfer, delivery, credit, and counterparty risk.

Risk Premium
Additional sum payable or return to compensate a party for adopting a particular risk.

Risks
There are risks associated with any market. It means variance of the returns and the possibility that the actual return might not be in line with the expected returns. The risks associated with trading foreign currencies are: market, exchange, Interest rate, yield curve, volatility, liquidity, forced sale, counter party, credit, and country risk.

Rolling over
The substituting of a far option for a near option of the same underlying stock at the same strike/exercise price.

Rollover
Where the settlement of a deal is carried forward to another value date based on the interest rate differential of the two currencies example: next day.





S Selling Rate
Rate at which a bank is willing to sell foreign currency.

Settlement
Actual physical exchange of one currency for another.

Settlement Date
It means the business day specified for delivery of the currencies bought and sold under a forex contract.

Short
A market position where the client has sold a currency he does not already own. Usually expressed in base currency terms.

SITC
Standard International Trade Classification. A system for reporting trade statistics in a common manner.

SOFFEX
Swiss Options and Financial Futures Exchange, a fully automated and integrated trading and clearing system.

Soft Market
More potential sellers than buyers, which creates an environment where rapid price falls are likely.

Spot
(1) The most common foreign exchange transaction.
(2) Spot refers to the buying and selling of the currency where the settlement date is two business days forward.

Spot Next
The overnight swap from the spot date to the next business day.

Spot Price/Rate
The price at which the currency is currently trading in the spot market.

Spread
(1) The difference between the bid and ask price of a currency.
(2) The difference between the price of two related futures contracts.
(3) For options, transactions involving two or more option series on the same underlying currency.

Stable Market
An active market which can absorb large sale or purchases of currency without having any major impact on the interest rates.

Standard and Poors (S&P)
A US firm engaged in assessing the financial health of borrowers. The firm also has generated certain stock indices i.e. S&&P 500.

Sterling
British pound, otherwise known as cable.

Sterilization
Central Bank activity in the domestic money market to reduce the impact on money supply of its intervention activities in the forex market.

Stop Loss Order
Order given to ensure that , should a currency weaken by a certain percentage, a short position will be covered even though this involves taking a loss. Realize profit orders are less common.

Stop Out Price
US term for the lowest accepted price for Treasury Bills at auction.

Straddle
The simultaneous purchase/sale of both call and put options for the same share, exercise/strike price and expiry date.

Stagflation
Recession or low growth in conjunction with high inflation rates.

Strike Price
Also called exercise price. The price at which an option holder can buy or sell the underlying instrument.

Strip
A combination of two puts and one call.

Structural Unemployment
Unemployment levels inherent in an economic structure.

Support Levels
A price level at which the buying is expected to take place.

Swap
The simultaneous purchase and sale of the same amount of a given currency for two different dates, against the sale and purchase of another. A swap can be a swap against a forward. In essence, swapping is somewhat similar to borrowing one currency and lending another for the same period. However, any rate of return or cost of funds is expressed in the price differential between the two sides of the transaction.

Swift
Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunication is a clearing system for international trading.

Swissy
Market slang for Swiss Franc.





T T-Bill
Treasury Bill.

Technical Analysis
The study of the price that reflects the supply and demand factors of a currency. Common methods are flags, trend-lines spikes, bottoms, tops, pennants, patterns and gaps.

Technical Correction
An adjustment to price not based on market sentiment but technical factors such as volume and charting.

Terms of Trade
The ratio between export and import price indices.

Theta
A measure of the sensitivity of the price of an option to a change in its time to expiry.

Thin Market
A market in which trading volume is low and in which consequently bid and ask quotes are wide and the liquidity of the instrument traded is low.

TIBOR
Tokyo Inter-bank Offered Rate.

Tick
A minimum change in price, up or down.

TIFFE
Tokio International Financial Futures Exchange.

Tomorrow Next (Tom next)
Simultaneous buying and selling of a currency for delivery the following day and selling for the next day or vice versa.

Trade Date
The date on which a trade occurs.

Tranche
A portion of, specifically used for borrowings from the IMF.

Transaction
The buying or selling of securities resulting from the execution of an order.

Transaction Date
The date on which a trade occurs.

Transaction Exposure
Potential profit and loss generated by current foreign exchange transactions.






U Under-Valuation
An exchange rate is normally considered to be undervalued when it is below its purchasing power parity.





V Value Date
For exchange contracts it is the day on which the two contracting parties exchange the currencies which are being bought or sold. For complete description see the chapter on trading. For a spot transaction it is two business banking days forward in the country of the bank providing quotations which determine the spot value date. The only exception to this general rule is the spot day in the quoting centre coinciding with a banking holiday in the country(ies) of the foreign currency(ies). The value date then moves forward a day. The enquirer is the party who must make sure that his spot day coincides with the one applied by the respondent. The forward months maturity must fall on the corresponding date in the relevant calendar month If the one month date falls on a non-banking day in one of the centers then the operative date would be the next business day that is common. The adjustment of the maturity for a particular month does not effect the other maturities that will continue to fall on the original corresponding date if they meet the open day requirement. If the last spot date falls on the last business day of a month, the forward dates will match this date by also falling due on the last business day. Also referred to as maturity date.

Value Spot
Normally settlement for two working days from the date the contract is entered into. Value Today Transaction executed for same day settlement; sometimes also referred to as "cash transaction."

Vanilla
A simple option whose terms and conditions do not include any provisions other than exercise style, expiry and strike. To compare with exotic options which have additional terms.

Variation Margin
Funds required to be deposited by a client when a price movement has caused funds to fall below the stipulated percentage of the value of the contract.

Vega
Expresses the price change of an option for a one per cent change in the implied volatility.

Velocity of Money
The speed with which money circulates or turnover in the economy. It is calculated as the annual national income: average money stock in the period.

Volatility
A measure of the amount by which an asset price is expected to fluctuate over a given period. Normally measured by the annual standard deviation of daily price changes (historic). Can be implied from futures pricing, implied volatility.

Vostro Account
A local currency account maintained with a bank by another bank. The term is normally applied to the counterparty's account from which funds may be paid into or withdrawn, as a result of a transaction.





W Wholesale Money
Money borrowed in large amounts from banks and institutions rather than from small investors.

Wholesale Price Index
It measures changes in prices in the manufacturing and distribution sector of the economy and tends to lead the consumer price index by 60 to 90 days. The index is often quoted separately for food and industrial products.

Working day
A day on which the banks in a currency's principal financial centre are open for business. For FX transactions, a working day only occurs if the bank in both (all relevant currency centers in the case of a cross are open).

World Bank
A bank made up of members of the IMF whose aim is to assist in the development of member states by making loans where private capital is not available.

Writer
The seller of a position. Also known as the grantor of the trade. "Writing an Currency" is to sell it.





X


Y Yield Curve
The graph showing changes in yield on instruments depending on time to maturity. A system originally developed in the bond markets is now broadly applied to various financial futures. A positive sloping curve has lower interest rates at the shorter maturities and higher at the longer maturities. A negative sloping curve has higher interest rates at the shorter maturities.





Z Z-Certificate
Certificate issued by the Bank of England to "discount houses" in lieu of stock certificates to facilitate their dealing in the short dated gilt edge securities.

Zero Coupon Bond
A bond that pays no interest. The bond is initially offered at a discount to its redemption value.

Increase Your Forex Profits 100% in 10 minutes!

How To Increase Forex Profits 100% in 10 Minutes


Hey all,

In this article of mine, I am gonna show you guys how to increase your Forex Profits 100% i.e double.

It works for 99% of the short term FX traders. So if you are the casual amateur investor, read on!


- stop trading too much - widen out your stops - widen out your profit targets - and limit your trading in the direction of the trend indicated by 4 hour chart.

For an article on why to follow this trend check this out.

http://forex-trading4you.blogspot.com/2007/11/practical-course-for-forex-beginners.html

Now, moving to individual ones.


1) Stop trading so much

Yes, there are no commissions at all but the spreads you get are HUGE and believe it or not the spreads are reducing your profits by almost half!! Just follow this simple excercise and you will believe me.

2) Widen out your stops

Initial stop loss should be kept to a minimum of 23 points; I generally limit my use between 23 and 35 point stop losses for short-term trading.

3) Widen out your profit targets

Unless you think a trade can make you atleast100 points or more , dont plunge in the trade.

4) Always trade in the direction of the 4 hour chart

The real $$$ are made in the direction of the trend

Follow this Simple exercise

1) Download all your trades for the past year into an excel spreadsheet (if you don'thave an idea on how to do this, go ask your broker for instructions).

2) Determine the dollar value of the spread for each of the trades.

3) Sum up the total dollar value of all the spreads for all trades and add this value to your current account balance; this gives your spread adjusted account balance.

4) Take this spread adjusted current account balance and divide it by your opening balance at beginning of the year; the result will give you a percentage change.

5) Now, take your actual current account balance and divide it by your opening balance at beginning of year; the result again will give you a percentage change.

6) Subtract your spread adjusted year to date percentage change from your actual year to date percentage change.

7) That number will be 100% or more

8) Take the necessary steps as outlined above (1 to 4) and improve your results 100%

If you liked this article and it worked for you, i would be delighted to know so. Please do leave feed back.


You might like to read other Forex related articles in the Articles section or browse through our huge collection of forex ebooks!

Forex Articles!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Hey,

Here is a collection of all the articles with regards to Forex on this blog as of now.
Just thought would be a great idea to keep em in one place.

133 Trading Tips for Better Trading

7 Tips to better Currency Trading

20 Rules to stop losing money in the Forex Market

4 Simple Tips To Choose a Forex Broker

How to Increase your Forex Profits by 100% in 10 minutes (POPULAR)

Common Sense Guidelines for the Average Trader

Forex Basics

Forex and Automated Forex : A Beginners guide

Optimize Your Forex Trading

Stop losses at Trading Forex

Introduction To Forex trading

Investing in E-gold: Myths n Truths

Why Forex?

Forex Scalping for beginners!!!!

Most Frequently asked questions on the forex market!

How to be a successful forex trader!

Learn Forex trading!

Practical course for forex beginners!

Forex Market Snapshot

Common sense guidelines for an average trader!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Common Sense Guidelines for the Average Trader

Here, i whipped up an article outlining the basic things an average forex investor should be watching out for....

Looking for a reputable broker

• Ability to trade effectively depends heavily on consistency in the spreads and ample liquidity
• Anyone can establish a position quite easily.
  
• The Ability to close out a position at a fair market price is more important than anything else
  

Live to trade another day

• Always apply prudent money management skills
• Avoid using excessive leverage that puts your investment capital at risk.. Refer to the leverage articles that i will be posting soon.
  
• And very importantly Always trade with a stop!

Don’t trade emotionally like an emotional fool, Just stick to your plan and maintain discipline

• Establish a trading plan or strategy before initiating a trade
• Set reasonable risk/reward parameters
• Don’t override your stops for emotional reasons
• Don’t react to price action – means don’t buy just because it looks cheap or sell because it looks too high, Have reliable evidence to back up your trade

Don’t punt

• Don't punt( Punting is trading for trading sake without a view)

Don’t leave stops at obvious levels such as “big figures” (e.g. eur/usd 1.20, usd/jpy 110)

• i.e. JUBBS stops = stops at obvious levels and thus are more likely triggered

Don’t add to a losing position in unless it is part of a strategy to scale into a position

• In other words, don’t double up in the hope of recouping losses unless it is part of a broader trading strategy

Trading with and against the trend

• When trading with a trend, consider the use of trailing stops.
• When trading against the trend, be disciplined taking profits and don’t hold out for the last pip

Treat trading as a continuum

• Don’t base success on one trade
• Avoid emotional highs or lows on individual trades
• Consistency should be an objective

Forex trading is multi-currency

• Watch crosses as they are key influences on spot trading
• Crosses are one currency vs. another, such as eur/jpy (euro vs. jpy) or eur/gbp (eur vs. gbp)
• Crosses can be used as clues for direction for spot currencies even if you are not trading them

Be cognizant of what news is coming out each day so you don’t get blindsided

• Be cognizant of what news is coming out each day so you don’t get blindsided
• Beware of trading just ahead of an economic number and be wary of volatility following key releases

Beware of illiquid markets

• Beware of illiquid markets
• Adjust strategies during holiday or pre-holiday periods to take into account thin liquidity
• Beware of central bank intervention in illiquid markets

Forex Market Snapshot

Forex Market Snapshot

Introduction

The facts and figures that will be denoted in this article relate to the foreign exchange market. Much of the information is drawn from the findngs of the 2007 Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity conducted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in April 2007 and released on September 25, 2007. 54 central banks and monetary authorities took part in this survey, collecting information from approximately 1280 market participants.

Summary of this survey by BIS:"The 2007 survey shows an unprecedented rise in activity in traditional foreign exchange markets compared to 2004. Average daily turnover rose to $3.2 trillion in April 2007, an increase of 71% at current exchange rates and 65% at constant exchange rates. Against the background of low levels of financial market volatility and risk aversion, market participants point to a significant expansion in the activity of investor groups including hedge funds, which was partly facilitated by substantial growth in the use of prime brokerage, and retail investors. A marked increase in the levels of technical trading – most notably algorithmic trading – is also likely to have boosted turnover in the spot market." - BIS

Structure

• Decentralized , over-the-counter market, also known as the 'interbank' market
• Main participants: Central Banks, commercial and investment banks, hedge funds, corporations and private speculators
• The free-floating currency system began in the early 1970's and was ratified in 1978
• Online trading trend started in the mid to late 1990's

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Trading Hours

• 24 hours market . Note: not 24/7 though
• Sunday 5pm EST through Friday 4pm EST.
• Trading starts in New Zealand, followed by Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America

Size

• Largest financial market in the world
• $3.5 trillion average daily turnover, equivalent to:
  
• More than 10 times the average daily turnover of global equity markets¹
• More than 35 times the average daily turnover of the NYSE²
• Nearly $500 a day for every man, woman, and child on earth³
• An annual turnover more than 10 times world GDP⁴
  
  
• The spot market accounts for just under one-third of daily turnover

1. About $281 billion - World Federation of Exchanges aggregate 2006
2. About $86 billion - World Federation of Exchanges 2006
3. Based on world population of 6.6 billion - US Census Bureau
4. About $48 trillion - World Bank 2006.

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Major Markets

• The United States & the United Kingdom markets account for just over 50% of turnover
• Major markets: London, New York, Tokyo
• Trading activity is the heaviest when major markets overlap⁵
• Nearly two-thirds of NY activity occurs in the wee morning hours while European markets are open⁶

5. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve
6. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve

Average Daily Turnover by Geographic Location

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Technical Analysis

Commonly used technical indicators:

• Moving averages
• RSI
• Fibonacci retracements
• Stochastics
• MACD
• Momentum
• Bollinger bands
• Pivot point
• Elliott Wave

Currencies

• The US dollar is involved in an overwhelming 80% of all foreign exchange transactions that take place daily , equivalent to over US$2.7 trillion per each single day.

Currency Codes

• USD = US Dollar
• EUR = Euro
• JPY = Japanese Yen
• GBP = British Pound
• CHF = Swiss Franc
• CAD = Canadian Dollar
• AUD = Australian Dollar
• NZD = New Zealand Dollar

Average Daily Turnover by Currency

N.B. Because two currencies are involved in each transaction, the sum of the percentage shares of individual currencies totals 200% instead of 100%.

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Currency Pairs

• Majors: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF
• Dollar bloc: USD/CAD, AUD/USD, NZD/USD
• Major crosses: EUR/JPY, EUR/GBP, EUR/CHF

Average Daily Turnover by Currency Pair

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Practical course for forex beginners!

A Few WORDS ABOUT THE TREND

I think that most of us heard such a saying as “the trend is my friend”. Many of us also had met in Internet and books different opinions as to the sensee of the above saying..

Well, what is the real meaning of it infact?

The real deep meaning and idea of this saying is a simple and clear demand: Always Trade in the direction of the current trend and ignore trading signals directed against the flow of current trend.

Friendly trend will remain friendly generally, while the trader treats him like a friend , not doing any thing against the desire and will of his friend/trend. Do you know friends who would not be disturbed or irritated by your doings against their desire, understanding and will ? Nobody likes such things.

But nevertheless, many of us starting examining charts/tickers etc absolutely forget this simple rule and try to catch the high or low peaks and/or to trade against the trend. This means, that the trader lacks the main thing - discipline. It's very interesting, that the looser, while considering and investigating his own mistakes, often does not see his actual mistake and culprit - trading against the trend.

How can we define the trend ? Very simply - with the help of combination of four Simple Moving Averages (MA). For example, let us take combination of 5/20/40/60 МА.

Usually current trend is defined by looking at Daily chart and this is right. But the traders with small cash amounts may define trend at 4-hour chart and 1-hour chart. As it often happens that in the interests of relatively quick trading the trend may be defined using only 1-hour chart. But we shouldn't forget about the Daily chart, coz if the hourly signal coincides with the daily trend, then there appears a brilliant possibility for a mighty movement along the trend.

But let us return to the above mentioned combination of MAs. So, if МА 40 is above МА60, then the trend is upward and each time when MA5 crosses MA20 upward (that is in compliance with the trend direction), we enter the market. But when MA5 crosses MA20 downward, we use this signal only for closing of previously opened positions.

And vice versa, if МА40 is under МА60, then the trend is downward and now we enter the market only when MA5 crosses MA20 downward, and we use upward crosses of MA5 and MA20 only for closing opened earlier positions. SIMPLE??

Look at the above Chart. The red dots in there at the above chart denote the crosses of MA40 and MA60. Blue and red lines show the places for openeing positions in the trend direction.

I know of traders, who, in the situation alike trying to catch the price peak, opened SELL positions near the blue lines. If the trader opens positions without minimum analysis at least for definition of the current trend, then he would better go to casino and gamble off, where one can always trying to guess right, but never can make a prognosis. There exists an opinion that MAs are lagging behind as an indicator. It’s true, sometimes, but as a trend indicator, they are very good.

Here МА5 - green, МА20 – red. Red dot - place of closing position ( MA5 crosses MA20 downward). Blue dot - place of opening position in the trend direction (MA5 crosses MA20 upwards ).

We have the same at this chart - red dots - places of closing positions, blue dot - place of opening position in the direction of the current trend.

But WHERE should we place a stop-loss ?

If we enter the market just after the cross of M40 and MA60, then the best place for stop would be 2-4 pips beyond the closest peak directed opposite to our market entrance direction. If you agree, of course, with the size of the stop-loss, or if your collateral permits such stop. But if we opened position some time after MA40 and MA60 had been crossed, then the best place would be 2-4 pips beyond MA60, then, a bit worse, but still ok, beyond MA40 and the weakest variant is beyond MA20.

It’s only natural that the combinations of meanings for MAs could be whatever the trader would want , cause nobody can prevent him from performing experiments. Here are some examples of four simple MA combinations : 10/20/60/80 or 8/12/24/48 or you may even use Fibonacci numbers like 8/13/34/55 or 13/21/55/89 etc.

The main idea in the combination of four MA is that the pair with big numbers defines the existence of the current trend and the pair with small numbers permits us to effect relatively quick trades.

Here is one more example of trading with the trend. Upward cross of MA40/60 is designated by two blue dots. Red dots are denoting the places of positions closing after MA5/20 were crossed downward. One blue dot shows the place where the position in the direction of the current trend was opened again after MA5/20 had crossed upwards.

The next chart is the same as above, but along with the aim of comparison it has another combination of four Simple Moving Averages - MA8/13/34/55.

I understand perfectly that all stated above is not a brand new concept or something. But looking at newbies I noted that disregarding the current trend is one of the most often met mistake, which can lead to potential heavy losses. Therefore, the aim of the above material is to remind and emphasise once again about the necessity for checking the trend direction before entering the market.

Good luck!

Learn Forex trading!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

For someone with zero experience and knowledge in the Forex market, getting started in the trading can be an overwhelming task. Various pitfalls, such as huge losses, can discourage even the most experienced trader. Since Forex trading can be a confusing business, you need to follow several guidelines to success.

First, learn Forex trading by choosing the most qualified brokerage firm. Although some firms are better than others are, you have a ton of options in terms of age, reputation and courses to offer. Generally, you should choose a well-established company with a good reputation that is tied to banks or various financial institutions. To ensure that a brokerage firm is legitimate, check if the company is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
To learn Forex trading effectively, the brokerage firm should provide you with multiple research tools, such as charts, real-time quotes, trading techniques and research reports. You should choose a firm that offers its account holders as much information as possible. Be aware that the more knowledgeable you are with Forex trading, the more successful you can become in the market. Lastly, choose a highly regarded brokerage form with favorable spread. Be aware that a company with a good spread means that the firm takes off the top of each trade, translating into more profit for you.

In order to learn Forex trading, you need hands-on courses that allow you to experience the market firsthand. Of course, investing money without proper knowledge can lead to disastrous losses, so opening up a demo account should be your next move. With this demo account, you learn Forex trading firsthand because you will be given a pretend balance, which you could use to play around and experience the feel for Forex trading before using real money.
Most demo accounts are free-of-charge for an entire month. During this time, you can learn Forex trading and all its features, techniques and tricks without losing any money. Plus, you are able to master the software, which enables you to make fast trades when the time comes to trade. It is important not to rush the 1-month trial period because this is the most important phase of your trading course.

Once you learn Forex trading and experience a whole month's worth of market experience, then you can now use a real account with actual money. However, never invest large amounts of money; start small and try not to break the bank when getting started in the market place. By choosing a good broker, maximizing the benefits of a demo account and taking your investment one-step at a time, you learn Forex trading can be a fulfilling experience when executed the right way.

Latest forex updates

Thursday, October 25, 2007

The dollar edged down slightly after a report showed US housing sector continues to slump. US existing home sales fell 8% in September to an annual rate of 5.04 million units, below the estimate of 5.25 million. The euro climbed to 1.4267 versus the dollar, while the sterling gained 20 pips to 2.0515 against the dollar. Tomorrow the market will pay attention to US new home sales which are seen down from 795k to 780k.

Earlier today, Merrill Lynch reported 7.9 billion losses for the third quarter, exceeding the 5 billion estimate made earlier this month. The larger-than-expected writedown promoted investors to reduce demand for carry trades, boosting the yen against high yielding currencies. The yen is trading around the 114 level against the dollar on Wednesday.ECB board member Gonzalez said today “a mechanical increase in inflation above 2% is not sufficient reason to change our assessment of risks to price stability.” He said the central bank will ignore an inflation rise if it is driven by oil price surge recently, indicating the central bank would not rush to lift rate. The ECB is expected to keep its interest rates at 4.00% unchanged till the end of this year.German IFO survey for October is due early tomorrow morning.


The headline is seen to fall slightly from 104.2 to 103.8. The current conditions index is expected to change from 109.9 to 109.4. The expectations index is expected to change from 98.7 to 98.4.EURUSD will face interim resistance at 1.4280, followed by 1.43 and 1.4340. Additional ceilings will emerge at 1.4370, backed by 1.44. Support starts at 1.4230, backed by 1.42, 1.4170 and 1.4150. Subsequent floors are eyed at 1.41. GBPUSD encounters interim resistance at 2.0540, backed by 2.06 and 2.0650. Subsequent ceilings will emerge at 2.0680, followed by 2.07 and 2.0720. On the downside, support begins at 2.05, followed by 2.0470 and 2.0450. Additional floors are eyed at 2.0430, backed by 2.04 and 2.0350.USDJPY encounters interim resistance at 114.30, backed by 114.50 and 114.80. Subsequent ceilings will emerge at 115, followed by 115.20 and 115.50. On the downside, support begins at 114 and 113.80, followed by 113.50. Additional floors are eyed at 113.20, backed by 113 and 112.70.

How to be a successful forex trader!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Any investor would be genuinely attracted by the Forex market due to its superiority over other financial markets. Some obvious attractions are the superior liquidity, better execution, 24 hours market and lots more. For details on the superiority of forex over other financial markets, you would love the "Why Forex?" article.



Making money in the Forex market might appear a cake walk to outsiders.





Does this mean that it is easy as pie to make money on the Forex market? Absolutely not! Since we now know that it is not as easy as it seems to make money on the Forex market, why do some traders succeed while others fail? That is not an easy question to answer. Something does set apart the profitable traders. They do not follow the crowd. These traders think independently from the crowd. How long does it take to see consistent profitable results in the Forex market? This, too, is not an easy question to answer. It varies from person to person. One thing is for sure - this cannot be done in a short time frame. It is a process that could take years to see desired profits.





Here are a few things to consider if you decide to trade in the Forex market that may hasten the process of realizing a profit: have a trading system in place, education, use money management, be aware of psychological issues and have the proper discipline to follow your trading system as well as your trading plan. Benefits of Online Forex Trading Thanks to the Internet being available to almost everyone, the Forex market may be accessed with ease. Computers are now able to make complex charts that are very beneficial when you go to trade in the Forex market. Forex traders can do business 24 hours a day no matter what their geographical location may be. Daily transactions in the Forex market have increased to two trillion USD. It is quite easy to open a forex trading account. There are even free practice accounts that can be set up which allow you to test your skills before you make any transactions with real money. Traders can trade with different currencies in different markets at the same time and not have a problem doing it.





Online forex trading touts a lot of liquidity and flexibility. The trader can trade and access quotes in real time when he deals with online forex transactions. A very important benefit is that forex trading has virtually eliminated the bears and bulls of the trade. This is the only trade market that does not have these elements. There are no commissions, exchange fees or any other hidden costs involved with online forex trading. The trade is done very quickly and there is no delay of any kind. It literally takes just seconds to execute a trade or fill or confirm the same. Small traders have more leverage in the Forex market. There are indeed many benefits to online forex trading, but you also have to look at the other side of the coin. Online forex trading is risky. You should not invest any more money than you are willing to lose. Remember, it takes education, patience and practice to become good at forex trading.

FOREX CURRENT RATES (LIVE)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Important Forex dates in October--FOREX EVENTS

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Hey guys,,,

Here are the following important events in the forex world that have already elapsed in the month of october and the rest that are going to happen.. and new readers pls check out over forex ebooks section

1 Monday
2 Tuesday
3 Wednesday	RBA Interest Rates Decision. (09.30 Local Time).
4 Thursday	BOE MPC announces interest rates decision. 13.00 CET. ECB Governing Council meeting. Interest rates decision at 13.45 CET. News conference at 14.30 CET.
5 Friday	US Employment situation. 14.30 CET. US Consumer Credit. 19.00 CET.

8 Monday	US, CA and JP market holiday.
9 Tuesday	US FOMC Minutes. 20.00 CET.
10 Wednesday	BOJ starts two-day monetary policy meeting. (to oct 11). Discussion group on Euorpean monetary policy. 20.15 CET. US Whole sale Trade. 16.00 CET.
11 Thursday	BOJ monetary policy meeting (final day). Release of monthly economic report. 08.00 CET, BOJ Governor Fukui to holds news conference at 08.30 CET. ECB publishes its monthly bulletin. 10.00 CET. ECB Pres Trichet and Bank of Russia Chairman Ignatyev news conference. 11.15 CET. The European Commission issues its quarterly growth forecast for the euro zone. US International Trade. 14.30 CET.
12 Friday	US PPI and Retail Sales. 14.30 CET. Fed Chairman Bernanke speaks on "John Taylor's Contributions to Economics". 15.10 CET.

15 Monday	Fed Chairman Bernanke speaks before the Economic Club of New York.
16 Tuesday	BOC Key interest rates policy announcement. 13.00 CET. US Industrial Production. 15.15 CET.
17 Wednesday	BOE to publish minutes of its oct 3-4 MPC meeting. US PPI and Housing Starts. 14.30 CET. US Beige Book. 20.00 CET.
18 Thursday	BOC releases Monthly Policy report. 16.30 CET. News conference at 17.15 CET. US Leading indicators. 16.00 CET.
19 Friday

22 Monday
23 Tuesday
24 Wednesday
25 Thursday	RBNZ Official Cash Ratio (OCR) announcement. ECB Governing Council meeting. No interest rates announcements scheduled. US Durable Goods Orders. 14.30 CET. US New Home Sales. 16.00 CET.
26 Friday	US Consumer Sentiment. 16.00 CET.

29 Monday
30 Tuesday	US Consumer Confidence. 16.00 CET.
31 Wednesday	Norwegian central bank’s interest rates decision. 14.00 CET. News Conference at 14.45 CET. US Fed FOMC interest Rates decision. 20.15 CET.

Most Frequently asked questions on the forex market!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Hey guys,

Its article time again. Worked on this for a while.

I compiled the most frequently asked questions with regard to the Forex market. Here it is. feel free to put it on your blog or site but just make sure you mention where you got it from.

MOST FAQ about the FOREX MARKET

With over $1.4 Trillion traded daily, the Forex market stands out as the largest financial market in the world currently. Still, it is an unfamiliar territory to many common people and amateur investors. If you are a fresher or a pro and would like to refresh your knowledge on the Forex market, you are on the right page. In this article, I will cover the most commonly asked questions related to the Forex market. For free ebooks and guides on getting started with Forex trading, Go here! And also check on the same site, the article “Why Forex?” (Its in the blog archive and gives you some awesome reasons why you really must invest in the forex market) And to enlighten yourself on the FAQ regarding the Forex market, please continue reading this article.

How does this market differ from other markets?
It differs from other markets like stock market in the simple fact that its not regulated by a central governing body. There exists no clearinghouses to guarantee the trades and there is also no arbitration panel to resolve and decide upon disputes. Credit agreements are what the trading is based on. So, truthfully speaking, business in the largest liquid market depends simply on a metaphorical handshake.

This might seem out of the world or plain weird to investors used to structured exchanges like the NYSE or CME. But this arrangement actually works out pretty well in practice as investors and brokers must compete and co-operate with each other at the same time.

The FX market is so different from other markets in some ways that are sure to raise eyebrows. If you feel that the EUR/USD is going to spiral downwards in near future? Feel free to short the pair at will( Selling short is the opposite of going long. That is, short sellers make money if the stock goes down in price. This is an advanced trading strategy with many unique risks and pitfalls. Novice investors are advised to avoid short sales.)

There is no limit to the size of the position you can gain. Theoretically speaking, you could sell $100 million of currency if you had the capital to do so. If you could some how manage to gain information on the immediate future of a particular currency, you could well be a millionaire in no time. The Fact is European economic data, such as German employment figures, are often leaked days before they are officially released.

Before we leave you with the wrong impression that Forex or Foreign exchange is the Wild West of finance, we must also note that this is the most liquid market in the world. Forex is a 24 Hours trading opportunity. It’s not going be like you wait for the Forex shop down the street to open. As a Forex Trader, you get the opportunity to trade 24 hours from Sunday 5:00 pm (ET) to Friday 4:30 pm.

This means you can do trading upon your convenience and based on your schedule. It also provides you the opportunity to act immediately upon golden breaking news from the market.

Where is the commission in FX?

Investors in stock market, futures or options generally use a broker who acts as an agent in the subsequent transactions. The broker does an exchange based on the investor’s instructions. For this, he gets paid a commission.

However, the Forex market doesn’t have commissions. It is a principals only market.
Forex firms are dealers, and not brokers. This is a very critical distinction that all investors must understand. Commission is not charged by them. They make their profits through the bid-ask spread (The amount by which the ask price exceeds the bid. This is essentially the difference in price between the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay for an asset and the lowest price for which a seller is willing to sell it. For example, if the bid price is $20 and the ask price is $21 then the "bid-ask spread" is $1.

What is a pip?

Pip is an abbreviation used for “Percentage in Profit” It is the smallest increment of trade in the Forex market. In the Forex market,prices are stated to the fourth decimal point. For eg: a Cadbury bar that costed $2.70 in your nearby supermarket will be quoted as $2.7000 in the Forex market. A change in the fourth decimal of that will be a pip.

We can simply put it that it is 1/100^th of 1% or 0.0001 %

What are you really selling or buying in the currency market?
Simply “NOTHING”. The Foreign exchange or Forex market is merely a speculative market. There is no physical exchanging of currencies there. All the trades are present as computer entries and netted out based on the market prices.

For accounts that are denominated in dollars, all the profits and losses would be calculated in dollars and recorded on the traders account in dollars.

Which currencies are traded?

Some mind blowing and exotic options would be the Thai bath or the Czech koruna , but the majority of trading in the Forex market is based on the seven most liquid currency pairs.

They are

EUR/USD (euro/dollar) USD/JPY (dollar/Japanese yen) GBP/USD (British pound/dollar) USD/CHF (dollar/Swiss franc)

and the three commodity pairs:

AUD/USD (Australian dollar/dollar) USD/CAD (dollar/Canadian dollar) NZD/USD (New Zealand dollar/dollar)

These currency pairs, along with their various combinations (such as EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY and EUR/GBP) account for more than 95% of all speculative trading in the Forex market..

FX Jargon

Every field possesses its own jargon and the Forex market is no different as such.

Here are some terms which are worthwhile learning.

Cable, sterling, pound – the alternative names for GBP Greenback, buck - nicknames for the U.S. dollar Swissie - nickname for the Swiss franc, Aussie - nickname for the Australian dollar . Kiwi - nickname for the New Zealand dollar Loonie, the little dollar - nicknames for the Canadian dollar Figure - FX term connoting a round number like 1.2000 Yard - a billion units, as in "I sold a couple of yards of sterling."

USD and JPY rebound!!!!

Well Guys,

Unpredictability is an integral part of the foreign exchange market (FOREX)

So whenever you need to check the latest currency values be it USD value today or latest GBP/USD value, you can check here. The latest values are in the table and the ticker. Any more currency requests that you would like us to keep a track on will be added.

And yeah, read this article

The major currencies pared their gains versus the dollar in the Tuesday session as the upcoming G7 Finance Minister’s meeting looms. Traders pushed the Aussie beneath the 0.90-level to 0.8825 and the sterling below the 2.03-mark. With growing unease over whether the G7 communiqué will address concerns about recent dollar and yen weakness, both currencies regained footing amid unwinding of heavy shorts.

The greenback kicked off the New York session initially weaker on the heels of soft US economic data. The reports included a record net overall capital outflows (TIC) in August at $163.0 billion, compared with a $94.3 billion inflow a month prior. The new private capital outflow component hit a record $141.9 billion versus an inflow of $56.0 billion from July. Industrial output for September was in line with consensus estimates at 0.1%, down slightly from August at 0.2%. Capacity utilization was down marginally at 82.1% versus 82.2% from July. Meanwhile, the NAHB housing market index continued to suggest deteriorating conditions, falling by more than estimates to 18 for October versus 20 in September. The decline marked the fifth consecutive month the index has fallen, hitting its lowest level since initiation in 1985.

Fed Chairman Bernanke provided few clues into the FOMC policy decision at the end of the month, sounding an upbeat tone on credit conditions and saying the improvement bolsters the scope for achieving moderate growth with price stability. He reiterated uncertainties looming over the housing market, saying conditions in the mortgage markets remain difficult. Bernanke was optimistic on growth, saying some of the solid momentum from Q2 seems to have carried over into Q3. Although we expect another 25-basis point rate cut from the FOMC this year, we look for the Fed to stand pat at the end of this month, instead opting to ease at the December 11th meeting.

GBP Retreats

The sterling pulled back sharply after several failed attempts this week to break above the upper channel line near 2.0450. Cable now trades near the base of the channel around the 2.03-level, with the trendline support hovering around 2.230.

Economic data released from the UK revealed mixed inflation readings, with September CPI slightly lower than expected at 0.1% m/m and 1.8% y/y. The retail price index was also lower than expected at 3.9% y/y and 0.3% m/m while the core RPI was unchanged at 2.8% y/y and 0.3% m/m.

With increases in inflation contained at this point, we continue to anticipate the next BoE rate move to be an ease to alleviate tightening credit conditions in the UK. Traders will look ahead to UK August unemployment rate, September claimant count and the minutes from the Bank of England monetary policy meeting.

Articles original source

Forex Scalping for beginners!!!!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Forex scalping is “the word” these days! It offers to give you handsome profits with out much of a risk. So lets get started in this article. We are going to cover the facts related to forex scalping for beginners.

Forex Scalping works this way. You look to make a neat profit by making small regular trading within a set time frame. I would put it in a more simple way. You make very small trades, therefore risking a small amount of money ( Of course when you profit as well, you a gain a small amount). You make plenty of such small transactions within a day. So you actually hope that little drops of water will make a mighty ocean. The fact of the matter is that it has never worked and never will.

Why?

Because Forex scalping is simply based on an incorrect belief or logic or whatever you want to call it. Infact, I am going to show you in the article why forex scalping can be the easiest way to lose your money in forex trading. Read on!!

Let us first take a look at the market and how they move.

We have approximately Trillions of dollars traded in the market daily by millions of traders. So, it will be ridiculous for us to assume that we can predict what this vast mass of traders will do in a short period of time

Let me direct you towards a Fact:

“All short-term volatility is random.”

That means?

Yes, that means prices can go up and down ( up or down? No one can predict). Infact , Neither Support and resistance levels are valid nor any of the technical indicators you have. All will fail in this random environment.

“I have seen successful track records though!”

Sure you have – and they are sold by vendors with a vested interest.

There are loads of them and they are all designed to bring forex scalping to beginners - for a few hundred bucks you get rich, Ha Ha ! that’s Laughable to me!

Please Consider a reality check!

These vendors make the much promising forex scalping systems. Hey , why don’t you guys do forex scalping instead of making these systems. They know it wont work. Hence, lure the unsuspecting ones in to forex scalping

What will be shown to you by them are amazing track records with neat profits with draw downs being a rarity and almost non-existent. A little of your common sense coming in to play will tell you that its too good to be true. And when you get an intuition like that, it probably is “TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE”

Many traders fall in the scheme, lose big time and still wonder “WHY?” or worse “WHY ME”

Take a closer look at the forex scaling track records, you will see the words “hindsight” or “simulation” written all over the track record as a disclaimer.

What does this imply?

That the track record is done in hindsight and simulated, knowing the closing prices!

How hard is that?

Any eight year old kid could do that and so could anyone who can read and write and you can to – My friends, these track records are useless and not even worth the paper they are written on.

Of course , you can try looking for an authentic track record. Take my word that it will take you a long time. I never found one in my life. SO if you do come across one, sure let me know.

The fact is forex scalping for beginners takes advantage of innocent and gullible investors who think making a profit is that easy and they don’t stop to think how authentic these systems are or what logic is in scalping?

If You Want to Win

You need to have odds in your favour. That simply means that you need to trade within longer time frames. That rules forex scalping out

If you are just a beginner at forex trading and looking to make a plunge in the forex market, Make a detailed study on the market. Follow the market for few months before investing your hard money in it. You can find some great ebooks here to get you started.

Do avoid the scheming companies wanting you to try forex scalping for the much-promised handsome profits, which will never materialize and do visit my blog for more articles and updates.

100 Unique Visitors and updates

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Hey,

Well, its just over 5 days since i started this blog and we have hit 100 unique visitors till now.

Thank you all for this support and suggestions and comments are always welcome.

One generous reader was kind enough to email me with regards to the forex scalping article
and show me that indeed forex scalping does work

http://www.korzec.ca/trading-records.php

Anyways,.. just makes me think that yeah may be forex scalping does work. But its not appreciated by many brokers.

Check with your broker if he lets you forex scalping before you plan to try it out.

UPDATE ADDED

Im going to add a few more ebooks in the forex ebooks section.. and working on an article for now.

Im busy tomorrow so you guys will see the article most probably day after

Dukascopy, Interbank forex broker provides best spreads, highest liquidity and marketplace for electronic forex trading.

Forex Ebooks!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Hey Guys,

I am working on making a little collection of decent ebooks on forex trading.

I will get them posted on the blog soon.

So keep checking back for updates!! and yeah bookmark US

Thank You

Why Forex ?

Thursday, October 11, 2007

You might have pondered over this question and asked yourself a zillion times. WHY FOREX?

In spite of ‘N’ number of businesses that may attract you with promised profits, why should you opt for investing in Forex. Here I am going to list out the reasons why and it just might compel you to invest some money in it to Forex Trading.

LARGEST FINANCIAL MARKET

With $1.5 Trillion(yes, you read it right, its $1.5 Trillion) being traded daily, Foreign Exchange (Forex) has become the largest financial market since the past 3 decades and its domination has only increased if anything.

Forex Trading was left to the professionals till recently. However, now even average investors are willing to invest in it having witnessed its amazing capacity. This explains the sudden surge in the Forex market.

LEVERAGE in FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING(FOREX)

Frankly speaking, no business gives you a leverage as that of Foreign Exchange or Forex (FX) for short. No hidden formulas, no confusing strategies or no professional knowledge required, all you need is a decent application of technical analysis along with a logical money strategy.

Ofcourse, leverage can be as harmful as beneficial. No hindrance on risk management means this high leverage can lead to potential high losses or high gains.

TRADING 24 HOURS on FOREX

Forex is a 24 Hours trading opportunity. Its not going be like you wait for the forex shop to open. As a Forex Trader, you get the opportunity to trade 24 hours from Sunday 5:00 pm (ET) to Friday 4:30 pm.

This means you can do trading upon your convenience and based on your schedule. It also provides you the opportunity to act immediately upon golden breaking news from the market.

NO COMMISION FOR FOREX

There is no commission charged towards your profits on Forex. You are allowed to keep 100% of the profits that you make by trading on Forex Market. Thus, this makes Forex Market an attractive and lucrative field of business especially to those who would deal on a regular basis.

HIGH LEVELS OF LIQUIDITY OF FOREX

Another crowd puller is the high liquidity factor of Forex. With about 90% of all currency transactions comprising of 7 major currency pairs, this leads to these currency having price stability, smooth trends and high levels of liquidity. The liquidity is mainly coming from the banks that offer cash flow to the average investors, organizations and market professionals.

STEADY TRADING PROSPECTS

The Forex market is never stagnant, its always on the move. As Forex trading involves buying and selling of currencies, traders can most easily operate in a rising or falling market. This is due to the simple fact that there are always trading prospects whether a currency is rising or falling as its co-related to other currencies. Hence it does not matter whether the market is rising or falling, there are always opportunities for successful trading. All you need is to have a good trading strategy.

With an amazing speed, even large transactions are conducted in a matter of seconds.

Along with these major advantages, there are other pluses like the large profits the Forex Trading promises. It is very much possible for an amateur investor to gain decent profits provided he has made a good study of the market prior to investing. This article was originally written for Currency Trading Made Easy.

You can distribute this article freely as long as you include the original source and this message.

Free e-Book

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

TREND DETERMINATION : A quick, accurate and effective methodology by John Hayden

For other free e-books including a beginners guide for newbies in forex, refer previous posts.


25 RULES OF FOREX TRADING DISCIPLINE: by Douglas E. Zalesky

Investing in E-gold: Myths n Truths

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Many people are already starting to pay attention to the newest online trend: E-gold investing.

E-gold investing is a all about a system that allows you to profit from the money that is being traded everyday on the internet. What you're doing when you are trading e-gold (or e-currencies) is that you are providing the backup for internet money. Let me go back a bit. What exactly do I mean by "backup for internet money"?

There is a cashflow of all of the money that is being moved throughout the internet every day. However, this money has to have, for every dollar that is being backed up, a physical backup of that dollar must exist.

This is a very superficial explanation about how the dxgold system works, but to be honest, to profit from it, you don't have to understand exactly how it works to profit from it. If I were to put the e-gold training courses into a metaphor I would say it's very much like driving a car. You don't need to know how it works in order to use it properly.

What you do need to know is the egold exchange process and every step of the way. This may sound complex, but once you get to know it, it becomes a daily routine that takes about five minutes just to check up on.

Investing in e-gold is something that I could describe as a great investing strategy, if you are investing in the long run.

It isn't as fast as a rising stock in wall street, it isn't something that will double your profits in a couple of days, but it is something you can expect to generate a good income from. And the important keyword in that past sentence would be to Expect, because this is a safe long term strategy that is guaranteed to make a profit for you.

This is why I personally think it is plain silly not to learn this currency trading system. You even know how much money you will make each day in advance.

For some it may be tough, but saving a couple of hundred dollars and investing in e-gold can be a very wise decision. As many people have experienced already, it can even turn into a "hands off" second income without the 8 to 5 job.

E-gold is all about discipline. Is about the discipline of having your money work for you and letting it grow, without getting an urge of a shopping spree and taking your money out of your account.

If you think you can wait for a few months and are interested in getting a second income, then the e-gold system could be a good fit for you.

Forex Basics

Introduction

Foreign Exchange

The simultaneous transaction of one currency for another.

Foreign Exchange Market

An informal network of trading relationships between the world's major banks and other market participants, sometimes referred to as the 'interbank market'. The foreign exchange market has no central clearing house or exchange and is considered an over-the-counter (OTC) market.

Spot Market

The market for buying and selling currencies at the current market rate.

Rollover

A spot transaction is generally due for settlement within two business days (the value date). The cost of rolling over a transaction is based on the interest rate differential between the two currencies in a transaction. If you are long (bought) the currency with a higher rate of interest you will earn interest. If you are short (sold) the currency with a higher rate of interest you will pay interest. Most brokers will automatically roll over your open positions allowing you to hold your position indefinitely.

Exchange Rate

The value of one currency expressed in terms of another. For example, if EUR/USD is 1.3200, 1 Euro is worth US$1.3200.

Currency Pair

The two currencies that make up an exchange rate. When one is bought, the other is sold, and vice versa.

Base Currency

The first currency in the pair. Also the currency your account is denominated in.

Counter Currency

The second currency in the pair. Also known as the terms currency.

ISO Currency Codes

USD = US Dollar
EUR = Euro
JPY = Japanese Yen
GBP = British Pound
CHF = Swiss Franc
CAD = Canadian Dollar
AUD = Australian Dollar
NZD = New Zealand Dollar

For a full list, see ISO Currency Codes

Currency Pair Terminology

EUR/USD = "Euro"
USD/JPY = "Dollar Yen"
GBP/USD = "Cable" or "Sterling"
USD/CHF = "Swissy"
USD/CAD = "Dollar Canada" (CAD referred to as the "Loonie")
AUD/USD = "Aussie Dollar"
NZD/USD = "Kiwi"

FCM

Futures Commission Merchant. An individual or organisation licensed by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to deal in futures products and accept monies from clients to trade them.

Market Maker

A market maker provides liquidity for a particular currency pair by standing ready to buy or sell that currency by displaying a bid and offer price. Market makers earn their commission from the spread between the bid and offer price.

Forex ECN Broker

ECN is an acronym for Electronic Communications Network. A Forex ECN does not operate a dealing desk, but instead provides a marketplace where multiple market makers, banks and traders can enter competing bids and offers into the platform either inside or outside the spread, allowing traders to trade on those prices. Orders are matched to the best available bid/offer price for a small fee or commission.

Dealing Desk

A dealing desk provides prices and executes trades.

NDD

An acronym for 'No Dealing Desk'. A no dealing desk broker acts as an agent, matching up orders to one or more liquidity providers connected to their platform.

Counterparty

One of the participants in a transaction.

Sell Quote / Bid Price

The sell quote is displayed on the left and is the price at which you can sell the base currency. It is also referred to as the market maker's bid price. For example, if the EUR/USD quotes 1.3200/03, you can sell 1 Euro at the bid price of US$1.3200.

Buy Quote / Offer Price

The buy quote is displayed on the right and is the price at which you can buy the base currency. It is also referred to as the market maker's ask or offer price. For example, if the EUR/USD quotes 1.3200/03, you can buy 1 Euro at the offer price of US$1.3203.

Pip

The smallest price increment a currency can make. Also known as points. For example, 1 pip = 0.0001 for EUR/USD, or 0.01 for USD/JPY.

Pip Value

The value of a pip. Pip value can be fixed or variable depending on the currency pair and base currency of your account. e.g. The pip value for EURUSD is always US$10 for standard lots and US$1 for mini-lots. A simple way of calculating pip value is as follows: Divide 1 pip by the exchange rate and multiply it by the lot size to get the base currency pip value. To convert it to your account currency, multiply it by the applicable exchange rate. For example;

EURUSD = 0.0001 / 1.30000 = €0.0000769 * 100,000 = €7.69 * EUR/USD 1.30000 = US$10.00 pip value (fixed)

USDJPY = 0.01 / 120.00 = US$0.0000833 * 100,000 = US$8.33 pip value (variable)

Lot

The standard unit size of a transaction. Typically, one "standard" lot is equal to 100,000 units of the base currency, or 10,000 units if it's a "mini" lot, and even 1,000 units if it's a "micro" lot. Some dealers offer the ability to trade in any unit size, down to as little as 1 unit!

Spread

The difference between the sell quote and the buy quote or the bid and offer price. For example, if EUR/USD quotes read 1.3200/03, the spread is the difference between 1.3200 and 1.3203, or 3 pips. In order to break even on a trade, a position must move in the direction of the trade by an amount equal to the spread.

Standard Account

Trading with standard lot sizes, generally 100,000 units of the base currency.

Mini Account

Trading with mini lot sizes, generally 10,000 units of the base currency.

Micro Account

Trading with micro lot sizes, generally 1,000 units of the base currency.

Margin

The deposit required to open or maintain a position. A 1% margin requirement allows you to control a $100,000 position with a $1,000 margin deposit.

Leverage

The extent to which you are using borrowed funds to gear your account. Increasing your leverage magnifies both gains and losses. To calculate leverage used, divide total open positions by account equity to get the leverage ratio. e.g. If a trader has $1,000 in his account and opens a $100,000 position, he is leveraging his account by 100 times, i.e. 100:1 leverage. If he opens a $200,000 position with $1,000 in his account, he is leveraging his account by 200 times, i.e. 200:1 leverage.

Manual Execution

An order which is executed by dealer intervention.

Automatic Execution

The order is executed by the broker without dealer intervention or involvement.

Slippage

The difference between the order price and the executed price.

Drawdown

The extent to which equity is lost in a trading account from a trade or series of trades, measured from peak to subsequent trough, most commonly in percentage terms.

Support

Support is a technical price level where buyers outweigh sellers, causing prices to bounce off a temporary price floor.

Resistance

Resistance is a technical price level where sellers outweigh buyers, causing prices to bounce off a temporary price ceiling.

Common Order Types

Market Order

An order to buy or sell at the current market price.

Limit Order

An order to buy or sell at a specified price level.

Stop-Loss Order

An order to restrict losses at a specified price level.

Limit Entry Order

An order to buy below the market or sell above the market at a specified level, believing that the price will reverse direction from that point.

Stop-Entry Order

An order to buy above the market or sell below the market at a specified level, believing that the price will continue in the same direction.

OCO Order

One Cancels Other. An order whereby if one is executed, the other is cancelled.

GTC Order

Good Till Cancelled. An order stays in the market until it is either filled or cancelled.

Common Trade Types

Long Position

A position in which the trader attempts to profit from an increase in price. i.e. Buy low, sell high.

Short Position

A position in which the trader attempts to profit from a decrease in price. i.e. Sell high, buy low.

Common Trading Styles

Technical Analysis

A style of trading that involves analysing price charts for technical patterns of behaviour.

Fundamental Analysis

A style of trading that involves analysing the macroeconomic factors of an economy underpinning the value of a currency and placing trades that support the trader's outlook.

Trend Trading

A style of trading that attempts to profit from riding short, medium or long term trends in price.

Range Trading

A style of trading that attempts to profit from buying technical levels of support and selling technical levels of resistance. The upper level of resistance and lower level of support defines the range.

News Trading

A style of trading whereby a trader attempts to profit from fundamental news announcements on a country's economy that may affect the value of a currency, usually seeking short term profit immediately after the announcement is released.

Scalping

A style of trading that involves frequent trading seeking small gains over a very short period of time. Trades can last from seconds to minutes.

Day Trading

A style of trading that involves multiple trades on an intra-day basis. Trades can last from minutes to hours.

Swing Trading

A style of trading that involves seeking to profit from short to medium term swings in trend. Trades can last from hours to days.

Carry Trading

A position whereby the trader attempts to profit from holding a currency with a higher interest rate and shorting a currency with a lower interest rate.

Position Trading

A style of trading that involves taking a longer term position that reflects a longer term outlook. Trades can last from weeks to months.

Discretionary Trading

A style of trading that involves the human decision making process for every trade.

Automated Trading

A style of trading that involves neither human decision making or involvement, but uses a pre-programmed strategy based on technical or fundamental analysis that automatically places trades via automated trade execution software.

Example Trade

Assume you have a trading account at a broker that requires a 1% margin deposit for every trade. The current quote for EUR/USD is 1.3225/28 and you want to place a market order to buy 1 standard lot of 100,000 Euros at 1.3228, for a total value of US$132,280 (100,000 * $1.3228). The broker requires you to deposit 1% of the total, or $1322.80 to open the trade. At the same time you place a take-profit order at 1.3278, 50 pips above your order price. In taking this trade you expect the Euro to strengthen against the U.S. dollar.

As you expected, the Euro strengthens against the U.S. dollar and you take your profit at 1.3278, closing out the trade. As each pip is worth US$10, your total profit for this trade is $500, for a total return of 38%.

Forex Scalping for beginners

Forex scalping is one of the most popular ways for new traders to get into forex trading and offers the appeal of regular profits and low risk. In this article we are going to cover all the facts related to forex scalping for beginners, so lets get started.

Forex scalping in essence, looks to trade within daily time frames making small regular profits, using tight stops to generate big profits overtime - the big problem is it has never worked and never will.

Why?

Because the logic it is based on is simply incorrect and if you read on, we will tell you why and show you the evidence, which shows why one of the best ways to lose money in forex trading is forex scalping.

Let’s take a look at the market first and how they move.

We have trillions of dollars traded daily, by millions of different traders and to say that you can say what this vast mass of traders is going to do in such a short time frame, as a few hours is laughable.

Fact:

All short term volatility is random.

This means that prices can and do go anywhere in a day – support and resistance levels are not valid, so it doesn’t matter how good your technical indicators are they will fail in this random environment.

I have seen successful track records though!

Sure you have – and their sold by vendors with a vested interest.

There are loads of them and they are all designed to bring forex scalping to beginners - for a few hundred bucks you get rich, sure you do.

Take a reality check!

These vendors make money selling forex scalping systems, NOT trading them - their far too clever for that.

What you will see is an unbelievable track record that shows great profits with little or now drawdown and common sense tells you that if it’s too good to be true and it most are!

Many traders however fall for the ploy and buy the system, lose and wonder why.

If they were to take a closer look at the forex scaling track records presented, they will see the words “hindsight” or “simulation” written all over the track record as a disclaimer.

What does this mean?

Well – the track record is done in hindsight and simulated, knowing the closing prices!

How hard is that?

My eight year old daughter could do that and so could anyone who can read and write and you can to – these track records are totally meaningless and really not worth the paper their written on.

You can of course find a real-time track record but you will spend a long time in your search – I have spent 25 years trying, so if you find one let me know.

The fact is forex scalping for beginners takes advantage of naive and gullible investors who think winning is easy and they don’t stop to think about the reasons these systems cannot and never will work

If You Want to Win

You need to trade the odds and that means using time frames that allow you to get the odds in your favour and this means trading longer term.

If you are a beginner at forex trading and want to get a forex education that will help you win look at forex swing trading or long term trend following here you work with valid data and can get the odds on your side.

Avoid forex scalping and forex day trading and like I said earlier if you find a real time track record let me know.

Free Forex Ebooks

Hey,

Ill post a few free ebooks on forex in this post..

so that you can familiarise yourself with the world of Forex

Introduction To Forex

by 1st Forex Trading Academy. This trading course intends to provide to all of the students analytical tools on the trading system and methodologies. In this respect, the purpose of the course is to provide an overview of the many strategies that are being used in Forex market and to discuss the steps and tools that are needed in order to use these strategies successfully.


Another Good free EBOOK

THE SIX FORCES OF FOREX

by Scott Owens. A small e-book covering the basic and the main problems of Forex trading


Ill keep updating..

Pls check back for more updates

Automated Forex Software

• FXTradeStream - Takes signals from emails and executes them in the MetaTrader platform.
• HyperOrder - Takes signals from TradeStation, MetaStock, ESignal or a custom application and sends them to a broker's API including FXCM, EFX Group, MetaTrader, Interactive Brokers and more.
• Neoticker - Create automated systems and execute them into MB Trading, EFX Group, Interactive Brokers or FXCM
• NinjaTrader - Sends signals from TradeStation, ESignal or a custom application into Interactive Brokers, MB Trading or Gain Capital
• SnapDragon - Sends signals from TradeStation to Oanda's API
• Thinking Stuff - Backtest and automate your trading system into Gain Capital and Oanda with the click of a mouse. No programming knowledge required.
• Trade Bolt - Takes signals from TradeStation, ESignal, MetaStock or WealthBuilder and sends them to Interactive Brokers
• TradeBullet - Sends orders from TradeStation, eSignal and custom applications into Interactive Brokers, EFX Group and MB Trading
• TradeCompanion - Automates your trading systems written in TradeStation, Excel, Visual Basic or any other proprietary platform and executes them into the BGCFX trading platform.
• TradeItself - Takes trading signals from emails a

Forex and Automated Forex : A Beginners guide

Forex, or foreign exchange trading, is growing by leaps and bounds. It is becoming as popular (if not more) than the stock market, and Forex traders are discovering small fortunes every day! If you're new to Forex, you might find it to be confusing at first. Use the quick beginner's guide to Forex below to learn more about Forex and automated Forex.

What is Forex?

Forex is the act of trading various currencies from around the world. The Forex market started in the 1970s, but has in recent years caught on like wildfire in the stock market world. Forex trading systems record about USD $1.5 trillion in transactions every single day!

The goal in Forex trading is to make a profit when currency values increase or decrease within a currency pair. You will trade only when you expect the value of a currency to increase. In a currency pair, when the currency you bought increases, then you must sell the other currency to make a profit. An open trade, or open position, is a type of trade in which you have already purchased or sold a currency pair, but have not yet bought back an equivalent amount.

The five most significant currency pairs in Forex right now are USD/Yen, Euro/Yen, Pound/USD, Swiss franc/USD, and the Euro/USD.

To get started in Forex trading, you will create a Forex account through a Forex broker. Then, you will need to create a Forex trading strategy that works best for you. The strategy you choose should be tested using a practice account if possible before you start investing your real money. This will enable you to become familiar with Forex trading without risk.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Forex Trading

Forex trading offers a number of advantages. It offers more chances to make short-term profits than the stock market because money moves faster in Forex. The trading opens and closes within only a few seconds, so money can be made quickly. Also, Forex trading is easier to monitor than the stock market because you are only keeping up with currencies, not hundreds or thousands of companies.

There are a few disadvantages as well. Forex trading is risky as is the stock market. Because trading occurs so frequently, Forex trading requires constant monitoring throughout the day to enjoy maximum benefits. Those who don't have time to monitor their Forex trading might lose more than they gain.

Automated Forex

With a new Forex trading system called automated Forex, you can enjoy the benefits of Forex without continual monitoring. Automated Forex is accomplished through trading software. The software monitors the Forex market for you by receiving Forex signals from trading systems and by using daily charts to analyze trends in Forex 24/7. The creation of automated Forex was based on a manual technique that has been used successfully by trading experts for years.

Automated Forex software is available from a number of companies online and offers you the advantage of around-the-clock trading. With these easy day trade signals, your automated Forex software will be able to trade for you while you're away and while you're sleeping. You never have to do the trading yourself, and you don't have to worry about it constantly when you're away. It's like having an expert advisor system in your own home or office PC.

Forex trading can be lucrative for you if you study the system and find a great strategy. Use online resources and helpful automated Forex tools to get started right away!

Optimize Your Forex Trading

Bollinger Bands (BB) is among the most powerful economic indicators in the foreign exchange market. Invented by John Bollinger in 1980's; the bands are simply measuring the highness or the lowness of the current price of an equity or a currency pair relative to previous trades. Technically speaking, that is to measure the standard deviation from the moving average. In order to explore the premise behind the bands, let’s first see the band’s three main components.

BB STRUCTURE:

1) A middle band represents a 20 period SMA
2) An upper band represents the 2nd standard deviation above the middle band
3) A lower band represents the 2nd standard deviation below the middle band
The rationality behind the Bollinger Bands is that the upper BB would act as a resistance level and the lower BB would act as a support level. When the price of a currency pair touches any of the two bands, it’s highly likely that the pair will retrace toward the moving average in the middle of the bands. This means that BB will perform only at a range bound market and not at a trending market.

Suggested Strategy:

1) Traders need to identify a range bound trading market (higher lows and lower highs)
2) When the price of a currency pair hits the upper BB, traders may place a short position after the formation of a bearish candlestick pastern
3) When the price of a currency pair hits the lower BB, traders may place a long position after the formation of a bullish candlestick pattern
4) In the two cases, traders may make their target at the middle BB band
5) Protective stops would be placed at a reasonable distance above the upper band (in the short trade), or below the lower band (in the long trade).

Stop losses at Trading Forex

In this article I am going to give you plenty of advice in fact I am going to outline simple things that I changed in order to profit consistently from the Forex market, this small piece of information is worth more than you think.

Do you have a business plan for trading Forex? If not you should, plan where you are and exactly where you want to be in a year. Create a reachable goal and focus on achieving it. Leave all the get rich quick ideas at the door.

Do not system jump. There are literally thousands of good forex systems available yet people are not consistent in there approach in using them. They have a couple of losing trades and start looking for the next system. Do not fall into this horrible rut, I know many traders who have been stuck in this stage for years.

You may be surprised to know that professional traders are not particular about there systems, most of them are so simple you would think they are crazy. I know of a professional trader who uses one moving average and nothing else at all, yet he is very profitable.

Learn the power of compounding your money, small gains consistently in the Forex market equal huge gains over the year by compounding your winnings.

Last but not least, I am sure you are eager to start making money from the forex market if you are not already doing so. This leads many new traders into yet another rut, trading can become peoples lives. They live for trading and yet they are not profitable.

Remember to take time away from trading, do not keep you charts up all the time tempting you to make a trade. Make a time to trade and if you do not find any good trades then wait for the next session. Remember not having a position in the market is sometimes more profitable than having one.

Source

Do you have what it takes to become a successful Forex Trader?

Forex trading, or any trading for that matter, is an occupation that requires experience and the accumulation of proficiency not unlike any other highly skilled profession. Whether you are a leading executive at a major publically traded company, a professional golfer or trading from your kitchen table, there are 5 key ingredients that one must possess in order to become successful.

1. You must be Passionate about what you do.

As Forex traders we all face one unique set of circumstances that does not exist in any other profession. We get rewarded for when we succeed and equally punished when we don’t! Could you image a corporate worker one quarter receiving a significant accomplishment bonus and the next quarter actually getting money taken from their paycheck for missing performance targets? Not on your life!

We do as Forex traders and that is why passion for what you do will carry you through the tough times that are part of your trading business. Asked yourself why you trade currencies and would you still do it if Forex were not potentially lucrative? Your answers will be quite revealing. You’ve got to feel your passion for trading!

2. You have to Apply Yourself and work hard at it.

I talk to so many people that enter into Forex trading with the aspiration of getting rich quick. Without putting the time and energy into really getting good at trading I see them jump from strategy to strategy looking for the goose that will lay the golden egg and eventually quitting while blaming everything else, except the true cause.

I got news for you – you are the goose and your Forex education is the golden egg. The magic has always resided with the magician and not some strategy. Work hard at trading and the rewards will eventually come your way. Remember what Tiger Woods said, “Funny, the harder I work the luckier I get.” Apply yourself as a trader and it will be no accident when your account begins to blossom.

3. You must Focus to really get good at what you do.

Now here is the hurdle most Forex traders struggle to get over. You have the passion and you are applying yourself to your trade, now focus and really get good at just at what you are doing. Be the expert to the experts at just that one thing. Become the master of a strategy or risk management methodologies. Really focus on getting good at it.

Stop jumping around or getting pulled from the last “latest and greatest” into the next “latest and greatest” and focus on one aspect of Forex trading and know it inside out. Know it strengths and weakness. Set your sights on becoming expert on just one aspect of trading and watch it spill over in all other aspects for your currency trading. This is the time to fail forward fast, use every setback as a learning opportunity that will propel you 3-steps ahead!

4. You must Push Yourself beyond the point everyone else might have quite.

In Forex Trading this is simple. Assume there is someone on the other side of your trade that is pushing themselves and sharpening their edge. To be successful you must you must do the same thing. Now is the time to examine your mental edge. Do you know the single most critical factor in any currency trade? It is you, the trader! Sharpening you mental edge is the most difficult aspect of trading, but also the most rewarding.

Start with your Forex education and gain the self-awareness necessary to maximize your strengths and suppress your weaknesses. Any expert will tell you that trading is 80% mental. It’s time to sharpen your trading to the razor’s edge and you do this through Forex education. A constant and never ending process that will become the cornerstone of your Forex experience.

5. You must, without wavering, be Determined and Persist to your objective.

You will fail. I can state that emphatically. However, you will not be defeated unless you allow your failures to control your trading. It is the old adage; failure is not falling of your horse, failure is refusing to get back on. Your success depends on your ability to dismiss the criticism, rejection, self-doubt and pressures associated with Forex trading.

Defining what is a winning trade, losing trade and bad trade will go a long way into developing you as a successful trader. Without the determination and persistence in all aspects of your trading life, obstacle will definitely appear closer and larger than they actually are.

Take a moment and assess yourself and your trading. Do you have the key elements to succeed? Which areas are presents development opportunities? When conducting a self-evaluation it is critical to be totally upfront and honest with yourself. After all, you will only be dishonest with yourself. One of the most interesting observations you can make is that all key success factors are interwoven. One factor supports the other. This is why your Forex education is a continuous journey of forex strategy, money management and self-mastery. Set these factors as your Forex education goals and take your currency trading to new heights.

Happy Trading!!

Forex Journey

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Trust Yourself

When you turn on the TV (especially mainstream media) you are inundated with news of the demise of the dollar. Business news, national news and even your local news channels are leading into events with reports of the dollar and the economy. Analysts are featured and opinions are smattered across the airwaves in an attempt to provide an oracle response to current economic events.

Beware the source and follow your system.

In these volatile times it is easy to get caught up in the hype provide by all the news media and analyst. It is natural to want to look for guidance. Remember to trust your system and more important trust yourself. You, after all, are the single largest determinant of your success.

Your approach should remain consistent, almost impervious to the events occurring because you follow your plan with discipline and ruthless detail to executing at optimum performance.

Be disciplined and follow your plan. If market conditions don’t suite your style – sit this one out until conditions provide your with your personal edge!

Happy Trading!!

ForexJourney

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

How to Adopt the Traits of a Successful Trader

Hey Traders,

Here's a post by Heather Johnson that will serve you well in your trading – Enjoy!

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Not all Forex traders were cut from the same cloth, but the most successful investors do have several things in common. Whether you are a newcomer to trading or you are a seasoned pro who is trying to improve your game plan, the following suggestions may help you out. Below are five ways to evolve into a successful trader:

1. Become a lifelong student – Never stop learning about the business you are in. If you think you know everything about the Forex market, then think again. The successful trader is a lifelong student who constantly absorbs new information about the ever-evolving climate of Forex trading.

2. Be courageous – It's hard to overcome your fears when you are dealing with an unpredictable investment. Even if you are equipped with extensive knowledge about the market, you still have to put your money at risk every day. Reserve a small amount of apprehension (just enough to keep you sensible), but don't hesitate at every turn.

3. Hone your math skills – You are wading through a sea of mathematical information every day when you look over your charts. The most successful traders know how to take that large amount of information and pull out necessary information.

4. Be patient – Become a long-term investor and put all notions of overnight success to rest. You must adopt a stoic attitude, as you make the most informed decisions about your business and leave the rest to fate.

5. Learn to love trading – Maybe you already do love trading and that's why you are involved with Forex. However, many people are either too wrought with anxiety to enjoy it or merely see it as a job. If you don't like trading, don't trade. A great trader will love the roller coaster ride he/she is on.

Are the above suggestions obvious? Perhaps, but many of us take a wrong turn somewhere and need some simple advice to get us back on track. In order to stay on top of your game, you will need to constantly reinvent yourself, as there is no world that calls for flexibility more than the Forex market.

About the Author:

Heather Johnson is a freelance finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor for CurrencyTrading.net, a site for currency trading and forex trading
information. Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com .


ForexJourney.com

Happy Trading!!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Why the Fed is such a Lousy Wizard of Oz

Another interesting articles from my friends over at Elliottwave.

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Why the Fed is Such a Lousy Wizard of Oz
By Susan C. Walker, Elliott Wave InternationalSeptember 7, 2007

Central bankers who "follow the yellow brick road" end up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, every Labor Day weekend for their annual symposium sponsored by – who else? – the Kansas City Fed. (Who can forget Judy Garland saying to her little dog, "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," in the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz?)

The Jackson Hole Resort serves as the Federal Reserve's equivalent of the Emerald City, as Fed governors and presidents meet with central bankers and economists from around the world to discuss economic issues. This year, the symposium focused on housing and monetary policy. Usually, the Fed chairman kicks off the symposium and, this year, the new chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, did the honors. He closed his speech with these words:

"The interaction of housing, housing finance, and economic activity has for years been of central importance for understanding the behavior of the economy, and it will continue to be central to our thinking as we try to anticipate economic and financial developments."

Then came the other speeches. And it seems that some of the guests in Emerald City were waiting for their chance to pull back the curtain and prove that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz isn't such a wizard after all. Bloomberg reported that "Federal Reserve officials, wrestling with a housing recession that jeopardizes U.S. growth, got an earful from critics at a weekend retreat, arguing they should use regulation and interest rates to prevent asset-price bubbles."

Apparently, one academic paper presented at Jackson Hole graded the Fed an 'F' for the way it has handled the repercussions from the rise and fall of the housing market.

Truth be told, these folks are a little late to the table as critics of the Fed. We're glad they're joining us, but here's what they still haven't learned: It isn't because the Federal Reserve messes up by allowing credit, asset and stock bubbles to form that it's not a wizard. The Federal Reserve isn't a wizard for one particular reason that it doesn't want anybody to know – and that is that the Fed doesn't lead the financial markets, it follows them.

People everywhere want to believe in the Fed's wizardry. But all this talk about how the Fed will be able to help the U.S. economy and hold up the markets by cutting rates now is as much hooey as the Wizard of Oz promising Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion that he could give them what they wanted: a return to Kansas, a brain, a heart, and courage. Because when the Fed does do something, it always comes after the markets have already made their moves.

If you don't believe it, you should look at one chart from the most recent Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. It compares the movements in the Fed Funds rate with the movements of the 3-month U.S. Treasury Bill Yield. What does it reveal? That the Fed has followed the T-Bill yield up and down every step of the way since 2000. And the interesting question becomes this: Since the T-bill yield has dropped nearly two points since February, how soon will the Fed cut its rate to follow the market's lead this time?

[Editor's note: You can see this chart and read the Special Section it appears in by accessing the free report, The Unwonderful Wizardry of the Fed.]

We've got our own brains, heart and courage here at Elliott Wave International, and we've used them to explain over and over again that putting faith in the Fed to turn around the markets and the economy is blind faith indeed.

"This blind faith in the Fed's power to hold up the economy and stocks epitomizes the following definition of magic offered by Teller of the illusionist and comedy team of Penn and Teller: a 'theatrical linking of a cause with an effect that has no basis in physical reality, but that – in our hearts – ought to be.'" [September 2007, The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast]

Because, you see, what makes the markets move has less to do with what the unwizardly Fed does and more with changes in the mass psychology of all the people investing in those markets. The Elliott Wave Principle describes how bullish and bearish trends in the financial markets reflect changes in social mood, from positive to negative and back again. To extend the metaphor: The Fed can't affect social mood anymore than the Wonderful Wizard of Oz could change the direction of the wind that brought his hot air balloon to the Land of Oz in the first place.

As our EWI analysts write, "With respect to the timing of the Federal Reserve Board rate cuts, we need to reiterate one key point. The market, not the Fed, sets rates." Being able to understand this information puts you one step closer to clicking your ruby red shoes together and whispering those magic words: "There's no place like home." Once you land back in Kansas, your eyes will open, and you will see that an unwarranted faith in the Fed was just a bad dream.

Susan C. Walker writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis company. She has been an associate editor with Inc. magazine, a newspaper writer and editor, an investor relations executive and a speechwriter for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Her columns also appear regularly on FoxNews.com.

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Happy Trading!!

ForexJourney

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Regret Will Kill Your Forex Account

OK, so you just pulled the trigger on a trade and every bone in your body told you not to. You violated the rules dictated in your trade plan and you watched a small profit immediately turn into a major loss.

Sound familiar? What do you do?

You get over it, that’s what you do! Regret over a bad trade will eat your account from the inside out. Regret is a more powerful emotion than most traders recognize. It is like the unwanted guest that keeps living off of your bank account until there is no more left. It takes most traders into a tailspin that they will never recover. It can lead to dangerous psychological results such as failure to pull the trigger over even worse, paralysis by analysis.

“Yeah, but…” (I will save the disempowerment of this statement for another day)

It’s not easy putting those emotions aside when your money is on the line. That’s why they called it trading, folks. In Forex someone is on the other side of the trade controlling their emotions and eventually controlling your account balance. If you want to find consistency you must never let regret live in your trading experience.

Here’s what I do to combat this debilitating emotion … I get over it! How do I do this? I simply perform a post mortem of my bad trades (I still have them every now and then) and keep a detailed journal. Over time I began to recognize my personal triggers and simply tweaked my trade plan to be a more proactive currency trader and avoid the situations that led to the bad trade in the first place, in my instance over-trading or being tired.

What trader do I model my approach after? The answer may surprise you!

The answer is Tiger Woods.

I play golf, so you could imagine I am a huge fan of Tiger Woods. There are a lot of similarities between golf and trading. Both venues offer a look at who we are as a person, raw and uncensored. Both live in the world of risk and reward.

I admire Tiger Woods skill as a golfer, but even more so his mental toughness. Next time you watch Tiger Wood hit a bad shot follow his reaction. His immediate reaction is to get upset, really upset. Then count 5 seconds. His expressions and demeanor will have returned to one of focus and concentration.

And the funny thing is that is doesn’t matter what kind of prize money is online. He takes the same approach to every golf shot, in every tournament.

Let’s translate that to trading. Do you give yourself 5 seconds to get over a bad trade? Do you take the same approach to every trade?

Stop living in the world of regret and only think about the possibilities of wining trades and you will find your experiences trading the Forex market one filled with achievement and success.

Happy Trading!!

ForexJourney

Monday, January 07, 2008

Suddenly, It's a Bleak Midwinter for Housing and Lending

If you're wondering how the housing market collapse in the US will impact your favorite Central Banker (and interest rates), here's an interesting article to help support your fundamental Forex analysis:

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Suddenly, It's a Bleak Midwinter for Housing and Lending

By Susan C. Walker, Elliott Wave International

January 7, 2008

In the bleak midwinter, Frosty wind made moan,Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone…(From "A Christmas Carol" by Christina Rossetti)
Shawn Colvin sings a beautiful song based on this poem by Christina Rossetti, reminding us of the bleakness of midwinter. That is exactly where the housing market seems to be now – facing its very own bleak midwinter of falling prices, rising mortgage rates and growing inventories.

The latest report of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index shows that the price of houses fell 6.7% in October, year over year. That is the largest year-to-year decline drop since April 1991.

Think of it – if you had bought a home for $300,000 in October 2006, it is now worth about $280,000. And suppose you just got a new job and need to move? You are going to have trouble selling it at that price, too, thanks to so many foreclosed homes on the market. One realtor in Phoenix explained to a Wall Street Journal reporter that local residents are now competing with foreclosed homes selling for $50,000 to $100,000 less than other houses on the market. "The sellers now are having to reduce their prices by 20% to 30% to compete," she says. (Wall Street Journal, "Pace of Decline in Home Prices Sets a Record," 12/27/07)

At a meeting of the New York Society of Security Analysts on January 7, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said this about the U.S. economy: "We will likely have further indications of slower growth in the weeks and months ahead.''

Paulson and central bankers at the U.S. Federal Reserve recognize that they, too, face their own bleak financial midwinter. It's not just the mayhem brought on by the subprime mortgage debacle, the implosion of the housing market and the ensuing credit crunch; nor is it that the U.S. economy lurches toward a recession and hard times.

No, it is something bigger than that. Public opinion or social mood, as we call it here at Elliott Wave International, has shifted from positive to negative. When that happens, financial heroes find themselves falling from their pedestals onto frozen earth hard as iron.

Exhibit A - The headline of a recent article on Bloomberg: "Paulson Gets Diminishing Return with Bush, Like Powell, O'Neill" and the lead: "Henry Paulson escaped the Nixon White House with his reputation enhanced. He won't be so lucky this time around."

Exhibit B - The lead from a recent column by David Ignatius in the Washington Post:
"When airport rescue crews are worried that a damaged plane may have a crash landing, they sometimes spread the runway with foam to reduce the probability of fire on impact. That's what the Federal Reserve and other central banks are doing in pumping liquidity into severely damaged financial markets. Make no mistake: The central bankers' announcement Wednesday of a new coordinated effort to pump cash into the global financial system is a sign of their nervousness…."
Nervousness is in the air now. Investors are anxious about the markets; everyone is worried about the housing market.

Our Elliott Wave Financial Forecast December issue explains how housing starts (and stops) are intimately tied to recessions: "One key indicator of success in pre-dating economic downturns is housing starts, which are approaching the 1-million-a-month level that has preceded all recessions of the last 40 years."

And the Fed is nervous, too. So much so that it announced a credit giveaway with four other major central banks (the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank) in mid-December to try to bolster the financial system and the banks that keep it humming. The Fed reports that banks have been stepping up to its auction window each week to purchase $20 billion. Unfortunately for the banks, most of this "liquidity" isn't that liquid. It has to be paid back within 30 days, with interest of about 4.65%.

Editor's note: Elliott Wave International has agreed to make available to our readers a 2-1/2-page excerpt from Bob Prechter's Elliott Wave Theorist in which he describes exactly how the Fed's latest effort to shore up banks' balance sheets has become "High Noon for the Fed's Credibility." Click here to read the Theorist excerpt.

Just how bleak is the future for central bankers if this recently implemented plan doesn't work? Bob Prechter explains in his just-published Theorist:

"Nevertheless, this is probably the single most important central-bank pronouncement yet. But it is not significant for the reasons people think. By far most people take such pronouncements at face value, presume that what the authorities promise will happen and reason from there. But the tremendous significance of this seismic engagement of the monetary jawbone is that if this announcement fails to restore confidence, central bankers' credibility will evaporate."

"At least that's the way historians will play it. But of course, the true causality, as elucidated by socionomics, is that an evaporation of confidence will make the central bankers' plans fail. The outcome is predicated on psychology."

The "socionomics" Prechter refers to is a new social science he has introduced that studies how humans behave in groups within contexts of uncertainty – where fluctuations in social mood motivate social actions. It explains that rather than an event happening that affects social mood (for example, falling home prices make people feel bad), what really happens is that social mood changes first from positive to negative and then lousy things happen (for example, unhappy people make home prices fall). If you can adopt this point of view, then you can see that, in poetic terms, we are fast approaching a bleak midwinter for the economy and the financial markets.

Susan C. Walker writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis company. She has been an associate editor with Inc. magazine, a newspaper writer and editor, an investor relations executive and a speechwriter for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Her columns also appear regularly on FoxNews.com.

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Happy Trading!!

ForexJourney.com

Thursday, January 03, 2008

A Forex Trader’s Lifestyle

Whether you are a novice Forex trader or a seasoned veteran one aspect you must always take into account is to ensure your lifestyle supports successful trading. Forex trading is no different from any other endeavor in life. Whether you are employee, employer or self-employed you must take the time and effort to ensure your environment is conducive to your success.

Take a look at your surroundings and make sure your lifestyle supports you being a successful Forex trader. Take in all the factors of success (how YOU define success) evaluate your factors to make sure your trading is:

Specific – Do you have specific trading goals and objectives? Do you have a trading plan? Ask yourself is your plan to general?

Measurable – Do you have systems in place to objectively measure your performance? If you don’t know your numbers then do you really have a trading business?

Has a Timeline – Do you have a timeline for which you are measuring your goals and objectives against?

Controllable – There are many aspects in Forex trading you can’t control, ensure that the areas your can control are firmly defined and managed with discipline.

Programmed Into Your Lifestyle – Are your Forex trading activities programmed and congruent with your lifestyle? Balance is important so make sure this passes the test!

Taken in Small Steps - This business is a marathon and not a sprint. Start off with small steps and build. The best practice trading principals do not change with account size.

Accountable – Forex trading (or any trading for that matter) can be such an isolated activity. Find ways to have others participate and hold you accountable for your goals. Make it real and measurable!

True Forex success is built through smart work and dedication. By establishing the trading lifestyle that best supports your personality will guarantee prolonged success. Remember, it is your Forex Journey. Be sure you enjoy the ride!

Happy Trading!!