Month: March 2010

By Joseph Plazo – One of the best known and least understood theories of technical analysis in forex trading is the Elliot Wave Theory. Developed in the 1920s by Ralph Nelson Elliot as a method of predicting trends in the stock market, the Elliot Wave theory applies fractal mathematics to movements in the market to make predictions based on crowd behavior. In its essence, the Elliot Wave theory states that the market – in this case, the forex market – moves in a series of 5 swings upward and 3 swings back down, repeated perpetually. But if it were that simple, everyone would be making a killing by catching the wave and riding it until just before it crashes on the shore. Obviously, there’s a lot more to it.

One of the things that makes riding the Elliot Wave so tricky is timing – of all the major wave theories, it’s the only one that doesn’t put a time limit on the reactions and rebounds of the market. A single In fact, the theories of fractal mathematics makes it clear that there are multiple waves within waves within waves. Interpreting the data and finding the right curves and crests is a tricky process, which gives rise to the contention that you can put 20 experts on the Elliot Wave theory in one room and they will never reach an agreement on which way a stock – or in this case, a currency – is headed.

Elliot Wave Basics

• Every action is followed by a reaction.

It’s a standard rule of physics that applies to the crowd behavior on which the Elliot Wave theory is based. If prices drop, people will buy. When people buy, the demand increases and supply decreases driving prices back up. Nearly every system that uses trend analysis to predict the movements of the currency market is based on determining when those actions will cause reactions that make a trade profitable.

• There are five waves in the direction of the main trend followed by three corrective waves (a “5-3” move).

The Elliot Wave theory is that market activity can be predicted as a series of five waves that move in one direction (the trend) followed by three ‘corrective’ waves that move the market back toward its starting point.

• A 5-3 move completes a cycle.

And here’s where the theory begins to get truly complex. Like the mirror reflecting a mirror that reflects a mirror that reflects a mirror, the each 5-3 wave is not only complete in itself, it is a superset of a smaller series of waves, and a subset of a larger set of 5-3 waves – the next principle.

• This 5-3 move then becomes two subdivisions of the next higher 5-3 wave.

In Elliot Wave notation, the 5 waves that fit the trend are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (impulses). The three correcting waves are called a, b and c (corrections). Each of these waves is made up of a 5-3 series of waves, and each of those is made up of a 5-3 series of waves. The 5-3 cycle that you’re studying is an impulse and correction in the next ascending 5-3 series.

• The underlying 5-3 pattern remains constant, though the time span of each may vary.

A 5-3 wave may take decades to complete – or it may be over in minutes. Traders who are successful in using the Elliot Wavy theory to trade in the currency market say that the trick is timing trades to coincide with the beginning and end of impulse 3 to minimize your risk and maximize your profit.

Because the timing of each sequence of waves varies so much, using the Elliot Wave theory is very much a matter of interpretation. Identifying the best time to enter and leave a trade is dependent on being able to see and follow the pattern of larger and smaller waves, and to know when to trade and when to get out based on the patterns you identify.

The key is in interpreting the pattern correctly – in finding the right starting point. Once you learn to see the wave patterns and identify them correctly, say those who are experts, you’ll see how they apply in every facet of forex trading, and will be able to use those patterns to trigger your decisions whether you’re day trading or in it for the long haul.

About The Author

More of Joseph Plazo’s killer articles:

http://www.xtrememind.com, http://www.powerconsultants.net

http://www.jobcentralasia.com

By Sacha Tarkovsky – The Fibonacci number sequence and golden ratio can be found throughout nature and traders such as Gann applied them to financial markets and made millions using this unique tool as part of his trading method.

The Fibonacci number sequence and golden ratio is used by many savvy traders today so let’s look at how they can make huge profits in ANY financial markets.

Support and resistance levels are critical for all traders as they can help identify entry and exit points when trading.

Fibonacci percentage “retracement” levels derived from the Fibonacci number sequence and golden ratio are an innovative and useful tool for any trader, so why are they so useful.

Let’s find out.

Fibonacci Numbers and Golden Ratio Applied To Trading

The Fibonacci sequence was printed in the Liber Abaci, written by Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202. It introduced Hindu-Arabic to Europe for the very first time and they replaced Roman numerals.

The Fibonacci number sequence was based around the following equation:

How many pairs of rabbits can be generated from one single pair, if each month each pair produces a new pair, which, from the second month, starts producing more rabbits?

While the Fibonacci number sequence and golden ratio was used to solve the above equation.

The result was:

It produced a number sequence that has importance throughout the natural world.

After the first few numbers in the sequence, the ratio of any number in relation to the next higher number is approximately .618, and the lower number is 1.618.

These two figures are known as the golden mean or the golden ratio.

The Golden Mean and Golden Ratio

These numbers are pleasing to the us and appear throughout biology, art, music, weather, creatures and even architecture.

Examples of natural objects based on the Golden Ratio are:

Snail shells, galaxies, hurricanes, DNA molecules, sunflowers and many more objects that occur in the natural world.

Retracement Levels

The two Fibonacci percentage retracement levels considered the most critical by traders are: 38.2% and 62.8%.

Other important retracement percentages are: 75%, 50%, and 33%.

So how can traders use them?

Well, there are three main advantages and they are:

1. Fibonacci numbers Define exit numbers

If three or more Fibonacci price levels come together, a stop loss can be placed above the area which indicates an important area of support or resistance.

Setting stop loss trades using Fibonacci retracements allows traders to set pre defined exit points, so they can exit the market if their wrong.

This means they can trade in a disciplined fashion and protect their equity, which is critical to all traders.

2. Fibonacci levels Can Define Position Size

Depending on the risk a trader wants to take on a trade Fibonacci numbers can give the size of position to be taken, in terms of risk the trader wishes to assume.

Why?

This is simply because the monetary loss from the stop for a trade is different on most positions taken in the market.

A stop close to resistance and support may mean that a bigger position than one where support or resistance is further away.

Traders can therefore decide position size within their money management parameters easily and have a pre defined exit point.

3. Fibonacci Numbers & Profit Per Trade

With Fibonacci numbers, once a pattern completes against a Fibonacci price area traders can use them to lock in profits.

This indication of how far a profit may run, enables traders to lock in profits at pre defined set levels.

The advantage of the Fibonacci number sequence is they are a predictive tool:

So, they allow traders to have specific stop loss and profit objectives in advance.

Traders can then use them to lock in more profits and cut losses to a minimum, which is essential for longer term profitability.

Gann used them for this purpose and that is why they are such a useful tool for traders

One of the keys to trading any market is discipline:

To cut losses and run profits and win over the longer term by trading without emotion.

Gann knew this and all traders who have traded know how emotions can wreck a trading plan and the Fibonacci number sequence makes a trader stay disciplined.

Do they work?

Gann understood that using Fibonacci numbers could make large profits and cut losses on his trades and he used them to amass a fortune of over $50 million.

Fibonacci numbers are useful but should be used as part of a trading plan and Gann for example did not just rely on them he had an array of innovative tools that he combined to make stunning profits.

He was one of the most successful traders of all time and his legend lives on and many savvy traders around the world still use his methods

Check them out and you may be glad you did.

Not only are they innovative, they can give you big profit potential and that’s what we all want as traders.

By Sacha Tarkovsky

About the Author

On all aspects of Gann trading including an exclusive Gann Trading Course visit our website for a huge resource of articles, features and downloads and at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

By John Sanderson – FOREX traders almost always rely on analysis to make plan their trading strategies. There are two basic types of FOREX analysis – technical and fundamental. This article will look at fundamental analysis and how it used in FOREX trading.

Fundamental analysis refers to political and economic conditions that may affect currency prices. FOREX traders using fundamental analysis rely on news reports to gather information about unemployment rates, economic policies, inflation, and growth rates.

Fundamental analysis is often used to get an overview of currency movements and to provide a broad picture of economic conditions affecting a specific currency. Most traders rely on technical analysis for plotting entry and exit points into the market and supplement their findings with fundamental analysis.

Currency prices on the FOREX are affected by the forces of supply and demand, which in turn are affected by economic conditions.

The two most important economic factors affecting supply and demand are interest rates and the strength of the economy. The strength of the economy is affected by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), foreign investment and trade balance.

Indicators

Various indicators are released by government and academic sources. They are reliable measures of economic health and are followed by all sectors of the investment market. Indicators are usually released on a monthly basis but some are released weekly.

Two of the most important fundamental indicators are interest rates and international trade. Other indicators include the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Durable Goods Orders, Producer Price Index (PPI), Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI), and retail sales.

Interest Rates – can have either a strengthening or weakening effect on a particular currency. On the one hand, high interest rates attract foreign investment which will strengthen the local currency. On the other hand, stock market investors often react to interest rate increases by selling off their holdings in the belief that higher borrowing costs will adversely affect many companies. Stock investors may sell off their holdings causing a downturn in the stock market and the national economy.

Determining which of these two effects will predominate depends on many complex factors, but there is usually a consensus amongst economic observers of how particular interest rate changes will affect the economy and the price of a currency.

International Trade – Trade balance which shows a deficit (more imports than exports) is usually an unfavourable indicator. Deficit trade balances means that money is flowing out of the country to purchase foreign-made goods and this may have a devaluing effect on the currency. Usually, however, market expectations dictate whether a deficit trade balance is unfavourable or not. If a county habitually operates with a deficit trade balance this has already been factored into the price of its currency. Trade deficits will only affect currency prices when they are more than market expectations.

Other indicators include the CPI – a measurement of the cost of living, and the PPI – a measurement of the cost of producing goods. The GDP measures the value of all goods and services within a country, while the M2 Money Supply measures the total amount of all currency.

There are 28 major indicators used in the United States. Indicators have strong effects on financial markets so FOREX traders should be aware of them when preparing strategies. Up-to-date information is available on many websites and many FOREX brokers supply this information as part of their trading service.

About The Author

John Sanderson

This article provided courtesy of http://www.about-forex.net.

By Andrew Daigle – Forex currencies are always traded in pairs. For example, EUR/USD, which means Euro over US dollars, would be a typical pair. In this case, the Euro, being the first currency can be called the base currency. The second currency, by default USD, is called the counter or quote currency. As mentioned, the first currency is the base, therefore in a pair you can refer the amount of that currency as being the amount required to purchase one unit of the second currency. So, if you want to buy the currency pair, you have to buy the EURO and sell the USD simultaneously. On the other hand, if you are looking to sell the currency pair, you have to sell the EURO and buy the USD. As a part of forex trading strategies the most important thing is to understand the currency pairs, or more precisely in a Forex transaction, what currency you will be selling or buying. Having good knowledge of major currencies of the world is important while learning forex trading.

Major currencies US Dollar – The United States dollar is the world’s main currency – a universal measure to evaluate any other currency traded on Forex. All currencies are generally quoted in US dollar terms. Under conditions of international economic and political unrest, the US dollar is the main secure currency, which was proven particularly well throughout the past Southeast Asian crisis. As it was indicated, the US dollar became the leading currency toward the end of the World War II, as the other currencies were almost pegged against it.

Euro – The Euro was designed to become the premier currency in forex trading by simply being quoted in American terms. Like the US dollar, the Euro has a strong international presence stemming from members of the European Monetary Union. The currency stays plagued by inadequate growth, high unemployment, and government resistance to structural changes. The pair was also weighed in 1999 and 2000 by outflows from foreign investors, particularly Japanese, who were forced to liquidate their losing investments in euro-denominated assets.

Japanese Yen – The Japanese Yen is the third most traded currency in the world; it has a much smaller international presence than the US dollar or the Euro. The Yen is very liquid around the world.

British Pound – Until the end of the Second World War, the Pound was the currency of reference. The currency is heavily traded against the Euro and the US dollar, but has a spotty presence against the other currencies.

Swiss Franc – The Swiss Franc is the currency of a major European country that belongs neither to the European Monetary Union nor the G-7 countries. Although the Swiss economy is relatively small, the Swiss Franc is one of the four major currencies, closely resembling the strength and quality of the Swiss economy and finance. Typically, it is believed that the Swiss Franc is a stable currency.

Canadian Dollar – Canada decided to use the dollar instead of a Pound Sterling system because of the ubiquity of Spanish dollars in North America in the 18th century and early 19th century and because of the standardization of the American dollar. The Province of Canada declared that all accounts would be kept in dollars as of January 1, 1858, and ordered the issue of the first official Canadian dollars in the same year.

Australian Dollar – The Australian Dollar was introduced in February 14, 1966, not only replacing the Australian Pound but also introducing a decimal system. Following the introduction of the Australian Dollar in 1966, the value of the national currency continued to be managed in accord with the Bretton Woods gold standard as it had been since 1954. Essentially the value of the Australian Dollar was dealt with reference to gold, although in practice the US dollar was used.

About the Author

Andrew Daigle is the owner, creator and author of many successful websites including ForexBoost, a free Forex educational site to learn Forex trading strategies and a ForexBoost blog for keeping online Forex trading records.

By Joseph Plazo – Whenever there is an opportunity to make large amounts of money, there will be people who are eager to jump right in and start making money. And where there are people who are eager to get rich quick with a minimum of effort on their part, there are fraudsters waiting to take their money. Experienced traders are wise enough to avoid the frauds – it’s the new traders who are most vulnerable to the forex scams that are slipping into the currency exchange market.

The U.S. CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), which regulates futures and commodities trading, warns new investors to be wary of frauds and scams that promise huge profits from your investments, in and out of the Forex market. The CFTC has issued several Consumer Fraud Alerts in connection with foreign currency trading. They offer the following tips to help you avoid being scammed.

Be skeptical of high-profit-low-risk come-ons.

“I made $1900 in one minute!” touts one sidebar ad for a Forex trading company. Ads that promise high returns on small investments with little or no risk to you are tempting bait. The fact is that while there are certainly big profits to be made in forex, there are correspondingly large losses. And most novice traders drop out of active trading by the end of their first year because they can’t afford the risk.

Be suspicious. Period.

Before you part with a penny, thoroughly check out the company or trader you’re planning to do business with. Check the CFTC’s consumer fraud alert page. Check to see if the company is registered with the CFTC, or is a member of the National Futures Association. Check to see if there’s any disciplinary action against the firm or company. Get even more basic. Get a valid address and telephone number, and verify that it belongs to the company. Check to be sure the person you’re dealing with actually works for the company. Especially if you’re doing business on the Internet, it’s very easy for a scammer to fake credentials.

Be wary of sending money over the Internet.

The Internet has made it incredibly easy for scammers to operate. It only costs $6.95 a month to have a professional looking web site hosted – that’s pennies a day to reach millions of potential marks. Before you part with credit card numbers, bank account transfer permissions or wire transfers, be sure to check out the company with all the authorities listed above.

Beware high pressure sales tactics.

Legitimate dealers don’t need to contact you with unsolicited email, or pressure you into doing business with them. If someone is pushing you to invest right now, tonight, this moment, it should set off huge warning signals in your head. A real dealer is more concerned with keeping you as a customer for the long haul. He’ll be patient while you check out his credentials and reputation. A phony dealer can’t afford that luxury – he needs to get you on the hook right now, or risk losing his score.

Be cautious of companies that tell you they’ll trade for you on the ‘interbank’ market.

The interbank market is a term for a loose network of currency traders that include banks, financial institutions and large corporations. Fraudulent currency trading firms often tell customers that they’ll trade for them on the interbank market where the prices are better. It should be a warning signal to you to stay away.

While technically not ‘scams’, you should also be wary of paying good money for training courses that promise you systems that are ‘guaranteed’ to earn you high profits. If the course advertises that their system will earn you huge profits with minimal risk, or guarantee you 40% return on your money in six weeks, take the promises with a huge grain of salt. Experienced traders understand that the forex market is a time market – while it’s possible to make large amounts of money in short-term trades, finding those profitable trades is a matter of being in the right place at the right time… which means putting in the time and the effort to be there.

They also understand that they’ll lose more often than they win – the trick is to keep your losses short and your profits long. Any company that guarantees that you’ll make a profit on all or most of your profits is coloring their advertising. Stick with trusted companies whose credentials you can verify and whose background you can check.

About The Author

More of Joseph Plazo’s killer articles

http://www.xtrememind.com
http://www.powerconsultants.net
http://www.jobcentralasia.com

By Andrew Daigle – As you know, the only way to make money in the forex currency exchange market is to have profitable forex trading strategies and good money management. Without these two skills, you will certainly fail as a trader and if you master these, you will be a very profitable forex trader.

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Two simple rules to follow and you will be profitable in this business. The problem with this however, is that most people can’t follow these rules. They let their emotions get in the way of their trading and make bad decisions. They may not take any trades at all because they’re afraid they’ll lose money. They may be in a profitable trade and decide to close it early to lock in their small profits. They may decide to let their losers run longer than they should because they “know” the currency is about to reverse and go in their direction. There are many reasons why people fail in this business and these are just a few of the examples.

Before you start trading, you need to learn about this business. You not only need to learn how and when to trade forex, but you also need to know when “not to trade”. This is just as important. You also need to know how much “risk” you should take on any given trade. If you over leverage your account, you will lose money very quickly and you could actually blow your entire trading account.

Once you learn how to trade, the next step would be to open a forex demo trading account. This is the trading platform you would use from the forex broker of your choice to make trades in the market. Most forex brokers have all the charts and tools you need and the platform on which to execute your trades. Demo accounts allow new forex traders to trade fake money while trading the live market. You get to trade on a live trading platform but you risk absolutely no money. There aren’t any businesses I know of where you can learn everything you need without costing you a dime.

Demo accounts are a great way for new traders to get a feel for trading the forex market without risking any money. But be careful. When you trade a forex demo account, and you know in your mind that you have no money at risk, you can start making stupid trading decisions. You may use poor money management skills and risk far too much money on each trade. You may double up on trades to make up for losing trades. These are bad habits, and the last thing you want to do in this business is treat it like a game. It’s not a game. It’s a real business and should be treated as such.

Before getting into trades, you should also know exactly what price you’re getting in to the market and also know what your stop loss and take profit targets should be. If you don’t know these three things, do not trade. Every profitable forex trading strategy you learn will have the rules for determining these entry and exit points. Also know that a profitable forex trading strategy does not have to be complicated. Most of the best forex trading strategies are very simple to learn and use.

If you follow the simple rules we mentioned above, you will see how profitable this business can be. It’s no wonder why trading forex is becoming one of the fastest growing home businesses today. You get to work from your home using your personal computer and an internet connection. Pick up a great forex trading strategy and open up a forex trading account with a broker and you have everything you need to start trading.

About the Author

Andrew Daigle is the owner and author of many successful websites including ForexBoost, a free Forex educational site to learn Forex trading strategies and a website for learning profitable online home business opportunities.

By Michael Redmond – Excitement on a computer, for some, until recently has been regulated to porn or computer games. Now there is a way to find excitement on the internet and generate money as well. That is by becoming an online foreign currency trader.

This is not changing dollars of local currency when you are on vacation. This is a business that trades about 1.3 trillion dollars a day currently and continues to grow. In fact, foreign currency trading is one of the biggest financial markets today.

It’s the internet and the speed which information can be at a trader’s fingertips that causes the currency values to fluctuate and that gives online trader the thrill of relying on instinct to make choices.

Because the market is on the internet, information is disseminated equally at the same speed. No one trader gets information faster than another. This gives you time to make good decisions.

Another bonus of online foreign currency trading is that it operates twenty four hours a day. This allows you to be more flexible. You can get updates no matter where you are. So people who are put off trading because of their jobs can participate online on the foreign currency market.

There are many foreign currency trading sites all over the Web. For the most part all you need to do is to register and you will be able to start immediately after. For those who are worried about the difficulties of understanding how to go about trading on the market, there is training available on these sites. They will help you set up and learn how to start making decisions on when to trade.

To be a successful foreign currency trader you must be confident, have good instincts, understand the risks you take with your money and enjoy the thrill of relying on your guts.

About The Author

Michael Redmond is a staff writer at http://www.trading-enthusiast.com and is an occasional contributor to several other websites, including http://www.finance-journal.com.

By Monica Hendrix – Standard deviation is a concept all Forex traders should understand as part of their Forex education. In fact if you don’t understand it and know how to factor it into your trading strategy you are unlikely to win long term. Let’s look at it.

Standard deviation is logical, easy to understand and will help you time entries better and define targets for trades, as well as spotting important trend reversals.

It’s a simple and powerful concept and all forex traders should know how it works and how to take advantage of it.

The real problem that traders have to overcome when trading forex is overcoming volatile price moves that can stop them out to soon or with losses – if you learn how to deal with standard deviation, you will enter with better risk reward and get stopped out less often.

What is standard deviation?

Standard deviation is a statistical term that refers to and shows the volatility of price in any currency. In essence standard deviation measures how widely values are dispersed from the mean or average.

Dispersion is effectively the difference between the actual closing value price and the average value or mean closing price.

The larger the difference between the closing prices from the average price, the higher the standard deviation and volatility of the currency is. On the other hand – the closer the closing prices are to the average mean price, the lower the standard deviation or volatility of the currency is.

Technical Calculation

Here is the technical bit don’t worry if you find it a little complicated we will simplify things in a minute – here is the calculation:

Standard deviation the square root of the variance, and the average of the squared deviations from the mean.

High Standard Deviation is present when the price of the currency studied is changing volatile and has large daily ranges. On the other hand, low Standard Deviation values take places when currencies are range trading or in consolidation i.e. when prices are more stable and less volatile.

Spotting Big Contrary trades

Major tops and bottoms and important trend changes are accompanied by high volatility as prices reflect the psychology of the participants and greed and fear push prices away from the fundamentals.

If you look at any forex chart you will see price spikes caused by human emotion and they are not sustainable and prices tend to return to more realistic levels after periods of high volatility – you will often here the term blow off top or bottom where prices make one last volatile surge and reverse.

3 Important Ways to Use Standard Deviation

So how can you incorporate standard deviation in your forex trading? The answer is it is useful for:

1. Picking important market tops or bottoms i.e look for highly volatile prices that have spiked to far from the mean.

2. Targeting entries within trends – if for example, prices spike away from the mean to far, they will fall back to the average eventually. If the trend is strong you can target entry at the mean price.

3. If prices are trading in a narrow range and suddenly high standard deviation pushes prices away from the mean, you can trade with the break.

If you want an easy tool to apply to help you apply standard deviation in your trading – looking no further than the Bollinger band. Most major chart services plot it and its easy to use – we don’t have time to explain it all here so see our other articles.

The Real Enemy for Traders

Is not picking trend direction, it’s entering with the best risk reward and dealing with volatility if you have understanding of standard deviation you will be able to deal with the enemy of volatility, harness and control it, and use it to achieve currency trading success.

About the Author

NEW! FREE Trader PDF’S – Forex Newsletters and Alerts On all aspects of becoming a profitable trader including: Free, weekly and daily newsletters, and some essential FREE FOREX Trading PDF’s visit our website at: www.learncurrencytradingonline.com/index.html

By Marquez Comelab – Historically, the FX market was available most to major banks, multinational corporations and other participants who traded in large transaction sizes and volumes. Small-scale traders including individuals like you and I, had little access to this market for such a long time. Now with the advent of the Internet and technology, FX trading is becoming an increasingly popular investment alternative for the general public.

The benefits of trading the currency market;

It is open 24-hours and it closes only on the weekends;

It is very liquid and efficient;

It is very volatile;

It has very low transaction costs;

You can use a high level of leverage (borrowed money) with ease; and

You can profit from a bull or a bear market.

Continuous, 24-Hour Trading

The currency exchange is a 24-hour market. You may decide to trade after you come home from work. Regardless of what time-frame you want to trade at whatever time of the day, there would be enough buyers and sellers to take the other side of your trade. This feature of the market gives you enough flexibility to manage your trading around your daily routine.

Liquidity And Efficiency

When there are a lot of buyers and a lot of sellers, you can expect to buy or sell at a price that is very close to the last market price. The currency market is the most liquid market in the world. Trading volume in the currency markets can be between 50 and 100 times larger than the New York Stock Exchange (Source: Oanda.)

When you are trading stocks, you may have experienced events where one piece of news accelerates or decelerates the price of the underlying stock you may have bought into. Perhaps a director has been kicked out by the shareholders of a company or the company has just released a new product and big investors are buying the shares of a particular company. Share prices can be drastically affected by the actions or inactions of one or a few individuals. So if you are relying on television reports and newspapers to get your news, most of the opportunities or warnings will have come too late for you to take advantage by the time you get them.

The value of currencies on the other hand is affected by so many factors and so many participants that the likelihood of any one individual or group of individuals drastically affecting the value of a currency is minute. Because of its sheer size, the currency market is hard to manipulate. The ability for people to engage in ‘insider trading’ is virtually eliminated. As an average trader, you are less disadvantaged. You are likely to be playing on relatively equal ground along with all the other traders and investors whom you are competing against.

Note about price gaps:

For those people who have already traded other markets, you probably know about price ‘gaps’. ‘Gaps’ occur when prices ‘jump’ from one price level to another without having taken any incremental steps to get there. For example, you may be trading a share that closes at $10 at the end of today but due to some event that happens overnight; it opens tomorrow at $5 and continues to go downwards for the rest of the day.

Gaps bring about another degree of uncertainty that may meddle with a trader’s strategy. Probably one of the most worrying aspects of this is when a trader uses stop-losses. In this case, if a trader puts a stop-loss at $7 because he no longer wants to be in a trade if the share price hits $7, his trade will remain open overnight and the trader wakes up tomorrow with a loss bigger than he may have been prepared for.

After looking at a couple of forex charts, you will realize that there are little price ‘gaps’ or none at all, especially on the longer-term charts like the 3-hour, 4-hour or the daily charts.

Volatility

Trading opportunities exist when prices fluctuate. If you buy a share for $2 and it stays there, there is no opportunity to make a profit. The magnitude of level of this fluctuation and its frequency is referred to as volatility. As a trader, it is volatility that you profit from. Large volume transactions and high liquidity combined with fewer trading instruments generate greater intra-day volatility in the currency market that can be exploited by day-traders. The high volatility of the currency market indicates that a trader can potentially earn 5 times more money from currency trading than trading the most liquid shares.

Volatility is a measure of maximum return that a trader can generate with perfect foresight. Volatility for the most liquid stocks are between 60 to 100. Volatility for currency trading is 500. (Source: Oanda.)

In this respect, currencies make a better trading vehicle for day-traders than the equity markets.

Low Transaction Costs

A currency transaction typically incurs no commission or transaction fees. For a forex trader, the spread is the only cost he or she needs to cover in taking on a position. In addition, because of the currency market’s efficiency, there is little or no ‘slippage’ costs.

‘Slippage’ is the cost involved when traders enter the market at a price worse than the level they wanted to get into. For example, a trader wants to buy a share at $2.00 but by the time, the order gets executed, his gets to buy the shares at $2.50. That fifty cents difference is his slippage cost. Slippage cost affects large-volume traders a lot. When they buy large quantities of a commodity, it oversupplies the market with buy orders. This applies a pressure for the price to go up. By the time they get to buy all the quantities they wanted, the average price they got their commodities would be higher than the price they intended to get them for. Conversely, when they sell large quantities of a commodity, they oversupply the market with sell orders. This applies a pressure for the price to go down. By the time they finish selling all their commodities, their average selling price is less than what they initially intended to sell them for.

Due to lower transaction costs, minimum slippage and strong intra-day volatility, individuals can trade frequently at small costs. As an approximate, you may only expect to have a spread of 0.03% of your position size. To give you an example, you can buy and sell 10,000 US Dollars and this will only incur a 3-point spread, equivalent to $3.

Leverage

There are not a lot of banks or people who would lend you money so that you can use it to trade shares. And if there are, it would be very hard for you to convince them to invest in you and in your idea that a certain share is going to go up or down. Therefore, most of the time, if you have a $10,000 account, you can only really afford to buy $10,000 worth of stocks.

In currency trading however, because you use ‘borrowed money’, you can trade $10,000 of a currency and you only need anywhere between fifty (For a margin lending ratio of 200:1) to two hundred dollars ( For a margin lending ratio of 50:1) in your trading account. This makes it possible for an average trader with a small trading account, under $10,000 to be able to profit sufficiently from the movements of the currency exchange rates. This concept is explained further in The Part-Time Currency Trader.

Profit From A Bull And Bear Market

When you are trading shares, you can only profit when the price of a stock goes up. When you suspect that it is about to go down or that it is just going to be moving sideways, then the only thing you can do is sell your shares and stand aside. One of the frustrations of trading shares is that an individual cannot profit when prices are going down. In the currency market, it is easy for you to trade a currency downward so that you can profit when you think it is going to lose value. This is easy to do because currency trading simply involves buying one currency and selling another, there is no structural bias that makes it difficult to trade ‘downwards’. This is why the currency market has been occasionally referred to as the eternal bull market.

This is an excerpt, modified from the book: The Part-Time Currency Trader.

About The Author

Marquez Comelab is a private forex trader. He is the author of the book: The Part-Time Currency Trader – A Trading Guide For Working Men And Women. The book outlines the process of how you can develop your own trading methodology that suits your psychology and financial circumstance to buy and sell currencies in the forex market, while minimizing your risks. See: http://www.marquezcomelab.com.

By ForexExplore – Forex trader needs indicators to determine important entry and exit points. Forex Indicators predict financial and economic trends. Forex indicators can be categoried into two types, each of which makes a different prediction.

The first type of forex indicator is called leading. It is an indicator that shows you when to buy before a new trend or reversal. You can compare leading indicators to a virus scan that catches a virus before it attacks your computer! In forex market, leading indicators work in the same pattern, but unfortunately they aren’t as accurate. How is leading indicator formed? It follows the market changes and identifies repetitive patterns. With that information, leading indicator forecasts the future. When you depend on leading indicators, you might experience a lot of fake signals which can misinform you and cause a wrong decision.

The second type of forex indicator is called lagging. It is an economic indicator that tells you when a new trend has already started. Think of lagging indicator as a virus scan that tells you that your computer has been infected! Lagging indicators are definitely more trustworthy since they point out exactly when the price has already been changed and a new trend is visible. The disadvantage is obvious – you miss the beginning of the trend!! And since the biggest profit lays in the beginning of the trend, you obviously will miss a big chunk of profit.

Oscillators indicators are leading indicators. Just a reminder, oscillators are the ones that are drawn within boundaries of two lines. The oscillator signals buy or sell based on the set levels of the range. The leading indicators that we have covered here at ForexExplore are Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastics.

Momentum indicators are lagging indicators. Momentum is the rapid change of price when related to security analysis. Momentum indicators track momentum in the price (duh, that’s obvious!). Lagging indicators follow the price changes and, despite the quality of their predictions are less profitable, are very useful during trending periods,. The lagging indicators covered in ForexExplore.com are Moving Averages and Bollinger Bands.

About the Author

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