learn forex first

Why do hundreds of thousands online traders and investors trade the forex market every day, and how do they make money doing it?

This two-part report clearly and simply details essential tips on how to avoid typical pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.

1. Trade pairs, not currencies - Like any relationship, you have to know both sides. Success or failure in forex trading depends upon being right about both currencies and how they impact one another, not just one.
   
2. Knowledge is Power - When starting out trading forex online, it is essential that you understand the basics of this market if you want to make the most of your investments.
   The main forex influencer is global news and events. For example, say an ECB statement is released on European interest rates which typically will cause a flurry of activity. Most newcomers react violently to news like this and close their positions and subsequently miss out on some of the best trading opportunities by waiting until the market calms down. The potential in the forex market is in the volatility, not in its tranquility.
3. Unambitious trading - Many new traders will place very tight orders in order to take very small profits. This is not a sustainable approach because although you may be profitable in the short run (if you are lucky), you risk losing in the longer term as you have to recover the difference between the bid and the ask price before you can make any profit and this is much more difficult when you make small trades than when you make larger ones.
   
4. Over-cautious trading - Like the trader who tries to take small incremental profits all the time, the trader who places tight stop losses with a retail forex broker is doomed. As we stated above, you have to give your position a fair chance to demonstrate its ability to produce. If you don’t place reasonable stop losses that allow your trade to do so, you will always end up undercutting yourself and losing a small piece of your deposit with every trade.
5. Independence - If you are new to forex, you will either decide to trade your own money or to have a broker trade it for you. So far, so good. But your risk of losing increases exponentially if you either of these two things:
   Interfere with what your broker is doing on your behalf (as his strategy might require a long gestation period);
   Seek advice from too many sources - multiple input will only result in multiple losses. Take a position, ride with it and then analyse the outcome - by yourself, for yourself.
   
6. Tiny margins - Margin trading is one of the biggest advantages in trading forex as it allows you to trade amounts far larger than the total of your deposits. However, it can also be dangerous to novice traders as it can appeal to the greed factor that destroys many forex traders. The best guideline is to increase your leverage in line with your experience and success.
   
7. No strategy - The aim of making money is not a trading strategy. A strategy is your map for how you plan to make money. Your strategy details the approach you are going to take, which currencies you are going to trade and how you will manage your risk. Without a strategy, you may become one of the 90% of new traders that lose their money.
8. Trading Off-Peak Hours - Professional FX traders, option traders, and hedge funds posses a huge advantage over small retail traders during off-peak hours (between 2200 CET and 1000 CET) as they can hedge their positions and move them around when there is far small trade volume is going through (meaning their risk is smaller). The best advice for trading during off peak hours is simple - don’t.
9. The only way is up/down - When the market is on its way up, the market is on its way up. When the market is going down, the market is going down. That’s it. There are many systems which analyse past trends, but none that can accurately predict the future. But if you acknowledge to yourself that all that is happening at any time is that the market is simply moving, you’ll be amazed at how hard it is to blame anyone else.
   
10. Trade on the news - Most of the really big market moves occur around news time. Trading volume is high and the moves are significant; this means there is no better time to trade than when news is released. This is when the big players adjust their positions and prices change resulting in a serious currency flow.
11. Exiting Trades - If you place a trade and it’s not working out for you, get out. Don’t compound your mistake by staying in and hoping for a reversal. If you’re in a winning trade, don’t talk yourself out of the position because you’re bored or want to relieve stress; stress is a natural part of trading; get used to it.
12. Don’t trade too short-term - If you are aiming to make less than 20 points profit, don’t undertake the trade. The spread you are trading on will make the odds against you far too high.
13. Don’t be smart - The most successful traders I know keep their trading simple. They don’t analyse all day or research historical trends and track web logs and their results are excellent.
14. Tops and Bottoms - There are no real “bargains” in trading foreign exchange. Trade in the direction the price is going in and you’re results will be almost guaranteed to improve.
15. Ignoring the technicals- Understanding whether the market is over-extended long or short is a key indicator of price action. Spikes occur in the market when it is moving all one way.
16. Emotional Trading - Without that all-important strategy, you’re trades essentially are thoughts only and thoughts are emotions and a very poor foundation for trading. When most of us are upset and emotional, we don’t tend to make the wisest decisions. Don’t let your emotions sway you.
17. Confidence - Confidence comes from successful trading. If you lose money early in your trading career it’s very difficult to regain it; the trick is not to go off half-cocked; learn the business before you trade. Remember, knowledge is power.

The second and final part of this report clearly and simply details more essential tips on how to avoid the pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.

1. Take it like a man - If you decide to ride a loss, you are simply displaying stupidity and cowardice. It takes guts to accept your loss and wait for tomorrow to try again. Sticking to a bad position ruins lots of traders - permanently. Try to remember that the market often behaves illogically, so don’t get commit to any one trade; it’s just a trade. One good trade will not make you a trading success; it’s ongoing regular performance over months and years that makes a good trader.
2. Focus - Fantasising about possible profits and then “spending” them before you have realised them is no good. Focus on your current position(s) and place reasonable stop losses at the time you do the trade. Then sit back and enjoy the ride - you have no real control from now on, the market will do what it wants to do.
3. Don’t trust demos - Demo trading often causes new traders to learn bad habits. These bad habits, which can be very dangerous in the long run, come about because you are playing with virtual money. Once you know how your broker’s system works, start trading small amounts and only take the risk you can afford to win or lose.
4. Stick to the strategy - When you make money on a well thought-out strategic trade, don’t go and lose half of it next time on a fancy; stick to your strategy and invest profits on the next trade that matches your long-term goals.
5. Trade today - Most successful day traders are highly focused on what’s happening in the short-term, not what may happen over the next month. If you’re trading with 40 to 60-point stops focus on what’s happening today as the market will probably move too quickly to consider the long-term future. However, the long-term trends are not unimportant; they will not always help you though if you’re trading intraday.
   
6. The clues are in the details - The bottom line on your account balance doesn’t tell the whole story. Consider individual trade details; analyse your losses and the telling losing streaks. Generally, traders that make money without suffering significant daily losses have the best chance of sustaining positive performance in the long term.
   
7. Simulated Results - Be very careful and wary about infamous “black box” systems. These so-called trading signal systems do not often explain exactly how the trade signals they generate are produced. Typically, these systems only show their track record of extraordinary results - historical results. Successfully predicting future trade scenarios is altogether more complex. The high-speed algorithmic capabilities of these systems provide significant retrospective trading systems, not ones which will help you trade effectively in the future.
   
8. Get to know one cross at a time - Each currency pair is unique, and has a unique way of moving in the marketplace. The forces which cause the pair to move up and down are individual to each cross, so study them and learn from your experience and apply your learning to one cross at a time.
9. Risk Reward - If you put a 20 point stop and a 50 point profit your chances of winning are probably about 1-3 against you. In fact, given the spread you’re trading on, it’s more likely to be 1-4. Play the odds the market gives you.
   
10. Trading for Wrong Reasons - Don’t trade if you are bored, unsure or reacting on a whim. The reason that you are bored in the first place is probably because there is no trade to make in the first place. If you are unsure, it’s probably because you can’t see the trade to make, so don’t make one.
    
11. Zen Trading- Even when you have taken a position in the markets, you should try and think as you would if you hadn’t taken one. This level of detachment is essential if you want to retain your clarity of mind and avoid succumbing to emotional impulses and therefore increasing the likelihood of incurring losses. To achieve this, you need to cultivate a calm and relaxed outlook. Trade in brief periods of no more than a few hours at a time and accept that once the trade has been made, it’s out of your hands.
    
12. Determination - Once you have decided to place a trade, stick to it and let it run its course. This means that if your stop loss is close to being triggered, let it trigger. If you move your stop midway through a trade’s life, you are more than likely to suffer worse moves against you. Your determination must be show itself when you acknowledge that you got it wrong, so get out.
    
13. Short-term Moving Average Crossovers - This is one of the most dangerous trade scenarios for non professional traders. When the short-term moving average crosses the longer-term moving average it only means that the average price in the short run is equal to the average price in the longer run. This is neither a bullish nor bearish indication, so don’t fall into the trap of believing it is one.
    
14. Stochastic - Another dangerous scenario. When it first signals an exhausted condition that’s when the big spike in the “exhausted” currency cross tends to occur. My advice is to buy on the first sign of an overbought cross and then sell on the first sign of an oversold one. This approach means that you’ll be with the trend and have successfully identified a positive move that still has some way to go. So if percentage K and percentage D are both crossing 80, then buy! (This is the same on sell side, where you sell at 20).
    
15. One cross is all that counts - EURUSD seems to be trading higher, so you buy GBPUSD because it appears not to have moved yet. This is dangerous. Focus on one cross at a time - if EURUSD looks good to you, then just buy EURUSD.
    
16. Wrong Broker - A lot of FOREX brokers are in business only to make money from yours. Read forums, blogs and chats around the net to get an unbiased opinion before you choose your broker.
    
17. Too bullish - Trading statistics show that 90% of most traders will fail at some point. Being too bullish about your trading aptitude can be fatal to your long-term success. You can always learn more about trading the markets, even if you are currently successful in your trades. Stay modest, and keep your eyes open for new ideas and bad habits you might be falling in to.
    
18. Interpret forex news yourself - Learn to read the source documents of forex news and events - don’t rely on the interpretations of news media or others.

John Gaines

online trading, currency trading, financial service

A veteran of online trading, John Gaines offers the financial services industry his perspectives and expertise on a variety of trading systems and financial instruments, including forex, CFDs, futures, options and stocks.

The management of your bank account is something you have failed to do in a correct manner. Money that you have borrowed from the bank has been spent, leaving insufficient funds to pay direct debits and cheques. There isn’t even money in your account to pay the charges. Do you really think that you should be entitled to reclaim those charges made by the bank? You mismanaged your bank account, so why blame something or someone else?

Everyone spends money that is made available to him or her, via his or her bank accounts. So therefore you are to blame, to an extent. The fact is, that we all do it. In the past it was very difficult to spend money that was not in your account. Getting a bank to lend you the most minimal amount of money was a thing of extreme difficulty. Modern banking openly encourages the borrowing of money though. Tempting offers for loans and such, come through the post almost daily. These offers sometimes have unfortunate consequences though. The charges from the bank, when it all goes wrong, are often disproportionate, which leads to an important point:

Everyone spends money that is made available to him or her, via his or her bank accounts. So therefore you are to blame, to an extent. The fact is, that we all do it. In the past it was very difficult to spend money that was not in your account. Getting a bank to lend you the most minimal amount of money was a thing of extreme difficulty. Modern banking openly encourages the borrowing of money though. Tempting offers for loans and such, come through the post almost daily. These offers sometimes have unfortunate consequences though. The charges from the bank, when it all goes wrong, are often disproportionate, which leads to an important point:

There is no allowance for a penalty clause in English rule. If a £30 or £40 charge from the bank, for sending you a letter of notification of an unauthorised overdraft cannot be justified, then the fee is deemed a penalty.

Elaborate fees for returned cheques, overdrafts, standing orders and unpaid direct debits, all have the potential to be illegal.

Is there something you can do? It is actually free to claim those bank charges back. A list of such charges can be requested from your bank. Interest can be added to such charges, and a letter can be written to the bank, asking for a refund. Most banks will usually refuse, but lucky people do sometimes receive cheques. A second letter can then be sent, informing the bank that they have a certain amount of days to refund, or you will take them to a small claims court. You are unlikely to not receive a refund, should the matter be taken to court. The bank has to prove that charges made, were not penalties. A negotiable offer may be made by the bank, prior to a court hearing.

There are companies that work on a commission basis, and will handle such situations, should you not want to get embroiled in a dispute with your bank. The commission charged by such companies is generally around 25% of the eventual compensation. The fee is inclusive of court costs, which is something that requires consideration, in view of such situations rarely going to court.

A no win no fee basis is offered by certain companies. It is merely a case of shopping around. The greatest benefit of this is that you only pay, up until the time that you get your money back. Also, the company is more likely to maintain a healthy relationship with your bank, as it is not necessarily in the company’s interest to go to court.

If you feel it is in your interest to claim back your bank charges, then you should act quickly. It is rumoured that OFT (the Office of Fair Trading) are soon to set an acceptable level for the banks to charge. Once such parameters are set, it is likely that banks will seriously limit the amount awarded. If The ruling is set at £12 then the impact on claims is likely to be huge.

This article is written by Jonathan L Walker, on behalf of Claims Management UK, specialising in helping people to Reclaim Bank Charges

Denial is a ubiquitous psychological defense mechanism. It involves the repression of bad news, unpleasant information, and anxiety-inducing experiences. Judging by the German press, the country is in a state of denial regarding the waning health of its economy and the dwindling fortunes of its financial system.

Commerzbank, Germany’s fourth largest lender, saw its shares decimated by more than 80 percent to a 19-year low, having increased its loan-loss provisions to cover flood-submerged east German debts. Faced with a precipitous drop in net profit, it reacted reflexively by sacking yet more staff. The shares of many other German banks trade below book value.

Dresdner Bank - Germany’s third largest private establishment - already trimmed an unprecedented one fifth of its workforce this year alone. Other leading German banks - such as Deutsche Bank and Hypovereinsbank - resorted to panic selling of equity portfolios, real-estate, non-core activities, and securitized assets to patch up their ailing income statements. Deutsche Bank, for instance, unloaded its US leasing and custody businesses.

On September 19, Moody’s changed its outlook for Germany’s largest banks from “stable” to “negative”. In a scathing remark, it said:

“The rating agency stated several times already that current difficult economic conditions that are hurting the banking business in Germany come on top of the legacy of past strategies that were less focused on strengthening the banks’ recurring earning power. Indeed, the German private-sector banks, as a group, remain among the lowest-performing large European banks.”

Last week, Fitch Ratings, the international agency, followed suit and downgraded the long-term , short- term, and individual ratings of Dresdner Bank and of Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank (HVB).

These were only the last in a series of negative outlooks pertaining to German insurers and banks. It is ironic that Fitch cited the “bear equity markets (that) have taken their toll not only on trading results but also on sales to private customers, the fund management business and on corporate finance.”

Germans used to be immune to the stock exchange and its lures until they were caught in the frenzied global equities bubble. Moody’s observes wryly that “a material and stable retail franchise in its home market, even if more modestly profitable, can and does represent a reliable line of defence against temporary difficulties in financial and wholesale markets.”

The technology-laden and scandal-ridden Neuer Markt - Europe’s answer to America’s NASDAQ - as well as the SMAX exchange for small-caps were shut down last week, the former having lost a staggering 96 percent of its value since March 2000. This compared to Britain’s AIM, which lost “only” half its worth. Even Britain’s infamous FTSE-TechMARK faded by a “mere” 88 percent.

Only 1 company floated on the Neuer Markt this year - compared to more than 130 two years ago. In an unprecedented show of “no-confidence”, more than 40 companies withdrew their listings last year. The Duetsche Boerse promised to create two new classes of shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It belatedly vowed to introduce more transparency and openness to foreign investors.

Banks have been accused by irate customers of helping to list inappropriate firms and providing fraudulent advisory services. Court cases are pending against the likes of Commerzbank. These proceedings may dash the bank’s hopes to move from retail into private banking.

To further compound matters, Germany is in the throes of a tsunami of corporate insolvencies. This long-overdue restructuring, though beneficial in the long run, couldn’t have transpired at a worse time, as far as the banks go. Massive provisions and write-downs have voraciously consumed their capital base even as operating profits have plummeted. This double whammy more than eroded the benefits of their painful cost-cutting measures.

German banks - not unlike Japanese ones - maintain incestuous relationships with their clients. When it finally collapsed in April, Philip Holzmann AG owed billions to Deutsche Bank with whom it had a cordial working relationship for more than a century. But the bank also owned 19.6 percent of the ailing construction behemoth and chaired its supervisory board - the relics of previous shambolic rescue packages.

Germany competes with Austria in over-branching, with Japan in souring assets, and with Russia in overhead. According to the German daily, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the cost to income ratio of German banks is 90 percent. Mass bankruptcies and consolidation - voluntary or enforced - are unavoidable, especially in the cooperative, mortgage, and savings banks sectors, concludes the paper. The process is a decade-old. More than 1500 banks vanished from the German landscape in this period. Another 2500 remain making Germany still one of the most over-banked countries in the world.

Moody’s don’t put much stock in the cost-cutting measures of the German banks. Added competition and a “more realistic pricing” of loans and services are far more important to their shriveling bottom line. But “that light is not yet visible at the end of the tunnel … and challenging market conditions are likely to persist for the time being.”

The woeful state of Germany’s financial system reflects not only Germany’s economic malaise - “The Economist” called it the “sick man” of Europe - but its failed attempt to imitate and emulate the inimitable financial centers of London and New-York. It is a rebuke to the misguided belief that capitalistic models - and institutions - can be transplanted in their entirety across cultural barriers. It is incontrovertible proof that history - and the core competencies it spawns - still matter.

When German insurers and banks, for instance, branched into faddish businesses - such as the Internet and mobile telephony - they did so in vacuum. Germany has few venture capitalists and American-style entrepreneurs. This misguided strategy resulted in a frightening erosion of the strength and capital base of the intrepid investors.

In a sense, Germany - and definitely its eastern Lander - is a country in transition. Risk-aversion is giving way to risk-seeking in the forms of investments in equities and derivatives and venture capital. Family ownership is gradually supplanted by stock exchange listings, imported management, and mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers - both friendly and hostile. The social contracts regarding employment, pensions, the role of the trade unions, the balance between human and pecuniary capital, and the carving up of monopoly market niches - are being re-written.

Global integration means that, as sovereignty is transferred to supranational entities, the cozy relationship between the banks and the German government on all levels is over. Last October, Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, announced OECD-inspired anti-money laundering measures that are likely to compromise bank secrecy and client anonymity and, thus, hurt the German - sometimes murky - banking business. Erstwhile rampant government intervention is now mitigated or outright prohibited by the European Union.

Thus, German Laender are forced, by the European Commission, to partly abolish, three years hence, their guarantees to the Landesbanken (regional development banks) and Sparkassen (thrifts). German diversification to Austria and central and east Europe will provide only temporary respite. As the EU enlarges and digests, at the very least, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in 2004-5 - German franchises there will come under the uncompromising remit of the Commission once more.

In general, Germans fared worse than Austrians in their extraterritorial banking ventures. Less cosmopolitan, with less exposure to the parts of the former Habsburg Empire, and struggling with a stagnant domestic economy - German banks found it difficult to turn central European banks around as successfully as the likes of the Austrian Erste Bank did. They did make inroads into niche structured financing markets in north Europe and the USA - but these seem to be random excursions rather a studied shift of business emphasis.

On the bright side, Moody’s - though it maintains a negative outlook on German banking - noted, in November 2001, the banks’ “intrinsic financial strength and diversified operating base”. Tax reform and the hesitant introduction of private pensions are also cause for restrained optimism.

Pursuant to the purchase of Drsedner Bank by Allianz, Moody’s welcome the emergence of bancassurance and Allfinanz models - financial services one stop shops. German banks are also positioned to reap the benefits of their considerable investments in e-commerce, technology, and the restructuring of their branch networks.

The Depression on 1929-1936 may have started with the meltdown of capital markets, especially that of Wall Street - but it was exacerbated by the collapse of the concatenated international banking system. The world today is even more integrated. The collapse of one or more major German banks can result in dire consequences and not only in the euro zone. The IMF says as much in its “World Economic Outlook” published on September 25.

The Germans deny this prognosis - and the diagnosis - vehemently. Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke - a board member of the European Central Bank - spent the better part of last week implausibly denying any crisis in German banking. These are mere “structural problems in the weak phase”, he told a press conference. Nothing consolidation can’t solve.

It is this consistent refusal to confront reality that is the most worrisome. In the short to medium term, German banks are likely to outlive the storm. In the process, they will lose their iron grip on the domestic market as customer loyalty dissipates and foreign competition increases. If they do not confront their plight with honesty and open-mindedness, they may well be reduced to glorified back-office extensions of the global giants.

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and Suite101 .

Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

Visit Sam’s Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com; palma@unet.com.mk

Peter Johnson asked:


If you want to learn to trade forex, there are a few ways to get involved in this flourishing market. First, you may be asking, what is forex? Forex is short for ‘foreign exchange’ and is essentially the business of exchanging one currency for another and in the process making a profit due to shifting exchange rates. If you want to get involved there are three good ways to go about it: taking an online course, taking a classroom course, or finding a mentor.

Option 1 - Online Courses

If you would like to learn at your own pace from your home computer, then an online course is the best option for you. Be warned, though; as with everything else, there are plenty of scam artists out there that are claiming to teach you all about forex, but have little real experience. Oftentimes these folks have made all their money selling courses, not on the foreign exchange market. AS a result, you are getting faulty or diluted information that will do you no good. The best thing you can do is look for some reviews from reliable sources, i.e. sources that are in no way affiliated with any forex trading course. These reviews can point you in the right direction.

Option 2 - Classroom Courses

For many of us, when we think of learning, we rightly think of colleges or universities. For many though, this is a very intimidating prospect, especially if we consider ourselves ‘long done’ with school. Rest assured, though, that there are options for those of us that are way past our college years. See if you can find out what sort of classes are offered at your local university’s business school and see what they have available. If none of their course are specialized enough, you may be able to find a course at a community center or the like that is more specialized in forex trading.

Option 3 - Find A Mentor

The very best option you have is to find a mentor. A mentor is someone that has ‘been there, done that’ when it comes to forex trading. This person can take you under their wing and show you the ropes, if they are so inclined. When looking for a mentor, the best thing you can do is be their friend. You want to appear to be friendly and eager to learn, not looking to steal their thunder. You want to foster a relationship that will last for many years, with any luck. Your mentor can give you a real persons perspective on forex trading, not the perspective of a guy that is looking to make a quick buck off you. Having said that there are genuine forex trading system and tools which can assist you once you grasp the basics.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, only you can decide what way works best for you when it comes to learning about forex training, but the three ways mentioned are the best paths for you to choose from. If you can manage to find a mentor and take a course (online or classroom), then you will be home free. If you want to learn to trade forex, start looking around today and find out what option you think will work best for you!



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