Forex Trading For Beginners

Forex trading is becoming more popular every day and for good reason. Fortunes can be made in a day. The market is traded up to 20 billion a day. Yes, each day.

Forex trading is not necessarily easy. It takes often years to really get the hang of it. With that said let me tell you what you can do to get the hang of it and not lose your butt while doing it.

There are several brokers out there that offer free demo accounts. Use them! A demo account uses all the real world information, but it does not place real trades and thus real money. This gives you all the time and resources you would ever want to start learning Forex.

You can treat your demo account just like you would if it was real. And you should do exactly that. If you really want to learn, pay attention like it was real money.

Many of the demo accounts are quite advanced too. They have rich tools to help you analyze the trades you made and lots of other info at your fingertips.

Get a demo account and spend a lot of time with it. In time you can learn enough to start making real trades. However, until you are making money just about every time with your demo account I would not put real money into it. You are simply asking for trouble. It is never a good idea to invest in something that you do not fully understand.

I actually spent just about a year on my demo account before I invested one dollar in real money. It was worth it! My first 4 - 5 months I was losing money consistently, which at the time was discouraging, but you have to learn. However, I am proud to say that I really did not lose $60,000. It was just demo money.

We all dream of quitting that day job, but I can assure you that if you do not do your homework you will surely fail. The good thing is that you will only fail at first. With enough practice and patience you can succeed.

The trick is to study. When your brain is fried from all the Forex info then study some more. Keep at it and in time you will succeed.

Just remember to use a demo account to learn how to do it.

Forex Trading - Why It's Not Easy and How to Win

Making money in forex trading is NOT easy and don't believe people selling you get rich quick forex robots etc - they wont help you make money. The fact is making money in forex trading is not easy and you wouldn't expect it to be with the rewards on offer. Here we will look at how if you work smart you can win...

Fact 95% of forex traders lose and that's a lot of people who burn their equity quickly so, Why don't the majority win?

Of course, many simply get the wrong forex education which includes:

- Trying forex day trading or scalping

- Trying to follow a forex robot with a simulated track record

- Trying to follow scientific theories of market movement

- Trying to trade breaking events and news

- Following gurus

- Using to much leverage

- Believing money management is just placing a stop

The above will all see you lose but even if you get the right forex trading education and have a sound logical system you are only half way there.

You still need to execute it with discipline and this is a problem for most forex traders, as discipline with a forex trading strategy requires skills that are totally alien to most people and how they function in everyday life.

Skills and attitudes which won't help you in forex trading are the following:

-The normal work ethic doesn't apply, you don't get rewarded for effort, you get rewarded for being right

- Being clever won't help you either make your system to complicated and it will fail

- You are dealing in a world of anarchy where you have to create rules to survive and live by them.

- You have to be wrong a lot of the time and allow the market to make you look stupid

- In society running with the pack is normal but in forex trading you must trade in isolation

The above cause enormous problems for most forex traders and they simply cannot get the right mindset to win.

They want to work hard and be clever and the market doesn't reward them for this, it teaches them a lesson in simple is best.

They are used to following rules and cannot take the responsibility of creating them and they hate looking stupid, when the market wrong foots them and cannot take small losses - but the fact is you have to lose to win. Finally, people have a real problem acting alone in isolation and executing trading signals when most traders and the news disagree with them.

Why You Can Win and Pile Up Big Gains

The fact is these are the problems you must overcome but for the trader with the right mindset, these can be huge advantages. They know that if they have a simple forex trading system, they can win and if they have work smart, they can be making big forex profits in around 30 minutes a day.

So forget about what you read forex trading is not easy, it requires a different set of skills but these skills if learned can see you earn big consistent profits in just 30 minutes a day and give you long term currency trading success.

Price Rate of Change

Overview
The Price Rate of Change (ROC) displays the value of the current price relative to the price of n periods ago. The Price Rate of Change can be expressed in either points or percentages.

Price Rate of Change Formulas
To plot the ROC in terms of points use the below formula:

Current Close - Close n periods ago

To plot the ROC in terms of percentages use the below formula:

(Today's Close - Close n periods ago)

-------------------------------------------------- * 100

Close n periods ago

The most common period for the Price Rate of Change is 12-periods for short- term signals, while 25-periods is popular among swing traders. The time period you trade will be the determining factor for this input.

Trading Signals
Traders will buy a security when the ROC crosses above the 0 line and sell when the indicator crosses below 0. The ROC can be classified as either an oscillator or momentum indicator. As the Price Rate of Change trends higher with price, this is confirmation that the trend has legs. However, if the price of the security heads higher, while the ROC trends lower, this type of divergence often precedes a market top.

Optimizing the ROC
The Percent Rate of Change will have completely different values for different stocks. The best method for trading the ROC is to look at previous peaks and troughs for the indicator. By comparing the current ROC value to recent levels, a trader will know what to expect in terms of price movement relative to the most recent trading activity.

FX Trading Strategy - To Win it Must Contain These 3 Vital Elements

If you want to win with your FX trading strategy make sure it contains these key elements otherwise you will be doomed and join the 95% of losing traders.

1. It must be Your Strategy!

Don't fall for the hype that some junk robot will give you success or a guru or mentor there are plenty sold online with huge profits in simulation but they don't work - no one gives you something for nothing and forex trading is no different.

Even if you have got the forex education from someone else, you must understand it and have confidence in it so you can follow it with discipline - discipline is the key, you must be able to ride out losing periods and wait until you hit a home run.

If you don't have confidence you will never be able to do this make sure you have it.

2. You Must Understand Your Edge

Your trading edge is the reason you will win when 95% of other traders lose and you must have confidence and understand what it is and it must be based on sound logic.

Many people think they have an FX strategy based on sound logic and do the following and lose.

- They try and predict market prices

- They follow bogus scientific theories

- They trade news stories

- They day trade and try and scalp

- They follow experts

All the above will see you lose if you don't know why, continue your forex trading education until you do.

Your trading edge is something that is personal to you and can be based on a simple forex trading strategy you can execute with discipline - that's enough, remember simple systems executed with rigorous discipline work!

3. Play Defence First

When you are trading on leverage you need to trade great defence first and always protect what you have this means rigorous money management rules and money management is much more than placing a stop!

If you don't keep your losses small you will get wiped out - sounds obvious?

Well most traders don't heed it and use leverage of 200 or 300:1 on a few hundred bucks, 10 or 20 is enough.

Forex trading can make you a lot of money but if you expect not to have to work your in for a rude awakening.

Do your homework, get confident and make sure you have the discipline to stick with your FX trading strategy and follow it through drawdown periods, to long term success and the rewards if you can do this are huge.

The Facts of Online Day Trading

Day traders employ a multitude of techniques mainly because they want to gain more profit and succeed in their craft. However, it is a fact of life that day trading is somehow risky and not everyone who engages in it ends up on the winning end. Therefore, before you plunge into the decision of becoming a day trader, you first have to pay careful attention in learning and analyzing the chart and stock patterns before purchasing a particular stock.

Online day trading has become popular because of its convenient nature.

First and foremost, the Internet is in full operation for twenty four hours. Some clients find the time to survey the stock market at the end of the day or before they turn in at night. Thus, there is a greater chance that you can cover a larger number of clienteles. Likewise, the Internet hosts a wide array of choices when it comes to stocks. It is then an advantage on your part since you can conveniently watch the behavior of the market wherever you may be and also purchase new stocks if you wish.

Meanwhile, it is significant that you take enough time to look into many of the considerations regarding online day trading before arriving at the decision of participating in the trend.

Here are some of the tips that you can ponder on:

Learn a variety of techniques. Before you enlist yourself as a full fledged online day trader, you should first collect as much knowledge as possible. You can take online tutorials, partake in the online forums, read newsletters, study through the cd-rom packages, or attend live seminars or webinars. Keeping yourself educated is an important ace in facing the world of the stock market.

Check out the demo account. Many of the online companies provide a demo account wherein you can practice your skills in day trading without further investing real money. In this way, you can better get to learn the ropes of the trade.

Research on the company's profile. You will not want to risk your money for nothing in return. Better yet, take the time to study the characteristics of the company that you are to deal with. At least, you will be forewarned should anything fishy happen.

Start small. Since you will just be figuring out your future as an online day trader, it is best to employ a small amount of money for starters. If ever you lose, you will not be disappointed that much because you engaged only a small part of your wealth.

Currency Trading - Learn the Simpler and Profitable Method

Nowadays, the easiest way to make money online is through currency trading which is known most popularly as Forex Trading. This is definitely the most lucrative business to get into as many forex traders are successfully raking in thousands and millions of dollars yearly thus making it the largest market in the world. It becomes more attractive because you can do it from home or office as well as from any country in the world. Anyone can easily start practicing trading once he is equipped with the right knowledge and resources.

So where should we acquire this knowledge and gather the proper resources to start investing in forex market?

You can buy or read online tutorials and e-books available on forex trading techniques which guides you through step by step procedures of starting in forex trading. Search in google with the keywords "online forex training" and you will be finding lot of tutorials available on web.

You can attend mentoring programs where an expert on forex will be teaching you the basic of entering into forex market. But this usually proves costly as they charge on an hourly or monthly basis which can cost up to 1000$.

Similarly you can enroll for any forex training classes or seminars and grasp the working of the forex market.

Though these methods can prove to be effective in the long run, it is time consuming, costlier as well as there is a tendency for the user to get overloaded with information that they get lost with the most effective way to start.

So, among all the alternatives, I realized the best and easiest platform to start for any trader planning to venture in this market is through an Automated robotic fore software. These are auto-pilot softwares which do the task of identifying trend movements in all situations of the market and accordingly execute successful trades.

The best part about this automated software is that it works 24 hours a day so you don't need to sit in front of the computer all the time to keep track of the currency movements. This software through its own mathematical algorithms keep track of the market movements and accordingly makes the best buying decisions. Plus it is very easy to install and simple to operate.

Though it also involves investment but comparing to the return one can get from this software, the price of 90-100$ seems almost negligible because through this software before risking your real money, you can test the forex market with the fake money. Whereas when doing trading manually, you need to start atleast with minimum balance of 500$ which can prove to be really risky proposition for beginners.

This software also offers 60 days money back refund, so it is almost risk less form of investment.

Highly Effective Online Currency Trading Tips

Forex, established in 1971, is the #1 foreign currency trading system in the world. Averaging a one and a half trillion daily trading volume, it is one of the most effective ways to invest money. When Forex began online operations, it quickly became the simplest and quickest way to trade. Online currency trading is now a popular form of making money on the side.

Despite being a popular and convenient form of investing, online currency trading is not simple. There are a number of basics that must be understood in order to turn a profit. One of these basics is the value of a currency. A currency has no absolute value. Its value changes when compared to different currencies. This is a beauty of currency trading. One currency can perform poorly when compared to one currency, but be a very wise investment when compared to another. There are always multiple options to trade against. You aren't relegated to investing solely with one particular currency, as you are with stock.

For example, let's take a look at the US Dollar. One day the currency pairs USD/EUR=0.6235 and USD/JPY=0.00932. A week later, those pairs could change to USD/EUR=0.60781 and USD/JPY=0.01002. The US Dollar lost value to the EURO but gained in value to the Yen. You made money if you were trading with Dollars and Yen. When online trading, a currency's performance differs when compared with different currencies. Another beauty of this online trading system is the ability to make money in both bull and bear markets. Since a currency is relative to the 100+ other currencies in the world, there is almost always some way to trade a currency for another that will result in financial gain, whether trading short or long.

Another marvel with online currency trading is the ability to buy on margins. A broker in the Forex market might allows investors to purchase currency at a 100:1 ratio, sometimes even greater. Why? It makes money for both parties. Both the investor and the broker make money when wise trades are made. It must be noted that a broker won't accept a loss, though. If you invest poorly, a broker will either exit your trades or ask you to deposit more money into your account.

The book What you get out of Insider Secrets of Online Currency Trading would be a wise investment for anybody interested in online currency trading. This book will explain the trends and fundamentals of online currency trading, as well as provide readers with inside tricks and tips. Other options for getting ahead in online currency trading? There are many courses and workshops available, as well as other books and successful investors that are willing to share the secrets of their success.

As mentioned before, online currency trading is not fool proof. Many investors do not take the time to gain the knowledge and expertise to fully capitalize on the market. Just like with any form of investing, it is vital to learn proper Forex currency trading before becoming fully committed. Only by knowing the system can you avoid a loss.

Mind Over Market - A Trader's Roadmap To Profits

There has been much written about how important the role is of your mind set when trading. Suffice to say that having the right trading mind set is critical to making money in the markets. This article is going to attempt to give you some insight into my take on how having the right trading mind set is not only critical but may be the only thing that would hold you back making money trading.

First, I think a little background would be appropriate. My wife and I attended a day trading workshop in White Plains, New York in the fall of 1998. The cost was $3,500 a person (yes, like most of you, I have spent 10's of thousands of dollars learning all of the trick that would help me make money in the market). The market was in a strong bull trend and people were making money hand over fist. The idea of "day trading" was really brand new. With the improvement in computer technology and the many programs that were being developed to identify various strategies, this type of trading was ripe for those people who had a bit of knowledge and were willing to share it. The strategies that were taught were presented in a 50-page booklet. There were 8 people in our group. The instructors were Oliver Valez and Greg Capra of Pristine.com. They had just started their company and were on the cutting edge of the day trading movement (In my opinion, they are still very good in what they do). You might ask why I go into all of this background? Well, at the time, I didn't even know that a day chart could be broken down into a 3-minute or 5-minute or even a 1-minute chart. My training had been from the largest brokerage firm in the world and they surely didn't want their brokers even looking into day trading. I came back to my office full of excitement and anticipation.

Then The Reality Sets In

I will never forget the first month that I started day trading. I made $42,000. My confidence level was through the roof. I thought to myself that this easy. I am going to retire next year. WRONG! Because of my confidence, I decided I couldn't do anything wrong. I would take a trade. It would go against me and I would rationalize why I should stay in the trade, MOVING MY STOPS to along with my juicy rationalizations. (Have any of you ever done anything like that?). Well, to make a long and very painful story short, the next month I lost not only the $42,000 but also another $3,000. This taught me a very important lesson: I don't care how much you like a stock (or trade), don't ever become married to it or why you bought it or shorted it. STICK to your rules and stops, no matter what.

And I Thought I Had It Bad

The people that had attended the seminar in White Plains were able to go into a chat room to discuss their trades and their successes and failures. There was one man whose handle in the chat room was dmarti (I can't remember his real name). Dmarti had worked for a large phone company. Dmarti came into the chat room every day. He had identified a company that set-up to be a short. So dmarti shorted the stock. The stock started to go up. He kept justifying why this stock should go down (too expensive, P.E. to high, institutional ownership to much/little, and on and on and on). The stock continued to move higher and higher. Last I heard was that dmarti had a margin call and he was down $750,000. OUCH!! The stock that he was sure was going down in 1998? ... a little stock known as Yahoo.

What Does This Have To Do With The Trading Mind Set?

EVERYTHING!!! Once you find a strategy that you like and fits your personality, mind set is the MOST important aspect to trading you need to perfect. I have read many older traders swear that anyone can make money day trading with any system as long as they have the proper mind set and follow a good set of money management rules.

So What Do I Need To Do Now?

If you have had any of these issues trading and would like to change your mindset, I would suggest that you start by writing down YOUR set of trading rules.

Try initially to take every trade using those rules. Then, every day, go through the chart and evaluate how you did with your trading rules. Take very careful notes on which trade made money, what you were thinking while the trade was unfolding, how you felt when you made money, or lost money, how you felt when you were up and the trade came back against you to stop you out for a loss. Anything that will give you insight into what your mind was doing when you were actually trading. For those of you who are still using a demo to test trading strategies, this the most important part of the learning process you can go through. This journal is a very good way to evaluate your mind set when you were trading. Remember, you can't think your way into better acting. You have to act your way into better thinking!!

Conclusion

As I stated in my opening blog, it is important for me to try to help new traders to learn to trade well. I hope that some of the insights in this report will help you to become a more profitable trader and that you won't have to go through many of the mistakes that I have made.