Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Trade Forex in Seven Steps

If you are interested in learning to trade forex successfully, then the most common path for an aspiring trader these days is to search the Internet for information to apply immediately to their live forex trading account. The problem is that their search often leads them to destinations where there are plenty of false promises, bad ideas, negativity and an obsession with indicators. Many of the EBooks on sale today are filled with recycled concepts or incomplete strategies which the authors themselves do not use. Many authors do not earn money from forex trading but they earn their living by selling these EBooks to the novice forex trader.

This easy access to forex guru's who fuel the idea that forex trading is the holy grail of easy money, then financially feed off those same people they have sold this idea to. At the end of the day what many of these forex guru's sell is a gross misrepresentation of what it takes to trade forex for a living.

forex Trading is not easy. You can become a good forex trader though dedication and by treating forex trading as you would any other skill. The reality is that it is hard work and must be treated with the same amount of seriousness as you would any other career.

The effect of all these gurus is that many forex traders start off overly optimistic with unrealistic goals. Whilst there is nothing wrong with a positive mental attitude but this positivity must be built on strong foundations and realistic expectations.

New forex traders normally start their career by purchasing some secret set of indicators and they are quickly punished for their naivety. Many of these forex traders then purchase a different set of secret indicators until they become disillusioned and then quit trading.

In fact, many forex traders that are now successful went through this learning process, including myself. This is only a problem if you refuse to learn from your mistakes. You need to break from this cycle of reliance on secret indicators and guru methods to be successful.

You help yourself in the beginning; by learning to think for yourself and understanding that whilst anyone can trade forex, to be successful, you must learn to BE a forex trader.

Size of the Trade also known as Lot Size

Trade size varies from one broker to another. Generally 100,000 trading units of currency is considered a standard lot, 10,000 of trading units is a mini lot, and 1,000 trading units is a micro lot. Some brokers do offer fractions of a lot too, which give you more power to set your own lot size. This could be perceived as a bonus or just an added complication depending on your point of view.

There are other matters to be considered which include the interest paid on the forex margin account, the rollover charges when trades continue over to the next trading day and any other FX trading policies that the broker may have which could affect your forex trading account commerciality. These are the main points that you should be looking out for when choosing the best forex trading broker.

6. Customer Service

This is very important especially when you have just started out using a forex trading platform. Like with all new things there will inevitably be teething troubles and you will want to be able to speak or email someone and get an instant response. The best forex brokers will provide this service.

7. forex Exit Strategy

There will be a time when you want to realize some of the profits that you have made and be able to withdraw your money quickly and easily. Make sure that you are able to get your money within a couple of days as some online forex brokers insist on a 14 day delay which is totally unnecessary

Forex Broker Costs

Online forex brokers do not make commission charges to their customers so the way they make their income is from the difference in the forex trading spread. The forex spread is the differences between the buying and selling prices on any of the currency pairs. The forex trading spread is usually any spread between 1 pip and even sometimes less to around 3 pips; this will depend upon the online forex brokers terms of service and the currency pair being traded.

The piece of the pie taken by the spread can make all the difference between achieving a profit or making a loss in your forex trading account. This will affect both the immediate term and also the longer term so you will need to scrutinize closely at what level the spread will be computed. If you can decide which pairs you are likely to trade most frequently the spread on those pairs will be more important to you than on others. For example I prefer the USD/GBP trading pair, which is known as cable.

Beware of special short term marketing maneuvers like special offers of lower forex trading spreads that may not last long once you have committed your funds.

Consideration need to be given on how much is the minimum amount of capital you can invest in order to open a forex trading account. Good advice given to new traders is to start out small, which means looking for a forex broker who will let you open an account with a minimum of $250 or hopefully less.

4. Margins, which are also known as Deposits

Margins are a variable that change from forex broker to forex broker. A lower margin requirement means giving you a higher leverage, and higher leverage can give you the ability to create greater profits, or losses from a fund of the same size. Margins allow you to magnify the opportunity to make more money

Finding an Online Forex Broker to Explode Your Forex Profits

One essential ingredient that you must have when starting on line foreign currency exchange trading is an account with a forex trading broker. The currency trading broker is your connection into the markets and they will provide the essential cover that allows you to trade with margins.

The question is how do you select the best forex brokers. There are at least 7 criteria points to be considered when you are deciding where best to shop for a forex currency trading broker.

1. Dependable

This works on multiple levels. You need a broker that you can rely upon to be trustworthy and who will not all of a sudden vanish like a puff of smoke from the internet taking with them all of your hard earned money. The FX market is surprisingly devoid of regulations so there are a vast number of forex brokers to choose from and as is like with many things in life some forex trading brokers are more honest than others.

The first step is to check up on the reliability of the currency trading broker and to confirm your online forex broker is regulated. In the USA this means that you want a forex trading broker that carries a current registration with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and also the National Futures Association (NFA).

Check for a forex currency trading broker with an unblemished record regarding any complaints logged against them on the National Futures Association website. Other countries have their own regulatory bodies for example the Financial Services Authority in the UK performs the same function.

Another consideration is whether the online forex broker's trading platform is reliable. The forex trading platform is the financial software that will connect you to the FX markets whenever you want to trade. If the online forex trading platform is often offline then this will cause you some major problems. For example you could miss out on either opening or closing a trade at the optimum time.

It would be best to check a number of online forex trading forums for feedback from individual users regarding the amount of downtime that they have experienced. Remember it is like with all online forums do not listen to the loudest voice as they may have a vested interest either way in recommending or not recommending who in their opinion are the best forex brokers

2. Services Provided by the Best forex Brokers

The forex markets trade for a full 24 hours each day that's from Sunday evening through to Friday afternoon Eastern Standard Time. Check that your forex broker's trading platform is reachable available during all of these times, The best forex brokers trading platforms will be available and they will also offer around the clock customer support on forex trading days.

Check that they cover at the seven main currencies that are USD, JPY, CAD, AUD, CHF, EUR and GBP certainly the best forex brokers will.

The best forex brokers will offer you a minimum of the following essential tools, which are instant execution of your forex trade at the price displayed, technical analysis charts and financial trading charts. Most will also offer a training program to teach the basics of using the tools.

trading training

If you are reading forex reviews, then you will learn that those traders who have gained success in forex trading business are those who have undergone forex trading training. It will be a very big mistake if you just jump-in to forex trading without proper orientation. You will not survive such a high-risk environment. Always keep in mind that forex market decisions are done in accordance to real time which are usually within a matter of seconds. So, forex trading training can really give benefits to beginners. They are equipped with better training on handling demands and stress compared to those people who solely rely on their experience and instincts.

forex trading training also tackles about market mechanics, forex trading software tools, reading forex charts, closing a trade, and knowing the best bidding time. Beginners should first focus on charting because the most important factors in forex trading are being studied.

forex trading training helps especially the beginners in tracking the reasons why market shifts happens. If traders understands and read forex charts properly, then they would be able to identify market problems. Since charting is considered the basic of forex trading.

forex trading training also teaches forex market history. It explains the common mistakes that were done before that should be avoided. There are developed techniques on how to solve these problems which are also discussed. Take note, these important features should become a part of the online class or real life forex trading training.

forex trading training has proven to make a big difference. However, it will depend on the traders if they are going to choose the benefits of it. But the things that were immensely learned from it will be useful in turning your investments into profits. It also helps you in creating a definite and systematic plan to win forex trading.

Do you want to learn more about it? I have just completed my brand new guide to your forex success, 'The Insider's Guide To Your forex Fortune'