Thursday, December 10, 2009

Are Traditional Banks Better Than Internet Banking?

With the ubiquitous internet as it is today, you have the convenience of doing a variety of banking transactions online from the comfort of your home, in your office or while traveling. This extraordinary technological creation has so made life easier for a lot of people including professionals, the business community, housewives and scholars even for banking purposes. Notwithstanding, this new communication phenomenon people have not stopped patronizing the usual off line banks . The orthodox banks will always be there for those people who still choose to interact in an real bank in where they see staff and call them by name.The banks that have gone online and their offline counterpart have their advantages and disadvantages. It's up to you to consider and decide whether to transact your financial affairs with either an online bank or an off line one . What really count s is that you should know your financial demands so as to be able to actually be on the look out for the latest tendency in the banking industry and understudy them to see how it favors you. Even if you are loyal to your usual offline bank, you may also have the need to sometimes use the online banking service for an urgent transaction or when you are where the bank is not near by.Accomplished banks continue to use pen and paper for organizing financial transactions off line while in their online virtual offices computer and internet and keyboard are the instruments for banking transactions . The fact is that a lot of people are now online with financial products that are internet-only services meant to compete with the normal off line banks . Though these conservative banks cater mainly to their old customers, people who should know are advising them to also open online offices to serve the internet-savvy young people and by so doing attract more customersSecurity and person to person interactions are the main reasons people maintain the use of traditional banks. A lot of people feel that human contact is a necessity in any bank transaction; they want to hand their hard earned cash over to real teller.Banking online is quite the same as when you do the same thing in an offline bank. The significant dissimilarity is that your computer replaces paper or phone for accessing your account information for payments and statements reconciliations . You don't really have to worry about going to your local bank branch when you can do all the things necessary to effect a bank transaction in the comfort of your home with a desktop computer or laptop and internet connection.A principal advantage that internet banking offers people who go for online banking is cost effectiveness. Certain banks are known to charge their customers lower fees if the bank online banking services.

Headwinds Intensity

Economic activity still appears to be holding up at a pace that is consistent with at least modest economic growth. This week had a relatively light economic release schedule but the reports that were released tended to come in stronger than expected. Major reports include the ICSC chain store sales figures, which came were up 4.3 percent year-to-year. Chain store sales are clearly being bolstered by tax rebates. Most of the impact has been at discount stores and warehouse clubs. Department stores and most specialty apparel chains reported declines for the month. Furniture sales were absolutely awful. The major electronic chains and home improvement centers did not report sales. We suspect spending has held up at electronics chains, which should be one of the largest beneficiaries from rebates. Home improvement stores may also see another strong month for the same reason, with tax rebates trumping the drag from the housing slump.
First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply during early July. Jobless claims probably are not as good as the drop suggests.

Investment management firms

Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades.

The Advantages of Trading Alone

People sometimes experiment with the idea to trade with other people. It might work, but for me, it did not. I trade alone. The advantages of trading alone are:You are free to make your own decisions without having to find a way to explain the rationale of your decisions to anybody else. Your time and effort can be focussed on what the market is doing and how you react to it, instead of worrying about the psychological and emotional dynamics of a trading group.You are free to experiment, based on the knowledge you gain from your experiences and your self-education, without having to asking others to allocate a certain portion of the trading funds to let you conduct your experiments.No one can blame you for their failures. No time is wasted on justifying your actions or feeling guilty about the impact of your trading blunders on someone else's financial situation.You alone are responsible and accountable for your own success or failure. You cannot shift the blame to anybody else. It could be disappointing to some knowing that they cannot blame anyone else if they fail. For others, it is very empowering to know that they, and they alone, are in charge of their own destiny.Personally, I believe that a person should trade alone first before he or she decides to trade with other people. This allows the individual to develop his own philosophy and his own understanding about himself and the market. I understand, however, that not everybody can trade alone because it requires a set of beliefs and values to be part of the trader's character. Not all people are created with the same set of characteristics. Not everyone can operate under the solitude of the journey. For example, there are people who need social contact more than others. Individuals who are social by nature and those who solve problems by talking to other people, may have difficulty undertaking a solitary endeavour.Furthermore, there are people who do not have faith in their abilities and in their capacity to learn to trade successfully. I know of individuals who need constant reassurance before they take any step towards their goals. In similar circumstances, trading in a group may be the only option available for some people to give them the push they need: otherwise, they may never start.by Marquez ComelabMarquez Comelab is a private trader in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of The Part-Time Currency Trader, a book on how to develop trading strategies. He is also the founding editor of The Part-Time Investor Magazine: an online magazine

Safety of Client Funds

Assuring client fund safety is one of the single most important factors in the financial industry. GCI Financial Ltd is regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) for trading in financial and commodity-based derivatives and other securities, including foreign exchange. The IFSC's strict requirements include capital adequacy, reporting and record keeping, and proper disclosure and conduct with clients. Furthermore, GCI has years of experience managing risk, a strong balance sheet, and offers additional legal and structural guarantees:Client funds held with GCI Financial Ltd ("GCI") are maintained in separate Customer Funds accounts and may never be utilized for operating expenses or for other purposes or commingled with GCI's operating capital.Funds are withdrawn from these bank accounts only as a direct result of clients' trading activities or clients' request for withdrawal. In the unlikely event of GCI's bankruptcy, client funds are legally protected and returned directly to the customer.Furthermore, GCI maintains a balance sheet with Net Capital in excess of minimum regulatory requirements.

BUYING AND SELLING TIPS IN FOREX

Order Basics :* Sellers are asking for a high price.* Buyers are Bidding at a lower price.* Trading is an auction.* Slippage occurs with most Market Orders.* The diffrence between the ASK and the BID price is the spread.A trader must understand what each order is, what it and what part it plays in capturing profit.A FOREX Trader must use three types of orders: a Market Order, a Limit Order, and a Stop Order.The two primary orders used for entering and exciting the market are a Limit Orders, and a Stop Orders. Once an order is placed your order to enter the market, there are two critical procedures: One-Cancels-the-Other( OCO ) and Cancel-and-Replace. Properly exectuing orders and understanding these procedures are a vital step to profitables trading.IMP : all good carpenters carry a toolbox. The sharper the tools and the more skilled he is at using them, the more effective he is. The sharper you become as a trader the more effcient and lucrative you will be.What orders do : A clear understanding of what each order does is essential before exectuing orders

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Forex Trading Techniques

If you are looking at Forex trading techniques and which are the best to make profits then there are actually quite a few different ways of making money but before we look at some proven Forex techniques, lets look at one technique in terms of making profits, ALL good Forex trading strategies have and that’s sound Forex money management.
Any strategy which doesn’t protect equity and deal with leverage correctly is destined to lose and you need to have through understanding of it to win. Like any great football team, success is built on sound defence first. If you keep your equity intact, you will get opportunities to get into some big profitable trades. Forex trading is first and foremost all about taking your losses with discipline and keeping them small. Now what strategies should you use to make money?
As a general rule, the big profits come from trend following and hitting and holding these big trends. The best Forex trading technique to use for doing this is to trade breakouts; simply buy breaks to new chart highs and sell breaks to new chart lows. It’s a simple, timeless, strategy which works and will continue to work, as long as markets trend.
You can also trade overbought and oversold levels and Forex swing trading can be very profitable. This method is ideal for novices, as it’s exciting, fun, profitable and doesn’t require as much discipline as long term trend following.
There are of course many Forex trading techniques you can use to make profits and the ones outlined are some of the best so get some Forex education and learn them, get confidence and trade with discipline and you could soon be making some great profits in global Forex markets.

Forex Broker with Simple Trading Platform

10Pips is a new Forex broker that was added to the list on my site today. Its main stated advantage is the simplicity of the trading platform and the overall process of starting Forex trading even for the complete newbies. I don’t know why did they give their broker such a name but, in my opinion, 10 pips is too much for a spread and too low for a profit :-). Of course, their spreads are quite below 10 pips (EUR/USD spread is only 2 pips, which is the current industry’s average). It should also be said that they are not a purely Forex broker since they offer CFD, stocks, commodities and index trading as well. Other features of 10Pips include:
  • Multilingual traders’ support
  • Real account bonuses
  • Deposit via WebMoney, wire transfer or credit cards
  • $100 to start trading
  • Leverage — up to 1:200

Forex Trading Training: The Principles To Success!

Currency trading experts understand the power of maximizing every dollar they invest into the forex market. Their approach to investing stems from a heavy set of fundamentals and principles gathered through a solid forex education. This is one of the keys to succeeding in the forex market.

There are plenty of software programs that all claim to yield a high return on the dollar but the safest approach to using software to forecast market trends and swings is to use a proven system. For this reason, it is always good to look for a system that has already been proven by a wide group of investors. Successful traders would not continue to use a particular program if they were losing money.

Automated software bots have been gaining momentum for many years. Savvy investors and traders use these programs to help them track and monitor key pieces of information such as trading start and stop signals. They are an essential tool to an investor.

With many new investors hitting the market, they can attest to the power of using bots to help them look for key market indicators and signals. The biggest advantage of using these bots is that they facilitate the monitoring of signals without the need of the trader?s constant involvement. The signals alerting the trader is in real time and therefore keeps the investor on the edge for making profits and issuing stop loss orders.

Becoming a success in trading does not mean that you have to use bots. There is a human element involved too. While using bots can be a good idea, it cannot replace the intuitive nature of the human experience. Those who reply heavily on bots never sharpen their intuitive investing strategies. As you gain experience in learning to interpret market signals, you will know when to stop or enter a trade.

The trading strategies you use will play a vital part of your success. There are several strategies that you will want to study and learn. They not only serve as entry and exit guides, but they help you stay on course depending on your preference for trading. These strategies can be easily learned online or under the training of a broker.

As an example, many traders use the leverage based strategy. This type of strategy gives you access to more money to make trades above the amount you initially invested. The amount you can use is normally determined by your broker and is subject to specific terms. See a currency exchange broker to get more information.

With the right forex education, you can learn to trade in currency exchange market. If you do not have any experience, this training can be gained by working closely with a broker. Their knowledge, insight and experience will shorten your learning curve and accelerate your success. The key to success is to find a broker with a proven track record for investors.

Discover more information relating to forex broker and stay informed

Forms and Types of Forex Options

In forex trading as in stocks trading, there are two basic forms of options: the call and the put option. A call option gives the holder (buyer) the right to purchase a certain amount of the underlying currency at a specified price (the strike price) and date. A put option gives the holder the right to sell a certain amount of the underlying currency at the strike price. Forex options are divided into two major categories, both available on the Finotec Trading Platform: vanilla and exotic options. The major difference between those categories lies in the variables that they integrate. Each category contains several Options Types:. Vanilla options: these are the simplest types of options. The origin of the name is not clear. They refer to standard CALL and PUT forex options contracts. Please note that "put" and "call" forex options contracts are note the opposite of the same transaction but two separate transactions. This means that for every forex call option buyer there is a call seller and for every forex put option buyer there is a put seller. Under our platform's Vanilla options, you will also find both straddle and strangle options strategies. These last options types are actually defined as options strategies. Exotic options: Unlike plain vanilla options with single strike prices and standard expiration dates, exotic options are based on more complex conditional time and price scenarios. Exotic options include different types if options including "barrier" options (knock-in, knock-out, reverse knock-in, reverse knock out) and "binary" options (one-touch, no-touch, double one touch, double no touch). In general, options can be either American-style or European-style. American-style options may be exercised at any point until the expiration date. European-style options may only be exercised at the time of the expiration date. Options trading with Finotec is facilitated by a complete set of tools designed to help traders make considered trading decisions.

The Seven Most Traded Currencies in forex

Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called “lots”. One lot is equal to $1,000, which controls $100,000 in currency. This is what is known as the "margin". You can control $100,000 worth of currency for only 1,000 dollars. This is what is called “High Leverage”.

Currencies are always traded in pairs in the FOREX. The pairs have a unique notation that expresses what currencies are being traded. The symbol for a currency pair will always be in the form ABC/DEF. ABC/DEF is not a real currency pair, it is an example of a symbol for a currency pair. In this example ABC is the symbol for one countries currency and DEF is the symbol for another countries currency.

Here are some of the common symbols used in the Forex:

USD - The US Dollar EUR - The currency of the European Union "EURO" GBP - The British Pound JPN - The Japanese Yen CHF - The Swiss Franc AUD - The Australian Dollar CAD - The Canadian Dollar

There are symbols for other currencies as well, but these are the most commonly traded ones.

A currency can never be traded by itself. So you can not ever trade a EUR by itself. You always need to compare one currency with another currency to make a trade possible.

Some of the common PAIRS are:

EUR/USD Euro / US Dollar "Euro"

USD/JPY US Dollar / Japanese Yen "Dollar Yen"

GBP/USD British Pound / US Dollar "Cable"

USD/CAD US Dollar / Canadian Dollar "Dollar Canada"

AUD/USD Australian Dollar/US Dollar "Aussie Dollar"

USD/CHF US Dollar / Swiss Franc "Swissy"

EUR/JPY Euro / Japanese Yen "Euro Yen"

The listed currency pairs above look like a fraction. The numerator (top of the fraction or "left" of the / however you want to SEE it) is called the base currency. The denominator (bottom of the fraction or "right" of the /however you want to SEE it) is called the counter currency. When you place an order to buy the EUR/USD, for instance, you are actually buying the EUR and selling the USD. If you were to sell the pair, you would be selling the EUR and buying the USD. So if you buy or sell a currency PAIR, you are buying/selling the base currency. You are always doing the opposite of what you did with to base currency with the counter currency.

If this seems confusing then you’re in luck. You can always get by with just thinking of the entire pair as one item. Then you are just buying or selling that one item. Thinking like this will still enable you to place trades. You only need to be aware of the base/counter concept for Fundamental Analysis issues.

So why is it important to know about the base/counter currency? The base/counter currency concept illustrates what is actually taking place in a Forex transaction. Some of you reading this, know that short-selling was restricted in the stock market *(Short-selling is where you sell a stock/currency/option/commodity first and then try to buy it back at a lower price later). But in the FOREX you are always buying one currency (base) and selling another (counter). If you sell the pair you are simply flipping which one you buy and which one you sell. The transaction is essentially the same. This allows you to short-sell with no restrictions.

You want to be able to short-sell with no restrictions so you can make money when the market drops as well as when it rises. The problem with traditional stock market trading is that the market has to go up for you to make money. With FOREX trading you can make money in all directions.

Great Trading

Provided you decide to start trading it would be a great idea to invest in some software to help you keep up with your investments. The CMS Forex website recommends the VT Trader 2.0 Some of it’s key features are chart based trading, customizable interface, 100+ technical indicators, custom indicators, risk management tools, pattern recognition technology, customer alerts, Forex autopilot, stability and Dow Jones News. They also suggest the VT Trader Mobile device which can be taken wherever you go so you can trade anywhere.

Forex Home Business

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of forex home business is certainly no exception.When running a forex home business, a person quickly gains knowledge of how the business world works. Whether it be selling crafts, doing a home delivery business, or selling real-estate, after investing a lot of time and effort into a home or small business, a person quickly becomes aware of the few basic business truths that govern business.One of those truths is that you have to have time and money to start a small business or any business for that matter. More often than not, the people that have the time dont have the money to invest in a home-based business and the people that have the money dont have the time. With Forex home business, it is quite possible to generate an income with a small time investment per day, after studying FOREX for a few months, and a very small investment as little as $50 in some cases.The second truth, and these are probably quite obvious to most people, is that in order to make money a business has to have some sort of product to sell or perform some type of service. In the FOREX world, nothing is being sold and no service is being performed, but rather money is being exchanged. You are making a profit based on the actual exchange value of one currency against another currency. This eliminates the need for employees, such as customer service personnel and human resource people if your company were to become that big.Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.Also, because of the huge size of the FOREX market, trading nearly $1.5 trillion dollars a day, such things as social events, bad publicity, and changes in political climate will have no effect on your business. In fact, after studying FOREX, you will be able to see how these things will actually benefit your FOREX home business.The third and last classical business truth is that most people are prevented from starting a home-based business because they dont feel good enough about themselves. They dont feel like theyre educated enough. I read stories all of the time about people that feel passionate about something or they just pick something that they are relatively good at or have done before and start a business. They just take a chance. If you want to do it, step out. Take that first step. Dont drop any huge sums of money, of course, but do a little research, make a small investment and start your adventure down to the road to FOREX trading.You dont need a doctorite degree to get involved with FOREX trading, but after a couple of months of good study, its quite possible to generate a significant source of cash from FOREX trading. Forex traders study the political and economic trends in the economically important countries, including USA, Japan, England or the European Union, and make an assessment of the present or future purchase values of these currencies in comparison with each other. Again, the process of sale and purchase is like any other market activity, except that the time period varies. Blindly trade. Forex home business is not about gambling. Consider a situation where you think that the price of a given commodity, say, silver, gold, or wheat, will increase in the near future.You can’t predict when knowing something extra about forex home business will come in handy. If you learned anything new about forex home business in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

Top Forex Brokers of Pakistan

H & H EXCHANGE CO. (PVT) LTD.

(KARACHI)H & H - Pakistan's first Exchange Company. Granted license by the State Bank of Pakistan to carry out foreign exchange business. We also deal in cash currencies, foreign remittance

DOLLAR EAST EXCHANGE COMPANY(LAHORE)Dollar East Exchange Company (Pvt.) Limited is a leading exchange company in Pakistan. The company is one of the pioneers to start currency exchange business in the country. It was

EMIRATES GLOBAL ISLAMIC BANK LIMITED (EGIBL) (KARACHI)

Alhamdolillah, Emirates Global Islamic Bank Limited, a dedicated Islamic Commercial Bank, commenced operations in February 2007. Presently the Bank has ten branches in Pakistan .

GLAXY EXCHANGE (PVT.) LTD (KARACHI)

ZARCO EXCHANGE COMPANY (PVT) LTD(LAHORE)

The ZARCO Exchange Company is a respected financial institution that provides dependable Exchange and Transfer services to satisfied customers throughout Pakistan.

A KHANANI AND KALIA MONEY EXCHANGE(ISLAMABAD)

Since a last decade, Khanani & Kalia International (Pvt) Ltd. has been known by its customers for its best quality services at the national level.

Difference Between Forex and Stock

The Forex market has a lot of advantages compare to stock market: A Forex trader could make profit through the market no matter if it is bearish and bullish which is different from the capital market, Forex has no strict regulation in speculation, no matter whether it is a long-term or a short-term transaction there is still a hidden profit, moreover, Forex market is a double-transaction market which means Forex traders could make profit through both upward and downward trend.2. Forex traders could obtain a much larger transaction compared to the stock market, through the Forex trading, Forex traders could obtain 100 times larger transaction compared to the stock market. According to the present US situation, if a Forex trader invests $1,000 in the stock market, the trader may obtain $2,000 of stock domination property with a proportion of 2:1, but through Forex trading, a Forex trader can do transaction with a proportion up to 100:1.Forex trader may make profit from the ordinary news, like the interest rate change, Forex market is closely related to various countries' politic, economy and culture, Forex traders could also obtain profit from other kinds of news, for example interest rate level change, will influence the interest of the Forex deposit.3. Forex traders could do 24 hours trading. The stock market can only be traded during daytime at a specific time, generally from 9:30a.m. to 4:00p.m.. If you too have your own full time job, then you will face the dilemma - either to give up your full time job or forgo the trading opportunity. But Forex market can be traded 5 days a week and 24 hours a day, Forex traders can trade during their free time which is normally at night after working hour.4. If a trader analyze based on technical analysis, Forex trading would be much more suitable for such traders because the Forex market has a very large trading volume. Currently the Forex market has daily trading volume of 190 billion Dollar, such giant market will completely digest a fore trader's transaction cash, under such situation the accuracy of the technical analysis would be much higher then any financial market, the chances of using technical analysis to make profit would be much more higher.5. In the stock market there are hundred and thousand kinds of stocks, then choosing stock will be a very difficult matter. But in the Forex market, the currency combination is extremely limited, this may enable Forex traders to concentrate on these currencies combination, and could follow the trend quickly.

Benifits of Forex Trading


The only market that is world’s largest and most liquid is forex trading market. This is also recognized as one and only absolute home busiess. But this would confusing for a layman that is new to the market. Many questions that arises – Why do people go for online trading and how do they buck up their bank account? Every day more number of investors and traders are moving in to forex trading market because of several advantages available in the market. It is just that there are few things you need to know and learn appropriately. Most traders keep their trading simple. Just little bit of market information and research helps them. But when looking high and high achievement, you need to work hard and smart.Following are advantage of forex trading.• The margin requirement to trade in forex is just 5% of total value of holding. So you can keep your margin as low as possible to trade risk free. You get the ability to manage large amount with lower margin.• Forex trading market is commission fee. If you act as an individual trader then you do not pay any commission fee. However, if you trade with forex broker he might charge you a low value share from the trade.• Bid and ask rates are very flexible. Most of the online forex trading brokers provide a spread of 4 pips on USD/EUR as it is the most traded currency pair. It may fluctuate between 4 to 9 pips. • Considered the largest and most flexible market in the world. • Trade execution is almost instant, enabling traders and investors to respond to rising or falling situations or trends rapidly.• This market is usually known as a free market even though the dealings of major dealers, such as commercial banks in money centers, are controlled under certain banking laws.• It is a 24 hour seamless market and can trade any time except the weekends. So it becomes comfortable for all types of trader and investors to deal with forex trading.• The standard forex trading volume is huge, and inclinations could be simple to spot. • No various exchange listings to the same currency and no average size to trade.• Forex trading brokers provide very limiting short selling margin needs to trader and investors. That simply means a customer do not have the liquidity to be capable to sell stock before he buys.• Forex trading is done “OTC” (Over the Counter). So there is no clearing house or central exchange to match the orders. Deal takes place on the reputation basis of the participants.• Widen options available of small traders as well. Lately forex trading is becoming increasingly popular among small brokers and traders.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Forms and Types of Forex Options

In forex trading as in stocks trading, there are two basic forms of options: the call and the put option. A call option gives the holder (buyer) the right to purchase a certain amount of the underlying currency at a specified price (the strike price) and date. A put option gives the holder the right to sell a certain amount of the underlying currency at the strike price. Forex options are divided into two major categories, both available on the Finotec Trading Platform: vanilla and exotic options. The major difference between those categories lies in the variables that they integrate. Each category contains several Options Types:. Vanilla options: these are the simplest types of options. The origin of the name is not clear. They refer to standard CALL and PUT forex options contracts. Please note that "put" and "call" forex options contracts are note the opposite of the same transaction but two separate transactions. This means that for every forex call option buyer there is a call seller and for every forex put option buyer there is a put seller. Under our platform's Vanilla options, you will also find both straddle and strangle options strategies. These last options types are actually defined as options strategies. Exotic options: Unlike plain vanilla options with single strike prices and standard expiration dates, exotic options are based on more complex conditional time and price scenarios. Exotic options include different types if options including "barrier" options (knock-in, knock-out, reverse knock-in, reverse knock out) and "binary" options (one-touch, no-touch, double one touch, double no touch). In general, options can be either American-style or European-style. American-style options may be exercised at any point until the expiration date. European-style options may only be exercised at the time of the expiration date. Options trading with Finotec is facilitated by a complete set of tools designed to help traders make considered trading decisions.

W.D. Gann Trading Methods - Genius Trader or Overrated Guru

W.D. Gann is one of the most famous traders of all time, and has a huge devoted following - however the fact is, Gann never made the huge profits many of his disciples claim.

He did not have a success rate of 90%, as is often claimed - the logic his methods are based upon are unsound, and his predictive methods don’t predict - they leave everything to subjective opinion!

Let’s examine his theories of investment in more detail and see.

Let’s look at some common myths about how great a trader Gann actually was:

Many sources quote Gann’s trading profits at $50 million dollars, however this is not true.

An interview that Alexander Elder had with his son tells the truth.

Firstly, his son confirmed that when his father died in the 1950s his estate was valued at just $100,000 - and that included his house.

Secondly, his son confirmed that Gann was unable to make enough money from trading, and therefore supplemented his income by writing and selling courses.

W.D. Gann’s Predictions

Many sources quote he had a success rate in all his trades of over 90% - again not true. We can easily deduce this from the value of his estate.

If he could make money trading and had a 90% success rate, he would have made hundreds of millions in his trading career - and he clearly did not - that’s why he had to sell books and courses.

The only evidence of a 90% success rate came from a small number of trades - and was not representative of them all.

Gann’s Methods are Predictive

Gann came to the conclusion that all natural phenomena are cyclical - including financial markets. This is true, but this is an obvious statement - we all know we’re going to die but when exactly?

A predictive theory is not a predictive theory if it can’t predict.

If Gann’s theory really is predictive, then there would be no market - as we would all know the price in advance!

Gann’s theory is subjective - and he really had no way of predicting the future with accuracy. It’s all subjective analysis and this is NOT a predictive theory.

Gann’s Logic

The basis of Gann’s theory is the principle that price and time must balance.

His methods are based on the squaring of price with time - this occurs when a unit of price equals a unit of time.

Gann for example would take a prominent high in the market, convert that dollar unit into a specified period of time and project it forward. When that time is reached, price and time are squared - and a market turn is due.

What? - How can one unit of price equal one unit of time? If you think about and answer this question for yourself, you will see how absurd the connection is.

This isn’t the only inconsistency used in his analysis - we also have the legendary Fibonacci numbers which are supposed to work with stunning accuracy - but they don’t, and neither do all sorts of astrology and geometry, that appeals to the far out investment crowd.

As we have seen, Gann was a trader who had modest success, and claimed to have discovered a predictive theory - which predicts nothing with accuracy.

Finally, we have so many subjective indicators cobbled together, that the theory can prove anything in hindsight, but if you want a tool to trade the markets look elsewhere.

For those of you still not convinced - I recently saw on the Internet, Gann’s trading methods selling for under $1,000!

Sounds like a bargain to get trades with 90% accuracy - I wonder how many serious money managers have it on their bookshelf.

Forex Fundamental Analysis

The two primary approaches of analyzing Forex markets are technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis comprises the examination of economic indicators, asset markets and political considerations when evaluating a nation’s currency in terms of another. The focus of fundamental analysis lies on the economic, social and political forces that drive supply and demand. There is no single set of beliefs that guide forex fundamental analysis, yet most fundamental analysts look at various macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth rates, interest rates, inflation, and unemployment.

Here we look at some of the major Forex fundamental factors that play a role in the movement of a currency:

Economic IndicatorsJustify Full

Economic indicators are reports released by the government or a private organization that detail a country’s economic performance. These economic indicators can be released on a weekly basis, but the more common report is monthly. Indicators are based around a number of economical situations, of which the two primary factors are that of International trade and Interest. Subsidiary factors also include Consumer Price Index (CPI), Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), Durable goods orders, retail sales and Producer Price Index (PPI).

Currency’s Interest Rates

One of the major indicator factors, Interest rates, are a key economic function of any nation. Generally, when a country raises its interest rates, the country’s currency will strengthen in relation to other currencies as assets are shifted to gain a higher return. Interest rates hikes, however, are usually not good news for stock markets. This is due to the fact that many investors will withdraw money from a country’s stock market when there is a hike of interest rates.

International Trade

The trade balance portrays the net difference (over a period of time) between the imports and exports of a nation. A trade deficit can be an economic disaster for a government and a currency. A deficit may appear when a country is importing more than it is exporting, meaning that more money is leaving and less is coming in. In some ways, however, a trade deficit in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. A deficit is only negative if the deficit is greater than market expectations and therefore will trigger a negative price movement.

The Seven Most Traded Currencies in forex

Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called “lots”. One lot is equal to $1,000, which controls $100,000 in currency. This is what is known as the "margin". You can control $100,000 worth of currency for only 1,000 dollars. This is what is called “High Leverage”.

Currencies are always traded in pairs in the FOREX. The pairs have a unique notation that expresses what currencies are being traded. The symbol for a currency pair will always be in the form ABC/DEF. ABC/DEF is not a real currency pair, it is an example of a symbol for a currency pair. In this example ABC is the symbol for one countries currency and DEF is the symbol for another countries currency.

Here are some of the common symbols used in the Forex:

USD - The US Dollar EUR - The currency of the European Union "EURO" GBP - The British Pound JPN - The Japanese Yen CHF - The Swiss Franc AUD - The Australian Dollar CAD - The Canadian Dollar

There are symbols for other currencies as well, but these are the most commonly traded ones.

A currency can never be traded by itself. So you can not ever trade a EUR by itself. You always need to compare one currency with another currency to make a trade possible.

Some of the common PAIRS are:

EUR/USD Euro / US Dollar "Euro"

USD/JPY US Dollar / Japanese Yen "Dollar Yen"

GBP/USD British Pound / US Dollar "Cable"

USD/CAD US Dollar / Canadian Dollar "Dollar Canada"

AUD/USD Australian Dollar/US Dollar "Aussie Dollar"

USD/CHF US Dollar / Swiss Franc "Swissy"

EUR/JPY Euro / Japanese Yen "Euro Yen"

The listed currency pairs above look like a fraction. The numerator (top of the fraction or "left" of the / however you want to SEE it) is called the base currency. The denominator (bottom of the fraction or "right" of the /however you want to SEE it) is called the counter currency. When you place an order to buy the EUR/USD, for instance, you are actually buying the EUR and selling the USD. If you were to sell the pair, you would be selling the EUR and buying the USD. So if you buy or sell a currency PAIR, you are buying/selling the base currency. You are always doing the opposite of what you did with to base currency with the counter currency.

If this seems confusing then you’re in luck. You can always get by with just thinking of the entire pair as one item. Then you are just buying or selling that one item. Thinking like this will still enable you to place trades. You only need to be aware of the base/counter concept for Fundamental Analysis issues.

So why is it important to know about the base/counter currency? The base/counter currency concept illustrates what is actually taking place in a Forex transaction. Some of you reading this, know that short-selling was restricted in the stock market *(Short-selling is where you sell a stock/currency/option/commodity first and then try to buy it back at a lower price later). But in the FOREX you are always buying one currency (base) and selling another (counter). If you sell the pair you are simply flipping which one you buy and which one you sell. The transaction is essentially the same. This allows you to short-sell with no restrictions.

You want to be able to short-sell with no restrictions so you can make money when the market drops as well as when it rises. The problem with traditional stock market trading is that the market has to go up for you to make money. With FOREX trading you can make money in all directions.

Forex Rebates

What are Forex Rebates? FX Rebates are a payout for the volume of trading you run through your Forex Broker. These rebates can add up to a significant amount capital if you are trading in the Forex Market. If you are going to trade, you might as well get paid to trade. You are going to pay a spread or commission either way you look at it, so it only makes sense to earn Forex Rebates as you continue your trading.

Forex Signals

Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned trader, we have a service to fit your needs. Do you have a hard time understanding when to get in the market, or is your exit points that need help? There are hundreds of forex signals services on the market, but most are not worth a dime. We only work with the best. We screen them with the strictest parameters - ensuring their performance is real.

These signal providers may send signals by e-mail, voice, cell phone, or a live trading room. We will provide you with a list of the best Forex services available to best suit your trading needs.

Some traders prefer an auto trade type of system which does the trading for you, like FX-System Center, an excellent way to go. We work with a number of providers of auto-trade services which include state of the art software that will execute trades in the Forex market for you. You can learn to trade many different styles throughout the trading day. You can join live chat sessions with live calls in voice chat rooms with professional traders and learn how to trade the Forex market yourself. The options are all available, and now you know where to look.

Forex The Future Investment

There are many many advantages over the various other ways of investing. First of all it is a 24 hr market, except for weekends of course. You have the US market then the european and then the Asian. One of the great times to trade is during the over lapping periods. The USA and european overlap between 5am & 9am eastern and the Euro & Asian between 11pm & 1am eastern. Usually the busiest time and best to trade. The is also the risk factor for the accounts. With futures and options you can get margin calls that can wipe you out. If you get caught in a bad trade not only do you lose the money in the account but you may have to come up with alot more from your pocket. It can be very risking. But not in Forex. Worst case senerio you could lose whats in you account. But you would have to do something really stupid. Like making a big trade on a Fundamental day and leave it alone. If market takes a bad move and you weren't there. OOOPS. But That wouldn't happen with a smarth trader. Then there are the demo accounts which is an account where you can trade using all the right things, platform,charts,and information. But you are using play money, or what we call paper trading too. Plus with Forex you have a mini account. Instead of needing thousands of dollars to get into it. You can open an account with as little as $300.00. Now of course you will be trading at 1 tenth of a trade. IN other words you controling 10,000 instead of 100,000.00 These are call lots. Which also means you will only risk 1 tenth too! So if you would love to learn to do investing and not have near the risk you really need to take a closer look at Forex trading.

Tips to Make Money Fast in Forex

This is all about making a fortune with Forex. Most traders just go with the flow and make average gains, with this article you will learn what makes some traders stand out and a lot richer than others!We are going to assume that you know how to trade, and has quite an experience in trading.With simple changes in your trade selection, money and risk management, and mindset, you can change that average gains into larger ones!Fast money is in Forex, it is a lifestyle. here is it how its done.Tip 1 . Embrace Changeability and Risk With a SmileForex systems have instability.If you cannot manage and calculate your risk, then don't ever think about trading in Forex. Many traders back away from forex because of this ( why do you even traded in the first place?). But taking manageable risks has its rewards. It's just simple, you know what your losing if ever it doesn't work out, yet what you gain is unpredictable but sure is high! That is what I call excitement, my friend. To a well-educated Forex trader, this is something you shouldn't be afraid of, might as well embrace it.Tip 2. Trade Less, gain moreMost traders think that if they don't trade, another door has closed, or miss some move. The tendency, they trade frequently. Most of the trades that come big come a few times in a year. Focus on the trades that make the really big gains. Be alert, and informed.Tip 3. Diversify is a no-noMost Investors accept the fact that diversification can make money fast - in reality it does exactly the opposite.Tip 4. Money and Risk ManagementThis article has been concentrating on the Big gains, because this is your money, so every penny should be controlled, this is where money management kicks in.Control your risks, but increase your chances of success:- Give yourself staying power by buying options at or in the money, this prevents you from getting stopped out. Many traders lose not by the market direction, but because they were stopped out by a instable move, and options will give you staying power.- Keep your stop in its original position - until the move is well in profit, before moving it up.- Trading fast and selectively - have the courage to trade when you feel it is good. and enjoy the cash.Tip 5. Compound growth has its benefitsThe way to make money fast in forex, is to understand the power of compound growth. For example, if you target 50% a year in your trading, you can grow an initial $20,000 account, to over a million dollars, in under 10 years.Break the norm, and gain more. Follow some of these tips and make your way into the big gains!

Forex Great Trading

Provided you decide to start trading it would be a great idea to invest in some software to help you keep up with your investments. The CMS Forex website recommends the VT Trader 2.0 Some of it’s key features are chart based trading, customizable interface, 100+ technical indicators, custom indicators, risk management tools, pattern recognition technology, customer alerts, Forex autopilot, stability and Dow Jones News. They also suggest the VT Trader Mobile device which can be taken wherever you go so you can trade anywhere.

Benifits of Forex Trading


The only market that is world’s largest and most liquid is forex trading market. This is also recognized as one and only absolute home busiess. But this would confusing for a layman that is new to the market. Many questions that arises – Why do people go for online trading and how do they buck up their bank account? Every day more number of investors and traders are moving in to forex trading market because of several advantages available in the market. It is just that there are few things you need to know and learn appropriately. Most traders keep their trading simple. Just little bit of market information and research helps them. But when looking high and high achievement, you need to work hard and smart.Following are advantage of forex trading.• The margin requirement to trade in forex is just 5% of total value of holding. So you can keep your margin as low as possible to trade risk free. You get the ability to manage large amount with lower margin.• Forex trading market is commission fee. If you act as an individual trader then you do not pay any commission fee. However, if you trade with forex broker he might charge you a low value share from the trade.• Bid and ask rates are very flexible. Most of the online forex trading brokers provide a spread of 4 pips on USD/EUR as it is the most traded currency pair. It may fluctuate between 4 to 9 pips. • Considered the largest and most flexible market in the world. • Trade execution is almost instant, enabling traders and investors to respond to rising or falling situations or trends rapidly.• This market is usually known as a free market even though the dealings of major dealers, such as commercial banks in money centers, are controlled under certain banking laws.• It is a 24 hour seamless market and can trade any time except the weekends. So it becomes comfortable for all types of trader and investors to deal with forex trading.• The standard forex trading volume is huge, and inclinations could be simple to spot. • No various exchange listings to the same currency and no average size to trade.• Forex trading brokers provide very limiting short selling margin needs to trader and investors. That simply means a customer do not have the liquidity to be capable to sell stock before he buys.• Forex trading is done “OTC” (Over the Counter). So there is no clearing house or central exchange to match the orders. Deal takes place on the reputation basis of the participants.• Widen options available of small traders as well. Lately forex trading is becoming increasingly popular among small brokers and traders.

Forex Home Business

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of forex home business is certainly no exception.When running a forex home business, a person quickly gains knowledge of how the business world works. Whether it be selling crafts, doing a home delivery business, or selling real-estate, after investing a lot of time and effort into a home or small business, a person quickly becomes aware of the few basic business truths that govern business.One of those truths is that you have to have time and money to start a small business or any business for that matter. More often than not, the people that have the time dont have the money to invest in a home-based business and the people that have the money dont have the time. With Forex home business, it is quite possible to generate an income with a small time investment per day, after studying FOREX for a few months, and a very small investment as little as $50 in some cases.The second truth, and these are probably quite obvious to most people, is that in order to make money a business has to have some sort of product to sell or perform some type of service. In the FOREX world, nothing is being sold and no service is being performed, but rather money is being exchanged. You are making a profit based on the actual exchange value of one currency against another currency. This eliminates the need for employees, such as customer service personnel and human resource people if your company were to become that big.Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.Also, because of the huge size of the FOREX market, trading nearly $1.5 trillion dollars a day, such things as social events, bad publicity, and changes in political climate will have no effect on your business. In fact, after studying FOREX, you will be able to see how these things will actually benefit your FOREX home business.The third and last classical business truth is that most people are prevented from starting a home-based business because they dont feel good enough about themselves. They dont feel like theyre educated enough. I read stories all of the time about people that feel passionate about something or they just pick something that they are relatively good at or have done before and start a business. They just take a chance. If you want to do it, step out. Take that first step. Dont drop any huge sums of money, of course, but do a little research, make a small investment and start your adventure down to the road to FOREX trading.You dont need a doctorite degree to get involved with FOREX trading, but after a couple of months of good study, its quite possible to generate a significant source of cash from FOREX trading. Forex traders study the political and economic trends in the economically important countries, including USA, Japan, England or the European Union, and make an assessment of the present or future purchase values of these currencies in comparison with each other. Again, the process of sale and purchase is like any other market activity, except that the time period varies. Blindly trade. Forex home business is not about gambling. Consider a situation where you think that the price of a given commodity, say, silver, gold, or wheat, will increase in the near future.You can’t predict when knowing something extra about forex home business will come in handy. If you learned anything new about forex home business in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

Difference Between Forex and Stock

The Forex market has a lot of advantages compare to stock market: A Forex trader could make profit through the market no matter if it is bearish and bullish which is different from the capital market, Forex has no strict regulation in speculation, no matter whether it is a long-term or a short-term transaction there is still a hidden profit, moreover, Forex market is a double-transaction market which means Forex traders could make profit through both upward and downward trend.2. Forex traders could obtain a much larger transaction compared to the stock market, through the Forex trading, Forex traders could obtain 100 times larger transaction compared to the stock market. According to the present US situation, if a Forex trader invests $1,000 in the stock market, the trader may obtain $2,000 of stock domination property with a proportion of 2:1, but through Forex trading, a Forex trader can do transaction with a proportion up to 100:1.Forex trader may make profit from the ordinary news, like the interest rate change, Forex market is closely related to various countries' politic, economy and culture, Forex traders could also obtain profit from other kinds of news, for example interest rate level change, will influence the interest of the Forex deposit.3. Forex traders could do 24 hours trading. The stock market can only be traded during daytime at a specific time, generally from 9:30a.m. to 4:00p.m.. If you too have your own full time job, then you will face the dilemma - either to give up your full time job or forgo the trading opportunity. But Forex market can be traded 5 days a week and 24 hours a day, Forex traders can trade during their free time which is normally at night after working hour.4. If a trader analyze based on technical analysis, Forex trading would be much more suitable for such traders because the Forex market has a very large trading volume. Currently the Forex market has daily trading volume of 190 billion Dollar, such giant market will completely digest a fore trader's transaction cash, under such situation the accuracy of the technical analysis would be much higher then any financial market, the chances of using technical analysis to make profit would be much more higher.5. In the stock market there are hundred and thousand kinds of stocks, then choosing stock will be a very difficult matter. But in the Forex market, the currency combination is extremely limited, this may enable Forex traders to concentrate on these currencies combination, and could follow the trend quickly.

Forex Trading- Are You Gaining Or Losing?

Did you know that you can find a market that is open 24 hours a day? The market is called Forex market and if you go there, you can’t find services, commodities and goods. The Forex market is the place where different kinds of currencies are traded. In every trade, two currencies are involved. For instance, you can sell your Canadian dollars for Euros; or you can pay Japanese Yen for US dollars. Forex rates or exchange rates can change unexpectedly. You need to monitor these exchange rates in order to determine if the price of a certain currency increased or decreased.Changes in the Forex market usually occur quickly and so it is important for traders to keep track of the market. Political and economic events can influence the changes in the Forex market. If you want to determine whether you’re gaining or losing in Forex trading, this article can help you with the calculations.The Forex investment is greatly affected by the exchange rate and in order to understand the relationship between the two, you should also be familiar with Forex quotes. Like the currency pairs, Forex quotes can be found in pairs as well. Here is a very good example:1.Suppose the currency pair is USD (US dollar) and CAD (Canadian dollar)The Forex quote for this pair is USD/CAD=170.50; this is interpreted as ‘every one US dollar is equivalent to 170.50 CAD. The currency found at the left side is known as the base currency and it is always equivalent to 1. The currency found at the right side is called counter currency. The stronger currency is always the base currency and in this case, the USD. The Forex quote’s central currency is USD and so you can find it in most Forex quotes.How can you determine if you’re earning profits or not? You can use another example.2.This time use EUR to USD. Assuming that the Forex rate is 1.0857; in this example, the USD is the weaker currency. If you bought 1,000 Euros, you will need to pay $1,085.70. After a year, the Forex rate was at 1.2083 and this means that the Euro’s value increased. If you decide to sell the 1,000 Euros now, you will get $1,208.30; now, in this transaction, you gained $122.60. What if the Forex rate a year after was 1.0576? This means that the Euro’s value weakened. If you still decide to sell the 1,000 Euros, you will only receive $1,057.60 which means that you lost $28.10; did you get it?Forex trading involves a lot of risks just like mutual funds and stocks. The fluctuations in the exchange market are responsible for such risks. Low level risks like government bonds in the long-term can give returns but are quite low. If you want to get higher returns, you need to invest in Forex trading but you need to face higher level risks.You must set financial goals for the short term, as well as for the long term. By doing so, it will be much easier to balance the risks involved and the security. You will be able to conduct your trades with ease and comfort. Make use of all the available Forex trading tools so that you can make wise and profitable trades. After reading this article, you can already calculate if you’re gaining profits or not

Forex Brokers of Pakistan

H & H EXCHANGE CO. (PVT) LTD.

(KARACHI)H & H - Pakistan's first Exchange Company. Granted license by the State Bank of Pakistan to carry out foreign exchange business. We also deal in cash currencies, foreign remittance

DOLLAR EAST EXCHANGE COMPANY(LAHORE)Dollar East Exchange Company (Pvt.) Limited is a leading exchange company in Pakistan. The company is one of the pioneers to start currency exchange business in the country. It was

EMIRATES GLOBAL ISLAMIC BANK LIMITED (EGIBL) (KARACHI)

Alhamdolillah, Emirates Global Islamic Bank Limited, a dedicated Islamic Commercial Bank, commenced operations in February 2007. Presently the Bank has ten branches in Pakistan .

GLAXY EXCHANGE (PVT.) LTD (KARACHI)

ZARCO EXCHANGE COMPANY (PVT) LTD(LAHORE)

The ZARCO Exchange Company is a respected financial institution that provides dependable Exchange and Transfer services to satisfied customers throughout Pakistan.

A KHANANI AND KALIA MONEY EXCHANGE(ISLAMABAD)

Since a last decade, Khanani & Kalia International (Pvt) Ltd. has been known by its customers for its best quality services at the national level.

A TO Z MONEY CHANGER (KARACHI)

A.R.K. EXCHANGE (KARACHI)

AA EXCHANGE COMPANY (PVT) LTD(ISLAMABAD)

AAKRA MONEY EXCHANGE (KARACHI)

ABID CURRENCY (PESHAWAR)

AHMAD MONEY CHANGER (LAHORE)

AJMAIR INTERNATIONAL (ISLAMABAD)

AL-ABBAS ENTERPRISES (RAWALPINDI)

AL-MUZHER MONEY CHANGER (LAHORE)

AL-RAHIM INTERNATIONAL (KARACHI)

ALI HAIDER MONEY EXCHANGE (LAHORE)

ALI INTERNATIONAL (KARACHI)

ALLIED GROUP OF BUSINESS (ISLAMABAD)

ARY INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE (KARACHI)

ASMA MONEY EXCHANGER'S (LAHORE)

AYLIA FINANCIAL SERVICE (ISLAMABAD)

BANK OF PUNJAB (KARACHI)

BIG BOARD ADVISORY SERVICE (KARACHI)

CAPITAL EXCHANGE CO. LTD (KARACHI)

CASH CORNER CURRENCY EXCHANGE(RAWALPINDI)

CHANDA & CO (KARACHI)

CHANDA E.C (B) PVT. LTD. (KARACHI)

CHANDA MONEY CHANGERS (KARACHI)

Forex Trading System

The point of this article is to help you to the next level and show you what this amazing subject has to offer.You can find heaps of websites online which recommend counsel on the newest and the best trading systems that you can use in the Forex promote. New traders are regularly fooled into purchasing these trading systems in the chance of earning more profits. Don?t make the same confound. You have to curb these trading systems before you lastly influence to employ them.The internet is full of scammers and some of the trading systems don’t really work or are fraudulent. You have to choose only the best and reliable systems. Reliable trading systems can bring in more profits if you use them consistently and in a disciplined manner.Most Forex traders are looking for the best trading systems presented online and perhaps you?re looking for it too. You have to be reallyistic when looking for an useful system and so you will ought to believe numerous factors. Some systems are very hard to understand. You must contract that you understand the system?s judgment before purchasing it. Only by understanding the judgment of the system can you effectively use it to your plus. By curbing the trading system thoroughly, you will be able to influence if the total system is intuitive and judgmental from your own sense of observe. If you think that you can line with the trading system, conscious that its chief judgment is amenable, you can go along way.Keep reading further to learn how this topic can benefit you, as the rest of this article will supply you will the needed information.Having a good trading system in the Forex promote is central. You must apply very stab in your researches and conduct some trials. How can you link a good system? A good system is one that can be worn over the long-name and it has a sustained earning budding. For beginers, it is advised that you have a resultant design just in lawsuit you meet a decline. By burden so, you can settle buoyant although the economic struggles. You should be emotionally complete and once you earn big money, you should be shrewd in with or expenses it.When with a certain trading system in the Forex promote, you should not presume close fallout. loyal enough, you can earn big money in Forex trading but there is also the possibility of behind your investment. You have to be unwearied and very sensitive in making your trading decisions. Give the system enough time to work out; for example, a fasten of months to a year may be enough to influence if the system is profitable or not. inside this interlude, you ought to contract consistent and judgmental trading transactions.Most of today’s trading systems provide near-real time Forex information but some systems only provide simulations of the logic at work based on historical data. If you think that the basic logic is understandable and solid, you can still use the system to your advantage.The Forex market is rapidly changing or shifting. Your trading system should be able to easily adjust to these changes and shifts. Complicated systems do not guarantee better performance and it would be better to choose a system that is intuitive and user friendly. Study the major trends in the Forex market and after that, you can already choose a good trading system that can work for you. Select the system that is rational and disciplined. Don’t use your emotions when conducting the trade because it may be the start of your downfall. Get your very own trading system now and join the Forex market.Seeing is believing, but sometimes we can?t all experience every subject in life. This article hopes to make up for that by providing you with a valuable resource of information on this topic.

Forex Glossary Terms

American-style option An option contract that may be exercised at any time before it expires.

Ask The quoted price at which a customer can buy a currency pair. Also referred to as the 'offer', 'ask price', or 'ask rate'.

Base Currency For foreign exchange trading, currencies are quoted in terms of a currency pair. The first currency in the pair is the base currency. For example, in a USD/JPY currency pair, the US dollar is the base currency. Also may be referred to as the primary currency.

Bid The quoted price where a customer can sell a currency pair. Also known as the 'bid price' or 'bid rate'.

Bid/Ask Spread The point difference between the bid and ask (offer) price.

Call A call option gives the option buyer the right to purchase a particular currency pair at a stated exchange rate.

Counterparty The counterparty is the person who is on the other side of an OTC trade. For retail customers, the dealer will always be the counterparty.

Cross-rate The exchange rate between two currencies where neither of the currencies are the US dollar.

Currency pair The two currencies that make up a foreign exchange rate. For example, USD/YEN is a currency pair.

Dealer A firm in the business of acting as a counterparty to foreign currency transactions.

Euro The common currency adopted by eleven European nations (i.e., Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) on January 1, 1999.

European-style option An option contract that can be exercised only on or near its expiration date.

Expiration This is the last day on which an option may either be exercised or offset.

Forward transaction A true forward transaction is an agreement that expects actual delivery of and full payment for the currency to occur on a future date. This term may also be used to refer to transactions that the parties expect to offset at some time in the future, but these transactions are not true forward transactions and are governed by the federal Commodity Exchange Act.

Interbank market A loose network of currency transactions negotiated between financial institutions and other large companies.

Leverage The ability to control large dollar amount of a commodity with a comparatively small amount of capital. Also known as 'gearing'.

Margin See Security Deposit.

Offer See ask.

Open position Any transaction that has not been closed out by a corresponding opposite transaction.

Pip The smallest unit of trading in a foreign currency price.

Premium The price an option buyer pays for the option, not including commissions.

Put A put option gives the option buyer the right to sell a particular currency pair at a stated exchange rate.

Quote currency The second currency in a currency pair is referred to as the quote currency. For example, in a USD/JPY currency pair, the Japanese yen is the quote currency. Also referred to as the secondary currency or the counter currency.

Rollover The process of extending the settlement date on an open position by rolling it over to the next settlement date.

Retail customer Any party to a forex trade who is not an eligible contract participant as defined under the Commodity Exchange Act. This includes individuals with assets of less than $10 million and most small businesses.

Security deposit The amount of money needed to open or maintain a position. Also known as 'margin'.

Settlement The actual delivery of currencies made on the maturity date of a trade.

Spot market A market of immediate delivery of and payment for the product, in this case, currency.

Spot transaction A true spot transaction is a transaction requiring prompt delivery of and full payment for the currency. In the interbank market, spot transactions are usually settled in two business days. This term may also be used to refer to transactions that the parties expect to offset or roll over within two business days, but these transactions are not true spot transactions and are governed by the federal Commodity Exchange Act.

Spread The point or pip difference between the ask and bid price of a currency pair.

Sterling Another term for British currency, the pound.

Strike price The exchange rate at which the buyer of a call has the right to purchase a specific currency pair or at which the buyer of a put has the right to sell a specific currency pair. Also known as the 'exercise price'.

Forex Trader web

Away from your main computer? No problem. With FOREXTrader.web you can conveniently access your account from any computer with internet access, with the confidence of knowing you are within a highly secure, browser-based environment.

FOREXTrader.web is a secure, browser-based trading platform that can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. With no software to download or installation required, FOREXTrader.web is ideal for traders new to the Forex market as well as advanced users away from their main computer.FOREXTrader.web equips you with access to real-time quotes, charts, news, research and more. In short, all the tools and resources you need to trade and manage your account.

Currency Day Trading

The world currency market is not only one of the biggest trading markets around with a massive turn over of $3.6 trillion traded per day, it is also a market that travels fast and can be very exiting. One minute you can be flying high, the next minute you could already face a loss. There are ways however to increase your chances of making money with currency day trading.


What exactly is currency trading?

Online currency trading means dealing with exchange rates. In finance, the exchange rate (also known as the foreign-exchange rate, forex rate or FX rate) between two currencies specifies how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. For example an exchange rate of 120 Japanese yen (JPY, ¥) to the United States dollar (USD, $) means that JPY 120 is worth the same as USD 1. The currency trading market, also called "Foreign Exchange Market" or "FX Market", is one of the largest markets in the world. By some estimates, about 3 trillion USD worth of currency changes hands every day.


Advantages of Online Currency Trading

Online Currency Trading is appealing to many traders because of
- its trading volume,
- the extreme liquidity of the market,
- the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
- its geographical dispersion,
- its long trading hours - 24 hours a day (except on weekends).
- the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.


Don't make these mistakes when trading currencies

Here are the top six reasons why traders lose money with online currency trading

1. Lack of a Trading Plan
2. Lack of Discipline to Follow the Plan
3. Failure to Control Emotions
4. Failure to Accept and Limit Losses
5. Lack of Commitment
6. Over-Trading


How to Make Money with Currency Day Trading

The easiest solution to avoid all these mistakes is using a currency trading system. Trading a system will eliminate almost all of the top reasons why traders lose money. Since it can be automated and places the trades for you, it will help you overcoming emotions and lack of discipline. It will get you out of a trade when you're losing, and it will take profits when you are winning. And as long as you don't override the system, it will automatically places the trades for you no matter what.


How to Find a Good Currency Trading System

Finding a good currency trading system is not easy. Experts estimate that only 10% of all available trading systems actually make money. “For every one profitable trading system that is ‘discovered’ through back testing and optimization, there are nine others that lose money,” says Matthew Klein, CEO of Collective2.

In another trading article I explained the "10 Power Principles of Successful Currency Trading Systems". By simply applying these principles to a currency trading system you can dramatically increase the chances of being successful.

Practical tips when u start Forex Trading

Forex trading is a lucrative online business and you could reap great financial rewards from it. However, trading currencies at the Forex market is also a very risky venture. It can instantly wipe out all your investments in 1 or 2 bad trades.

That is why you need to equip yourself with the right tools and information so you can succeed at the Forex market. This is not an easy task and it could take years before you can call yourself an expert trader. So here are the top 3 practical tips that could help you to succeed at the Forex market.


1. Analyze each currency that you want to trade. Study their relationships and how each affects another. By understanding the general relationships of currencies you will be able to identify the most profitable currency pair.

2. Always tune in to economic and financial news. In times of extreme market volatility or uncertainty, breaking news plays a critical part in the movement of currencies. In order to grab the best opportunities, keep yourself updated and learn how to analyze news that affects the market

3. Strike a balance between conservative and aggressive trading. If you are too conservative, you may win short term trades but could fail in your long term positions. If you are too aggressive, you could lose all your investments in a single trade. So learn how to balance your trading style and apply it based on market conditions

These are simple tips that could help you start a successful Forex venture. There are still lots of things you should learn in Forex trading so keep on studying the market and learn different Forex strategies.

Forex Currency Trading

Currency trading on the Forex spot market always involves trading a currency pair. When you open a position, you purchase one of the currencies in the currency pair and pay for it with the other. So you actually need one currency to be able to purchase the other one. Closing a position is nothing more than reversing the process. If the currency pair's exchange rate has changed between open en closing a position, you made a gain or a loss, depending on how the exchange rate change has developed. It's important to realize that you're not really shorting the market - at least not like you could with equity and futures. For every short position, there exists a corresponding long position in the other currency. Only if exchange rates change, you stand a chance of making money.

Working with statistics

Trade Balance

The trade balance is a measure of the difference between imports and exports of tangible goods and services. The level of the trade balance and changes in exports and imports are widely followed by foreign exchange markets.

The trade balance is a major indicator of foreign exchange trends. Seen in isolation, measures of imports and exports are important indicators of overall economic activity in the economy.

It is often of interest to examine the trend growth rates for exports and imports separately. Trends in export activities reflect the competitive position of the country in question, but also the strength of economic activity abroad. Trends in import activity reflect the strength of domestic economic activity.

Typically, a nation that runs a substantial trade balance deficit has a weak currency due to the continued commercial selling of the currency. This can, however, be offset by financial investment flows for extended periods of time.

Gross Domestic Product

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity available. Reported quarterly, GDP growth is widely followed as the primary indicator of the strength of economic activity.

GDP represents the total value of a country's production during the period and consists of the purchases of domestically produced goods and services by individuals, businesses, foreigners and the government.

As GDP reports are often subject to substantial quarter-to-quarter volatility and revisions, it is preferable to follow the indicator on a year-to-year basis. It can be valuable to follow the trend rate of growth in each of the major categories of GDP to determine the strengths and weaknesses in the economy.

A high GDP figure is often associated with the expectations of higher interest rates, which is frequently positive, at least in the short term, for the currency involved, unless expectations of increased inflation pressure is concurrently undermining confidence in the currency.

Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average level of prices of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. The monthly reported changes in CPI are widely followed as an inflation indicator.

The CPI is a primary inflation indicator because consumer spending accounts for nearly two-thirds of economic activity. Often, the CPI is followed but excludes the price of food and energy as these items are generally much more volatile than the rest of the CPI and can obscure the more important underlying trend.

Rising consumer price inflation is normally associated with the expectation of higher short term interest rates and may therefore be supportive for a currency in the short term. Nevertheless, a longer term inflation problem will eventually undermine confidence in the currency and weakness will follow.

Producer Price Index

The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a measure of the average level of prices of a fixed basket of goods received in primary markets by producers. The monthly PPI reports are widely followed as an indication of commodity inflation.

The PPI is considered important because it accounts for price changes throughout the manufacturing sector.

The PPI is often followed but excludes the food and energy components as these items are normally much more volatile than the rest of the PPI and can therefore obscure the more important underlying trend.

Studying the PPI allows consideration of inflationary pressures that may be accumulating or receding, but have not yet filtered through to the finished goods prices.

A rising PPI is normally expected to lead to higher consumer price inflation and thereby to potentially higher short-term interest rates. Higher rates will often have a short term positive impact on a currency, although significant inflationary pressure will often lead to an undermining of the confidence in the currency involved.

Payroll Employment

Payroll employment is a measure of the number of people being paid as employees by non-farm business establishments and units of government. Monthly changes in payroll employment reflect the net number of new jobs created or lost during the month and changes are widely followed as an important indicator of economic activity.

Payroll employment is one of the primary monthly indicators of aggregate economic activity because it encompasses every major sector of the economy. It is also useful to examine trends in job creation in several industry categories because the aggregate data can mask significant deviations in underlying industry trends.

Large increases in payroll employment are seen as signs of strong economic activity that could eventually lead to higher interest rates that are supportive of the currency at least in the short term. If, however, inflationary pressures are seen as building, this may undermine the longer term confidence in the currency.

Durable Goods Orders

Durable Goods Orders are a measure of the new orders placed with domestic manufacturers for immediate and future delivery of factory hard goods. Monthly percent changes reflect the rate of change of such orders.

Levels of, and changes in, durable goods order are widely followed as an indicator of factory sector momentum.

Durable Goods Orders are a major indicator of manufacturing sector trends because most industrial production is done to order. Often, the indicator is followed but excludes Defence and Transportation orders because these are generally much more volatile than the rest of the orders and can obscure the more important underlying trend.

Durable Goods Orders are measured in nominal terms and therefore include the effects of inflation. Therefore the Durable Goods Orders should be compared to the trend growth rate in PPI to arrive at the real, inflation-adjusted Durable Goods Orders.

Rising Durable Goods Orders are normally associated with stronger economic activity and can therefore lead to higher short-term interest rates that are often supportive to a currency at least in the short term.

Retail Sales

Retail Sales are a measure of the total receipts of retail stores. Monthly percentage changes reflect the rate of change of such sales and are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending.

Retails Sales are a major indicator of consumer spending because they account for nearly one-half of total consumer spending and approximately one-third of aggregate economic activity.

Often, Retail Sales are followed less auto sales because these are generally much more volatile than the rest of the Retail Sales and can therefore obscure the more important underlying trend.

Retail Sales are measured in nominal terms and therefore include the effects of inflation. Rising Retail Sales are often associated with a strong economy and therefore an expectation of higher short-term interest rates that are often supportive to a currency at least in the short term.

Housing Starts

Housing Starts are a measure of the number of residential units on which construction is begun each month and the level of housing starts is widely followed as an indicator of residential construction activity.

The indicator is followed to assess the commitment of builders to new construction activity. High construction activity is usually associated with increased economic activity and confidence, and is therefore considered a harbinger of higher short-term interest rates that can be supportive of the involved currency at least in the short term.

History

Brief history of Forex trading

Initially, the value of goods was expressed in terms of other goods, i.e. an economy based on barter between individual market participants. The obvious limitations of such a system encouraged establishing more generally accepted means of exchange at a fairly early stage in history, to set a common benchmark of value. In different economies, everything from teeth to feathers to pretty stones has served this purpose, but soon metals, in particular gold and silver, established themselves as an accepted means of payment as well as a reliable storage of value.

Originally, coins were simply minted from the preferred metal, but in stable political regimes the introduction of a paper form of governmental IOUs (I owe you) gained acceptance during the Middle Ages. Such IOUs, often introduced more successfully through force than persuasion were the basis of modern currencies.

Before World War I, most central banks supported their currencies with convertibility to gold. Although paper money could always be exchanged for gold, in reality this did not occur often, fostering the sometimes disastrous notion that there was not necessarily a need for full cover in the central reserves of the government.

At times, the ballooning supply of paper money without gold cover led to devastating inflation and resulting political instability. To protect local national interests, foreign exchange controls were increasingly introduced to prevent market forces from punishing monetary irresponsibility.

In the latter stages of World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement was reached on the initiative of the USA in July 1944. The Bretton Woods Conference rejected John Maynard Keynes suggestion for a new world reserve currency in favour of a system built on the US dollar. Other international institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) were created in the same period as the emerging victors of WW2 searched for a way to avoid the destabilising monetary crises which led to the war. The Bretton Woods agreement resulted in a system of fixed exchange rates that partly reinstated the gold standard, fixing the US dollar at USD35/oz and fixing the other main currencies to the dollar - and was intended to be permanent.

The Bretton Woods system came under increasing pressure as national economies moved in different directions during the sixties. A number of realignments kept the system alive for a long time, but eventually Bretton Woods collapsed in the early seventies following president Nixon's suspension of the gold convertibility in August 1971. The dollar was no longer suitable as the sole international currency at a time when it was under severe pressure from increasing US budget and trade deficits.

The following decades have seen foreign exchange trading develop into the largest global market by far. Restrictions on capital flows have been removed in most countries, leaving the market forces free to adjust foreign exchange rates according to their perceived values.

But the idea of fixed exchange rates has by no means died. The EEC (European Economic Community) introduced a new system of fixed exchange rates in 1979, the European Monetary System. This attempt to fix exchange rates met with near extinction in 1992-93, when pent-up economic pressures forced devaluations of a number of weak European currencies. Nevertheless, the quest for currency stability has continued in Europe with the renewed attempt to not only fix currencies but actually replace many of them with the Euro in 2001.

The lack of sustainability in fixed foreign exchange rates gained new relevance with the events in South East Asia in the latter part of 1997, where currency after currency was devalued against the US dollar, leaving other fixed exchange rates, in particular in South America, looking very vulnerable.

But while commercial companies have had to face a much more volatile currency environment in recent years, investors and financial institutions have found a new playground. The size of foreign exchange markets now dwarfs any other investment market by a large factor. It is estimated that more than USD 3,000 billion is traded every day, far more than the world's stock and bond markets combined.

Forex trading examples

Example 1

An investor has a margin deposit with Saxo Bank of USD 100,000.

The investor expects the US dollar to rise against the Swiss franc and therefore decides to buy USD 2,000,000 - 2% of his maximum possible exposure at a 1% margin Forex gearing.

The Saxo Bank dealer quotes him 1.5515-20. The investor buys USD at 1.5520.

Day 1: Buy USD 2,000,000 vs. CHF 1.5520 = Sell CHF 3,104,000.

Four days later, the dollar has actually risen to CHF 1.5745 and the investor decides to take his profit.

Upon his request, the Saxo Bank dealer quotes him 1.5745-50. The investor sells at 1.5745.

Day 5: Sell USD 2,000,000 vs. CHF 1.5745 = Buy CHF 3,149,000.

As the dollar side of the transaction involves a credit and a debit of USD 2,000,000, the investor's USD account will show no change. The CHF account will show a debit of CHF 3,104,000 and a credit of CHF 3,149,000. Due to the simplicity of the example and the short time horizon of the trade, we have disregarded the interest rate swap that would marginally alter the profit calculation.

This results in a profit of CHF 45,000 = approx. USD 28,600 = 28.6% profit on the deposit of USD 100,000.


Example 2:

The investor follows the cross rate between the EUR and the Japanese yen. He believes that this market is headed for a fall. As he is not quite confident of this trade, he uses less of the leverage available on his deposit. He chooses to ask the dealer for a quote in EUR 1,000,000. This requires a margin of EUR 1,000,000 x 5% = EUR 10,000 = approx. USD 52,500 (EUR /USD 1.05).

The dealer quotes 112.05-10. The investor sells EUR at 112.05.

Day 1: Sell EUR 1,000,000 vs. JPY 112.05 = Buy JPY 112,050,000.

He protects his position with a stop-loss order to buy back the EUR at 112.60. Two days later, this stop is triggered as the EUR o strengthens short term in spite of the investor's expectations.

Day 3: Buy EUR 1,000,000 vs. JPY 112.60 = Sell JPY 112,600,000.

The EUR side involves a credit and a debit of EUR 1,000,000. Therefore, the EUR account shows no change. The JPY account is credited JPY 112.05m and debited JPY 112.6m for a loss of JPY 0.55m. Due to the simplicity of the example and the short time horizon of the trade, we have disregarded the interest rate swap that would marginally alter the loss calculation.

This results in a loss of JPY 0.55m = approx. USD 5,300 (USD/JPY 105) = 5.3% loss on the original deposit of USD 100,000.


Example 3

The investor believes the Canadian dollar will strengthen against the US dollar. It is a long term view, so he takes a small position to allow for wider swings in the rate:

He asks Saxo Bank for a quote in USD 1,000,000 against the Canadian dollar. The dealer quotes 1.5390-95 and the investor sells USD at 1.5390. Selling USD is the equivalent of buying the Canadian dollar.

Day 1: Sell USD 1,000,000 vs. CAD 1.5390. He swaps the position out for two months receiving a forward rate of CAD 1.5357 = Buy CAD 1,535,700 for Day 61 due to the interest rate differential.

After a month, the desired move has occurred. The investor buys back the US dollars at 1.4880. He has to swap the position forward for a month to match the original sale. The forward rate is agreed at 1.4865.

Day 31: Buy USD 1,000,000 vs. CAD 1.4865 = Sell CAD 1,486,500 for Day 61.

Day 61: The two trades are settled and the trades go off the books. The profit secured on Day 31 can be used for margin purposes before Day 61.

The USD account receives a credit and debit of USD 1,000,000 and shows no change on the account. The CAD account is credited CAD 1,535,700 and debited CAD 1,486,500 for a profit of CAD 49,200 = approx. USD 33,100 = profit of 33.1% on the original deposit of USD 100,000.