Pips 4 Idiots

Archive for July, 2009

An Educational Guide for Forex Beginners

Monday, July 13th, 2009

New in the Forex market? This market may sound really complicated and scary to tackle but it’s not. Just like in any kinds of trade, you make money when you buy low and sell high. Forex trading is simply trading currencies in the Forex market.

Forex is the largest financial market in the world. It generates trillions of dollars of currency exchanges everyday and it operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week therefore, also making it the most liquid market in the world.

In the world of Forex, trading in this very liquid market is very unique compared to other financial market like stocks. Since the Forex market operates 24 hours a day worldwide, which starts at Sydney and ends in New York, trading is not centralized in one location. You can trade in Forex whenever you want regardless of the local time.

In the past, Forex trading was only offered to large financial institutions, like banks. And, it was also only offered to large companies, multi-national corporations and large currency dealers. This is because of the large and extremely strict financial requirements the Forex market imposed. This means that individual traders and small businesses are not able to participate in this liquid market.

However, in the late 90s, Forex was made available to individual traders and small businesses. This is due to the advances in the communications technology. High speed internet made it possible for people to enter the Forex market and have become one of the best make money at home businesses.

Forex trading is getting more and more popular each day. Besides, who wouldn’t want to trade in the largest and the most liquid financial market in the world? Trading in Forex will certainly give you the opportunity to earn a lot of money. However, trading in this ever liquid market also has its risk. It is a fact that many people who traded in Forex lost a substantial amount of money and some of these people are seasoned traders.

This is why it is very important for you, as a beginner trader in the Forex market, to have the proper knowledge and education on how to trade in the Forex market. Firstly, there are hundreds or even thousands of available websites in the internet that offers Forex education. Some of these websites offer dummy Forex trading where you can practice trading in the Forex market using dummy money.

These programs will really take you closer to actually trading in Forex. Many experts say that you’ll never really understand how Forex really works until you traded in the market. So, if you want to learn how to trade Forex, you may want to sign up for a dummy account that numerous Forex trading websites offer.

With a dummy account, you can trade Forex by not using real money at all. With this program you can practice your knowledge and skills in trading in the Forex market and not waste money.

To get started in trading in this market, all you need is a computer with a high speed internet connection, a funded Forex account, and a trading system. These three simple things are enough to get you started in Forex trading.

In order for you to minimize the risk of losing money, you need to have some basic knowledge in charting before you start trading. In most Forex trading systems, Forex charts are there to assist you with your trades. Forex charts are a visual representation of the exchange rates of currencies. This is where you will mostly base your decisions to buy and sell currencies. You have to learn how to read the different Forex charts in order for you to successfully trade in the Forex market.

Each Forex chart is different although they represent the same fluctuations. For example, in the daily Forex chart, you can evaluate market trends in the past 24 hours to help you make decisions on the next 24 hours of trading. In the hourly chart, you can use this chart to spot trends within the day. And, in the 15 minute chart, where it can help you recent currency fluctuations in a 15 minute interval to help you decide on which currency to buy and sell. Sometimes, there are 5 minute chart available to better help you get closer to the action.

These are the basics on how to trade in the Forex market. Always remember that aside from the promising earning potential that you can have in the Forex market, there are also underlying risks that you have to consider. It is therefore wise to trade in this market with a proper investment plan and strategy. If you are just starting out to trade in Forex, consider opening a dummy account to help you practice trading Forex without risking money.

Succeeding Online with Forex Day Trading

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Forex trading is the largest known financial market. Day or night, it doesn’t really matter; the trade goes on even as half of the world is asleep. It offers a lot of opportunities for many organizations and individuals to make profit. There are many day traders in the market, and if you think you can do it, why not join the day traders.

Once you decide to start to day trading, don’t expect to learn everything about it in an instant. You will surely need to learn for some time, and you need to exert a lot of effort. Practice makes perfect, and forex trading requires a lot of it.

Before using real money, you can practice through simulated trading and do a paper trade. Here you can incorporate all your trading techniques and see if they actually work.

Don’t be a scared to lose a certain amount of money, because any trade involves a lot of it. But it doesn’t mean that you should not limit your losses, you can make use of stop orders. And most importantly, you should learn from your past losses.

A good trader by day should be disciplined. Make discipline a habit in order to make sound decisions, and act in accord with trading systems/strategies. This way, you can do your trade in a consistent and reliable manner. Certain situations require an individual to make decisions based on their pre-set criteria and parameters.

You should make it a point to habitually follow your trading system/plan; this way you can effectively evaluate the results of your plan. If your expectations are not met, perhaps its time that you make certain adjustments and fine tuning, so that your plan will still be of good use in the future.

Don’t let your emotions rule you, especially when you’re making trading decisions. A day trader should always be disciplined, and once you attain your objective, leave the market first. Oftentimes people plunge in deeper because they are influenced by greed and fear.

There are also day traders who are quite reluctant to lose money. For instance your stock goes down, and you’re still hoping that after some time it will rise again. And to your surprise, the share price goes further down. If only you were not reluctant to lose money, you could have sold it the first time its price went down, and prevent further loss.

A day trader should leave no room for fear and greed to take over; otherwise, this will be the key to your losses.

If you’re serious with your day trading, you can also do it at home. You would need hardware and software requirements to put a sufficient platform at home for online trading.

For your hardware requirement, you would need a computer with a Windows XP operating system or the like. The monitor should not be less than nineteen inches.

You must have a fast internet connection because day traders need to make fast executions and confirmations of the trade. They also need to receive and deliver quotes, news, and other pertinent market data. A fast internet connection allows you to make your day trading in a timely fashion.

Execution services are available online, and it comes in two types: the internet-based discount brokers and the online systems or the EDAT. The first type varies on how customer orders are executed, reviewed, and confirmed. This causes delay in completing a trade. On the other hand, the EDAT enables the trader to contact specialists directly. This results to a much quicker execution and confirmation of the orders.

Software platforms that are especially designed for day traders are often used by the more serious ones because real time data are usually provided like stock ticker and quotes, market indices and averages, charting, market stories, and price alerts. However, you would need to make monthly payments because this type of software usually charges fees.

Becoming a day trader is easy, but only if you are quite serious with this kind of endeavors. Like any type of trade, it requires dedication, time and effort. If you are able to put all of these things together, then you will reap profits that you’ve never imagined.