Currency Trading

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Forex Trading - Advantages and Disadvantages


What is Forex Trading?

Forex, or Foreign Exchange, is the simultaneous exchange of one country's currency for that of another. This market of exchange has more daily volume, both buyers and sellers, than any other in the world. Taking place in the major financial institutions across the globe, the forex market is open 24-hours a day.

Currencies are quoted in pairs. The first listed currency is known as the base currency, while the second is called the counter or quote currency. In the wholesale market, currencies are quoted using five significant numbers, with the last placeholder called a point or a pip.

The forex market is one of the most popular markets for speculation due to its enormous size, liquidity, and tendency for currencies to move in strong trends. An enticing aspect of trading currencies is the high degree of leverage available.

Advantages of forex trading

Leverage. Huge leverage is available in Forex trading, often up to 100:1 meaning that large profits can be generated from small margin deposits.

Liquidity. The enormous size and global trading of the forex markets means that the markets in the major currency pairs are very liquid making trade executions almost instant with little slippage.

Ability to go short. Since currency trading always involves buying one currency and selling another, there is no structural bias to the market. This means a trader has equal potential to profit in a rising or falling market.

Trends. Fundamentally, the value of a country's currency is determined by interest rates and the strength of the economy in relation to other countries. Currencies, therefore, have a greater tendency to trend until the fundamentals change.

Disadvantages of forex trading

Leverage. With huge leverage available to forex traders the danger is that positions which carry too much risk for the account size can be taken on, leading to margin calls. Effective money management rules must be adhered to.

Brokers. Retail traders must use a broker rather than dealing directly in the interbank market. The broker will be the counterparty in all transactions and is, effectively, making the market. They can, therefore, widen spreads or even refuse to trade during volatile trading conditions. To avoid dealing with brokers an alternative to forex is to use futures. See online futures trading for more details.

Spreads. As the retail trader must use a broker to trade, they cannot deal at the interbank rates. A broker will generally quote a fixed spread of 3-20 pips depending on the currency pair. The underlying interbank rate might be as little as 1 pip.

Forex is a very large market but for most retail traders dealing with brokers the odds are shifted against them. Online futures trading provides a much more level playing field for most traders who want to take part in forex trading.

Tim Wreford operates Online Futures Trading, a website that provides information and resources for traders. Tim also provides an article detailing the development of a day trading system, the results of which are updated daily on the site.


MORE RESOURCES:

Top Currency Trading Ideas for the Week of June 30, 2008
Daily FX, NY - Jun 30, 2008
Expect a dollar rally to begin the week. This opportunity should be used to establish / add to long standing USD bearish positions. ...


My Top Seven Currency-Trading Tricks
Sovereign Society, FL - Jun 25, 2008
If you're a stock trader or an avid financial news junkie, then you already have an edge over other beginning currency traders. ...


Range-Based Currency Trading Signals Offer Attractive Setups in ...
Daily FX, NY - Jun 23, 2008
Market volatility edged lower through the past week of trade, suggesting that we may continue to see Rangebound market conditions through the near term. ...


Top 10 Currency Trading Tips From Deutsche Bank
Seeking Alpha, NY - Jun 15, 2008
In currency trading, as in any form of active investment, it is important to understand how you arrive at your investment decisions. ...
Strategies for Currency Investors Seeking Alpha
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Top Currency Trading Ideas for the Week of June 16, 2008
Daily FX, NY - Jun 16, 2008
The EURUSD and GBPUSD appear to have finally bottomed for at least a few weeks. Near term, the pairs should advance slightly more before undergoing very ...


Crude Crosses $146-A-Barrel Over Rising Demand
AHN - Jul 3, 2008
In currency trading, the yen changed hands at 106.07 yen per US dollar in Asia. In late New York on late Wednesday, the Japanese currency was at 106.115 yen ...
Over $140 a Barrel Philadelphia Inquirer
Oil Prices Jump Over $143 Over Weak Dollar AHN
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How to Trade DailyFX+ Currency Trading Signals in the Week Ahead
Daily FX, NY - Jun 9, 2008
... entering a period with larger currency price movements, forcing us to make fairly substantial shifts in our outlook for our currency trading strategies. ...


Top Currency Trading Ideas for the Week of June 9, 2008
Daily FX, NY - Jun 9, 2008
The USD will likely head to yearly lows against a number of currencies (except for the CAD) in the coming weeks and months. After the large moves last week, ...


India rupee lifted by stocks; wary of oil,inflation
Reuters India, India - 16 hours ago
... otherwise the general activity in the market was lower as it is a US holiday," said V. Rajagopal, head of currency trading at Kotak Mahindra Bank. ...


US Jobs: Not Bad Is Good Enough
Forbes, NY - Jul 3, 2008
... Frank O'Connor told Forbes.com he thought the ECB rate cut had already been built into currency trading, a perspective that was borne out Thursday morning.

Currency-Trading - Google News

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