To buy foreign goods or services, or to invest in other countries, companies and individuals may need to first buy the currency of the country with which they are doing business. Generally, exporters prefer to be paid in their country's currency or in U.S. dollars, which are accepted all over the world.
The foreign exchange market, or the "FX" market, is where the buying and selling of different currencies takes place. The price of one currency in terms of another is called an exchange rate.
The market itself is actually a worldwide network of traders, connected by telephone lines and computer screens there is no central headquarters. There are three main centers of trading, which handle the majority of all FX transactions United Kingdom, United States, and Japan .
Friday, September 21, 2007
How To Choose a Forex Trading System That Works and Suits You
How To Choose a Forex Trading System That Works and Suits You
There are so many different trading systems you could use to trade the forex market, some better suited to certain people than others. For example some people may find it easier to comprehend and take into account fundamental factors as opposed to looking at a screen covered in technical indicators, and vice-versa.
The first logical step in determining what type of trading system would best suit you is actually being aware and understand the widely known methods of analysis used in trading the currency market. Once you are aware of the tools that are available, you can generally tell what type of analysis suits you. For example some of the main technical analysis methods which are popular include:
Pivot points
Chart patterns
Fibonacci retracements
Candlestick patterns
And some fundamental factors which are widely used include analyzing:
Interest rates
Trade balances
Unemployment rates
Gross domestic product (GDP)
You may now actually be able to develop your own system by combining certain methods of analysis together, giving you a method which you are comfortable with. On the other hand you may decide that you would like to trade someone else’s system, either way, that brings us to the next step which is determining the profitability of a trading system.
Determining Profitability
Most people would think that back testing is the best way to determine a systems profitability. However back testing doesn’t always give you a true idea of how profitable a system is. The reason for this is because when you’re back testing your system on historical charts, you are only seeing the obvious setups which have occurred, and not always seeing the ones that are less obvious. These less obvious ones sometimes can produce losses, which is why back testing isn’t always the best method to implement.
A better method of determining profitability is by trading your system in real-time with a demo account. This would give you a true understanding of what your system is capable of. This would also allow you to familiarize yourself with your trading platform at the same time. When determining profitability you must look at it in terms of expectancy and opportunity.
Expectancy & Opportunity
These two factors together will be able to tell you what you could expect to make over a period of time. Expectancy is calculated with the following formula:
(Probability of winning × average win) – (Probability of losing × average loss)
This will give you a figure which is the average amount you can expect to make per trade. This shouldn’t be a negative amount, if it is you should look at some other method of trading since you cannot make money on a system that produces a negative expectancy. Obviously the higher this figure is the better. Now to the opportunity factor.
The opportunity factor is how often you are able to trade using your system. By multiplying your expectancy figure with your opportunity factor it will tell you how much you could expect to make over a period of time. The more opportunity you have to trade, the more money you should expect to make. This now brings us to the last component of a trading system, money management.
Money Management
Without proper money management you will end up as a statistic. In other words one of those 90%+ of traders who loose their money. Money management tells you how much of your account balance to risk per trade. The whole point of money management is to ensure your survival over the long term, and to preserve your capital.
The most common form of money management is the percent risk model which tells you not to risk more than x percent of your account balance on any one trade. A range between 1-3% is generally an accepted amount which has been a reliable percentage to use in order to make money in the long term.
Conclusion
By taking into consideration the above factors you will be able to determine if a trading system best suits you, and with some simple mathematical calculations you will be able to determine its profitability
There are so many different trading systems you could use to trade the forex market, some better suited to certain people than others. For example some people may find it easier to comprehend and take into account fundamental factors as opposed to looking at a screen covered in technical indicators, and vice-versa.
The first logical step in determining what type of trading system would best suit you is actually being aware and understand the widely known methods of analysis used in trading the currency market. Once you are aware of the tools that are available, you can generally tell what type of analysis suits you. For example some of the main technical analysis methods which are popular include:
Pivot points
Chart patterns
Fibonacci retracements
Candlestick patterns
And some fundamental factors which are widely used include analyzing:
Interest rates
Trade balances
Unemployment rates
Gross domestic product (GDP)
You may now actually be able to develop your own system by combining certain methods of analysis together, giving you a method which you are comfortable with. On the other hand you may decide that you would like to trade someone else’s system, either way, that brings us to the next step which is determining the profitability of a trading system.
Determining Profitability
Most people would think that back testing is the best way to determine a systems profitability. However back testing doesn’t always give you a true idea of how profitable a system is. The reason for this is because when you’re back testing your system on historical charts, you are only seeing the obvious setups which have occurred, and not always seeing the ones that are less obvious. These less obvious ones sometimes can produce losses, which is why back testing isn’t always the best method to implement.
A better method of determining profitability is by trading your system in real-time with a demo account. This would give you a true understanding of what your system is capable of. This would also allow you to familiarize yourself with your trading platform at the same time. When determining profitability you must look at it in terms of expectancy and opportunity.
Expectancy & Opportunity
These two factors together will be able to tell you what you could expect to make over a period of time. Expectancy is calculated with the following formula:
(Probability of winning × average win) – (Probability of losing × average loss)
This will give you a figure which is the average amount you can expect to make per trade. This shouldn’t be a negative amount, if it is you should look at some other method of trading since you cannot make money on a system that produces a negative expectancy. Obviously the higher this figure is the better. Now to the opportunity factor.
The opportunity factor is how often you are able to trade using your system. By multiplying your expectancy figure with your opportunity factor it will tell you how much you could expect to make over a period of time. The more opportunity you have to trade, the more money you should expect to make. This now brings us to the last component of a trading system, money management.
Money Management
Without proper money management you will end up as a statistic. In other words one of those 90%+ of traders who loose their money. Money management tells you how much of your account balance to risk per trade. The whole point of money management is to ensure your survival over the long term, and to preserve your capital.
The most common form of money management is the percent risk model which tells you not to risk more than x percent of your account balance on any one trade. A range between 1-3% is generally an accepted amount which has been a reliable percentage to use in order to make money in the long term.
Conclusion
By taking into consideration the above factors you will be able to determine if a trading system best suits you, and with some simple mathematical calculations you will be able to determine its profitability
Advantages of trading forex
Advantages of trading forex
Although the forex market is by far the largest and most liquid in the world, day traders have up to now focused on seeking profits in mainly stock and futures markets. This is mainly due to the restrictive nature of bank-offered forex trading services.
Advanced Currency Markets (ACM) offers both online and traditional phone forex trading services to the small investor with minimum account opening values starting at 5000 USD.
There are many advantages to trading spot foreign exchange as opposed to trading stocks and futures. Below are listed those main advantages.
1. Bid/Ask Spread rates
Spread rates have tightened dramatically in the last years. Most online forex brokers offer a spread of 5 pips on EURUSD which is the most widely traded and liquid currency pair. ACM offers a 3 pip spread on EURUSD. In stock trading, only liquid stocks offer tight spreads. Those spreads often represent on average between 0.04% and 0.06% of the value of the stock. In comparison ACM offers a 3 pip spread on all major currencies, this equates to approximately between 0.02% and 0.03% on the underlying dollar value.
Exact percentages at current rates (May 2002)
EURUSD 3 pips 0.03%
GBPUSD 3 pips 0.03%
USDJPY 3 pips 0.023%
USDCHF 3 pips 0.018%
In the futures market spreads can vary anywhere between 5 and 9 pips and can become even larger under illiquid market conditions (which tends to happen substantially more often in futures currencies).
2. Commissions
ACM offers foreign exchange trading commission free. This is in sharp contrast to (once again) what stock and futures brokers offer. A stock trade can cost anywhere between USD 5 and 30 per trade with online brokers and typically up to USD 150 with full service brokers. Futures brokers can charge commissions anywhere between USD 10 and 30 on a round turn basis.
3. Margins requirements
ACM offers a foreign exchange trading with a 1% margin. In layman's terms that means a trader can control a position of a value of USD 1'000'000 with a mere USD 10'000 in his account. By comparison, futures margins are not only constantly changing but are also often quite sizeable. Stocks are generally traded on a non-margined basis and when they are, it can be as restrictive as 50% or so.
4. 24 hour market
Foreign exchange market trading occurs over a 24 hour period picking up in Asia around 24:00 CET Sunday evening and coming to an end in the United States on Friday around 23:00 CET. Although ECNs (electronic communications networks) exist for stock markets and futures markets (like Globex) that supply after hours trading, liquidity is often low and prices offered can often be uncompetitive.
5. No Limit up / limit down
Futures markets contain certain constraints that limit the number and type of transactions a trader can make under certain price conditions. When the price of a certain currency rises or falls beyond a certain pre-determined daily level traders are restricted from initiating new positions and are limited only to liquidating existing positions if they so desire. This mechanism is meant to control daily price volatility but in effect since the futures currency market follows the spot market anyway, the following day the futures market may undergo what is called a 'gap' or in other words the futures price will re-adjust to the spot price the next day. In the OTC market no such trading constraints exist permitting the trader to truly implement his trading strategy to the fullest extent. Since a trader can protect his position from large unexpected price movements with stop-loss orders the high volatility in the spot market can be fully controlled.
6. Sell before you buy
Equity brokers offer very restrictive short-selling margin requirements to customers. This means that a customer does not possess the liquidity to be able to sell stock before he buys it. Margin wise, a trader has exactly the same capacity when initiating a selling or buying position in the spot market. In spot trading when you're selling one currency, you're necessarily buying another
Although the forex market is by far the largest and most liquid in the world, day traders have up to now focused on seeking profits in mainly stock and futures markets. This is mainly due to the restrictive nature of bank-offered forex trading services.
Advanced Currency Markets (ACM) offers both online and traditional phone forex trading services to the small investor with minimum account opening values starting at 5000 USD.
There are many advantages to trading spot foreign exchange as opposed to trading stocks and futures. Below are listed those main advantages.
1. Bid/Ask Spread rates
Spread rates have tightened dramatically in the last years. Most online forex brokers offer a spread of 5 pips on EURUSD which is the most widely traded and liquid currency pair. ACM offers a 3 pip spread on EURUSD. In stock trading, only liquid stocks offer tight spreads. Those spreads often represent on average between 0.04% and 0.06% of the value of the stock. In comparison ACM offers a 3 pip spread on all major currencies, this equates to approximately between 0.02% and 0.03% on the underlying dollar value.
Exact percentages at current rates (May 2002)
EURUSD 3 pips 0.03%
GBPUSD 3 pips 0.03%
USDJPY 3 pips 0.023%
USDCHF 3 pips 0.018%
In the futures market spreads can vary anywhere between 5 and 9 pips and can become even larger under illiquid market conditions (which tends to happen substantially more often in futures currencies).
2. Commissions
ACM offers foreign exchange trading commission free. This is in sharp contrast to (once again) what stock and futures brokers offer. A stock trade can cost anywhere between USD 5 and 30 per trade with online brokers and typically up to USD 150 with full service brokers. Futures brokers can charge commissions anywhere between USD 10 and 30 on a round turn basis.
3. Margins requirements
ACM offers a foreign exchange trading with a 1% margin. In layman's terms that means a trader can control a position of a value of USD 1'000'000 with a mere USD 10'000 in his account. By comparison, futures margins are not only constantly changing but are also often quite sizeable. Stocks are generally traded on a non-margined basis and when they are, it can be as restrictive as 50% or so.
4. 24 hour market
Foreign exchange market trading occurs over a 24 hour period picking up in Asia around 24:00 CET Sunday evening and coming to an end in the United States on Friday around 23:00 CET. Although ECNs (electronic communications networks) exist for stock markets and futures markets (like Globex) that supply after hours trading, liquidity is often low and prices offered can often be uncompetitive.
5. No Limit up / limit down
Futures markets contain certain constraints that limit the number and type of transactions a trader can make under certain price conditions. When the price of a certain currency rises or falls beyond a certain pre-determined daily level traders are restricted from initiating new positions and are limited only to liquidating existing positions if they so desire. This mechanism is meant to control daily price volatility but in effect since the futures currency market follows the spot market anyway, the following day the futures market may undergo what is called a 'gap' or in other words the futures price will re-adjust to the spot price the next day. In the OTC market no such trading constraints exist permitting the trader to truly implement his trading strategy to the fullest extent. Since a trader can protect his position from large unexpected price movements with stop-loss orders the high volatility in the spot market can be fully controlled.
6. Sell before you buy
Equity brokers offer very restrictive short-selling margin requirements to customers. This means that a customer does not possess the liquidity to be able to sell stock before he buys it. Margin wise, a trader has exactly the same capacity when initiating a selling or buying position in the spot market. In spot trading when you're selling one currency, you're necessarily buying another
Online Forex Trading Education
There are many people who are interested in forex trading. But before you start trading in forex, getting a good online forex trading education is important. The forex market is largely a technical market with its own forex terms and processes so it is important you grasp the fundamentals with an online forex trading education.
Why Online Forex Trading Education?
Most people who want to try forex trading are often busy with other aspects of life to take care of. They probably do not have the time to attend a course on forex trading. Therefore, an online forex trading education is more suited.
Since it s online, you can take your time to read and digest the information at your own pace. Also most of the basics of forex trading can be found online for free. There are tons of websites that provide free forex trading courses and tutorials.
There are also free forex trading seminars online available plus advanced forex trading courses online such as the forexmentor program. While it s usually not free, the costs are pretty cheap compared to attending a forex trading course in a classroom.
Another important part of an online forex trading education is practice. I believe no matter how well you understand forex trading or if you score an A in a forex trading course, the real deal comes when you actually start trading.
Most forex trading sites provides a demo account for new beginners to forex trading to learn how to manage their forex trading account. There is no monetary risk, so it is a very good way to learn the ropes.
Once you feel you have sufficient experience, you can open a regular forex trading account or a mini forex account. I would highly recommend you open a mini forex account and start trading in smaller amounts. It has all the features of a regular forex accounts yet you can start one usually with about US $100.
It s important you do not rush through your online forex trading education. Take your time to understand and start trading in small amounts to practice. As the saying goes, practice make perfect.
Why Online Forex Trading Education?
Most people who want to try forex trading are often busy with other aspects of life to take care of. They probably do not have the time to attend a course on forex trading. Therefore, an online forex trading education is more suited.
Since it s online, you can take your time to read and digest the information at your own pace. Also most of the basics of forex trading can be found online for free. There are tons of websites that provide free forex trading courses and tutorials.
There are also free forex trading seminars online available plus advanced forex trading courses online such as the forexmentor program. While it s usually not free, the costs are pretty cheap compared to attending a forex trading course in a classroom.
Another important part of an online forex trading education is practice. I believe no matter how well you understand forex trading or if you score an A in a forex trading course, the real deal comes when you actually start trading.
Most forex trading sites provides a demo account for new beginners to forex trading to learn how to manage their forex trading account. There is no monetary risk, so it is a very good way to learn the ropes.
Once you feel you have sufficient experience, you can open a regular forex trading account or a mini forex account. I would highly recommend you open a mini forex account and start trading in smaller amounts. It has all the features of a regular forex accounts yet you can start one usually with about US $100.
It s important you do not rush through your online forex trading education. Take your time to understand and start trading in small amounts to practice. As the saying goes, practice make perfect.
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