Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Forex Trading Course - A Must for Forex Beginners

In the world's major economic Marketplace where exchanges achieve up to trillions of dollars each day, many people would really want to take part in this Marketplace. Aside from being the major financial Marketplace in the world, Forex is also the most liquid Marketplace in the world where trades are completed 24 hours a day.
A lot of Traders have turn out to be extremely wealthy Trading in the Forex Marketplace. And, many people who trade in the Forex Marketplace on a daily basis have found a great way to replace their day jobs. Some even became millionaires almost overnight by just Trading in this economic Marketplace.
Trading in the Forex Marketplace can be very attractive. However, you should also know that there have been people who suffered extreme financial losses in the Forex Marketplace. It is true that the Forex Marketplace offers a very good money-making opportunity to a lot of people, but it also has its risks.
It is a fact that people who didn't have the right knowledge and skills Trading in the Forex Marketplace suffered huge financial losses and some even went into debt. So, before you enter the Forex Marketplace, it is essential that you should have the necessary knowledge and skills as a Forex trader in order to minimize the risk of losing money and maximize the potential of making money.
Many people who were doing well in the Forex Marketplace have went through a Forex Course to get the knowledge and skills needed to successfully trade in this very liquid and very large economic Marketplace.
In a Forex Trading Education, you will learn about when it is the right time to buy or sell, chart the movements, spot Marketplace trends and also know how to use the different Trading platforms available in the Forex Marketplace.
You will also be familiarized with the terminologies used in the Forex Marketplace. Even the basic knowledge about Trading in the Forex Marketplace can be a great help with your money-making venture in the world's largest Marketplace.
There are different Forex Trading lessons offered, all you need to do is select one that suits your requirements as a trader. Even crash courses where all the basic things about Forex will be taught to you in a short period of time, full time online courses, where you will learn all about Forex through the internet and there are also full time real life classroom courses where you can learn the ropes about Forex in a real classroom with a live professor.
You can also become an apprentice. On the other hand, in order to become skilled at a lot about Forex as an apprentice, you need to make sure that you have a seasoned Forex trader who can share a lot of things to you about the Forex Marketplace.
Forex Trading Online - 5 Reasons Why You Should.
o Forex never sleeps
o Forex Trading online offers great leverage
o Forex prices are predictable
o Forex trading online is commission free
o Forex trading online is instant
The FX market is astoundingly fast! Your orders are executed, filled and confirmed usually within 1-2 seconds.
Since this is all done electronically with no humans involved, there is little to slow it down!
Forex trading online can get you where you want to go quicker and more profitably than any other form of trading. Check it out and see what Forex trading online can do for you!
A high-quality Forex Trading lessons will also clarify a lot about the primary and technical analysis of charts. As a trader, knowing how to analyze a chart is an essential skill that you should have. So, when you are looking for a Forex Trading lessons, you should look for a lessons that offers essential and technical analysis instruction.
Stress plays a vital part in Forex Traders. Knowing how to deal with stress is also a skill that you should develop. A good Forex Trading Education should teach you how to deal with stress and trade successfully and efficiently.
As much as possible, you should look for a Forex Skill that offer real Trading systems where students can trade real currency on the Forex Marketplace or at least trade on dummy accounts in a simulated Forex Marketplace. This hands-on knowledge will greatly benefit you. In addition, the best way to learn about anything is by actually experiencing it. Live Trading and simulations should be offered in a Forex Trading course.
Forex trading online can get you where you want to go quicker and more profitably than any other form of trading. Check it out and see what Forex trading online can do for you!

Forex Options Market Overview

The forex options market started as an over-the-counter (OTC) financial vehicle for large banks, financial institutions and large international corporations to hedge against foreign currency exposure. Like the forex spot market, the forex options market is considered an "interbank" market. However, with the plethora of real-time financial data and forex option trading software available to most investors through the internet, today's forex option market now includes an increasingly large number of individuals and corporations who are speculating and/or hedging foreign currency exposure via telephone or online forex trading platforms.
Forex option trading has emerged as an alternative investment vehicle for many traders and investors. As an investment tool, forex option trading provides both large and small investors with greater flexibility when determining the appropriate forex trading and hedging strategies to implement.
Most forex options trading is conducted via telephone as there are only a few forex brokers offering online forex option trading platforms.
Forex Option Defined - A forex option is a financial currency contract giving the forex option buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase or sell a specific forex spot contract (the underlying) at a specific price (the strike price) on or before a specific date (the expiration date). The amount the forex option buyer pays to the forex option seller for the forex option contract rights is called the forex option "premium."
The Forex Option Buyer - The buyer, or holder, of a foreign currency option has the choice to either sell the foreign currency option contract prior to expiration, or he or she can choose to hold the foreign currency options contract until expiration and exercise his or her right to take a position in the underlying spot foreign currency. The act of exercising the foreign currency option and taking the subsequent underlying position in the foreign currency spot market is known as "assignment" or being "assigned" a spot position.
The only initial financial obligation of the foreign currency option buyer is to pay the premium to the seller up front when the foreign currency option is initially purchased. Once the premium is paid, the foreign currency option holder has no other financial obligation (no margin is required) until the foreign currency option is either offset or expires.
On the expiration date, the call buyer can exercise his or her right to buy the underlying foreign currency spot position at the foreign currency option's strike price, and a put holder can exercise his or her right to sell the underlying foreign currency spot position at the foreign currency option's strike price. Most foreign currency options are not exercised by the buyer, but instead are offset in the market before expiration.
Foreign currency options expires worthless if, at the time the foreign currency option expires, the strike price is "out-of-the-money." In simplest terms, a foreign currency option is "out-of-the-money" if the underlying foreign currency spot price is lower than a foreign currency call option's strike price, or the underlying foreign currency spot price is higher than a put option's strike price. Once a foreign currency option has expired worthless, the foreign currency option contract itself expires and neither the buyer nor the seller have any further obligation to the other party.
The Forex Option Seller - The foreign currency option seller may also be called the "writer" or "grantor" of a foreign currency option contract. The seller of a foreign currency option is contractually obligated to take the opposite underlying foreign currency spot position if the buyer exercises his right. In return for the premium paid by the buyer, the seller assumes the risk of taking a possible adverse position at a later point in time in the foreign currency spot market.
Initially, the foreign currency option seller collects the premium paid by the foreign currency option buyer (the buyer's funds will immediately be transferred into the seller's foreign currency trading account). The foreign currency option seller must have the funds in his or her account to cover the initial margin requirement. If the markets move in a favorable direction for the seller, the seller will not have to post any more funds for his foreign currency options other than the initial margin requirement. However, if the markets move in an unfavorable direction for the foreign currency options seller, the seller may have to post additional funds to his or her foreign currency trading account to keep the balance in the foreign currency trading account above the maintenance margin requirement.
Just like the buyer, the foreign currency option seller has the choice to either offset (buy back) the foreign currency option contract in the options market prior to expiration, or the seller can choose to hold the foreign currency option contract until expiration. If the foreign currency options seller holds the contract until expiration, one of two scenarios will occur: (1) the seller will take the opposite underlying foreign currency spot position if the buyer exercises the option or (2) the seller will simply let the foreign currency option expire worthless (keeping the entire premium) if the strike price is out-of-the-money.
Please note that "puts" and "calls" are separate foreign currency options contracts and are NOT the opposite side of the same transaction. For every put buyer there is a put seller, and for every call buyer there is a call seller. The foreign currency options buyer pays a premium to the foreign currency options seller in every option transaction.
Forex Call Option - A foreign exchange call option gives the foreign exchange options buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase a specific foreign exchange spot contract (the underlying) at a specific price (the strike price) on or before a specific date (the expiration date). The amount the foreign exchange option buyer pays to the foreign exchange option seller for the foreign exchange option contract rights is called the option "premium."
Please note that "puts" and "calls" are separate foreign exchange options contracts and are NOT the opposite side of the same transaction. For every foreign exchange put buyer there is a foreign exchange put seller, and for every foreign exchange call buyer there is a foreign exchange call seller. The foreign exchange options buyer pays a premium to the foreign exchange options seller in every option transaction.
The Forex Put Option - A foreign exchange put option gives the foreign exchange options buyer the right, but not the obligation, to sell a specific foreign exchange spot contract (the underlying) at a specific price (the strike price) on or before a specific date (the expiration date). The amount the foreign exchange option buyer pays to the foreign exchange option seller for the foreign exchange option contract rights is called the option "premium."
Please note that "puts" and "calls" are separate foreign exchange options contracts and are NOT the opposite side of the same transaction. For every foreign exchange put buyer there is a foreign exchange put seller, and for every foreign exchange call buyer there is a foreign exchange call seller. The foreign exchange options buyer pays a premium to the foreign exchange options seller in every option transaction.
Plain Vanilla Forex Options - Plain vanilla options generally refer to standard put and call option contracts traded through an exchange (however, in the case of forex option trading, plain vanilla options would refer to the standard, generic forex option contracts that are traded through an over-the-counter (OTC) forex options dealer or clearinghouse). In simplest terms, vanilla forex options would be defined as the buying or selling of a standard forex call option contract or a forex put option contract.
Exotic Forex Options - To understand what makes an exotic forex option "exotic," you must first understand what makes a forex option "non-vanilla." Plain vanilla forex options have a definitive expiration structure, payout structure and payout amount. Exotic forex option contracts may have a change in one or all of the above features of a vanilla forex option. It is important to note that exotic options, since they are often tailored to a specific's investor's needs by an exotic forex options broker, are generally not very liquid, if at all.
Intrinsic & Extrinsic Value - The price of an FX option is calculated into two separate parts, the intrinsic value and the extrinsic (time) value.
The intrinsic value of an FX option is defined as the difference between the strike price and the underlying FX spot contract rate (American Style Options) or the FX forward rate (European Style Options). The intrinsic value represents the actual value of the FX option if exercised. Please note that the intrinsic value must be zero (0) or above - if an FX option has no intrinsic value, then the FX option is simply referred to as having no (or zero) intrinsic value (the intrinsic value is never represented as a negative number). An FX option with no intrinsic value is considered "out-of-the-money," an FX option having intrinsic value is considered "in-the-money," and an FX option with a strike price at, or very close to, the underlying FX spot rate is considered "at-the-money."
The extrinsic value of an FX option is commonly referred to as the "time" value and is defined as the value of an FX option beyond the intrinsic value. A number of factors contribute to the calculation of the extrinsic value including, but not limited to, the volatility of the two spot currencies involved, the time left until expiration, the riskless interest rate of both currencies, the spot price of both currencies and the strike price of the FX option. It is important to note that the extrinsic value of FX options erodes as its expiration nears. An FX option with 60 days left to expiration will be worth more than the same FX option that has only 30 days left to expiration. Because there is more time for the underlying FX spot price to possibly move in a favorable direction, FX options sellers demand (and FX options buyers are willing to pay) a larger premium for the extra amount of time.
Volatility - Volatility is considered the most important factor when pricing forex options and it measures movements in the price of the underlying. High volatility increases the probability that the forex option could expire in-the-money and increases the risk to the forex option seller who, in turn, can demand a larger premium. An increase in volatility causes an increase in the price of both call and put options.
Delta - The delta of a forex option is defined as the change in price of a forex option relative to a change in the underlying forex spot rate. A change in a forex option's delta can be influenced by a change in the underlying forex spot rate, a change in volatility, a change in the riskless interest rate of the underlying spot currencies or simply by the passage of time (nearing of the expiration date).
The delta must always be calculated in a range of zero to one (0-1.0). Generally, the delta of a deep out-of-the-money forex option will be closer to zero, the delta of an at-the-money forex option will be near .5 (the probability of exercise is near 50%) and the delta of deep in-the-money forex options will be closer to 1.0. In simplest terms, the closer a forex option's strike price is relative to the underlying spot forex rate, the higher the delta because it is more sensitive to a change in the underlying rate.

Making Money Online With a Forex Trading System

In this article I will discuss making money online, Forex trading, and software related to Forex trading. Both good and bad. As well as cover some other things. Though there are a lot of systems out there, more importantly scams, there's not quite as many as there are online get rich quick schemes and ponzi schemes in general. There are still hundreds if not thousands of scams that directly relate to Forex Currency Trading. These scams come in various forms but often get the record set straight on them quickly, however a few others somehow escape the negative publicity and go for years and hit unsuspecting profit seekers where it hurts the most daily. The problem with Forex is that so much seems too good to be true, and a lot of stuff is, but it's also true that many people have made millions and some aren't really all that smart at it. You can profit from the right robot.
The first thing I would like to discuss is the topic of sales pages, that common pitch page that a lot of products use and you often think it's gone too far or it must be a scam just by looking at it. But when you think real hard about it, over half the time this is not actually the case... These sales pages are so long and packed with information since they are commonly advertised on the web and it is more or less business strategy, as opposed to anything reflecting the product. Certain vendors force you to use pitch pages, they need a specific landing page and it makes things much easier for sales transactions.
So rather than guide you through a structured web site with more details through various sections; they often use this pitch page and they generally pack it with information and a ton of hard selling. This has proven to be the trend and it's gotten harder and harder for some EAs to market their software without these types of pitch pages. It is often the case with digital products and or/stuff you can order online. When it comes to these make-money-online and Forex sites they often have a lot of flash to them and obviously many things to draw customers in. In reality it's not much different from any other form of advertising, most certainly not the likes of gambling, and so forth. They need to have some sort of appeal and be competitive. My conclusion is that even if it looks like it could be a scam, do your homework anyway and it may not be. It just depends. Some things are signs, but in my opinion web design and hard selling are not direct signs of a scam. Though in the Forex Market something to hope for would be charts and proof.
With regards to the surveys and other things, it amounts to filling out spam for pennies pretty much, data entry is the same and much more annoying than even the most desperate realize. It also makes you look bad if you tell your friends. You still have to spend time to make any real money, not prizes, and some also require a credit card number on file, and they text you and stuff too. Let's be honest, it sucks. It's bottom of the barrel work that just isn't worth it. It's for the ultra-lazy. The kind of human being who for example might get scammed by a Forex system. Not a serious adult who is looking to profit from investment and extend their savings, along with make more money in general.
I once tried a clicking service just to see if I actually could make money, on the popular moneytec forum it was this highly suggested thing by a bunch of lazy work at home users, but I bought into it at the time, and, no joke I signed up and they told me it would be easy and they would make it easy to visit 1000 sites or whatever they have you visit for 15 cents. So I clicked a link and it just starting loading every 2 seconds, it was awfully slow, I waited 15 minutes and that was only like 25 sites, i got a virus after, and i closed it fast. I abandoned the 15 cents for it and thought instantly that these poor souls who do this are a whole helluva lot more desperate than I am. I do not belong in these sort of slums of the internet. This is the first time I have ever written about it. Besides that several years ago before I started trading Forex I also wrote a few surveys and never got paid once. I have marketed online to some success but mainly my success has been through Forex Trading. That's why I don't need to work a real job and can sit around doing stuff like this all day. Publishing is very important to me. Once something you write online get's indexed by a major search engine like Google, chances are that it will be there for a very long time. I find that important anyway...
There are other ways you can make money online without Forex Trading, though sadly it is often bottom of the barrel work; boring data entry, filling out surveys for pennies, to name a couple of the more common ones. If you're into making web sites you may also advertise on one of your sites or a network of sites, and for that you need fresh content and you need to get traffic, which is way harder than one might think. You can sell products virtually as an affiliate, though you need to find your niche and work very hard at it, it becomes a time consuming job for some people and no matter what you're likely to going to need to invest in something no matter what you do. Whether it's Forex, Web Design, Advertising or whatever it is or a combination of things, most importantly it takes time and ability to adapt your passion. Though you still have much more freedom, affiliate marketing online is very crowded and has been for years. You can also use a revenue-share article and/or video submission service in hopes of being one of the few who can actually earn a living at it. Though that is not for everybody. If you've got four young children and only have an extra hour or two a day to pull in some extra income you most likely don't have time to play a Martha Stewart like figure. Most people don't.
Forex Trading on the other hand is more convenient in the sense that it is an extremely profitable investment opportunity given the right expert adviser, to advise your trade and supply your signals, generally to guide you. That is option one. You need a broker. It's way easier than you think and in the Forex industry not as big of a word as you might think, easy to get and you don't gotta meet them in person or anything. It's an online thing.
There are many options to trade Forex, one of the most common would be the use of automated Forex platforms and Forex robots, all automated Forex trading in general. There is nothing wrong with it. This is where expert advisers come in, EAs for short. These are the Forex experts as I mentioned above who supply your trades and information to you. They pretty much tell you what to do. Some are much better than others. Some are not out to supply signals at all and simply selling their software to make profit from that end. Proper automated Forex software oftens runs on the metatrader 4 Forex trading platform, or at least the more popular ones do. Your EA software is like plug-in software for it. I'd actually be wrong to say all EAs use it, but many of the ones I have experience with use the Metatrader 4 Platform and I prefer it.
The other way to trade Forex is to study the market, find all the relevant information you need, take a very long time of a few months to several years to learn something, only to have it blow up as you were still too inexperienced to do something with your strategy when the market changed. Strategy is a very important element of online Forex trading but not just having a strategy, it's about having enough strategies and being able to adapt properly with the market. This is why a lot of people fail without popular EAs, because the EA is usually a well experienced trader and your common trader can't provide himself with signals even half as good and a lot less consistently. The well known EAs are usually like 15 year traders and so forth who studied the market like a school subject and make extra money on the side by selling there signals too you, or software which grants them.
A lot of Forex EAs today simply don't have that sort strategy or ability to adapt with the market... Thus not making them scams, but just not prepared for the long haul in general. I have a lot of experience with failed systems and systems that worked for just a little while. I have others that work to this day but I am always seeking new ones. I can review several including one I use now however that has already been done a few times over.
If you're looking for the cross between really learning Forex and just really having to learn complicated signals and software I'd suggest Forex Fap Turbo. The downside of this is you often need to buy extra stuff to learn it and some of it is useless. All of this for pretty decent software but it takes way more time and skill and not something I was happy with. I requested and received my refund for the software and some other software related to it, as it was just not for me and the only people i heard reviewing and bragging about it were a lot more educated before they tried it than I was. I wasn't ready then, am not ready now. Though it's a well reviewed Forex system and not a scam, I'd provide a link to a review but there is too many of the same, several are mere Forex advertisements so that's not a lot of help. It also brings up a lot of the Fap Turbo related software that isn't even the direct software and you gotta buy it separately. So it's a lot of hassle even more than some typical investments that aren't related to Forex.
I have also tried automoney and several other Forex robots and automated Forex platforms. I have found that many of these automated Forex systems are a dime a dozen and send you through far too many loops to get the desired results. If they don't eat your entire investment... Some systems don't have stops and you have to do too much manually, others are slow, and sometimes the EA is simply just not your sort of teacher and you get lost sometimes...Some EAs will simply sniff you out and then screw you over in the end. This is why it's important to watch for signs of proof either by service trial or physical proof before making your purchase of expensive Forex software.
I have also used Forex Assassin, the eToro Forex trading platform and Forex Harvester but nothing really significant has come up from any of those systems for me.
Some Forex marketers, EAs and employees in general and so forth are so vicious that they monitor new "Forex" related domain registrations and somehow get your email address and solicit you... So you have to be aware that in the Forex market as far as Forex expert advisers go, there is a lot of them competing to get your money. You are merely seeking the ones who are also looking to have a solid reputation and actually provide you with profitable trades, your EAs #1 objective should be successfully trading Forex and not selling their software. This is another thing that makes the simple "pitch page" easy for EAs with very little maintenance, on that end of things. The software should be and often is a side venture for Forex experts who can actually profit from their knowledge of the market and have the means to market themselves... Can anybody create automated software and sell it? Probably not, I think it's a bit of a stretch but then again it depends if you even get software, or whatever, most systems that are fully developed and have good features but don't work - were more than likely meant to work at some point.
I have read up on quite a few of the most popular Forex review sites like Forex Peace Army and many other well known ones, and to me they all pretty much point towards the same complicated software and their voters are already experts investing 10s of thousands already and they barely feel some of their losses. They switch around a lot; nothing turns out to be solid in the end. The reviews on sites like that most likely got started through advertising. Too many people get to review their own systems on Forex sites like that, etc. You never know who the reviewer is. Searching for automated Forex software reviews is almost impossible nowadays since they all say pretty much the same thing and are mostly positive...
I have read up on many "free Forex signal" reports on the web and I also participate actively on various Forex forums and other Forex related sites. I often find with these particular free Forex signals at least my impression is that you get somebody looking to be a mentor of some sort for you, they are usually shady and turn out to be lacking when you need them the most. These guys are usually empty handed. They are trying to freelance or whatever so that they can supply systems and build a name for themselves, but the problem is that these are the guys who after so many followers do create a commercial system and then ultimately end up failing, their the failed EA newbies to some extent and you want an EA who is an accomplished Forex expert.
One should consider it much better and safer to use an established system that is known to work, and not the work of an aspiring EA, or even worse, somebody who doesn't have those credentials at all and are just trying to stuff their ego. I have not enjoyed the free Forex signals and find it more like looting through them then finding anything really that productive, not much is there or else all Forex signals would have to be free and would be for everybody, all the best Forex signals would be free. At least that is my concept. I don't want a rookie EA telling me what to do, since the trend in the Forex market nowadays is most definitely for more popular and well established EAs to sell systems, mostly automated software. That is one thing I don't understand, who these people are that clog up the forums with nonsense and think they can compete in the market with actual successful Forex EAs who really know how to trade.
How much you want to trade really depends on you. If you're a Forex starter you need to have a good EA for starters, and while I can't hand pick one for you, I can provide at least one review since I have spent time on the subject, in this article off-site to an excellent EA which i have tried and complies with several of my standards. I feel it is an excellent resource for people like me at least who gets lost on the big stuff. There are many fish in the sea.

Learning to Trade Forex in Seven Steps

If you are interested in learning to trade forex successfully, then the most common path for an aspiring trader these days is to search the Internet for information to apply immediately to their live forex trading account. The problem is that their search often leads them to destinations where there are plenty of false promises, bad ideas, negativity and an obsession with indicators.  Many of the EBooks on sale today are filled with recycled concepts or incomplete strategies which the authors themselves do not use.  Many authors do not earn money from forex trading but they earn their living by selling these EBooks to the novice forex trader.
 
This easy access to forex guru's who fuel the idea that forex trading is the holy grail of easy money, then financially feed off those same people they have sold this idea to. At the end of the day what many of these forex guru's sell is a gross misrepresentation of what it takes to trade forex for a living. 
 
Forex Trading is not easy.  You can become a good forex trader though dedication and by treating forex trading as you would any other skill.  The reality is that it is hard work and must be treated with the same amount of seriousness as you would any other career.
 
The effect of all these gurus is that many forex traders start off overly optimistic with unrealistic goals.  Whilst there is nothing wrong with a positive mental attitude but this positivity must be built on strong foundations and realistic expectations.
 
New forex traders normally start their career by purchasing some secret set of indicators and they are quickly punished for their naivety.  Many of these forex traders then purchase a different set of secret indicators until they become disillusioned and then quit trading.
 
In fact, many forex traders that are now successful went through this learning process, including myself.  This is only a problem if you refuse to learn from your mistakes.  You need to break from this cycle of reliance on secret indicators and guru methods to be successful.
 
You help yourself in the beginning; by learning to think for yourself and understanding that whilst anyone can trade forex, to be successful, you must learn to BE a forex trader.
To BE A Forex Trader
 
To trade forex is easy, all you need is a forex trading account with money in it and then you enter the foreign exchange market and start trading. 
 
To be a forex trader is more work. You need to grow from the starting point of having very little knowledge to the stage where you have a trading plan, understand the concepts and behaviour of the forex market and be able to trade with a cool head and understand that wins and losses are all part of being a Forex Trader.
 
Learning How to Trade Forex by thinking like a Forex Trader in Seven Steps.
 
 
1. Understand your place in the Forex Market
 
This is very important you must understand that you are very small fish in a big ocean. 
 
 In the Foreign Exchange Market the majority of the liquidity is coming from big banks and experienced institutional traders. These are the big fish.   The big fish will happily enjoy you as a little snack.
 
You are only fooling yourself if you think it will be easy to take money off these big forex traders.  
 
You have to learn to swim alongside these big fish and catch the same currents they do.  Swimming against them just marks you as prey and sooner or later you will be eaten. 
 
 
2. Learn to read the Forex Charts and Understand the Foreign Exchange Market.
 
Many novice forex traders believe that these big forex traders have access to some secret forex trading strategy or use a secret set of indicators, but the truth is this is just not the case.
 
These major forex players are using simple, but proven technical analysis techniques - most commonly horizontal support/resistance, identification of trading ranges, Fibonacci these are then coupled with fundamental themes. 
 
Begin by accepting that the other major participants are highly experienced in the market and they make money because of experience and by a complete understanding of the core skills and not because they hold a holy grail of secret indicators.
 
3. Money Management
 
It is crucial that you understand as a novice forex trader the emphasis is not on how much you can make from forex trading but on how you manage what you have.
 
This is the most common downfall of all novice traders.  It is common place to see a starting trader risk the majority of their account on one or two positions. 
 
This style of trading is not sustainable and professional traders do not trade in this manner.  Everyone sometime in their career will have a string of bad trades.  A typical number might be 10 losing trades in a row.  The question is do you have a money management plan in place that enables you to survive this?
 
4. Focus on the Market
 
Many novice forex traders open their forex charting software and activate their latest hot indicator or tool and proceed to place their trades as per the tools recommendations. This style of forex trading is unlikely to have much long term success.
 
When these indicators fail to generate the required profits then these traders then move rapidly on to another set of indicators.
 
You must focus on the forex market and understand what the indicators are telling you so that you can pick the forex trades which have the best probability of being winners.
 
Successful forex traders use indicators and tools as Fibonacci, Pivot points, price channels, MACD, RSI etc.  These tools by themselves do not make a successful trader.  There are many successful traders and unsuccessful traders who use the exact same indicators.
 
The key is that successful traders understands how the market behaves around the indicators and understands what the signals actually mean.   
 
The best way to achieve this is to stop swapping between tools and select those that compliment your trading plan, understand how they work, and then spend time in the market experiencing them.
5. Plan your trade and trade your plan.
 
This is a common saying that seems to get lost on novice traders.  It should be every trader's goal to make pips on each forex trade as per their trading plan.  Forex Traders must treat each trade as a business decision by calculating their risk and defining their entries and exits points, those that do not   open themselves to big losses when a trade goes bad.
 
Many novice traders seem to lack the discipline to follow a plan for each trade.  So what happens is typically the following; a novice trader will see a potential set-up, they decide on some arbitrary sum to buy or sell with a quick guesstimate, then place the trade without analyzing any risk and having an exit strategy. 
 
Of course this way of trading can be profitable over the short term, more down to luck than skill.  But eventually the luck runs out and the trader is caught napping and a common result is a wiped out account.
 
The first question novice traders tend to ask themselves how much will I make on this forex trade?
The first question experience traders tend to ask themselves is how much is my potential loss / risk?
6. Your mind is your strongest asset and weakest link.
 
Entire books have been dedicated to the subject of psychology and its role in trading. That doesn't mean they are all going to help you, but you should take this as a sign that the subject is not to be ignored. 
 
First you must understand the role psychology plays in trading.  You must learn to understand your personality traits and how they might affect your trading style.  
 
A trader I know is a bad loser and when he has a bad trade, he had a habit of going straight back and trying to win those pips back with even worse results.  But he understands this as a weakness and when he has a bad trade, he takes a break of 20 minutes before he goes back to trading so that his emotions do not affect his trading decisions.
 
Second you must make it your aim to never stop learning. You cannot get yourself to a certain level and then become complacent. Every day is a learning experience in some way or other and you must be prepared to learn lessons and invest time in improving your skills and experience. The day you stop learning is the day you should stop trading.
 
7. Understand The Forex Market is always right or Expect the Unexpected.
 
The forex market is an interesting place, but there is one thing every trader needs to learn.   Always expect the unexpected and do not get wrapped up in past successes.   No matter what your charts or indicators tell you; sometimes the forex market will just do the opposite.  
 
Whatever happens in the market you must maintain an objective outlook on your strategy and the forex market and ensure that bubbles and crashes do not derail you in the long term.
By following these steps and learning to become a forex trader rather than just trading the forex market, you will put you on the path to ultimate success as a profitable forex trader.  This is something that 90% of all novice traders fail to achieve.

Forex Trading - Getting Started how?

The forex market is the world's largest international currency trading market operating non-stop during the working week. Most forex trading is done by professionals such as bankers. Generally forex trading is done through a forex broker - but there is nothing to stop anyone trading currencies. Forex currency trading allows buyers and sellers to buy the currency they need for their business and sellers who have earned currency to exchange what they have for a more convenient currency. The world's largest banks dominate forex and according to a survey in The Wall Street Journal Europe, the ten most active traders who are engaged in forex trading account for almost 73% of trading volume.
However, a sizeable proportion of the remainder of forex trading is speculative with traders building up an investment which they wish to liquidate at some stage for profit. While a currency may increase or decrease in value relative to a wide range of currencies, all forex trading transactions are based upon currency pairs. So, although the Euro may be 'strong' against a basket of currencies, traders will be trading in just one currency pair and may simply concern themselves with the Euro/US Dollar ( EUR/USD) ratio. Changes in relative values of currencies may be gradual or triggered by specific events such as are unfolding at the time of writing this - the toxic debt crisis.
Because the markets for currencies are global, the volumes traded every day are vast. For the large corporate investors, the great benefits of trading on Forex are:
  • Enormous liquidity - over $4 trillion per day, that's $4,000,000,000. This means that there's always someone ready to trade with you
  • Every one of the world's free currencies are traded - this means that you may trade the currency you want at any time
  • Twenty four - hour trading during the 5-day working week
  • Operations are global which mean that you can trade with any part of the world at any time
From the point of view of the smaller trader there's lots of benefits too, such as:
  • A rapidly-changing market - that's one which is always changing and offering the chance to make money
  • Very well developed mechanisms for controlling risk
  • Ability to go long or short - this means that you can make money either in rising or falling markets
  • Leverage trading - meaning that you can benefit from large-volume trading while having a relatively-low capital base
  • Lots of options for zero-commission trading

How the forex Market WorksAs forex is all about foreign exchange, all transactions are made up from a currency pair - say, for instance, the Euro and the US Dollar. The basic tool for trading forex is the exchange rate which is expressed as a ratio between the values of the two currencies such as EUR/USD = 1.4086. This value, which is referred to as the 'forex rate' means that, at that particular time, one Euro would be worth 1.4086 US Dollars. This ratio is always expressed to 4 decimal places which means that you could see a forex rate of EUR/USD = 1.4086 or EUR/USD = 1.4087 but never EUR/USD = 1.40865. The rightmost digit of this ratio is referred to as a 'pip'. So, a change from EUR/USD = 1.4086 to EUR/USD = 1.4088 would be referred to as a change of 2 pips. One pip, therefore is the smallest unit of trade.
With the forex rate at EUR/USD = 1.4086, an investor purchasing 1000 Euros using dollars would pay $1,408.60. If the forex rate then changed to EUR/USD = 1.5020, the investor could sell their 1000 Euros for $1,502.00 and bank the $93.40 as profit. If this doesn't seem to be large amount to you, you have to put the sum into context. With a rising or falling market, the forex rate does not simply change in a uniform way but oscillates and profits can be taken many times per day as a rate oscillates around a trend.
When you're expecting the value EUR/USD to fall, you might trade the other way by selling Euros for dollars and buying then back when the forex rate has changed to your advantage.
Is forex Risky?
When you trade on forex as in any form of currency trading, you're in the business of currency speculation and it is just that - speculation. This means that there is some risk involved in forex currency trading as in any business but you might and should, take steps to minimise this. You can always set a limit to the downside of any trade, that means to define the maximum loss that you are prepared to accept if the market goes against you - and it will on occasions.
The best insurance against losing your shirt on the forex market is to set out to understand what you're doing totally. Search the internet for a good forex trading tutorial and study it in detail- a bit of good forex education can go a long way!. When there's bits you don't understand, look for a good forex trading forum and ask lots and lots of questions. Many of the people who habitually answer your queries on this will have a good forex trading blog and this will probably not only give you answers to your questions but also provide lots of links to good sites. Be vigilant, however, watch out for forex trading scams. Don't be too quick to part with your money and investigate anything very well before you shell out any hard-earned!
The forex Trading Systems
While you may be right in being cautious about any forex trading system that's advertised, there are some good ones around. Most of them either utilise forex charts and by means of these, identify forex trading signals which tell the trader when to buy or sell. These signals will be made up of a particular change in a forex rate or a trend and these will have been devised by a forex trader who has studied long-term trends in the market so as to identify valid signals when they occur. Many of the systems will use forex trading software which identifies such signals from data inputs which are gathered automatically from market information sources. Some utilise automated forex trading software which can trigger trades automatically when the signals tell it to do so. If these sound too good to be true to you, look around for online forex trading systems which will allow you undertake some dummy trading to test them out. by doing this you can get some forex trading training by giving them a spin before you put real money on the table.
How Much do you Need to Start off with?
This is a bit of a 'How long is a piece of string?' question but there are ways for to be beginner to dip a toe into the water without needing a fortune to start with. The minimum trading size for most trades on forex is usually 100,000 units of any currency and this volume is referred to as a standard "lot". However, there are many firms which offer the facility to purchase in dramatically-smaller lots than this and a bit of internet searching will soon locate these. There's many adverts quoting only a couple of hundred dollars to get going! You will often see the term acciones trading forex and this is just a general term which covers the small guy trading forex. Small-scale trading facilities such as these are often called as forex mini trading.
Where do You Start?
The single most obvious answer is of course - on the internet! Online forex trading gives you direct access to the forex market and there's lots and lots of companies out there who are in business just to deal with you online. Be vigilant, do spend the time to get some good forex trading education, again this can be provided online and set up your dummy account to trade before you attempt to go live. If you take care and take your time, there's no reason why you shouldn't be successful in forex trading so, have patience and stick at it!
For access to a mass of articles on forex and a large number of videos, please visit my site on forex trading.
Hi, I'm Philippa Holmes (Pippa to my friends) and I have been involved in education and training and the forex market for a considerable time. I have written extensively on the subject and can count a considerable number of successful business people among my many past students. My many reviews all emphasize the clarity of my writing and the ease with which absolute beginners can get to grips with the subjects I present.

Forex Secrets - Developing The "Anti-Chaos" Trading Strategy And Tactics At Forex Market

It is horrible to imagine what could happen to USD rate at the spontaneous market in this case. At the controllable market of Forex USD rate would fall down just by 1-2%.
I hope that my opponents, who deny the existence of a system controlling Forex market, do remember the elementary economical laws. The spontaneous market is a barometer that establishes the real price of goods on the basis of the demand and supply (in the given case, it is the real rate of exchange of any national currency).
The Episode #2 . The hurricane "Katrina" and the flood in USA on September 7, 2005. USD rate stably increases. Chronicle of events.
As the result of the dam (dike) debacle, several states in USA become submerged. The industry, agriculture and transport network were destroyed. There started panic not only among common inhabitants but among officials of various ranks as well. Hundreds and thousands of people perished. There were cases of looting. Many looters (and, maybe, just desperately hungry and thirsty people) were shot by soldiers of USA army. The government of USA declared this hurricane to be a disaster on a national scale. For the first time a new plan of civic defense was introduced (see "BBC. The total chronicle of events").
"Katrina" was bringing USA to ruin. Senators from Louisiana asked $250 milliards from the federal budget for getting over "Katrina" after-effects.
Thus, it is an illustrative example of the greatest natural cataclysms in USA in the last decades. Even the poorest country in the world - Haiti - provided the financial help for USA ($ 36 thousands). The help of Ukraine made 1 million of hrivnias , etc.
What did happen to USD rate at the controllable Forex market? Notwithstanding all economical laws and even against the common sense, USD rate increased!
Chart 8.7. EURO/USD pair movement (For view picture see notes in end of article)
Chart 8.8. GBP/USD pair movement (For view picture see notes in end of article)
Brief conclusions for traders .
As I think, the thesis that Forex has turned from the spontaneous market to the controllable one does not need further proofs. Hence, traders must introduce amendments into strategy and tactic of their work at Forex.
What are the conclusions, significant for traders, logically follow from these facts?
Under the new conditions of the controllable market, a trader must not follow the "crowd" (flock). As B. Williams, A. Elder and many other authors have fairly emphasized, the "crowd" pushes the price at any spontaneous market. On the contrary, at the organized Forex market orders must be opened in advance of Consortium's interests!
I try to find the core of a good sense in each technique of the successful work at Forex . Is it necessary to rediscover the well-known principles? There are many prosperous traders who openly and honestly present their methods of gaining profits at Forex . If their techniques are successful, it means that these authors have a thorough grasp of the problem in its essence.
However, in practice, each of the techniques sometimes brings profits, whereas in other cases it is disadvantageous. And it does not matter, whether this technique is developed by B. Williams or by a not celebrated but a successful trader.
Conclusion #1. It is necessary to clearly delineate the domains where a given technique does work and where it fails (as well as the corresponding reasons). In such a way we can clearly understand what of the method by a given trader is worthwhile to be used - as well as how and when to make advantage of it for our work at Forex .
Conclusion #2 . Your trading system must not be just a mixture (farrago) of various techniques. This rule is especially important for the beginners. After reading heaps of books on Forex , all of them make complaints about "such a mess in their heads instead of enlightenment".
Conclusion #3. A trader must develop his own trading system. In order to gain profit, the following steps must be taken:
a. you choose just any technique developed by any author-trader (e.g., mine or B. Williams's, or somebody's else);
b. you must get used to work with the demo account according to this technique to such extent of automatism that you "sense' it as your own initial (original) trading system of the work at Forex
c. Only after this you should start to study additional literature. You must clearly see what pointes, "borrowed" from other authors, can help you personally to work at Forex , to improve your trading system for getting extra profits.
Objectiveness of Forex turning from the spontaneous market into the controllable one. The pattern of this process
Any profitable business transits from the spontaneous to the controllable one. It is an objective stage in the evolution of business undertakings.
In each branch of a big and super profitable business the initial stage of the chaotic competitive straggle is already has been passed through (petroleum, gas, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, precious metals, arms traffic, etc.). At present all these areas are definitely divided between the principal participants. That is, there exist certain financially-industrial groupings, well-controllable and protected from intrusion of a concurrent.
The same concerns the biggest and most conservative area of business - i.e., its financial branch, the world market of currency exchange included. Can it be otherwise? Can "Chaos" rule the market where the turnover exceeds $1 trillion per day? Can the biggest banks and governments depend on "Chaos" - i.e., be dependable of the "off-floor" traders - such as me and you? Can these organizations be worried about the direction in which we (traders) could turn the trend of all national currencies at this or that second? It is ridiculous to imagine!
To realize the power of the grouping that has organized the "game" of Forex all over the world, we should refer to the thesis from the journal "Speculator". In June, 2001 the three biggest dealers at Forex market - Citibank, J.P. Morgan Chase и Deutsche Bank - together with Reuters Group PLC had started up the system Atriax . However, the latter did not meet competition and stopped operations in spring, 2002. The author of the paper just hinted that even the alliance of the 3 biggest world banks could not make any serious competition to Organizer of the "game" at Forex (to Consortium or somebody else).
In this connection, how one can take on trust the principal thesis by B. Williams concerning "Trading chaos" that rules Forex? What's important, all methods of this author issue from this postulate. The following conclusion by B. Williams's also raises doubts. He states that trends are created by traders, whereas brokers just realize these trends and place traders' orders. According to B. Williams, the fact that now trends are made rather "off-floor" than "on floor" (as it was earlier) permits detecting what next will happen at the market (see "Trading Chaos", Chapter 6).
So, to what extent can B. Williams's techniques be correct if their basis is principally erroneous? Let us enumerate the fundamental mistakes made in "Trading Chaos". It is necessary to facilitate understanding of the techniques and practical recommendations given by B. Williams concerning the work at Forex .
1. B. Williams sees Forex as a spontaneous market, uncontrollable by anybody. According to this author, it is chaos but not an organized system that would have its own strategy, tactic, techniques, goals, methods of fraud, etc.
2. B. Williams mentions the pair "trader + broker". However, unconsciously or deliberately, he has omitted the third participant of this very process. This is banks and the world financial system in general. Surely, this organization will not just take a detached view of the traders' arbitrary "game" with the basic world currencies (USD, EURO, GBP, CHF, etc.).
Let us now evolve B. Williams's idea by ourselves. Our aim is to demonstrate absurdity of his "chaos theory" applied to the up-to-date market of Forex.
· How brokers and banks market-makers can pay off profits from traders' deposits if the traders' total earnings would be bigger than the market-maker's profit in this period?
· Being in shoes of market-makers, National Banks, governments of leading countries of the world, etc., how will you conduct yourself on the eve of the news issue? For instance, after the publication of Michigan University Index, USD can "go up" by 150-200 points with respect to all national currencies. That is, in several hours dozens of milliards of USD will be redistributed. Somebody will earn the money, whereas somebody will lose it because of the difference in rates of exchange (quotations).
What will you do in the place of the biggest financial groupings? Would you just be sitting and taking sedative pills? Would you just be trying to guess what steps will be taken by professors of a Michigan University? Will 0.3% be added to the index previous value (91.4) or subtracted from it? What's important, this "difference" makes milliards of USD - for somebody! Possessing such capitals, would you just be sitting idly and waiting for God knows what? More probably, you will try to make this process controllable and predictable. Rather you will do your best to gain profit with the help of such indices and news. I think you will try to let the others lose their money.
· What does the theory of "chaos" at Forex represent by itself if Organizer of the "game" has trained all traders to act according to the stereotype?
a). To place stop-losses and postponed orders at the same places.
b). If the issued news are better than the prognostication, one must stake on "buy". Otherwise (if the news are worse than the prognostication), it is necessary to stake on "sell".
c). If a quicker moving average crosses the slower one upwards, the order must be opened on "buy". In the case of the downward crossover, the order must be opened on "sell".
d). In the case of divergence, one must try to work against the trend. B. Williams and other "classics" at least had to mention that it was basically absurd to work like this at the beginning of the trend and in the middle of it.
This is why the given chapter is named "Anti-trading chaos" - to be more precise, it is the anti-trading system.
Further I'll not dwell on absurdity of the chaos theory by B. Williams when applied to Forex . I hope it is quite clear. Any trader can find a lot of evidences of the fact that Forex is a controllable market. There are also many examples that prove fallacy of B. Williams's conclusion that traders form a trend and "push" it.
As I get it, the "game" of Forex and its rules in their essence are the following.
1. There is Organizer of the financial game (the Alligator) and participants (victims).
2. Organizer always tries to demonstrate: a). objectivity and honesty of the rules established by himself; b). simplicity of the analysis, predictability of the situations and the possibility of earning money easily and regularly by one of the numerous methods of the analysis (FA, TA, etc.).
3. All participants of the "game" are subjected to the same psychological treatment by Brokers, authors of numerical "classical" works on Forex and analysts via their sites and prognoses. That is, such specialists teach every trader to work as all others in the world do.
As the result, Organizer beforehand knows the traders' line of conduct in these or those situations. The percentage of "players"-losers is stable - about 90%.
4. A rapid growth in the number of fraudulent machinations developed by Brokers has become a logical continuation of the above-enumerated rules of the given game. Economists from Brokers have quickly grasped that the number 90% of traders-loses is very close to the figure 100%. What for will they send clients' transactions to the foreign market (the market-maker bank)? In fact, traders will lose all the same! Besides, it is possible to slightly "help" traders in their losing by "knocking down" stop-losses - all traders keep their stop-losses approximately at the same place. In addition, the following tricks can be done as well: the "slippage" (opening of transactions at a price much worse than the price at which the trader wanted to open the deal); computer "pending" at the beginning of the heavy movement in currency pairs. One can give many analogous examples - up to the undisguised fraudulent nonpayment of earned profits to traders.
These centers are also protected from the viewpoint of finances. If in flats the sums of orders of the traders who open transactions on "buy" and "sell" are approximately equal, Brokers can always hedge the difference between "buy" and "sell" with a market-maker under the condition of a heavy trend.
The only thing that cheats from Brokers are afraid of is the unmasking of methods of their work. Really, this will put an end to the afflux of new "victims"!
There are several sure signs of a fraudulent Brokers. In my educational course I enumerate some of such indications. However, here I give only one characteristic (traders should think about it well). If Brokers has one point of spread, you should calculate expenses on the marginal trade, in detail described in all "classical" manuals of Forex . For instance, let it be thought that you open the order for one lot. Forex Brokers supposedly buys EURO to the sum of $ 100 thousands for you. When you close the order, Forex Brokers supposedly transfer EURO to USD again. Thus, if you open 10 deals with EURO/USD pair during a day, your Forex Brokers is supposed to send money abroad and get it back 10 times, buying EURO for USD and v.v. All these transactions must be made exceptionally for you! Is it realistic?
In a next-door bank you should ask the conditions for the transfer of $100 thousands abroad and back. You will learn the cost of the commission for such services and the time required for this transaction (in half a day, the next day, etc.). Here I do not mention the papers that must be prepared for each transfer. I also say nothing about the time required for collecting all signatures.
I wonder, during this period of time what changes will occur in EURO/USD rate as the latter is altering every second?
5. To earn regularly at Forex, you have to master yourself. That is, a trading scheme must be developed. According to this scheme you will work against "generally accepted" rules. As it is already mentioned, these rules are popularized by Organizer of the game at Forex . Sticking to these rules, more than 90% of traders all over the world lose their money.
6. Developing my trading system, I have made use of numerous generally-recognized techniques of the work at Forex (by B. Williams, etc.). Surely, there is a kernel of good sense in any technique that enables earning money - even if in 50% of cases. Therefore, the trader's task is to differentiate the conditions, under which a given technique can provide profit. It is also necessary to understand where, when and why this technique yields a loss to the trader. Naturally, a trader must use only this first part of the system, where one can gain profit.
7. For the development of your own trading system, you must do your best to organically integrate different techniques, profitable at Forex. Various methods of giving analysis to Forex from different viewpoints do help us to more thoroughly and profoundly understand this market and, consequently, to gain profit regularly.
8. The game of Forex is widely spread all over the world. In addition to speculators, there are other participants in Forex - e.g., individuals who need to exchange currency for their business. All these factors provide an objective opportunity to gain profits bigger (and more regularly) than in any other financial game of the world.
9. Therefore, Forex gives a real opportunity to get into the principally new financial market and to become a really independent. Anybody can be engaged in trading at any point in the world. For sure, a State, much as it would want it, cannot deprive a trader of his production facilities because in this area gaining of profit depends just on one's techniques and skill.
10. Forex gives you just a chance to earn money. However, not everybody can learn how to gain real profit. Even after having mastered the fundamentals of making money at Forex , a trader needs to learn a lot of additional factors in order to transform his potential abilities into real money. In this connection the following aspects are very important.
a). the psychological stability (the absence of fear and hazard, the ability to work automatically at the subconscious level, etc);
b). a reliable broker (the trader's profits, being virtual, materialize only if you can convert it into real money at any second);
c). self-perfection via mastering new techniques of gaining profit, learning from an experienced instructor and due to exchanging opinions with other traders;
d). the possibility of obtaining money from the investor for the asset management. This gives the opportunity to proceed from the level of one's own deposit of several hundreds or thousands of USD to the principally new level of the work at Forex. In this way one can simultaneously reinvest a part of one's profits into the deposit and to spend money on heightening of one's own well-being. There is a simple example. At mini- Forex , many traders do not earn a lot of money: even if a trader has doubled his deposit in a month, his profit is small (e. g., by making $100 out of $50). Besides, a part of it he must take off from the deposit for the daily needs. I'll not give examples of large deposits because the tactics of work with them are principally different - as well as the percentage of profit.
11. Not everybody can cover a distance from the chance (the dream) to its realization - i.e., to making real money at Forex . As a trader, here you work against Organizer of this game, who is the professional. That is, to earn money regularly by taking it away from Organizer, one must become the professional himself. Do not hurry to open a real account at least till the time when you will learn to do the following:
a). As B. Williams himself, in several minutes to clearly see two possible alternatives of currency pair movement at the beginning of each session. Correspondingly, you must develop two business plans, where points of input into the market and output from it must be clearly designated.
b). To work out one's own tactic of the work with the demo account at Forex to perfection. The aim is to augment the demo account at least 2.5-3 times in a month.
c). To develop the long-term and intermediate strategies (not less than a month and a week, respectively) - as well as the short-term tactic (the intra-day trading session). Acquisition of this knowledge will help you to gain profit.
d). After opening of the real account, at the beginning you must work only with trends (under the conditions of flats you must deal with demo accounts). It is necessary to clearly distinguish one from another at the beginning of trading.
e). You must choose two ally currency pairs and work with them continuously, accumulating experience.
12. There can be reasons why your demo account does not augment regularly (in particular, maybe you are too busy at your main job). In this case, you better forget about Forex ! You must not open a real account there. It means that Forex is not intended for you.
By the way, there is completely nothing humiliating in the inability to make money at Forex . Some people do not understand technology, or literature. Others do not come to know fine arts, politics or sports, etc. Does anybody consider oneself inferior because of this reason? Surely, not at all!
Analogously, I perfectly well realize that the reaction to the last two items of my vision of the game at Forex can be inadequate. It will stimulate an immediate tide of slander and lies concerning me and my book. The reason is that I'm not an employee of BROKER but a trader. I try to understand recent rules of the game at Forex, its mechanisms and to explain them to others.

What are Your Options Regarding Forex Options Brokers?

Forex option brokers can generally be divided into two separate categories: forex brokers who offer online forex option trading platforms and forex brokers who only broker forex option trading via telephone trades placed through a dealing/brokerage desk. A few forex option brokers offer both online forex option trading as well a dealing/brokerage desk for investors who prefer to place orders through a live forex option broker.
The trading account minimums required by different forex option brokers vary from a few thousand dollars to over fifty thousand dollars. Also, forex option brokers may require investors to trade forex options contracts having minimum notional values (contract sizes) up to $500,000. Last, but not least, certain types of forex option contracts can be entered into and exited at any time while other types of forex option contracts lock you in until expiration or settlement. Depending on the type of forex option contract you enter into, you might get stuck the wrong way with an option contract that you can not trade out of. Before trading, investors should inquire with their forex option brokers about initial trading account minimums, required contract size minimums and contract liquidity.
There are a number of different forex option trading products offered to investors by forex option brokers. We believe it is extremely important for investors to understand the distinctly different risk characteristics of each of the forex option trading products mentioned below that are offered by firms that broker forex options.
Plain Vanilla Forex Options Broker - Plain vanilla options generally refer to standard put and call option contracts traded through an exchange (however, in the case of forex option trading, plain vanilla options would refer to the standard, generic option contracts that are traded through an over-the-counter (OTC) forex dealer or clearinghouse). In simplest terms, vanilla forex options would be defined as the buying or selling of a standard forex call option contract or forex put option contract.
There are only a few forex option broker/dealers who offer plain vanilla forex options online with real-time streaming quotes 24 hours a day. Most forex option brokers and banks only broker forex options via telephone. Vanilla forex options for major currencies have good liquidity and you can easily enter the market long or short, or exit the market any time day or night.
Vanilla forex option contracts can be used in combination with each other and/or with spot forex contracts to form a basic strategy such as writing a covered call, or much more complex forex trading strategies such as butterflies, strangles, ratio spreads, synthetics, etc. Also, plain vanilla options are often the basis of forex option trading strategies known as exotic options.
Exotic Forex Options Broker - First, it is important to note that there a couple of different forex definitions for "exotic" and we don't want anyone getting confused. The first definition of a forex "exotic" refers to any individual currency that is less broadly traded than the major currencies. The second forex definition for "exotic" is the one we refer to on this website - a forex option contract (trading strategy) that is a derivative of a standard vanilla forex option contract.
To understand what makes an exotic forex option "exotic," you must first understand what makes a forex option "non-vanilla." Plain vanilla forex options have a definitive expiration structure, payout structure and payout amount. Exotic forex option contracts may have a change in one or all of the above features of a vanilla forex option. It is important to note that exotic options, since they are often tailored to a specific's investor's needs by an exotic forex options broker, are generally not very liquid, if at all.
Exotic forex options are generally traded by commercial and institutional investors rather than retail forex traders, so we won't spend too much time covering exotic forex options brokers. Examples of exotic forex options would include Asian options (average price options or "APO's"), barrier options (payout depends on whether or not the underlying reaches a certain price level or not), baskets (payout depends on more than one currency or a "basket" of currencies), binary options (the payout is cash-or-nothing if underlying does not reach strike price), lookback options (payout is based on maximum or minimum price reached during life of the contract), compound options (options on options with multiple strikes and exercise dates), spread options, chooser options, packages and so on. Exotic options can be tailored to a specific trader's needs, therefore, exotic options contract types change and evolve over time to suit those ever-changing needs.
Since exotic forex options contracts are usually specifically tailored to an individual investor, most of the exotic options business in transacted over the telephone through forex option brokers. There are, however, a handful of forex option brokers who offer "if touched" forex options or "single payment" forex options contracts online whereby an investor can specify an amount he or she is willing to risk in exchange for a specified payout amount if the underlying price reaches a certain strike price (price level). These transactions offered by legitimate online forex brokers can be considered a type of "exotic" option. However, we have noticed that the premiums charged for these types of contracts can be higher than plain vanilla option contracts with similar strike prices and you can not sell out of the option position once you have purchased this type of option - you can only attempt to offset the position with a separate risk management strategy. As a trade-off for getting to choose the dollar amount you want to risk and the payout you wish to receive, you pay a premium and sacrifice liquidity. We would encourage investors to compare premiums before investing in these kinds of options and also make sure the brokerage firm is reputable.
Again, it is fairly easy and liquid to enter into an exotic forex option contract but it is important to note that depending on the type of exotic option contract, there may be little to no liquidity at all if you wanted to exit the position.
Firms Offering Forex Option "Betting" - A number of new firms have popped up over the last year offering forex "betting." Though some may be legitimate, a number of these firms are either off-shore entities or located in some other remote location. We generally do not consider these to be forex brokerage firms. Many do not appear to be regulated by any government agency and we strongly suggest investors perform due diligence before investing with any forex betting firms. Invest at your own risk with these firms.