All About Forex Trading

by Cornel C.T. Tanady

Forex trading, short for foreign exchange trading, involves the buying and selling of the many currencies of the world. It does not operate via a central exchange site, like traditional stock market trading, and may, thus, fully function a 24-hour basis.

When compared to other exchanges, the trading market is the largest in the world, even beating the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by over a hundredfold, in terms of daily trading volume, most of which are conducted by private entities and individuals.

Because of the absence of a central exchange, trading happens between two parties directly. Buyers and sellers communicate and trade via the phone, the Internet or other communications networks worldwide.

In addition, trading forex is also speculative, meaning, they are based on expectations on whether a certain currency would rise or fall, depending on current market conditions. It is risky business, but the returns have often proved themselves worth the risk.

Basic forex trading

Forex trading involves the buying and selling of two currencies at the same time. This combination is often dubbed a cross, because it occurs between two moneys; for instance, the US dollar/Japanese Yen. The highest traded currencies in forex are the US dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the UK pound - the "majors".

Trading normally occurs in the spot market, which is the largest because of its volume. Here, trades are made and completed directly and on the spot. You don't have to wait too long to settle.

Advantages of forex trading

1. No 4pm trade closing time.

When you're trading forex, you have 24-hours to do so from Sunday night to Friday night. This opportunity allows you to retract your moves and react immediately when a currency suddenly goes up or down. Breaking news are vital to trading.

2. Very liquid.

It is easy to convert your trades to cash in the market, especially if yours involves one of the majors. The high liquidity helps ensure that spreads are narrow and prices are stable throughout the period.

3. Strong potential for profits

This is particularly true with falling currencies. Because trading involves two currencies, when one rises, the other naturally falls. When a currency depreciates, it could be the perfect time to buy into it so that you can sell it for a hefty profit when it's its turn to appreciate.

4. The higher the currency's liquidity level, the cheaper it is to trade it.

This is why most forex trading patrons opt to trade majors, because they have the highest liquidity. In addition, trading is also more attractive to some money movers because of the absence of a commission. Thus, currencies are actually traded for their real merits and not because they come with misleading incentives.

There's a lot more to learn about trading and the above merely scratches the surface. To be able to further understand what forex trading is and how it can help you grow your coffers, it is advised that you speak to an expert who more likely has all the answers to your questions. Or, yet, ask somebody who's already had experience with forex trading.

Our mission at the [http://www.options-university.biz]Options University is to provide investors around the world with the very best in options education and tools, empowering them to use options for greater profit protection and less risk. To learn more on the options trading strategies for safer investing and bigger profits, please visit our blog at http://www.options-university.biz/blog/ for free trading tips and video e-Course.

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Currency Trading

by Kris

Have you heard about FOREX? How currencies are traded?

When you think about Forex, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Forex are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Let’s talk about FOREX and advantages of FOREX trading.

The good thing about FOREX is that the amount of money you need to place a trade (known as "margin") is all that can be lost!

Of course, with the proper self-taught education you will win more than you will lose, but you should know that despite the high leverage of FOREX trading (200:1 is possible, which means that when you put up $1 the trading vendor will allow you to trade it as if you have $200), it’s still less risky than futures (commodities) trading. And when you trade stocks you can’t get this type of leverage.

Because of the FOREX market’s liquidity and twenty four hours continuous trading, dangerous trading gaps and limit moves are eliminated. Orders are executed very quickly, without slippage. If you do your research and find good brokers, they will automatically close some or all of your open positions if your account’s equity falls below the level required to hold the positions. You’ll never lose more than you have in your FOREX account.

Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called *lots* -- One lot is equal to $1,000, which controls $100,000 in currency.
This is the "margin" I talked about above. You can control $100,000 worth of currency for only 1,000 dollars.

Currencies are always traded in pairs. The most popular currencies and their symbols are:

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

A currency can never be traded by itself, so you can't trade a USD by itself. You always need to compare one currency with another currency to make a trade possible.

The most commonly traded currency pairs are:

EUR/USD Euro / US Dollar
"Euro"

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

GBP/USD British Pound / US Dollar
"Cable"

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

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

USD/CHF US Dollar / Swiss Franc
"Swissy"

EUR/JPY Euro / Japanese Yen
"Euro Yen"

The currency on the left is called the base currency. The currency on the right is the counter currency. For example, when you place an order to buy EUR/USD pair, you are actually buying the EUR and you are selling the USD. When you place an order to sell EUR/USD you are selling the EUR and you are buying the USD. Buying or selling a currency PAIR means buying or selling the base currency, and doing the opposite with the counter currency.

It might seem a little confusing, but actually it is easier to treat the currency PAIR as one item. It means when you place trades you simply sell or buy the pair. The base/counter concept is only important for fundamental analysis.

To decide when to sell or buy you will need to learn technical analysis and/or fundamental analysis.

In currency trading you can make money both, when the currencies go up or down.

The FOREX currency trading is a great way to work from home in your free time. You can trade any time you want, from Monday to Friday. But you must know that you can lose money in FOREX. So, getting the proper education and trading before doing any real trades is a must. Fortunately you can first practice on a demo account, until you get to the point that you win 70% of your trades. Nobody wins 100%. But you can be in profit even with 50% wins.

There are plenty of books and courses to learn currency trading, but be careful with all those $1000+ courses. Usually you can find courses with the same content for much less.

Learn more about FOREX go to: http://www.currencytradingmethod.com.

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What Is Forex Trading

Forex trading is the latest money making craze to hit the internet and is fast becoming one of the most successful ventures any internet marketer can undertake. If you have never heard of Forex trading you may be wondering what in fact trading forex actually is and how you can get in on the action.

Forex trading is quite literally speaking online currency trading. This online currency trading involves trading currencies from all over the world and is quite similar to the stock exchange except there is no central exchange governing how forex trading works. Trading forex uses the interbank market or simply put and over the counter market and trading forex takes place directly between two persons with no third parties involved. Forex trading can take place over the phone or via electronic networks. Forex currency trading involves the buying and selling of one currency for another and there are a number of very popular currency combinations that are used. These currency combinations are referred to as a cross and an example of a forex trading cross would be the buying of Euro and selling of US Dollars. The most commonly traded currency combinations are called "majors".

Forex currency trading is worldwide and some of the main forex trading centres are based in Sydney, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and New York which means that the forex trading market is open 24 hours a day.

Forex trading or online currency trading has now become one of the largest trading markets in the world and these forex trades are reported to be accumulating over $1.5 trillion each day. When compared with the New York Stock Exchange this is over a hundred times more trade on a daily basis.

Forex trading is easy to get into and there are numerous online forex trading tutorials and education facilities available for anyone wishing to gain more information. For more information on forex trading and for forex education a brief internet search will bring up an abundance of results.

Article Source: What Is Forex Trading? / Forex - http://LeanderNet.com
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