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Forex Trading - A Basic OverviewForex trading is becoming more popular as time goes by. Perhaps you have heard of forex trading, or heard things such as "the dollar fell sharply against the yen". Not sure what all this means? Here is a basic overview of forex trading. The...
FOREX Trading Strategy - The Secret of Timing
Once you’ve identified a trading opportunity, the next step is to decide EXACTLY when to buy - and this is where many traders go wrong. Here we explain how to incorporate better market timing into your FOREX strategy - so that you can make bigger...
Three Reasons Why Forex Trading Is Great.
As a Forex trader you will always be attempting to make more profits than losses from the fluctuations of exchange rates between currencies in the forex market; in short, this is what is called forex trading. The good news is that nobody is going...
Forex: Benefits of Trading the Forex Market
Trading the Forex market has become very popular in the last years. Why is it that traders around the world see the Forex market as an investment opportunity? We will try to answer this question in this article. Also we will discuss come differences between the Forex market, the stocks market and the futures market.Some of the benefits of trading the Forex market are:
Superior liquidity.
Liquidity is what really makes the Forex market different from other markets. The Forex market is by far the most liquid financial market in the world with nearly 2 trillion dollars traded everyday. This ensures price stability and better trade execution. Allowing traders to open and close transactions with ease. Also such a tremendous volume makes it hard to manipulate the market in an extended manner.
24hr Market.
This one is also one of the greatest advantages of trading Forex. It is an around the click market, the market opens on Sunday at 3:00 pm EST when New Zealand begins operations, and closes on Friday at 5:00 pm EST when San Francisco terminates operations. There are transactions in practically every time zone, allowing active traders to choose at what time to trade.
Leverage trading.
Trading the Forex Market offers a greater buying power than many other markets. Some Forex brokers offer leverage up to 400:1, allowing traders to have only 0.25% in margin of the total investment. For instance, a trader using 100:1 means that to have a US$100,000 position, only US$1,000 are needed on margin to be able to open that position.
Low Transaction costs.
Almost all brokers offer commission free trading. The only cost traders incur in any transaction is the spread (difference between the buy and sell price of each currency pair). This spread could be as low as 1 pip (the minimum increment in any currency pair) in some pairs.
Low minimum investment.
The Forex market requires less capital to start trading than any other markets. The initial investment could go as low as $300 USD, depending on leverage offered by the broker. This is a great advantage since Forex traders are able to keep their risk investment to the lowest level.
Specialized trading.
The liquidity of the market allows us to focus on just a few instruments (or currency pairs) as our main investments (85% of all trading transactions are made on the seven major currencies). Allowing us to monitor, and at the end get to know each instrument better.
Trading from anywhere.
If you do a lot of traveling, you can trade from anywhere in the world just having an internet connection.
Some of the most important differences between the Forex market and other markets are explained below.
Forex market vs. Equity markets
Liquidity
FX market: Near two trillion dollars of daily volume. Equity market: Around 200 billion on a daily basis.
Trading hours
FX market: 24hr market, 5.5 days a week. Equity market: Monday through Friday from 8:30 EST to 5:00 EST.
Profit potential
FX market: In both, rising and falling markets. Equity market: Most traders/investor profit only from rising markets.
Transaction costs
FX market: Commission free and tight spreads. Equity market: High Commissions and transaction fees.
Buying power
FX market: Leverage up to 400:1. Equity market: Leverage from 2:1 to 4:1.
Specialization
FX market: most volume (85%) is made on major currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD and AUD.) Equity market: More than 40,000 stocks to choose from.
Forex market vs. Futures market
Liquidity
FX Market: Near two trillion dollars of daily volume. Futures market: Around 400 billion dollars on a daily basis.
Transaction costs
FX market: Commission free and tight spreads. Futures market: High commissions fees.
Margin
FX market: Fixed rate of margin on every position. Futures market: Different levels of margin on overnight positions than day time positions.
Trade execution
FX market: Instantaneous execution. Futures market: Inconsistent execution.
All this makes the Forex market very attractive to investors and traders. But I need to make something clear, although the benefits of trading the Forex market are notorious; it is still difficult to make a successful career trading the Forex market. It requires a lot of education, discipline, commitment and patience, as any other market.
About the author:
Raul Lopez is a full time Forex trader and founder of http://www.straightforex.com a high quality Forex">www.straightforex.com">Forex training and Forex">www.straightforex.com">Forex trading course provider.
Written By: Raul Lopez
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Armstrong on Gold, Dollar and Phase II of the Debt Crisis Forexrazor High-Risk Warning Forex, Futures, and Options trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risks. The high degree of leverage can work ... Armstrong on Gold, Dollar and Phase II of the Debt Crisis |
WORLD FOREX: Euro Up Vs Yen, Dollar On Hedge Buying; May Resume Fall MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The euro rose against the yen and dollar in Asia Friday as Japanese short-term investors who have recently bet ... Dollar recovers as markets look past Fed decision The demand for the high-risk currencies increased again. The oil rate ... |
 The Guardian | WORLD FOREX: Dollar Slips On Bernanke's Benign Rate Outlook Wall Street Journal NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The dollar's march higher was halted Wednesday as disappointing US economic data and Federal ... FOREX-Dollar supported, investors brace for Bernanke Forex: Dollar ticks down after Bernanke's testimony and weak home sales Forex - Dollar decline against yen stalls at 89.21 |
 France24 | FOREX: Dollar slides vs Majors. Fed holds interest rate, housing data declines CountingPips AUD/USD Chart – The Australian dollar today surging higher versus the US dollar in forex trading. The AUD/USD rose to its highest level since January 19th ... Forex Market Bell by Ben Bernanke US DOLLAR: NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING PREDICTABLE USD May Fall Further Following Bernanke Testimony |
 Ecommerce Journal | Forex trends: dollar gains ground touching 2-day high vs euro Ecommerce Journal The dollar that closed Wednesday's New York trading at 1.0543 against the franc and 1.5327 against the pound is presently quoted at 1.0555 and 1.5312, ... The Trader Advantage: Forex Heats Up- Swiss And Cad Rate Questions Forex - USD/CHF climbs after mixed Swiss data Forex: USD/CHF finds resistance at 1.0600 |
