If you really want to learn currency trading at a level that will enable you to be profitable consistently in the FX markets you are going to need enroll in a Forex course. There are plenty of free learning materials all over the internet that you can check out. This is always a good idea do this first; it will help you decide if you want to continue to go forward with this new little project of yours.

But, what you will quickly find out is that the free material is simply not sufficient at providing you enough knowledge or insight into the markets to possibly make a long term sustainable career out of it. You're going to need to invest in yourself and your education if you really want to pursue income in this industry.

That being said, there are essentially two types of class you can take. One teaches a specific little method of making money in the markets. The second is a comprehensive program that reviews everything there is to know from top to bottom. Each one has it positive and negatives.

The program that instructs one simple trading technique, of course is much easier to learn, simpler to trade with and you are able to start making money with it much quicker than the long lasing programs. The all-inclusive classes require more effort on your part in addition to the time required to take in all the material you will be presented with. But, you will be fully prepared for a long term career when you complete the program if you upheld your end of the bargain, which was to study hard.

Which ever type of Forex course you initially decide on, if you choose a top rated class you will receive good value for your money. I have taken all of the following and found them all very useful. There names are Forex Trading Made E Z, Fap Winner and Hector Trader. Why not check out the sites and see what you think for yourself?

If you have ever thought about how nice it would be to have a job where you never have to deal with any bosses, colleagues, customers, or products, then you will definitely understand what all the hype regarding Forex trading is about. It is possible to rake in unbelievably high profits by trading Forex without ever leaving your house, especially if you make use of Forex signals.

However it does take quite a bit of hard work in order to make it big in Forex, according to the statistics. It is said that just 5% of Forex traders have systems in place that reap consistent profits (upwards of and in the millions). The people in this small group are those with the strongest understanding of the world's financial events and how those events influence foreign currencies.

A lot of these experts are very willing to reveal some of their knowledge as well as their predictions regarding the rise or fall of currencies. Some people charge a fee to have access to this information, though most subscriptions are free. The fact that knowledge is key to making the most profitable moves in Forex trading leaves no excuse to not take full advantage of all of the advice and information available to you in the form of Forex signals.

The intimate relationship between world events and foreign currency is how Forex signals are produced. No matter where they are, experts are always tuned to the news in order to extract any information from the media that will help their trades.

A detailed Forex signal will suggest the new price of the affected currency based on past figures and the current numbers. When acting on certain signals, time is of the essence. It is possible a signal can be extremely useful one minute, and rendered invalid the next. It is advised by the experts that all traders get into the habit of listening carefully and acting quickly on signals.

Monitoring Forex signals is the best way to become educated while making informed trading decisions. Not only do the signals you receive tell you where and how to make your next move, you will also notice over time that a pattern exists between current events and the signals you receive and will be able to seek signals on your own.

If you were to ask the 5% top earners what they think the most important aspect of successful Forex trading is, you are guaranteed to hear "knowledge" and "staying informed" somewhere in every answer. The truth is you have to be prepared to listen and learn endlessly in order to reach and maintain any success in this highly lucrative, highly competitive industry.

It's not likely you'll be able to avoid making at least one mistake. Although it's never pleasant to lose out, you should take the opportunity to learn where you went wrong and how to avoid enduring the same loss. The most experienced traders still screw up once in a while, though they know that every mistake made can be interpreted into a lesson that will only make their trading stronger. By becoming well acquainted with Forex signals, you can minimize these mistakes.

To start to understand about leverage or gearing in forex and contracts for difference is really a function of how much equity you have in your account in relation to the position sizes you are trading.

So for instance when your leverage is set 100 to 1, in practice this is the maximum leverage that your forex broker will allow you and not necessarily the leverage that you are using.

Also, you need to know what the contract size is on the platform you're trading on. On some forex platforms one contract could be equivalent to 100,000 whilst on others one contract equals 10,000 and on some others one contract is just 1,000 of the base currency.

So to get this into perspective let's assume that you are trading on a forex platform where one contract equals 10,000 of the base currency.

Keeping this in mind let's assume that you open one contract of USD/JPY. Assuming you have $10,000 in your account and you open one contract which also equals $10,000, you are trading with no leverage here at all. This holds even if your account is set to 100 to 1 because that's only the maximum leverage which you have at your disposal (but you have used none).

Now let's assume that you open two contract, you now have a $20,000 position on a $10,000 account so this equals leverage of 2 to 1.

However, when day trading there is another variable that is even more important that the amount of leverage you are utilising and that is the amount you are risking per trade as a percentage of your account balance.

Alternatives to online forex dealing include spread betting or CFDs which mechanisms can be more straightforward than traditional forex dealing but we will write about these tools next time.

You Don’t need a Crystal Ball

One might say that there has to be some kind of mystical knowledge being used, considering the price for the commodity doesn’t yet exist. Commodities are any physical, tangible goods, such as crops like corn or wheat, to oil, gold, and currency, just to name a few. The futures market has nothing to do with the use of a crystal ball, though there are many traders who wish they had one. A futures contract is a standardized contract to buy or sell a specified commodity of standardized quality at a certain date in the future, at a market determined price (the futures price). The contracts are traded on a futures exchange.

A futures contract gives the holder the obligation to make or take delivery under the terms of the contract, whereas an option grants the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to establish a position previously held by the seller of the option. Like all financial instruments, the futures market is highly regulated, but not by the SEC.

The SEC administers and enforces the federal laws that govern the sale and trading of securities, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, but they do not regulate futures trading. The federal agency that does regulate futures trading is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. With limited
exceptions, the trading of futures must be executed on the floor of a commodity exchange. Similar to broker-dealers that are members of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. or some other self-regulatory organization, all firms and individuals who trade futures with the public or give advice about futures trading must be registered with the National Futures Association (NFA).

The Players In This Chess Match
Hedgers and Speculators
Commercial hedgers are corporations and sometime individuals, that seek to ensure the stability of a given commodity by taking a position in the commodities market. Take peas for example, and the hedger, a food processor who cans them. If pea prices go up the hedger ends up having to pay the farmer or pea dealer more. Because it is basically a cash commodity, to protect himself against higher pea prices, the processor can “hedge” his risk exposure by buying enough pea futures contracts to cover the amount of peas he expects to buy. Since cash and futures prices do tend to move in tandem, the futures position will profit if the price of peas rise enough to offset cash pea losses.

Speculators are the second major group of futures players. These participants include independent floor traders and investors. A speculator is a person, or more likely an institution, that purchases or sells the commodities based on factors other than simply analysis. Whereas investors will focus, by and large, on detailed analysis.

Gambling With Your Futures
Five Reasons To Roll the Dice

Since most individual traders are speculators, here is a list of some of the advantages and disadvantages of the futures market over other investment possibilities.

1. The possibility exist that a person can make more money faster in the futures market, because the speed of prices tend to change faster than stocks. Conversely, bad judgment can cause one to suffer greater losses than traditional investments.

2. Futures are highly leveraged investments. The trader only puts up about 15-20% as a margin, yet still being able to ride the full amount of the contract. Unlike stocks where at least 50% of its value has to be put up, and the investor pays interest on the difference between the margin and the full contract value.

3. For the most part there is no inside trading. Everyone has the same insiders information on the weather, for example. This is an open outcry market, very public, which insures a fair outcome.

4. Commission charges on futures trades are small compared to other investments, and the investor pays them after the position is liquidated.

5. Most commodity markets are very broad and liquid. Transactions can be completed quickly, lowering the risk of adverse market moves between the time of the decision to trade and the trade's execution.

I hope this has helped in your research. I don’t profess to being an expert, but I do know of some. I obviously don’t have the time to go into all the details now, but at my site Market Mentalist you will find all you need to know about investing online. I have a page devoted to futures. There is access to some of the top trading systems available including software, books, newsletters, and Forums. Whether you are an inquisitive novice or a seasoned pro Market Mentalist offers the online investment resource you just might be seeking. More at articlesbase.com

Stop orders are an important part of the trader’s toolbox when it comes to intra-day trading, especially given the volatility over the last 12 months.

Depending on what type of asset you’re trading, a variety of stop instruments are available to suit your risk profile. Standard stop orders help protect investments against adverse market moves. Placing stop orders when you open a position is a necessary discipline of trading and helps avoid excessive losses. It also means you can leave your trading station with peace of mind, knowing that your losses will be limited should the market move against you while you’re away.

The variations on the stop orders are: a Stop if Bid order, which is triggered on the buy price, and a Stop if Offer order, which is triggered on the sell price and can avoid positions being stopped out due to poor liquidity, which can, in turn, cause spreads to widen for short durations.

Stop orders are not only an essential part of risk management they also provide traders with much-needed discipline. By deciding ahead of time that you can afford to lose 10% on a trade, you can place a stop 10% below your open price. You can also keep yourself out of intraday price volatility by buying options – limiting your loss to the premium paid when you opened the position.

A common mistake for many traders is taking profits too early. But by using a stop loss order, you can allow the trade to run without risking your profit. If you make sure your stop loss follows the price upwards, at least some of your profits are protected if the market drops if you raise the stop above the entry price.

In particular, however, stop losses allow for life's eventualities - such as holidays, sickness or family events – without having to watch the markets all day.

Trailing Stops are the lesser known and lesser used option. They allow you to set a stop at a percentage below the market price, so if the current price falls by that amount, your position will automatically be sold. If the current price should rise, however, the percentage is calculated from the new higher value. Trailing stops can prove an excellent way of minimizing loss or locking in profits should the markets move against you.

Two elements need to be taken into consideration - the distance to market, which may be around 20% for example, and the trailing step, which should be kept at a minimum of around 1-2%.

This makes trailing stops a great tool to use in very volatile environments where it might be a disadvantage to have a stop order too close to the entry price because the price fluctuates so widely.

However, trailing stops are still underused, mainly due to lack of knowledge and education, but also lack of discipline. Traders find it easy to say they will only take a 10% profit, but get caught up in the emotion and the excitement of a price rally that is going their way.

A careful trader uses stops in all types of market not just a volatile one. In general, investors using qualified and well thought out stops lose less money than their counterparts and take bigger profits.

Making a daily habit of reading Forex news will help you make not only have a better understanding of the markets but also help you to know where and when to place your stop orders.

Stop orders are therefore an important consideration for traders who are serious about . More at articlesbase.com

I believe in order to lay a solid foundation for successful trading, there are three basic fundamentals you must adhere to. The first is knowledge. There are only three things really that separate us from an expert. Training and experience comes after knowledge. Knowledge comes first, and expertise is accomplished through experience and constant training. So, how knowledgeable are you? Let us assume that you have some knowledge or you wouldn’t be researching the market. Do you know the difference between day trading and swing trading? To me there is a major difference. Many so-called experts lump all online traders into the bag of day trading. For the sophisticated observer it is plain to see the obvious differences. A day trader rides the rush of the asset, while a swing trader diagnosis the trends and holds onto it as long as the momentum last. Knowing these subtle nuances will determine what kind of software you need.

Training encompasses a lot of different meanings. For our purposes I want to address technical analysis. I strongly feel any trader not taking advantage of the immense knowledge gained from technical charts is wasting time and money. Of course the fundamentals are important. They are much more important to the investor than the trader, however. A company’s financials don’t matter a great deal if you are planning on dumping the asset in a few minutes, a day, or a week. If there was any news about the company’s financials, believe me you would see it reflected on the technical charts.

Use Software for Your Advantage

A Solid Platform to Build Your Wealth
Now based upon the idea that my assumptions are accurate, and you are still with me, as far as software platforms, the following suggestions I strongly feel are necessary for any software to be useful.

1. It must be able to offer live streaming technical data. (Otherwise the program is merely educational)
2. The platform should defiantly include candlestick charting.
3. Visually it has to be large enough for all the data to be seen easily. (Many of the online brokerage’s technical data is to small to be useful)
4. It must be cost effective. (Most good systems can be purchased for between one to two hundred dollars)

More on Candlestick Charting

A Candle Burns Bright in Your Future
For those of you not yet familiar with candlestick charting, I will
try to give a brief but accurate explanation. The Chinese invented the market concept, and the Japanese perfected charting techniques with the use of the candlesticks. It is easy to understand this complex system, if we simply break it down to the ticks on the chart you follow every day. We know that the lower tick is where the stock opened and the higher is where it closed. Now if we made the two lines parallel and connected them, what would we have? A candle. However, during that movement, the stock might have gone lower or higher then where it opened or closed, so our candle has formed a tail and a wick. Is it starting to make a little sense to you? Can you see the advantage of knowing this information, for getting in and out, and setting a stop loss?

Take these examples:

1. Lets assume a stock opens twenty cents higher than it closed yesterday. It later closes ten cents higher than that. Should we get in? Not necessarily. Because as the candlestick showed us, even though it had a thirty-cent swing from the day before, a long wick was created. This meant that it went even higher then it eventually settled on. That tells us that the pressure to go higher wasn’t strong enough. We will put it on our watch list, and keep a keen eye on it.

2.A few days passes with similar results. Suddenly there is a break in the resistance. The stock has formed a candlestick with a long tail. What does this convey? We might put a buy signal for a couple of cents higher than it has previously gone, because the long tail tells us that the bulls are ready to take over.

3. Ideally you want to wait for clusters to form. Of course the greatest indicator is a long candle. One that opens and closes with hardly any wick or tail.

This synopsis could have very easily taken place over a few hours rather than days, if you were day trading, for example. There are many “characters” in candlestick charting, and those who master reading them become successful.

If you can acquire software that gives you even the slightest edge in your favor, it is well worth the Investment. I don’t profess to being an expert, but I do know of some. I obviously don’t have the time to go into all the details now, but at my site Market Mentalist you will find all you need to know about investing online. There is access to some of the top trading systems available including software, books, newsletters, and Forums. Whether you are an inquisitive novice or a seasoned pro Market Mentalist offers the online investment resource you just might be seeking. More at articlesbase.com

Most novice traders choose to try short term trading and scalp regular profits to make a great long term income and its a common way for Forex robots and Expert Advisors to be programmed as well - let's take a look at how to succeed at Forex day trading.

In the days before the internet, floor traders made huge gains because they had the price in advance of the bulk of traders and used this time window to get their trades in first, today its a level playing field and all traders can get up to date prices at the click of a mouse - so can you still make money at Forex day trading?

The answer is no and if want to know why simply look at daily volatility - its random, you cannot key off support and resistance levels and if you can't do that, you can't get the odds in your favor and you will lose.

You will see a lot of vendors selling day trading systems and software and they say they make money but never produce a real time verified track records of gains, just simulations going back over closing prices but anyone can make money knowing this key data!

Day trading appeals to novice traders, because they see it as low risk but in reality, its the most high risk way of trading you can do, because your destined to lose sooner or later.

If you want to make money at Forex trading, you need to get the odds on your side and that means trading longer time frames, so swing trade overbought and oversold levels or follow the big long term trends and leave day trading alone, becuase you will simply make a lot of effort and get a wipe out of equity for your work!. More at articlesbase.com

You Don’t need a Crystal Ball

One might say that there has to be some kind of mystical knowledge being used, considering the price for the commodity doesn’t yet exist. Commodities are any physical, tangible goods, such as crops like corn or wheat, to oil, gold, and currency, just to name a few. The futures market has nothing to do with the use of a crystal ball, though there are many traders who wish they had one. A futures contract is a standardized contract to buy or sell a specified commodity of standardized quality at a certain date in the future, at a market determined price (the futures price). The contracts are traded on a futures exchange.

A futures contract gives the holder the obligation to make or take delivery under the terms of the contract, whereas an option grants the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to establish a position previously held by the seller of the option. Like all financial instruments, the futures market is highly regulated, but not by the SEC.

The SEC administers and enforces the federal laws that govern the sale and trading of securities, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, but they do not regulate futures trading. The federal agency that does regulate futures trading is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. With limited
exceptions, the trading of futures must be executed on the floor of a commodity exchange. Similar to broker-dealers that are members of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. or some other self-regulatory organization, all firms and individuals who trade futures with the public or give advice about futures trading must be registered with the National Futures Association (NFA).

The Players In This Chess Match
Hedgers and Speculators

Commercial hedgers are corporations and sometime individuals, that seek to ensure the stability of a given commodity by taking a position in the commodities market. Take peas for example, and the hedger, a food processor who cans them. If pea prices go up the hedger ends up having to pay the farmer or pea dealer more. Because it is basically a cash commodity, to protect himself against higher pea prices, the processor can “hedge” his risk exposure by buying enough pea futures contracts to cover the amount of peas he expects to buy. Since cash and futures prices do tend to move in tandem, the futures position will profit if the price of peas rise enough to offset cash pea losses.

Speculators are the second major group of futures players. These participants include independent floor traders and investors. A speculator is a person, or more likely an institution, that purchases or sells the commodities based on factors other than simply analysis. Whereas investors will focus, by and large, on detailed analysis.

Gambling With Your Futures
Five Reasons To Roll the Dice

Since most individual traders are speculators, here is a list of some of the advantages and disadvantages of the futures market over other investment possibilities.

1. The possibility exist that a person can make more money faster in the futures market, because the speed of prices tend to change faster than stocks. Conversely, bad judgment can cause one to suffer greater losses than traditional investments.

2. Futures are highly leveraged investments. The trader only puts up about 15-20% as a margin, yet still being able to ride the full amount of the contract. Unlike stocks where at least 50% of its value has to be put up, and the investor pays interest on the difference between the margin and the full contract value.

3. For the most part there is no inside trading. Everyone has the same insiders information on the weather, for example. This is an open outcry market, very public, which insures a fair outcome.

4. Commission charges on futures trades are small compared to other investments, and the investor pays them after the position is liquidated.

5. Most commodity markets are very broad and liquid. Transactions can be completed quickly, lowering the risk of adverse market moves between the time of the decision to trade and the trade's execution.

I hope this has helped in your research. I don’t profess to being an expert, but I do know of some. I obviously don’t have the time to go into all the details now, but at my site Market Mentalist you will find all you need to know about investing online. I have a page devoted to futures. There is access to some of the top trading systems available including software, books, newsletters, and Forums. Whether you are an inquisitive novice or a seasoned pro Market Mentalist offers the online investment resource you just might be seeking. More at articlesbase.com

It is oftentimes difficult to become rational when your emotions are on the line. If you are the type of day trader who shouts at your screen urging the market to move for you or shout out with joy when you begin to see your earnings, then it is time to asses yourself.

Emotions are out of the game when talking about this trade. You cannot be emotional when you are trading. Emotions are the downfall of most novice day traders. Why? Because it makes trading a lot more difficult to profit, to take risks and a lot more difficult to assess. Emotions would naturally cloud your judgment. It could push you to make decisions that you would otherwise not make if you are calm and rational. It will make you panic.

But there is more to trading than yelling at computer screens and irrational behaviors. Here are some of the main emotions that you should be on guard when you're in the business:

Fear

Fear is said to be an effective survival mechanism but only in its right quantity. Everything that goes beyond what is helpful will alter your behavior. It will put a stop to your decisions. It could paralyze you. As a trader, you should learn to asses your fears - do they help you or do they cripple your decisions?

The main fear that all traders have is that they will lose their accounts due to losing trades. This is rational fear and is highly possible. But one has to understand that he must sometimes make fearless decisions. To be able to minimize fear in the trade, you have to acknowledge that no one in the trade came in and went out without losing, and sometimes depleting, their accounts.

Greed

Most people, when they enter the trade, only have one thing in mind- walking out with some great amount in their hands. That's ok but when it starts to give you unrealistic expectations then it is time to stop for awhile and think- what is your idea of "earning"?

Greed is the direct opposite of fear. It makes someone take the decisions that he would not normally take or do the things that he would naturally be reluctant to do. Greed could make someone stick to a single position far longer than necessary or to randomly select trades which appear to be lucrative. But again, when used in the right quantities, greed could be a motivational factor.
Author freearticles.com

Day trading brokers are essential to new traders. They do the transactions for you and even give suggestions as to which transactions to make, whether you should sell now or later. Your choice of broker is therefore crucial to your success. But other than this criterion, what other qualities must your broker have and how do you choose the best one in your trading company?

The first thing to consider is the cost. Some really good brokers can charge high rates for every transaction that he does. While this may give you more profit, still you may not earn much because a big chunk of the money goes to the broker. You should therefore be able to weigh the transaction costs and commissions that you will give your broker against the profit that you are supposed to have.

It is also important that you require financial stability from your broker. He must have enough capital or assets. This will lessen the probability of him running away with your money. More importantly, transfer of funds between the two of you must also be relatively quick and easy. See also if he accepts online payments.

He must likewise be reliable and with a proven track record in this field. To know this, you must do your own research. Ask the company for details on the broker's record, such as the number of clients that he had, how many of them lost their money and how many of them actually made profit. Or you can ask fellow traders as to which ones are good and which ones are not. You can also search his name in the net. It is possible that his name may have been mentioned in forums or message boards, so you will have more information on how he works or operates.

Of course, there are other services that he can provide, such as technical support and chart analysis. See also if he uses a trading platform that you are comfortable with.

With the many day trading brokers available, choose one who can provide you with the best service at the least cost. Remember your goal as you ventured into this kind of business, and that is to gain profit. If a big part of your gain goes to commissions, then it is time to look for other brokers who can provide you with the same service at a lower price.
Author freearticles.com

The success with day trading does not knock on the doors of all people. If you are striving to become a master of the craft, then you will have to bet your wits against a rival in the stock market. Every time you earn a profit, it means that someone else or another day trader loses a part of his investment. Thus, you should be equipped with a profound knowledge and loads of valuable techniques on day trading and then execute your smartest moves.

Needless to say, day trading is one full time career. Literally speaking, there is the need for you to watch over the market, its prices, and how your stocks can play well with the ongoing flow. Just a minute of being inattentive may mean a defeat of your purpose.

Basically, if you are aiming for a stable profession in day trading, you have to keep yourself abreast of all its ins and outs as well as its ups and downs. The following are some of the insights that will help you make the best out of your day trading experience.

Open your eyes to reality. Day trading is no fairy tale. Your money can't accumulate your desired profits overnight. You will need enough time to market your stocks.

Learn from mistakes. No one is perfect, so to speak. The same goes with day trading. There are always mistakes that you will end up with and you are no super hero who can fight off these odds. Therefore, you need to learn from all these wrongdoings and try to do things better the next time.

Strike while the iron is hot. When there is a great opportunity to make profit, be ready to plunge into the business. Work hard. Try to limit your chances of losing and heighten your possibilities of winning.

Set a limitation for your losses. Ask yourself as to how much you are ready to lose as you partake in the stock market business. But be sure that you don't exceed such limits. Be a hundred percent confident with your preferred day trading technique. Success is often the result of your will and desire to standout.

Be responsible. Whatever your decision is, be ready to face its consequences. Your self-discipline, determination, and persistence are very important. Study, study, study. You can take online tutorials and learn about the stock market and day trading through the cd-rom packages sold online, by joining the online forums, reading newsletters, and attending seminars.

Read on the valuable tips for day trading. You can only overcome your fear if you are knowledgeable of the things which you can do to improve your craft. Enjoy. It is important also that you enjoy what you are doing. Day trading can be both risky and exciting. What is most significant is that you know how to handle things so that you will end up with a fruitful experience.
Author freearticles.com

Day trading, in its basic sense, is the investing or disinvesting of a stock or several stocks within the day. All trading positions will then be closed before the day ends. Traders who participate in this kind of trading are called day traders.

There are several techniques used in this trade to increase profit. They are as follows:

News Trading

This technique relies on the good and bad news. If the news says that a certain stock is taking off with a positive trend, this is taken as an indicator to buy the stock. If, on the other hand, a stock receives bad news, it will be sold. These provide a greater chance of losing or winning the trade because the news carries with it good information on the volatility of the stocks. However, trading news has its disadvantages. For one, depending on the news for a decision alone will cause time lag which most traders can't really afford. Another is that the market does not always work exactly as the news says it.

Scalping

Also popular for the name of spread trading, scalping is a technique where the trader distributes his stocks on trades with only small gaps. He then establishes and liquidates the trading position, therefore incurring only small profits from each trade.

This style really minimizes the probability of losing however; the rewards are significantly lower due to the time duration and the size of the gap being exploited.

Range Trading

The exact opposite of trending, range trading takes advantage of the pattern created by the consistent falling off and rising up of the stock from its resistance price towards its support price. The trader profits from this style by buying the stock at its lower price and by selling or short selling it at its high price.

Trending

This works by following the continuous rise and fall of the stocks or trades. The trader will buy the stocks which have been rising or sell them when they start to fall as long as the trend is expected.

Contrarian

This style is not exclusive to day trading. Traders profit from this by observing the stocks that are continually rising and would suddenly move in the reverse positions, and vice versa. The trader will sell the shares that has been rising or buy those that has been falling believing that the trend occurring will suddenly change.
Author freearticles.com

Day traders employ a multitude of techniques mainly because they want to gain more profit and succeed in their craft. However, it is a fact of life that day trading is somehow risky and not everyone who engages in it ends up on the winning end. Therefore, before you plunge into the decision of becoming a day trader, you first have to pay careful attention in learning and analyzing the chart and stock patterns before purchasing a particular stock.

Online day trading has become popular because of its convenient nature.

First and foremost, the Internet is in full operation for twenty four hours. Some clients find the time to survey the stock market at the end of the day or before they turn in at night. Thus, there is a greater chance that you can cover a larger number of clienteles. Likewise, the Internet hosts a wide array of choices when it comes to stocks. It is then an advantage on your part since you can conveniently watch the behavior of the market wherever you may be and also purchase new stocks if you wish.

Meanwhile, it is significant that you take enough time to look into many of the considerations regarding online day trading before arriving at the decision of participating in the trend.

Here are some of the tips that you can ponder on:

Learn a variety of techniques. Before you enlist yourself as a full fledged online day trader, you should first collect as much knowledge as possible. You can take online tutorials, partake in the online forums, read newsletters, study through the cd-rom packages, or attend live seminars or webinars. Keeping yourself educated is an important ace in facing the world of the stock market.

Check out the demo account. Many of the online companies provide a demo account wherein you can practice your skills in day trading without further investing real money. In this way, you can better get to learn the ropes of the trade.

Research on the company's profile. You will not want to risk your money for nothing in return. Better yet, take the time to study the characteristics of the company that you are to deal with. At least, you will be forewarned should anything fishy happen.

Start small. Since you will just be figuring out your future as an online day trader, it is best to employ a small amount of money for starters. If ever you lose, you will not be disappointed that much because you engaged only a small part of your wealth.

With all these pieces of information, you are more confident to face your career with online day trading.
Author freearticles.com

All traders gear their mind to something when they enter day trading. Many believe that they can get the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; some people, on the other hand, know that they are only in the trade because they need to earn decent paychecks; still others consider the trade as a hobby. Regardless of which category of traders you are, you should realize the following realities of day trading to be able to get the most out of it:

Know that losing is just as normal as winning the day. Each trader has his own daily story- you, for example, could be rejoicing for the good profit you had today but you also had some bad times before. It's pretty much the same for everyone. In short, all traders have an equal chance of bankruptcy and winning. No one is excused.

Focus on planning is as good as guarding your chances of losing or winning the trade. Stick to some working plans, two or three plans are enough. They don't have to be highly sophisticated or very technical. The thing that you should be focusing on is that they are successful enough as to warrant the profit you get from them on some days and help you escape from some big losses on other days.

Don't be judgmental to yourself. Being fair to yourself is mandatory in winning the trades. If you would always tell yourself that you are a pathetic loser or that you are a moron, you would only be sure of one thing- you are what you tell yourself. Positive psychology works in trading especially if this is radiated inwardly.

Learn to control your emotions and not eliminate them. The uncontrollable flight of emotions could lead to uncontrollable decisions. Chances are you will make unplanned decisions when you easily get excited or panicky. On the other hand, you would be frozen on the spot if you are easily affected by your fears. Being able to control your emotions is similar to controlling the game.

Whoever has good emotional management skills also has more winning trades. Eliminating emotions, on the other hand, is not possible. Emotions are built-in components that let us react to things more effectively; these are parts of our survival mechanics. As a trader, don't your emotions control you, instead control them to your advantage.

Mind setting could either be positive or negative. So if you are a trader or a would-be investor in day trading, try to use mind conditioning towards your advantage and not your destruction.
Author freearticles.com

Posted by Guest Author in Brokers
After the furor that was raised by retail traders when CFTC enacted the new anti-hedging policy, I am surprised that online forums have not been inundated with protests in anticipation of NFA’s new proposal to limit the leverage FDMs will be allowed to offer their clients.
When brokers offer higher leverage it generally encourages traders to trade larger positions, thus increasing the market maker’s trading volume and profits but also increasing the risk of a margin call for the trader. The NFA proposal would limit leverage to 100:1 on ten major currencies and 25:1 on all others.
I understand why some novice traders would assume that decreased leverage would inhibit their opportunity to make profits, but most don’t realize that leverage is a double-edged sword that can cut their trading lives short if not managed judiciously. While professional currency dealers use 1:1 to perhaps 10:1 leverage, it is not uncommon for inexperienced retail clients to use leverage from 50:1 to 400:1 and, if they happen to trade with IG Markets, 700:1.
The intent of the proposed regulation is to protect over-leveraged traders and brokers alike. However, some Forex brokers are concerned it may make them uncompetitive in the global market. So, are the NFA and CFTC over-reacting to the current administration’s call for more transparency and tighter regulation? The Foreign Exchange Committee (FXC) obviously thinks so. In a letter dated three days before Thomas Sexton (NFA Vice President and General Counsel) sent his proposed amendments to the CFTC, FXC transmitted their comments on a proposed rule establishing a leverage limitation to FINRA. The FXC letter stated, “The FXC believes that the protections currently in place with respect to retail forex transactions are adequate to protect retail market participants and that the proposed Rule is unnecessary and potentially counterproductive.”
Earlier this week, when CMS Forex reduced their leverage offer from 400:1 to 100:1, it may have been done in anticipation of the proposed regulation. The company’s press release used almost the exact language used in the NFA’s letter to the CFTC. It stated, “We will be requiring 1% margin on the notional value of clients’ positions on the major currency pairs and 4% on the minor currency pairs.”
So who is going to win this battle?

By Brad
At FastPips.com our goal is simple. We want to help you learn how to create a profitable trading business by executing low-risk, high-reward trades in the best market conditions possible.
#13: Back-test, but be logical. Back-testing a given strategy can prove priceless when done correctly, but remember to take the results with a grain of salt. Be especially wary of trade results shown on websites claiming astronomical gains since most of these results simply are not attainable under live market conditions for many reasons.
#12: Always analyze similar pairs in the forex market before placing any trade. Similar pairs can be defined as any tradable currency pair containing 1 of the 2 currencies you are about to trade. For example, by looking at no less than 4 US Dollar pairs before trading, one can determine if the pair will be moving based mostly on the US Dollar or the opposing currency. This can easily be done with the Japanese Yen and others as well.
#11: Be wary of trade ideas coming from other individuals or groups in the many online trading forums, blogs, or chat rooms. Only evaluate trade recommendations from trusted parties who have a proven track record of success. Remember this is your business, and to have a consistently profitable business, you need to execute reproducible trades based on your own strategies and ideals. Don’t build your house on sandy soil; lay a good foundation of continuing education and the rewards will come many times over.
#10: Longer-term charts (ie. monthly, weekly, daily) have logarithmically more importance upon technical analysis than shorter-term charts (ie. 1 minute, 5 minute, 15 minute). For example, a support or resistance level on a daily chart will hold much more importance than a similar line than a 5 minute chart. Most reputable traders will recommend trading on longer term charts, especially for those who are new to trading or have limited time to trade due to other commitments. Find your comfort zone and stick with it until you become consistent; even a slight edge in this market can set you free financially.
#9: Do not use any trading robots, expert advisors, or other “black box” automated trading software until you learn how to trade on your own first. Educating yourself is the key to success; deep roots will equal a tall tree that can weather any storm.
#8: Trade with a friend, group, partner, or mentor when you begin your journey of learning the forex market. Many of the glamorous ideologies of forex traders showered in riches come from high-risk, difficult to reproduce strategies. The way to often become most profitable in this market is to have consistency, be disciplined, and to repeat this over and over and over again. Forex trading, done properly, is not intended to be flashy.
#7: Be sure to use a forex broker with great service and support, along with low spreads. With the recent regulations we are much more protected against possible broker-related issues, but many traders are still paying much higher spreads than average when placing trades. Do your research on forex brokers to analyze not only the safe, financially sound companies, but also those that allow the lowest fees. Paying the bid/ask spread in the forex market is just one of the costs of doing business, but with the extreme level of competition in today’s marketplace there is no need to accept paying even 1 pip more than you should elsewhere.
#6: Have a backup power supply and internet access available at all times when you are trading. This can be as simple as a battery-powered laptop with a wireless access card. Don’t rely solely on the phone number of your broker as if there is a company-related trading issue; their lines will likely be slammed busy. Bottom line: be sure to have some redundancy incorporated into your trading plan; treat this like a true business and it will reward you like one.
#5: Break your trade order into 2 or 3 smaller orders to give yourself more control, both actual and psychological. As most forex brokers do not charge commissions to trade this market, they earn their fees through the bid/ask spread; you have no extra cost of placing 3 small orders rather than 1 single large one. Doing this allows you to place tighter stops on some orders, while adjusting the profit taking on others. Closing part of an order will give the same effect, but by having a few live at the same time, it is easier psychologically to set them and let them run.
#4: Trading profit comes from 1/3 psychology, 1/3 money management, and 1/3 trading strategy. It’s easy to get caught up in the “next best thing” or the potential of finding a “holy grail” system, but remember that most of your profits come from learning the things that are not quite as exciting. Trading psychology and money management are critical to any success in the forex market; without them you will be grouped with the 95% of those who lose their capital time and time again. Money management is the key to unleashing potential for compounding profits; it is an absolute necessity to learn. Do your research on the most highly coveted trading psychology texts and dig in ASAP.
#3: Be aware of world news releases. Even if you prefer to not trade news events, be certain to know when the major events are planned to take place. As a second line of asset protection to your business, a good live news feed is also recommended when you are trading. Knowing what is going on in the world is one of the most critical keys to forex trading success; without this knowledge, your chances of success are limited.
#2: Always use a well planned stop loss when placing any trade and never, ever, move it further from your entry point for any reason. Although it is a simple rule to put on paper, it’s often difficult to follow…always follow this rule.
#1: Always trade any new strategy in a demo account before going live in a real money account. Many traders simply become gamblers by placing trades live without the proper testing and education necessary to place the odds in their favor. It is also all too common for traders to have excellent results in a demo account or with paper trading, then lose all their capital once they go live in a real money account. Be realistic and treat your demo trades as real funds; that is the only way for a demo account to work over time. If you begin to have a winning pattern in the demo account, be 100% certain to follow all the rules exactly in your live account. Often, a good transition is to begin with a demo account, then go to a live mini or micro account where very little capital is risked before trading your regular sized account. Many times one can make the transition in trading psychology from demo to live when taking the added step of testing the proven system by trading very small lot sizes first.
Although these few trading “nuggets” are only the tip of the iceberg, I hope that they can pique your interest enough to warrant further research and attention. I wish you the best in your trading!
Jason Gospodarek, OD

Learn the Simple Forex Market

Forex trading is a market which is both complex and simple. How to make money is the simple part, but the implementation of the process to learn forex market can be a little difficult. Forex education can prove to be a boon for all those who are willing to try their luck in forex trading. Therefore it is very important for them to understand the ways and methods of forex trading before actually getting into it. Even if one is well experienced in trading, there is always a room for improvement even for the experts.

The forex market is surely not a game for a fresher in this field and they need to improve their skills before getting their hands wet. The fact is that many individuals who make money online keep losing money in the forex market and very few are earning millions annually. This major difference is caused by two main reasons, namely, forex trading skills and the trading system being used.

Forex trading gives a whole new option to the beginners to succeed financially. To learn Forex market and list Forex trading into one of your financial plans is a must. When an investor adapts the right trading skills, the limit to earn profits is left far behind. In other words there is no such limit defined to earn profits if the trading skills are absolutely apt. There are many trading systems that provide you with the facility of making money online. But what is required by us is to identify and understand that which one will suit the best to our requirement.

1. Note the values of the currencies
2. Know the trend ending time
3. Affect of current economy
4. Use of long term trading strategies

To succeed at currency trading, one needs to learn the right forex trading strategy which can be possible if and only if the traders follow these winning tips and to move ahead and reap huge benefits or profits.
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Learn Forex Forex Book

Guest post by Yohay Elam
There are many articles on the web about the best times for forex trading. While there are better hours than others, the temptation to trade is always strong. Here aare 4 cases in which trading is NOT recommended.
1. Non-Farm Payrolls: I guess that this one is quite obvious. During big economic releases, with NFP being the king of forex, currency pairs go and down quite sharply for a few hours. You can never know if they reached the top of the wild range, and if it’ll swing back down, or the other way around. It can jump out of the wide ranges unexpectedly. It can also swing in an extreme manner, only to throw you out of your position.
2. Timothy Geithner: The American secretary of Treasury slips more than once. He once said that he doesn’t object abandoning the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, only to “clarify” his words a few minutes later. During this time, the dollar plunged, only to return to normal trading after Geithner clarified his position. Geithner is not alone: other public figures tend to say something they didn’t mean to, possibly throwing you out of a trade.
3. Monday’s Asian session: While Europeans are asleep and Americans are still enjoying their sunny afternoons, trading begins in the eastern side of the globe. The volume is very small – something that can cause sharp and unexpeted moves. Occasionally, a weekend gap is possible. Mind the gap! The London session usually “fixes” it eventually, but in the meantime, you’re out in the dark.
4. Friday Effect: I’m talking about the time that Non-Farm Payrolls are released, 12:30 GMT. Also an hour and a half later, data is released, and the market still behaves rather normally. I’m talking of later hours, around 16:00 GMT. Contrary to Monday’s Asian session, the problem here isn’t the volume. Despite significant volume, the market can go wild. Many traders seek to close their positions before the weekend, in order to avoud unwanted worries. Sometimes, this will to close positions takes a specific direction, and erases steady moves. Yet again, the “Friday effect” doesn’t happen every Friday, making it another unexpected phenomenon that you’d prefer to avoid.
These are the 4 major scenrios in which trading isn’t recommended. Do you have an experience to share? Please comment.
You can read a bit more about this topic as written by Joel Kruger, Technical Currency Strategist, DailyFX.