Blog Archive

Monday, December 31, 2007

Forex Trading Education - The London Open Checklist

Forex signal service provides price action that set off market entry, exit, or any other intra-trade adjustment on the basis of technical indicators. Forex signal service providers are either brokers or professional traders or some market analysts.

It is always advisable to subscribe to one of such forex signal services, as you need not to spend time in monitoring the market round the clock. Forex trading signal providers help you in minimizing risks or losses in trading. But it is important that you understand the logic behind the signals. Then only you will be able to take the complete advantage of such signaling services.

There are forex signal service providers who offer their assistance in return of a small subscription. Many automated forex trading platform however offer free signal services to their customers. The purpose of the forex trading signals is to make informed decision for the trading. A mix and match of various signals provides a full proof trading strategy to gauge the right direction of the market.

The Forex signals service providers analyze several factors responsible for the movement of the market. The signals indicate the buying and selling time of the different currencies which are traded in the forex market. The signals are calculated and generated by using different indicators such as trends, moving average, Elliott waves, Bollinger bands, Fibonacci series, etc.

Forex signal service providers send you alerts when the conditions are right for the trade. They use cutting-edge technology based software, which constantly monitor all major currency pairs for generating technical indicators.

These forex signal service providers use historical data to match current chart patterns with old ones. Therefore you can judge the quality of service of the forex signal service providers by judging their past performances. The forex signal service providers must have proven track records of recommendations, which turned out to be true.

Some forex signal service providers specifically generate services for advanced or experienced traders and others are for new or intermediate investors and traders. To take the full advantage of the forex signal service, you should have a basic knowledge of the forex market.

Time frame for which the forex trading signals are generated is equally important. Few trading signals can be valid only for a few minutes or an hour; others may have recommendations that are valid for a day or more. If the forex trading signal providers generate signals for shorter time frame, you need to monitor the market frequently.

Some forex signal service providers offer add-on services like email or mobile alerts. The service provider should have end-to-end technical support for the customers. Some other factors, which you need to check before choosing a forex signal service provider are

Spread: Some forex signals providers do not include spread in their recommendations, which affects the performance of the trading system negatively. So find out the average number of positions performed per month on all currencies to guess the real profit.

Back testing results: Some forex signals providers may display only back testing result of their system performance that may show positive result. But this does ensure that the system will run in real time with same efficiency.

FOREX (Foreign Exchange Market)

FOREX (Foreign Exchange Market) is a global currency market that exchanges currency from one country to the currency of another at a changing rate, subject to the date of exchange.

FOREX is a virtual network of currency dealers connected among themselves by means of telecommunications. FOREX currency dealers are connected to leading world financial centres, and round the clock workers. As a result, FOREX forms a
united and very efficient system.

The foreign exchange market owes its existence to the 1971 abandonment of the Bretton Woods accord and the subsequent unwinding of the regime of universal fixed exchange rates.

The history of stock exchanges can be traced to 12th century France, when the first brokers are believed to have developed, trading in debt and government securities. Unofficial stock markets existed across Europe through the 1600s, where brokers would meet outside or in coffee houses to make trades. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, created in 1602, became the first official stock exchange when it began trading shares of the Dutch East India Company. These were the first company shares ever issued.

The main participants of a foreign exchange market are:
Commercial banks
Exchange markets
Central banks
Firms that conduct foreign trade transactions
Investment funds
Broker companies
Private persons

Access to foreign exchange (forex), the most extensive market on the planet, is generally through an intermediary known as a forex broker. Similar to a stock broker, these agents can also provide advice on forex trading strategies. This advice to clients often extends to technical analysis and research approaches designed to improve client forex trading performance.
Any company that conducts its business in another currency is exposed to currency risk (or foreign exchange risk, or exchange rate risk). However, this risk is present only if the company's sales currency differs from the company's cost currency – if a company's revenues and expenses are both denominated in the same foreign currency, there is no foreign exchange risk.
The most important forex market is the spot market as it has the largest volume. The market is called the spot market because trades are settled "immediately" or on the spot. In practice this means within two banking days.

There are some other types of Forex along with spot-market: swap contracts, forwards and futures. These called derivatives. Derivatives are powerful tools that can be used to hedge the risks normally associated with production, commerce and finance. Derivatives facilitate risk management by allowing a person to reduce his exposure to certain kinds of risk by transferring those risks to another person that is more willing and able to bear such risks.
But Forex offers a number of advantages over other types of forex trading, including:

Powerful forex leverage
Zero forex commissions
Limited risk
Guaranteed prices and Instantaneous Fills
24-hour market
As every successful Forex trader knows, it is not enough just to have the technical knowhow of the actual mechanics of trading the Forex (foreign currency exchange) market, but to recognise that to be a winner relies also on the psychology of trading.

A forex currency trade is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another one. The currency combination used in the trade is called a cross (for example, the Euro/US Dollar, or the GB Pound/Japanese Yen.). The most commonly traded currencies are the so-called "majors" - EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF and GBPUSD.

Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called a "lot". One lot is equal to $1,000, which controls $100,000 in currency. This is what is known as the "margin". You can control $100,000 worth of currency for only 1,000 dollars. This is what is called High Leverage.

Currencies are always traded in pairs in the FOREX. The pairs have a unique notation that expresses what currencies are being traded. The symbol for a currency pair will always be in the form ABC/DEF. ABC/DEF is not a real currency pair, it is an example of a symbol for a currency pair. In this example ABC is the symbol for one countries currency and DEF is the symbol for another countries currency.

We know that the FX market is the largest in the world and that your broker or institution that you are trading with is collecting quotes from a centralized feed or individual quotes comprising of interbank rates.
So how are these quotes made up? Well, as we previously mentioned currencies are traded in pairs and are each assigned a symbol. For the Japanese Yen it is JPY, for the Pounds Sterling it is GBP, for Euro it is EUR and for the Swiss Frank it is CHF. So, EUR/USD would be Euro-Dollar pair. GBP/USD would be pounds Sterling-Dollar pair and USD/CHF would be Dollar-Swiss Franc pair and so on.
You will always see the USD quoted first with few exceptions such as Pounds Sterling, Euro Dollar, Australia Dollar and New Zealand Dollar. The first currency quoted is called the base currency. Have a look below for some example.
When you see FX quotes you will actually see two numbers. The first number is called the BID and the second number is called the offer (sometimes called the ASK).

When we trade currencies we open or close short or long position. A short position is where we have a greater outflow than inflow of a given currency. In FX short positions arise when the amount of a given currency sold is greater than the amount purchased. A long position is where we have greater inflows than outflows of a given currency. In FX long positions arise when the amount of a given currency purchased is greater than the amount sold.
Forex trading strategy begins with fundamental and technical analysis.
Fundamental analysis refers to political and economic conditions that may affect currency prices. FOREX traders using fundamental analysis rely on news reports to gather information about unemployment rates, economic policies, inflation, and growth rates.

Fundamental analysis is often used to get an overview of currency movements and to provide a broad picture of economic conditions affecting a specific currency. Most traders rely on technical analysis for plotting entry and exit points into the market and supplement their findings with fundamental analysis.
Currency prices on the FOREX are affected by the forces of supply and demand, which in turn are affected by economic conditions. The two most important economic factors affecting supply and demand are interest rates and the strength of the economy. The strength of the economy is affected by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), foreign investment and trade balance.
Economic indicators are reports released by the government or a private organization that detail a country's economic performance. Economic reports are the means by which a country's economic health is directly measured, but do remember that a great deal of factors and policies will affect a nation's economic performance.
These reports are released at scheduled times, providing the market with an indication of whether a nation's economy has improved or declined. The effects of these reports are comparable to how earnings reports, SEC filings and other releases may affect securities. In forex, as in the stock market, any deviation from the norm can cause large price and volume movements.
Central banks as Forex participants play a great role in the economy of every country. Central bank is the principal monetary authority of a nation, controlled by the national government. It is responsible for issuing currency, setting monetary policy, interest rates, exchange rate policy and the regulation and supervision of the private banking sector. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. Others include the European Central Bank, Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan.
Other type of analysis is technical analysis. A technical analysis is founded on three suppositions:
Movement of the market considers everything
Movement of prices is purposeful
History repeats itself
That is, technical analysis is a statistical and mathematical analysis of previous quotes and a prognosis of coming prices. A number of technical indicators have been installed into the PRO-CHARTS trading system. Analyzing the indicators one can come to the conclusion about further movements of the quoted currencies.
Categories of the technical analysis theory:
Indicators (Oscillators, eg: Relative Strength Index RSI)
Number theory (Fibonacci numbers, Gann numbers)
Waves (Elliot wave theory)
Gaps (High-Low, Open-Closing)
Trends (Following Moving Average)

Monday, December 24, 2007

Forex Market Snapshot

Introduction

The following facts and figures relate to the foreign exchange market. Much of the information is drawn from the preliminary results of the 2007 Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity conducted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in April 2007 and released on September 25, 2007. 54 central banks and monetary authorities participated in the survey, collecting information from approximately 1280 market participants.

"The 2007 survey shows an unprecedented rise in activity in traditional foreign exchange markets compared to 2004. Average daily turnover rose to $3.2 trillion in April 2007, an increase of 71% at current exchange rates and 65% at constant exchange rates. Against the background of low levels of financial market volatility and risk aversion, market participants point to a significant expansion in the activity of investor groups including hedge funds, which was partly facilitated by substantial growth in the use of prime brokerage, and retail investors. A marked increase in the levels of technical trading – most notably algorithmic trading – is also likely to have boosted turnover in the spot market." - BIS

Structure

* Decentralised 'interbank' market
* Main participants: Central Banks, commercial and investment banks, hedge funds, corporations & private speculators
* The free-floating currency system began in the early 1970's and was officially ratified in 1978
* Online trading began in the mid to late 1990's



Trading Hours

* 24 hour market
* Sunday 5pm EST through Friday 4pm EST.
* Trading begins in New Zealand, followed by Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America

Size

* Largest financial market in the world
* $3.2 trillion average daily turnover, equivalent to:

o More than 10 times the average daily turnover of global equity markets1
o More than 35 times the average daily turnover of the NYSE2
o Nearly $500 a day for every man, woman, and child on earth3
o An annual turnover more than 10 times world GDP4

* The spot market accounts for just under one-third of daily turnover

1. About $280 billion - World Federation of Exchanges aggregate 2006
2. About $87 billion - World Federation of Exchanges 2006
3. Based on world population of 6.6 billion - US Census Bureau
4. About $48 trillion - World Bank 2006.

Major Markets

* The US & UK markets account for just over 50% of turnover
* Major markets: London, New York, Tokyo
* Trading activity is heaviest when major markets overlap5
* Nearly two-thirds of NY activity occurs in the morning hours while European markets are open6

5. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve
6. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve

Forex Trading Course Rating and Reviews

ForexTradingCourses.net offers free, informative, straight-to-the-point reviews on Forex Trading courses.In the past few years as more and more individual traders have taken to trading forex , the education industry has also exploded. There are many courses , seminars and ebooks available in the market. Some are informative and others totally useless. The purpose of the website has been to list courses which provide value and actionable data to traders.All Courses have been Rated on 4 parameters.

  1. Quality of content ,
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Friday, December 21, 2007

FII unloading trips forex flow; reserves decrease by $599 mn

There is a slowdown in the pile up of India’s foreign exchange reserves on the back of unloading of portfolios by foreign institutional investors. During the first 11 months of this calendar year, foreign exchange reserves rose as a combination of foreign portfolio, private equity, FDI and commercial borrowings augmented the flow of capital into the country. During this period, forex reserves grew by $97 billion.

But over the last few weeks, there has been a dip in reserves owing to selling by foreign portfolio investors and also on account of valuation. According to the figures released by RBI in its weekly statistical supplement (WSS), foreign exchange reserves, including gold and SDR, dipped $599 million during the week ended December 14 to $272.9 billion.

While foreign currency assets and the reserves with IMF dipped $596 million and $3 million, respectively, the value of gold and special drawing rights (SDR) remained unchanged during the week. During the last fortnight, banks also did not see much of growth in deposits. Yet, the annual money supply growth is way above the central bank’s comfort level of 17 to 17.5% at 21.4%.

Aggregate deposits mobilised by scheduled commercial banks rose by only Rs 4,697 crore in the latest fortnight ending December 2007. Deposits touched Rs 29,29,004 crore as on December 2007. While demand deposits dipped Rs 15,307 crore, term deposits rose Rs 20,003 crore. Bank loans rose by higher amount during the fortnight, during which total loans rose Rs 16,507 crore to Rs 20,91,400 crore. Food credit and non-food credit rose by Rs 1,512 crore and Rs 14,995 crore, respectively.

But banks have offloaded their stock of government bonds substantially. Their investments in government and other approved securities dipped Rs 8,595 crore to touch Rs 9,55,941 crore.

As per the updated money supply figures, the total stock of money in the system amounted to Rs 36,82,402 crore as on December 2007, up Rs 6,308 crore over the previous fortnight’s levels. While currency with the public and term deposits rose Rs 4,485 crore and Rs 17,579 crore, respectively, demand deposits with banks dipped Rs 15,710 crore. At current levels, the annual growth in money supply (year on year) is still higher at 21.4% compared with the central bank’s comfort level of 17 to 17.5%.

However, ever since the central bank hiked the cash reserves requirements, asking banks to keep aside a portion of their deposits to be parked with RBI in its October monetary policy, the money supply growth has some what slowed down.

Also, many commercial banks have reduced interest rates on deposits, which have impacted deposit growth and in turn, the money supply growth as well. Besides, capital inflows too have slowed down, which in turn have helped contain the money supply growth as the central bank, which mops up these inflows, has to infuse lesser rupee funds.

In other developments, RBI has not resorted to the ways and means advances (WMA) — a temporary overdraft to meet its revenue mismatches — for yet another week. But at the same time, it has parked its surplus revenue amounting to Rs 3,146 crore during the week. State governments, on the other hand, have reduced their WMA balances by Rs 79 crore to Rs 173crore.

Forex Define

FOREX.com is a division of GAIN Capital Group, a dedicated partner to professional FX traders and fund managers worldwide. Institutional services include IB programs, white label solutions, and asset management. Individual forex traders can take advantage of the market expertise and financial strength of GAIN Capital Group and access an institutional FX trading platform, FOREXTrader, along with our powerful real-time forex charts, professional forex market research, and suite of advanced forex trading tools. For traders new to the currency trading, FOREX.com offers forex training programs, forex minis, and information about trading the foreign currency market.

How do I get started in FOREX?

Do you see the profit potential in trading currencies, but learning to trade just seems too daunting? Have you watched with excitement the recent crashing of the value of the USD, but simply don’t know how to get started trading?

While it is simple to begin trading Forex online, maintaining profitability in the long term is no easy task. You have probably heard that 90% of Forex traders lose their money in the long term. If indeed this is true, it is the result of a couple of different factors.

1. Overtrading: Each trade costs you a couple of pips—Consider your trades well before you make them. Each faulty trade, even if exited quickly, drains equity.
2. Bad money management: One bad trade can wipe out a year of patient, smart trading. Manage your risk using stop loss orders, so that you never risk too high a percentage of your equity on any one single trade.
3. Lack of knowledge: If you have never traded Forex before, educate yourself! Successful traders are not born that way. The difference between success and failure in the Forex market depends in no small part on the knowledge and education of a trader. For the beginning trader, a proper education is essential before investing in the Foreign Exchange. Find a program you are comfortable with, and begin practicing on a demo account.

Trading on the foreign exchange offers unparalleled opportunities for profit, but it is also extremely risky. Make sure you know what you are getting into before you start trading, and start trading only when you are comfortable in your knowledge and ability.
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