Sunday, January 4, 2009

Best Time To Trade Forex

Best Time To Trade Forex

As you know, the Forex market operates 24 hours, 5 days a week. This is one of the strong points of currency trading for retail traders: you can find good trade setups at almost any time of the day.

However, what many amateur traders fail to remember is that not every single hour of the day is a good time to trade. In this article, I will point out the best times to trade Forex, and why.

What Are The Conditions For Favourable Trading?

Generally speaking, you'll want to enter into trades when there is high liquidity in the market. High liquidity helps to reduce slippage, while at the same time providing better opportunities for large market moves and thus larger profits.

In times of low liquidity when relatively few traders are active, market prices are usually flat. This reduces your chances of making money since you'll need the market to move in order to profit.

Another reason why you should trade during times of high liquidity is because the large trading volume makes it harder (and more expensive) for the financial institutions to artificially manipulate market prices. Stop-loss hunting for example, is much more expensive to carry out during times of high liquidity.

Here are the times when liquidity in the market is typically the highest:

The London Session

The London market opens at 8am GMT (3am EST) and closes at 4pm GMT (11am EST). Most of the daily trading volume occurs during this time. The currencies most actively traded during this period are the USD, EUR, GBP, CHF and JPY.

The New York Session

New York opens at 1pm GMT (8am EST) and closes at 8pm GMT (3pm EST). This is the second largest trading period in terms of transaction volume.

The Asian Session

Last but not least, the Asian session opens in Tokyo at 1am GMT (8pm EST) and closes at 8am GMT (3am EST). Compared to the London and New York sessions, the Asian session usually experiences less volatility in the market. However, some good currency moves may be observed every now and then.

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Trading currencies on the forex market is an activity that is practiced all around the world by thousands of individuals from professional money managers working at financial institutions, to individual investors trading through online forex brokerages. Because forex trading can be a risky proposition, some common basic principles have developed among currency traders to better enable them to manage their money.

One tried-and-true way of managing one’s money is through the use of stop-losses. This risk-mitigating device is a sell order at a price beneath the original sale price, and if the currency falls to this value, the broker automatically sells it. It should be set at a low enough level that it isn’t mistakenly triggered by the normal daily fluctuations of the currency, but it is a great way to take some of the emotion out of currency trading. Often, an investor will hang on to a plummeting investment because he is emotionally attached to it, or because he feels that if he just holds onto it, it will bounce back. In the fast-paced world of currency trading, this is often not the best course of action, and it is usually better to get out of a falling position and try another tactic.

Another good money management technique is hedging. Forex traders can hedge their currency positions in a variety of ways, but the most popular are futures contracts and options. With these derivative investments, one pays a small amount of money for the right to buy an allotment of currency at a future date, at a set price. To hedge a long position, forex traders will buy these derivatives with the denomination in which the long position was taken, for the currency that was used to buy the original position. By reversing the order of the denominations, a fall in the long position currency will cause the trader to make money on the derivative, thus offsetting the original loss.

A mantra that many good forex traders repeat to themselves is to cut their losses short and let their winners ride. This philosophy is based on the fact that the main direction that everyone wants his investments to go is up. Any downward movement in the amount of profit incurred in a trade is a bad thing, and this momentum should be stopped as soon as possible by closing out the losing position, or cutting the loss short. Conversely, when the price of a currency is moving up and making money, the last thing one wants to do is stop this upward momentum by selling it. So, the trader lets the winner ride as long as it’s still moving in a positive direction. One should be careful to watch the position carefully in this situation though, and close it out as soon as the momentum shifts. A good way to ensure that this happens is to continually shift the stop loss upward underneath the rising price. By routinely setting this sell order just under the currency price, the trader can lock in any profits that have been made, while still allowing for any further upward movement.

By using various basic principles of money management, forex traders can increase their odds for success in the business of currency exchange. The use of stop-losses can both mitigate the risk of a currency that is spiraling downward out of control, and also allow upward movement to continue unchecked, ensuring that a profit will be made in this event. Hedging is another way that forex traders lessen their exposure to losses, often through the use of futures contracts or options. Those traders who properly employ these money management techniques give themselves a distinct advantage over the competition in the forex market.

Is Forex Trading The Ultimate Home Business Opportunity ?


That's true, you can be a trader at home. Forex, or Foreign Exchange Market is by far the largest financial market in the world. About $2 trillion are traded EVERY DAY. The Forex market is the currency market, where a currency is traded against another. Quick example : you buy a dollar and sell euros. Not that easy to understand. But can we do this from home ? Yes, we can. About ten years ago, you would need millions of dollars to start trading. Now you can start with a few hundreds of dollars.

What you need is your computer and an internet connexion. You can trade from the comfort of your home, without having to deal with any boss or clients. You will only deal with money. Then you can start selling dollars and buying euros and make a profit. You have to find a broker, where you will open an account and funding it. You will also have the possibility to get a demo account and practice, with fake money but in the real time market. I strongly recommend you practice a few months before thinking of "live" trading.

It is not that easy, it is extremely risky if you don't know anything about trading. First rule : don't invest what you can't afford to lose. Forex is not a game, there is a lot of parameters to take in account, and human factor is one of the most important in this business.

You may have already understood it, currencies are traded by pairs. The european Euro versus the US Dollar, The US Dollar versus the Japan Yen, etc. When you buy a currency, you want to sell it later at a higher price. When you sell a currency, you want to buy it later at a lower price. This is how you make profit. Think like you were buying a foreign company share. You always want to buy low, and always want to sell high.

What you are looking to when trading currencies is the exchange rate. This will tell you your next move. Buy or sell. Currencies are part of the economy of each countries. When the value of a currency is increasing, this means the economy is going better as before. The exchange rate can be viewed as the country's economy compared to another economy. This is why economic factors can help you to predict your next move. If you know that a currency will increase, you will buy it and expect to sell it at a higher price, a higher rate.

You can choose the pair you want to trade, but the most people trade the main currencies, Euro, Dollar, British Pound, Japan Yen. And you can only choose to trade one pair only if you want. You are the only person that will make the decision. Hope you are making the good ones, profit can be huge, as well as losses.

Like any business, forex trading has to be taken seriously. Lots of people are trading the forex and some are earning thousands of dollars every day. But it needs a lot of training, education and analysis before reaching such results. It can be the perfect business and actually it is for advanced traders.

10 Tips From A Professional Forex Trader


Here are 10 great tips from a professional Forex Trader:

  1. Trade only with the money you can afford to lose. Never trade emotionally or when stressed over debt.
  2. Start with a Demo Forex account to get practice in the executions and the different software functions necessary to ensure smooth trading.
  3. The forex market is not a casino or a lottery! You should never depend on luck, but on sound investment strategies.
  4. Analyze both your successes and failures. Keep a dairy of all your transactions. Review it often and learn from your mistakes.
  5. Adopt a very strict policy on the limit of losses you are prepared to accept from a trade. These limits should be between 3-10% of the balance of your account.
  6. Mistakes and losses are common and necessary when trading in any market. The sooner you learn to how and why you lose, the faster you will be able to earn money. Do not you blame yourself or others, and even less the market.
  7. The main enemy of trader is not the market. Accusing the market is like attacking the world. The biggest enemies of traders are greed, impatience, loss of emotional control and lack of self-confidence.
  8. Read the opinions of others, but base your decisions solely on your own analysis and your educated feeling of the market.
  9. Always follow this immutable rule: Cut your losses as soon as possible and keep your winning positions as long as possible.
  10. Try to work with your demo account as if it was your real account. The more quickly you’re convinced that trading on your demo account is equivalent to trading on the real account, the sooner you begin to develop your own technical trading techniques. You must have the same attitude when you work with your demo account that when you’re on your real account, because the techniques that you use at this point are identical to the ones you will use on the real account. Do not think you learn how to be a trader by entering competitions with demo versions. You must enter a competition only after developing your own trading strategies.

Cheapest Online Stock Trading

Stock Trading Online

Increasingly, people are realizing the potential of the internet as a money-making tool. Many people have even been able to trade in their 9 to 5 day jobs for a career working from home. Stock trading is one particularly profitable way of achieving the goal; this article will offer useful hints, advice and tips that newcomers to online stock trading should keep in mind.

Know What You’re Going To Do, And When You’re Going To Do It

Cheapest Online Stock Trading

Having a pre-set plan with effective strategies in place is one of the surest ways to succeed in online stock trading, yet it’s one of the most commonly-neglected among newbies.

One of the most important aspects of planning is research; read up, ask people in the know and go in with both eyes wide open. Know what you’re going to do before you do it, and think with your head rather than your heart. Knowing what your limits are - and the importance of not straying from them - is also vital.

Cheapest Online Stock Trading

Don’t Have Your Thumb In Too Many Pies!

Trading in too many stocks at one time is a common mistake of new traders. Doing so can make it hard to keep track of what you’ve bought and sold, and what you’re keeping an eye on. As a result, any strategies that you’ve employed will be harder to maintain, and your hip pocket is likely to be the biggest loser.

Don’t Blow All Your Money In One Hit

Regardless of whether you think you’re onto a good thing, do not under any circumstances spend all your money in one trade. Sure, you might get lucky and end up making a big profit; the stockmarket however, is notorious for its unreliability, so there is just as much likelihood that you will lose out. 50/50 odds of either making a profit or losing spectacularly aren’t a good thing; even if you’re reasonably confident, it’s better to keep some of your money to recoup losses if necessary.

Stick To Your Limits

You must have a limit where you exit the trade. If your stock reaches the profit target then take the profit and run. If the trade goes against you and you loose money, take the loss at a certain point and run as well.

A way to successful trading

We are delighted to share some tips and advice on FOREX trading with you. At our site you will be able to find various articles about day trading and long term trading, technical and fundamental analysis, and different trading methods. Hopefully some of these FOREX related articles will help you understand more about macroeconomic grounds for currency rates.

Read more about the basic terms and principles that FOREX traders should know before they start trading career:

What Rules FOREX market? Supply And Demand Laws In Connection to Traders' Emotions

A model of currency crisis for freely floating exchange rates

Daw Theory Explantion

The Uptrend Basics for FOREX Beginners

The Challenge of Technical Analysis in Predicting FOREX Currency Rates

16. Tips about Forex quotes

Reading tips about forex quotes is recomended. Forex quotes could be the key to success. Neglecing Reading tips about forex quotes could cause unwanted loss. Forex quotes tips sould be mastered by all traders.

Mastering tips about forex quotes will help you increase your profit. Forex quotes tips is an important factor in your gain/loss formula.

An important factor separating the seasoned traders from the amateurs is forex quotes.
Unlike exchange-based markets, FX markets operate 24 hours a day. Therefore, FX dealers view their customer positions concidering forex quotes most carefuly.
It is easy to demonstrate that forex quotes is is important. A total lack of forex quotes would mean risking everything on any one trade.

Forex quotes tips


Forex quotes tips used by successful traders to leverage their winnings and create real wealth. Improved your trading skills to the point that you are mastering forex quotes can begin applying the Leverage System.

I am experienced in utilizing all available online charts, forex trading tools, signals, news, education, systems and training software. However, this is easier said than done as the skills of the Currency Trading Signal takes a long time to master. The reality is that not many people are ready to be entirely devoted to the perilous process of online forex trading.But, online currency trading is like life where you're got to learn from your wrong moves and keep moving on.This article will look at fundamental analysis and how it used in FOREX trading.

FOREX Signals, One of the disadvantages of FOREX trading is the time investment needed to monitor the markets for advantageous entry and exit points. There are lots of great Forex trading strategies and Forex trading systems but to say there's only one, would not be a true statement.Mainly major banks, international organizations and some other are doing well in currency trading.Basically, currency trading involves four main variables: currencies, exchange rate, time, and interest rate.You can start playing the currency trading market with real market conditions immediately.utilising quality and reputable forex trading software and forex trading systems ...24hr commission-free currency trading w/ real time execution and guaranteed fills.

Nevertheless, if you want to learn forex trading finding a good trading strategy is vital to becoming a pro in the forex market.Included are links to forex trading, margin brokers, forex analysis, forex charts, quotes, etc.thus if you up till now desire to get into this trading game, you better study Forex trading prior to you create trading Forex. There are many different market sectors that are involved with Forex trading.At its simplest, Forex trading is currency being traded for another currency.

There are no guarantees in Forex trading, and you don't want to get wiped out. Review online forex trading courses to start achieving your own financial goals with currency trading. Without these online tools and forex trading platforms, this format of investing would not be possible. Learning to read charts, trading tools, news and compile and use all of this information makes it much easier to develop a powerful forex trading strategy. Our will help you to understand forex trading including tutorials and tips on how to make money trading forex.

Our forex trading system is the ultimate in forex trading platform. This low cost forex trading system comes complete with free charts and free email support. So you must learn them and understand them if you'd like to become a forex trading ninja master! You can sign up for one of the demo accounts and practice your forex trading today. Prior to the initiation of your forex trading, you need to know how to read these charts and analyze them. This way you may acquire skills and a basic forex trading education, without any fees.

Conclusion:

There are a large number of forex trading software programs available to get you started in playing the field in Forex trading. Software programs that are either desktop based or web based can be used in your Forex trading. It is wise to learn your own patterns If you are in penny stocks, forex currency trading, or stock markets. Forex trading is intended for sophisticated investors and is not suitable for everyone.

Combination of Technical Indicators

Many traders say that simplicity is important, and using a single indicator is adequate as long as you are very good at it. It maybe true that simplicity is important but I don't believe that using one indicator for any trading is adequate, and in fact you can become potential victims of unreliability of that indicator.

Why multiple indicators can be more reliable than using a single indicator? In order to tackle this question, let us evaluate drawbacks of each indicator.

Moving average convergence divergence (MACD) is a lagging indicator which means that the movement of the indicator is always behind the current movement of the chart. Therefore traders who are heavily relying on MACD tend to wait longer time to find their setup position. Thus each moment of the day there are too many good opportunities are wasted because of the MACD move too slow than the current movement of the chart. In some cases Moving Average Convergence Divergence can also create certain degree of frustration for waiting the chart to move base on the indicator's guidance.

Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a leading indicator, which means that it predict the future ahead of the current movement of the chart. Despite of its credibility so called "leading indicator", the effectiveness of its application is not as good as MACD. And in fact RSI can bring more fatal mistakes than any of the lagging indicators. Let's take an example of each trading day, oversold and overbought positions are frequently happening and furthermore these conditions may be permanent and not coming back as expected. Therefore if you are heavily rely on RSI, then you are going to lose your money fast. This is because RSI signal the movement is too early, when the reality is the chart may not move back to its current position. Better to be lagging then leading it is less risky.

The Bollinger bands indictor work very similar to pivot point/Fibonacci retracement, where it predicts the boundary of fluctuation using the band. It consist of three bands which is the upper, middle (moving average), and the lower band. I am not going to explain further the application of it because I already did some of them in the past. Instead I am going to elaborate more of the potential drawbacks of the Bollinger bands. Even though the Bollinger bands can show where is the boundary of fluctuation, but the reality is, the chart frequently penetrated the bands boundary either temporary or permanently. Whatever the conditions are whether it is temporary or permanent, it will trigger certain doubts over your decision to make buy or sell. And when doubts start growing more and more, you will probably losing your guts and exit the market with at least certain amount of losses.

Now I am not going to explain all of the technical indicators because there are too many of them. Just to sum up everything, all technical indicators simply have their own drawbacks which can sometimes overwrite their advantages. So by combining technical indicators which has the ability to complement each other's advantage, is essential to reduce the gap of its drawbacks. An example is MACD can possibly combine with the Bollinger bands where the first will determine the direction of the trend and the second help you to determine the stopping point. Or maybe you can add up another indicator call slow stochastic in order to cope with the most current direction of the trade. Now with these three indicators you are solving your problems by moving in the right direction (MACD) with the most current (slow stochastic) movement and at the expected distance of stopping point (bollinger band).

"If You're Interested in Learning About
the Exciting and Profitable
Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market,
You've Come to the Right Place!"

Forex money

The Foreign Exchange Market (also known as "Forex" or "FX") is hot!

Forex is the largest financial market in the world. It has a daily average turnover that boggles the mind -- nearly $2 trillion (yes, that's trillion with a "t")!

But Forex isn't for everybody. It is a fairly technical market.

No one should jump in without taking the time to learn the basic principles.

Is Forex for you? To find out, spend some time exploring this site, your one-stop resource about foreign exchange trading.

Take advantage of the information and resources here.

  • Discover what Forex is (and what it is not);
  • Discover why Forex is unlike any other financial market;
  • Discover what tips, techniques and tools the experts use;
  • Finally, discover how knowing all of this can benefit you!

Before you know it, you'll become a Forex master, ready to succeed in the exciting and profitable world of foreign currency exchange!

Reasons to Trade Forex

In my first article “Why I Trade Forex and You Should Too,” I listed six reasons why the Forex market has great potential for traders. In case In case you weren’t convinced, here’s seven more reasons I trade Forex and you should too:

Free forex tips | flags and coins

  • • Although volatile, currencies tend to show strong trending characteristics which lend themselves to successful short- to medium-term trading
  • • Great way to make money in down markets
  • • Currencies not connected to stock market. Thus they may go up while stocks go down
  • • Can play both up and downtrends
  • • Faster profit potential than is often possible in options
  • • Currency market immune to the kind of market manipulation that can occur in the stock market
  • • Overall, more accurate analytic tools available and better risk management possible

So there ya have it – Seven more reasons to trade Forex. Wanna know more? Click on the free ebook in the sidebar for a free Guide to Forex Basics. Then, open a paper account, practice for a while, and see what ya think.


Evaluating Online Brokers


What online broker you use depends greatly on what you want to trade. I know many options guys whoFree Forex Tips monitor like Think or Swim or Options Express. For swing trading stocks and ETF’s, I like Interactive Brokers. At only a dollar per trade, you can trade all you want without being eaten alive by fees. Now that’s what I call a discount broker! Unfortunately, no one broker does everything well and finding a good Forex broker can be a real challenge. First, you have to make sure the broker is legit. After that, it completely depends on how much money you have to deposit and what kind of terms you want. The more money you can deposit, the better the spread you may receive.

Since most of us don’t have truckloads of cash, this post will focus on discount brokers who accept small deposits. One that I have found that makes it easy to get started is, aptly named, Easy Forex. The good features of this broker include:

  1. Initial deposit as low as $100. (Hard to believe but true!)
  2. Easy deposit via credit card or Paypal
  3. “Freeze rate” for best price while market is moving. (See “Forex Pairs: How to Read Price Quotes” for more on this.)
  4. Guaranteed stop-loss rate. (This is as good as it gets.)
  5. No software download. This means you can trade online from anywhere and are not limited by your CPU speed or hard drive size.

Online Broker Rating

There are many Forex brokers out there. Some better than others; some outright scams. So I’ve developed a Squidoo lens to allow traders to vote for the brokers they like and to leave comments on those they don’t. My hope is that eventually this will be a great consumer resource for traders. So come on over and get pro-active,