Many beginning FOREX traders are captivated by the allure of easy money. FOREX websites offer ‘risk-free’ trading, ‘high returns’ ‘low investment’ – these claims have a grain of truth in them, but the reality of FOREX is a bit more complex.

There are two common mistakes that many beginner traders make – trading without a strategy and letting emotions rule their decisions. After opening a FOREX account it may be tempting to dive right in and start trading. Watching the movements of EUR/USD for example, you may feel that you are letting an opportunity pass you by if you don’t enter the market immediately. You buy and watch the market move against you. You panic and sell, only to see the market recover.

This kind of undisciplined approach to FOREX is guaranteed to lose you money. FOREX traders need to have a rational trading strategy and not allow emotions to rule their trading decisions.

To make rational trading decisions the FOREX trader must be well-educated in market movements. He must be able to apply technical studies to charts and plot out entry and exit points. He must take advantage of the various types of orders to minimize his risk and maximize his profit.

The first step in becoming a successful FOREX trader is to understand the market and the forces behind it. Who trades FOREX and why? Who is successful and why are they successful? This knowledge will allow you to identify successful trading strategies and use them as models for your own.

There are 5 major groups of investors who participate in FOREX – Governments, Banks, Corporations, Investment Funds, and traders. Each group has varying objectives, but the one thing that all the groups (except traders) have in common is external control. Every organization has rules and guidelines for trading currencies and can be held accountable for their trading decisions. Individual traders, on the other hand, are accountable only to themselves.

This means that the trader who lacks rules and guidelines is playing a losing game. Large organizations and educated traders approach the FOREX with strategies, and if you hope to succeed as a FOREX trader you must play by the same rules.

Money Management

Money management is part and parcel of any trading strategy. Besides knowing which currencies to trade and recognizing entry and exit signals, the successful trader has to manage his resources and integrate money management into his trading plan. Position size, margin, recent profits and losses, and contingency plans all need to be considered before entering the market.

There are various strategies for approaching money management. Many of them rely on the calculation of core equity. Core equity is your starting balance minus the money used in open positions. If the starting balance is $10,000 and you have $1000 in open positions your core equity is $9000.

When entering a position try to limit risk to 1% to 3% of each trade. This means that if you are trading a standard FOREX lot of $100,000 you should limit your risk to $1000 to $3000 – preferably $1000. You do this by placing a stop loss order 100 pips (when 1 pip = $10) above or below your entry position.

As your core equity rises or falls you can adjust the dollar amount of your risk. With a starting balance of $10,000 and one open position your core equity is $9000. If you wish to add a second open position, your core equity would fall to $8000 and you should limit your risk to $900. Risk in a third position should be limited to $800.

By the same principal you can also raise your risk level as your core equity rises. If you have been trading successfully and made a $5000 profit, your core equity is now $15,000. You could raise your risk to $1500 per transaction. Alternatively, you could risk more from the profit than from the original starting balance. Some traders may risk up to 5% against their realized profits ($5,000 on a $100,000 lot) for greater profit potential.

The key to FOREX popularity is margin. Without margin, the FOREX would be beyond the reach of the average investor. So, what exactly is margin and how does it work?

Margin accounts allow FOREX traders to control large amounts of currency with a relatively small deposit. Establishing a margin account with a FOREX broker enables you to borrow money from the broker to control currency lots which are usually worth $100,000. The amount of borrowing power your margin account gives you is the leverage. Leverage is usually expressed as a ratio – a leverage of 100:1 means you can control assets worth 100 times your deposit.

What this means in FOREX is that with a 1% margin account you can control standard lots of $100,000 with a $1,000 deposit. Trading on margin increases both profits and losses, and the potential exists for the trader to lose more than his original deposit. With proper safeguards, however, loss can be limited, and usually brokers will terminate a transaction that extends beyond the margin deposit.

Benefits

As we mentioned above, trading on margin gives you more buying power and the potential for more profits (and losses). How does this work, exactly? A 1% margin account allows you to control a currency lot of $100,000 for $1,000. When dealing with $100,000 small changes in the price of the currency can result in large profits or losses.

FOREX currencies are traded in much smaller units than cash. The American dollar, for example, is traded in units down to 4 decimal places. Instead of $1.32 FOREX quotes are seen as $1.3256. The smallest unit in FOREX currencies is called the pip, and when you have a $100,000 each pip of your total lot is worth $10 (when trading American dollars).

If the price of American dollars changes from 1.3256 to 1.3356, that’s a difference of 100 pips which represents a profit or loss of $1000. Without margin, if you had $1000 of currency, the price change from 1.3256 to 1.3356 represents a difference of $10. Significant to the tourist, perhaps, but not the investor.

So the benefit of margin is increased profit potential.

Risks

As there is increased profit potential, there is also increased loss potential. If you are not careful, your entire margin account could quickly be wiped out. If your margin account is 1% and the currency moves just one cent against you, you lose $1000.

FOREX trading, however, has several methods to limit loss. Stop loss orders automatically close your position if the value of the currency crosses a pre-determined point. Stop loss orders allow you to limit your losses to a specified amount while still allowing potential profit taking.

An often overlooked risk is the possibility that your broker may close your position if your potential losses approach the balance of your margin account. You may be riding out a down trend with the expectations of a market reversal, but unless you replenish your margin account you may find your position has been closed. If this happens, you lose all of your margin.

For example:

You sell EUR/USD at 1.2144 (sell 100,000 euros and buy 121,440 US dollars) with the expectation that the euro will fall in price. You have a 1% margin account which means the required margin is $1,214.40. You have $1250 in your margin account, so to enter this position your margin account is left with $35.60.

You have not specified a stop loss order, and after you enter this position the euro suddenly rallies, gaining 0.0263 for a price of 1.2407. 100,000 euros are now worth US$124,070 and your 1% margin requirements have risen to $1,240.70. Depending on the policy of your broker, your position may be automatically closed or the extra funds in your margin account may be used to make up the difference. In any case, if the euro continues to gain value and you wish to ride it out (bad idea) you will have to add more funds to your margin account or risk losing everything.

Another example:

You buy USD/CHF at 1.2623 with the expectation that the US dollar will gain against the Swiss franc. You buy a standard lot of 100,000 American dollars for 126,230 Swiss francs with a margin requirement of 1% or $1,000.

As expected, the US dollar rises to 1.2683 at which point you close your position. You sell 100,000 American dollars for 126,830 Swiss francs for a profit of 600 francs or US$473.08 (600 francs divided by the exchange rate of 1.2683).

Currency prices are determined by a number of factors, the most important of which are economic and political conditions in the issuing country. Political stability, inflation, and interest rates are all factored into the price of any currency. In addition, governments can try to control the price of their currency by either flooding the market (to lower the price) or buying extensively (to raise the price).

Because of the immense volume of FOREX, however, it is impossible for one force to control the market for any length of time. Market forces will prevail in the long run, making FOREX one of the most open and fair investment opportunities available.

Each world currency is given a three letter code which is used in FOREX quotes. The most common currencies are USD (US dollars), EUR (European euros), GBP (United Kingdom pounds), AUD (Australian dollars), JPY (Japanese yen), CHF (Swiss francs) and CAD (Canadian dollars).

Prices of foreign exchange are indicated by FOREX quotes in pairs of currencies. The first currency is the ‘base’ and the second is the ‘quote’ currency. In this example:

USD/EUR = 0.8419

…the currency pair is US dollars and European euros. The base currency (USD) is always at ‘1′ and the quote currency shows how much it costs to buy one unit of the base currency. In this example, 1 US dollar costs 0.8419 euros.

Conversely…

EUR/USD = 1.1882

…tells us that it costs 1.1882 US dollars to buy 1 euro.

When the price of the quote currency goes up it indicates that the base currency is becoming stronger – one unit of the base currency will buy more of the quote currency. If the quote currency falls, however, the base currency is becoming weaker.

FOREX quotes are seen in ‘bid’ and ‘ask’ prices. Bid is the price that buyers will pay for the base currency (while selling the quote currency), and ask is the price that sellers will sell the base currency (while buying the quote currency).

Symbol Bid Ask
USD/CAD 1.2392 1.2397

This chart tells us that we can buy one American dollar for 1.2397 Canadian dollars, or sell one American dollar for 1.2392 Canadian dollars. The most commonly traded currencies pairs are the ‘Majors’ – GBP/USD, EUR/USD, AUD/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, and USD/CAD.

We often see exchange rates listed in cross currency charts that list many different currencies and their values against each other. An example of such a chart is seen here:

US $ Ca $ Euro UK £
US $ 1.00000 1.24060 0.83935 0.56870
Ca $ 0.80606 1.00000 0.67657 0.45841
Euro 1.19140 1.47805 1.00000 0.67755
UK £ 1.75840 2.18147 1.47591 1.00000

In this chart, the currencies listed down the left side of the chart are the base currencies and the currencies at the top are the quote currencies. We can convert the chart above into currency pairs by following the row beside the base currency. Using US dollars as the base currency we get the following currency pairs:

USD/CAD = 1.24060
USD/EUR = 0.83935
USD/GBP = 0.56870

…which tells us that one US dollar is equal to the corresponding value of the quote currency. To find the opposite pair e.g. CAD/USD follow the Canadian dollar row to the US dollar column - CAD/USD = 0.80606 (one Canadian dollar is worth 0.80606 US dollars).

There is no standard for cross-currency charts – some have the base currency on the top and some have it on the side. How to tell which is which? You need to know at least one pair of currencies and which one of the pair is more valuable.

One of the disadvantages of FOREX trading is the time investment needed to monitor the markets for advantageous entry and exit points. It’s possible to sit in front of a computer monitor for hours watching the markets.

Of course, you can use automated orders such as limits and stops. These allow you to walk away from your computer with the knowledge that your losses will be kept to a minimum, but by doing so, you may miss out on potential profits because your limit order kicks in too soon.

If you don’t have the time to watch your computer monitor and still wish to achieve as much profit as possible, consider signing up for a FOREX signal service. These services monitor and analyze the market for you and send their findings directly to your computer desktop, email, or SMS on your cell phone or pager.

Companies that offer FOREX signals do so on a paid basis, so you have to sign up and pay a monthly or yearly fee. Some brokers may offer this service as an extra which integrates into their trading software. You can receive signals as a popup on your screen or by any of the other methods described above.

There are usually a limited number of currency pairs that are available for FOREX signals. Most services offer signals on EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, but specialized services may offer other currency pairs.

FOREX signals are primarily based on technical analysis of market conditions. Most companies use a combination of indicators to identify main trends and entry and exit points. The results are sent to subscribers who have the option of acting on them or passing. Some services will even execute the trade for you.

Using a variety of technical studies, various types of signals can be derived from currency charts. The SMA (Simple Moving Average) indicates buy signals when currency prices rise above the average line. Sell signals occur when the price falls below the moving average line.

MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) studies have a signal line that is used to generate a buy signal (above the line) or a sell signal (below the line).

Volume indicators are used to determine market interest. High volume (especially near the bottom of the market) can indicate the start of a new trend while low volume indicates investor uncertainty.

Bollinger Bands indicate potential changes in the market. Sharp price changes tend to occur when the bands tighten while prices that touch one band tend to go all the way to the other band.

Other indicators like volatility and momentum can be used to reinforce signals provided by other sources. Taken together they form a relatively reliable source of information about how the market is behaving.

Are signals a sure thing? Of course not, otherwise we would all be millionaires. Signals can give you good advice about which currencies to trade, but no signal service will guarantee their information is 100% accurate. Reputable services will show you their track record, however, and let you see for yourself how they have done in the past.

FOREX signals cost anywhere from $50 to $200 a month. It’s up to the individual trader to decide if the cost is worth it. Don’t think that signals can take the place of trader education – they are advice, and if you don’t have the knowledge to analyze the advice, you should go back to the books before using a signal service.

Despite the claims you may see on some FOREX web sites, FOREX is not risk-free. You are trading with substantial sums of money and there is always a possibility that trades will go against you. There are several trading tools, however, that can minimize your risk, and with caution, and above all education, the FOREX trader can learn how to trade profitably and while minimizing losses.

Scams

FOREX scams were fairly common a few years ago. The industry has cleaned up considerably since then, but you still need to exercise caution when signing up with a FOREX broker. Do some background checking – reputable FOREX brokers will be associated with large financial institutions like banks or insurance companies and they will be registered with the proper government agencies. In the United States brokers should be registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). You can also check with your local Consumer Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau.

Risks

Assuming you are dealing with a reputable broker, there are still risks to FOREX trading. Transactions are subject to unexpected rate changes, volatile markets and political events.

Exchange Rate Risk – refers to the fluctuations in currency prices over a trading period. Prices can fall rapidly resulting in substantial losses unless stop loss orders are used when trading FOREX. Stop loss orders specify that the open position should be closed if currency prices pass a predetermined level. Stop loss orders can be used in conjunction with limit orders to automate FOREX trading – limit orders specify an open position should be closed at a specified profit target.

Interest Rate Risk – can result from discrepancies between the interest rates in the two countries represented by the currency pair in a FOREX quote. This discrepancy can result in variations from the expected profit or loss of a particular FOREX transaction.

Credit Risk – is the possibility that one party in a FOREX transaction may not honor their debt when the deal is closed. This may happen when a bank or financial institution declares insolvency. Credit risk is minimized by dealing on regulated exchanges which require members to be monitored for credit worthiness.

Country Risk – is associated with governments that may become involved in foreign exchange markets by limiting the flow of currency. There is more country risk associated with ‘exotic’ currencies than with major currencies that allow the free trading of their currency.

Limiting Risk

FOREX trading can be risky, but there are ways to limit risk and financial exposure. Every FOREX trader should have a trading strategy – knowing when to enter and exit the market and what kind of movements to expect. Developing strategies requires education - the key to limiting FOREX risk. At all times follow the basic rule: Do not place money in the FOREX that you cannot afford to lose.

Every FOREX trader needs to know at least the basics about technical analysis and how to read financial charts. He should study chart movements and indicators and understand how charts are interpreted. There is a vast amount of information on FOREX trading available both on the Internet and in print. If you want to be successful at FOREX, know what you are doing.

Even the most knowledgeable traders, however, can’t predict with absolute certainty how the market will behave. For this reason, every FOREX transaction should take advantage of available tools designed to minimize loss. Stop-loss orders are the most common ways of minimizing risk when placing an entry order. A stop-loss order contains instructions to exit your position if the currency price reaches a certain point. If you take a long position (expecting the price to rise) you would place a stop loss order below current market price. If you take a short position (expecting the price to fall) you would place a stop loss order above current market price.

As an example, if you take a short position on USD/CDN it means you expect the US dollar to fall against the Canadian dollar. The quote is USD/CDN 1.2138/43 - you can sell US$1 for 1.2138 CDN dollars or sell 1.2143 CDN dollars for US$1.

You place an order like this:

Sell USD: 1 standard lot USD/CDN @ 1.2138 = $121,380 CDN
Pip Value: 1 pip = $10
Stop-Loss: 1.2148
Margin: $1,000 (1%)

You are selling US$100,000 and buying CDN$121,380. Your stop loss order will be executed if the dollar goes above 1.2148, in which case you will lose $100.

However, USD/CDN falls to 1.2118/23. You can now sell $1 US for 1.2118 CDN or sell 1.2123 CDN for $1 US.

Because you entered the transaction by selling US dollars (buying short), you must now buy back US dollars and sell CDN dollars to realize your profit.

You buy back US$100,000 at the current USD/CDN rate of 1.2123 for a cost of 121,223 CDN. Since you originally sold them for CDN$121,380 you made a profit of $157 Canadian dollars or US$129.51 (157 divided by the current exchange rate of 1.2123).

To succeed in forex trading a trader needs a smart forex trading strategy. Individuals who enter the market in the hope of making quick money invariably end up getting their fingers burnt. The same is true of forex traders who trade without a clear strategy. They either exist on the margins or make frequent losses.

The trading strategy varies from trader to trader. A day trader is more concerned about the day-to-day market fluctuations than a long term or a swing trader. Therefore, the first thing that a trader needs to decide is what kind of trader he is, or wants to be, and then plan the trading strategy.

An important goal should be to limit the losses. This is an important part of any trading strategy, and must be followed religiously. A day trader may place smaller stops while swing traders may adopt less restrictive stops. Such a strategy helps traders cut their losses significantly.

It also makes sense to plan the transaction sizes so that multiple trades can be transacted on any given trading day instead of placing all the bets on one transaction. Such a strategy reduces the chances of making losses, and brings in more discipline in trading.

A trader must remember that foreign trade is all about timing. Those who understand the market better do well; the others end up making losses. Since the market does not always provide good trading opportunities, a trader should follow his trading strategy in a disciplined way. After all it is no use losing money by transacting wrong trades.

Finally, the successful traders are those who treat forex trading as a business. They spend time and effort acquiring knowledge about the way the forex markets work, factors that affect forex trade, and the software and services they need to chart market movements.
They also keep track of what other forex traders are doing. Such a strategy provides them useful insights, and enables them to plan their trade better.

There are several ways to learn forex, the term that stands for foreign exchange. The best is through full-time educational programs that teach the working of forex markets. Another way is through forex books. However, this is a time consuming method, and the individual has to spend hours to dig out relevant information. There is also a practical method. This involves working with a forex brokerage or with a forex trading firm.

Irrespective of which method an individual chooses, it is not easy to learn about forex. The forex market is the largest market in the world where trade is conducted round the clock in real time. There is no centralized trading post, and no centralized governing body. The entire trade is seamless, and works across time zones and across countries.

Ninety-five percent of this trade is speculative in nature, and is carried out by traders who want to make a profit by trading in foreign currency. The remaining five per cent is conducted by countries that use foreign currency to buy or sell products or services.

The most important forex markets are London, New York and Tokyo, and the most traded currencies are the US Dollar, European Euro, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc and British Pound. These currencies are traded in pairs. For instance, the pair EUR/USD for a purchaser indicates that the trader is buying the Eurocurrency and selling the U.S. Dollar because the trader anticipates that the Euros are likely to gain in value as compared to US dollars.

The trader may end up making a profit if the Euro escalates against the dollar or the trader may loose if the Euro falls. This is where the skill of the trader lies, to anticipate how a market is likely to move. The trader does not have sufficient time to make these decisions because the market is working in real time conditions. Even the smallest of delay can reduce profit margins or increase losses. A few traders rely on their instinct and experience while making these trades. However, most traders use analysis of market movements to come to buying or selling conclusions.

Imagine a market where more than 10 times the average daily turnover of global equity markets takes place or where over 30 times the daily volume of NASDAQ and NYSE gets traded in a single day. This market is the forex market — the largest and most liquid market in world trading. The forex markets record a turnover of approximately $ 2 trillion a day!

The forex, FX or foreign exchange market is actually a decentralized,
over-the-counter market, also known as the interbank/ interdealer market. It is a trading facility through which foreign currencies are traded directly between banks, foreign currency dealers and forex investors across the world. There is no centralized location for FX trading activity. All trading is online, and occurs over hundreds of thousands of locations worldwide.

Until recently, the major players of this market were banks. But now, with the ability to leverage large positions with a relatively small amount of capital, the forex market is more liquid than ever and has opened its doors to the small speculators also.

One great thing about this market is its trading hours - 24 hours a day with trading beginning in New Zealand, followed by Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America. The major markets involved are London, New York, Tokyo with the US & UK accounting for more than 50 per cent of the turnover. Trading activity is usually the heaviest when major markets overlap.

There are five major currencies that dominate trading: the U.S. Dollar, Euro currency, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc and British Pound. These foreign currencies are traded in pairs or as crosses in the forex ‘spot’ market.

Today, the crucial factor determining exchange rates is the supply and demand for a particular currency which in turn is governed by the strength of the currency and the world situation. For those investors who know how to read these changes, the forex market is the right place to trade.