For those of you who are new to the forex market, or even for those of you who are considering becoming a forex market trader, this article is for you. Welcome to forex 101, where you will learn exactly who forex is and what it does. Also for the forex newbie’s, you will find a list of six trading tips that will help you in your transactions. For those of you who are new to the forex trading market, first you will need to know the meaning of the term “forex” which stands for FOReign Exchange market. This pertains to the international foreign currency exchange market where currencies of all kinds are bought and sold. The forex market got its start back in the early 1970's when floating currencies and free exchange rates were first introduced.
At this time, the forex market traders were the only players on the market to decide upon the value of one type of currency against another, all solely based upon a particular currency’s supply and demand. The forex market is very unique for a number of reasons. First of all, this is one of the few markets that require very little trading qualifications and is free from any external control and can not be manipulated in any way. As the largest financial market, with trades reaching up to 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars, or USD, the money moves so fast, it’s impossible for a single investor to substantially affect the price of any major foreign currency. In addition, unlike any stock that is rarely traded, forex traders are able to open and close any positions within seconds, because there are always a number of willing buyers and sellers.
1. To open a forex account, all you have to do is simply fill out an application and provide all the necessary identification. The application will include a margin agreement will state if the broker will be allowed to intervene with any trade when it appears too risky.
This agreement is made to protect the interests of the broker because most trades are done by using the broker’s money. However, once you have established an account, you can fund it and begin trading in the forex market.
2. In order to become a successful trader, you willneed to adapt your own trading strategy. There is no one strategy that will work for all the traders, each individual trader will need to develop their own approach to the market. While some traders may relay solely on technical analysis, others may prefer a more fundamental approach, while the more successful traders use a combination of both. Each individual trader will need to learn the best approach for them selves in order to gain a more comprehensive overview of the forex market in order to prepare for any entry and exit points.
3. Understand that prices move by trends. Forex has a popular saying, “The trend is your friend.” there are certain movements that have been studied over many years in order to identify a pattern in the trend. These trends need to be understood in order to understand a good trading strategy. For small accounts that are $25,000 and under, trading with a trend may help improving your odds when compared to bi-directional
trading. Most newbie’s will look to trade in any direction, when they should be trading with a trend.
4. Before you take any position, look over the top five currencies to make sure you’re not missing something. The top five foreign in forex are: USD/Yen, Swiss franc/USD, Euro/Yen, Euro/USD and Pound/USD.
5. For newbie’s, it would be safest to have two accounts because you learn as you play the trading game. Keep one real account, one that you will actually use to trade real money; and the second account should be a demo, one that you can use to test alternative moves in the trading game. You can easily use your demo account to shadow the trades in your real account so you can widen your stops to see if you are being too conservative or not.
6. Always examine the one hour, four hour and daily charts that concern your trades. Although you can trade at 15 and 30 minute time intervals, doing so requires a handful of dexterity.
