Transaction Costs and Market Makers

Market makers are compensated for allowing clients to enter the market. They take part or all of the spread in all currency pairs traded. In a common example, EUR/USD, the spread is typically 3 pips (percentage in point) or 3/100 of a cent in this example. Thus prices are quoted with both bid and offer prices (e.g., Buy EUR/USD 1.4900, Sell EUR/USD 1.4903).[citation needed]
That difference of 3 pips is the spread and can amount to a significant amount of money. Because the typical standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency, those 3 pips on EUR/USD translate to $30 paid by the client to the market maker. However, a pip is not always $10. A pip is 1/100th of a cent (or whatever), and the currency pairs are always purchased by buying 100,000 of the base currency.
For the pair EUR/USD, the quote currency is USD; thus, 1/100th of a cent on a pair with USD as the quote currency will always have a pip of $10. If, on the other hand, your currency pair has Swiss francs (CHF) as a quote instead of USD, then 1/100th of a cent is now worth around $9, because you are buying 100,000 of whatever in Swiss francs.

Financial Instruments..
There are several types of financial instruments commonly used.
Forwards One way to deal with the Forex risk is to engage in a forward transaction. In this transaction, money does not actually change hands until some agreed upon future date. A buyer and seller agree on an exchange rate for any date in the future, and the transaction occurs on that date, regardless of what the market rates are then. The duration of the trade can be a few days, months or years. Futures Foreign currency futures are forward transactions with standard contract sizes and maturity dates — for example, 500,000 British pounds for next November at an agreed rate. Futures are standardized and are usually traded on an exchange created for this purpose. The average contract length is roughly 3 months. Futures contracts are usually inclusive of any interest amounts. Swaps The most common type of forward transaction is the currency swap. In a swap, two parties exchange currencies for a certain length of time and agree to reverse the transaction at a later date. These are not contracts and are not traded through an exchange. Spot A spot transaction is a two-day delivery transaction for most currency pairs (but one-day for USD/CAD and some others), as opposed to the futures contracts, which are usually three months. This trade represents a "direct exchange" between two currencies, has the shortest time frame, involves cash rather than a contract; and interest is not included in the agreed-upon transaction. The data for this study come from the Spot market.

High Leverage

The idea of margin (leverage) and floating loss is another important trading concept and is perhaps best understood using an example. Most retail Forex market makers permit 100:1 leverage, but also, crucially, require you to have a certain amount of money in your account to protect against a critical loss point. For example, if a $100,000 position is held in EUR/USD on 100:1 leverage, the trader has to put up $1,000 to control the position. However, in the event of a declining value of your positions, Forex market makers, mindful of the fast nature of forex price swings and the amplifying effect of leverage, typically do not allow their traders to go negative and make up the difference at a later date. In order to make sure the trader does not lose more money than is held in the account, forex market makers typically employ automatic systems to close out positions when clients run out of margin (the amount of money in their account not tied to a position). If the trader has $2,000 in his account, and he is buying a $100,000 lot of EUR/USD, he has $1,000 of his $2,000 tied up in margin, with $1,000 left to allow his position to fluctuate downward without being closed out.
Typically a trader's retail forex platform will show him three important numbers associated with his account: his balance, his equity, and his margin remaining. If trader X has two positions: $100,000 long (buy) in EUR/USD, and $100,000 short (sell) in GBP/USD, and he has $10,000 in his account, his positions would look as follows: Because of the 100:1 leverage, it took him $1,000 to control each position. This means that he has used up $2,000 in his margin, out of a $10,000 account, and thus he has $8,000 of margin still available. With this margin, he can either take more positions or keep the margin relatively high to allow his current positions to be maintained in the event of downturns. If the client chooses to open a new position of $100,000, this will again take another $1,000 of his margin, leaving $7,000. He will have used up $3,000 inmargin among the three positions. The other way margin will decrease is if the positions he currently has open lose money. If one of his 3 positions of $100,000 decrease by $5,000 in value (which is fairly common), he now has, of his original $7,000 in margin, only $2,000 left.[original research?]
If you have a $10,000 account and only open one $100,000 position, this has committed only $1,000 of your money plus you must maintain $1,000 in margin. While this leaves $9,000 free in your account, it is possible to lose almost all of it if the speculation loses

Retail forex

In financial markets, the retail forex (retail off-exchange currency trading or retail FX) market is a subset of the larger foreign exchange market. This "market has long been plagued by swindlers preying on the gullible," according to The New York TimesHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail_forex" \l "cite_note-NYTimes1-0"[1]. Whilst there may be a number of fully regulated, reputable international companies that provide a highly transparent and honest service, it's commonly thought that about 90% of all retail FX traders lose money. [2] [3]
It is now possible to trade cash FX, or forex (short for Foreign Exchange (FX)) or currencies around the clock with hundreds of foreign exchange brokers through trading platforms. The reason that the business is so profitable is because in many cases brokers are taking the opposite side of the trade, and therefore turning client capital directly into broker profit as the average account loses money. Some brokers provide a matching service, charging a commission instead of taking the opposite site of the trade and "netting the spread", as it is referred to within the forex "industry."
Recently forex brokers have become increasingly regulated. Minimum capital requirements of US$20m now apply in the US, as well as stringent requirements now in Germany and the United Kingdom. Switzlerand now requires forex brokers to become a bank before conducting fx brokerage business from Switzerland.[citation needed]
Algorythmic or machine based formula trading has become increasingly popular in the FX market,with a number of popular packages allowing the customer to program his own studies.
The most traded of the "major" currencies is the pair known as the EUR/USD, due to its size, median volatility and relatively low "spread", referring to the difference between the bid and the ask price. This is usually measured in "pips", normally 1/100 of a full point.[citation needed]
According to the October 2008 issue of e-Forex Magazine, the retail FX market is seeing continued explosive growth despite, and perhaps because of, losses in other markets like global equities in 2008.

Forex Home Business

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of forex home business is certainly no exception.
When running a forex home business, a person quickly gains knowledge of how the business world works. Whether it be selling crafts, doing a home delivery business, or selling real-estate, after investing a lot of time and effort into a home or small business, a person quickly becomes aware of the few basic business truths that govern business.
One of those truths is that you have to have time and money to start a small business or any business for that matter. More often than not, the people that have the time dont have the money to invest in a home-based business and the people that have the money dont have the time. With Forex home business, it is quite possible to generate an income with a small time investment per day, after studying FOREX for a few months, and a very small investment as little as $50 in some cases.
The second truth, and these are probably quite obvious to most people, is that in order to make money a business has to have some sort of product to sell or perform some type of service. In the FOREX world, nothing is being sold and no service is being performed, but rather money is being exchanged. You are making a profit based on the actual exchange value of one currency against another currency. This eliminates the need for employees, such as customer service personnel and human resource people if your company were to become that big.
Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.
Also, because of the huge size of the FOREX market, trading nearly $1.5 trillion dollars a day, such things as social events, bad publicity, and changes in political climate will have no effect on your business. In fact, after studying FOREX, you will be able to see how these things will actually benefit your FOREX home business.
The third and last classical business truth is that most people are prevented from starting a home-based business because they dont feel good enough about themselves. They dont feel like theyre educated enough. I read stories all of the time about people that feel passionate about something or they just pick something that they are relatively good at or have done before and start a business. They just take a chance. If you want to do it, step out. Take that first step. Dont drop any huge sums of money, of course, but do a little research, make a small investment and start your adventure down to the road to FOREX trading.
You dont need a doctorite degree to get involved with FOREX trading, but after a couple of months of good study, its quite possible to generate a significant source of cash from FOREX trading. Forex traders study the political and economic trends in the economically important countries, including USA, Japan, England or the European Union, and make an assessment of the present or future purchase values of these currencies in comparison with each other. Again, the process of sale and purchase is like any other market activity, except that the time period varies. Blindly trade. Forex home business is not about gambling. Consider a situation where you think that the price of a given commodity, say, silver, gold, or wheat, will increase in the near future.
You can’t predict when knowing something extra about forex home business will come in handy. If you learned anything new about forex home business in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

Difference Between Forex and Stock

1. A Forex trader could trade more transaction compared to the futures market (the trading volume could be a times larger), and the risk will be strictly under control. The trading volume of the Forex market is 46 times larger compared to the futures market, moreover Forex traders could make more profit from the Forex market due to the larger trading volume (the transaction volume is a few times larger), the REFCO Switzerland rich transaction platform allowed transaction between 1-100 times to be carry on, moreover a Forex trader could decide his or her own transaction amount, for example: Your account has $30,000, the basic transaction unit is each $1,000 (which transaction amount in $1.00, million), namely, so the proportion of the margin of each transaction unit is 100:1.
2. The risk of the Forex trader is under control, such margin call will not happen compared to futures, through the Forex trading system, your risk will receive the strict limit, even if your margin if lower then the deposit required, the Forex trading system will automatically settle your position, this means even if a Forex trader suffered losses, moreover if the market is suffering from a disaster fluctuation, your loss could not surpass your account amount. In order to understand the advantages, please apply for the demo account to carry on the complete zero risk.
3. A Forex trader will receive a large limitation of liquidation and a relatively fair market because the trading volume of the Forex market is large and it is also the largest liquidation market in the world. At present the trading volume in the Forex market is 140 billion Dollars, such big market will completely digest your transaction cash.
4. A Forex trader may do 24 hours transactions and other markets are different, the Forex market is a 24 hour linkages market, it starts from every Sunday before dawn Australian Sydney market, substandard collect the transaction center Singapore, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt to New York continuously to open, such linkage market enable you to do 24 hours transactions, also provide flexibility for Forex trader to do transaction.

At Lind-Waldock, we know that sometimes you need a second opinion. And sometimes, it helps to have several. Information is critical when you trade futures, and we offer access to industry-leading sources. We strive to make the challenge of futures and options trading easier with trading advice and research that doesn't make empty promises—but promises to make you a more informed trader.

Build a trading support package that best fits your unique needs when you choose Lind-Waldock for your futures trading needs.

Lind Plus Broker

Find short-term market outlooks and trading ideas from our Lind Plus brokers, right on the Lind-Waldock Web site. Tune in to weekly "Markets on the Move" Webinars for even more timely trading ideas and analysis from Lind Plus market strategists. Clients can also listen to three free daily telephone hotlines. If you can't tune in to our hotlines or webinars, you can also read selected broker comments right on the Lind-Waldock Web site. View the latest Lind Plus Market Commentary.

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Tap into institutional-grade research and trade recommendations from MF Global Research. Sign up for a free 2-week trial.

Outside Analysis Services

Lind-Waldock clients can subscribe to several sources of market information at special, discounted rates. Astro Advisory Services offers the Daily E-mini Astro Report, incorporating planetary and Fibonacci timing methods. Consensus, a weekly newspaper that covers futures market developments. The Hightower Report delivers independent fundamental and technical analysis. Intermarket Analysis offers online market commentary on stock index, financial, currency, grain and precious metals markets. The SmartMoneyLetter� is a weekly newsletter service for experienced traders looking for promising ideas and better risk-management.

Introduction to Trading Forex

Foreign Exchange

This short introduction explains the basics of trading Forex online, a brief explanation of the markets and the major benefits of trading Forex online. There are also two scenarios describing the implications of trading in a bear as well as a bull market to better acquaint you with some of the risks and opportunities of the largest and most liquid market in the world.

As an additional aid for those who are new to Forex, there is also a glossary at the bottom of this text which explains some of the terms used in connection with currency trading.

Overview

Foreign exchange, Forex or just FX are all terms used to describe the trading of the world's many currencies. The Forex market is the largest market in the world, with trades amounting to more than USD 3 trillion every day. Most Forex trading is speculative, with only a low percentage of market activity representing governments' and companies' fundamental currency conversion needs.

Unlike trading on the stock market, the Forex market is not conducted by a central exchange, but on the “interbank” market, which is thought of as an OTC (over the counter) market. Trading takes place directly between the two counterparts necessary to make a trade, whether over the telephone or on electronic networks all over the world. The main centres for trading are Sydney, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt and New York. This worldwide distribution of trading centres means that the Forex market is a 24-hour market.

Trading Forex

A 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.

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 two banking days.

Forward Outrights

For forward outrights, settlement on the value date selected in the trade means that even though the trade itself is carried out immediately, there is a small interest rate calculation left. The interest rate differential doesn't usually affect trade considerations unless you plan on holding a position with a large differential for a long period of time. The interest rate differential varies according to the cross you are trading. On the USDCHF, for example, the interest rate differential is quite small, whereas the differential on NOKJPY is large. This is because if you trade e.g. NOKJPY, you get almost 7% (annual) interest in Norway and close to 0% in Japan. So, if you borrow money in Japan, to finance the trade and buying NOK, you have a positive interest rate differential. This differential has to be calculated and added to your account. You can have both a positive and a negative interest rate differential, so it may work for or against you when you make a trade.

Trading on Margin

Trading on margin means that you can buy and sell assets that represent more value than the capital in your account. Forex trading is usually conducted with relatively small margin deposits. This is useful since it permits investors to exploit currency exchange rate fluctuations which tend to be very small. A margin of 1.0% means you can trade up to USD 1,000,000 even though you only have USD 10,000 in your account. A margin of 1% corresponds to a 100:1 leverage (or “gearing”). (Because USD 10,000 is 1% of USD 1,000,000.) Using this much leverage enables you to make profits very quickly, but there is also a greater risk of incurring large losses and even being completely wiped out. Therefore, it is inadvisable to maximise your leveraging as the risks can be very high. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.

Why Trade Forex?

• 24 hour trading

  One of the major advantages of trading Forex is the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day from Sunday evening (20:00 GMT) to Friday evening (22:00 GMT). This gives you a unique opportunity to react instantly to breaking news that is affecting the markets.

• Superior liquidity

  The Forex market is so liquid that there are always buyers and sellers to trade with. The liquidity of this market, especially that of the major currencies, helps ensure price stability and narrow spreads. The liquidity comes mainly from banks that provide liquidity to investors, companies, institutions and other currency market players.

• No commissions

  The fact that Forex is often traded without commissions makes it very attractive as an investment opportunity for investors who want to deal on a frequent basis.
  Trading the “majors” is also cheaper than trading other cross because of the high level of liquidity. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.

• 100:1 Leverage

  Leverage (gearing) enables you to hold a position worth up to 100 times more than your margin deposit. For example, a USD 10,000 deposit can command positions of up to USD 1,000,000 through leverage. You can leverage the first USD 25,000 of your investment up to 100 times and additional collateral up to 50 times.

• Profit potential in falling markets

  Since the market is constantly moving, there are always trading opportunities, whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relation to another currency. When you trade currencies, they literally work against each other. If the EURUSD declines, for example, it is because the US dollar gets stronger against the euro and vice versa. So, if you think the EURUSD will decline (that is, that the euro will weaken versus the dollar), you would sell EUR now and then later you buy euro back at a lower price. In case that the EURUSD indeed declines, then you can take your profit. The opposite trading scenario would occur if the EURUSD appreciates.

Important Forex Trading Terms

• Spread

  The spread is the difference between the price that you can sell currency at (Bid) and the price you can buy currency at (Ask). The spread on majors is usually 3 pips under normal market conditions. For more information on the trading conditions at Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your Client Station and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.

• Pips

  A pip is the smallest unit by which a cross price quote changes. When trading Forex you will often hear that there is a 3-pip spread when you trade the majors. This spread is revealed when you compare the bid and the ask price, for example EURUSD is quoted at a bid price of 0.9875 and an ask price of 0.9878. The difference is USD 0.0003, which is equal to 3 “pips”.
  
  On a contract or position, the value of a pip can easily be calculated. You know that the EURUSD is quoted with four decimals, so all you have to do is cancel out the four zeros on the amount you trade and you will have the value of one pip. Thus, on a EURUSD 100,000 contract, one pip is USD 10. On a USDJPY 100,000 contract, one pip is equal to 1000 yen, because USDJPY is quoted with only two decimals.

Trading Scenario – Trading Rising Prices

If you believe that the euro will strengthen against the dollar you'll want to buy euro now and sell it back later at a higher price.

• You buy euro

We quote EURUSD at Bid 0.9875 and Ask 0.9878, which means that you can sell 1 euro for 0.9875 USD or buy 1 euro for 0.9878 USD. In this example you buy euro 100,000, at the quote price of 0.9878 (ask price) per euro.

• The market moves in your favor

Later the market turns in favour of the euro and the EURUSD is now quoted at Bid 0.9894 and Ask 0.9896.

• Now you sell your euro and get the profit

You sell euro at a Bid price of 0.9894.

• The profit is calculated as follows

Sell price-buy price x size of trade (0.9894 minus 0.9878) multiplied by 100.000 = USD 140 Profit (Note that the profit or loss is always expressed in the secondary currency)

Trading Scenario – Trading Falling Prices

If, on the other hand, you believe that the euro will weaken against the dollar, you'll want to sell EURUSD.

• You sell euro

We quote EURUSD at a Bid price of 0.9875 and Ask price of 0.9880 and you decide to sell euro 100,000 at a Bid price of 0.9875.

• The market moves in your favour

The euro weakens against the dollar and the EURUSD is now quoted at bid 0.9744 and ask 0.9749.

• Now you buy back your euro

You buy EUR at an ask price of 0.9749.

• Your profit/loss is then

Sell price-buy price x size of trade (0.9875 minus 0.9749) multiplied by 100.000 = USD 1260 Profit

Remember that trading EUR 100,000 as we have done in our examples, does not mean that you have to put up euro 100,000 yourself. On a 2% margin means that you have to deposit 2.0% of euro 100,000, which is euro 2,000 on margin as a guarantee for the future performance of your position.

Further Reading

To see how you can trade the Forex market and benefit from our toolbox of information and live quotes, please proceed to the Forex Quick Start found under the Trading menu of SaxoTrader.

Glossary

• Appreciation

An increase in the value of a currency.

• Ask

The price requested by the trader. This usually indicates the lowest price a seller will accept.

• Base currency

The currency that the investor buys or sells (i.e. EUR in EURUSD).

• Bear

Someone who believes prices are heading down. A bear market is one in which there has been a sustained fall in prices and which does not look like it will recover quickly.

• Bid

The price offered by the trader. This usually indicates the highest price a purchaser will pay.

• Bid/Ask

The Bid rate is the rate at which you can sell. The Ask (or offer) rate is the rate at which you can buy.

• Bull

Someone who is optimistic about the market. A bull market is characterised by enthusiastic and sustained buying.

• cross

When trading with currencies, the investor buys one currency with another. These two currencies form the cross: for example, EURUSD.

• Cross rate

An exchange rate that is calculated from two other exchange rates.

• Depreciation/decline

A fall in the value

History

Brief history of Forex trading

Initially, the value of goods was expressed in terms of other goods, i.e. an economy based on barter between individual market participants. The obvious limitations of such a system encouraged establishing more generally accepted means of exchange at a fairly early stage in history, to set a common benchmark of value. In different economies, everything from teeth to feathers to pretty stones has served this purpose, but soon metals, in particular gold and silver, established themselves as an accepted means of payment as well as a reliable storage of value.

Originally, coins were simply minted from the preferred metal, but in stable political regimes the introduction of a paper form of governmental IOUs (I owe you) gained acceptance during the Middle Ages. Such IOUs, often introduced more successfully through force than persuasion were the basis of modern currencies.

Before World War I, most central banks supported their currencies with convertibility to gold. Although paper money could always be exchanged for gold, in reality this did not occur often, fostering the sometimes disastrous notion that there was not necessarily a need for full cover in the central reserves of the government.

At times, the ballooning supply of paper money without gold cover led to devastating inflation and resulting political instability. To protect local national interests, foreign exchange controls were increasingly introduced to prevent market forces from punishing monetary irresponsibility.

In the latter stages of World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement was reached on the initiative of the USA in July 1944. The Bretton Woods Conference rejected John Maynard Keynes suggestion for a new world reserve currency in favour of a system built on the US dollar. Other international institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) were created in the same period as the emerging victors of WW2 searched for a way to avoid the destabilising monetary crises which led to the war. The Bretton Woods agreement resulted in a system of fixed exchange rates that partly reinstated the gold standard, fixing the US dollar at USD35/oz and fixing the other main currencies to the dollar - and was intended to be permanent.

The Bretton Woods system came under increasing pressure as national economies moved in different directions during the sixties. A number of realignments kept the system alive for a long time, but eventually Bretton Woods collapsed in the early seventies following president Nixon's suspension of the gold convertibility in August 1971. The dollar was no longer suitable as the sole international currency at a time when it was under severe pressure from increasing US budget and trade deficits.

The following decades have seen foreign exchange trading develop into the largest global market by far. Restrictions on capital flows have been removed in most countries, leaving the market forces free to adjust foreign exchange rates according to their perceived values.

But the idea of fixed exchange rates has by no means died. The EEC (European Economic Community) introduced a new system of fixed exchange rates in 1979, the European Monetary System. This attempt to fix exchange rates met with near extinction in 1992-93, when pent-up economic pressures forced devaluations of a number of weak European currencies. Nevertheless, the quest for currency stability has continued in Europe with the renewed attempt to not only fix currencies but actually replace many of them with the Euro in 2001.

The lack of sustainability in fixed foreign exchange rates gained new relevance with the events in South East Asia in the latter part of 1997, where currency after currency was devalued against the US dollar, leaving other fixed exchange rates, in particular in South America, looking very vulnerable.

But while commercial companies have had to face a much more volatile currency environment in recent years, investors and financial institutions have found a new playground. The size of foreign exchange markets now dwarfs any other investment market by a large factor. It is estimated that more than USD 3,000 billion is traded every day, far more than the world's stock and bond markets combined.

Working with statistics

Trade Balance

The trade balance is a measure of the difference between imports and exports of tangible goods and services. The level of the trade balance and changes in exports and imports are widely followed by foreign exchange markets.

The trade balance is a major indicator of foreign exchange trends. Seen in isolation, measures of imports and exports are important indicators of overall economic activity in the economy.

It is often of interest to examine the trend growth rates for exports and imports separately. Trends in export activities reflect the competitive position of the country in question, but also the strength of economic activity abroad. Trends in import activity reflect the strength of domestic economic activity.

Typically, a nation that runs a substantial trade balance deficit has a weak currency due to the continued commercial selling of the currency. This can, however, be offset by financial investment flows for extended periods of time.

Gross Domestic Product

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity available. Reported quarterly, GDP growth is widely followed as the primary indicator of the strength of economic activity.

GDP represents the total value of a country's production during the period and consists of the purchases of domestically produced goods and services by individuals, businesses, foreigners and the government.

As GDP reports are often subject to substantial quarter-to-quarter volatility and revisions, it is preferable to follow the indicator on a year-to-year basis. It can be valuable to follow the trend rate of growth in each of the major categories of GDP to determine the strengths and weaknesses in the economy.

A high GDP figure is often associated with the expectations of higher interest rates, which is frequently positive, at least in the short term, for the currency involved, unless expectations of increased inflation pressure is concurrently undermining confidence in the currency.

Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average level of prices of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. The monthly reported changes in CPI are widely followed as an inflation indicator.

The CPI is a primary inflation indicator because consumer spending accounts for nearly two-thirds of economic activity. Often, the CPI is followed but excludes the price of food and energy as these items are generally much more volatile than the rest of the CPI and can obscure the more important underlying trend.

Rising consumer price inflation is normally associated with the expectation of higher short term interest rates and may therefore be supportive for a currency in the short term. Nevertheless, a longer term inflation problem will eventually undermine confidence in the currency and weakness will follow.

Producer Price Index

The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a measure of the average level of prices of a fixed basket of goods received in primary markets by producers. The monthly PPI reports are widely followed as an indication of commodity inflation.

The PPI is considered important because it accounts for price changes throughout the manufacturing sector.

The PPI is often followed but excludes the food and energy components as these items are normally much more volatile than the rest of the PPI and can therefore obscure the more important underlying trend.

Studying the PPI allows consideration of inflationary pressures that may be accumulating or receding, but have not yet filtered through to the finished goods prices.

A rising PPI is normally expected to lead to higher consumer price inflation and thereby to potentially higher short-term interest rates. Higher rates will often have a short term positive impact on a currency, although significant inflationary pressure will often lead to an undermining of the confidence in the currency involved.

Payroll Employment

Payroll employment is a measure of the number of people being paid as employees by non-farm business establishments and units of government. Monthly changes in payroll employment reflect the net number of new jobs created or lost during the month and changes are widely followed as an important indicator of economic activity.

Payroll employment is one of the primary monthly indicators of aggregate economic activity because it encompasses every major sector of the economy. It is also useful to examine trends in job creation in several industry categories because the aggregate data can mask significant deviations in underlying industry trends.

Large increases in payroll employment are seen as signs of strong economic activity that could eventually lead to higher interest rates that are supportive of the currency at least in the short term. If, however, inflationary pressures are seen as building, this may undermine the longer term confidence in the currency.

Durable Goods Orders

Durable Goods Orders are a measure of the new orders placed with domestic manufacturers for immediate and future delivery of factory hard goods. Monthly percent changes reflect the rate of change of such orders.

Levels of, and changes in, durable goods order are widely followed as an indicator of factory sector momentum.

Durable Goods Orders are a major indicator of manufacturing sector trends because most industrial production is done to order. Often, the indicator is followed but excludes Defence and Transportation orders because these are generally much more volatile than the rest of the orders and can obscure the more important underlying trend.

Durable Goods Orders are measured in nominal terms and therefore include the effects of inflation. Therefore the Durable Goods Orders should be compared to the trend growth rate in PPI to arrive at the real, inflation-adjusted Durable Goods Orders.

Rising Durable Goods Orders are normally associated with stronger economic activity and can therefore lead to higher short-term interest rates that are often supportive to a currency at least in the short term.

Retail Sales

Retail Sales are a measure of the total receipts of retail stores. Monthly percentage changes reflect the rate of change of such sales and are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending.

Retails Sales are a major indicator of consumer spending because they account for nearly one-half of total consumer spending and approximately one-third of aggregate economic activity.

Often, Retail Sales are followed less auto sales because these are generally much more volatile than the rest of the Retail Sales and can therefore obscure the more important underlying trend.

Retail Sales are measured in nominal terms and therefore include the effects of inflation. Rising Retail Sales are often associated with a strong economy and therefore an expectation of higher short-term interest rates that are often supportive to a currency at least in the short term.

Housing Starts

Housing Starts are a measure of the number of residential units on which construction is begun each month and the level of housing starts is widely followed as an indicator of residential construction activity.

The indicator is followed to assess the commitment of builders to new construction activity. High construction activity is usually associated with increased economic activity and confidence, and is therefore considered a harbinger of higher short-term interest rates that can be supportive of the involved currency at least in the short term.

Trade Forex

How to Trade Forex

Trading foreign exchange is exciting and potentially very profitable, but there are also significant risk factors. It is crucially important that you fully understand the implications of margin trading and the particular pitfalls and opportunities that foreign exchange trading offers. On these pages, we offer you a brief introduction to the Forex markets as well as their participants and some strategies that you can apply. However, if you are ever in doubt about any aspect of a trade, you can always discuss the matter in-depth with one of our dealers. They are available 24 hours a day on the Saxo Bank online trading system, SaxoTrader.

The benchmark of its service is efficient execution, concise analysis and expertise – all achieved whilst maintaining an attractive and competitive cost structure. Today, Saxo Bank offers one of Europe's premier all-round services for trading in derivative products and foreign exchange. We count amongst our employees numerous dealers and analysts, each of whom has many years experience and a wide and varied knowledge of the markets – gained both in our home countries and in international financial centres. When trading foreign exchange, futures and other derivative products, we offer 24-hour service, extensive daily analysis, individual access to our Research & Analysis department for specific queries, and immediate execution of trades through our international network of banks and brokers. All at a price considerably lower than that which most companies and private investors normally have access to.

The combination of our strong emphasis on customer service, our strategy and trading recommendations, our strategic and individual hedging programmes, along with the availability to our clients of the latest news and information builds a strong case for trading an individual account through Saxo Bank.

Terms of trading are agreed individually depending on the volume of your transactions, but are generally much lower in cost when compared to banks and brokers. Your margin deposit can be cash or government securities, bank guarantees etc. Large corporate or institutional clients may be offered trading facilities on the strength of their balance sheet. The minimum deposit accepted for an individual trading account depends on the account type. Trade confirmations and real-time account overview are built into SaxoTrader, while further account information can be produced in accordance with your specific requirements

FUTURES TRADING PLATFORMS

With the correct combination of tools, service, and discount futures trading commissions, Expo Futures is raising the standard. View real-time account balance, profit/loss, working orders, trade confirmations, trade history, news, and research. Place all applicable order types with our extremely user friendly interfaces.

We provide two proprietary trading platforms which are fully integrated with one another. In addition to our trading platforms, we offer a FREE 24-hr order and support desk. For those on the go without access to the internet, our live operators are standing by to help you place orders or even give you an update on the markets. Satisfaction Guaranteed. We empower our clients with the ability to choose how they want to trade: web-based, software-based, or over the phone; all at no extra cost.

solution for system development

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
· Key Highlights

· End to end platform · Powerful development environment · TradeStation & eSignal integration · High performance backtesting

· Futures, forex and equities · Reliable automation · Many brokerage options

As a systems trader, the tools you select will have a dramatic impact on your ability to efficiently create, test and deploy automated strategies. Whether you trade futures, forex or equities, you can significantly enhance your productivity through NinjaTrader’s modern array of strategy development tools and proven order execution capabilities. NinjaTrader provides an end to end platform for strategy creation, testing and automation through over 100 brokerages worldwide.

A True End to End Strategy Development Platform

A true end to end strategy development platform means that is must be able to handle every step of the development and automation process…this is where most current platforms fall short. In general, they only handle the strategy development process and leave you with a strategy that can’t be tested in real-time simulation nor executed live at your broker. Another significant limitation is that most use interpreted proprietary scripting languages which run slow and force you to learn a language that has no re-use value.

• Strategies run compiled code in C# for the highest possible performance
• Modern development environment
• Event driven model
• Battle tested live order execution capabilities
• Portability to execute at over 100 brokerages world wide

Powerful yet User-friendly Strategy Development & Testing

NinjaTrader is unique in that it makes strategy construction accessible for non-programmers and programmers alike. By utilizing a GUI driven point and click approach, traders without programming experience can start to assemble strategies quickly and easily. Programmers at all levels will find that our C# based approach, modern text editor with inline syntax checking and Intellisense gives them ultimate power, flexibility and extensibility.

• Trading System Development & Backtesting
• Trade Performance Analysis

Reliable Automation of Native and External Strategies

Whether you run external strategies in TradeStation or want the added performance of running native NinjaScript^® strategies, you can rest assured that NinjaTrader is a reliable, battle-tested, and industry proven execution platform to automate any strategy in both live and simulated real-time market environments.

• Automated Trading
• TradeStation, eSignal and external strategy integration

Get started for free and have choice on where you trade

NinjaTrader understands that it takes time to develop a profitable trading strategy so we provide our trading platform for free supporting both real-time and historical data feeds. There is only a charge if you decide to execute live trades and when you make that decision you can select from over 100 brokers world wide because we also believe you should have choice on where you can trade.

Difference Between Stock And Forex Trading

Fundamental indicators are the announcements which traders follow to show the strength of a particular currency with respect to others.

Equal Potential

No matter whether there is a bull or bear market, in forex there are always opportunities. Unlike the stock market, whether the market is going up or down there is always equal opportunity for profit and loss. Also, there are no limitations on short selling. Forex involves the trading of currency pairs which can gain profit or loss whether the market is rising or falling. It does not matter whether the trader is short or long risk of loss and potential for profit will always exist.

Consummate liquidity

There is no time restriction for forex trading. No matter what time of day it is the trading continues to go on making forex the most liquid market in the world. Forex market trades in one day what Wall Street trades in approximately one month.

More leverage

The most attractive feature of the forex market is leverage. Although it should be noted that trading using leverage can increase the potential risk of loss as well as profit. The maximum leverage for stocks, for example, is 2:1 (i.e. if you invest 1,000 dollars you can buy up to 2,000 dollars of shares). Whereas while trading with us you can get up to leverage of 200:1 which means that if a trader invests 1,000 dollars he can buy up to 400,000 dollars in currency.

Direct trading

Forex trading enables clients to deal directly with the currency market without any worry or hassle. Also spot currency trading helps to remove the middleman which often can make costs higher due to expensive commission and management fees.

No commission

There are no brokerage, exchange, software or clearing fees at Ideal World Forex. We do not charge any commission as we are compensated through Bid and Ask prices (or spread) of a particular currency pair. Although be aware that the bank you are dealing with may have charges or fees for deposit or withdrawal. We are not responsible for this. There may be a fee for fund withdrawals. Please inquire with a Ideal World Forex customer representative for further information.

Technical trading

Forex trading tends to develop strong trends and patterns which a trader may identify for new potential movements, breakouts and chances to enter and exit positions.

Rate fluctuation

The major factors that affect the supply and demand of currencies are the strength of the country’s economy and interest rate policy. As currency rates show the supply and demand of currencies, indicators such as the PPI, foreign investment, CPI, the trade balance and GDP reflect the health of the economy and modify the supply and demand for a currency. Data on interest rates and expert observations on international trade and economic policy are also released on a regular basis.

24/7 trading

When you are using a forex trading platform you are seeing a miniature display of the world economy. A trader can access forex markets from 5 pm EST when trade begins in Sydney and Singapore on Sunday and continue trading till 5 pm EST on Friday.

Less trading options

In forex there are about 8 major currencies and 34 second level currencies to choose from, whereas trading in stocks involves about 8,000 different publicly traded companies. Such a huge range of choices tends to be confusing and complicated.

Best Software

Since the beginning, our team of expert forex professionals has invested long hours improving our software and services to guarantee a basic, wide-ranging system that enables users to decide sensibly. In addition, services include over 100 tools and technical indicators as well as the latest from Reuters News service to cover all important updates that impact the forex market. Our advanced chart-based trading system contains custom alerts, price quotes, as well as the ability to create an automated trading system so you can pre-program your method to buy or sell at specified market events. Users are able to connect directly with the help of MetaTrader 4 with the live currency market on a secure platform.

why trade the forex?

My purpose for writing this article is to demonstrate to you the advantages of trading on the Forex market. However, there is one myth that I want to dispel before I go further. The myth is that there is a difference between trading and investing. To dispel that myth I quote from Al Thomas, President of Williamsburg Investment Company, who wrote "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It". He said "Everyone who invests is a trader, only the time period is different." It is a lesson that I took seriously after taking a beating in the stock market in 2000.

So now, let's compare features of currency trading to those of stock and commodity trading.

Liquidity — The Forex market is the most liquid financial market in the world around 1.9 trillion dollars traded everyday. The commodities market trades around 440 billion dollars a day, and the US stock market trades around 200 billion dollars a day. This ensures better trade execution and prevents market manipulation. It also ensures easily executable trading.

Trading Times — The Forex market is open 24 hours a day (except weekends) which means that in the US it opens at 3:00 pm Sunday (EST) and closes Friday at 5:00 (EST), allowing active traders to choose the times they want to trade. Commodities trading hours are all over the board depending on which commodity you are trading. Including extended trading times US stocks can be traded from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm (ET) on weekdays.

Leverage — Depending on your Forex account size, your leverage may be 100:1, although there are Forex brokers that offer leverage of up to 400:1 (not that I would ever recommend that kind of leverage). Leverage in the stock market can be as high as 4:1, and in the commodities market, leverage varies with the commodity traded but it can be quite high. Because the commodity markets are not as liquid as the Forex market, its leverage is inherently riskier. Although I was never shut out of a commodity trade by the day limit, the fear was always in the back of my mind.

Trading costs — Transaction costs in the Forex market is the difference between the buy and sell price of each currency pair. There are no brokerage fees. For both the stock and the commodity markets, there are transaction costs and brokerage fees. Even when you use discount brokers, those fees add up.

Minimum investment — You can open a Forex trading account for as little as $300.00. It took $5,000 for me to open my futures trading account.

Focus — 85% of all trading transactions are made on 7 major currencies. In the US stock market alone there are 40,000 stocks. There are just over 200 commodity markets, although quite a few are so illiquid that they are not traded except by hedgers. As you can see, the fewer number of instruments allows us to study each one more closely.

Trade execution — In the Forex market, trade execution is almost instantaneous. In both the equity and commodity markets, you count on a broker to execute your trades and their results are sometimes inconsistent.

While all of these features make trading the Forex market very attractive, it still requires a lot of education, discipline, commitment and patience. All trading can be risky.

fortune forex seminar

A Crash Course on How to Trade Forex with as little as $300. A 4-hour Lecture & Demo session that introduces you to the world of Online Forex Trading.

Online Forex Trading is about buying or selling of currency pairs such as Euro versus the US Dollar, the Dollar vs. the Japanese Yen (and a lot more) without having to physically change your money. If you invest in company stocks, you invest in a corporation, think about Forex trading as investing in a currency versus another currency. In essence, Online Forex Trading is about using your money to invest in money.

Unknown to most people, the Forex Market is the Biggest Financial Market in the world with an average of approximately 1.9 Trillion US Dollars changing hands on any given day. It is where Banks, Investors, and Speculators exchange one Country’s currency with another. Although modern forex trading has been around since the early 20th century it was not easily accessible to individuals due to the high capital requirement and cumbersome technology. It was only well after the 1990s when the computer and internet revolution made it possible and more convenient for small investors like you and me to invest in Forex.

How Much Money Can You Make on Forex | SigmaForex

One of the optimal way to earn more money on the Forex market is by getting a proper Forex trading education. This can be done by attending seminars or taking a home course. One of the best courses, if not the best, is Bill Poulos's Forex Profit Accelerater course.

Offered in limited numbers, this course is a comprehensive analysis of the Foreign exchange market and what you need to do in order to be successful in it. Forex Profit Accelerater comes in the form of a manual and video tutorials that teach you 4 major trading strategies which fit different market conditions and allow you to exploit both short term and long term opportunities. But what's special about this course is that it also teaches risk management and money management. This ensures that you modify the strategies to your own personal needs and condition, financial and otherwise.

forex learning

1) Forex trading is about being a professional at what you do.

2) Successful traders develop their own system and constantly tweak them for today's market conditions.

3) No automated system can do that. "YOU" are the best system.

It still amazes me every time I search "forex trading" or "forex training" to see all the new forex trading "experts" out there. Another day, another expert, all vying to reach the top of the heap and using BS testimonials. Each expert got ANOTHER easy money-making forex trading system. They're all crap and and never live up to their claims.

TRUST Your Own Skills

Our teachings will reveal simple, step- by-step, easy-to-use and astonishingly effective techniques that help you make winning trades in the forex market.

• No trading experience required. No matter what your background is, you'll be able to use this learned techniques to make a profit...because the system is so straightforward and easy to use.

• Create Your Own Trading Signals. Low Risk with High Return up to Thousands a day. Don't waste money for companies that promise to deliver you trading signals but end up giving you crap. Trust yourself.

• You can, if you chose, participate in our Private Forex Investment Club with minimal contributions and participate in the returns.

Learn step-by-step instructions on how to trade.

Learn Forex in 4 key areas:

Money Management - Economic Data Releases

Certain Market Times - - Technical Indicators

we make it easy to understand...

Learn 5 easy techniques to profitable trading

Candlesticks - EMA's - Channel Lines

Time Frames - Fibonacci Lines

it's not as hard as you may think....

There will be online Webinars and in depth Videos explaining how to develop the skills to trade profitably.

		Money Management	This is conceivably the most overlooked blunder of most traders. We will demonstrate how to develop a first-class trading structure which will aid you in limiting your losses and increasing your profits. We will provide the basic template for money management and help you individualize your plan to your personality.
		Technical Indicators	Candlesticks. We will examine the best and most accurate candlesticks patterns that can lead to profitable trades.
			Time Frames. Learn how to use different time frames to confirm your trade using the 5min,15min,30min,1hr, 4hr, daily and weekly charts.
			EMA's. (Exponential Moving Averages) Another confirmation of which way a movement is about to happen whether you go long (buy) or short (sell)
			Fibonacci Lines can help you in determining how far a move will continue to before a reversal. We will explain them in depth

forex usa

Macro economic indicators (2006)

GDP at current prices	$13,225 billion
Inhabitants	299.7 million
GDP per head	$44,071
Economic growth rate	+3.3%
Consumer confidence indicator	99.6
Unemployment rate	4.7%
Consumer Price Index	4.0%
Banking Importance	20.8%
Number of branches	92,000
Number of ATMs	420,000
Households savings ratio	0.5%
Inflation rate	+3.2%
Interest rate, consumer credit	13.21%
Interest rate, residential	6.22%
Number of credit cards	1,46 billion

Type and size of players

Total Banking Income and Cost/Income Ratio
(Operating Expenses/Total Banking Income)

Products

U.S. retail banking market is highly fragmented. This is illustrated by the fact that the top 10 U.S. Banks held only about 36% of the market share based on total U.S. deposits.

Total Deposits in US$ (31.12.2006 )

Trends

Customer Experience
• Banks are beginning to design products that cross customer silos:
- Customers in the past have had varying experiences and disparities in service quality across channels (branch, phone, internet) and across products (mortgage, etc.)
- Banks are beginning to improve and align processes like product applications and cross-selling
• Interactive products are increasing as customers become more comfortable using the internet:
- Banks expected to offer new products geared towards online self-service interactions
• Branch locations are increasing in number and being renovated:
- Self-service channels (ATM, phone, internet) are not effective for customer acquisition and cross-selling
- Branch locations are to be used as sales platforms by leveraging retail practices such as product displays, merchandising and layouts (demographic targeting)

Marketing / Target Products
• Faced with strong competition, banks are becoming more proactive with their marketing initiatives:
- Customer acquisition strategies being replaced by efforts to cross-sell products and services with marketing campaigns around specific customer interactions
• Continued investment in non-core product offerings:
- In redefining their marketing strategies, banks remain attracted to products traditionally offered by Financial Services companies
• Competition with Financial Services firms for retirement assets:
- Banks are marketing 401K programs to corporations in order to gain access to their employees in expectation of cross-selling other products and services

M&A Overload
• Recent acquisitions have resulted in some large banks having huge asset totals that must be earning returns for investors:
- Heated competition and sophistication in targeting loan offers to consumers

Forex - FX

What Does Forex - FX Mean?
The market in which currencies are traded. The forex market is the largest, most liquid market in the world with an average traded value that exceeds $1.9 trillion per day and includes all of the currencies in the world.

Investopedia explains Forex - FX
There is no central marketplace for currency exchange; trade is conducted over the counter. The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week and currencies are traded worldwide among the major financial centers of London, New York, Tokyo, Zürich, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris and Sydney.

The forex is the largest market in the world in terms of the total cash value traded, and any person, firm or country may participate in this market.

Related Terms

• Arbitrage
• Authorized Forex Dealer
• Cross Currency
• Currency Option
• Currency Pair
• Decentralized Market
• Exchange Rate
• Foreign Currency Effects
• One-Touch Option
• Over-The-Counter - OTC
• More Related Terms

Related Links

• Forex Tutorial: The Forex Market - In this online tutorial, beginners and experts alike can learn the ins and outs of the retail forex market.
• How did currency trader John Rusnak hide $691 million in losses before being caught for bank fraud?
• Forex Leverage: A Double-Edged Sword - Find out how this tool magnifies both gains and losses.
• Forex: The Memory Of Price Strategy - Hate getting stopped out right before the price reverses? This forex trading strategy may help.
• Currency ETFs Simplify Forex Trades - Reduce your stock portfolio's risk by trading with foreign currencies.
• Currency Moves Highlight Equity Opportunities - Understanding the relationship between these markets can help you spot profitable stocks.
• Profit From Forex With Currency ETFs - There's always a bull market somewhere - and now you can find it with currency ETFs.
• The Forex Three-Session System - Market hours for Tokyo, London and New York determine volatility peaks. Find out how.
• Forex Minis Shrink Risk Exposure - Trading less than a standard lot means getting in for less - and having less to lose.
• Play Foreign Currencies Against The U.S. Dollar - And Win - A drop in the dollar is no reason to panic. Learn to exploit the greenback's decline and profit from it.
• Where is the central location of the forex market?
• A Primer On The Forex Market - Moving from equities to currencies requires you to adjust how you interpret quotes, margin, spreads and rollovers.
• Getting Started In Forex - Before entering this market, you should define what you need from your broker and from your strategy.
• Forex: Wading Into The Currency Market - We go over the ground rules and available resources needed for this undertaking.
• Financial Tables: Currency Cross Rate Table - Whether for traveling or investing, learn how to convert your money.
• Trading Multiple Time Frames In FX - This is often the first - and most costly - level of analysis to be overlooked.
• Trading Through A Market Maker Vs. An ECN - Learn the pros and cons of trading forex through these two types of brokers.
• Getting Started In Forex Options - Stocks are not the only securities underlying options--learn how to use FOREX options for profit and hedging.
• Devising A Medium-Term Forex Trading System - Here we go over a framework from which to build your own personalized but profitable strategy.
• Forex: Venturing Into Non-Dollar Currencies - Learn how investments in foreign currencies can diversify your portfolio.
• How is spread calculated when trading in the forex market?
• What methods can be used to fund a forex account?
• Explosive Gains In Forex – Learn what makes the currency markets move with your exclusive free report!
• FXCM - Learn to Trade Currency with Free Demo
• Get a risk-free $50,000 practice trading account at FOREX.com – Advanced trading platform with real-time quotes, charts, news, research.
• Free Introductory Forex Trading Guide from GFT - Everything a beginner needs to know before entering the exciting & fast-paced forex market – from how to choose a dealer to how to place an order