Trading education

Forex Trading – Are HYIP Ponzi Schemes Piggy Backing?

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:47:58 +0000

Over the past few months here in the Caribbean we have seen an influx of High Yield Investment Programs popping up particularly Jamaica, all under the guise of being Forex Trading Managers who will trade on your behalf. Some are extensions of online invest Schemes calling themselves now Investment Clubs.

Most have turned out to be nothing more than well put together and very sophisticated Ponzi Schemes, they collect from Peter and John to pay Paul. You know the drill with these Ponzi Schemes, the ones that get in first including the owners gets paid huge sums of monies and flaunt their payment checks before gullible prospective members, enticing them to join, because they are missing out big time on a once in a lifetime deal and more often that not the unsuspecting fish swallows the bait.

Forex trading is an honorable and totally legitimate way of becoming financially free in a relatively short time if you educate yourself in how to trade wisely. What these scams are doing is bringing an honorable income generating machine as forex trading into disrepute, especially in my neck of the woods and no amount of warning issued by the financial regulation authorities can dissuade these misguided investors to stop investing in these schemes.

People have sold tangible assets like their homes, lands and cars to invest in these schemes only to now be wailing and cursing “so-called detractors of these schemes” for their predicament; denial is one hell of a vice if one can call it that. Waking one morning to hear that a scheme you invested Millions of Dollars into just up and vanished is a bitter pill to swallow.

It is even worst online when one usually has never met the principals in these ponzi schemes, they normally use fictitious names and non existent office addresses to give a semblance of legitimacy to their scams but please be on the look out. There are legitimate companies that executes forex trades on your behalf both online and offline but you as an investor must do your own due diligence on these companies.

As for me I trade using the Easy forex platform as I find it very easy to use as the name denotes. So if you believe you have what it takes to trade on the forex market this could be your gateway to success and cut out the middle man to whom you would have to pay a fee to trade on your behalf or worst yet get scammed in their illegal ponzi scheme.

By: Melford Woolery

Swing Stock Trading

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:33:47 +0000

Swing stock trading is a short-term method in which stocks are held for a few days or weeks. This trading style lies somewhere between the day trading and long-term investments. A day trader may hold on to a stock only for a few minutes or hours, whereas the long-term investor may hold the stocks for months. Swing stock trading depends on the minor variations in the stock prices. It is never dependent on the market index. Profits through swing stock trading are earned irrespective of the market conditions.

A swing trader capitalizes on the predictable constant market imbalances, which the day trader or long-term investor may not care about. He/she values the short-term momentum and price patterns of the stock, rather than its fundamental value. In swing stock trading, the risks are lower. There is less competition from the big time investors. A person engaged in swing stock trading does not wait for the perfect timing, when stocks may reach sky-high heights or rock bottom. He/she simply trades them when there is a significant price fluctuation. By ignoring the perfect timing, though, the trader may miss an opportunity for earning huge profits. Although swing stock trading may not guarantee the large profits earned by long-term investors, it assures small profits at short intervals.

Swing stock trading is best suited for the newcomers in the stock market. The low-risk and quick returns prove attractive for the beginners. Even the medium and top level players in the market can occasionally leverage on this trading style to earn some respectable profits. Moreover, swing stock trading is a good motivator for the traders due to the quick results that one can get within a few days. A trader wishing to succeed in this trading system must choose the right market and the right stocks. Swing trading cannot be applied in a market where the stock prices are rising or falling rapidly. Here, the stock prices tend to go in one direction without fluctuating. This kind of market is more suitable for the long-term investors. A swing trader must deal with stocks that are actively traded in most stock exchanges. These shares usually belong to firms that have large market capitalization.

By: Thomas Morva

Be Realistic in Forex Trading

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 05:23:41 +0000

I will be covering an ongoing trouble I have progressively commented over the years with a lot of of the dealers in the industry. Most are dreamers at best, irresponsible at the worst, each with a few grand hypothesis or schema for aiming the most bash for their buck with dealing, particularly in the area of FX trading. These people have little to no basis in trading, alternatively favoring to do matters the fast and easy way rather than the right way. And all of them believe if they can just make that complete trade then they will be sitting down pretty.

I would like to recognise the approximately 99% of entrants to the market, the people who assist the professional person and giant firms render so much money each day. These traders from all over the globe resignation a few hundred million dollars to those who in reality apply their brains.

Starting off, you require to know two highly crucial things: concentrate and help. To be concentrated, you must recognise what you want, how you’re going to get there, and your own power. It is a devastate of time, resourcefulness and energy to jump at every glamorous and potentially dubious chance out there. Frankly that kind of behaviour leads to failure, which calculates well for your challengers in the zero-sum game.

Day in and day out, I see traders who turn on to investors directly, continuing a lot of the cash they assumed in the marketplace without having the beginning hint about how to put it to work. This scheme has its advantages in any marketplace, but it will pay off big only if the market goes through its future upheaval, and that will not come for decades.

Deliberate what you want from your life history. The time has come to pay care to people who recognise what they’re doing. These people have lots of experience in the trading marketplace and can notice the mistakes you’re making.

By: Sumarno Hendra

Online Stock Trading – Online Training to Learn Day Trading

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:26:12 +0000

There are plenty of great resources to learn about online stock day trading training, but some of the training programs are better than others. If you choose to take advantage of online stock day trading training, then you will have a better chance of making money when you do start investing. It will be the jump start that you need, to help you avoid common errors that often result in investors losing their money – instead of walking away with some profits to show for their efforts.

The biggest source of such trading comes from the top online trading companies, they have a great deal of training information on their websites for you to review. It is in your benefit to explore what many of them have to offer. Some of the information will be the same, but you will also pick up some key information in bits and pieces from all of them.

You will also find many of them offer online training classes and e-courses – some of them are free, while others do cost you a small free. Compare what they offer as well as the cost of the course that you are interested in, don’t be shy to spend a little bit of money in order to get high-quality training.

These companies know that by offering you such online day trading information, they can build a good relationship with you. Which in turn will encourage you and others to use them for your online stock day trading investments. But, you want to be very careful who do sign up with – look at what they offer as well as their fees.

With the right online stock day trading training, you can get all of your questions answered quickly and easily. You will be confident that you have the knowledge you need to make decent investments!

By: Jayda Kaycee

Forex Education Tips – 5 Steps to Successful Forex Trading

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:41:38 +0000

Close to 95% of all Forex traders will lose money. We’re not just talking about novices, either. Whether you trade Forex for a living, as a hobby or just for fun, odds are against your success. That’s a simply astonishing fact. However, the remaining 5% of Forex traders somehow manage to break even and there are those lucky few that actually make money in the currency market – consistently!

Like the TV show says … “How’d they do that, anyway?”

That’s the million dollar questions, isn’t it? Countless books, seminars and expos have been hosted to answer this very question. That sad fact is that thousands of books have been written and countless seminars and interviews have been conducted in an attempt to answer the magic questions. The reality of the situation is that there is no magic formula; no one single Holy Grail of Forex trading.

So what do the successful traders do that the rest of us have simple not comprehended. They have mastered a process of winning where they combine and customize several factor to produce consistent results. They have mastered the Process of Trading.

The Process of Trading is:

Strategy > Money Management > Self-Mastery

Here are some simple Forex Education tips to help you master the process of forex trading:

Success Tip #1 – You’ve Got To Have a Plan

You must have a written business plan that will detail all aspects of your trading. When are you going to trade, how much to risk, strategies for entries and exits are just o name a few. To become a consistent (profitable) Forex trader you have to plan your trade sand trade your plan.

Simplicity rules! Don’t make this plan too complicated. One sheet of paper for you mission statement and another for your trading plan should suffice. Anything more is probably too complicated.

Success Tip #2 – Focus on Your Personal Psychology

Knowing yourself will allow you to master the discipline necessary to execute high quality trades with solid money management techniques. Lack of discipline is fatal in Forex trading. Go on a personal journey to identify you attitudes towards risk and money. Get intimate with your strengths and weaknesses as a trader and build in to your trading plan strategies to minimize those weaknesses and maximize your strengths.

Different personalities lend to different trading styles. Get familiar with all the different styles and over time you will begin to gravitate towards one particular style. Don’t fight the urge like I did. I insisted I was a day trader, but had only limited results. I found my winning percentages were much higher when I entered swing trades. Guess what’s my bread and butter strategy now!

Success Tip #3 – Be Realistic About Your Expectations

This is a hard one, I know! I am on the internet every day and the amount of advertising is staggering. Brokers are offering free education (fox in the hen house if you ask me), forums of all different trading styles and points of view. Gurus pushing their system as “the one” that will make you the big bucks. How do you get through all that noise?

Let me tell you loud and clear right now – everyone is right and everyone is wrong. You have to make a personal commitment to become a successful trader, find a trading style that works for you and expect a slow and steady approach to wealth building through Forex.

What works for me may not work for you. Expect to go through an exploratory period where you are learning and at the same time exploring yourself as a trader. Keep an open mind and don’t pay attention to all the noise out there.

Success Tip #4 – Exercise Patience

Rome was not built in a day and neither will your trading account. In fact, I tell all of my students that while they are studying to become successful Forex traders they should not look solely at their account balance as an indication of success or failure.

By tracking and increasing your percentage of high quality trades you execute is a far better barometer of your progress than your account balance. Cause and effect rule here. Over time when you increase your probabilities through the execution of high quality trades your account balance will respond accordingly.

Keep the focus on the process and with time your results will blow your mind.

Success Tip #5 – Money Management Is Top Priority

I would rather have a shaky strategy and excellent money management techniques than the other way around. This topic warrants its own blog post to do it justice. Limited your exposure (read “risk”) allows for you to stay in the game and allow the laws of probability to work.

Let’s take a casino for example. They need gamblers to frequent their slot machines to make money. Why? They have a game that has a greater than 50% chance of making money for the house. The more people that play the slots, the greater the casino’s profits.

The casino controls risk by payout tables (always favoring the house!) and increases their probabilities by keeping gamblers at the slot machines (read “free drinks”). As a trader you must limit your risk by committing only 1% – 3% of available capital to a single trade. When you execute enough trades with a high probability strategy you too can clean up like the casinos – but only by staying in the game long term.

In conclusion, Forex trading is not easy. It’s hard work and will test the limits of your patience and perseverance. If anyone tells you otherwise .., buyers beware! It can be a very rewarding and profitable venture if done correctly. In the end it is a profession that requires a learning curve and practical experience, no different than an airline pilot or engineer. Understanding how to approach and learn this game will allow you to reap all the benefits advertised. It is your Forex Education that you will master the Process of Forex Trading.

By: Todd Judkins

Swing Trading Strategy

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:47:35 +0000

Swing trading is a popular method of capitalizing on the short-term price variations of the stock market. It has earned a reputation of being a powerful method of maximizing profits at lower risks. The best swing trading strategy involves choosing the right stock and the right market. Swing traders usually choose the stocks that fluctuate at extreme ends. Swing trading strategy is employed in a stable market, because here the prices tend to have minor variations on which the swing trader can capitalize. In a rapidly rising or crashing market, swing trading strategy cannot be employed.

Newcomers to the stock market often choose swing trading owing to the low risk and shorter period involved. To achieve higher profits in this short period, the right swing trading strategy is to trade in stocks of big companies. These stocks, usually called large cap stocks, are widely traded on most stock exchanges. Their prices show higher variations compared to other stocks. This translates into more profits for the swing traders. A swing trader may follow a stock during its upward journey for a few days. In case the stock reverses its trend, the trader simply switches over to another rising stock. The choice of the right stock thus forms an inseparable part of a successful swing trading strategy.

Apart from the choice of stock, the choice of market plays a key role while deciding on a proper swing trading strategy. In a market that is on a rising or falling trend, the stock prices generally move in a single direction. There is not much of a variation by which the swing trader can profit. The best strategy here is to trade on the long term basis. A swing trader best operates on a stable market, where the index rises for some days and falls over the next few days. Although the value of major stocks remains roughly the same, the short-term variations provide the much required opportunity for the swing trader. The best swing trading strategy is thus the proper choice of the right stock and right market.

By: Thomas Morva

Trading Forex – Best Currencies to Trade

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:22:49 +0000

The explosion of over the counter Forex trading led to increased competition on part of brokers. Over last few years trade execution has become much better, spreads went down and trading platforms have seen dramatic improvement in performance and functionality. Another area of brokers services that witnessed huge changes is the number of currency pairs available for trading.

As recently as 5 years years ago there were platform offering only 4 major pairs for trading, all of them US dollar denominated – EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and USD/CHF. Not much choice there. Vast majority of brokers would provide 8 to 12 currency pairs. That was the staple. Only very select group could boast availability of 20 or more crosses.

Those times seem like ancient history. These days broker which offers 20 or so currencies is, well, services deficient. New norm seems to be availability of 50 + pairs on a trading platform, while few leaders provide over 70 or even close to 1000 currency based financial products. If swaps and options are included, this number can easily breach 300. Quite a difference over just few short years.

Does it mean that all these instruments are suitable for an average trader? The answer is resounding “NO”. Some currency pairs are better than others, especially for beginning and less experienced traders. Some should be all out avoided or left for true professionals. That said, which are the best currency pairs to trade?

Trading instrument, should be liquid, have low cost of trading and have enough volatility to present profit opportunities as often as possible. Volatility, of course, is a double edged sword and can be detrimental, as well as desirable. Most of USD and, these days, EUR crosses fit into this mold.

Beginners should generally concentrate on the old stand byes, the 4 majors. EUR/USD and USD/CHF should the the first to consider. Both are very liquid, have low spreads (minimal trading costs) and move quite a bit. Incidentally, under current market conditions, USD/CHF is less volatile, and probably better for new comers, while still providing very good opportunities.

If you prefer fasting moving currency, GBP/USD is for you. The “cable” can move with surprising speed, but that works both ways- losses can be just as swift. Last one of the 4 majors is USD/JPY. Despite its much vaunted status, it is also a currency most susceptible to political influence. That can lead to more unpredictable behavior than the before mention pairs, but it has extremely low spreads and huge volume.

At present some of EUR denominated pairs are just as liquid as USD crosses. Most notable are EUR/CHF, EUR/JPY and GBP/USD. All of them are among the very best currencies to trade. EUR/CHF, for example, is far from being the boring instrument of years past. Daily trading ranges are very similar to USD/CHF, spread is the same and , by some accounts, volume is even higher.

Rounding up the best currencies to trade is AUD/USD. This pair has also experienced tightening spread, increased volume and widening daily trading range. On the contrary, the remaining dollars, USD/CAD and NZD/USD, should probably be left alone by less experienced traders. One of their less desirable characteristic is significant luck of liquidity pool at certain times of the day.

While it is good to have wide range of choices when it comes to trading options, it is not necessary, or even possible, to master all of them. There is nothing wrong with trading only the most popular currencies. They are most accessible and most information is available about them. Some of the best traders around specialize in only or two of these pairs. So can you.

By: Mike Kulej

Learning to Trade Forex – A Simple Guide!

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:49:10 +0000

Don’t jump in the deep end by putting $1,000 down and then thinking you are going to double it within the year without doing much work! That doesn’t happen. The most likely outcome of such enthusiasm is usually burn out with the person losing the initial trading deposit.

As a start you should familiarize yourself with the terminology that traders use – for example what are ‘pips’? What is a margin trading account? What is technical analysis? What is a Trading Platform? These are basic elements that you should know plus many more things!!

Visit Forums

If you feel that forex is for you visit forex forums, ask questions, try and get a feel for the market and the temperament of traders. Try and sort out who the ‘real traders’ are from the ‘ego trippers’.

Open a Practice Account!

When you feel that you are starting to get at least a basic knowledge then look for a company (usually a brokerage company) that supplies a trading platform and a ‘practice account’.

If you haven’t traded before and you are a complete ‘newbie’ to this business (yes -treat it like a business) learn as much as you can by ‘doing’.

Once you have got to the practice trading scenario, try and ‘replicate’ what it feels like to both gain and lose money – put some money aside and add and take away appropriately according to your results on that day.

One of the first lessons you should be learning is never never over-stretch your finances.

Don’t over-margin your account!

When learning to trade forex you will need at some stage to start trading ‘for real’ on a margin account but don’t leverage $1,000 up to $100,000 your broker may cut your position to limit any exposure their company may have if your position goes against you – so only utilize 15-20 times at first – gain confidence and with confidence knowledge and skill expand your leverage.

By: Peter Burke

Forex Trading Mentors – Consulting Mentors in Forex Trading

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:03:22 +0000

If you are new or interested to participate in the forex trading market, it would be helpful to get all the information you can get. A good way to get this information is through foreign exchange mentors. A mentor is like a guide or a teacher who can help you understand and grasp the basics of foreign exchange trading. Obtaining a mentor does not mean that you have to get an actual person to teach you the trade. You could also learn forex trading through online forex trading softwares, books, or videos. However, there are certain advantages in having an actual mentor by your side. A formal education is also not a bad idea especially since it is your money and financial future on the line.

Advantages of Getting a Mentor

Getting a mentor allows you to focus yourself in learning the trade. Having an actual mentor rather than relying on courses that are standardized for the public provides you with a jump-start in forex trading education. A mentor has experience and can use this to guide you through success. He can give you ideas on what to watch out for during trading. Employing a mentor can make the learning process faster by teaching you through his real life experiences. With a mentor, you get real life situations and instructions about forex trading, whether it is a good decision to buy or sell at the moment or what to do and what not to do. However, the greatest thing about employing a mentor is the feedback that you get from them. They get to answer questions that you have and explain anything you might not understand. This is in contrast to staring at a book or following through on an online course.

Without the proper education and experience, your chances of becoming a successful trader are reduced. Proper training and mentoring is therefore a must if you want to succeed in the foreign exchange trading market. When you educate yourself in this type of trading, it will help you in making wise decisions involving your investments. Considering a professional forex trading mentor at the onset would make a huge difference in your forex trading capabilities.

By: Francis Tayllor

FX Trading

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:32:59 +0000

Trading money in the global markets can be great way to make more of it, but it can also be a lesson in how to lose money quickly. More than $1 trillion is traded every day on the foreign currency exchange (Forex), and yet no centralized headquarters or formal regulatory body exists for this form of trade. Foreign currency exchange is regulated through a patchwork of international agreements between countries, most of which have some type of regulatory agency that controls what goes on within their respective borders. Thus, the foreign currency exchange actually is a worldwide network of traders who are connected by telephone and computer screens.

It is very important to understand money jargon in FX trading. The world of foreign currency exchange has a unique language of its own. Prices are quoted two ways, meaning that when one trader talks price with another, they state their respective prices in terms of what exchange rate they will pay to buy it and what they will take when selling it. Bid and ask price differences, or spreads, usually are stated in pips or hundredths of a currency units. Spreads normally are no more than ten pips.

Pips are the smallest incremental price movement permitted in the currency market. Although most transactions deal in thousands or millions of dollars, yen, Euros or other currencies, and a one-cent spread can equal thousands of dollars, most currency price quotes nevertheless are extended out to four decimals. Many times, traders quote only the last two digits or the small numbers, because the incremental changes are so small only the last two digits matter. As a trader in FX trading you need to think in terms of the host currency when receiving a quote for direct exchange, which would be an exchange based on the value of the host country’s currency.

By: Ross Bainbridge