Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Realm of Automated Forex Trading System

ust how important is an automated system to the Forex trading system?

Before we answer that question, let us first determine how large Forex trading market is. From there, we will know the importance of automated systems for the Forex market.

It is true that the Forex market is the largest market around the world not just in terms of average daily turnover and average revenue per trader. It is also the largest market in terms of participants.

You name it, we've got it. Take a look at the following:

BANKS- they are not just for saving money and lending capital to entrepreneurs, but they are one of the major players in Forex market. Banks cater both to large quantity of speculative trading and daily commercial turnover. Well-established banks can trade billions of dollars worth of foreign currencies everyday. Some of the trades are undertaken on behalf of their clients, but most are through proprietary desks.

COMMERCIAL COMPANIES- these commercial companies trade small quantities of foreign currencies compared to larger banks and their trades produce small and short-term impact on the market rates. However, the trade flows from transactions made by commercial companies are essential factors with regards to the long-term direction of the exchange rate of a certain currency.

CENTRAL BANKS- central banks play an important function in the Forex market. They have the control over the supply of different currency, inflation, and interest rate. In addition, they have also official target rates for the currencies that they are handling. They are responsible for stabilizing the Forex market through the use of foreign exchange reserves. Their intervention in the market is enough to stabilize a certain currency.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS- these firms commonly manage huge accounts on behalf of their clients such as endowments and pension funds. They are using the Forex market to facilitate transactions, specifically in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

RETAIL FX BROKERS- they handle a fraction of the total volume of Forex market. A single retail forex broker estimates retail volume of between 25 to 50 billion dollars each day, which is estimated to be at 2% of the total market volume.

SPECULATORS- these are individuals who purchase and sell foreign currencies and profit through fluctuations on its price as opposed to popular methods such as interest and dividends. They perform the important role of transferring the risk to individuals who do not wish to bear it.

In Forex market alone, there are already six major players partaking on the $1.8 trillion worth of daily turnover. With a large number of Forex players, there is really a need in switching from manual to automated Forex trading system.

Among the aforementioned major Forex players, the automated trading system is of great advantage to the speculators. Since they focus on the price fluctuations of various foreign currencies in order to profit, the real time data analysis will help them determine trades that will give advantage to them.

There are several automated forex trading system available in the market. There are also automated Forex systems that are offered for free or as part of their trading account acquired from their Forex brokers or agents. Such complimentary system packages are typically elementary trading system. Thus, if you are looking for more features, you can avail of it through additional payments.

There are two types of automated Forex trading system. These are discussed in the following:

Desktop-based system- all Forex-related data are stored on your desktop's hard drive. This system is unpopular to Forex traders because all data are susceptible to computer virus contamination and other security problems. Worse, when the computer malfunctions, all essential information might be lost and cannot be retrieved (unless you have some back-up files of your own). However, it is little expensive compared to the other types of automated trading system.

Web-based system- the security of your Forex account and other data are provided by your web-based provider. These are hosted on secured servers. It is also convenient in the sense that there will be no software required and it is universally compatible with your Internet browser.

You may also try different automated trading system demos first so that you will be able to determine the automated Forex trading system that suits your personal preference and needs.

Even if you are just a small-time Forex player, it will be to your advantage if you will use an automated Forex trading system for your future trades.

Forex Trading Education - 3 Essential Facts Traders Need to Know to Win at Forex

Here we will give you 3 essential facts about Forex trading which can lead you to success. Make sure you make them part of your essential Forex education - here they are...

These 3 essential facts will explain why anyone can learn to trade Forex and win yet, 95% of traders still lose. Let's take a look at our Forex trading facts.

1. Forex Trading Requires Effort!

How many traders buy a cheap junk robot, or think they can make money by following a sure fire trading system? Loads and most of the systems sold, because the vendor can't make money trading!

Forex trading is not easy, 95% of traders lose and if you want to win, you need to make an effort, learn the right skills and adopt the right mindset which we will look at next.

2. Building a Forex Trading Strategy for Success is Simple

It's a fact that anyone can build a Forex trading strategy for success in a couple of weeks or even less. Your system only needs to be simple and you can base it on many established successful methodologies.

To make money though, you need much more than just a logical, robust trading system which is the subject of the next point. Pay careful attention to it, as it's the very key to Forex trading success.

3. Discipline is the Key to Success

Most traders underestimate the key trait of discipline, because they believe these myths.

- You can predict tops and bottoms with accuracy

- You will not face a losing period that just happens to others!

These people are either, those who think trading is easy or their following a junk Forex robot. As soon as they start to lose, discipline to execute trading signals goes out the window, they run losses and there accounts get wiped out.

If Forex trading was easy, then 95% of traders wouldn't lose money!

Discipline is hard part of trading, because you have to keep losses small and keep going, when the market is making you doubt your ability, your emotions are getting involved and your losing money.

If you think discipline is easy, you probably haven't traded.

The good news is:

You can acquir

Source : articlebase

Setting Up Your Trading Room

A trading room is an area that is specifically set aside and equipped for your trading.  This article is about how you can setup your own trading room.

One day I went inside a bank's trading room.  They had specially designed desks to hold trading screens.  They had special telephone systems and direct data feeds.  Everything was designed to make it as easy as possible for the traders to work.

You don't need to go to the same extent, but your equipment and working environment shouldn't hold you back either.  It is difficult to trade properly if your computer struggles with the data, or constantly crashes, or your connection keeps dropping out, or if your work area is hot, cold or dusty. 

Ideally you should have an area set aside specifically for trading.  It may be a study or home office.  It shouldn't be a children's play area or in a busy passageway.  It needs to be comfortable and well lit and equipped with power sockets to keep all wires neat and orderly, not all tangled.

You need a comfortable ergonomic chair, and plenty of desk space, with all the equipment you need to hand.  There should be storage areas so that you can put away items that you are not using to keep it uncluttered.

A computer is essential for trading.  You need a system that is as fast and new as possible.  The cut down budget computer won't be enough.  You need a lot of memory, a big hard drive to store historical data, a fast CPU to help with your backtesting, and a large display screen.  You should consider dual monitors to extend your on screen work area.

The current generation of notebook computers are a good option, provided you buy one with enough power.  The benefit is that if you want to travel, you can take your trading platform with you.  You'll need to setup your trading platform, together with other packages you may need such MetaTrader or Excel.

You don't need to buy a windows PC.  A Mac can run all Windows trading software using virtualisation.  Just remember to install plenty of memory.  A Mac can also run any web based or Java based trading platforms.

The computer should ideally be kept for trading.  If you have other people playing games on it, installing and uninstalling software, it will make your trading platform less stable.  If other people are using your trading computer, you will be concerned about your trades, especially if you are relying on automated trading software on the computer.

You'll need a fast Internet connection.  It should be reliable and stable.  If possible, you should have a backup connection, such as wireless broadband, which you can also use if you are traveling.  If you have power issues in your area, you should have a UPS for both your computer and the Internet connection.

Every great trader has a trading library - you can include it in your trading room.


Source : articlebase


A Quick Guide to Learn Forex Trading

To become a successful forex trader, the first thing that you must do is to provide yourself with a good forex education for you to be able keep up with the main idea of forex trading. You have to do it on your own and never rely on mentors that will promise you great success, only you can teach yourself.


One important thing that you need to learn about forex trading is that it is a combination of mental discipline and a good methodology. More often than not, mental discipline is quite hard to achieve. To be successful, you need not to work hard to earn more. It is much preferable to work smart rather than to work hard. Being a smart forex trader means focusing on the information that you need in forex trading for you to be able to win and nothing more than that. You should be able to use the technical analysis system and always base your trading on the long term trend. It doesn't mean that if you work for long hours in forex trading, you get more money. You will get more profit if you deal with forex trading the right way. Be a smart forex trader and you'll surely succeed.


Remember to always keep your trade simple. No need to buy complicated forex trading courses that will only do you nothing. Your success in the business will rely on you. If you do everything properly, without committing crucial mistakes, you will surely win potential profits in the long run.


For you to be successful in forex trading, you need to build your forex trading system as simple as possible. In looking for a forex trading system, you need to first identify what kind of trader you want to be. As you enter the world of forex trading, you will be faced with two choices; the long term trend or the swing trading.


Most forex traders commit the error of being tempted to go for day trading, but then it really doesn't work well for any kind of trader. It is one of the biggest myths in forex trading. Day trading cannot make money for you and you will never see a system that will provide a real time record of profits. The truth is that, the events in short term is random and there is no way for you to get the good odds to come closer to you unless you are lucky enough.


Swing trading gives you a lot of benefits that can help you win more in forex trading. With this, your trade moves in three to five days and you get pretty much an amount of action giving you more chances of getting profits. However, if you don't have the patience, you will lose quickly. On the other hand, the long term trend is quite harder to follow, but the potential it brings is probably the most rewarding above all. This will require you to have a whole lot of mental discipline,and of you can overcome the mental turmoil, you will be able to gain profit potentials.


Source : articlebase

Forex Trading Tips - 6 Golden Rules to Keep Your Sanity When Trading Forex

Many people are trying to make a living from home in the currency trading market. It is an extremely profitable opportunity, but it can also be extremely stressful. This is especially so if you want to become a professional forex trader. As a professional forex trader, here are some my personal advice to all forex traders which can help to lower your stress level and you keep your sanity.

1. Check the economic calendar before you start your trading session

Imagine spending half of your day to find some forex trading signals that are going to turn into nice profit. You jump in and the next thing you know your investment is going into the tank for no apparent reason. Then you found out that there were some announcements that you were not aware of going against your trades. Making this forex strategy a regular part of your routine will help you avoid this pratfall. A website that you can refer to every day is ForexFactory.

2. Get away from your computer

A lot of home traders fall into the trap of all but becoming a hermit. When you are not trading, get an activity by hanging out with your buddies or do something more relaxing. You just know that you need get out of this environment and get your head cleared before deciding on your forex trading strategies.

3. Surf the internet and going to forums

If you are trading at home, you more than likely don't have anyone to bounce idea's off of or to even discuss what is going on. Joining a public forum on currency trading will address both of those issues. When the market slows down, pop in and see what everyone is talking about and you will find it to be a pleasant distraction. You may find some interesting forex indicators in the forum that could fascinate you for a while, or you can even search for some forex reviews for the product people are selling.

4. Trading is not only depending on brain, get healthy!

Although it may sound funny to you, but it is a forex trading tip that has merit all by itself. You have to keep both your mind and body healthy in order to concentrate. The occupation itself is very sedentary. You are sitting at a desk and staring at a computer all day, so give yourself a good sweat every day and you will be much sharper at your trading.

5. Make a great trade, treat yourself to a break

You will soon realize that you are always under the gun when you are trading and you are going to have to ease up at times to keep that intensity level up. If you have a successful trade or possibly avoided what could have been a major loss, give yourself a quick 15 minute break so you can recharge and keep that focus. Nobody can maintain that stressful level all day, never try to be superman.

6. Diversify your money

Diversification is also one of the forex trading techniques that you may want to implement. You may want buy some regular stocks or get some investment properties and put your money to work for you. That is passive income.

The above forex trading tips may help you to distress, but remember that it still depends on whether you have the discipline to follow your very own forex trading system. If you can, you will have the confidence to trade without much worries.

Source : articlebase

Learn to Day Trade

I was thinking about an article I read some time ago that 90% of traders who ever trade lose their account and that 10% actually go bankrupt. If the first number doesn't scare you then the second definitely should.

Why is it then that there is such a large number of traders failing? It is not because they are stupid; in fact most traders have an above average IQ and are above average in most categories such as education and income. So why do they fail?

Lack of trading education!

By education I don't just mean learning how RSI works or drawing lines on a chart. I mean thoroughly educating yourself in all aspects of your chosen profession. Educating yourself on the correct psychological approach to the market! Educating yourself in the correct risk management techniques relative to your account size. Educating yourself in the correct entry and exit
methods for the trading style that suits you.

This, my friend, is where I hope to be of some help. I don't have all the answers nor do I profess to be some kind of guru but I will do my best to point you in the right direction.

Common Misconceptions Of New Traders

They think they can trade consistently with an 80% accuracy.
They think they can turn $1000 into $100,000 in six months.
They think they can predict turning points in their given
markets to within minutes.
They think they can buy a system that is 100% accurate.
They think they will quit their jobs and make a living full
time after a few months of trading.
What's the reason that so many new traders believe that trading is an easy way to make big profits? Propaganda!

We are continually bombarded in magazines, emails and the general media with claims of making astronomical amounts, just by applying the vendor's latest method or system.


Source : tradejuice

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