Forex is the nickname for the Foreign Exchange Market. In the United States, there are several branches of the stock market, each with their own name. For instance, some stocks trade on the Dow Jones, others on Nasdaq. Of course, all stock market transactions in the United States take place on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In other countries the same is true.
However, international trade takes place on the market termed the Foreign Exchange Market, or Forex. Several countries across the world in almost every time zone participate in trade on Forex, with multiple currencies being utilized and stocks and commodities from all participating countries being offered for trade. Because there are so many nations and time zones involved, Forex does not function as a “business day” entity like most domestic stock markets. It remains open for trade 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Forex trading has enjoyed exponential growth and widespread popularity over the past few years. It is only now that online foreign exchange trading is starting to get noticed. Until recently, large international banks were the big dogs in the foreign exchange (FX or forex for short) market, selectively allowing access via telephone trading to Fortune 1000 companies, large funds, high net worth individuals, etc.
But now, there are online trading firms that provide individual traders like you and I with direct access to the largest, most liquid financial market in the world – the forex. A lot of traders seem oblivious to this market. This unfamiliarity is the root cause of misconceptions about this exciting market.
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Why Should You Give The Forex A Serious Look?
- Large returns
- Currencies trend well
- There are no commissions
- US$6 trillion a day and growing
- The forex is a very efficient market
- High leverage: Each pip is worth US$10
- There is lots of movement in this market
- You can trade 24X5 from home or anywhere
- Little capital is required – as little as US$500
- You can easily start out by taking 20 pips a day
- You can trade whether you have a day job or not
- You can hedge at FX Solutions. Not all market makers allow this
- All you need is an Internet connection; charting/dealing software is free
- This is real-time trading; 2.5 to four second response time; rare re-quotes
- Low lot size: 100 to one ratio; US$100 controls US$10,000 (1,000 = 100,000)
Foreign Exchange simply means the buying of one currency and selling another at the same time. In other words, the currency of one country is exchanged for those of another. The currencies of the world are on a floating exchange rate, and are always traded in pairs - Euro/Dollar, Dollar/Yen, etc. In excess of 85 percent of all daily transactions involve trading of the major currencies - Australian Dollar, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, and the U.S. Dollar.
Unlike the futures and stock markets, trading of currencies is not centralized on an exchange. Forex literally follows the sun around the world. Trading moves from major banking centres of the U.S. to Australia and New Zealand, to the Far East, to Europe and finally back to the U.S. Today, foreign exchange market maker brokers such as FX Solutions are able to break down the larger sized inter-bank units, and offer small traders the opportunity to buy or sell any number of these smaller units (lots).
These brokers give virtually any size trader, including individual speculators or smaller companies, the option to trade the same rates and price movements as the large players who once dominated the market. Market makers quote buying and selling rates for currencies, and they profit on the difference between their buying and selling rates.
The History Of Forex
When foreign trade began, it was not an international trade market. It was borne out of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944, which set forth that foreign currencies would be fixed against the dollar, which was valued at $35 per ounce of gold. This precedent was first put into practice in 1967, when a bank in Chicago refused to fund a loan to a professor in sterling pound. Of course, his intention was to sell the currency, which he felt was priced too high against the dollar, then buy it back later when the value had declined, turning a quick profit.
After 1971, when the dollar was no longer convertible to gold and the domestic market was stronger, the Bretton Woods agreement was abandoned, and the currency conversion process became more variable. This allowed for stronger backing in the foreign markets, and the United States and Europe began a strong trade relationship. In the 1980s, the market hours and usage was extended through the use of computers and technology to include the Asiantime zones as well. At this time, foreign exchange equaled about $70 billion a day. Today, about twenty years later, the trade level has skyrocketed, with trade equaling close to $1.5 trillion daily.
Originally, trading across international lines was more difficult, with several different currencies involved across Europe. Though the major players in the European market were deeply involved in and veterans of international trade by the time other markets joined in, there were more currencies to keep track of – the franc, the pound, the lira, and many more – than was reasonable. With the birth of the European Union in 1992, the wheels were set in motion to create a single currency that would be used across most of Europe, and the Euro was finally established and put into circulation in 1999.
Forex Today
While some countries have still not accepted the currency as their own (such as Britain, who still uses the sterling pound), the process of currency conversion has been simplified without the large number of various currencies that were previously dealt with. Instead of dozens of currencies, the main countries trade in just a few – U.S. dollars, Australian dollars, Canadian Dollars, Seiss Francs, British pounds sterling, the Euro, and the Japanese Yen.
Another completely separate but perhaps more important concern with trading in Forex is understanding how trade works in multiple currencies. How can you compare the value of a stock across international lines if the values are expressed in two separate, non-equivalent currencies? And how do you measure gains and losses when conversion rate is constantly changing?
Understanding Currency Conversion
When you begin trading on Forex, you have to learn how to convert currencies and note the difference in values, as well as how currencies are exchanged between international lines. This means studying not only domestic market trends and currency values, but also those of foreign markets.
Working With Multiple Currencies
Since Forex is the Foreign Exchange Market, you obviously cannot expect everyone within the market to trade in U.S. dollars (and why not, you might ask? – but remember that not everyone covets the U.S. dollar). With so many variables and volatile currencies being exchanged, how can you know a good buy or sell when you see one without complete awareness of the value of foreign currency?
The first step is to find a source that will give you a basic idea of the current exchange rate between your domestic currency and the foreign currency in question. You should do this as a base listing for any currency that with which you might become involved. Of course, this will not be consistent down to the cent or fraction of a particular currency throughout an entire business day, but at least you will have your starting point from which to begin, almost like North on a compass. Such sources can be found all over the internet, as well as through many brokers, both onnine and in person.
Currency Expression
It is also good to understand the means be which the currency conversion is expressed. The comparison is usually made in a ratio known as the cross-rate. In this configuration, the two currencies are listed in an XXX/YYY ratio, with the XXX position referred to as the base currency. The base currency is usually expressed as a whole number, while the YYY position is expressed as the decimal that most closely matches the based currency rate. It is sort of like making reference to miles per gallon or rotations per minute on a car – a direct comparison of one to the other in the form of a ratio.
The smallest fraction, or decimal, in which a currency can be traded, is called a pip and this is usually the degree to which a cross-rate is expressed. For example, if the British pound sterling can be traded in thousandths, the currency will be expressed to the third decimal place. The U.S. dollar is often expressed to the hundredth of a cent (the fourth decimal place).
In one cross-rate expression example, one U.S. dollar may be equivalent to 117.456 Japanese yen. This ratio would be expressed as 1.000/117.456. The base currency is almost always expressed as a single unit (as in one dollar as opposed to ten dollars), and frequently that unit of measurement is the U.S. dollar. Since the whole number value (or big figure, as it is referred to) of the secondary currency, or the currency in the YYY position in terms of conversion changes so infrequently, often only the decimal portion of the number is mentioned in the Foreign Exchange Market.
Therefore, in the ratio above, you may hear that the yen is trading at .456, with no mention at all of the 117 whole yen that is shown in the ratio. This is because the exchange rate may vary from 117.456 to 117.423, but not to 119.024. Experiencing a change in the big figure – the whole number ahead of the decimal – unless it was only because the number was already within a few thousandths, would represent much too large a shift in value for a single trading period and would be a rare occurrence that could cause the entire market to make a drastic swing in one direction or the other.
If you purchase a commodity in a particular currency, and that currency’s value falls against the U.S. dollar, you can actually make money by selling that same commodity in dollars. The same is true in reverse should the value of a foreign currency increase against a U.S. dollar. Of course, you can only take advantage of such a situation should the commodity be traded in both currencies and both markets in question. We will discuss this process, as well as other ways to take advantage of the Foreign Exchange Market (like arbitrage) in more depth in future chapters.
Once you are able to discern a base value of each particular currency and its conversion rate against others traded on Forex, you will be able to more closely monitor the change in currency conversion, including its inconsistency and volatility. Such ideas will not seem so “foreign”, and you will be caught up and knowledgeable right along with the pros. Then, you will need to learn how to read, understand, and ultimately interpret additional market trends.
Charts And Chartists
Wait, did you think you were going to have to research and map out the market’s past all by yourself? Of course not! There are people who get paid to do that sort of work. They monitor the market hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly so that they can provide big-time traders with the same knowledge mentioned before. The more an investment company knows about the market, the more money they can make. The same is true for stockbrokers. They make money when you make money, and they want to do the best they can to make sure that you make intelligent decisions.
The best part of this is that you have access to the same information as these VIP clients. Chartists, who are essentially market analysts that publish their findings in easy to read charts, produce what is referred to as a candlestick chart. These charts are basically a combination of a line graph and a bar graph that show the trend of various stocks, indexes, or other interests over a specified period of time. Therefore, you can easily determine if the commodity is on an uptrend or if it is taking a downturn, when the last major change occurred, and how long it is predicted that the stock or bond will continue on the current path.
You can actually find information on most commodities and their market trends for years in the past, and some even all the way back to their introduction to the open market. Using this information can help you decide whether it is a good idea to buy or sell the stocks or securities in which you have interest, or if it is better to hold off for a peak in the market trend.
Risk Management
One of the most important aspects of protecting your investments is balancing your risks with reassurances. There are several ways to do this.
Limit Orders And Balancing Risks
A limit order is a standing amount at which you have agreed to buy or sell a particular security or other commodity. For instance, you have designated to your stockbroker that you will not sell X Security until its value reaches a minimum value of Y dollars. At the same time, you will not purchase the same X Security if it exceeds a value of Z. Setting limits for the price you pay for a particular security, as well as the price you will accept to sell it, protects you and your investment in several ways.
First of all, you are maximizing your gains, but mostly, you are avoiding loss. Any loss that occurs with limit orders will always be unrealized loss, or a loss that is not measurable in liquid assets or cash. In other words, until you sell the stock and reap the net loss, it will not affect your net worth. Since you have set a limit that does not allow your commodities to be sold for less than the original cost, you cannot possibly have a loss in your net worth. At the same time, you are also assuring at least a certain amount of profit by setting your sell point high enough to reap that particular profit.
Another way to protect your assets is to hedge. This means that you create and sell a futures contract stating that, when your shares reach a certain value in the future, you will sell your holdings at this predetermined price.
When that price is reached, the order will be processed and the transaction completed. Of course, if you ever change your mind about a limit that you have set, you can place a stop order with your broker, which designates that you no longer wish to trade at the specified dollar amount.
You can also buy on margin. This is very similar to short selling, but instead of borrowing stocks to sell, you are essentially borrowing money to purchase stocks on your own when the market value is down. Then, when the value of the securities you have purchased rises and you are able to sell for a profit, you repay the loan and keep the excess from the sell, minus the broker fees. Of course, all dealings with a stockbroker incur a premium, or fee for services rendered, and it is nearly impossible to trade without a broker or broker service. However, online services are often less expensive than live agents, but you can research to determine what your best option is.
If You're Just Starting Out
To get started in trading in this market, all you need is a computer with a high speed internet connection, a funded Forex account, and a trading system. These three simple things are enough to get you started in Forex trading.
In order for you to minimize the risk of losing money, you need to have some basic knowledge in charting before you start trading. In most Forex trading systems, Forex charts are there to assist you with your trades.
Forex charts are a visual representation of the exchange rates of currencies. This is where you will mostly base your decisions to buy and sell currencies. You have to learn how to read the different Forex charts in order for you to successfully trade in the Forex market.
Demo And Dummy Forex Accounts
If you are just starting to trade in the FOREX market, it helps if you first practice by creating a dummy FOREX account. Through this, you will be able to trade in the FOREX market without risking real money. Although you will not earn money this way, it is a great way to practice trading. Or, you may also try opening a mini FOREX account. With a very minimal investment, you will be able to start trading in the real market and start earning small amounts of cash.
Opening a demo account will allow you to conduct paper trades. It is also one of the smartest ways to enter into the Forex trading market. Practice trades will also enable you to start developing a strategy that works best for you. Experts recommend that you practice until you start making a consistent profit. Those individuals, who jump into the market too quickly usually, fail due to lack of experience. To decrease you failure risk you need to take the necessary time to learn the proper way to trade before investing your capital.
Emotional trading is an instant killer. You must be able to trade without feelings. Even through you have set your stop-loss points, if you are reacting on feelings, you will not execute them on time. When, you set your stop-loss and take-profit points to execute automatically you must stick to them. Do not change them, “because you have this feeling.” You set those limits for a reason. Stick with your original decision.
Mini Forex Account
To minimize your risk and build your confidence when first starting to trade, a mini forex account can be your training wheels.
Mini forex works exactly the same as regular forex trading. The only difference is that the investor only has to put a small amount of money into it to begin with -- as low as $100 or $200. (Regular forex accounts usually require 10 times that amount.)
The advantage of a mini forex account is that it lets you learn the ropes of the forex market through hands-on experience -- books, lectures and demos can only teach you so much -- without risking more than a couple hundred dollars of your own money. All trading is risky in that it carries with it the possibility of failure. But with mini forex trading, the most you can lose is the $100 or $200 you initially put into it.
There are psychological benefits with mini forex trading, too. One of the reasons people lose money in the market is that they hang on to losing prospects longer than they should, hoping the trend will reverse itself and they’ll win everything back -- and then the trend doesn’t reverse itself until after the investor has already lost everything.
Human emotion gets in the way of making sensible trades. Mini forex carries the same risk, of course -- but since the amounts are so much small, the mini forex trader isn’t losing much if he does hang on to a loser longer than he should. It’s a sort of practice area to let the investor train himself to make good decisions. Once he’s mastered the art, he can take off the mini forex training wheels and start investing much larger amounts.
Another benefit of mini forex trading is that it can be utilized by people who don’t want to make forex trading their bread and butter but simply enjoy the thrill and competition of it. Forex trading can be fun, after all, but the fact that you’re playing with large sums of money can make it more nerve-racking than enjoyable. Mini forex accounts bring it back down to the level of enjoyment, like playing penny-ante poker with your friends. The game is the same, but the stakes are much lower, and thus the experience is less risky.
Learning The Ropes
Trading in the Forex market can be very attractive. However, you should also know that there have been people who suffered extreme financial losses in the Forex market. It is true that the Forex market offers a very good money-making opportunity to a lot of people, but it also has its risks.
It is a fact that people who didn’t have the right knowledge and skills trading in the Forex market suffered huge financial losses and some even went into debt. So, before you enter the Forex market, it is essential that you should have the necessary knowledge and skills as a Forex trader in order to minimize the risk of losing money and maximize the potential of making money.
Many people who were successful in the Forex market have went through a Forex trading course to get the knowledge and skills needed to successfully trade in this very liquid and very large financial market.
In a Forex trading course, you will learn about when it is the right time to buy or sell, chart the movements, spot market trends and also know how to use the different trading platforms available in the Forex market.
You will also be familiarized with the terminologies used in the Forex market. Even the basic knowledge about trading in the Forex can be a great help with your money-making venture in the world’s largest market.
There are different Forex trading courses available, all you need to do is choose one that suits your needs as a trader. There are crash courses where all the basic things about Forex will be taught to you in a short period of time, full time online courses, where you will learn all about Forex through the internet and there are also full time real life classroom courses where you can learn the ropes about Forex in a real classroom with a live professor.
You can also become an apprentice. However, in order to learn a lot about Forex as an apprentice, you need to make sure that you have a seasoned Forex trader who can share a lot of things to you about the Forex market.
Here are some of the basic things you should look for in a Forex trading course in order for you to get the sufficient knowledge about Forex trading:
- Margins
- Leveraging
- Types of orders
- Major currencies
Stress plays a vital part in Forex traders. Knowing how to deal with stress is also a skill that you should develop.
A good Forex trading course should teach you how to deal with stress and trade effectively and efficiently.
As much as possible, you should look for a Forex trading course that offer actual trading systems where students can trade real money on the Forex market or at least trade on dummy accounts in a simulated Forex market. This hands-on experience will greatly benefit you. Besides, the best way to learn about anything is by actually experiencing it. Live trading and simulations should be offered in a Forex trading course.
Online Forex Forums
Most forex trading is done online, with investors looking at forex charts, considering trends, and making decisions.
There’s very little interaction, even via the Internet, with other human beings. That’s one of the reasons that many traders also spend time in forex forums, chatting with other investors and sharing tips.
There are dozens of forex-related forums and message boards on the Internet. Some are tied to brokerage firms, while others are just freestanding forums on forex-related sites. Since the market is active 24 hours a day, you can usually count on the forums being busy at all hours too.
As mentioned, one of the reasons for visiting forex forums is simply psychological: Humans like to interact with other humans, especially when their day jobs require them to be alone with a computer for hours at a stretch.
Furthermore, there are a lot of emotions involved in trading. It’s real money, after all, and often large amounts of it. Online forums give traders a place to discuss the psychological effects of long-term trading, how it can become addictive and nerve-racking, and what impact it has on everyday life. You could think of message boards as being a sort of support group for traders, or the equivalent of the office water cooler.
Forex forums have more practical uses, too, of course. Traders find the tips and strategies offered by their fellow traders to be invaluable. Forums are often rife with people more seasoned and experienced than the average person, which benefits the newcomers. And many experienced traders enjoy visiting the forums because it gives them a chance to share their wisdom with others.
Forex forums are also useful for gauging the general mood of the marketplace. The charts and rates give you the cold, hard facts. But many times making a decision to buy or sell comes from the gut, based not just on the numbers but on how the market FEELS. The forums are a place to see what other traders are thinking right now.
Do they feel optimistic? Pessimistic? Are things looking up? Are they discouraged? All of this information can be taken into account when considering a trade.
ForexFactory.com and ForexForum.net are two very popular, widely visited message boards. There are dozens of others out there, too. All forex forums give traders a chance to connect with their colleagues and to learn from one another.
The Benefits Of A Home Based Forex Trading Business
1. Cost of Entry and Operation:
The modern day Forex market can actually be entered with as little as $200, one of the lowest requirements of any business. Certainly there are advantages to starting with more capital, but almost any motivated person can get involved.
Another significant cost of operation for any business is …time. The Forex markets are open 24 hours per day, allowing you to choose your own schedule. Especially nice if you’re already working at something else. This freedom to schedule allows you to have a Forex business on your terms, where so many business activities require you to operate on someone else’s terms. You can own your own business, your business doesn’t have to own you!
2. Transaction Costs:
A wonderful feature of the Forex market, especially for small business operators, is that there are NO commission charges. YES I said NO commission charges. While most markets charge for commissions in addition to a bid/ask spread, the Forex market only has the bid/ask spread, typically narrower than other markets.
3. Risk Factors:
When operating your own small Forex business, you don’t need employees, or to rent commercial space. You can operate from anywhere you like as long as you have an internet connection. For each transaction or trade your risk is limited to a small percentage of the trade called “margin”. You cannot lose more than your margin and you’ll always know what that amount is up front.
4. Profit Potential:
A small business person or “trader” has potential profits that can range from $200 to $3,000 per trade. Time to complete a trade can be measured in minutes to hours and might be repeated several times per week.
Markets move up and down. The Forex market is structured so that you have an equal chance of profits regardless of which direction the market moves in. Leverage is available at up to 200:1. Depending on your business plan, you may choose to use less leverage.
5. Trends:
Forex tends to exhibit “trending” characteristics. This nicely lends itself to a technical and rules-based approach which is reasonably learned.
6. Summary:
For ease of entry, low transaction costs, controllable risk, and profit potential, the Forex market compares more than favorably with the real estate, stock, commodities, or futures markets. If you would like to operate a business that can be tailored to support your quality of life, the Forex business deserves your serious consideration.
Final Word
I'm not a financial advisor, nor a forex expert. I have dabbled in the forex market over the years, but to start a home based forex trading business, you need to devote time, energy and some cash in studying the market, the trends, the strategies and the overall workings. I never really had the desire to do so, so I backed away from what I, and millions of others, find to be a fascinating market and opportunity. However, if you do have the desire, the fascination and the ability and nerve to take some risks, this would be a perfect home business for you. A final thought here... isn't any new business venture a little risky?
Additional Resources
How to Trade The Forex like a Pro in One Hour
Well boys and girls, that's today's home business idea. This one isn't for everyone, but it does make you think.
Until tomorrow,
Terry
