Forex has been around for quite some time and they used to only cater to the very wealthy. 2 traders created fap turbo for the little guy to win. The market is being controlled by very rich people as well as the bigger banks.
But the coming of the internet has made a lot of these avenues possible for private investors. There have been lots of automated Forex trading tools and other types of software that have come out to assist in your Forex trading.
First though you should know exactly what trading in the currency markets entails and have some basic knowledge before you get started. Diving into the market without a good understanding of it is one of the most common investor mistakes.
This may result in some very big losses. Many people have lost a huge amount in their stocks and mutual funds due to the current US economy. This does not have to happen to you.
So what are some basic facts about the Forex market?
1. It’s open 24/7 and year-round.
2. Over US$2 trillion in transactions are conducted in every 24 hour period making it the largest market on earth
3. Due to this incredibly high volume it’s virtually impossible to corner or move the market or matter what how big the size of the transactions you’re able to do.
4. Also due to the huge size it is the most liquid market on earth so when you want to get out and exit a trade you can do so almost instantaneously
5. Setting up an account is basically the same as setting up a stock trading account like you would normally do at any other brokerage
What currencies are available for trading in the Forex marketplace?
The main currencies from countries you would expect like the United States dollar, the euro, the Australian dollar, the Canadian dollar, the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc, and the British pound are all available for trading and they are done so in basic pairs.
The currencies are generally coupled, which is distinctive to the foreign market.
The seven basic pairs are as follows:
1. The US dollar/Euro
2. The US dollar/Japanese yen
3. The US dollar/British pound
4. The US dollar/Swiss Franc
5. The US dollar/Canadian dollar
6. The US dollar/Australian dollar
7. The US dollar/New Zealand dollar
If you take a look at numerous stats over 70% of trades are done between the Euro and the US dollar. Forex market space uses a unique term called pips which refers to peforming trades. This is the smallest unit or increment a currency pair can trade in.
For example, you have probably seen some of the quotes that you can buy one euro for $1.53 US. This would be the Euro/USD dollar pair. So if you were to trade 10 pips of this pair then you would be able to get €10 for a price of $15.30 US.
Then of course you would be hoping that the euro would rise against the dollar so that when you went to sell your €10 you could get say $16 US for them which would leave you a profit of $.70 US.
The standard transaction size in forex, aka 4x, is 100,000 units of the base currency of the country that you live in. The transaction limits are set at 10,000 units of the base currency for mini and 1,000 units for micro. You must have a specialized Forex account, either a micro-account or a mini account, in order to trade in these lots of reduced size.
Forex does offer you the ability for some massive leverage but leverage as you know is a double edged sword. If the trade ends out in your favor you can reap an enormous amount profit with little investment. However, when the trade goes against you even though you only put a little bit out of pocket you could lose massively more out of your entire account.
This is a good start to your Forex education and you definitely need to know more before you dip your toe in the water and risk your own real money in this market place which is rife with opportunity but also infested with sharks who would love nothing more than to take all your money.
