Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Forex Trading

You've heard about other people making a full time income from investing in the Forex but you're just not sure if it is for you. If you're in this position, we'll take you on a quick tour of the concept of Forex foreign exchange rates, the benefits and the risk involved.

The Forex market revolves around the buying and selling of money - specifically the various currencies around the globe. The market is huge. To give you an idea of its size, the volume traded is 3 times that of the stock market and futures market combined.

When you start trading the Forex you simultaneously buy one currency and sell another currency. A Forex quote will look something like USD/EUR = 1.2. This can sometimes be a bit daunting to the beginner, but it essentially means that one US dollar can be sold for 1.2 Euros. The 2 currencies listed are known as currency pairs, and there are various pairs that are commonly quoted including USD/GBP (US dollar and British Pound), USD/CAD (US dollar and Canadian dollar), and USD/JAY (US dollar and Japanese Yen).

Trading the Forex has a number of benefits over the stock market. The first of these is the ability to trade 24 hours. Unlike the stock market, there is no physical location that the Forex is traded from. It is a global trading network that runs continuously. This means that you can trade at a time to suit you even if you have other commitments in your life.

Another benefit is the ability to be able to use leverage. This allows you to control large sums of money using only limited funds. If you have a broker that allows you 200:1 leverage, you can control $20,000 with only $100 of your own money. This means that you can increase your profits many-fold. But the downside is that if you do not correctly predict the market, your subsequent losses will also be much higher. Using leverage wisely is something that comes with experience.

A way of building up your experience with Forex is to trade a demo account first. This is a facility that is provided by many of the online Forex brokers. You get an account with 'virtual money' in it. You can then start trading without fear of losing any real money. You'll get to feel comfortable using the trading software and you can even test out trading systems to see if they actually work.

There is a wealth of information available on the Internet about Forex trading. Much of it is free. It is advisable that you start out by getting an understanding of the basics such as Forex foreign Exchange rates, pips, trading signals and trading software. Then if you want to take things further, you can look into buying a trading course.

Forex Exchange Rates - Brief Look

One of the primary methods of making a profit on the foreign exchange or the Forex market is to be able to purchase and sell currencies in such a way that whatever fluctuations there may be in the prices will end up helping you to earn a tidy profit. Therefore, understanding the meaning and nature of foreign exchange rates is crucial to your success in Forex trading and though it might, on the surface, appear to be a simple matter that anybody can learn, in reality it isn't all that straightforward a subject and therefore requires some in-depth knowledge prior to a person being able to succeed in Forex trading.

A Rich History

Actually, there is a rich history behind the foreign exchange rates so you need to understand the importance of understanding why things happen the way that they do on the Forex market and also educate yourself in making the right decisions so that you can capitalize on your knowledge.

So, to actually comprehend foreign exchange rates, you must be certain of what they in fact really are A definition of foreign exchange rates would be that they are the value of one currency as it relates to a second currency.

Therefore, when the exchange rate between two different currencies is listed as being a first currency fetching 1.20 of the second currency, then the foreign exchange rate is 1:1.2. Additionally, you will also need to comprehend why currencies have values that are different and this can be best explained by the fact that after the valuation of currencies throughout the world moved away from 'gold standards', the prices of currencies started to be pegged against the US dollar, and other currencies fluctuated upwards or downwards as they related to this currency in a range of not more than a single percentage.

Hence, this was the start of foreign exchange rates and it was commonly referred to as fixed exchange rate. Since these changes in the method that the trade is carried out in recent times, both the fixed exchange rates and the gold standard have been abandoned so the forex exchange rates are now typically known as fluctuating exchange rates.

In reality it means that presently forex exchange rates are influenced by the forces of the market and when demand for a specific currency exceeds its supply then the Forex exchange rates will end up going higher for the currency being demanded, and the opposite would occur should the demand decrease.

Now that the US dollar is the base currency in Forex trading, the US government merely prints additional dollars and then sells these new dollars to various countries in the form of debts, though due to rising oil prices as well as stronger world economies, currently the US dollar is losing its vice like grip as the predominant currency of the world which is eroding the exchange rates of the dollar and the United States closest trading allies are affected as well.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Monitoring The Foreign Currency Exchange Rate

Monitoring the currency exchange rate is very important if you’re planning to go on a vacation and would like to stay within your set budget and save money. Let us understand what exactly currency exchange rate means. In general, depending on the US dollar, most of the other currencies are calculated in value and are either more or less than the value of the US dollar. For example, a Canadian dollar would be worth around 85 percent of the US dollar. Similarly, the British Pound is worth two US dollars. However, owing to the fluctuating market conditions, one day the British Pound could be worth two dollars while on the next, it could be worth more than two dollars.

There are two types of currencies – free floating and pegged. A currency that is determined by the government of the country in relation to the another currency is called a pegged currency. Inthe 1980’s, the Hong Kong dollar was fixed with respect to the US dollar. On the other hand, a free-floating currency is permitted to change in value with respect to all other currencies in the foreign exchange market. When referring to currency, people often discuss issues like the real exchange rate and the nominal exchange rate. The actual exchange rate is the rate for which products of a country can be traded for the products and services of another country. The nominal exchange rate on the other hand, is the value at which the currency of a certain country can be traded with that of another.

Practically speaking, currency exchange rates generally change from one country to another and make travel and tourism easier and more attractive. So, if you’re planning on going on a vacation and there are several countries that you plan to visit, it is advisable to keep an eye on the current exchange rates. This could help you save money. For example, New York City is always full of tourists from France, Japan, the UK and Germany at different times of the year. This is only because at certain times the exchange rates favor the Europeans or the Japanese, making it cheaper for them to visit America than at other times. In recent years, the currency exchange rate is seen to have worked in favor of all the European nations.

Before the Euro came into existence, Austrian currency was the Schilling, Germany the Deutsche Mark, Italian Lira, Switzerland had the Swiss Franc and France the Franc. In the early 80’s the currency exchange rate was two and a half Schillings for a dollar while five French Francs made one US dollar. On the other hand, the Deutsche Mark fluctuated anywhere from 1.7 Marks to 2.5 Marks to the dollar. So, when the US dollar was at 2.5 Marks, the Americans would trade in their dollars for German Marks to stay ahead.

Watching out for the fall or rise in exchange rates is always beneficial for tourists who would like to travel and at the same time save money. Even if you are only thinking of hopping across the border to visit family or are planning on flying to Mexico or Canada, knowing and understanding the nominal exchange value of another country is very important. So, remember to plan your vacation at a time when the fluctuation in exchange rates is most likely to help you.

Benefits And Risks In Forex Foreign Exchange Rates

You've heard about other people making a full time income from investing in the Forex but you're just not sure if it is for you. If you're in this position, we'll take you on a quick tour of the concept of Forex foreign exchange rates, the benefits and the risk involved.

The Forex market revolves around the buying and selling of money - specifically the various currencies around the globe. The market is huge. To give you an idea of its size, the volume traded is 3 times that of the stock market and futures market combined.

When you start trading the Forex you simultaneously buy one currency and sell another currency. A Forex quote will look something like USD/EUR = 1.2. This can sometimes be a bit daunting to the beginner, but it essentially means that one US dollar can be sold for 1.2 Euros. The 2 currencies listed are known as currency pairs, and there are various pairs that are commonly quoted including USD/GBP (US dollar and British Pound), USD/CAD (US dollar and Canadian dollar), and USD/JAY (US dollar and Japanese Yen).

Trading the Forex has a number of benefits over the stock market. The first of these is the ability to trade 24 hours. Unlike the stock market, there is no physical location that the Forex is traded from. It is a global trading network that runs continuously. This means that you can trade at a time to suit you even if you have other commitments in your life.

Another benefit is the ability to be able to use leverage. This allows you to control large sums of money using only limited funds. If you have a broker that allows you 200:1 leverage, you can control $20,000 with only $100 of your own money. This means that you can increase your profits many-fold. But the downside is that if you do not correctly predict the market, your subsequent losses will also be much higher. Using leverage wisely is something that comes with experience.

A way of building up your experience with Forex is to trade a demo account first. This is a facility that is provided by many of the online Forex brokers. You get an account with 'virtual money' in it. You can then start trading without fear of losing any real money. You'll get to feel comfortable using the trading software and you can even test out trading systems to see if they actually work.

There is a wealth of information available on the Internet about Forex trading. Much of it is free. It is advisable that you start out by getting an understanding of the basics such as Forex foreign Exchange rates, pips, trading signals and trading software. Then if you want to take things further, you can look into buying a trading course.