Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What You Need to Know About Forex Trading!

By Ash Naeck

Trading has been around for centuries and plays an even bigger role in nowadays life. Trading is omnipresent in all aspects of life whether it is at work, at the supermarket, in a relationship or a sports game; you end up trading one thing in return of something else.

The origins of trading come from a process named bartering. The barter process is simply an exchange of goods. In the early times, one would trade an apple, for argument sake, to get a potato in return.

In this new age with technological change being the main drive to better living, bartering has been made even easier. Nowadays, money is used as a medium of exchange to acquire goods and services. Without money, this exchange in many cases would be impossible.

Trading in the world we live in has taken a new proportion which involves more than the exchange of goods and services only. The century that we live in has seen the birth of currency traders. They are the one who buys/sells the currency of one country to that of another country.

The market which is being referred to is the Forex market. The biggest most traded market on the planet. With a colossal US$ 3.5 Trillion traded every single day, this value is more significant when compared to all the other financial markets put together.

Millions of dollars are traded by major corporations daily. These companies form part of the wholesale market and comprises of banks and big hedge funds. They have the power to move the market from one direction to the other due to the large volume and amount of money traded on every single position taken. Those moves usually results in currencies going up and down in any single day thus changing the quotes of each currency throughout the day. The change in quotes most likely relates to profit made or loss incurred.

What makes the Forex market even more appealing than the stock and futures market is the fact that it is a 24-hour market which is opened nearly 7 days a week. Trading opens in Sydney, Australia on Monday morning. Then the Tokyo market opens followed by the European market. One hour after the open of the European market the London market becomes active. The UK market is considered to be one of the largest and most active markets in the currency world. Finally we reach the New York market, which is the last market to open each day.

EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CHF and USD/JPY are referred to as the major pairs as they are backed by strong political and economical back-grounds. These pairs are the most traded ones on the currency market. Next on the list are the YEN pairs namely GBP/JPY and EUR/JPY and the commodity pairs AUD/USD, NZD/USD and USD/CAD.

My experience with trading begun when I was still in university, I had no clue of the dynamics of the market at his stage. Basically I was quite confused to how this process, which is the buying and selling of currencies, actually worked. After some readings, it all made sense. What I found is that not only could money help acquire goods and services but it could also be used to buy or sell another currency in some other countries.

Currency trading which is the buying or selling of a country's currency against the currency of another country is effectuated by Forex traders. They are basically speculators who take advantage of fluctuations in currency quotes to make money. If they believe a currency will appreciate they are more than likely to buy this particular currency in the hope that they will make some profit when comes the time to sell. Traders with a good knowledge of the market make a great living trading forex.

Participating in this amazing market that is the forex has never been easier. All the tools required are available to individuals like you and me, the only thing needed is some proper education that will help understand this market.

Here is what you will need before starting:

- A decent computer

- Internet connection

- Some money as start-up capital

- Forex Broker

That's it, nothing more nothing less!

Education is something that you will need to consider and I strongly recommend that you do educate yourself before jumping in this amazing forex adventure. With 5 years of trading under my belt I still learn new things every single day. Be humble, disciplined and teachable, do not try to make millions in a matter of days. Have a plan and a solid goal setting as this will pave your way to success. - 22871

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