Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Forex market and its players

Forex Day Trading - 3 facts you needto know to Prevent lossess


If you are a forex day trader or considering it, then you need to know the above facts, if you do they will save you a lot of money. Forex day trading is more popular than ever but how do you make profits? Lets find out.
If you look online you will find more forex day trading courses than any other type of trading methodology and they will all lose you money here  why:
Lets start first of all with the vendors who sell courses
1. Why are they selling them?
To make money for themselves! They do not normally trade their day trading systems because they know they do not work.
If these systems could produce regular profits they would be to busy making money for themselves and not have the time to bother you for a few hundred dollars they would be to busy making money.
2. The Evidence that day trading does not work
If you ask for a track record of profits from any of these vendors you wont get one “What you will normally get is a hypothetical track record of huge gains but this is done in hindsight – KNOWING the closing prices.
If I knew tomorrows price today, I would be a multi millionaire but of course forex trading is a bit more difficult – you have to work out where prices are going without knowing them in advance!
These vendors use great advertising copy to dupe people but the logic of day trading simply does not work. Why? Because:
3. All short term volatility is random!
Day traders will claim that its not – but of course it is!
Volatility can and does, take prices anywhere in a day and daily support and resistance levels are meaningless. When day traders lose, they blame the system or the indicators they use, however if volatility is random, then it is of course the logic of day trading that is at fault – NOT the indicators.
If you think that you can make money day trading go ahead and try but you will learn a very expensive lesson and lose.
I would love a day trader to prove me wrong and produce a real time track record of gains over the longer term (3 years or more), but have the feeling I will be waiting for a long time.
The belief that you can make money day trading, is one of the biggest myths of forex trading and despite the evidence it does not work, traders still think they can win at it they can not.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

2010 Outlook: Prep for a Glum New Year


Regardless of whether the stock and bond markets can sustain their momentum in 2010, the mutual-fund industry, and fund investors, appear destined for a year of bad news.
Here are the best guesses on the fund world's big stories for the new year. These aren't necessarily events on the scale of the economic crisis of 2008, but expect to see:

• Money funds close. If interest rates don't go up soon, a flood of fund firms will shut down money-market-fund businesses because there is no profit in it. Charles Schwab, for example, acknowledges that fee waivers, necessary to keep its money funds delivering any return at all, cost the company more than $100 million in revenue each quarter. The vast majority of money funds have fee waivers in place; corporate boards aren't willing to sacrifice revenue forever.

Already, several money funds have closed down or stopped accepting new money. Without higher rates near term, that will become a bigger trend. When rates do rise, the financial firms will reduce waivers and keep virtually all of the increase for themselves, at least initially.

Once rates eventually go up, institutional money funds, catering to corporate treasurers and other big power players, could end up hurting if customers leave for better-paying commercial paper. If a rate increase is big enough, an institutional fund will fail.

• Bond funds get hurt. Bond-fund yields are well below traditional norms, but that hasn't stopped investors from flocking to these funds for safety. Industry researcher Strategic Insight estimates that a record $400 billion moved into bond funds in 2009.

When rates rise, bond-fund prices fall, and bond-fund investors suffer.

• Hot funds cool. Historically, the fund industry always has followed the trend. When an area of the market gets frothy and looks good, fund firms pile in. Commodities, real-return and absolute-return funds are the latest trend beneficiaries. They inevitably will falter.

• Smaller target-date funds close. The biggest fund companies dominate the life-cycle and target-date market. Smaller players, those without a big business in corporate-retirement programs, will call it quits. When that happens, innovation and the evolution of these funds will stop, and consumers will be stuck with what is out there, which leads to mediocrity.

• Crossroad for exchange-traded funds. Some of the biggest investment firms, including Goldman Sachs Group and T. Rowe Price Group, want to make a splash in the ETF market in 2010. If they can gain traction, then competition and innovation will follow. If they find that the top providers have a stranglehold on ETF assets, that is bad news for the ETF field.

• The SEC whiffs on 12b-1 fees, again. The Securities and Exchange Commission has recognized that 12b-1 fees, sales and marketing charges that are added to a fund's base expense ratio, are confusing and problematic. Regulators have vowed changes, but have done nothing. They tabled the issue in the middle of the financial crisis, promising to get back to it when other matters weren't so pressing. Even if the economy and markets improve in 2010, the agency won't get this job done.

• Hungry investors get stupid once more. Amid the market's recovery, most observers still see something more like a return to normal, where stock gains will be in the 6%-to-10% range. For some investors, that is insufficient. Despite warnings from consumer and regulatory groups, they will dive into leveraged ETFs and other risky plays, confident they can make more. Ruin awaits.

• Summary-prospectus failure. This short-form document offers investors a few pages of some data before they buy a fund. More and more fund companies have started using it, saving them millions of dollars in paper, production and mailing costs. But investors aren't going to pay attention to a four-page prospectus any more than the 40 pages they get now. And don't expect fund firms to pass along those savings as a fee reduction either.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

How to Start a Forex Day Trading Business From Home


While many traders in the foreign exchange (forex) trading markets work for larger trading companies, the majority of successful day traders operate independently. By working out of a home office, you can keep overhead low, be available at all times of the day and night to hit foreign market peaks and enjoy a flexible lifestyle. Training and continuing educational programs are readily available online for very little investment.

Instructions

  1. Step 1
    Start an online course that provides integrated online trading techniques with basic currency education. ForexTrading.com offers students a free demo of their forex training programs, covering topics that include how to analyze forex markets, the fundamentals of trading and how to control risk.

  2. Step 2
    Open an account through the same website where you trained, and begin making small trades, also known as mini trades. Other popular sites that offer forex training and trade portals geared toward newcomers to the industry include the Forex Club and FX Bootcamp.

  3. Step 3
    Register with an online broker, such as Forex Booker, to avoid having to download software platforms, deposit advances into trading accounts and keep a filing system of all your trades. Brokers provide these services for a commission or a straight account maintenance fee. Forex brokers can act as technical advisers and administrators for your business, leaving you free to study the markets and make trade decisions.

  4. Step 4
    Participate in forex blogs and forums, such as Babypips.com and Forex Blog.org, to keep up with news affecting foreign currency and political climates that affect trade. Subscribe to a variety of information feeds and newsletters to stay updated on movement in the international currency markets, Wall Street reactions to political activity and financial reports from banking and financial institutions.

  5. Step 5
    Continue with your online education to gain a solid understanding of foreign markets, international trends and financial accounting practices. An undergraduate degree in finance or Master of Business Administration (MBA) can increase your odds of success in forex trading.
    Tips & Warnings

    • Check reviews and ratings about Internet forex brokers before signing up with a service. Look at blogs, forums and websites that collect reviews, such as Best Online Forex Brokers. Because markets are open 24 hours a day, it can be difficult to separate your work from your home life. Build in time when you shut down the computer and walk away from the shift in news cycles to maintain a balanced lifestyle.


Automated Forex Trading System: Does it Work?

If you're considering an automated forex trading system, this article reviews a popular system.



Automated forex trading has become a popular way to make a profit by dealing in currency trading. Participants use the foreign currency exchange in much the same way they play the stock market. There are a number of advantages to trading currency instead of trading stocks.

If you are serious about getting a huge return on your investment by working smarter, not harder, check out this proven automated forex trading system.

Automatic forex trading utilizes a software program to predict rises and falls in currency rates and make profitable trading decisions. The software also makes the trades for you. With a Forex trading system like this one, you simply start up the program and begin turning a profit with very little effort. Your auto Forex trading can continue working around the clock so trades happen when news breaks rather than when the market opens.

Many people have seen success with automated forex trading but not all packages are created equal. Some have undergone a more rigorous testing process than others. For example, the FAP Turbo software has been tested in both back tests and live trades to ensure the product works. Most software packages have only been back tested, so they may or may not do well in live trading. It is better to find a software package that has been tested in both environments to ensure results.

Most people who opt for a forex trading system have little knowledge about the foreign currency trade market. That is one of the biggest advantages to forex trading software. These programs do all of the work for you, so all you have to do is install the software and kick off the program. Installation usually takes a few minutes and results can be seen the same day. Even people who have never traded currency before can make a profit with Forex.

Forex trading systems take much of the guesswork out of the foreign currency exchange market. You can begin the process with as little as $50 and quickly see the profits begin to accumulate. According to the makers of FAP Turbo, serious profits can be seen in just a few weeks' time. The more you make, the more you can invest and the more you invest, the more you make. The cycle has been a profitable one for many who have used these forex systems.

If you want to make money in the foreign currency market, check out automated forex trading. The FAP Turbo program is a particularly good choice because it has been well tested and proven. With forex trading software like FAP Turbo, you can make money without any prior experience in foreign currency trading. It's an excellent investment.