Forex VPS Hosting

By James Smith

Have you ever wondered how it was possible to trade forex and make money in your sleep? Well, with Forex VPS, this is now a reality. For the increasing number of traders who trade automated systems with Metatrader EAs, they can now set up a forex hosting account, such as with Forex VPS, and have that server running 24/7, with the EA system always switched on, and always making money for the trader.

By using Forex VPS, or a virtual private server, as they are known, many of the problems associated with a shared hosting account are eliminated. When many people are using one server sometimes the account is very slow. VPS is a server being used by only one person. The main server will be divided into several servers and distributed on a shared basis, and forex hosting is usually limited to 15 or 20 virtual servers on a single main server.

One of the biggest advantages of a forex hosting service is that on the dedicated server, you will have your own software's and operating system. This virtual server is like a branch of the bigger universal server but still operates individually. This server is usually used by forex traders, hosting your forex trading requirements. The additional beneift of using a forex VPS is that your MetaTrader EAs will run 24/7, even while you are sleeping. This means that you do not need to have your computer switched on for your trades to be placed, and you do not need to worry about power outages, or losing your internet connection.

If you are a trader and like to trade on a regular basis, subscribing to forex VPS services will let you trade without having the computer on the rest of the day. You can trade through a metatrader broker by simply logging into the site; you will view it and manage the account then start trading immediately.

For those traders who run their expert advisers without interruptions, forex VPS is the ideal service for you. It is always on-line, and does not reboot when trading. Power outages do not affect it and the best part is that the computer can be off. With all its benefits, you can also use this kind of server to test WebPages right before you make them available to the public. It lets you test applications and different software's without having to reboot the whole server.

The automatic restart feature is a vital specification, incase the server is rebooted and you need to automatically restart. The 24/7 access feature is needed because you should be able to access your forex VPS at any time, and from anywhere in the world.

In terms of selecting your forex hosting company, there are a large number of providers who offer this service, as it is becoming so popular with forex traders. Some of the leading forex VPS providers are; EzforexHost, MetaTrader Hosting and Forex Hoster.

All in all, the forex VPS hosting companies have broadly the same product offering, with similar specs within their hosting accounts. The features that you should look out for especially are a pre-installed MetaTrader MT4. Also check that the hosting service is compatible with all forex brokers, or at least with the broker you trade with, as there are some brokers which only use certain operating systems. This will allow you to download and install trading platforms from brokers to your forex VPS. Finally, double check that the EA you plan to trade with is compatible with the VPS host. Most forex hosting providers can support all EAs, but some are still limited in this capacity. - 23159

About the Author:

If you require more information about forex trading, forex hosting and Forex VPS go to Forex Village. They offer independent reviews and have considerable experience when dealing with forex hosting and MetaTrader Expert Advisors.

Thinking of Mutual Funds? Think again.

By Jordan J. Weir

For many years, investors have attempted to diversify their overall portfolios by trying to pick stocks across a diverse set of asset classes. Which is all well and good, but the problem it generally runs into is you should also be diversified within any given asset class, lest something adverse happen to the company you happened to bet on. Yet as soon as your diversifying both within, and between asset classes, now your running a portfolio of potentially 40+ equities, and even the active investor rarely has time to do due diligence on the hundreds of companies required to find 40 excellent investments.

Exchange Traded Funds are the answer. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) allow you to invest in a group of companies all at once, similar to a mutual fund. The difference is that ETFs are traded directly on a stock exchange just like a stock, they can be bought and sold any time during the day without penalty, and they are both shortable, and optionable allowing you to take advantage of both up, and down moves in the market.

ETFs can focus on certain regions; China for instance, is represented by the FXI. ETFs can focus on certain sectors; Those playing financial stocks may find XLF interesting. It can even focus on certain capitalizations; Those wanting diversification across small cap companies can make a single investment in IWM.

But why shun the mutual fund? Why take the new guy over the established king? Lets start with the tax advantage. When mutual funds endure large sell offs, they have to liquidate many positions, some of which are currently at a gain. They then have to pay capital gains on those positions, and this negatively impacts their return. It would be an understatement to say that Mutual funds generally have higher expense ratios in general compared to ETFs. It can sometimes cost as little as 8 dollars to get into an ETF whereas a mutual fund of 20,000 that grows to 60,000 over a 20 year period may have conservatively lost as much as 18,000 to its competent managers.

Perhaps the biggest consideration is the simple convenience of owning ETFs when compared to mutual funds. They can be bought and sold (or shorted) any time during the trading day, using the same order types available to normal stocks. Free from redemption fees, the only deterrent from actively trading an ETF is belief in the efficient market hypothesis, and the standard commission costs from buying and selling stocks

Another important consideration is that most of the more liquid ETFs are optionable. This means that option-savvy investors can harness the power of stock options to change the risk-reward profile of their positions, and risk-conscious investors can use stratagems such as the covered call and protective put to protect their investment.

When investing in ETFs, its important to consider how exactly that ETF works. This can usually be found with a quick google search. While most ETFs attain their returns simply by holding the underlying securities, other ETFs use more exotic means to match their benchmark/investment objective, sometimes with varying success. Particularly important is the differentiation between an ETF and an ETN. ETNs are debt based investments, similar to bonds in some ways, and so their value is also partially dependent on the issuer. For this reason, investments in ETNs should be approached with caution, especially in the current, credit-tight market.

ETFs are a powerful tool for both the intelligent investor, and the active trader. Their ability to hone in and diversify within a given industry, or region of the world is invaluable when riding the larger megatrends that happen periodically in investment. Similarly, the ability to trade them just like a stock, using techniques such as shorting, options, and the various order types make them an invaluable asset for the active trader. For those believing the efficient market hypothesis, they even allow passive index investing at a cost far below that of a mutual fund. - 23159

About the Author:

You must learn the ways of the market before you can truly succeed there, so visit my website and become a market virtuoso! Come and master hidden techniques such as ETF Investing, stock option strategies, sector rotation, and shorting stock! Unleash the true power of Exchange Traded Funds in your portfolio, and allow your portfolio to be the best it can be

ETFs: Investing for the 21st century

By Jordan J. Weir

It has been consistently demonstrated that your investment returns aren't so much a function of what stocks your invested in, but what sectors/asset classes your invested in. In the dot com boom, it didn't matter what dot com stock you invested in, if you were invested in dot com companies, you probably did alright. During the dot com bust, it wasn't just a couple select companies that went down, it was just about all of them. Because of this tendency for similar stocks to move together, it is much more productive to be able to simply buy " or short - a type of stock, then try and nail the exact right company. But how can you gain exposure to a sector without taking unnecessary risk based on the company?

ETF. The latest all important acronym to add to your vocabulary. ETF stands for exchange traded fund; a relatively recent innovation that allows investors to directly target sectors for investment, instead of picking individual stocks, and praying those stocks wont underperform their sector. ETFs are similar to mutual funds, with a couple important differences. They can be bought and sold like a stock, no minimum investment or redemption fees, and you can short them.

The purpose of an ETF is to allow an investor to purchase a single equity that represents an investment in a sector. So if an investor is interested in buying financial stocks, they could buy XLF. If they want some small cap goodies, they can choose to buy IWM. For some exposure to the Chinese stock market, they could invest in FXI. Finally, if they simply want to emulate the returns of the S&P 500 index, the SPY has them covered.

One question remains; why should an investor choose an ETF over a mutual fund. After all, mutual funds have professional managers whose sole responsibility is the management of money. Surely these investment professionals are the best place to go for excess returns? Well there are a couple downsides to mutual funds that aren't experienced by ETFs. First off, there are slight tax advantages for ETFs compared to mutual funds. Should a large sell of occur in a mutual fund, the mutual fund has to sell its holdings, and incur capital gains to be paid by the remaining holders of the mutual fund. Due to how ETFs are set up, this cannot occur, and so you only pay capital gains when you sell (or cover) your position.

Another advantage held by ETFs is their great convenience over their mutual counterparts. Many mutual funds have redemptions fees if you exit within 30 days, whereas ETFs aren't plagued by this problem. Also, unlike mutual funds, you can go short an ETF, benefiting from a fall in a sector instead of a rise. ETFs can also be bought and sold any time during the trading day, using limit orders, stop losses, and all the other tools you can use for buying stock.

Furthermore, ETFs are often optionable, so risk can be minimized with covered calls and protective puts, or " if your so inclined " much larger returns can be sought through buying calls and puts on the ETF. Experienced stock option experts may even use advanced stock option strategies, like iron condors and vertical spreads to increase investment returns.

When investing in ETFs, its important to consider how exactly that ETF works. This can usually be found with a quick google search. While most ETFs attain their returns simply by holding the underlying securities, other ETFs use more exotic means to match their benchmark/investment objective, sometimes with varying success. Particularly important is the differentiation between an ETF and an ETN. ETNs are debt based investments, similar to bonds in some ways, and so their value is also partially dependent on the issuer. For this reason, investments in ETNs should be approached with caution, especially in the current, credit-tight market.

ETFs are a powerful tool for both the intelligent investor, and the active trader. Their ability to hone in and diversify within a given industry, or region of the world is invaluable when riding the larger megatrends that happen periodically in investment. Similarly, the ability to trade them just like a stock, using techniques such as shorting, options, and the various order types make them an invaluable asset for the active trader. For those believing the efficient market hypothesis, they even allow passive index investing at a cost far below that of a mutual fund. - 23159

About the Author:

You must learn the ways of the market before you can truly succeed there, so visit my website and become a market virtuoso! Learn about "insider secrets" such as ETF Investing, stock option strategies, sector rotation, and shorting stock! Unleash the true power of Exchange Traded Funds in your portfolio, and allow your portfolio to be the best it can be

The simple and easy to use Forex trading platform

By Collin De Ruyck

When I started into Forex trading online I wanted a system that was easy to use, and easy to understand. When your learning a new system of making money - you want your tools to be as easy as they can be on you. I am using the eToro forex trading platform my trading experience has got a ton better and profitable!

eToro is an innovative and creative approach to online foreign exchange trading. With eToros winning combination of financial know how and user friendly interface you can monitor, share, and discuss your trading activity while enjoying the latest financial updates.

Simple and Easy to Use Trading Platform

There is also a full training section as part of the eToro trading platform that is free for all to use. You also get a virtual trading account as well so you can practice making trades after you have gone through all the training materials with out spending your own cash.

Getting started with eToro forex trading platform

eToro is a great place for anyone who wants to get a new career and do it with trading forex. Now, I am going to cover how you can download the the system from eToro and get your self rolling! - 23159

About the Author:

The Forex Global Trading Group was started to help all forex traders get going in this three Trillion dollar a day business. To learn how to get set up and to finish this review of eToro please visit eToro Forex Trading Platform Review

Know Your Forex Broker

By Hass67

Many people start trading forex without knowing the games their forex broker can play with them. Choosing a right forex broker is very important for you. Dont get stuck up with an unscrupulous forex broker. Know the tricks a forex broker has for you.

Retail forex market where small traders like you and I trade forex is different than the interbank forex market. Interbank forex market is where big banks, corporations, hedge fund and other institutional investors exchange currencies. It is only open to big players.

Retail forex market was developed after the advent of the internet. Retail forex brokers offer online margin accounts to retail forex traders like you and me who are small time players in a huge market. Retail forex market is loosely regulated that lets the forex brokers play games with small forex traders.

You should be beware of those games. You need to know the following facts while trading forex:

Pricing is Not Transparent: Being an OTC (Over the Counter) market, forex broker can quote prices that may not be fair but you have accept them or choose another broker. The prices that your forex broker is going to quote to you, is the price that you will get. You cannot do anything about it.

Encouraging Leverage: Your forex broker will encourage you to use a high leverage like 100-1 or 200-1. Leverage is good when you are winning but it will wipe you out in case of a loss. Most of the retail forex traders are amateurs and dont know how to handle leverage, they expose themselves and get wiped out in the market quickly. The more you lose the more your broker will make. Dont use too high leverage.

Trading against you: Your forex broker will most probably will be trading against you! Since, most of the retail trades are too small in size; your forex broker cannot immediately offset this position in the interbank market. This gives them the opportunity to trade against you. The more you lose, the more your broker makes.

Practices that are unfair: Forex brokers and Casinos have the same mentality: they dont like winner. If you are winning too much, the house will be stacked against you. Your forex broker may make the execution of your trades very difficult or start denying the service to you. Your trade may not execute due to slippage. There are many games the broker will play against you so beware.

Bill Poulos a veteran forex trader has developed a forex broker scorecard that you can find at my Blog. He will also teach the type pf question that you need to ask. - 23159

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in Options and Forex Trading. Read more about Forex Broker Scorecard.