What Moves The Forex Markets in the Short Term?

By Hass67

Fundamental traders depend on fundamental analysis in trading forex. Technical traders depend on technical analysis in trading forex. But the importance of economic data cannot be underestimated in shaping trading strategies.

USD is the most important currency in the world. 90% of currency transactions are done in USD. In almost most of the currency trades, USD is either the base currency or the counter currency.

For success in forex trading, choice of the right currency pair to trade is very important. US Dollar is the most important currency and most probably you will be also trading US Dollar as a forex trader most of the time. You should know that the release of certain economic data has significant and lasting impact on US Dollar.

With experience, you will understand that currency markets reaction to the release of different economic data with time also changes. A few years back, US GDP figures used to be important for USD but they dont have much impact now.

EURUSD is the most liquid pair in currency markets. The release of Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data on the first Friday of every month makes this pair and other pairs involving USD highly volatile.

Similarly, the release of US housing sales number every month has become very significant for USD in the recent years. Previously, forex markets used to give more importance to US Trade Balance.

If you depend on range trading as a trading strategy, you should avoid the day NFP data is released for trading. This is a highly volatile and jittery day for the forex market.

However, if you are a breakout trader, the knowledge of which economic data is expected to be released can help you in determining the size and confidence of the trade.

In brief, knowledge that certain economic indicators make the forex markets move most is important for you as a trader. It is also important for you to know that particular economic data, the market considers most important at any point in time.

You should also know which data causes knee jerk reaction in the markets and which pieces of data will have lasting reaction in the forex markets. - 23159

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading; stocks and forex. Read about Trend Forex System. Best Forex Signal Service. Learn Forex Trading.

Tips For Building a Profitable Forex Trading System

By Mark Thomas

In every business today, you will be successful if you can depend on yourself and no one else. If you are businessman who does not rely on what other people think and say, you will be able to produce more profits than those who seek for the help of other persons. Being a trader means that you should know how to build your profitable forex trading system. If you are a novice, you can also do this since there are some easy tips that you can help you.

A forex system will be very efficient if you are able to make the system simple. Do not go for those that are complex with lots of rules. This is because you are the only one who will need to keep up with the rules by yourself. Instead of utilizing such system, go for the ones that are truly simple because these have been confirmed that they are very effective and there is lesser chance that you will come across those times when you will fail.

A good system should be able to help you produce greater amount of profits as well as help you cut the losses. Obviously, if you are involved in a business, your main goal is to make lots of money and be able to keep them. A profitable forex trading system should be in a longer term, which means that it will not only be in a matter of days but for years. This way, you will be able to determine the big trends that can help you make the most of your cash flow and then reduce the shortfall in your profits. In a long term system, every trader should not settle for small profits for instance a day trading. It is important for a business to stay strong and be able to compete with the other companies and businessmen.

You need a robust and healthy management system and you should be able to spot the opportunities whenever they appear in front of you. What you should do here is to look for the weekly trends and once you have done so, proceed with the daily charts and lastly to the time entries. For most successful traders, the best way for them when trading currencies is through the breakout method, which occurs in all the forex markets worldwide. You also need forex tools so that it can help you time your entry and eventually take profits. There are a lot of programs that are available for download today and some of them have filter indicators.

Deciding that you want to use the breakout method, expect one of the possible things that can happen. First, one is that everything is in your favor, meaning that you are successful in your venture while the other is that the trend is against your market. If it happens that it is false, you must have the ability to manage money. You can do this by exiting the market and then use the day session monetary stop. - 23159

About the Author:

Mark Thomas is a Trading Professional, helps to increase the success rate, spend less time and expand your Services through Trade On Track. Get complete details of Forex Trading using a Software Tool called "Trade On Track". Visit his website http://www.tradeontrack.com to get more information.

Learn More About Day Trading Strategies

By Suzanne

The term Day Trader refers to a person who buys and sells stocks (or any market) in the same day, investing huge amounts of money to cash in on small fluctuations in the prices of stocks and indexes that are highly liquid and volatile. Certain stocks are suitable for Day Traders, liquidity and volatility are the two most essential aspects that are looked at by Day Traders.

The essential elements of successful Day Traders are, Excellent trading psychology and mental state management, Proven money management systems, Proper tools and training, Profitable trading system. There is a certain amount of risk involved in every trade. The risk increases for those without sufficient knowledge and training.

Day Trading used to be practiced generally by financial firms, investment bankers and speculators. However, with new leaps in technology and the introduction of electronic trading and margin trading, it has become more popular with casual at home traders.

There are many styles within Day Trading. Many focus on short term trading, as in they close all their transactions before the close of the day to avoid all unmanageable risks. Others focus on price momentum. While yet some others lay emphasis on technical patterns. Day Traders often borrow certain amounts of money to trade. This is called Margin Trading.

Some of the strategies followed in Day Trading are discussed here:

* Trend Following - This basically follows the principle that prices of stocks once rising will always be rising, and vice versa.

* Contrarian Investing - This follows the principle that prices that have been soaring will reverse and prices that have been falling will go up.

* Range Trading - This is based on keeping record of stocks and seeing the range in which they fluctuate. Thus stocks are brought when they are at a low and sold off when they reach their peak.

* Scalping - This is a trading style where traders buy stocks that are on the rise and sell them off in minutes or seconds to get the profit instantly. This basically exploits the market when the market is volatile.

* Rebate Trading - This technique involves trading low priced stocks in huge amounts which helps them trade more shares and have more liquidity. This uses ECN as the primary source of profit.

* News Playing - This is the most important aspect which Day Traders exploit. Often there are rumors in the market of stocks going up or falling and these have to be understood by the Day Traders and stocks are bought or sold off in accordance to maximize their profit.

It is estimated that around 90% of Day Traders fail or lose their capital and it is a hard discipline. However, with the advent of newer technologies and statistics it has become somewhat stable. For a good Day Trader the most important aspects are good training, a proven system, and managing emotions. - 23159

About the Author:

If you wish to know more about day trading stock tips and free day trading resources then you are invited to visit http://www.UMTTrading.com. UMTTrading.com is a universal place to get information on different kinds of trading strategies. This site provides detailed information on swing trading, day trading systems, forex systems and much more. . .

Know About The Terms In Option Trading

By Dr. Asoka Selvarajah

What is option trading?

Option trading is a way of entering a market with a relatively small upfront investment, but with the possibility of netting you a much bigger return on investment than if you had traded in the underlying instrument. What you are doing in option trading is purchasing the right to buy or sell the underlying security within a specified time period.

During that time you are free to complete the purchase or sale at the price decided initially. If you do not honor the contract the premium that you pay can be lost. Time period in option trading contracts are generally about a month and are settled at dates that are fixed by the stock exchanges that could be the third Saturday of the month. Once this period is over, as an option trader you have lost all rights to make the trade and your premium remains forfeit.

A broader look at option trading

You would have to be deeply involved in stock market trade to understand the difference between stock trading and option trading. If you as a newcomer still want to be involved in option trading you must make an effort to understand terminology used and the ideas behind the concept. The terms by used by traders in option trading are quite specific and have their own meanings. When you go in for option trading you would have to decide a price for the stock you want to trade in , the number of shares, and the time period in which you would make such a trade.

In option trading there is no binding that you have to honor the commitments made, but the premium that you pay to retain these rights to exercise your option could be forfeited. The payment of the premium enables you to lock in the price of the stock for the time period agreed to, and if you find that during this time the value of the stock has appreciated, you are free to make the balance payment and take delivery of the stocks. Conversely if the value goes down and you feel that it is not worthwhile buying the agreed stocks you could cancel the option and forget about the premium payment that you made. This could be construed as a loss, but would be much less than the loss you would have made if you had purchased the agreed stock at the start of the period at the price that was prevailing at the time.

The stock price may drop or just remain lower the exercise price, the buyer of call option cannot use at all, but can also sell the option and in that way exit the position at a loss or breakeven. Instead, he can hold onto it with the hope that there will be rise in the option of the market value, by depending upon factors such as volatility, expiry time and much more.

Generally though, because of the leverage that options provide, you can control a far larger amount of the underlying stock for a relatively small capital outlay compared with buying or selling the underlying instrument. That is what makes options so attractive because there exists the potential to make far higher return on capital than through merely trading the underlying instrument. When you know what you are doing, there are also far more trading opportunities with relatively lower risk compared to merely buying or selling the underlying.

What do the words mean?

When you opt for option trading you trade in blocks of 100 shares.

The buying option of the underlying instrument at the strike price is referred to as a call option.

The option giving the right to sell the underlying instrument at the strike price is called the "put" option.

Strike price: This is the price of the stocks for agreed on when the option trading contract is made.

You are considered to be "in the money" if your strike price is less than the existing price at the time of the option and you put in a call option, or you put in a put option and the strike price is lower than the existing price.

You are considered to be "out of the money" if your strike price is more than the existing price at the time of the option and you put in a call option, or you put in a put option and the strike price is lower than the existing price. - 23159

About the Author:

Which Of These 7 Deadly Mistakes of Online Trading Are You Making Right Now? Get Dr. Asoka Selvarajah's critical Free Report, The 7 Deadly Mistakes Of Online Trading and surge your trading profits, starting today. Visit His Online Trading Site OnlineTradingRebel.Com Right Now!

Find your Income on the Internet

By Sara Ferguson

Many people these days are trying to make money on the internet. New websites, books, seminars, programs, and other sources hit the web everyday with some scheme, theory, or new idea on turning your computer and internet connection into a full time job. Like always the dreams of vast riches has brought out the scam artists and the get rich seekers to flood the net with every conceivable way of making money.

While there are many legitimate ways to make money on the internet, they are over shadowed by the thousands of scams being sold. So how do you sort out the real legitimate ways from the scams? While learning the hard way (trying them all) is a choice, most of us can not afford nor have the time to spend weeks if not months exploring what works and which is just another scam designed to drain your wallet.

Over the course of the last several years, I have tried and failed many times with just about every programs, scheme, and other possible way of making money on the internet. In that time I have learned a lot. Common sense and a little self education will go a long way in helping to sort out what to spend time experimenting.

Basic Rules to Follow:

Someone selling you a program: Think about it a minute. If someone had information that was so valuable that it can make you rich in months, why would someone be selling it? Why are they not so rich they could care less about selling it? Why would they be willing to sell something that makes them rich? Common sense will tell you the only thing making them money is the information they are selling to you.

Buying Free Information: Ever see the ads for information on government auctions? What about the people selling information about government grants? The truth is that all this information is out there FREE for anyone who just contacts the government agency and asks them for it. The only thing you really save is the time to find the information yourself. Let us face the real truth, if you need someone else to find the information that you can find yourself with a little bit of effort, than you will never succeed in using the information to your benefit. Save yourself the money, go find the information yourself.

If you already have decided making money online is the thing for you the first thing you must realize is there is no get rich quick method that works. Making money takes work and time; if you arent willing to put in both then dont waste your time. Making money online is like a fulltime job, you will work forty plus hours a week and it can take months before you see any real return for your time and money.

When you have decided to put forth the time and work to succeed in making money online, you will first have to decide how you intend to make the income. There are a whole host of methods from writing to building and selling websites to selling products. Which method you decide to use to make money, you need to first explore and see if it is right for you and the skills that you currently have mastered.

Just like no everyone was meant to be a writer, not everyone is good at selling retail products. So explore different ideas before you start to see what makes you happy since you will be doing a lot of work for free when you start. - 23159

About the Author:

How to Invest Today and Free Financial Today are free sites full of information on investing, making money, and finding financial freedom from the business rat race.