There is no other market in the world that can compare itself to the foreign exchange market. With almost USD 2 trillion in daily average the Forex market is bigger than all the stock and bond markets of the entire world. A better way to understand its enormous size would be to compare it with any national stock exchange. Let's use the New York Stock Exchange as an example. The total volume of trading in Forex is more than one hundred times the daily trading on the NYSE on an average day.

With a volatile currency environment in this age of globalization and free market, the investors and financial institutions have found a new battle-field in the global Forex trading to prove their financial power and also to cut a sizable profit. Why do you think, this Forex trading has flown to such a great height in the recent years? Well, there are several reasons behind this immense growth.

The operations in stock market are supervised by a centralized exchange. But in Forex market you will not find any such exchange. It works on the "interbank" market, making it similar to an OTC or over the counter market. The two parties in the trade interact with each other directly either over telephone or through the electronic networks all over the world. Thus in Forex trading you do not have to pay commission to the share brokers for your every buy and sell of the stocks. And this opportunity of trading without commissions makes it particularly lucrative as an investment option for seasoned investors who frequently take part in day trading.

The five major cities of the world take the center stage in Forex trading and they are: Sydney, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt and New York. Thus unlike the domestic stock exchanges, Forex market is functional internationally and the market operates 24-hour a day. Starting from Sunday evening (20:00 GMT) to Friday evening (22:00 GMT) you can carry on with your speculative endeavors in the Forex market. It lets you take the advantages of happenings world over affecting the markets internationally.

Then, Forex market is exceptionally liquid. You will always find buyers for your currency and sellers to buy from. If you are dealing in the major currencies, you can rest assured of the price stability and narrow spreads. It is mainly the leading banks with global presence that provide liquidity to investors, companies, institutions and other market players.

Leverage that you enjoy is rather high. It allows you to hold assets 100 times more than your margin deposit. Suppose you have a deposit worth of USD 10,000. It allows you to trade on the volume worth of USD 1,000,000 through leverage. Then you can leverage the first USD 25,000 of your investment up to 100 times. But for the additional collateral, you get the leverage up to 50 times.

It may sound very interesting to step into the foreign currency market in hope of making some profit, But be vary of the risks that are involved. The internet has made the opportunity open for everyone to become small time investors, but before stepping in this volatile world of foreign currency trading you should spend some time to learn about the implications and pitfalls that this market is entailed with.

If you are doing forex trading, then you know the importance of a good forex broker. This is especially true if you are just starting out and do not have a lot of experience. A good forex trader will work with you and provide the information and tips you need to make the best trading.

Even though your forex broker will be offering you tips and advice, they do not make the final decision to buy or sell. You do. Therefore it is important you know what you want and make your own decision. It is ok to ask a lot of newbie forex questions to your broker if you are new to forex trading but make your own mind and accept the results.

As you can see, a good forex broker is important as you will be seeking his/her advice and you certainly want someone who’s the best in the forex business. So how do you go about choosing one? Here are some tips to help you

1. Registered Forex Broker.

It is important that your forex broker is a registered member of a financial institution. Ask for his/her credentials. You want the assurance that he/she will be able to act on your decision and access the funds needed.

Check with the NFA (National Futures Association) if you doubt your forex broker is registered.

2. On-call Broker.

Your forex broker should remain in contact at all times. Whether it be via cell phone, email, instant messaging etc. Your broker should know forex trading is a 24 hour standby job and fluctuations in trading can happen quite quickly. Therefore it is important you can get hold of your forex broker when you need him/her

3. Experienced Broker.

Before you select a forex broker, ask for his/her references. Call those references and ask them about their opinions on the forex trader. By doing this, you can assert whether the forex broker is experienced and whether he/she is able to execute a trade effectively and successfully.

It would be best to contact more than one references to get an accurate feedback on the forex broker.

4. Cost of Broker

Many people when looking for a forex broker are overly concerned about the cost. Usually more experienced forex brokers as well as those with a good track record of successful trades demand a higher price.

My recommendation is to select a few forex brokers that you are comfortable with, have credentials, have a proven good track record. Once you have done that, then you can talk about cost.

Sometimes the price for a forex broker with the above qualifications can be high, however you need to keep in mind, they can help you make more money in the long run and offset the cost.

Forex is short for Foreign Exchange, where money from one country is exchanged for that of another or the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another.

When one deals in forex trading the profit or loss, he incurs is the increased or decreased value of an investment caused solely by currency movements. For example, if an investor thought that the US dollar was weak, he might purchase German Mark. The investor's, the real profit or loss could then be in how the Mark moves against the US$.

Being the largest financial market in the world, the Forex market has a volume of more than $1.5 trillion daily. Also the Forex market, unlike other financial markets, has no permanent location, no central exchange and just happens ‘Over the Counter.’ It operates through an electronic network of large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments and other financial markets and institutions. Retail traders are individuals who are a small part of this market. They participate indirectly through brokers or banks.

The foreign exchange market is unique because of its trading volume, the extreme liquidity, the large number and variety of traders in the market, its geographical dispersion, its long trading hours i.e. 24 hours a day and a host of factors that affect exchange rates etc.

Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies are traditionally noted as XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For example, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.2045 dollar.

73 % of the forex trading is done by 10 top international banks. These large banks continually provide the market with both “bid or buy” and “ask or sell” prices. The difference between the price at which a bank or broker will sell and the price at which a broker will buy from a wholesale customer is called the “spread”. This spread is very less for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually only 1-3 pips. One pip is the smallest unit of price move used in forex trading. For example, if the currency pair EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.4000 and then the exchange rate changes to 1.4010, the pair did a 10 pips move. The pip is the smallest unit regardless of the fractional representation of the currency exchange rate. Thus, 1.3000 to 1.3010 is the same move in pips terms as 110.00 to 110.10 For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $1,000,000.

First of all, what is Forex? It is a short version of FOReign EXchange. It is also called FX and 4X, but regardless of the name you use, it is the largest financial market in the world. From 1997 to the end of 2000, daily Forex trading has skyrocketed from $5 billion to over $1.5 trillion..

Let’s look at some reasons why Forex trading is rapidly gaining popularity over other markets.

Trading hours: The Forex market is traded 24 hours per day from about 7pm EST on Sunday until about 3pm EST on Friday. The stock market is only traded Monday thru Friday with limited hours.

Liquidity: Forex markets trade over $1.5 trillion each day while the stock market only around $200 billion. There are only 7 major currencies traded on the Forex while there are more than 40,000 stocks from which to choose.

Commissions: No commissions are charged on the Forex while the stock markets charge high commissions and transaction fees.

Leverage: Forex Market offers great leverage power. Brokers usually offer from 100:1 to 400:1 leverage. This means a trader using 100:1 leverage you control $100,000 with only $1,000 margin. Stock market investors pay full price for stock when purchased unless they have a margin account and the leverage with margin is usually only 2:1.

Low Minimum Investment: The minimum initial investment to open a Forex trading account is as low as $300. Most stock brokers require several thousand dollars as a minimum to open an account.

This is the perfect market. Foreign Exchange trading has long been recognized as a superior investment opportunity by major banks, multinational corporations and other institutions. Now the internet has propelled Forex trading among private individuals tremendously. Trade from home, the office, or virtually anywhere in the world. Trade virtually anytime day or night. Work part time or full time.

Step-by-Step Practical Guide

Step One: Choose Your Mentor

If you think carefully about Forex Market, you’ll come to the realization that Forex Market is something which is in your head, only. It is your perception for the market and that perception is going to change as you grow trough the process of learning it.

The question here is: How to control something, which is in your head and you have no control of? No matter what you do, the first thing you have to put under control is: manage the mind. The problem #1 in our life is using the mind properly.

What is that has to do with the Forex Market? As you know, already, this is something which exists in your head and you have to use your mental power on its full capacity. No success can be achieved in whatever you do if you cannot control the mind. If you loose your concentration you can loose the money invested there.

How can you prepare yourself for Forex? - Follow the path of the successful players. Choose Your Mentor. Do not try to reinvent the wheel.

How to find Your Mentor? - Do your FOREX research. It is very easy. Use Internet to get very good free content on that topic. Subscribe to several free e-courses. The number of e-courses can run from 3 to 11. Visit as much websites as you can feel comfortable to handle, without being overload.

Read the information carefully and try to soak the new terminology. Do not force your self. If you are really passionate about the Forex you’ll find how quickly and easy the information will be learned. Dedicate between 2 to 4 weeks to accomplish this process.

There are many websites offering free ebooks and reports on FOREX. Download as much as you want and study those materials. They usually contain a lot of valuable information. Some of them are even better then the highly overpriced ebooks, seminars and training packages.

Once you follow the above carefully, start to eliminate those sources you do not like. Raise the bar and leave just 2-3 sources of the information you are going to follow. Keep on learning from what they offer for about 2-4 weeks.

When you feel you are ready, make your decision and pick ONE source, only. Choose your Mentor. Now you can buy what is offered by your Mentor. Start serious work study process on the materials. Open DEMO account and test what you learn with fake money.

As you acquire more and more knowledge, you’ll need to open another DEMO accounts. Apply the lessons immediately on the market and watch carefully for the results. At this time, your loosing trades are your best gifts. Allow yourself to loose a lot and learn as much as possible from those “bad” trades. Do not skip any lesson the market deliver to you for free.

There are many many advantages over the various other ways of investing. First of all it is a 24 hr market, except for weekends of course. You have the US market then the European and then the Asian. One of the great times to trade is during the over lapping periods. The USA and European overlap between 5am & 9am eastern and the Euro & Asian between 11pm & 1am eastern. Usually the busiest time and best to trade.

The is also the risk factor for the accounts. With futures and options you can get margin calls that can wipe you out. If you get caught in a bad trade not only do you lose the money in the account but you may have to come up with a lot more from your pocket. It can be very risking. But not in Forex. Worst case scenario you could lose whats in you account. But you would have to do something really stupid. Like making a big trade on a Fundamental day and leave it alone. If market takes a bad move and you weren't there. OOOPS. But That wouldn't happen with a smart trader.

Then there are the demo accounts which is an account where you can trade using all the right things, platform, charts, and information. But you are using play money, or what we call paper trading too.

Plus with Forex you have a mini account. Instead of needing thousands of dollars to get into it. You can open an account with as little as $300.00. Now of course you will be trading at 1 tenth of a trade. IN other words you controling 10,000 instead of 100,000.00 These are call lots. Which also means you will only risk 1 tenth too!

So if you would love to learn to do investing and not have near the risk you really need to take a closer look at Forex trading.

It is a known law of physics that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. Why then would a person expect that investing small amounts of money each month ever expect to receive the windfall profits they hope for? Small efforts produce small rewards. The rabbit will most often prevail over the tortoise in the game of life. That is why it is necessary to learn to use fast money instead of slow. That is the reason to trade the forex market.

The market is open Sunday afternoon until Friday at 4pm eastern. There are opportunities for profit at almost any time of day. No one is left out in any time zone.

The forex market is the best trending market in existence. Money is constantly changing hands. Trading opportunities abound day and night. Minimal investments can create large profits. With the proper use of leverage, a simple $300 investment can become a massive $30,000 in as little as six months.

Government data is released on a regular basis almost everyday. These releases can produce huge price swings which are easily tradable. Most notable is interest rate decisions, payroll data and speeches by the heads of individual countries central banks.

There are many resources for free charts and demo trading platforms available on the net. It is possible to have a firm grasp of the basics of trading forex in as little as 30 days. While it may not be possible to be master trader overnight, there are many who have achieved success in extremely small amounts of time. With the proper use of risk control and money management anything is possible.

Forex traders are raking in big profits with low risk high yield, investment strategies that exist only in the foreign currency market.Especially those who have a trained eye that can see excessive profit points that explode when done correctly. The forex market has created many millionaires who understand the exceptional leverage that is provided by trading currency. To be exact a 100:1 leverage ratio, this means you can leverage your money 1x100 so $100 leverages $10,000 and $10,000 leverages $100,000. This extraordinary benefit of the currency market allows you to realize windfall profits in a short period of time and can quickly make you a lot I mean a whole lot of money. Big Businesses, banks, and wealthy investors have been making billions for years from foreign currency exchange, and now the little guy with a few hundred bucks has the same opportunity to profit from this supercharged money making forex machine.

My friend the forex boom is just beginning and I have a secret weapon that neither the newbie nor professional forex fanatics possess. Let me put this in perspective for you, lets say you could have been friends with Warren Buffet before he became a billionaire and he was willing to show you all his techniques and insight into the markets. Would you have listened? I hope you answered yes, because every investor that got involved with Warren Buffet before he became a household name has since become super multi millionaires. Now you have a similar opportunity, but there is one problem (a good problem) the leverage that is available to you through the forex market will speed up the amount of time it takes to make substantial gains that made those select few multi millionaires.

There is a little known multi millionaire forex trading champion that I discovered online who has been dumping his number crunching brain power and secret proprietary forex strategies which have made millions for everyone to see. You would not believe some of the simple yet powerful techniques this forex fiend was revealing. I mean I was floored at the sight of some the stuff this guy was showing me because I knew it meant the difference between making millions of dollars, or still trying to figure out what a pip was (forex jargon). I had to put this in writing so everyone could A. (know about the forex market) and B. (get access to this forex fortune teller). The forex market has opened up new doors for everyday Joe Schmoes such as myself and will continue to grow and give new opportunities to those who want to discover a new way to wealth. The fact of the matter is when you combine a market like foreign currencies and a Warren Buffet like forex genius that equals profits, period.

As with almost anything concerned with making money, searching the Internet for Forex will give you a wealth of information. Some of this information can be very useful while some of it very dubious in nature. Be sure not to pay over the odds for a training course or trading software. Many sites offer a very convincing case for you to spend several thousand dollars in their trading software that will mean you cannot lose. I would certainly avoid this kind of offer and concentrate on learning everything you can to learn how to trade yourself.

If you are just starting out with Forex you are probably quite excited but be sure not to jump straight in but rather to do some research and find a site that offers the things you need most. The most important consideration is to find a site that has up to date research tools. A site with live streaming, daily commentary along with plenty of charts and graphs can be very useful. They may also offer web courses to help you build up a foundation of knowledge. As I mentioned before though, be aware of paying a lot of money for supposed "gold-dust" information.

Trading the Forex is something that can put you at risk of losing a fair amount of your hard earned money. For this reason, you should strongly consider the costs involved with joining a site. The fee structure of Forex sites usually involves paying a monthly subscription to enable you to use the site's resources. The best sites available will involve you having to pay some amount of money to use them and you should definitely consider doing this. The Forex market is very competitive and all the top investors will be using the best, most up to date information so you need to be using it as well to allow you to be successful.

Commodity day trading most commonly refers to the practice of buying and selling stocks during the day. By the end of the day, there has been no net change in position. For every share of stock bought, an equivalent share is sold. A gain or loss is made on the difference between the purchase and sales prices.

Studies have shown that the more money you have to trade in commodity, the better your chances of success. While some vendors (who want to sell you something) suggest you can trade with any amount you may have, most experts agree that with less than $10,000, your success depends on luck. You just don't have enough to diversify and apply proper risk management principles.

Risk is always commensurate with reward. If you are trying to "get rich quick," the high risks you will have to assume will probably break you. Commodity trading is not inherently risky. It is only as risky as you want to make it. Most people lose, because they can't control themselves or the urge to gamble. A disciplined person trading a solid, trend-following system with sufficient capital to diversify can reasonably expect consistent returns of 25 to 50 percent a year, with drawdown of 15 to 30 percent.

You won't find many people who have made a long-term career from commodity day trading. Short-term price data is too random to exploit. This has been demonstrated mathematically. The only way to trade successfully is to follow trends. The trends you follow must be large enough so that the average trade result is greater than the costs of trading. Day trading in commodity does not permit you to do this on a consistent basis. Long-term trading is much easier.

Money makes the world go 'round and also affects the bulk of shopping and travel habits across the globe. With all of the different currencies that countries have, whether it is from the Anguilla East Caribbean Dollar (XCD) to the Euro (EUR) in France, all monetary units fall under a system of exchange. Since the world is filled with varying levels of economical statuses, there are some destinations that possess a higher value of currency than others. Understanding the money exchange rates of the world make purchasing foreign products, enjoying vacations and making business trips much easier.

Money exchange rates simply state how much one country's currency is worth in the units pertaining to another country. For example, when traveling from the United States to Africa, you will want to know how much the dollar compares to the South African Rand (ZAR). While some countries will gladly accept the American dollar as payment, often, it is more advantageous for a traveler to exchange their dollars for the currency associated with their vacation destination.

The Affect of Exchange Rates on Foreign Interaction

The currency exchange rates regarding foreign travel and shopping purchases creates a system filled with twists and turns with room for comparison, especially when traveling to a foreign country. Money exchange booths and banks are scattered all over tourist destinations. You should know that exchange rates can be rather mind-boggling and if you don't keep on top of this ever-changing system, you might get duped into paying more for something than you should have.

This is because not all currency exchange locations offer the same rates. For example, large banks often present better rates than independent vendors and small-scale currency exchange booths. Doing a bit of comparison-shopping upon arrival will help you to select the best rates in town.

If you enjoy purchasing goods from the Internet, knowing exchange rates come in handy. This allows you to assess whether or not you will receive a better deal once converting your currency. All of these details regarding a foreign purchase should be ironed out before completion since exchange rates are always fluctuating. Sometimes, currency exchange and foreign transactions are made easy with websites like Ebay, which posts both currency expectations for foreign purchases. For example, if a product costs AU $15.82, Ebay will make note that the final price in American dollars will be approximately US $12.25.

When converting money in a foreign country, it is suggested not to go overboard unless you plan to spend a lot of money during your trip. The more unused converted money you have, the more you stand to lose in the long run. This is because unused money will have to be converted into the currency of your country upon departure, which means you will most likely receive lower rates. For example, at the time this article was written, $100 United State Dollars equals $113.47 in Canadian Dollars, but $100 Canadian Dollars only equals to $88.15 United States Dollars.

Locating Currency Exchange Rates

When traveling, currency exchange rates and options are offered in airports, post offices, grocery stores, hotels and gift shops. As a tourist, you can avoid being taken advantage of as a clueless foreigner by calculating exchange rates on your own. This is when a currency calculator or converter will come in quite handy. On the market, there are many different models to choose from, including talking translators that double as a currency converter, pocket versions and currency converters thin as a credit card.

Here’s the challenging question: WHAT CAN I DO that’s profitable as a business? Here’s a sound business philosophy: Produce value for yourself others by improving the quality of life. Here’s a sound business goal: Have a lucrative Foreign Exchange (Forex) currency trading business online!

Forex - The buying of one currency and selling of another simultaneously
Forex – The Largest financial market in the world, larger than all US equity and Treasury markets combined!

Does the thought of casually making substantial income daily for doing what you love, instill a sense of passion and motivation? You’re probably ready to experience this as soon as possible. Read on!

You can easily start a business currency trading in the Forex market because –
- The startup costs extremely low.
- You don't need any employees.
- You trade from the comfort of your own home directly from your computer.
- Make money regardless of the state of the US or world economy.

Trade from anywhere you have an internet connection. You have total freedom of location

Now there is one thing that takes us from imagining the profit goal to experiencing the profit goal. That one thing is take action right? If a profitable Forex trading business is the object of your desire, then just get it going! But when? How?

The winning techniques and concepts that were revealed to me came from a mentor dedicated to propelling me to action, to success! We used a complete forex trading & profit guide that’s been in place for years and it’s free - downloadable and easy to follow, obtained via – www.fxstrategycentral.com. Their differentiator is – they actually go the extra mile and position you to take the decisive winning action!

- In Forex, trading there aren’t any leading indicators that you have to look for.
- Successful traders only trade when the odds of success are in their favor.
- It is not necessary to become an expert in these markets to profit from them.

Just decide to make Forex trading your choice for lucrative profits and positive cash flow! The free downloadable e-guide mentioned is called “Forex Freedom”. Make the decision to commit a few more minutes each day with it, and you will find that momentum to your goal will move more in your favor – in both your trading performance and in your own personal fulfillment! For example make $200 to $3,000 a few hours work using some exclusive techniques!

In the e-guide, course materials will teach you truly remarkable step-by-step unique strategies to trade the FOREX in highly specialized ways! Those closely guarded techniques for successful Forex trading are clearly examined, described and expanded into an entire confidence-building, decision-strengthening, go-do-it process. The puzzle of what-to-do is simplified into clearly defined and easily achievable pieces.

Back when I first started learning about investing, I decided to start from the beginning and read basic books on personal finance as well as “guides” for understanding all of the investment world in a nut shell. Most of these authors were very knowledgeable and informative, but their investment advice was far too conservative for my taste. They would literally write chapter after chapter talking about the differences between conservative investing, which according to them generally yields somewhere around 5% PA, as opposed to “risky” investing which usually meant a diversified stock/mutual fund portfolio yielding (in my mind) only slightly higher averages. What kind of returns can you expect in the stock market? Well they say the market has gone up an average of 10% a year since Adam and Eve. Popular indexes like the DOW and the now more popular S&P500 have always, like real estate, “gone up over time.”

Now, these market averages are almost worshiped like golden calves. Repeatedly drilled into my brain was the concept that there were hundreds (if not thousands) of fund managers and other “professionals” out there with Harvard degrees, decades of experience, millions of dollars under management, and they were all spending 15 hours a day consuming every single bit of market information in the hopes of beating these golden calves by a few points.

What chance did I have? If Dr. Fund Guru Jr. who eats, sleeps, breathes the markets and has more credentials than I have individual hairs on my body can’t consistently make 20% a year...well...forget it kid...your chances are slim to none. I guess I’ll buy some shares of XYZ fund and accept the scraps off the table from the stock gurus.

NOT!

The foreign exchange market offers many benefits that the stock market does not have. Most of these have been beaten to death on various forums, blogs, articles, e-books, etc. However, it’s always good to reiterate the positive (my own personal reason is last):

- Forex offers unprecedented liquidity. With over two trillion dollars transacted per day on the market, it makes filling any buy/sell order virtually instant. That equates to less slippage and more profitability. “Paper trading” stocks vs actually trading stocks is very different, because orders may not be filled in a timely manner. The difference between trading a forex demo account and an actual account is virtually nill.

- Forex is available 24 hours a day 5.5 days a week, as opposed to the daylight trading hours of the stock exchanges.

- Forex is uncontrollable by large entities. Large net worth individuals, banks and fund managers who throw their weight around in the stock market can often have huge effects on price action. Because of the immense volume of foreign currency traded per day, the market is unmoved by “heavy hitters.” Not even central banks can control the Forex market.

- Forex offers up to 200:1 leverage as opposed to 2:1 stock leverage.

- Forex has no restrictions for selling short, as opposed to the stock market’s “uptick” rule

- Forex can actually be traded INSIDE of an IRA or Roth IRA account.

- Forex gains are taxed at the preferred 60/40 rate, no matter what trading style you use (intra-day, swing, position) as opposed to the tax penalties for holding stocks for short periods of time.

The list does go on, but for me the biggest advantage is a psychological one. I know it probably sounds silly, but fear and intimidation can sometimes subconsciously defeat us before we even begin. I don’t like the idea of having to live up to, and in a way, compete with “professional managers” who have more knowledge of the fundamentals of the markets than I ever will. It’s almost as if Forex, in some way, levels the playing field. I don’t have to psychologically compete against anyone’s idea of what kind of returns are “acceptable and realistic” and what kind of returns are “pure fantasy.” I only have to trade until I can find an acceptable reward to risk ratio, and consistent profitability thereof. The only one I compete against is myself.

Professional traders of stocks or commodities bear striking resemblances to poker players. Now I know that some of you are already getting angry with this comparison, but please hear me out. As many people today, I have recently found myself quite interested in the WPC (World Poker Championship). I hear people talking about it all the time it seems that we can't get enough of it. This interest caused me to do some reading on poker strategies. I was struck by the similarities to the many books I have read about trading strategies. If you boil both games down to their essence, both rely on money management, and controlling emotion. After years of trading I can tell you that money management can be taught to anyone with simple mathematics. Controlling emotion on the other hand cannot. In trading as well as poker a person can calculate the odds of the next move to decide whether it makes sense. This is exactly what good players and traders do. Then you have to be able to control your emotions to follow through with your play. Ahh... this is where the good and the great players and traders part company.

In trading I hear the same excuse alot. If I had $100,000 account I would be able to trade

better. Believe me, nothing could be further from the truth. The difficulty of controlling your emotions grows right along with the size of your account. When I was new to trading I thought this same way. I had to change this type of thinking myself to grow as a trader. I think that poker provides an excellent opportunity to explain why this logic is not correct. I made a list of the names of the 15 best players on the WPC tour. I watched the tour on T.V. for several weeks. I noticed that the same 15 people always seem to rotate at the final table of 8 players. Sure there would be the occasional lucky unknown player that would be there at the last table, but names from my list always popped up. In these tournaments you don't bring your own money, everyone just pays an entry fee. All of the players have an equal stake in the game.

With the popularity of this game today many tournaments start out with several hundred if not thousands of players With all things being equal how do we explain the same handful of players consistently ending up on top. Emotions. Mainly fear and greed. The fear of being knocked out of the game drive them to bad decisions. Later for all those who are still in the game, greed takes over and the thought of winning a bunch of money causes bad decisions. Poker is a game based on mathematical odds of the various hands dealt. Based on that the player with the best math skills would win, but that is often not the case. I'm sure that all the top players are good at math, but there are probably many new players at every tournament that have better math skills. Especially now that poker is the new hot thing to do for a living. No, you can plan things out with perfect math skills but without the emotional control to follow through with your plan it will not succeed.

It's probably hard for some people to believe, but the global FOREX trading market dwarfs that of equities, even though the former gets little attention and the latter is talked about incessantly on the news.

The daily volume of global FOREX trading now exceeds $2 trillion dollars! To be sure, it is the leader in the competitive field of market exchange. Currently, London holds the title for the world’s largest foreign exchange center, accumulating 30% of the currency business.

Global FOREX trading is exciting for many reasons.

First, the markets are almost always open. One can trade 24/7 as currencies fluctuate all day and night. Compare that to equities where one can only effectively trade during market hours when the stock exchanges are open.

Second, the potential leverage in global FOREX trading is astounding.

In stock trading, one either trades with money they have or, at best, can open a margin account and trade with double leverage. A margin account funded with, for example, $25,000 can control $50,000 dollars worth of equity positions.

Now contrast that with global FOREX trading in which one can often obtain leverage of 20 times, 50 times, and even 100 times one's original capital.

For example, it's not uncommon to be able to open an account at an online FOREX brokerage with $5,000 and be able to control position sizes of $200,000 or more. (In FOREX, trading is realized in lots. 1 Lot = 100,000).

Think about that! If you funded an account with a mere $10,000 dollars you could control $500,000 worth of positions (10 lots). If your positions moved favorably giving you only a 5% gain you would be in profit $25,000 dollars. From an only $10,000 dollar initial capital!

Clearly the immense leverage in global FOREX trading is what lures a lot of players into the game. However, leverage can cut both ways and it's possible to get wiped out just as fast as one can make a veritable fortune.

Because such large sums of money can be made playing the FOREX markets, hobbyists and full time currency traders are quickly increasing in numbers.

For both amateur and pro alike, getting quality FOREX analysis of the markets -- both fundamental and techical -- is extremely important.

And for people who have yet to learn how to FOREX trade, taking an online course is paramount to get them off to a proper start.

Indeed, it can make the difference between being successful and getting wiped out, although there is no guarantee that even the best newsletter analysis service or FOREX training course will guarantee you profits or guard you against losses.

That's why global FOREX trading is considered a highly speculative endeavor.

The people who do best at it will be methodical, have strong control over their impulses and emotions, are analytical to a fault, and are all around disciplined individuals.

Ever since the speculator George Soros of the Quantum Hedge Fund realized a profit of over $1 billion dollars in a few short days by shorting the British pound in 1992, market players have become more and more drawn to the exciting game of global FOREX trading.

THE TRADE DECISION

1. Never add to a losing position.

2. Always determine a stop and a profit objective before entering a trade. Place stops based on market information, not your account balance. If a "proper" stop is too expensive, don't do the trade.

3. Remember the "power of a position." Never make a market judgment when you have a position.

4. Your decision to exit a trade means you perceive changing circumstances. Don't suddenly think you can pick a price, exit at the market.

THE MARKET HAS CHARACTER

5. In a Bull market, never sell a dull market, in Bear market, never buy a dull market.

6. There are times, because of lack of liquidity, or excessive volatility, when you should not trade.

7. Trading systems that work in an up market may not work in a down market.

8. There are at least three types of markets: up trending, range bound, and down. Have different trading strategies for each.

9. Up market and down market patterns are ALWAYS present, merely one is more dominant. In an up market, for example, it is very easy to take sell signal after sell signal, only to be stopped out time and again. Select trades with the trend.

10. A buy signal that fails is a sell signal. A sell signal that fails is a buy signal.

11. It's always easier to enter a losing trade.

12. In the "blowout" stage of the market, up or down, risk managers are issuing margin call position liquidation orders. They don't check the screen for overbought or oversold, they just keep issuing liquidation orders. Don't stand in front of a runaway freight train.

13. You are superstitious; don't trade if something bothers you.

NEWS

14. Buy the rumor, sell the news.

15. News is only important when the market doesn't react in the direction of the news.

16. Read today's paper tomorrow. When you read yesterday's paper each day with the knowledge of what the market already did, you will affirm that this mornings paper with yesterday's news has nothing to do with today's market.

A TIME TO TRADE

17. On the open, never enter a new trade in the direction of a gap. Never let the market make you make a trade. (Closing an existing position is obviously ok.)

18. The first and last tick are the most expensive. Get in late and out early.

19. When everyone is in, it's time to get out.

20. Never trade when you are sick.

TRACKING YOUR TRADES

21. Size kills. Only change your unit of trading under a plan of attained goals. Also, have a plan for reducing size when your trading is cold or market volume is down.

22. Confidence kills. Remember, you really don't know anything. Respect the market every second of every day. Expect the unexpected. Always know your position and exit your trade immediately whenever you feel uneasy.

23. Measure yourself by profitable "days in a row," not by individual trades.

24. The best way to break a streak of "losing days in a row" is to not trade for a day.

25. Don't stop trading when your on a winning streak. "When your hot, your hot."

26. Three strikes and your out! Don't turn three losing trades in a row into six in a row. When you’re off, turn off the screen, do something else. "When you’re not, you’re not."

27. Scalpers reduce the number of variables effecting market risk by being in a position only for seconds. Day traders reduce market risk by being in trades for a matter of minutes.

28. If you convert a scalp or day trade into a position trade, by definition you did not consider the risks of the trade.

29. Don't ever fret about a missed opportunity. There is always another one just around the corner. Besides, several just happened that you didn't even know about.

MARKET OPINIONS

30. If you look for market secrets you will only find things that no one cares about. Use the conventional tools.

31. Never ask for someone else's opinion, they probably did not do as much homework as you. 32. When the market is going up, say "the market is going up." When the market is going down, say "the market is going down." Say it without qualifications, no "buts" attached. This is a reality check, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to say what is literally going on in front of you when your mind is full of preconceived opinions.

33. THE DAILY MARKET COMMENTARY: I've never had an opinion I didn't like, however, successful day trading requires flexibility. Do your homework not to develop a market opinion, but rather to understand the potential for both sides of the market. This will allow you to make your trades based on what the market is doing at the time of the trade.

34. Here is a quote to remember: "When you wake up, your instincts are wrong."

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

35. When you make a mistake of discipline, whine like a fool to anyone that will listen. Errors in discipline are mistakes you will keep on making for many years. Wearing ashes and sack cloth may help extend the time before you do it again.

36. If you squirmed and moaned while you read this list, then you share two obvious characteristics with many of us:

A. You have traded long enough to recognize that you (not the market) make mistakes, and you try to overcome them.

B. Now this is ugly, you have become part of the market and you can never leave. No matter where life takes you, you will always check the market and always want to continue being a part of it. It's like that first true love, it will always be there no matter what the distance, no matter whether they are alive or dead.

Sound familiar? Well, it should. Every time you read about a managed fund, or Forex trading system, this is exactly what your are buying into. Obviously, you would never give your money to a fund if they can't provide consistent profits, and in most cases a "detailed" view of historical results.

O.k. I am getting ahead of myself. Let me take a step back and explain the question I am trying to answer.

Who should I let manage my account?

To me, there is a very simple answer to this question. YOU SHOULD MANAGE YOUR ACCOUNT. No other individual in this world understands your strengths, weaknesses, and tolerances better than you.

Yet there seems to be a never ending growth of funds and/or trading systems available online. Every one of them, of course, show substantial profits in the past. The question, then, is this.

Why are they sharing this great fortune with us? Why not just invest more of their own money, which they have just recently earned, and increase their profits?

There is a relatively limitless amount of money available in the Forex. Why would someone want to earn 25% of your profit as a management fee instead of 100% of theirs. Because both of those things can not happen at the same time.

Every Forex broker offers guaranteed fills on your orders under normal market conditions. This means that a $1 order is treated the same as a $1,000,000 order (whatever the maximum is with your Forex broker). So, as long as your trade is accurate, you will have no problem getting as much currency as you like.

So what does that mean? Well, every Forex broker has a maximum size order for which you are guaranteed your fill. This is important to understand for a very simple reason.

If the fund manager is only guaranteed his fill for $1,000,000, why wouldn't he want to capture maximum profit on his entire alloted amount.

In fairness, I would understand if he didn't have the capital to invest, but then I wouldn't trust the claims of his previous successes.

With a consistently successful trading strategy, and a conservative compounding strategy; you could turn a $5,000 account into a $1,000,000 account in just over 1 year. Let me explain before you all go running to open a Forex Trading Account and lose all your money.

By investing 10% of your account on a daily basis, and averaging 20 pips/day in profit your account would increase by 2% on a daily basis. For those of you familiar with compounding, you understand how this can lead to such a major growth in your account.

So, here is another obvious question. If the fund has been averaging such astounding results over the past year, why can't they invest enough money to reach their limit? And, if they can, why aren't they?

Here is the answer to all of the questions. If they were that good, you would never know about them. It's just that simple. The greatest traders are growing their accounts and reaching their limit day after day.

I promise you this - they are not using anyone else's trading strategy, they are using their own. That's right, to become a truly great Forex trader, you have to learn what works best for you, not someone else.

The most efficient way to reach the pinnacle of your trading skills is through an elite Forex trading course.

Are you still thinking about letting someone else handle your trading for you?

Here is one more reason for skepticism. Many spreads charge you a per trade transaction. This is an absolute no no. In this arrangement, they are guaranteed to make money on every trade. You, on the other hand are not. Avoid dealings with anyone who will make money on your losses.

Most people start their trading career without a clue as to how they are going to decide what, how, or when to trade. Most traders start off with the stock market because that is what they are the most familiar with. They don’t usually start getting interested in markets like commodities of Forex until they are somewhat comfortable with trading stock. Probably they got interested in the stock market because of a conversation they heard at work or school about some stock that’s supposed to take off. Maybe they have a friend who regales them with their tales of how they bought Amazon or Yahoo at some great price and then watched it double or triple in a few months.

So off they go and open an account with a stock broker, thinking that all they have to do is buy the same stocks that Joe Bigmouth up at work is buying and they’ll make a killing. Chances are that Joe Bigmouth has LOST as much or more money on his trades as he’s made, but somehow the stories of his losses never make it to the breakroom. Even worse, maybe they start listening to their broker and following his advice - a sure way to not make consistent money. We can all predict how this story will end: our friend will get creamed by trying to trade the stock tips of others. If our friend is really serious about trading with any chance of success, he needs to have a plan, or at least some guiding principles to go by.

There are four basic concepts that most traders who get serious about their craft will fall into. These concepts are:

· Fundamentals: These traders base their trading decisions on the type of broad-based macroeconomic forces that can make markets move in one direction or another. These types of traders may be right about the general market direction most of the time, but the market usually makes very wide price swings as it goes along. These swings are usually big enough to wipe all but the biggest institutional traders who have very deep pockets and can afford the market swings against their position. The small-time trader usually can’t afford to take the kind of losses that are part of trading strictly fundamental news, and so they either lose their capital and are out of the game, or they must modify their fundamental strategy by incorporating one or more of the other trading concepts into their decision-making.

· Technical traders: These traders make their trading decisions by looking at price charts and interpreting the patterns and indicators on their charts. Their basic belief is that any information you need to know about the market is already factored into the price at any given time. They may use some type of fundamental information to give them a general idea of the direction the market is heading, but they will base all of their entry and exit decisions on how they interpret their price charts.

· Trend-Following or Swing Trading: These traders try to identify major up and down trends in the market, and once they identify a trend that is underway they jump on and try to ride out the trend until it starts reversing. Then they will usually exit their position, wait for the next trend to develop, and jump on board again going the other way.

· Seasonal Traders: These traders like to take advantage of the fact that certain markets tend to go up, down, or do certain types of things at the same time each year. They base their trades on the probability that such things will happen repeatedly and therefore give them the opportunities they seek.

There are other trading approaches to trading, but these are the biggies. Not all of these concepts will work with all markets. The Forex market is commonly perceived to have good opportunities for trend-following traders. Of course each of the concepts tend to overlap each other, but that can usually work out in favor of the trader who is willing to work at learning more than one trading concept. When such a trader sees agreement in two or more areas, he usually will be able to place a profitable trade.

More and more people are beginning to hear about FOREX trading. FOREX stands for FOreign Currency EXchange Market. It was once available only to the large banks, multinational corporations, governments,and other financial markets and institutions; however it was de-regulated in 1997, and now anyone may participate.

Many with experience in stocks and/or commodities trading who have then discovered FOREX, prefer it for its many advantages over stock and commodity trading. Many who have never invested before are also now successfully trading the FOREX market.

The FOREX market is open 24 hours a day, except weekends, so you can participate whenever you have time. Trading is now done online and transactions are almost instantaneous.

The FOREX market offers 100:1 leverage, so you can control large amounts of money on the market while using much less of your own money. You can start with a mini-account for as little as $300, and with a strategy, steadily build your account and confidence, until you can open a regular account. You can grow that $300 seed to substantially more money in 6 months with the right application of sound strategy. And, you can set the level of risk you're willing to accept; and you can do this with very minimal risk.

FOREX is the world's largest, most liquid trading market. It is the best trending market, moving in the same direction (up or down) over 78% of the time, and you can learn to profit on either trend. Technical analysis works very well in this market, and there are many tools that aid in this.

Because most FOREX trading is focused on 7 major currencies, you have much less to learn than when trading stocks or commodities. Of course you'll want to learn as much as you can about FOREX, but this can be done to your satisfaction much sooner than you might think. There are many training courses and also lots of free information available on this subject.

FOREX trading is fun and challenging, and FOREX is quickly becoming one of the investing world's hottest, most rewarding opportunities.

in the first part of this article I have outlined 10 good reasons why Forex (Foreign Currency Exchange Market) is an excellent investment opportunity for anyone to make money, online, even with very little start-up money available. In this part I will explain how to get started.

If you want to make money with Forex, online, you have to think of it as a business and treat it as such. You have to get serious about it and you need to get organised. Initially, you have to 'go to work' just like you would in a conventional business. Set aside some quite, work hours for yourself, in a quite corner of your house so you can concentrate on your business without any interruptions.

Also, as with any other business or trade, you have to train yourself and hone your skills, continuously. The Forex offers an amazing opportunity to make money, with little effort in record time, however, you have to know what you are doing and you do have to put in some work. Just as you would not allow your 10 year old kid to drive your fancy, expensive car, it would not be a good idea for you to jump into trading the Forex without learning how to drive this 'vehicle'.

If you are a beginner spend some time on reading up on the Forex and perhaps find someone who is already trading successfully. Ask them to mentor you or allow you to look over their shoulder. Once you have some idea on what makes Forex tick, you should open a demo account with one of the many reputable online brokers. This is the best way to learn what happens to your money and your account in the real world without actually risking any of it. You also have to develop good record keeping habits. It's not a hard job to do it, you just have to be disciplined enough to keep up with it. Again, it's no different from a normal business except that the rewards can be much, much higher in relation to the work you have to put in and of course you can do it from anywhere as long as you have access to the Internet.

So, here is a simple list of how to get started:
1) Setup a quiet corner for yourself as a work-area,
2) You must have a reliable computer and reliable connection to the Internet, if you can afford a second connection to the Internet with a different service provider than it's even better (I'll explain why in a future article). Also make sure you are comfortable and have plenty of light, a dingy, dark corner will soon dampen you enthusiasm,
3) Set aside some 'quality' time for you business the same time, every day in the beginning, you can spend less time as you get more experienced,
4) Find out more about how the Forex works, train yourself and find a mentor who is already trading successfully,
5) Open a demo account with a reputable online broker,
6) Start keeping a record of everything that you do and why you do it. The easiest way I found to do this is with a simple Excel Sheet(c) or something similar,
7) Analyse the results of your actions and see how they affect the balance of your demo account,
8) Make backups of all your records, I can't emphasis this enough, it's really, really important,
9) Revise your actions and record keeping methods then go back to step 4.

It may sound a lot, however, most of it is common sense and applicable to any and all businesses. It is critical that you keep a record of everything that you do, whether it's changing your chair or the lighting, a new trading platform. Whatever you do make sure you have a record for it and an indication of how, if at all, it has affected your trading ability. I have records of everything I do, not just for Forex, but for all of my other businesses going back 7 years! Now, that's a lot of record keeping but with computers it's real easy.

I think we have covered a lot in this second part. I'll go into more details in future articles. Meanwhile, go through this article and start putting my suggestion in to action. If you have any questions about what I've said above or need information on anything related, just refer to the resources and links at the end of this article.

You might look at the stock prices at the bottom of your television screen or, if you are trading currencies in the forex market, you might look at the exchange rates go up and down your computer screen. Prices move and you wonder whether their behaviour means something. Could the market be sending out signals that you can use to make your decisions? How, exactly, are you going to study the market?

For anybody to make money from the market, they must have a way of studying it. There are predominantly two approaches: fundamental and technical. Fundamental analysis focuses on value but this is the subject of another article. Technical analysis, on the other hand, focuses on price and its movement.

The movement of price has the following properties which traders can study to aid in their decisions:

Trend – its persistence to move in one direction,

Volatility – the magnitude of its fluctuations on a periodic basis,

Momentum – the rate of its acceleration and deceleration,

Cycle – its tendency to move in cyclical patterns, most especially in the futures market,

Market Strength – the number of transactions supporting its movements,

Support and Resistance – its tendency to rise or fall to a certain level and then reverse, repeatedly.

Analysts, using the technical approach of analysing the markets, have developed their own set of indicators, different to those used by fundamental analysts. These indicators are used to measure the properties of price movement. Fortunately for modern-day traders like you, you do not have to devise your own tools. You just need to learn how they work and how to use them.

The best way to learn to trade currencies is to attend a currency trading seminar, as you will gain a far greater insight into trading than by simply reading books.

Many currency trading seminars not only allow you to learn theory, but also to apply what you have learned in practice in real trading situations, so you can test what you have learned.

So what makes a good currency trading seminar and how do you pick one that’s good?

Here are some useful tips:

Free currency trading seminar or pay?

This is really down to you, but there are plenty of free seminars out there, so this is the best place to start.

Generally, these seminars will be wanting you to buy a trading method or system eventually and this provides an ideal introduction for you to the vendors systems and methods.

You can of course pay but check very carefully what you are getting.

Avoid currency trading seminars that promise to reveal secrets and systems with 90% success rates.

These are a waste of money; some seminars are good though and also offer you money back guarantees etc, so you have confidence your getting value for money.

Who’s giving the seminar?

Check out the background to the people doing the currency trading seminar - Their experience, track record and trading methodology and see if it fits with your trading personality. Get a clear background of the format of the seminar and exactly what you will learn as well.

Is it theory only or practice as well?

With the internet now available many seminars will not only teach theory, but then allow you to apply what you have learned in practice in real market situations.

This is a great advantage. Theory is all well and good but it needs to be applied, so a currency trading seminar that involves real time trading is ideal

What length should seminar be?

Again it’s all down to the individual, but a good length is 1 – 2 days which should be long enough to include plenty of theory and some practice thrown in as well.

The way to choose a seminar is to do some homework first, so you will be learning the type of tools that fit your trading personality and you will derive enough information from the currency trading seminar to make it worth while

The advantages of a good currency trading seminar

The good thing about a seminar is that allows you to interact with other traders as well as the seminar leaders.

This help you clarify points of trading you may be unsure of. Its much more “hands on” than reading a book and tends to motivate you and give them more confidence, which is essential when trading.

There are plenty of good free currency seminars available, so take a look around and attend one and gain a greater trading edge in your quest for trading profits.

Trading currencies is not that different to trading the equity markets otherwise known as stocks. Currency markets move in cycles and produce patterns that are referred to as trends, support and resistance areas etc. From the novice to the expert trader Forex provides an opportunity to make or loose money. It’s important to remember that for every winner there is a looser. Having this in mind it is imperative that you have the proper training before moving in to make a new career in the financial markets. Prices of training can range from a few hundred dollars to many thousands.

With out proper training trading can be a nightmare, however with proper training an excellent income can be made. The trained eye can see where potential support is likely to be found in an up trending market, and on a minor pull back a good buying opportunity is made. When the trade has been purchased on support the stop loss is a touch under support to allow for a little whiplash; therefore not much is lost. Remember the basic idea is to minimise your loss and maximise your gain and with the right training this can easily be achieved. The main path to success is discipline and this is where females often can do better than the average male in trading. Their daily task is organised and takes a lot of discipline in the day-to-day functions of doing the “so called womanly roles”. Men have trouble with their ego and find it difficult to accept when they are wrong, on the occasion :).

Money management is one of the key elements for the successful trader, minimizing the loss and maximising the gains is no easy feat as the amateur is easily swung out of a trade or hangs on too long and the loss becomes so large that the trader looses control over the trade, not knowing where to go. Money management if you ignore it will cost you big time ensure you understand size of the trade, loss management and how to take profits. This is why training and advanced knowledge is a key element to success.

Learning the art of money management is the most important tool in trading, how to identify a “buying opportunity”, where to place your “stop loss” so that you can get out of a bad trade. Where do you set a target and take profits a lot of traders forget to do this or get too greedy and miss out. Planing your trade and executing it is one thing, however it is up to you to stick with your plan. Always continue a trade in the time frame that the plan was set around. For example if a day trade, be out at the end of the day, if a swing trade may be in the trade for up to a week or two. Make sure you do not confuse the two or even worse change it to an investment.

It is dangerous to stay in a trade once it has gone against your plan, once in the trade the trader needs to be disciplined enough to stick with the original plan. Trading the Forex Markets is usually very short term, they are the largest markets in the world, remember the big banks trade these markets in a big way which makes it very liquid (volume). The Forex markets provide high leverage providing opportunity for large amounts of profit to be made with small amount of cash, with the right training; or large losses without.

We’d like to start by wishing you a Happy Memorial Day. We hope you had a great extended weekend, we sure did. Between the barbecues and the boating and the sweets…well, life is good.

Ok, so how has this month’s trading been? Well, $firstname, I’m glad you asked.

But, before we get to it, we want to give you a quick review of our trading goals.

We shoot for a 20 pip per day average, which would lead to a 100 pip per week average, which would lead to a 400 pip per month average.

If we, or you, are able to achieve this type of success our account would increase at a ridiculous rate assuming that we have a quality money management system in place.

So, now that we have that recapped…let’s move on to this month.

So far, May has been a great month for us. We have made over 1000 pips in profit (in fact more than 10% above 1000 pips) and had a win to loss ratio of better than 3 to 1 (that’s 75% for the math challenged).

In fact, in the last two weeks we only had one losing trade.

To sum it up; we have made more than double (actually more than triple) our goal in pips. A month like this accelerates our compounding scheme greatly.

Ok, enough about that…let’s move onto tonight’s trading.

With the ridiculous drop on Friday, the charts are pointing to a continuation in the downtrend. And, who are we to fight the charts.

Now that we know that we are looking to go short, let’s try and find some good trading levels.

1.8720, 1.8770, and 1.8850 all seem to be credible resistance levels. Take note of how far up we’ve come since the open of the market on Monday night. This information will come into play when you are looking for your trades.

Look for good price action around these levels to find your entry point.

As far as support goes…what support?

Obviously, there are minor levels of support in between the low of 1.8529 and the current price. All you have to do is draw Fibonacci lines and you can find minor support levels. None of these, however, are considered valid UNTIL they hold.

Also, remember, that whole numbers can act as support and resistance levels as well.

In part 1 of this series of articles: “Currency Technical Analysis Part 1: The Most Important Theory Ever” we discussed the general background to the Dow Theory.

Here we look at the three phases of the trend, and why currency-trading analysis must focus on the long-term trend - and how Dow Theory will help you capture every major trend.

Currency Technical Analysis – Market Discount

Dow Theory is based upon the classic view of currency technical analysis - that markets discount everything.

While Dow Theory accepts that the unexpected can always occur in the short term - the longer trend is unaffected - and if you think about it, this is true.

Central banks and geo political concerns can spike prices unexpectedly - but their influence tends to be short, rather than long term.

Currency technical analysis needs to be understood to make big money – and you need to focus on just the long-term trends.

The market reflects all available information - everything there is to know is already reflected in the markets - through the price.

Prices therefore represent the total of all the hopes, fears, and expectations, of all the participants in the market.

Interest rates, presidential elections, employment, consumer confidence - and everything else, is already priced into the market.

Short Term Moves should NOT be traded

The unexpected will often occur, in any form of currency technical analysis - but this will normally affect the short-term trend - but the primary trend will remain unaffected.

With this in mind, Dow Theory accepts limitations - but if you focus on the longer term trend, and trade with the odds in your favor, you can be a winner.

Look at any currency chart and you will see:

In currency technical analysis, primary trends tend to last for months or years.

This is why Dow Theory is so applicable to currency trading – this is not a day trading theory - which is a mugs way of trading currencies.

The Three Phases of a Trend

Dow and Hamilton identified three types of price movements:

1. Primary Movements

2. Secondary Movements

3. Daily Fluctuations

Primary Movements

Primary moves generally last a few months to several years. These primary moves represent the broad underlying trend of the market – the health of the underlying market in currency trading. These are the trends that currency traders should focus on, as they are the trends that yield the biggest profits.

Secondary Movements

Secondary Movements, also known as reaction movements generally last a few weeks to a few months - and move counter to the primary trend. These secondary movements are moves that can be affected by such things as, central bank manipulation, and geo political events.

Daily Fluctuations

Daily fluctuations generally move with, or against the primary trend - and last from a few hours to a few days - but usually not more than a week. These daily fluctuations moves, are really random - and are un-tradable in currency markets.

Currency Technical Analysis for the Serious Trader

Dow Theory provides a mechanism for investors to use that will help remove emotion from trading, and focus on the long-term trends.

Hamilton warned that investors should never be influenced by emotions. In the technical analysis of currency markets, you need to be objective and focused - see what is there, and not what you want to see.

Dow Theory provides a mechanism in the technical analysis of currency markets, to help you stay focused and disciplined at all times.

The methods for identifying the primary trend are laid down - and are NOT open to interpretation.

Reflecting Market Psychology

If you want a clear view of why Dow Theory works, then you need to know how trends build - and this is explained in 3 phases by:

. Accumulation

. The Big Move (excess and despair)

. Distribution

If you understand how these phases work in currency technical analysis, then you are well on your way to making big profits.

The secret of how to make big profits with online FOREX trading is staring traders in the face - but most traders don’t see it. The secret is ...

Ignore the usual advice you are given, on how to make money in online FOREX trading - and do the opposite!

Read each myth outlined below - which are touted as the great ways to make money on the FOREX – then, when you know what’s false, read the truth in the “Reality” that follows each myth.

Myth 1: Day Trading Makes you Money

No, it doesn’t - and it’s obvious why.

Daily movements are totally random - and by the time you throw in commission, and slippage, you’re guaranteed to lose money.

This myth is perpetrated by brokers, and vendors on commission kickbacks - that’s why it’s such a common myth. Remember you lose they win – period.

Reality - the way to make money in online FOREX trading is to follow the longer-term trend.

The big currency trends last for months, or years – so lock into them, and pile up huge profits.

Myth 2: You can Buy Success - by Following a Guru or Tip Sheet.

For just a few hundred dollars, you can learn systems that trade with 90% accuracy or more. – Yeah, right. If that’s the case, why don’t the vendors and gurus simply keep quite, and make money for themselves? Answer - because they can’t - it’s all sales hype.

Reality - if you want to make huge profits by FOREX trading, the reality is - no one can give you success - you need to take responsibility, and do it for yourself. All the great traders do this - and you must too.

Myth 3: There is a Safe Way to Trade Currencies

Most traders don’t like risk - they believe people that say that you can trade “safely”.

Traders try and follow scientific theories - and believe it when told, that they only need to risk a few hundred dollars, to make thousands.

Reality - online FOREX Trading involves risk - pure and simple. If you don’t want to take risks, put your money in the bank, and earn interest.

If you want to make money, be selective on the trades you make - and have confidence in your own judgement.

If you take calculated risks on trades with good odds, you will pile up huge profits.

Myth 4: Buy Out of the Money Options for Leverage

In FOREX trading, options give you unlimited profit potential with limited risk - so brokers tell you to buy out of the money, cheap options with little time value. These options give you greater leverage - and you can then make huge profits, when your option trades “in the money”

Reality - out of the money options, with large time decay, are cheap - because the odds of them trading in the money are small.

In FOREX trading, this is the same as backing the outsider in a horse race - of course, you can be lucky, but over time, you lose.

Buy in the money options, with lots of time value. You won’t make as much per trade, but you will make huge profits over time - and your odds of success are far better.

Myth 5: Timing the Entry to a Trade is Crucial

Many brokers and gurus say you need to be in, ahead of the move - and predict the market tops and bottoms. You will then get all the profit from the move.

Reality - trying to pick tops and bottoms is a mugs game - wait for confirmation, and then catch the trend as it gets underway. Sure, you’ll miss the absolute top and bottom, but no one can pick those anyway - so don’t even try. If you get even 70% of the big moves in FOREX trading you’ll make huge profits. Read articles on breakout systems, for more information on how to do this.