Money Management Tips For Trading On The Forex

What is Money Management: describes strategies or methods a player uses to avoid losing their bankroll.

Money management in the foreign exchange currency market requires educating yourself in a variety of financial areas. First, a definition of the foreign exchange currency or forex market is called for. The forex market is simply the exchange of the currency of one country for the currency of another. The relative values of various currencies in the world change on a regular basis. Factors such as the stability of the economy of a country, the gross national product, the gross domestic product, inflation, interest rates, and such obvious factors as domestic security and foreign relations come into play. For instance, if a country has an unstable government, is expecting a military takeover, or is about to become involved in a war, then the country's currency may go down in relative value compared to the currency of other countries.

The Forex, or foreign currency exchange, is all about money. Money from all over the world is bought, sold and traded. On the Forex, anyone can buy and sell currency and with possibly come out ahead in the end. When dealing with the foreign currency exchange, it is possible to buy the currency of one country, sell it and make a profit. For example, a broker might buy a Japanese yen when the yen to dollar ratio increases, then sell the yens and buy back American dollars for a profit.

There are five major forex exchange markets in the world, New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo and Zurich. Forex trading occurs around the clock in various markets, Asian, European, and American. With different time zones, when Asian trading stops, European trading opens, and conversely when European trading stops, American trading opens, and when American trading stops, then it is time for Asian trading to begin again.

Most of the trading in the world occurs in the forex markets; smaller markets for trade in individual countries. Simply put forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Over $1.4 trillion dollars, US of forex trading occurs daily and sometimes fortunes are made or lost in this market. The billionaire George Soros has made most of his money in forex trading. Successfully managing your money in forex trading requires an understanding of the bid/ask spread.

Simply put the bid ask spread is the difference between the price at which something is offered for sale and the price that it is actually purchased for. For instance, if the ask price is 100 dollars, and the bid is 102 dollars then the difference is two dollars, the spread. Many forex traders trade on margin. Trading on margin is buying and selling assets that are worth more than the money in your account. Since currency exchange rates on any given day are usually less than two percent, forex trading is done with a small margin. To use an example, with a one percent margin a trader can trade up to $250,000 even if he only has $5,000 in his account. This means the trade has leverage of 50 to one. This amount of leverage allows a trader to make good profits very quickly. Of course, with the chance of high profits also comes high risk.

Please always make sure you check with the pros when dealing in this market unless you are doing this as a hobby and don't have a lot at stake in it. There are a lot of big boys playing here and they won't lose much sleep if you and thousands others lose their shirts...

by David Mclauchlan

Fundamental Analysis: Study Economics, Trade the Markets

Let's begin our brief examination of fundamental analysis by observing that up until a century ago there was only one school of analysis, and there were still a large number of self-made trading millionaires. That one school of analysis, of course, was fundamental analysis. Technical analysis has been with us as an organized discipline since the end of the 19th century, but fundamental analysis has been here since the beginning of economics in the days of Lydians and Persians, at the very least. Those new to online Forex trading can benefit from this little detail as they make their decisions about the merits of the two schools of analysis.

Fundamental analysis aims to predict future market action on the basis of economic data and news. While technical analysis focuses strictly on the price, fundamental analysis studies the economic, political, and social dynamics in an economy in order to reach conclusions about an asset, which is a currency pair in Forex of course. As fundamental analysts are aim is to identify the most powerful forces driving the price action, and then to formulate our strategies on that basis. At different times different factors will acquire greater significance in fundamental analysis. For example, in the first half of 2008 the ruble would be expected to appreciate by fundamental analysts as oil became more expensive, and commodity prices were the most important dynamic behind the prices. In August 2008, however, as war between Georgia and Russia broke out, traders would disregard economic factors and sell off the ruble as political factors (in our case, a war) became the dominant mover of the currency prices.

It is important to make a distinction between news trading and fundamental analysis. The markets immediate reaction to news events is mostly unpredictable, since there is not time to evaluate and formulate a proper strategy so soon after a release. News trading is more about technical patterns than fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis involves the refinement of news data, the isolation of important pieces from the irrelevant ones, and the construction of a big picture which can then be used as a long term road-map for trading. Economic events interact with each other, and individual pieces of data do not mean much for a Forex strategy in isolation.