The ABC of FOREX Trading

If you are new to forex , you have probably been spending time to read up on forex trading. After reading some of the technical you are probably is getting bored and tired trying to understand and analyses the concepts of forex trading and the whole topic becomes complicated.
The thing is forex trading become a complicated issue only when you over analyses. However there are steps that you can take to make matters simpler.

How to get started

What is the best way to get started in FOREX trading? Many brokers offer practice accounts where you can practice trading under real conditions. This will give you a good idea of what iskills, you need to practice trading under many different conditions. The problem with trading in real time with a practice s involved in forex trading, but to start building up trading account, is that you have to wait for the trading opportunities.

The alternative to using the practice account of a broker and trading in real time is to use Trading Simulation software. Trading simualators allow you to go back in time and find specific trading opportunities. Then, you can practice trading the opportunity over and over until you improve your trading skills. Trading with a simulator is similar to trading with a practice account, except that you can choose at what date to start practising. Then you can speed up or slow down the action until you find a trading opportunity you are looking for.

FOREX signals

One of the disadvantages of FOREX trading is the time investment needed to monitor the markets for advantageous entry and exit points. It's possible to sit in front of a computer monitor for hours watching the markets.
Of course, you can use automated orders such as limits and stops.
These allow you to walk away from your computer with the knowledge that your losses will be kept to a minimum, but by doing so, you may miss out on potential profits because your limit order kicks in too soon.
If you don't have the time to watch your computer monitor and still wish to achieve as much profit as possible, consider signing up for a FOREX signal service. These services monitor and analyze the market for you and send their findings directly to your computer desktop, email, or SMS on your cell phone or pager.
Companies that offer FOREX signals or alerts do so on a paid basis, so you have to sign up and pay a monthly or yearly fee. Some brokers may offer this service as an extra which integrates into their trading software. You can receive signals as a popup on your screen or by any of the other methods described above.
There are usually a limited number of currency pairs that are available for FOREX trade signals. Most services offer signals on EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, but specialized services may offer other currency pairs.
FOREX alerts are primarily based on technical analysis of market conditions. Most companies use a combination of indicators to identify main trends and entry and exit points. The results are sent to subscribers who have the option of acting on them or passing. Some services will even execute the trade for you.
Using a variety of technical studies, various types of signals can be derived from currency charts. The SMA (Simple Moving Average) indicates buy signals when currency prices rise above the average line. Sell signals occur when the price falls below the moving average line.
MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) studies have a signal line that is used to generate a buy signal (above the line) or a sell signal (below the line).
Volume indicators are used to determine market interest. High volume (especially near the bottom of the market) can indicate the start of a new trend while low volume indicates investor uncertainty.
Bollinger Bands indicate potential changes in the market. Sharp price changes tend to occur when the bands tighten while prices that touch one band tend to go all the way to the other band.
Other indicators like volatility and momentum can be used to reinforce signals provided by other sources. Taken together they form a relatively reliable source of information about how the market is behaving.
Are signals a sure thing? Of course not, otherwise we would all be millionaires. FOREX trade signals can give you good advice about which currencies to trade, but no signal service will guarantee their information is 100% accurate. Reputable services will show you their track record, however, and let you see for yourself how they have done in the past.
FOREX trading signals cost anywhere from $50 to $200 or more a month. It's up to the individual trader to decide if the cost is worth it. Don't think that signals can take the place of trader education – they are advice, and if you don't have the knowledge to analyze the advice, you should go back to the books before using a signal service.

Money management

Money management is part and parcel of any trading strategy. Besides knowing which currencies to trade and recognizing entry and exit signals, the successful trader has to manage his resources and integrate FOREX money management into his trading plan.

Position size, margin, recent profits and losses, and contingency plans all need to be considered before entering the market.

There are various strategies for approaching money management. Many of them rely on the calculation of core equity. Core equity is your starting balance minus the money used in open positions. If the starting balance is $10,000 and you have $1000 in open positions your core equity is $9000.

When entering a position try to limit risk to 1% to 3% of each trade. This means that if you are trading a standard FOREX lot of $100,000 you should limit your risk to $1000 to $3000 – preferably $1000. You do this by placing a stop loss order 100 pips (when 1 pip = $10) above or below your entry position.

As your core equity rises or falls you can adjust the dollar amount of your risk. With a starting balance of $10,000 and one open position your core equity is $9000. If you wish to add a second open position, your core equity would fall to $8000 and you should limit your risk to $900. Risk in a third position should be limited to $800.

By the same principal you can also raise your risk level as your core equity rises. If you have been trading successfully and made a $5000 profit, your core equity is now $15,000. You could raise your risk to $1500 per transaction. Alternatively, you could risk more from the profit than from the original starting balance. Some traders may risk up to 5% against their realized profits ($5,000 on a $100,000 lot) for greater profit potential.