Which Way to Pay For Foreign Exchange

By Xenia Rainey

When transferring a large amount of currency you need to be careful were you do it to get the best rates. Most people might think the obvious choice would be to go with the traditional high street bank at which they already have their main accounts, but in fact they could end up costing themselves a lot of money by doing this. So let's say you're looking at investing a large amount of money in buying a property abroad, so you're going to be needing to make a frequent amount of foreign transfers. Think before you act...

Choose Specialists

If you are a business or private individual wanting to move large amounts of money abroad, and you are therefore looking to make a purchase of a big amount foreign currency, think before you go looking at the high street bank as your only route to getting that large amount of foreign cash. Think about using a Commercial Foreign Exchange specialist bank. This is because a Commercial Foreign Exchange (CFX) specialist can get you a much better exchange rate and commission free transfers. Their sole focus is on the currency exchange market, and the way they make their profit is through the difference between the rate at which they buy currency and the price at which they sell to you, the client. They will also get you a rate lower than the Interbank rate.

Interbank Rates Explained

Interbank is the high-level foreign exchange market where thousands of banks can exchange different currencies. The banks can either deal with one another directly, or through electronic brokering platforms. Foreign exchange brokers and high street banks buy their currency at wholesale exchange rates close to the Interbank rate and make most of their profit from the difference between the Interbank exchange rate and the rate they offer to their customers.

Are they Regulated? When choosing a Foreign Exchange specialist, look out for their guarantee that they are authorised as a money service business by HM Revenue and Customs. That way you get protection and peace of mind when moving large amounts of money around. Note brokers are not regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) so it really is essential that they are HM Revenue and Customs approved. Compare CFX specialists to find the one which really suits your needs.

Which Contract There are different types of contracts when you join a CFX specialist, one of them being a forward contract. This is a useful contract in that if the exchange rate is good, the broker can fix that rate for a longer period of time (for example up to two years) even if you don't want to use that money for a while. Great if you're making plans to buy foreign property but can't guarantee when you will be making the final payment.

Tips To Choose Forex Broker

By Odrey Wise

Trading Forex requires setting up an account. Setting up an account in its turn requires choosing Forex broker. The right choice depends on the right understanding of what a broker is and what kind of services it provides. In simple words a Forex broker is a person or a company that accomplishes traders' orders. The number of brokers offering their services online is overwhelming so before making the choice you should make certain research to find out about the services available and fees charged by different brokers.

Firstly it is necessary to find out with what regulatory agencies your broker is registered. Despite the fact that Forex market is deemed to be unregulated you should check that your broker has proper registration otherwise you will not have the ghost of a chance to return your money in case of fraud or manipulation. Beware of non-regulated brokers and among the registered ones select only those with solid financial instruments.

Before opening an account in a certain broker company be sure that it provides high quality 24-hour Customer support. If you can any time day or night contact the firm by phone, e-mail or otherwise and get the necessary for you information from knowledgeable representatives you made the right choice.

Most Forex brokers provide rather comprehensive and easy Internet trading conditions for their Clients. The main feature of any trading platform is broker's ordering system. Try the options available by testing a demo account at some online brokers. The terminal should include such obligatory options: real-time rate quotes, account summary showing balance, profit, loss, and margin. Also note that a good broker always provides to enter the possibility to enter and exit the market quickly. These are minimum requirements but they should be fulfilled.

So the features and policies to look for while selecting on-line Forex broker are the following:

• Low spread i.e. the difference between buy and sell prices of any currency pair available. The lower the spread the less money gets your broker from you.

• Instant orders execution. This is essentially important when you trade for small profits as you get the price that you see and that you "click" and no other prices.

• Free technical analysis and charting should be available for active traders. Choose a broker that allows trading directly on the charts.

• Currency pairs. Good brokers offer at least seven major currencies (USD, JPY, GBP, CHF, EUR, UAD, and CAD).

And the last but not the least tip - be sure to scan fine print section of a potential broker to be completely aware of all trading nuances that may be imposed on new traders.

Newsworthy Forex market articles

A Unique But Classic Way to Trade the Currency Market

By John Templeton

Everybody is always looking for a unique way to trade the currency market. If that is the case, you might want to stop visiting all the forex forums that are out there. I am not saying their useless, but the majority of the stuff you find is completely rehashed.

If you really want something that is unique, you really have to go to the most classic way of trading the currency market (or any market for that matter). It's as old as the stock market itself. It's called Price Action.

Legendary floor traders like Jesse Livermore were using this concept to predict future price movement. It was all based on the price activity of the underlying stock.

After roughly 100 years later, not a whole lot has changed. The concept still remains alive and well today, but unfortunately too many traders have gotten so used to all the bells and whistles that we get with modern trading.

Its almost as if nobody even pays attention to price action. How could they when they have gobs of indicators on their charts? Traders use indicators that they don't even know what they are intended for. People use special indicators that supposedly tell them when to buy or sell.

It gets to the point where price is irrelevant because they are paying far more attention to their indicators than the actual price of the currency pair.

I could understand if it worked, but judging on the fact that 95% of forex traders lose money, I am guessing that's not the case.

John Templeton has been a successful forex trader after learning how to trade price action. Once he understood that all he needed to trade forex was on a plain chart with no indicators, he was able to come up with his own forex trading strategy called Trading in the Buff.

Learn Forex - Choosing Your Chart

By J. Star

There are 3 chart types most commonly used in Forex. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages. Choose the chart types that best fits with your Forex Trading System and personality.

1. The Line Chart. A line chart simply draws a line from one closing price to the next closing price. When each line is strung to the next we get the general price movement of a currency over a specific time period. This is the simplest and least comprehensive chart type available.

Advantages: Simple, easy to read, and to the point. If your system relies solely on the closing price of a currency this type of chart may work for you.

Disadvantages: Does not show the high, low of a given period. This makes it very difficult to determine Support and Resistance levels, an important factor in most Forex trading systems.

2. The Bar Chart. This type of chart also shows the closing price while simultaneously showing the high and low of a given period. The bottom of the bar is the low while the top of the bar is the high. The left hash identifies the open while the right hash identifies the close.

Advantages: Far better in determining the actual price movement of a given currency because the bar chart shows both the high and low as well as the open and close.

Disadvantages: More difficult to read. The flurry of lines has a tendency to play tricks on your eyes.

3. Candlestick Chart. The candlestick charts show the same information as the bar chart (high, low, open, close) but in a way that is much easier to read. The candlestick includes a body, an upper shadow, and a lower shadow. The body is one color if the price has increased or another if it has decreased. The lower and upper portions of the body show the price open and close while the upper/lower shadows identify the high and low.

Advantages: Far easier to read make chart analysis quick and efficient. The Japanese have studied candlestick charts for centuries and come up with patterns that forecast price trends and changes.

Disadvantages: They require more education to understand and use.

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3 Advantages of Forex Trading Over Stock Investing

By Christopher Websilver

In these turbulent times, a lot of investment opportunities are fast becoming questionable sources of making your money grow. The recent stock market crisis has shown that a lot of investors are hesitant to invest in stocks and commodities because of how bad the economy has been hit. So it makes sense for investors to seek other alternatives for their investment opportunities, and if you happen to be amongst them, this article will tell you 3 advantages of Forex trading over stock investing. By the end of this article, you should seriously consider putting your money into Forex trading while the stock market recovers.

One of the similarities between Forex and stocks is that a trader would have control over a large amount of the particular currency they've invested in by putting up a small margin. The difference with Forex however is that the margin requirements for Forex is far lower than stocks. Where the margin for stock trading is 50% of the total value, Forex margin requirements only stand at 1%. This means that with Forex, a trader's money would be able to play with 50-times as much value of whatever product he might have invested in if he were to trade stocks. However, do remember that even though the requirements seem favourable to you, it is still an investment, and thus it would be prudent for you to be aware and have a full understanding of the risks involved.

Another advantage that Forex has over stock investing is that the Forex market is not susceptible to the Bear versus Bull mentality that the stock market is prone to. Because Forex trading is simply the exchange of currencies, a Forex trader will always have an investment opportunity to look forward to, because if a currency isn't performing well, it could mean that there is a likelihood of making a profit with another currency. Also, the Forex market, when compared to the stock market, is not negatively affected by fluctuations in interest rates. Typically when a country's interest rate rises, its currency would be strengthened, but conversely the rise in interest rates more than often affects the stock market adversely.

The third reason why you should consider Forex trading over stocks is the fact that keeping up with stocks can induce a headache if you were to personally keep track of your own investment portfolio, especially if you have your hand in a lot of stocks. Think about it; if you put together the stocks in both NASDAQ and NYSE, the total number of stock issues amounts to eight thousand. That is a lot of options to consider, and keeping up with all of them can be time consuming. In comparison, Forex trading only involves four major currencies and approximately around thirty-four second tier currencies that you need to consider. Not a whole lot of choices sure, but they aren't that big of a headache to keep up with either. The only thing you need to keep in mind is how those currencies are doing in relation to the health of their countries' economies.

In actuality, there are more advantages to Forex trading when compared to stock investing. If you're still not convinced after reading this article, do a more in-depth research online. You might just learn that Forex trading is far more advantageous than trading stocks, especially in today's economy.

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Foreign Currency Trading - 5 Effective Ways To Become A Trader

By Abhishek Agarwal

As you grow older, you have this urge to achieve something great in life! Once you have set some goal for yourself, what do you do? You do some research and get all the information that you can, talk with experts who may even be unfamiliar to you, come up with various strategies to keep away the possibilities of failure, and so on. Well, it is the same if you want to establish a firm foothold in the trading community, especially if you are desirous of going in for foreign currency trading.

Here are some guidelines to help you enter the world of foreign currency trading--

(1) Goal-setting:

(a) Before starting out on your venture, be clear about what you wish to accomplish.

(b) Additionally, your goals should match your capabilities of attaining them. To put it in simpler words--what are your strengths and weaknesses (how brave can you be in the face of adversity?), how much funds can you set aside for investing, do you have well-planned strategies and tactics in place or not, etc.?

(c) There are two types of goals--long-term and short-term. Concentrate on the short-term goals first. When one goal has reached completion, go to the next one.

(d) For each goal, incorporate certain strategies. On the way to the accomplishment of these goals, you are bound to make mistakes, as well as achieve some amount of success. Ensure that you learn from your experiences, and never repeat the same mistakes again.

(2) The Right Attitude:

(a) As an educated person, you may feel proud about your college degrees and believe that there is nothing more left to learn! But remember, unless you have a degree related to commerce, you may never even have heard about foreign currency trading!

(b) So keep an open mind, and prod yourself to treat each encounter with this new world as a learning experience. Ask any expert in the game, and he/she will relate stories about the time and efforts he/she has put in to reach that pinnacle of success! Money was also invested, of course!

(c) If you are planning to make foreign currency trading your career, then learn to be optimistic always! Yes, there are bound to be ups and downs in the business. Yes, unexpected situations are bound to suddenly crop up without warning. But going about with a long face is in no way going to improve the situation!

(d) Overreacting to negativity is not a solution. Instead, accept everything that comes your way with a cheerful countenance, and see how these negative situations can be converted into positive ones. These unforeseen events should only serve to strengthen you!

(3) Waiting For The Right Moment:

(a) This is a game of patience. Yet, if you look around, you see that very few people possess this quality! Some are so impatient to see results that they buy every currency in sight! In contrast, some begin to dispose off currency without studying current market trends! It is a form of psychological illness with them! The end-results are not happy ones--there can only be dismay, and probably depression too.

(b) To prevent yourself from getting this psychological disease, make sure you assess your strengths and weaknesses beforehand (as mentioned earlier). Thus, you realize your potential as well as limitations concerning day trading.

(c) Only when you feel that you have all the necessary tips concerning foreign currency trading on hand, then enter the trading arena. At the same time, once you have entered, do not go on trading and trading! Take it slowly, despite your impatience to see quick profits!

(d) Learning is a continuous process. It is followed closely by knowledge. Winning your share of the market takes time. But when you do, you stand to gain a lot of money!

(4) Money-management:

(a) Everything related to foreign currency trading revolves round MONEY! That is the reason why so many people are hungry to succeed in the trading business! It is therefore imperative that you learn how to take control of your finances. Give only where it is needed, and refuse if it seems unnecessary.

(b) If you are someone who has no clue about monetary management, take the help of a broker or a financial advisor.

(5) Summary:

(a) It is a financial war out there! So you can best be prepared for it by developing a forward-looking mindset, and well-planned tactics and strategies.

(b) Even after achieving success in foreign currency trading, do not just say, "full stop"! Keep adding to your knowledge and experience. After all, great things can be accomplished only with great thoughts!

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Forex Brokers That Allow Scalping - Research and Results

By Ariesto Andy

The topic of Forex Brokers allowing scalping is very hot. I was looking for answers in various forums, tried searching with keywords in search engines, tried reading policies and FAQs on the websites of different Forex brokers... It seemed like I had only guesses, but nothing solid to rely on. And then I came up with a simple solution - sending customer support inquiries to the different Forex brokers... My question to all of them was the same: "Do you allow scalping? By scalping I mean holding a position for less than 1 minute." That's it. Today, I'd like to share with you what my research has revealed. So, brokers allowing or not allowing scalping...

I've got the answers the same day from the next Forex brokers:

1. MG Financial Group Thank you for contacting MG Financial Group. In regards to your question, you may keep your position open for as long or short a duration of time as desired.
2. InterbankFx We do allow Scalping but it might become a problem with our liquidity providers and filling orders etc... We recommend that you stay in a trade for at least 93 seconds. If a customer engages in scalping and it somehow becomes a problem we will notify that person.
3. MIG Investments MIG Investments does not require a minimum number of trades per month as neither we require a minimum pip value or open time for positions before allowed to close. We do accept scalpers but since it is difficult to cover such positions in the market, we would need to increase the spreads for clients with permanent scalping strategies. We consider an scalpers somebody who systematically pip hunts below 5 pips as average. All the cases are studied based on general performance and we do get in contact with our clients prior to take any related decisions. Update 13.08.2008: The new M I G Investments General Terms and Conditions are effective immediately (13.08.2008) and have been updated with reference to M I G's current position on Scalpers: Due to the difficulties associated with covering such trades, M I G Investments does not accept scalpers.
4. OANDA The term scalping here primarily refers to latency trading, where clients unfairly exploit, to their advantage, delays that may occur due to the fact that FXTrade is Internet-based. OANDA does not have any restriction on the length of time a trade is held.
5. MB trading Got two short replies: Yes, scalping is allowed. Yes you can scalp with us.
6. Forex.com Yes, you can do that. As long as you have enough margin to open a position, you can close it at any time during our normal trading hours which is between Sunday 5 pm ET and Friday 5 pm ET.
7. Global Forex Trading Yes we do not have any restrictions to the length of time on holding positions.
8. West Capital Forex In answer to your question, Scalping is not recommended by our dealers and they actively discourage it. The next day I've targeted remaining on my list Forex brokers and got next replies:
9. CMC Markets You are able to hold a position for less than a minute, however, we do not encourage scalping.
10. United Global Markets Scalping is not an issue so long as you are not taking advantage of our price feed lag. We do allow scalping, news trading, grid traders and other in and out traders
11. CROWN FOREX SA Thank you for your interests with CFSA, we are so glad to reply your query regarding allowing scalping. kindly note scalpers can trade with CFSA under the following conditions: a. 3 pips spread b. Max leverage at 1:100 (fixed margin requirements of $1000 per standard lot) C. Depending on how aggressive the scalper is; a commission per standard lot or an increase in the spread may apply.
12. IFX Markets Your question is very easy to answer. We allow scalping, we don't care if we hold your position for 1 second if you can make money that quickly.
13. FX Solutions Yes, we do.
14. Interactive Brokers Dear Trader, IB does allow scalping.
15. Saxo Bank The answer to your question is yes. You can hold a position for less than 1 minute. But we don´t allow that you take advantage of the system.
16. NorthFinance Forex Broker Please note that we do not allow scalping. We actively discourage the trading method. The minimum required time difference from opening to closing a position is about 10 minutes.
17. Forex Club Financial Company Yes we allow scalping. Only thing if you going to request a lot of quotes and not act on them the system will put you on the bottom of the list and you will receive lesser priority.
18. CMS Forex We have no age requirement for positions. Be they open for 1 year or 1 minute, you can mange your positions as you wish within our market.
19. EFX Group We allow any trading strategy, including the one you mentioned!
20. Then from the FAQ of Global ForexNow I've copied next: "Do you allow scalping? We don't condone any one particular type of trading style." So far seems like almost nothing should bring clouds to your sunny sky... Is it really so..? Opening accounts with each and every of mentioned here Forex brokers and scalping for at least about a month to get a result would be a very difficult task... So, hopefully, we are going to hear from other traders about their experience. Please drop us a line in a form of comment below. Thank you! There were also two brokers that did not gave a straight forward answer on my question, but to complete my check list report I'm going to cite their replies anyway:
21. ACM I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as your Account Executive at ACM. In the next few days I will contact you in order to discuss how to use our services to your best advantage.

Please note, that my research is based not on a real account with each broker and actual scalping with no problems. It is rather a journalist report on some sort of "interview" with brokers' customer support. So, there is no way I can guarantee that you can go out and scalp freely with any of these brokers.

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How to Make Money in Forex - Start by Getting Rid of the Indicators

By John Templeton

Its quite staggering the amount of people out there who are looking to learn how to make money in forex. They are certainly eager but I am concerned that most don't want to "learn" forex as much as they would like the shortcut on how to get rich without doing any of the work.

I can't say I blame them. We all want to make money in forex (or any field for that matter) without putting any time and effort. Unfortunately, this is not the way it works with forex trading. If you want to be successful, you are going to have sit down and learn about what makes the market tick.

I wish there was some magic button I could give you that would just give you a few thousand pips a month in profit, while you're laying on the beach, but that's not how its done,. I'm sure you probably have heard of these trading robots that do just that. Believe me, if they worked I would be the first one using them. I would much rather be surfing than staring at a computer. But if you want to make money in forex, you better get yourself educated.

That all starts with the notion of understanding price action. You can''t learn price action if your charts have a ton of indicators on them. GET RID OF THEM! They are only slowing you down. The key is to see the market through your own eyes, not what the indicators are telling you.

John Templeton has been a successful forex trader after learning how to trade price action. In his course, Trading In The Buff, he talks about how all that is needed to trade forex was on a plain chart with no indicators.

Forex Trading - These People Trained For 2 Weeks and Made $100 Million!

By Kelly Price

In one of the most famous trading experiments of all time a group of traders learned to trade in 14 days and went onto to make over $100 million. If you want to learn to trade, then this experiment can point you in the right direction...

Trading legend Richard Dennis conducted the trading experiment and his aim was simple:

To prove that anyone could learn to trade regardless of - their age, sex background or educational background. He gathered a diverse group of people together which included a security guard, an actor and an auditor which shows just how diverse the group was and taught them to trade in just 14 days.

The result is history now and this group nicknamed the turtles went on to make over $100 million in 4 years and become one of the most famous groups of traders of all time.

Now you probably are thinking how did they do it from no experience to millionaire traders in just 14 days? 95% of traders lose but this group were all successful how did they succeed when others fail?

You can learn a lot for your own Forex Trading strategy, from their experience. You can say, well they had one of the best teachers which they did - but how Dennis taught them is a lesson for your own Forex Education.

Dennis taught them a simple, long term breakout trading methodology, combined with specific money management rules. It was simple, in fact so simple, that anyone could learn it.

When you put together a Forex trading system always remember simple systems work best and always will, never over complicate you're trading, as complicated systems tend to fail as they are less robust.

A long term trend following breakout system is a timeless way to make money which is easy to understand and covered in our other articles, so look them up.

The real challenge for a Forex trader is not to learn a method but to get the right mindset to apply it.

This comes from inner confidence and self belief.

You will never apply a system with discipline, unless you have inner confidence in it to succeed, as you will never be able to handle your losses and keep them small until you hit a home run.

Never believe what you read online from so called experts who tell you that you won't have drawdown periods you will and even the best trader's drawdown for weeks or even months.

It's in these periods where you are looking stupid and your emotions are getting involved, that you must continue with discipline.

Dennis gave them the inner confidence and discipline to follow the plan. He didn't just say follow me blindly, he made them learn how and why the system would work what to expect in terms of losses and how to stay on course with discipline.

In interviews all the traders, said this was the hard part of trading and it is, anyone can learn a method but applying it is the hardest part.

What this experiment proved was trading is a learned skill and anyone can do it but they must have the right education and system (the easy part) and the right mindset the harder part.

Read about the turtle experiment in Shwagers great book "Market Wizards" and "The Way of the Turtle" by Curtis Faith, the most successful turtle trader who gives a great inside view of the experiment. The story is inspiring and encouraged me to become a trader and I hope it will encourage and motivate you too.

The good news is anyone can succeed, if they really want to.

Now I am not implying everyone can make millions life isn't so clear cut but there is a big difference between something not being possible at all and something being achievable. It is my belief that anyone can become a competent, disciplined trader and earn a great second or even life changing income.

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Forex Expert Adivsors - What's the Scoop?

By Timothy Rohrer

There are plenty of automated forex trading systems available today, and the question we have to ask ourselves can we really turn a profit with this systems? In short, the answer is yes, however we need to know what to look for in a quality forex robot.

One of the primary reasons traders fail is due to a lack of experience and misunderstanding of the psychological aspects of the market. There are more and more speculators popping up in the markets each and everyday trying to reach their trading goals in the forex market. Forex trading also involves a lot of risk and with that it requires one to have complete control along with excellent discipline. The problem is most traders, even the experienced ones either do not have the time to trade or cannot discipline themselves to follow a set of rules.

Fortunately for us, we've developed forex robots, or again, expert advisers that do the thinking and trading for us. One of the benefits to a good forex robot is it's ability to remove all human emotion from trading, thus making a sound decision based on a set of parameters that have historically proven themselves. Another benefit from expert advisers and forex robots is there ability to adapt to changing market conditions and to place trades even while you're away from the computer.

We have to ask ourselves, what does a good forex trading system look like? What are the key elements to a forex robot that can return consistent profitable results? A solid forex system will have a success rate of 60% or higher and the system will have the ability to adjust stop losses and targets accordingly to hit it's profit targets. A good forex system should be built around just a few currencies rather than trying to cater to all major currencies. The reason being, each currency tends to have it's own predictable ranges and movement. It's almost impossible for a forex system to be able to cater to each currency, therefore the ones that stick to just a few tend to be the most successful.

A good forex system uses proper money management and never over leverages itself. Though it's good to find systems with a 60% success rate or higher, ultimately proper money management will allow you to maintain consistent returns even if you lose the majority of your trades. How is this possible? Using a risk to reward ration of 3:1 or better. Meaning, if you win 3x the amount you lose, than you can be wrong 40% of the time and still come out a profitable trader in the end.

There are plenty of forex systems and robots to choose from. The good ones are not hard to find and sometimes can be right under your nose. Make sure do your research.

Tim Rohrer has achieved great success as a day trader. To review automated forex trading systems, visit forex trading software reviews