Forex Managed Accounts Explained

Do you want to trade in the highly liquidated and extremely profitable foreign exchange market, but don't want to learn all those terms, charts, indicators, and technical details that you need to be successful on your own? Then maybe you're looking for forex managed accounts. Don't know what that is? Then keep reading; maybe you'll learn a thing or two after all.

Forex managed accounts are as simple as they sound: accounts in the foreign exchange market which are managed by a trader, paid for by an investor, and result in lots of good money. There are two kinds of forex managed accounts, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to trading in the market. It's up to you which you pick.

The first type of forex managed accounts is the robot, or the automated account. This completely automatic program is designed by experienced traders in the forex market and supplied to the investor for simplicity. This is clearly the most efficiently managed account available to you, as it takes into consideration all indicators and statistics open to it. When the time comes, the robot receives a signaland trades. It's that easy. However, robots do lack an instinctwhich can be a good thing, if you're hoping to avoid emotional trades, or a bad thing, if you want someone who'll take advantage of a huge opportunity.

The second type of forex managed accounts is the employeethe investor hires an experienced trader, someone who has long been successful in the market, to make the investor's trades for him. This is at least as good as the robotprobably because the employee designed the robot in the first placeand it's all personalized. Unlike other markets, where money is pooled to maximize profits, your trades are done in your name, and yours alone. It's forex trading by an individual, for another individual, and it stays that way. On the other hand, a personal employee to make your trades for you could cost you a lot more in commissions and fees. You can find out more about forex trading and forex accounts at http://www.forextradingsystemsoftware.com

But why should you have one of these forex managed accounts? Why can't you just casually trade on your own, like a money-making hobby on the side? Because trading in the forex market is hard work, and not just anybody can do it. This is a market in which over two trillion dollars are traded every day, and with a market that size, somebody has to be losing. Statistics indicate that that somebody is 90-95% of new traders. Without the right education, you'll lose quickly in the forex market, and education costs money, too. If you're not getting a forex managed account, then you're not getting a hobbyyou're getting a job, complete with prior training and continuous studies.

Still interested in working the forex market as a hobby? Or are you sure that one of these forex managed accounts is the right thing for you? It's up to you which type you use, and it's up to you where you get the program or individual to do your trades for youbut a managed account lets you keep your job if you want and rest easy at night, knowing that you're still making money, even while you sleep, without the hassle of training.

Article by Dean Forster at http://www.forextradingsystemsoftware.com for everything you need to know about profitable forex trading, software, systems and training Forex Trading Software

A Few Tips On Buying Underfloor Heating On the Net

As one of the fastest growing sectors of the building trade electric underfloor heating is becoming more and more popular, but with that comes more and more companies to choose from, most of these being online companies.

If youre like me thinking how do i sort out the good from the bad? How do i know if Im buying from a company that will deliver once I have handed over my card details? & that can stand buy me if i have a problem? The answer is simple really if you follow some of the pointers bellow:

First thing to do is check that the company address is displayed somewhere on the site, usually on the contact us page, if you cant find it what are you going to do if you need to contact them? Check they have a "proper" land line telephone number you can phone, and they are not just "hiding" behind a "080" number as many companies do.

Check to see if the company is a member of any online trading scheme, like the ISIS Internet Shopping Is Safe scheme this ensures that online traders follow strict guidelines that protects you the customer should something go wrong and its a point of contact for you to use if you do have a problem.

Look out for things like ISO9001:2000 registered company, if you see this and its genuine then you know for certain that that company has a set quality management system in place.

When your selecting your underfloor heating products and your thinking "wow this is too good to be true" then it probably is, the company may be selling the goods so cheap because they dont know what there doing, it may be a secondary income for them they may not be bothered about selling something to make 20, but they certainly arent going to be about to help you out when you need them and more than likely will just pass you on to the manufacture.

Another thing to remember when the goods are so cheap is: were do the goods come from? Are they cheap because the quality is cheap? What happens if i have a problem?

The morel of the story is in todays world you usually get what you pay for and when it comes to underfloor heating its just not worth scrimping and trying to save 30 at the end of the day, for most consumers its a little touch of luxury and normally its a one off expense that needs to last as long as the floor, so those companies who charge that little bit extra have the staff, insurance and resources to stand by you at anytime in the future, plus they have a reputation to uphold. All of the above should help to give you a more pleasant experience of buying electric underfloor heating on the net.

There are a few really good companies out there as well as not so good companies just be aware.

Underfloor heating is one of the most efficient forms of domestic and commercial heating today. Most underfloor heating systems are aimed at the DIY market but if you dont fancy doing it your self then why not contact us for a free no obligation quotation.

Forex Options Market Overview

The forex options market started as an over-the-counter (OTC) financial vehicle for large banks, financial institutions and large international corporations to hedge against foreign currency exposure. Like the forex spot market, the forex options market is considered an "interbank" market. However, with the plethora of real-time financial data and forex option trading software available to most investors through the internet, today's forex option market now includes an increasingly large number of individuals and corporations who are speculating and/or hedging foreign currency exposure via telephone or online forex trading platforms.

Forex option trading has emerged as an alternative investment vehicle for many traders and investors. As an investment tool, forex option trading provides both large and small investors with greater flexibility when determining the appropriate forex trading and hedging strategies to implement.

Most forex options trading is conducted via telephone as there are only a few forex brokers offering online forex option trading platforms.

Forex Option Defined - A forex option is a financial currency contract giving the forex option buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase or sell a specific forex spot contract (the underlying) at a specific price (the strike price) on or before a specific date (the expiration date). The amount the forex option buyer pays to the forex option seller for the forex option contract rights is called the forex option "premium."

The Forex Option Buyer - The buyer, or holder, of a foreign currency option has the choice to either sell the foreign currency option contract prior to expiration, or he or she can choose to hold the foreign currency options contract until expiration and exercise his or her right to take a position in the underlying spot foreign currency. The act of exercising the foreign currency option and taking the subsequent underlying position in the foreign currency spot market is known as "assignment" or being "assigned" a spot position.

The only initial financial obligation of the foreign currency option buyer is to pay the premium to the seller up front when the foreign currency option is initially purchased. Once the premium is paid, the foreign currency option holder has no other financial obligation (no margin is required) until the foreign currency option is either offset or expires.

On the expiration date, the call buyer can exercise his or her right to buy the underlying foreign currency spot position at the foreign currency option's strike price, and a put holder can exercise his or her right to sell the underlying foreign currency spot position at the foreign currency option's strike price. Most foreign currency options are not exercised by the buyer, but instead are offset in the market before expiration.

Foreign currency options expires worthless if, at the time the foreign currency option expires, the strike price is "out-of-the-money." In simplest terms, a foreign currency option is "out-of-the-money" if the underlying foreign currency spot price is lower than a foreign currency call option's strike price, or the underlying foreign currency spot price is higher than a put option's strike price. Once a foreign currency option has expired worthless, the foreign currency option contract itself expires and neither the buyer nor the seller have any further obligation to the other party.

The Forex Option Seller - The foreign currency option seller may also be called the "writer" or "grantor" of a foreign currency option contract. The seller of a foreign currency option is contractually obligated to take the opposite underlying foreign currency spot position if the buyer exercises his right. In return for the premium paid by the buyer, the seller assumes the risk of taking a possible adverse position at a later point in time in the foreign currency spot market.

Initially, the foreign currency option seller collects the premium paid by the foreign currency option buyer (the buyer's funds will immediately be transferred into the seller's foreign currency trading account). The foreign currency option seller must have the funds in his or her account to cover the initial margin requirement. If the markets move in a favorable direction for the seller, the seller will not have to post any more funds for his foreign currency options other than the initial margin requirement. However, if the markets move in an unfavorable direction for the foreign currency options seller, the seller may have to post additional funds to his or her foreign currency trading account to keep the balance in the foreign currency trading account above the maintenance margin requirement.

Just like the buyer, the foreign currency option seller has the choice to either offset (buy back) the foreign currency option contract in the options market prior to expiration, or the seller can choose to hold the foreign currency option contract until expiration. If the foreign currency options seller holds the contract until expiration, one of two scenarios will occur: (1) the seller will take the opposite underlying foreign currency spot position if the buyer exercises the option or (2) the seller will simply let the foreign currency option expire worthless (keeping the entire premium) if the strike price is out-of-the-money.

Please note that "puts" and "calls" are separate foreign currency options contracts and are NOT the opposite side of the same transaction. For every put buyer there is a put seller, and for every call buyer there is a call seller. The foreign currency options buyer pays a premium to the foreign currency options seller in every option transaction.

Forex Call Option - A foreign exchange call option gives the foreign exchange options buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase a specific foreign exchange spot contract (the underlying) at a specific price (the strike price) on or before a specific date (the expiration date). The amount the foreign exchange option buyer pays to the foreign exchange option seller for the foreign exchange option contract rights is called the option "premium."

Please note that "puts" and "calls" are separate foreign exchange options contracts and are NOT the opposite side of the same transaction. For every foreign exchange put buyer there is a foreign exchange put seller, and for every foreign exchange call buyer there is a foreign exchange call seller. The foreign exchange options buyer pays a premium to the foreign exchange options seller in every option transaction.

The Forex Put Option - A foreign exchange put option gives the foreign exchange options buyer the right, but not the obligation, to sell a specific foreign exchange spot contract (the underlying) at a specific price (the strike price) on or before a specific date (the expiration date). The amount the foreign exchange option buyer pays to the foreign exchange option seller for the foreign exchange option contract rights is called the option "premium."

Please note that "puts" and "calls" are separate foreign exchange options contracts and are NOT the opposite side of the same transaction. For every foreign exchange put buyer there is a foreign exchange put seller, and for every foreign exchange call buyer there is a foreign exchange call seller. The foreign exchange options buyer pays a premium to the foreign exchange options seller in every option transaction.

Plain Vanilla Forex Options - Plain vanilla options generally refer to standard put and call option contracts traded through an exchange (however, in the case of forex option trading, plain vanilla options would refer to the standard, generic forex option contracts that are traded through an over-the-counter (OTC) forex options dealer or clearinghouse). In simplest terms, vanilla forex options would be defined as the buying or selling of a standard forex call option contract or a forex put option contract.

Exotic Forex Options - To understand what makes an exotic forex option "exotic," you must first understand what makes a forex option "non-vanilla." Plain vanilla forex options have a definitive expiration structure, payout structure and payout amount. Exotic forex option contracts may have a change in one or all of the above features of a vanilla forex option. It is important to note that exotic options, since they are often tailored to a specific's investor's needs by an exotic forex options broker, are generally not very liquid, if at all.

Intrinsic & Extrinsic Value - The price of an FX option is calculated into two separate parts, the intrinsic value and the extrinsic (time) value.

The intrinsic value of an FX option is defined as the difference between the strike price and the underlying FX spot contract rate (American Style Options) or the FX forward rate (European Style Options). The intrinsic value represents the actual value of the FX option if exercised. Please note that the intrinsic value must be zero (0) or above - if an FX option has no intrinsic value, then the FX option is simply referred to as having no (or zero) intrinsic value (the intrinsic value is never represented as a negative number). An FX option with no intrinsic value is considered "out-of-the-money," an FX option having intrinsic value is considered "in-the-money," and an FX option with a strike price at, or very close to, the underlying FX spot rate is considered "at-the-money."

The extrinsic value of an FX option is commonly referred to as the "time" value and is defined as the value of an FX option beyond the intrinsic value. A number of factors contribute to the calculation of the extrinsic value including, but not limited to, the volatility of the two spot currencies involved, the time left until expiration, the riskless interest rate of both currencies, the spot price of both currencies and the strike price of the FX option. It is important to note that the extrinsic value of FX options erodes as its expiration nears. An FX option with 60 days left to expiration will be worth more than the same FX option that has only 30 days left to expiration. Because there is more time for the underlying FX spot price to possibly move in a favorable direction, FX options sellers demand (and FX options buyers are willing to pay) a larger premium for the extra amount of time.

Volatility - Volatility is considered the most important factor when pricing forex options and it measures movements in the price of the underlying. High volatility increases the probability that the forex option could expire in-the-money and increases the risk to the forex option seller who, in turn, can demand a larger premium. An increase in volatility causes an increase in the price of both call and put options.

Delta - The delta of a forex option is defined as the change in price of a forex option relative to a change in the underlying forex spot rate. A change in a forex option's delta can be influenced by a change in the underlying forex spot rate, a change in volatility, a change in the riskless interest rate of the underlying spot currencies or simply by the passage of time (nearing of the expiration date).

The delta must always be calculated in a range of zero to one (0-1.0). Generally, the delta of a deep out-of-the-money forex option will be closer to zero, the delta of an at-the-money forex option will be near .5 (the probability of exercise is near 50%) and the delta of deep in-the-money forex options will be closer to 1.0. In simplest terms, the closer a forex option's strike price is relative to the underlying spot forex rate, the higher the delta because it is more sensitive to a change in the underlying rate.

John Nobile - Senior Account Executive
CFOS/FX - Online Forex Spot and Options Brokerage

Potential SPX Overshoot

The most recent article "Lower Volume Trading Range" showed SPX held the cyclical bull market low, intermediate-term technical indicators may have bottomed, and an SPX 1,246 to 1,290 range may take place in July. However, the possibility of a rise above 1,290 should be taken into account.

The two charts below show daily SPX (right scales and candlesticks) and daily NYSE Oscillator (NYMO; left scales and green lines) in 2004 and currently with SPX 50 and 200-day MAs. NYMO closed above 72 on Monday, which is the highest level since early-June 2004.

The first chart shows SPX topped in March 2004 at 1,163 and began a volatile downtrend. The second chart shows SPX topped in May 2006 at 1,326 and also began a downtrend. The gray arrow in the 2004 chart may indicate SPX movements over the next month. The first two weeks of July tend to be bullish. So, it's possible, SPX may rally into earnings season, stay high, and sell on the FOMC anouncement August 8th. A short-squeeze may be triggered above 1,290 with upside potential to around 1,310.

However, there are major differences between the 2004 and current charts. When the 2004 NYMO rose above 80, it began below negative 100 (both the high and low were historical extremes), while the current rise began slightly below negative 50. Also, SPX rose above the 50-day MA on the first bounce after the top in 2004. However, SPX failed to reach the 50-day MA on the first bounce after the top in 2006.

Over the 2004 downtrend, SPX made lower highs. So, 1,290 continues to be major resistance, and the 1,246 to 1,290 range may take place in July. Nonetheless, a sharp rise above 1,290 should be taken into account. Also, the charts indicate SPX will be much lower within three months, and SPX may bottom in October or sooner, perhaps below 1,200.

Free charts available at PeakTrader.com Forum Index Market Forecast category.

Arthur Albert Eckart is the founder and owner of PeakTrader. Arthur has worked for commercial banks, e.g. Wells Fargo, Banc One, and First Commerce Technologies, during the 1980s and 1990s. He has also worked for Janus Funds from 1999-00. Arthur Eckart has a BA & MA in Economics from the University of Colorado. He has worked on options portfolio optimization since 1998.

Mr Eckart has developed a comprehensive trading methodology using economics, portfolio optimization, and technical analysis to maximize return and minimize risk at the same time and over time. This methodology has resulted in excellent returns with low risk over the past four years.

How to Choose a Low Spread Forex Trading Platform

When you start your Forex trading you will find that the Forex brokers - online or conventional, do not ask for a commission for their service. But of course, they do not perform their operations for free. They make money by charging a spread from the investor. It is therefore very important to find out a low spread Forex trading platform.

The spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price for the currency being traded. The broker adds this spread onto the price of the trade and keeps it as their fee for trading. So you can consider this as a hidden commission.

One good thing about the spread is you pay it when you buy and not when you sell. A trading of 4 pips vs. 5 pips makes a difference of 25% on your trading costs! This makes the point clear why you would need a low spread Forex trading platform.

The popular currency pairs like the EUR/USD or GBP/USD typically have the lowest spreads. Some brokers offer different spreads for different types of accounts. A low spread Forex trading platform may not offer good mini trading and may have higher spreads than a full contract account. Obviously the smaller the spread on currency pairs the better the conditions for you as investor and trader.

You will find many online sites offering different platforms for Forex trading. Through these platforms you can actually buy or sell the Forex. You will have to identify a low spread Forex trading platform from them.

A good Forex trading platform shows live prices that you can actually trade at, and not indicative quotes. The low spread Forex trading platform should be fair and should let you know the actual prices so that you can have an idea of the spread.

While choosing the low spread Forex trading platform you wish to trade from the factors you should consider are:

Platform execution This refers to how fast and consistent the execution of trades are.

Fractional trading The low spread Forex trading platform allows the investors and traders to trade on a fractional basis. Instead of full lots 100,000 units or 300,000 units, it allows you to trade 163,345 units or 325,911 units. This is very helpful for traders risking certain percentage of their balance on each trade.

User friendly The trading platform should be easy to use and understand. It should be reliable during fast moving markets. The platform should offer services like one click buying or selling, trading directly from a chart, supports mobile devices, trailing stops, etc.

Minimum investment The Forex trading platform should offer minimum amount of money to open a trading account.

To find out which Forex brokers offer the lowest spreads and the best trading software please visit our Forex Reviews and Advice website

E-currency Trading - An Alternative to Futures & Forex Trading

I find it amazing that nearly everyday I receive something online or offline that is the greatest break-through in Trading. You know the stuff. This system or that method has been thoroughly tested and back-tested in every conceivable fashion and is wildly successful. Some work for a period of time but most do not. The decades old statistical fact still remains, 90+% of Futures Traders will lose all of their trading capital within their first year of trading. Now there is a new and promising alternative.

Enter e-Currency Trading. In simple terms e-currency is Internet Money. E-Currency allows the purchase of Internet goods and services at lightning speed and most importantly with a high level of security. Much higher than credit cards, bank transfer etc. The demand for e-currency should only grow as Internet Commerce grows.

So what does this have to do with trading? There are literally hundreds of different e-currencies. Each is backed by an underlying Currency or a precious metal. The need arises to exchange between these e-currencies or convert an e-currency to hard cash. Much like the Euro is to the European Union. We can profit from the exchanging process and profit from the fluctuation of the underlying currency value.

The same basic strategies apply to e-currency trading as with futures trading. Supply and demand dictates price primarily. You could buy e-currency that has historically performed well (buying the trend) or go the opposite way and buy those that are under-performing, looking for a turn-around. You can even chart them if you like.

Leverage, that double-edged sword that Futures Traders are so familiar with is also present in e-Currency Trading. You can borrow against your portfolio to buy more e-currency. The compounding affect is almost outrageous. Some would argue that you never have to pay back the leverage. I contend that it is paid back if you closed your e-Currency account, because your final balance would be less the amount leveraged. The point here is the leverage in futures trading is often times the demise of a well intended trader versus the leverage afforded an e-currency trader combined with the daily compounding affect creates portfolio growth at a phenomenal rate. It is not uncommon to see portfolio growth of 20 40% per month.

Futures Trading and e-Currency Trading have a common downside. The learning curve is huge and can be frustrating and costly. Each has unique terminology, which is impossible to work around until you have a good understanding of the meaning. Thankfully in this world of information, we are able to find resources online and offline that shorten that curve. How much it is shortened is dependent on how much time you want to dedicate.

Industry experts have debated for years the optimum amount one should fund their futures trading account with. The obvious moving target is enough capital to withstand the drawdown periods. Many factors go into this but Ive seen numbers range anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 and up. If this is the case then there is little doubt why most futures traders lose as most are willing to fund only the amount required to cover Margin or the Brokers account minimum usually a few thousand dollars. One of the biggest reasons for small business failure is being under capitalized, the same holds true in futures trading.

E-Currency Trading is different in that the experts recommend starting with a few hundred dollars and let the system build your account. Whatever route you choose, only trade with risk capital.

E-Currency Trading certainly has advantages over traditional futures trading and may well be worth your serious consideration.

Merv Thompson is the owner of a website that provides trading tools, resourses and reviews for todays futures trader. http://www.futures-brokers-review.com

Merv has started his own personal e-currency trading account and will periodically post updates - Visit the website to view the results

Additional information about e-currency trading can be found on his website at http://www.futures-brokers-review.com/ecdwnld.html

9 Tips For Becoming a Profitable Forex Trader

Regardless of your trading style; day trading, swing trading, or position trading there is a simple step by step plan you can use to improve your odds for success.

1. Start by paper trading until you can be consistently profitable on paper. I would also recommend doing a lot of practice trading with a real-time demo account. This is the next best thing to real trading without risking money.

2. Regardless of how much money you have, start trading with a small amount of money and work up over time. You need to make all your mistakes with the smallest amount of money. Trust me, it will be a lot less painful!

3. If you are a day trader, avoid the very small time-frames like 1 or 2 minute as you get a lot of signals which can lead to over trading. These fast time-frames are full of market noise and insignificant price activity.

4. Make sure that all your entry criteria are met for the trade setup. Don't jump the gun until everything is in place.

5. If there are no clear signals in the market, then do nothing. Forcing trades almost always ends up with losses.

6. Always place your protective stop immediately after entering the trade!

7. In your studies you will be exposed to many techniques. You will improve your results by concentrating on only one or two strategies. Get real good and consistently profitable with them first.

8. Don't watch too many currencies at one time. This leads to too much confusion and indecision about which trade to take. I wouls stick to two or three of the major currency pairs.

9. Win, lose or draw dont deviate from your strategies or change things.

These 9 points may seem very simple, but they are actually very hard to carry out as they require a lot of focus and discipline. Stick to them and you will trade better than the majority of forex traders out there.

Dr. Jeffrey Wilde, a trading veteran with 16 years of experience is a trading coach to over 3500 traders in 63 countries. His new blog http://www.askjeffwilde.com offers free trading articles, tips and advice. He also teaches a variety of courses found at http://www.win-at-trading.com and http://www.fastforexprofits.com

Investments and How to Find Them

There are risks involved in all investing. The skill of investing is knowing which risks are worth taking, and which should be avoided. Finding and knowing which risks to take is the essence of good investing and the whole reason that investments can pay such a high reward. It cannot be done without careful research and analysis. You must give yourself every chance to make the right decision. Investing without carrying out sufficient research is like playing roulette. You are giving yourself virtually no chance of covering your investments and avoiding disaster.

There are certain steps you will have to take in order to give yourself a fighting chance of being a successful investor. If you are considering investing in company shares on the stock market, then you should be aware that all publicly traded companies must provide investors and potential investors with access to company financial data. This data is generally available from the company so if you are considering buying into a company, then get access to this information and satisfy yourself that the company is in a good financial state before parting with any money.

Be Aware

If you do research a company, and are taking a look at its financial position, then you should look back two to three years into the past. You probably dont need to go back further than this but if you go back less, there may be important trends in the finances that you will miss. Take special note of the quarterly statements and the revenue and earnings per share.

You should be trying to identify trends in certain figures. While these are no guarantee of what might happen In the future it is undeniable that an upward trend in revenue and profits will be a positive sign to look out for.

Once you have satisfied yourself with the basic financials of the company and that the prospects of making good profits into the future are favourable you will be in a position to consider putting money into the share. There is an ongoing debate over whether its preferable to buy shares that will increase in value, or shares that pay good dividends and the answer to this question must always lie with the individual investor. What must be remembered however is that there is little point in chasing dividends. This refers to the practice of buying a share just before a dividend is expected to be announced. The price of the share will already have taken the dividend into account so you will be paying for it in any case.

Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the loan information sites http://www.selectloans.co.uk/ and also http://www.ukpersonalloanstore.co.uk At the Personal Loan Store you can find some of the latest personal loans explained in detail.

Power of Candlestick assist you in Forex Trading

An Introduction To Candlesticks There are two ways to analysis a market price, (i) fundamental analysis, (ii) technical analysis.

Fundamental analysis- is used to gauge the market price according to the number of stock, such as price or earnings ratio, return on invest, or anything related to the economic statistics.

Technical analysis - is used to deal with psychological component especially the emotionalism of traders. It is always seeking answer for the question "how are other traders viewing this stock, and how would them react for that future trading?. So, the candlestick chart is always considered as the most effective way to gauge the reactions of other traders.

Lets compare the candlestick charts with the western charts. There are four components in the western bar chart, (i) open, (ii) high, (iii) low (iv) close. For the vertical bar, the top and bottom of the bar represents the high and low of the session. For the horizontal bar, the left horizontal line represents the open and the right horizontal line represents the close.

By using the same data, the Japanese Candlestick Line has created a much more visualize pictures to show the traders how the market stock is going. The main colour thick part of the candlestick bar is called the real body. It represents the range between the price of opening session and close session. The red real body represents that the session close at a lower price than the open point; while for the green real body, it represents that the session close at a higher price than the open point. The top and bottom lines are called shadows. The shadows represent the extremes of one sessions price. The top part shadow is called the upper shadow and the bottom part shadow is called the lower shadow. So, the upper shadow represents the high of the day and the lower shadow represents the low of the day.

The major difference between the Western Line and the Japanese Candlestick line is the relationship between opening and closing prices. The Western Line gives more priority to the closing price regarding to the previous close. But for the Japanese Candlestick Line, the Japanese gives more priority to the close regarding to the open of the same day. To make the words clearer, lets compare the daily chart plotted with Western Lines and the Japanese Candlestick lines by using the same data. There is nothing much difference between those charts as both charts can be easily interpreted the overall trend of the stock. However, with the Japanese Candlestick chart, the sentimental changes day to day is more easier by viewing the real body colour changed (from green to red or vice versa).

I know it is very difficult to visualize without the graphic assisted. But i have no idea to put the chart and candlestick bar here. If you need more information, go Easy Forex Strategy or http://www.learnforexsecret.com

Learn Forex Secret

To Enjoy Your Retirement Years And Have Enough Money You Need To Plan Now

It is never too late or too early to start investing for the future. Of course there will be a lot of advantages if you start investing for the future at an early stage. Note that if you start investing while you are still very young, time could work to your advantage. The value of money and properties could go higher with time, thus in most instances, the longer you keep the investment, the greater will be your gain.

Contrary to some myth that you will need a fairly large sum of money to start investing, you could actually start small. If you were financially hard up that every dollar would count to tide you over to the next payday, with more reason for you to save and invest your money into some profitable ventures. Why would you save when you can hardly afford to buy the basic necessities in life?

Although you might think that setting aside savings for investment purposes is illogical when you are financially hard up, this could actually be the soundest thing to do. Just think about it, if you are financially challenged today and you don't do anything about it, you will still be financially challenged the next day, the day after next and so on. You must do something different and break the chain of living from paycheck to paycheck and whining about it too.

How much do you really need to start investing in stocks or mutual fund portfolio? To open an account, you could actually start with just $100 and then build up your portfolio by contributing about $25 to $50 monthly. If you don't have hundreds now, you can save some amounts every payday until you have enough to open an account. You must understand that the dollars that you invest now could be worth a lot more in a few years. By building your portfolio slowly, you could accumulate a lot of money after a few years. Studies shows that people who have invested in mutual funds when they were in their early twenties have earned a great deal of money by the time they reach the age of forty. In some instances, people who started investing early could have enough money to plan for an early retirement.

There are many companies offering investment programs that could suit your needs. If you are really serious about building a financial nest for the future, you could start getting information online on how to open investment accounts. Find a good website which could give comprehensive information about how mutual funds or shares of stocks could work to your advantage. It is always a good idea to learn more about the product that you want to invest your money in before you actually put up your money. Note that it is important to pick a winner when investing or else you will end up losing some money instead of earning some.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as a stock investing at http://www.investingmaster.com

Understanding and Managing Market Turbulence

The initial trigger for the huge market turbulence was the possibility that the Chinese government would impose taxes aimed at stopping speculative activity and controlling the speed of growth in the countrys market, which has doubled in value over the past 12 months. The rumors set off a sudden wave of selling in China, sending China's stock market index down by more than 8% in a single day which was its steepest decline since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

This strong decline was accompanied by a tremendous volatility in the global market. Over the course of just five days, the principal stock exchanges of Europe lost an average of 6.9%. In the United States, the Dow Jones dropped 4.6% and the S&P 500 dropped 5.19%. These declines are slight in comparison with the losses suffered in the stock exchanges of emerging markets. In Latin America, the Buenos Aires exchange plunged 12.58% during this period; the Bovespa in Brazil dropped 10.88% and the IPC in Mexico fell by 8.05%.

Of course circumstances leading up to the crises varied across countries and regions. But each of these events had one dynamic in common - the confluence of a sharp increase in risk perception, and the subsequent actions taken by financial institutions and investors to limit their exposure and to hedge against further losses.

Volatility can, and should, be expected along the way and we encourage investors to use this market volatility to reassess their asset class weightings and level of risk in their portfolios. While market corrections are not pleasant for investors we consider it normal and expect such market movements on occasion. The truth, of course, is that without risk no investment would ever produce a return worthy of the name.

Volatility expectation can be forecasted using historical volatility that is a measure of how much an exchange rate or any asset has varied, on average, over a specified period, say one year. As its name suggests, historical volatility is backward looking. This measure has the advantage of telling us something about expected volatility over the certain timeframe. It therefore has a forward-looking component.

Achieving ideal returns by managing and diversifying away risk is a weightier issue than ever for Resolute Capital Growth Fund. In our view market-neutral investing is one of the hottest strategies for achieving downside protection. Resolute Capital Growth Fund opens investors up to new thinking on highly effective approaches to return enhancement and risk reduction through our market-neutral investing techniques that hedge exposures to neutralize the impact of market volatility on investment performance. Resolute Capital Growth Fund has shown it can outperform in down markets as well as in up markets, and, if there were a recurrence of such market condition, we would expect a similar outcome. The objective of the Fund is to achieve consistent equity growth regardless of market conditions by investing in the global markets using the most advance asset allocation process.

The never-ending dilemma for investors is to decide to what extent they should remain invested in risky assets when risk premiums have been eroded. Focus your concern on your portfolio allocation, your portfolio diversification, and whether your investments are inline with your expectations.

With RESCGF you can enjoy the long-term benefits regardless of the market conditions, because we accept volatility and we learned to ignore it. Considering the current state of global markets, our approach will not change moving forward. We will continue to proceed with caution given the state of financial markets, a strategy that has proven to be a sound approach in light of recent events.

Forex Trading - Earn Bigger Profits Now By Applying the 80-20 Rule

The 80:20 rules applies in many spheres of life and if you know what it is and apply it in forex trading you will increase your profits dramatically. So lets take a look at what it is and specifically how to apply it to forex trading.

In the late nineteenth century an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto observed that, in his native country of Italy, a small group of people held nearly all the power, influence, and wealth.

Came to the conclusion that in most countries, about 80% of the wealth and power was controlled by about 20% of the population and he referred to this as:

Predictable imbalance, which became known as the 80:20 rule.

He concluded that in relation to an individuals effort:

20% of your effort or energy output will produce 80% of your income furthermore, 20% of your time will produce 80% of your work out put or income.

Does this apply to forex trading?

Yes it does and the lesson you can learn from the 80:20 rule is to work smart not hard. Concentrate your effort on the trades that have the best risk reward.

Cut The Number Of Trades You Do

Its a fact that most traders trade too much and execute trading signals to often, as they want to force the market to give profits, but of course profits cannot be forced.

The way to apply the 80:20 rule to currency trading is drop your frequency of trading. If you look at forex charts you will see that there are very few big trends each year but when they do occur they produce huge profits.

How do you spot them?

Here is a checklist

1. Look for valid resistance levels, that if broken are considered significant by the market.

2. Learn how to use a breakout methodology and go with breaks of these support and resistance levels.

3. To increase the odds even further make sure that you use momentum indicators to confirm that price momentum is supporting a break.

4. As you are trading less you can afford to risk more on these trades and increase profitability.

5. Dont trail stops to close and have a profit target that relates to the size of the break.

The above method will ensure you are trading a lot less and it could be as much as 80%, but your profitability will be increased.

Its a fact that most of the big profits are generated from trades that break from new market highs - NOT market lows.

So if you have been buying dips its time to re think your forex trading strategy.

Trading Less for More Profits

If you like excitement and the thrill of trading this strategy is not for you. The above strategy is all about making money and trading the trades with the best risk to reward which can yield triple digit annual gains.

If you have been trading and making marginal profits, apply the 80:20 rule to your trading, cut the frequency of trades and increase the profits!

GRAB 3 X FREE TRADER & FREE TRADER PROFITS NEWSLETTER

On all aspects of becoming a profitable trader including features, downloads and some critical FREE Trader PDF's and more FREE Forex Education visit our website at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

Best Forex Trading System

Venturing oneself in any kind of investments is not easy. Though most people consider capital as the major element, still many failed to find success. Perhaps you have heard about forex trading as a business venture, but you dont understand what its all about. This article will give you a little overview, before you can examine the benefits it can provide you.

Trading of foreign currencies through brokers is known as forex market. Movement of currency is the basis of forex exchange depending on market conditions. Process of dealing with the forex market to investors is called forex trading. Objective of every investor here is to profit. Opportunities of becoming rich or bankrupt via forex trading are speculative, because changes in forex rate are unexpected.

As time goes by, the impact of engaging in forex trading business is becoming more and more powerful especially to those who focused and risk their lives in this kind of gamble. Thus, every business individual or company at the back of this venture must not only be knowledgeable and responsive. There are so many qualities to own, ideas to adapt, and techniques or approach to apply in order to include your self in the series of successful forex trading investors.

Recently, many forex trading companies are providing best forex trading systems for their million clients. These systems can be accessed online, even without using your phone or going out somewhere else. In short, everybody deserves an effortless way of gaining profits at home. Online systems like these, provides historical display where you can back-check previous market exchange conditions. Having this is so simple. They can be downloaded directly to your PC, providing you a tutorial training based on video that will enhance your skills step by step. After this, why not imagine yourself profiting more in the biggest currency market in the world.

In fact, best forex trading system can be successfully achieved by examining first what is applicable or ideal for you. In choosing the best, you need to examine what is the difference between two kinds of forex systems discretionary and mechanical forex trading systems.

Discretionary systems uses good or bad experiences, direct perception or immediate apprehension on input and outputs while programs coming out directly from mechanical systems following systematic procedures and technical studies are categorized under mechanical systems. Which of the two can fulfill your preference? Its your duty to find out.

Know your personality first. If you think you can accomplish something based on the given standards of your systems, fearing yourself to be placed in risky situations, then it is recommended that youll use a system that belongs mechanically. On the other hand, if youre flexible enough to adapt in any kind of forex trading conditions, then discretionary type of system is ideal for you. With this kind of set up, you need to plan what to execute next.

The ways you choose the best forex trading system actually do matter. At the end, you still need to consider several significant points before having one. Determine the compatibility between the system and your personality; otherwise you will end up waiting for nothing. Have one for trial and two as a second option is possible.

Discover the best forex trading system recommended by Ricky that enable him to earn $545 per day working only 2 hours a day.

Shares or Mutual Funds - Which One is Better for You?

Every Investment has got some level of risk associated with it. This risks ranges from low to high and the rate of return from the investment is directly proportional to the risk associated with it. That is, if you invest in a high-risk instrument, the rate of return is high and if your investment is in a low-risk instrument, then the rate of return on that investment is low.

Shares and Mutual funds are now considered as best option for investment. Shares belong to high-risk investment category. Before starting investment in a particular share, you have to do a deep research on the company you are going to invest, its future plans and current performance. But in the long run, if the company is under performing, then the share price can come down resulting in a significant erosion of your total investment.

Mutual funds are the next best option if you have a low-risk appetite. You can buy a Mutual Fund in units. Instead of you directly managing your funds, the Mutual fund company does all the buying and selling of shares through its Fund managers on your behalf. Fund managers are experienced professionals who are appointed by the Mutual fund company to look after your investment. He manages your investment carefully during turbulent economic upheavals.

The performance of a Mutual fund is reflected on its Net Asset Value. This is commonly known as NAV. If the NAV of a unit is more than the NAV at which you bought the unit, you can book profit or wait for some more appreciation on your investment. If the NAV is less than the rate at which you bought the unit, then you are in a loss. You can wait till the time NAV reaches above the NAV at which you bought the units.

Visit http://www.giftsspace.com/learningcntreasysearch.php?words=Share for more information.

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Forex Trading - Spotting the Big Trends For Big Profits Part 2

In part 1 we looked at how human psychology pushes prices away from fair value.

When there are extreme moves away from fair value you can make a contrary trade to the majority and pile up big profits with low risk.

So what tools do you need? Lets take a look.

As a general rule these tools will work in any market not just forex markets.

What sets ups do you look for?

Generally you want a set up that is the news where there is no end in sight to a spike move.

This generally indicates that greed and fear have taken hold and the market being looked at is emotionally driven and away from fair value.

This happens all the time:

The recent spike in crude oil, the 87 stock market crash and many others including in the forex market.

First place to start

Is the chart look for huge price spikes in short time spaces accompanied by experts and the news telling you there is no end in sight.

Now delve a bit deeper to see the true picture.

Useful technical tools are:

RSI, Sochastics and Bollinger bands

Then add in these sentiment tools to the mix.

% Bullish

This indictor is a poll of people, experts, brokers etc that have a view or interest in the market.

When this poll indicates above 70% are bullish the market is in overbought territory and when below 30% is in oversold territory.

In the currency markets we like to look for even more extreme readings of below 20% and above 80%

Commitment of Traders Net - Traders Position Report

This is a tool used for years by futures traders and shows the breakdown of open interest among three main participants.

We will explain what it means in a minute buy here is its definition of the groups.

Hedgers The smart money commercial traders

Large speculators These are normally large funds with reportable positions

Small speculators everyone else.

The commercials are long term traders and are close to the fundamentals and move very slowly they are hedging not speculating and not influenced by greed or far and are the smart money.

Speculators on the other hand, both funds and small speculators, are driven by greed and fear

If you see a set up where commercials start to move the opposite way to speculators at a market top or bottom and hold an opposite extreme, then prices have moved to far from fair value.

With the commercials taking and building the opposite position to speculators in a rampant bull or bear market you know prices are probably due to re bound.

You must only use extremes with this tool and this normally means 8 months to 2 years.

Breaking it down

Study chart first, look for experts telling you there is no end in sight to the move, then look at % bullish and then net trader report.

Finally, use the technical indicators to confirm the move.

These moves do not happen often.

Maybe a few times a year.

But when they do

You can zero in on a contrary trade that not only offers huge profit potential but offer low risk.

FREE ESSENTIAL CONTRARY TRADING PDF'S

On all aspects of becoming a profitable trader including features, downloads and your essential FREE Trading PDF's visit our website at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

FOREX Brokers - Tips for Choosing the Best Forex Broker

There are many Forex brokers to choose from when trading currencies online - and choosing the right one is essential, if youre going to maximize your FX trading profits.

This article is all about choosing the best broker to help you trade online - and help you achieve currency-trading success.

Firstly, you need to understand the following:

A Forex broker is there to help you place orders and give you a good service when doing so.

Many novice traders however choose a broker assisted account - and then expect their broker to help them make money!

You shouldnt use a broker-assisted account.

To succeed in FX trading you need to understand that you alone are responsible for your trading success, and no one else.

Now you have your FOREX trading system / trading plan, its time to choose a broker. Here are some tips to help you:

Spreads Offered

Spreads can be very competitive and you need them to be. Transaction costs mount up - especially if you are trading frequently.

The tighter the spread, the more profits you will make.

Today, many brokers offer spreads as tight as 3 - 5 pips - and this is what you should look for.

Deposit Online

Look for a broker who will take online payments to your Forex account - and make sure the payment method is secure.

This is a great facility for funding your account quickly - and getting your trading profits back into your bank account!

Guaranteed Stop Loss Protection

The leverage is one of the main reasons that people are attracted to currency trading, as it increases the profit potential dramatically.

Of course, leverage is a double-edged sword - and where there are high rewards, there is high risk.

Many traders are nervous of trading with the potential to lose more than their initial deposit. With this in mind many Forex brokers now offer guaranteed stops and negative balance protection.

This is a sensible service to utilize when you first venture into trading, as it gives peace of mind for a small fee.

Leverage Offered

The leverage brokers will give you varies dramatically from broker to broker.

You should look at a broker who will grant you at least 200:1, as it will maximize your potential profits.

In fact, many brokers will give you leverage of up to 400:1.

Other Charges

Your only transaction cost should be the currency spread - you should not pay other commissions.

Always make sure that the currency spread is the only fee youre charged, and that you dont pay any extra brokerage commissions.

Investment Amounts

Today, currency trading is not just the preserve of wealthy individuals and banks - anyone can get involved, as deposits are affordable to all investors.

You can open a trading account online with as little as $100.00 this means that novice traders who want to start out with a small amount can do so.

Trading Platform

If you are trading online, you will go through a Forex trading platform - and you should look at this closely when looking to trade with a broker.

You want ease of use and reliability but also check that the broker provides assistance and support.

FOREX Trading Education

While you should always make your own investment decisions, its nice to get free trading tools such as:

FREE trading guides
Forex training seminars
Trading news
Trading recommendations
Forex trading systems
Trading books

These can be useful when you first start to learn Forex trading, and you are developing your own Forex trading strategy.

Choose Your Broker Wisely

When choosing a Forex broker you have a lot of choice, and the above tips will help you choose a broker that will be a valuable partner in your quest for profits from online Forex trading.

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Short Selling for Investors

Shorts. Lets see. If there are shorts there must be longs. Which is best? Longs or shorts?

If you are trading in the stock the stock market experts like longs better than shorts. If you are long that means you own stock and that is good. If you are short you have sold stock and that is bad. At least that is what Wall Street preaches. And why do they want to make you believe this and is it true? Lets examine the facts.

Today I hear stories on the financial news and there are articles in the paper that people who are short driving the market down. They have sold more stock than they own and this is causing the market to collapse. I even hear that Congress is trying to pass a law that will not allow people to sell short. They are blaming hedge funds who are allowed to sell short. The basic flaw in this concept is when a short sale is initiated it must be done on an up tick. That means the stock must be going up in order to make a short sale. No short sale may be made to pressure the market down. That is a fatal pin in the balloon of that lie.

There are reasons people will make the sale of a stock. If you own it you may just need the money now or if it is going down you may not want to lose money should the downward trend continue. There is on old saying in the market the trend is your friend. If you see a stock that is declining you may want to sell it first and when it declines further you will buy it back at a lower price later on. This actually puts a floor under that stock because some time in the futures you MUST buy it. Whoever is doing the shorting does not matter whether it is an individual or a hedge fund. They are actually doing two things that are both good for the market. They are providing a future buy to support the price at a lower level that keeps it from going lower and they are providing liquidity to the market.

When you buy long you want it to go up so you can sell it later at a profit. When you sell short you sell it now with the idea of buying it back after it declines. Both are driven by the profit motive. How can one be good and the other bad? It is like saying there is good electricity and bad electricity.

If company CEOs dont want people to short their stock I suggest they look in the mirror to find out who is at fault. The CEO is not running his company properly and that is why the stock is declining. No outside person or group can drive a stock lower that is making a good profit. There is a good reason for the price decline.

Buying short does not put the market down. The ultimate outcome of a short sale (covering the short) is very positive for the market.

INVESTMENT LETTER 3 month free trial.
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com Copyright Albert W. Thomas All rights reserved. Author of If It Doesnt Go Up, Dont Buy It! Former 17-year exchange member, floor trader and brokerage company owner.

Two Little Four Letter Words

The two words that every share trader has to come to grips with every time that they trade is "Risk and Fear." Combine the two of them and you have concocted a poisonous mixture.

As soon as you start with your first trade transaction you are leaving your self wide open to "Risk." That is the risk of losing part or nearly all of your original capital.

The first loss you encounter which you have no control over is brokerage. The amount depends which stockbroker you have chosen to deal with. So the share price has to rise a little bit just for you to break even. If the share price decreases then the loss compounded.

One of the first things that will help you to overcome "Fear" and to survive in the share market is by using a trading plan and sticking to it. Without one you are doomed to eventually fail. For all you are doing is a hit and miss affair.

By using a trading plan the odds of your survival and trading success arc dramatically increased tenfold if not more. By having a trading plan and adhering to it does not a guarantee success just puts the odds more in your favor.

Now the action we take to protect our trading capital is a "Stop Loss." This is also known as a conditional order.

Now before you set the stop loss in place you need to have planned in advance how much of your precious capital you are prepared to lose. Once you have agreed upon the stop loss and have put it into place you can then sit back happily knowing that you have done the best you can possibly do to save your trading capital.

In a successful trade the share price is rising and soon you are experiencing a paper profit. It is called a paper profit because as yet we haven't as yet physically taken a profit. This only occurs when we sell the stock and not before.

Now we experience the risk and fear of losing that hard won profit. That is assuming that you have picked a preset level of profit according to your trading plan.

To safely lock in that profit we use a variant of the stop loss we first employed when we opened the trade. This is called a "Trailing Stop Loss." The purpose of this is to follow the share price upwards and it effectively locks in your profit that you have made so far.

These stop losses are based on either a percentage or a dollar figure. Most important of all is that they must be reviewed every day in case they need an adjustment. And when required do not procrastinate but do them straight away for it could cost you dearly.

By doing all of the above you have alleviated a lot of the risk and reduced your fear levels considerably which makes for sleeping better at night worry free.

Christopher Strudwick is a keen amateur investor on the Australian Stock Market. Visit his weblog for more free articles and useful information at http://www.asxnewbie.com

Currency Trading Courses - What Makes a Good Training Manual?

Many Forex courses use past information and facts as a basis for their training materials. The main problem with this is that they do not spend enough time on the practical side of investing. A better than average currency trading course should be able to help you understand the practical and technical workings of the Forex market which in turn will help yoin in developing and applying a strategy that you have formulated yourself.

Good courses should not spoon-feed you all of the information, sure they should teach you new things but it is important they also get you thinking for yourself. This is the only way you will learn how to apply the information they preach. You should be asked to think of your own approach to solving a particular problem.

Another sign that you have found a great course is if the manual is able to provide you with some first hand experience of the market or at least something simulating it. Video demonstrations, access to a safe, practice trading arena and a good level of support are always good signs that the currency trading course in question is worth purchasing.

Whilst Forex courses have their advantages, the one thing that has no substitute is confidence. A currency trading course must implant in you a confident attitude in making decisions related to Forex trading. Trading after all, is about taking risks and that is not possible until and unless you are confident about your own abilities.

When you are buying a currency trading educational course you must be sure that the material it offers you will prime you for successful trading in the real world not just in a practice environment. You will have to make a number of decisions in Forex trading and these actions that you choose will depend a lot on your instincts and on the knowledge. Therefore you are using the course to gain knowledge, which in turn builds your trading confidence and brings better results - thats the theory anyway!

It goes without saying that like any other field you want to enter, you need to have a basic understanding of the field. Forex trading is no different, if anything it is even more important to understand the fundamentals of the market than with any other market. Unlike stock trading you do not just need knowledge in one company or industry, you need global knowledge as a change in one currency can effect a change in another.

Most of the currency trading courses start with the US Dollars for the simple reason that it is the most predominant player in the market. With time, you should gain experience and knowledge about Forex trading with the US Dollar and after some practice you will find yourself more able to trade intelligently in other currencies also.

The currency trading courses can also teach you how to calculate the pip which, put simply, is the difference with which a currency rate increases or decreases. In other words, if the current exchange rate for two currencies is 1 to 45 and the next day it turns to 1 to 45.3, this means that the pip is 0.3. Calculating pip is not difficult but predicting it is essential in making profits and analyzing risk in any Foreign Exchange trade.

In summary, if you are looking to utilize a currency trading course to learn more and improve your Forex profitability then please do remember to consider the issues raised in this article carefully. A course should not be seen as a magic tutor that will bring you instant profits but should instead be viewed as a very useful learning experience that will boost your confidence and make you a more secure trader.

Paul Bryan operates Forex Reviews, News and Advice - A site aimed at bringing you the best and most independent Foreign Exchange information and articles.

Forex Education - Success You Follow These 2 Golden Rules

I read a lot about forex education and most of it is wrong; its a fact that 95% of traders lose, because they learn forex trading in the wrong way. Forex Trading success is easy but most traders simply have no idea how to acquire the right forex education and thats what this article is all about.

Learn these two golden rules and you can have a successful forex trading strategy and they are:

1. You are Responsible for Your Success

The problem for most forex traders is they think they can buy success from a vendor for a few hundred dollars. These gurus and mentors make millions from gullible and naive traders.

Most of the currency trading systems sold on the net are junk and simply promoted by clever marketing and the best example is perhapsforex day trading. Great story but it doesnt work.

The only person who can make you successful is you.

This means devising your own forex trading strategy for success.

If you devise your own strategy (its not as hard as many people think and is covered in our other articles) you will have a total understanding of your system and why it will work. This will give you two key character traits for success:

Confidence in your system and the discipline to follow it through inevitable losing periods.

2. Work smart and learn the RIGHT knowledge

There are those traders who are naive and gullible and believe someone else can give them success for a few hundred dollars, on the other hand there are others who believe that to make money you need to work hard their logic is the more you put in, the more you will get out but this is simply not true.

There are plenty of smart people working hard trading forex and a lot of them lose.

Why?

Because in the world of forex trading you only get a reward for being RIGHT and the market gives you nothing for effort.

So what does working smart entail?

Firstly, if you are new to forex trading develop a simple technical system with just a few indicators.

Simple systems work far better than complicated ones, as there are less elements to break in the brutal world of currency trading. Then, you need to focus on the long term trends and use a breakout methodology - its easy to understand, easy to apply and it's very profitable.

All the information you need is available free on the net.

If you seek out this forex education, you will be able to get a system that is robust and works and get a forex trading strategy together in less than 2 weeks.

If you are a long term trend follower you will only be executing forex trading signals a few times a month and your forex analysis will take under half an hour a day.

Is It Really That Simple?

Yes it is.

Currency trading success is built on a simple robust system and the ability to apply it with discipline.

Unless you develop it yourself, you wont confidence to follow it with dsipcline and without discipline, you dont have a method in the first place.

Currency trading is all about having the right knowledge and the right attitude to apply it.

Its a fact that everything about forex trading can be learned and anyone can become a successful trader, but 95% dont for the reasons outlined above dont make the same mistake.

GRAB 3 X FREE TRADER & FREE TRADER PROFITS NEWSLETTER

On all aspects of becoming a profitable trader including features, downloads and some critical FREE Trader PDF's and more FREE Forex Education visit our website at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

Learning Forex Trading - The Eight Steps To Get You On Your Way

Learning forex trading can certainly be a daunting process if you have no idea where to start. Although forex is less complex than some other methods of trading because it only deals with one specific commodity, it can still be a chore to get to grips with. There is so much involved when learning forex trading, especially if you want to be successful, but by following the tips below, you can soon obtain the knowledge and know how that you need.

1. Research forex trading You can never walk into any kind of investment without first investigating the possibilities and weighing up the advantages and disadvantages, and learning forex trading is no different. You should at least know what it is and how the concept of forex trading works before committing yourself to attempting to profit from it.

2. Learn all about currencies Most individuals know a little about the dollar, pound and euro, but it is essential to learn about all currencies and their histories whilst learning forex trading. Without having basic knowledge of the fundamentals of currency, you cannot hope to do well at forex trading.

3. Assess the odds The odds of success and failure are part and parcel of learning forex trading because you need to be able to recognise trends, analyse profit margins and recognise potential.

4. Learn the key terms Every investment opportunity has some form of jargon attached to it. Ensure that you have a full understanding of the jargon associated with learning forex trading before progressing to the next possible step.

5. Watch the market As with anything in life, always watch the market to get the feel of it before progressing to participation. Learning forex trading is all about understanding before participating, and the only way for you to do that is to watch other before attempting it yourself

6. Use software to trade for free Some softwares enable the learning forex trading before you actually invest. You can trade imaginary amounts via simulators to give you practice and give a greater understanding of the system. You can analyse your mistakes and rectify them before actually investing your own money!

7. Set a budget Always work out what you can afford to trade whilst you are learning forex trading. It is easy for an individual to get in over his or head and end up losing far more than he or she can afford, so make sure that you are not one of those people!

8. You are ready to begin for real Your learning forex trading crash course is complete so as soon as you feel confident, go for it!

Simon Aridej is the owner NewForexLive.com a site which provides a good information about forex trading tips, how to trade like a professional forex trading free forex trading ebook and much more. You can download forex trading ebook for free by Click Here!

Flat Panel Displays - Beyond Plasma

The term set-top box will become something of a misnomer in the near future, as most displays will become too thin to allow a box to placed on top of them. As the price of plasma & LCD displays has plummeted and their image quality has improved, they are popping up in homes everywhere.

Although they are the darlings of the media and the generic for flat panel display in the minds of many, plasmas are about to be in a serious fight with other technologies for the flat panel crown.

LCD displays, seen on the desktop for years as computer monitors, and commonplace in smaller flat panel TVs, are finally increasing in size to the point they are becoming a rival to plasmas in the 42" 50 size range. Picture quality is similar to plasmas; however LCDs are immune to the burn-in that can affect plasma displays. This burn-in occurs when plasma units are used to display static images such as video game screens and stock or sports tickers.

Plasmas generally have an edge in the ability to produce deeper blacks and more saturated colors than LCDs. Plasmas are also better at producing full motion video than LCDs because of the response time of the LCD panels, although this difference is disappearing.

LCD TVs are a bit more expensive than plasmas at 42" and larger sizes, but they should last a while longer. Plasma displays should last 20,000 25,000 hours and LCDs should give 30,000+ hours of useful life. However, the latest generation of plasma displays from NEC, LG & others is claimed to have a 60,000 hour life. If that is an industry trend, the traditional lifespan advantage held by LCDs may soon disappear. This comes at a time when Sony and other major consumer electronics manufacturers are either abandoning plasma or reducing their plasma offerings. Others, such as Panasonic, Fujitsu and Pioneer are firmly commited to Plasma technology.

Currently Sony has a 42", NEC a 40", Sharp a 45", and Samsung a 40" LCD TV or display. Samsung also has the big one, a 46" that started shipping in early September of 2004. The Samsung 46" was the first consumer LCD video display to have a 1080 line native resolution. This allows it to display 1080p native when that format arrives for HDTV. The Samsung has been joined by Sony, Toshiba and others, to endow the mid 40" size category with some pretty solid LCD offerings. The largest consumer LCD TVs or monitors are the Sharp 65" and Sony showed a prototype 82" LCD from their Bravia line at the 2006 CES in Las Vegas.

Other technologies are on the horizon as well. One that has shown great promise is OLED, for Organic Light Emitting Diode. Developed by Kodak and Pioneer, this technology has been used for a few years in car stereo and cell phone displays. It's just about ready for prime time. Philips has shown a 13" unit, Samsung a 17", and Seiko-Epson has shown a 40" prototype.

OLEDs advantages are many. It actually emits its own light, so it requires no backlight and has better contrast than a traditional LCD. OLED displays have a wide viewing angle like a plasma display. Power usage is very low, less than 1/2 that of a traditional LCD display. At around 2mm deep, OLEDs are much thinner than either a plasma or LCD.

They have a refresh rate about 1,000 times faster than a traditional LCD, so they will be far superior for video applications. They have fewer parts than LCD or plasma and can be manufactured using a novel ink jet printing process. This promises to keep prices low as the technology is implemented. It is expected to see sub 20" displays in stores by 2006 with larger units following one to two years later.

Other promising display technologies on the horizon include SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) and carbon Nanotube. SED was developed by Canon, who began research into the technology in 1986. SED is basically the same principle as CRT, however there are important differences. The most important from a consumer standpoint is thickness. An SED display is only an inch or two thick, depending upon screen size.

The basic construction is two glass plates separated by a vacuum. One of the plates is coated with phosphors the other is mounted with electron emitters. Electrons are ejected when a voltage of about 16 to 18 V is applied to the emitters. These electrons are then accelerated by a higher voltage into a beam similar to that in a CRT display.

The visual advantages of SEDs are as for CRT displays, great color, deep black levels and quick motion response. These advantages, combined with the slim form factor, low cost and small power requirement should make for a real winner.

A unit shown by Toshiba at a Japanese trade show in April of 2005 even had its contrast ratio up to an incredible 100,000 to 1 by significantly reducing black luminance. Even if the specs were a bit inflated this would still amount to a fantastic contrast ratio, on the order of 5 times that of a traditional CRT. At one time, Toshiba indicated they would move to this technology for all displays over 40 by 2006. However, after a spectacular demo at 2006 CES by where they indicated a late 2006 debut, both Canon and Toshiba, Toshiba resheduled their release date for SED until mid 2007, ostensibly to allow them to produce lower cost SEDs.

There is another fly in the SED ointment too. On April 21st, 2005 US firm Nano-Proprietary has filed a suit against Canon in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas, alleging that the surface (SED) televisions that Canon plans to release violates a licensing agreement signed 5 years ago between the Japanese giant and Nano-Proprietary.

The pace of change in the home theater and entertainment display market has just kept accelerating. There are some promising technologies around the corner that will allow, as usual, higher performance, lower cost and more compact form factors. As prices for advanced technologies plunge and technology improves, it will make it even easier for the average person to have a fantastic media system almost anywhere in their home.

Steve Faber has almost 15 years in the custom installation industry. He is a CEDIA certified designer and Installer 2 with certifications from both the ISF and THX. His experience spans many facets of the industry, from the trenches as an installer and control systems programmer, and system designer, to a business unit director for a specialty importer of high end audio video equipment, a sales rep for a large, regional consumer electronics distributor, and principal of a $1.5M+ custom installation firm. He currently is senior sales engineer for Digital Cinema Design in Redmond, WA. For much more about flat panel technology, home automation and home theater, go to flat panel displays for your home and theater

Five Fundamental Steps To Successful Stock Option Trading

Stock option trading presents the opportunity to potentially make a fortune trading options than almost any other form of online trading in todays market. The level of reduced risk combined with above average leverage allows a skilled option trader the chance to make sizable gains but an aspiring option trader must have a solid understanding about what creates a reliable option trading method to insure long term success at option trading. There are five fundamental steps that any option trader must implement when creating a superior stock option system.

To begin with you must realize the affects of time on the premium of the option you are choosing to trade. There are two parts you must factor when considering time into the stock option trading process. The first part that has to be considered is the time left on an option till expiration. Since stock options have a defined time period of anywhere from 30 days up to three years in some cases then you must be sure to select the proper stock option with enough time on it in order to profit. You must be sure that you purchase the correct option containing enough time on it to insure that time decay doesnt erode your investment away before your position has enough time to be profitable.

This brings us to the second part of the option selection process of trading options successfully is factoring time into your trading system. Trading a particular stock option and knowing the key factors of your option trading system or setup by knowing the average time period of a trade once it has been signaled and entered. For example, if your average holding time for an option trade is five days then you dont want to buy an option with four months of time premium left on it because you would be paying more for the extra time with the options purchase price. Nor would you buy an option with less than 30 days till expiration as time decay would eat away the value of option so rapidly that even if the stock options underlying stock moved favorably in your direction the time decay would be so great you would be too late to capture a gain in the option itself.

The third step to successful stock option trading is comprehending the relationship of volatility between the market, the underlying instrument that the option is based on, and the effect is has on the cost of the option itself. When the stock market as a whole as an index goes thru periods of low volatility or experiences low trading volume then the stocks that make up the market tend to follow general market and also begin to follow suit with periods of low volatility which cause cause the value of stock options to become cheap. However if the general markets volatility begins to spike it causes individual stock option premiums to increase in value as long as the market moves in the traders favor.

The fourth key in successful stock option trading is having a trading method that takes factor these key steps into giving clear entry signals, clear exit signals, a defined system of trade management, and a profit factor greater than your average loss over a series of trades. Understanding all steps of various trade setups is meaningless if you dont have a trading system that guides you through each step of the trade management process. A solid trading stock option system guides you by the hand and details each step while guiding you towards being a consistent winning trader in the markets and being profitable in the end.

The fifth and final step to trading stock options successfully is trading psychology. Traders and there mental makeup are usually complex so it is very important that stock option traders have a sound stock option trading system or method that factors this into their overall approach to trading the markets as well as the discipline to follow their trading methods. You can give two traders the same exact profitable trading system but its very likely that they will experience very different results. The reason for this is usually is because the one that has the ability to remain as detached from his losing trades as well as his winning trades while maintaining the discipline to follow the systems rules no matter the individual trading result will come thru as the most profitable trader in the end which shows us that it comes down to a superior mental process towards trading the markets.

Using these five steps as a foundation to create your own stock option trading system can help you avoid the mistakes of many other stock and option traders. By understanding time decay, factoring an options time into your trading method, how volatility impacts a stock options intrinsic value, what details a winning stock option trading system, and your own trading psychology you now have a the key steps to build your trading career on.

Would like to earn greater profits in today's markets? Sign up for a free newsletter and ebook at StockOptionSystem.Com and read more articles like this one at StockOpSys Article Directory!

Avoid "Buying" Mutual Fund Dividends

At this time of year, you need to be aware of the ex-dividend date of any mutual funds you plan on purchasing. If you heed this advice, you avoid some nasty tax and investment performance consequences.

To explain why, let me first define ex-dividend date. On the ex-dividend date, all registered owners of a mutual fund become eligible to receive any declared dividends and capital gains distributions. If you do not own the fund by that date, you do not receive the payout. You also want to keep in mind the distribution date. After that date, you can go ahead and buy your shares without the negative impact on the NAV (Net Asset Value).

At this time of year (Oct Dec), most mutual funds declare their dividend and capital gains distributions. You have nothing to worry about if you want to buy stock. Such distributions do not impact the share price. However, if you own mutual funds you need to consider the impact of this distribution on the NAV or share value. On the day of the distribution, you will see the NAV of your mutual fund shares drop by the declared dollar amount. In industry parlance, we call this buying dividends.

Heres how it works. Throughout the year, the cash from dividends paid by stocks within the fund and capital gains realized from the sale of assets either accumulates adding to the funds cash balance or gets reinvested in equities by the fund manager. At the end of the year, the fund must distribute at least 95% (?) of the dividends/realized capital gains not reinvested in new securities. Typically, funds declare this distribution in the months of October and November.

At the end of the year, the NAV of the fund reflects the value of all the investments it contains plus the starting cash balance and the accumulated cash resulting from dividends and capital gains. When the fund manger distributes the dividends and capital gains, the NAV drops a corresponding amount. Thats fine for the people who have owned the fund most of the year. They enjoyed the NAV appreciation that resulted from the growth of the investment, the dividends, and the realized capital gains. An investor who buys just before the ex-dividend and distribution dates has purchased cash value. When the fund distributes the cash, the new shareholder sees the value of her fund shared decrease, receives back part of her investment, and then gets to pay taxes on in essence her own money! Not a good deal.

A look at an example will show why you want to avoid buying dividends. Suppose the ex-dividend date is tomorrow and you buy shares at a NAV of $25. The fund declares a dividend of $3.00 per share. Doing so means that tomorrow the fund distributes $3.00 of the NAV so your shares are now worth $22 instead of the original $25. You now owe taxes on $3.00 per share even though you didnt enjoy the price appreciation you would have had if you had purchased at the beginning of the year.

You can see that you lose in this situation. You should avoid buying dividends. Instead, wait until after the after the distribution date to purchase your shares. Then you will get to enjoy any price appreciate throughout the year and not pay taxes on the return of your own cash!

About the Author:

Catie Fitzgerald is a 10+ years veteran of the money management profession and the founder of Financially Savvy. Financially Savvy provides investors with the education and resources necessary to gain confidence in making their own financial decisions. We offer a variety of educational venues including classroom sessions, one-on-one coaching, and online resources. If you have a personal finance question you would like answered, contact Catie at cfitz@financiallysavvy.com.

Forex Strategy - How Do You Trade The Non-Farm Payroll Report?

In the development of your forex strategy do you wonder how you can trade the non-farm payroll report?

Seeing this is one of the most, if not the most, volatile announcement during the month (first Friday in every month) newer traders watch the huge movements and wonder how to make money from all that volatility.

The answer given below you may not fully appreciate until some explanation is offered.

Question

"How do I trade the non-farm payroll report?"

Answer

"You DON'T!"

Or to put it another way, "By maintaining a neutral position!"

The market is far too volatile at this time to expect a high probability trade. There may be some gamblers out there who relish the thought of 'placing a bet' to go long or short. But serious traders know better.

Actually, the professional traders I know all say the same thing: "Stand aside and wait for the market to calm down."

This may take between 30 to 45 minutes in some cases and even then the direction of the market may be uncertain.

Some suggest you can trade volatile market movers such as the non-farm payroll report by waiting for the first leg of the move, up or down, then wait for price to pull back 10 or 15 pips, then enter a trade to catch the second leg of the move which often follows.

That's one possibility but still high risk. Personally I prefer to base my forex strategy on sound market assessment and carefully researched trades.

Trading The Aftermath

However, while many professional traders sit out the non-farm payroll report, that doesn't mean they don't trade afterwards.

After the market has made a violent move in one direction you sometimes see price stalling and then give a clear signal that it's momentum is exhausted.

Look For Combination Factors

This may be in the form of a candle pattern such as a hammer with a very large shadow which also happens to be on a key support or resistance level.

Now you can enter a trade with a small level of risk as you place your stop just above the high or low of the candle signal.

By applying a number of technical indicators to the chart pattern after a non-farm payroll report, you may see a point where a previous support/resistance level convergences with a Fibonacci retracement or extension, or the 200 EMA (Exponential Moving Average), or a pivot point.

If a distinctive candle forms at that level also you can expect a reasonable price bounce and extract a number of pips from the market.

This advice applies to all fundamental announcements which are considered 'market movers'.

By developing a cautious forex strategy based on sound trading principles, you will enjoy this business and get the satisfaction of seeing your account equity steadily growing.

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Set Yourself A Set Of Forex Trading Rules And Stick To Them

One of the biggest problems for the new Forex trader (and quite a few experienced traders) is that they are no real rules to Forex trading. Now in some ways that's one of the beauties of forex trading and it's nice to have the freedom to trade when you want to, to enter and exit positions whenever you feel like it, to increase or decrease an existing position and simply not to trade at all if you don't feel like it.

But within this freedom there also lies considerable danger.

No matter what we do in life there is no doubt that we do much better if we have a clear objective in mind and a roadmap to get us there. However, even though having a road to follow is essential, it is also important that we have a set of rules to follow to keep us on that road and to stop us from taking a wrong turning and ending up heading off course or driving up a dead end road.

In Forex trading there's no doubt at all that traders who follow a strict set of rules meet with far greater success than those who simply 'wing it'. Also, if you speak to traders who do follow a set of rules they'll tell you that, nine times out ten, when they have a bad day it's because they don't follow the rules and, when they have a good day, it's because they stick to them like glue.

The problem is that, since Forex trading doesn't really have any rules, you have to create a set of rules for yourself.

Now exactly what rules you will lay down for yourself will depend very much on your own trading plan and your rules will need to be reviewed whenever you update your plan - which you should do on a regular basis. So what sort of rules are we looking at?

Well, you might for example decide that you will never enter a trade without ensuring that you have a stop loss order in place. You might also decide that you will only enter a trade if certain analytical conditions are met. In other words, you will not enter a trade simply because you have a feeling about it, but will only do so if the numbers tell you that you should do so. In addition, you might decide when you are in a profitable trade you will move your stop when your profit reaches a pre-determined level in order to protect your position.

These are just a few ideas and your own list will need to meet your own particular trading strategy. However, whatever shape your list takes and however long or short it is, it is vitally important that you draw up a list, having thought about it very carefully, and that you then stick to it and also review it at regular intervals.

ForexOnlineTradingSystem.info is the ideal place to learn Forex trading and provides information on a wide range of topics including currency exchange rates and the benefits of testing the water through mini Forex trading.

Futures Contracts - Profitable Investment Alternatives?

With the growing popularity of futures trading, more and more people are jumping into this interesting form of investing. People quickly find out that futures contracts are vastly different than agreements to purchase common stocks; with futures contracts, you are not actually buying a particular commodity, you are obtaining the right to purchase the underlying asset during a particular time period.

Pork Bellies?

Another difference between investing in the stock market and investing in futures contracts is the asset itself. Of course stocks are the assets involved in the stock market, while the commodity assets in futures contracts include:

Currencies The currency market is one of the best known commodities, trading the likes of the British pound and the American dollar.

Interest Rate Futures T-Bonds represent long-term interest rates and Eurodollars are for short-term interest rates.

Energy Futures Natural gas, heating oil and crude oil futures are the most widely known in this sector.

Food Sector Coffee, orange juice and sugar are well known commodities in this sector.

Metals Gold, silver and copper are traditionally strong commodities.

Agricultural Wheat, coffee, cotton, soybeans, pork bellies and corn futures are among those that are best known.

With so many futures contracts available, it can be difficult to decide which commodities interest you, especially if you are new to commodities trading. Sometimes it can be helpful when you start trading to begin with more popular commodities.

Below are five of the most popularly traded futures contracts:

1.S&P 500 E-mini This is extremely popular for those investing in the futures markets. The E-mini can be traded electronically 24 hours a day, five days a week. In addition, the E-mini has most of the same advantages of the regular S&P 500 commodity but the cost of investment is much less.

2.E-mini NASDAQ 100 The E-mini NASDAQ 100 follows the movement of the NASDAQ 100. Like the S&P 500 E-mini, this futures contract can be electronically traded and the contract and the amount of margin you have to set aside to trade the contract are smaller than a standard contract. Since most individuals don't have large enough accounts to trade regular contracts for the NASDAQ 100, the E-mini works out great.

3.Light Sweet Crude Oil Probably the most famous commodity traded is oil futures. When you see the price of oil discussed on the evening news or in an investment newsletter, this is exactly what they are discussing.

4.Gold If oil isnt the most famous futures contract, then gold surely is. A gold contract tracks the price variations of one ounce of gold. Gold became an important part of the US economy when the United States went to the Gold Standard in the 1970s. Since then, the price of gold changes dramatically, almost always in the opposite direction of the US dollar. Gold investments are frequently used as hedge funds because of the relationship with the US dollar.

5.E-mini Euro FX - The E-mini Euro FX contract tracks the movement of the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Euro. The "E-mini" means that the contract and the amount of margin you have to set aside to trade these futures contracts are smaller than regular contracts. Most individuals don't have large enough accounts to trade a regular contract for the Euro, so E-minis are excellent investment strategies.

Conclusion

Futures contracts provide interesting and potentially profitable investment alternatives to many investors. Understanding the investment basics of futures contracts and commodities such as these will help you to be a more successful trader when it comes to futures contracts.

http://www.candlestickforum.com/PPF/Parameters/1_21_/candlestick.asp A site dedicated to stock market investing using Japanese Candlesticks