Currency Trading

The storm after the calm

While most forex traders were able to grab a week’s holiday and a bit of relief from the turbulence of the past couple of months on the foreign currency trading markets, this week sees a return to stormy waters in forex trading. While everyone was relieved that the US didn’t default on its loans, news this week is that all is not well in the Federal Reserve. The Dollar has had more ups and downs than a fairground ride over the last week, with the majors oscillating wildly ahead of what promises to be a volatile week.

Forex traders are waiting on the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s Friday speech at the Jackson Hole central bankers’ summit, to try and anticipate which way the financial winds will blow and whether the Dollar will stabilise. Last year, the speech marked the early announcement of QE2 – the $600-billion second round of quantitative easing that set the stage for forex trading strategies across financial markets for the next 10 months. Traders are hoping that Chairman Bernanke’s speech on Friday will do the same and bolster the faltering global recovery.

In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out the introduction of “Eurobonds” as a way of boosting market confidence and encouraging the top Euro Zone economies to lend to its poorer neighbours such as Greece, Portugal and even Italy. Chancellor Merkel said in an interview that the introduction of Eurobonds would require treaty changes that would “take years” to implement and may even violate the German constitution. So while France and Germany have been actively seeking solutions to the Eurozone’s woes, it seems that there are limits as to how far the two leading economies will go to bail out their neighbours.

In the UK currency trading is going though its usual August lull, with the Pound remaining relatively flat in trading against both the Dollar and the Euro. However, after this week trading across the board kicks back into gear, and it will be worth watching how the Pound performs against the Dollar in particular, depending on the contents of Federal Reserve Charirman Bernanke’s speech at the end of the week.

Over in the Far East, the Tiger had a slight stumble as Thailand announced a slowdown in economic growth during Q2. The figures dropped from 2.6% in the three months to the end of June, down from 3.2% in the first quarter. The Bank of Thailand has raised its benchmark interest rate eight times since July 2010, with the latest hike taking the cost of borrowing to 3.25%. But analysts predict that the weaker-than-expected data may force the central bank to change its stance. As a result currency trading in the Far East primaries was slow last week, but all eyes are now on China, and their reaction to the Jackson Hole speech. China is still jittery about the US’s ability to pay its debts, and is going to need a considerable sweetener if its confidence in its largest trading partner is to return to normal.

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How Currency exchange rate worked, then?

Over the centuries, currency exchange rate had a support of gold, a precious metal. This means that if any government gave you the paper currency, it actually symbolized the value of gold held by that government. So what happened with the exchange rates? How did they work? And how did the change came over?

In 1930’s

Prior to the World War II, US had fixed the value of I ounce of gold to be that of $35. Post WW II, rest of the nations started measuring the value of their currencies according to the US Dollar. The value of gold was known to everyone in terms of USD and therefore all other nations calculated their currency based on their own value of gold.

The world of economics

Gradually, times changed and the economics became more refurbished. Hence, the USD started suffering from inflation. While the US Dollar was becoming weak due to inflation, rest of the currencies became stable and more valuable. As a result, now 1 ounce of gold equaled $70. The value of dollar came low to half.

Market forces

In 1971, US ruled out the determination of precious metal with its dollar. Now, only the market forces were responsible for determining the value of Dollar. Currency exchange rate is also determined by the market forces of demand and supply. Interestingly, US Dollar is still the basis of determination of exchange rates. All the currency exchange rates are based on USD. The US Dollar and Euro are prevalent in the foreign market and greatly determine the exchange rates. Therefore the exchange rates keep fluctuating.

This is how the currency and exchange rates worked then and work now!

Advantages of Currency Trading

Foreign exchange trading involves buying and selling different currencies. It works on the theory that is similar with share market. As we know that to make the profit, you have to buy at lower price and sell at higher price, or we can also sell at higher price first and buy at lower price. But its not as easy as it sounds. By studying certain market conditions, you can actually make profits in forex. All you have to do is to analyze the forex in a correct way and do the good trade.
Why to go for Foreign exchange trading? There is an option to invest in stock market also but here are a few important advantages of currency trading over stock market.

24-hour Trading
Forex trading is done on 24-hours basis. This market is open throughout day and night as somewhere in the world, there must be this buy and sell trading is going on. Traders involved in forex trading strategy can always get that first hand information and can act accordingly. The currency rate is actually run through telecommunication all over the network of banks 24 hours a day from 00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday. There are ECNs (Electronic Communication Networks) which bring together buyers and sellers.
Greater Liquidity

There is a superior liquidity in the market as there are always buyers and sellers to purchase and sell foreign currencies. Forex trading market size is 50 times bigger than the New York Stock Exchange and liquidity of such large market ensures price stability. Forex trading stop orders could be carried out more simply. This makes Forex trading signal more liquid and permits Forex traders to take benefit of trading opportunities as they happen rather than waiting for the market to open the next day.

100:1 High Leverage in forex trading
100 to 1 leverage is commonly available from online forex dealers, which substantially exceeds the common 2:1 margin offered by equity brokers. This gives them a huge leverage in their trading and presents the potential for extraordinary profits with relative small investments. Leverage can also go the opposite way and may lead to huge losses if you are not careful.

Forex trading transactions have no commissions. Forex Brokers can earn money by fixing their own speculation between what a currency could be bought at and what it could be sold at. In difference, Forex traders have to pay a commission fee or brokerage fee for every futures transaction they come in to the view. The forex market is so large that no one individual, bank, fund or government body can influence it for a long period of time. In forex trading strategy, you can trade between seven currencies but not everyone trade in all.

There are certain trading signals that give indications to the trade. These forex signals are delivered by email, instant messenger or direct to your desktop. Some services even offer auto-trading, allowing you to auto-execute their trading signals direct into your broker account. For more about these forex,forex trading strategy,forex signal, visit: www. connection2forex.com

A Guide To Foreign Currency Trading

While foreign currency trading offers its rewards, especially when you are able to trade in major currencies like the US dollars and Euro, caution against advertisements and brokers that offer instant riches must be observed.

There is move to regulate foreign currency traders. Unfortunately, not all in the industry are registered. Not entirely illegal, many unregistered brokers populate the financial markets.  Extra precaution is suggested for individuals and companies when they deal with forex brokers.

The United States has passed a federal law, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 that gives authority to the commission to investigate suspicions of frauds in the transactions.

Frauds in Forex trading have telltale signs and you must be aware of these. Be wary of schemes that offer quick riches.  An experienced Forex brokers will tell you currency trading is not a risk free business and only those with real analytical methods can succeed in the field. And, even when projections seem sound, there is no way of telling exactly how strong a currency will hold out against many factors. So watch out for those who promise large profits no matter the economic condition is.

Most brokers ask for margin investments. If you are not fully aware of how this works, do not venture into it. You may be losing s more than you earn in the long run. Beware also of the “interbank market” service that brokers may offer. In reality, only large banks, corporations and investment institutions have access to this loose network of currency traders.

To be sure about the credibility of the brokers you are getting, study their profiles and company background seriously and extensively. Stick with a shortlist of firms that are registered with the regulatory commission on commodity futures.