Forex Financial Education

FOREX-Free Financial Education Center from OTA

This Financial Education Center is designed to introduce you to the basic terminology and concepts you will need to become more successful as an investor or trader. To excel in this fascinating world of money, you need to continue to study and learn. Especially as a novice, it is important for you to become familiar with the market in all aspects, whether your intent is to trade or invest long-term.

Free Financial Education Center - Trading Essentials

Covers the advantages of direct access trading versus other trading methods, how to engage in the psychological aspects of trading, using technical indicators, and preparing yourself for live trading.

Free Financial Education Center - Trading Mini-movies

Specially developed streaming content that appear throughout this Financial Education Center, covering introductory topics such as risk management, technical analysis and execution skills. They are designed to get you started in each topic, but are by no means an exhaustive discussion of each. More in-depth coverage of each topic is available from OTA.

Free Financial Education Center - The Glossary

A comprehensive list of trading terms to help you add new trading terminology to your vocabulary. As you advance through this Financial Education Center, look up unfamiliar words in the glossary as you go along

Free Financial Education Center - Investing Essentials

Covers the basics of traditional investing, including value investing, growth investing, relative valuation, fundamental analysis and a brief history of the investors that made these terms popular.

Making Money With Forex Trading

Making Money With Forex Trading

The foreign exchange market is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways for investors to make some extra money. Also known as the Forex or FX market, it is basically the place where different kinds of currency is traded. Since different currencies hold different values, investors who trade wisely can stand to make rather substantial profits.

In Forex trading, one person trades a quantity of one currency for certain quantities of another. The Forex market is especially attractive to people because it is an ongoing, continuous phenomenon; trading can occur at absolutely any time - 24 hours a day, five days per week. While it helps to have a firm grasp on the essential makeup of the foreign exchange market when trading in it, traders by no means have to be total experts. With a little bit of research and practice, just about anyone can be successful trading in this market.

Everything about the Forex market basically revolves around the Forex rate between two currencies. By studying the Forex rate and keeping a close eye on it, people can take advantage of a falling or rising rate between two currencies. People who participate in this market can choose to invest their money however they want; some choose to focus only on the dynamic between a couple pairs of currencies, while others spread their shares around among many different currencies.

Unlike a traditional market like the stock exchange, there is not a physical, tangible market in the true sense of the word when it comes to Forex. Investors cannot meet at one centralized location to perform their transactions like they would at the New York Stock Exchange. All trading and transactions take place over electronic trading networks and the telephone.

Trading on the foreign exchange market is primarily run by what is known as an interbank market. This is where large corporations, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions handle and take care of the risks inherent to fluctuations in currencies. How these major institutions trade certain currencies is what basically determines the Forex rate between them - the basis of all foreign exchange market trading.

One of the biggest perks to Forex trading is its high liquidity; large amounts of money can be moved and traded with a minimal price movement. This means that in Forex trading, what you see is pretty much what you get. There are not a lot of hidden fees or other mysterious sums to take into account when trading foreign currencies. This trait of the Forex market is one reason so many people find it easier to deal with than traditional stock exchange markets, and why so many people become so successful at it.

Another reason that Forex trading looks so attractive to investors is its low transaction cost. The cost for most Forex transactions - the spread, or the difference between its buying and selling cost - is built into their price. This increases the transparency of these transactions, adding to their simplicity and the ability for so many people to make real money by engaging in this trading market. Forex truly is much more accessible to larger numbers of people than many other financial markets, and its low transaction cost is a huge reason.

Investors in the Forex market are also quite fond of it due to its good leverage. Forex brokers allow investors to use leverage, or to trade more money than is actually in their account. In this way, Forex can really propel an investor into huge profits, and its also what makes Forex trading so entertaining as well. Using leverage, investors can move much larger sums of money than they otherwise could.

The potential for taking advantage of rising or falling prices is huge in Forex trading. Investors who feel that a particular currency is going to skyrocket can go long and buy a lot of it. By the same token, if an investor feels that a particular currency is going to plummet, they can go short or sell it off. Rules that apply to traditional stock exchanges do not apply to foreign exchange trading, and in many ways that is what makes it so popular.

Win at Forex Trading

The Major Problem You Must Confront To Enjoy Success.

There is one problem that mostforex traders fail to come to terms with and lose and its operating in an unstructured environment – this is the major underlying reason traders lose, so lets it explain it and its significance in more detail.

In normal society we confirm to rules and laws they govern our lives and those of our fellow citizens, were used to them and we conform to them.

When a forex trader trades, he has to operate in an unstructured environment and create his own rules to live and survive by.

This sounds easy enough to achieve, however nothing could be further from the truth – it’s very hard and most traders simply can’t achieve it.

Let’s take a closer look at the problems associated with operating in an unstructured environment.

1. Taking Responsibility For Your Actions.

This means taking charge of your destiny and most people simply cannot accept this responsibility.They want the comfort of having someone to hold their hand and blame if thinks go wrong.Problem is if you don’t accept responsibility, you won’t win - no one else will make you rich in Forex trading, you’re all on your own.

2. You Have To Create a Set of Rules to Survive

The market which you confront is all powerful, it moves as and when it wants – it’s always right and you can only be wrong .Again, this causes major psychological problems for traders – we all hate being wrong, but in this instance you have to accept the market is right ALL the time, if you don’t you will run loses and the market will destroy you.Most traders get frustrated and break their rules, or create a new set as they lose and end up chasing their tail. If you create rules you must have the discipline to apply them and most traders simply lack the mindset to do this.

3. The Work Ethic Does Not Apply

Most people try and overcome losses with a higher work rate.After all the more you put in the more you get out. They assume if they acquire more knowledge or trade more often, their profitability will increase but the markets won’t reward effort.

You get your reward for being RIGHT and that’s it in forex trading, not the effort you put in.

4. Forex Traders Need To Be Anti Social!

We don’t mean you have to be rude to anyone - but you need to keep yourself to yourself and stay away from the pack and its opinions when trading forex.Remember 95% of forex traders lose!We find this uncomfortable.

After all, were pack animals and since stone age times we have sought comfort and belonging with others of our species. When we go against the majority opinion, we feel uncomfortable, as were simply not used to it.

Operating in the forex markets is far harder than many people think and most traders are simply unprepared for the mental problems that it confronts them with.

You will hear often that it is mindset more than method that contributes to success in the markets and its true.If you have ever wondered why traders find it so hard to trade with discipline, this article may have helped you see why and given you an insight into what you need to do to achieve currency trading success.

Global Forex Marketing

Q. How can I break into emerging markets?

A. Not with global campaigns - with a local campaigns covering the gloab
FXPR runs campaigns in Japanese, Russian, Ararbic, Spanish, and Chinese on top search engines around the world. Keywords and ads are targeted to the native language of each country and placed on relevant and popular sites. We use our knowledge of foreign markets to make the best possible placements. Google is king but not everywhere. For example, we know that the Japanese are all about Yahoo, and Russians mostly use a native search engine called Rambler. For each country there are tactics and rules and we know them all!

Our experts create and manage in language advertising all over the world.

Q. How can I control cost?

A. By testing, testing, testing and retesting.

FXPR optimizes our localized advertising by endlessly testing and retesting all elements of the campaign. From banner location to the landing page design, FXPR’s metrics-driven approach will ensure that your cost-per-lead stays at your comfort level. Take a look at what we did for a client’s Google AdWords campaign:

Q. Where can I find good leads that convert?

A. By getting the right message to the right people.

FXPR breaks potential traders into several categories and tailors ads to target each category. By doing this we deliver the kind of leads that our clients look for. We build on this basic customer breakdown by creating ads and banding campaigns directed at each group that reflects the strengths and selling points of your firm.

Trade Money with Forex Online

Home Product Center (HMPR.BK/HMPRO TB) Reality has turned out far better than anticipated / Bt4.48 - Outperform from Neutral / Earnings preview.

* Expect robust earnings growth of 14.2% YoY thanks to solid SSS growth and store expansion.

* Revised 2009-10 earnings upward on higher SSS growth.

* Re-rated PE multiplier to its normal range of 10x.

* Upgrade to Outperform with a new 2009 target of Bt5.40.

Expect HMPRO to post stellar earnings growth of Bt213mn Despite the economic slowdown and political unease in 1Q09, we surprisingly expect HMPRO to post splendid earnings of Bt213mn in 1Q09, up from Bt187mn in 1Q08 (+14.2%), but down from Bt343mn in 4Q08 (-37.7%), based on the positive guidance from the company. The robust YoY earnings growth of 14.2% should come from solid same store sales (SSS) growthlearn how to trade forex, the success of HomePro Expo and store expansion (32 stores in 1Q08 vs. 35 stores in 1Q09). Seasonality would be behind the QoQ drop.

Big applause for swift and efficient strategies We expect HMPRO to report SSS growth of 4.0% thanks to its good product assortment and aggressive promotions in 1Q09 (Summer Grand sale February 16 - March 8 and HomePro Expo March 13 - March 22). To mitigate the pressure on margins from aggressive promotions, HMPRO efficiently escalated its proportion of house brand products from 10.0% in 1Q08 to 13.0% in 1Q09 and plans to increase this to 15.0% by the end of the year. With these efforts, we expect the company to maintain robust earnings growth in 2009 of 10.3%.

Revised 2009-10 earnings upward With solid earnings anticipated in 1Q09 and the bottoming-out of the economy, we are comfortable in revising up our 2009-10 earnings forecasts to Bt1,058mn from Bt985mn in 2009, or up by 7.4%, and to Bt1,126mn from 1,052mn in 2010, or up by 7.0%. Our key positive revisions were: i) adjusted SSS growth up from 0.0% to 3.0% in 2009, ii) slightly revised gross margin upward, and iii) slightly trimmed SG&A to sales.

Removed discount from PE multiplier We re-rated HMPRO to the low end of its normal trading range of 10.0x. We believe that the re-rated PE multiplier is justified due to the better economic outlook and the company's sound fundamentals.

Valuation and Recommendation We upgrade our rating to Outperform from Neutral with a new 12-month target price of Bt5.40, assigning a new PE multiple of 10x (from 7.0x). At this price, we project FY09 dividend yield of 6.1.

Online Forex Trading Introduction

The online Forex market, also known simply as Forex, FX or the foreign exchange market is the biggest trading market in the world, with daily Forex trading that exceed $2 trillion.

Even tough we are talking about a huge market, Forex trading is quite simply - the buying of one currency while at the same time selling of another currency. If the trader can predict correctly which currencies will drop and which will rise - he will benefit from his investment.

There are a lot of benefits in Forex investing over other investment markets.

Why is Online Forex Trading Profitable?

The online Forex market has existed since the early 70's. Only in the past few years though, it has become accessible to millions of people through the development of the internet. Because the Forex market is available 24 hours a day, it's the only market that allows you to trade at your convenient time.

Today, because the economy is much more dynamic than it used to be, and the world has become a global village, economic conditions in various countries are also constantly changing, according to such factors as production rate, inflation and unemployment.

As a result, the rate of a specific currency changes and moves up and down in comparison to other currencies. This is the main reason of the process of rate fluctuations in the online Forex market.In order to evaluate and predict these Forex market changes a trader can use fundamental analysis or technical analysis as a tool for investment. Where as fundamental analysis is a more broad exploration into the economic factors influencing the online Forex, technical analysis uses charts and other indicators to asses price patterns taht re-occur over time and can help predict the forex market.

Foreign Currency exchange rate

Currency exchange rate is the ratio of one currency valued against another. For example, "EUR/USD exchange rate is 1.2505" means that one euro is traded for 1.2505 dollars. If you've already invested in other markets before, you'll find the Forex trading system quite similar, and the transaction to online Forex trading smooth. An example of a Forex trade: During October 2006 you buy 10,000 BRP when the BRP/USD rate was 0.56. A month later, the exchange rate grew to 0.58. This means a profit of $350 in less than a month time.

Online Forex Trading Profits

Another example of an online Forex trade: If you buy EUR/USD, this means you are buying euros, and simultaneously are selling dollars. Your expectation therefore is that the euro will appreciate (go up) relative to the US dollar.

If you believe that the US economy will weaken and this will hurt the US dollar, you would execute a buy EUR/USD order. By doing so you will buy euros in the expectation that the currency will appreciate against the US dollar. If you believe that the US economy is strong and the euro will weaken against the US dollar you would execute a sell EUR/USD order. By doing so you have sold euros in the expectation that they will depreciate against the US dollar. More information concerning online Forex trading is available at Forex Floor.

Brat Milman - Managing Editor

The Forex Trading Bid & Ask Prices and Spread

This page covers everything you need to know about the bid and ask prices in the online Forex trading market, From the definition of Forex bid & ask prices, to the use of the bid & ask spread.

A Forex Trading Bid price is the price at which the market is prepared to buy a specific currency pair in the Forex trading market. This is the price that the trader of Forex buys his base currency in. In the quote, the Forex bid price appears to the left of the currency quote. For example, If the EUR/USD pair is 1.2342/47, then the bid price is 1.2342. Meaning you can sell the EUR for 1.2342 USD.

A Forex asking price is the price at which the market is ready to sell a certain Forex Trading currency pair in the online Forex market. This is the price that the trader buys in. It appears to the right of the Forex quote. For example, in the same EUR/USD pair of 1.2342/47, the ask price us 1.2347. This means you can buy one EUR for 1.2347 USD.

The Forex bid & ask spread represents the difference between the purchase and the sale rates. This signifies the expected profit of the online Forex Trading transaction. The value of Bid/Ask Spread is set by the liquidity of a stock. If the stock is highly liquid, it means many stock units are being bought and sold, and the Forex bid/ask spread will be lower. Traders prefer foreign currency with a lower bid/ask spread, because it means their money pair only for the currency and is not wasted on the bid/ask spread difference. A lower Forex bid/ask spread allows the trader to cut down on his losses.

Jim Barns, Market Analyst