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Getting to Know the Forex Spreads

November 9th, 2009 No comments

Forex is always priced in pairs between two different types of currencies. When you make a trade, you have to buy one currency and sell another at the same time. If you want to exit the trade, you must buy/sell the opposite position. If you want to leave the trade, you will have to sell Euros and buy back US Dollars.

These days just about every forex broker is claiming to have the tightest spreads in the industry. But marketing does have the ability to be deceiving. The topic of spreads in the forex spot market is very complicated and often not easy to understand. However, nothing affects your trading profitability more.

First of all in order to understand the spread, you need to know what it is. A spread is the difference between the ask price (the price you buy at) and the bid price (the price you sell at) that is quoted in the pips. If the quote between EUR/USD at a given moment is 1.2222/4, then the spread equals 2 pips. If the quote is 1.22225/40, then the spread is going to equal 1.5 pips.

The spread is how the brokers make their money. Wider spreads will result in a higher asking price and a lower bid price. The consequence to this is that you have to pay more when you buy and get less when you sell, which makes it more difficult to realize a profit

Spreads are important because they affect the return on your trading strategy in a big way. As a trader, your sole interest is buying low and selling high (like futures and commodities trading). Wider spreads means buying higher and having to sell lower. A half-pip lower spread doesn’t necessarily sound like much, but it can easily mean the difference between a profitable trading strategy and one that isn’t profitable.

The tighter the spread is the better things are going to be for you. However tight spreads are only meaningful when they are paired up with good execution. Quality of execution will decide whether you actually receive tight spreads. A good example of this is when your screen shows a tight spread, but your trade is filled a few pips to your disadvantage or is mysteriously rejected.

Oddly enough, when it comes to economies of scale, forex doesn’t even act like most other markets. On the inter-bank market, for example; the larger the ticket size, the larger the spread is. So when you see a 1-pip spread on an ECN platform, you have to wonder if that spread valid for a $2M, $5M or $10M trade, which it probably isn’t.

There are a lot of forex trading software online available which can make you a lot money. Take just the right one.

Reaping Success by Knowing Where to Trade Foreign Currency

October 6th, 2009 No comments

You might be feeling lost about where to trade foreign currency that ensures you success, like some of the people these days who have suddenly seen the promise the currency trading brings. You might be wondering, how come all of them have suddenly rode on the numbers game? Aside from the fact that currency trading is indeed highly profitable, it is also made easier these days. Here are a couple of places where you can start building on this business:Using a Foreign Currency Trading SoftwareThe best place where to trade foreign currency would be your home. You visually would not have to incur some overhead expenses and you can start anytime. The only thing you need to have is either a laptop or a desktop computer which you can use to start off this career. You can find plenty of forex software online, but if you are unsure – you can get one from a forex broker so the person can explain to you the benefits of such a tool much better than you would on your own. Make sure that you check out all of the features before you purchase it. You should also pay close attention to the system requirements so that you can be sure that it will fit well with your computer.The good thing about a foreign currency trading software is that you can also put it on autopilot mode. This simply means that you can continue to trade even if you don’t physically do it yourself. Of course you still have some things that you need to take care of and if you are only doing forex as your sideline then there’s a full time job that you also need to attend to. While the foreign currency trading software is on autopilot mode, it would continue to work 24/7 based from the functions you have plugged into it.Where to Trade Foreign Currency? Do it Online!However the drawback when it comes to trading currencies through a forex software is that you might need to also brush up on your tech savviness. It also requires investment from your part because software can be really expensive, especially when it has more details and features packed with it. A forex software is also highly recommended for those who plan to take on the forex business full-time. But if you want to ease yourself into the trading game, you might be better off starting from a trading website.There are plenty of such sites online. All you have to do is log online and create an account so you can begin trading. However, there may be a membership fee initially required for you although you might also come across some websites which would allow you to go on a trial period before paying for a regular membership fee. Just make sure that you evaluate the performance and credibility of such sites first before you sign up for anything on them. You also need to research a bit and make a list of your options before zeroing on one.