Trade currencies and spot gold at FOREX.com. Dealing spreads are as low as 1-2 pips on the most widely traded currency pairs. As always, you pay no commissions at FOREX.com, only the bid/offer spread. And with our fractional pips, you gain an extra digit of precision so that you can take advantage of smaller price movements.
Plus, you can enter orders at any price - even inside the spread - and trade around news events, major economic announcements and other times of high market volatility.
Learn more about pricing and spreads.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Trading the US Durable Goods Orders Report Using the EUR/USD
The U.S. dollar is likely to face increased selling pressures over the next 24 hours of trading as economists forecast demands for durable goods to contract another 2.5% in February as private-sector spending falters. The preliminary GDP reading for the fourth quarter showed that the annual rate of growth contracted the most since 1982, while personal consumption dropped 4.3% from the third quarter to mark the largest decline since 1980
High Risk Investment
Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with foreign exchange trading, and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.
Forex Market Information Easily Accessible
| Information about stocks is abundant, but so are the stocks. Finding a trade opportunity in the equities markets may mean sifting through data on thousands of stocks, while the forex trader has only six major currencies to research. Additionally, the vital information that moves equity markets, such as revenues and profits, is proprietary and private. In contrast, virtually all of the news that bears on the forex market is in publicly disseminated reports from governments or research institutions, and released to everybody at the same time. |
| We feel that the knowledge you've gained in analyzing stocks can easily be transferred to the forex market. Many of the economic indicators familiar to equity traders, such as payroll data and interest rates, affect the currency markets. And many technical traders have found the forex market to be particularly attractive, since currencies respond well to many of the common technical indicators, such as MACD, RSI, and Candlestick charting. |
| To learn more about transitioning from trading equity markets to trading in the Forex market, contact the FXCM staff today at 888-503-6739. |
Trade Around the Clock
The forex market is a near-seamless 24-hour market. Subject to available liquidity, FXCM offers trading from Sunday, starting after 5:15 PM EST, until Friday, 4PM, EST (FXCM Client Service is available 24/7). With the ability to trade around the clock, currency traders have the advantage of customizing their own trading schedule; they can usually get in or out of the market at any time without waiting for an opening bell or encountering a market gap. While trading stocks after usual market hours is possible, very often that possibility is negated by a lack of order flow or a drastic widening of the bid-ask spread.
MAJOR HEADLINES – PREVIOUS SESSION
- Germany Mar. Preliminary PMI Manufacturing out at 32.4 vs. 32.0 expected and 32.1 in Feb.
- Germany Mar. Preliminary PMI Services out at 41.7 vs. 41.0 expected and 41.3 in Feb.
- Sweden Feb. PPI out at -0.2% MoM vs. +0.3% expected
- EuroZone Jan. Current Account out at -12.7B vs. -7.6B in Dec.
- EuroZone Mar. Preliminary Manufacturing out at 34.0 vs. 33.5 expected and 33.5 in Feb.
- EuroZone Mar. Preliminary Services out at 40.1 vs. 39.1 expected and 39.2 in Feb.
- UK Feb. CPI out at +0.9% vs. +0.3% expected and -0.7% in Jan. (YoY at 3.2% vs. 2.6% expected)
- UK Feb. RPI out at +0.6% vs. -0.1% expected
- UK Feb. BBA Loans for House Purchase rose to 28,179 from 24,278 in Jan.
Forex Market Update
GBP shines on risk appetite from Geithner's PPIP announcement. Bottom dropping out of EURGBP on King rhetoric.
Key resistance giving way in equities triggers further JPY weakness.
Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders
The "Forex Conquered" offers easy-to-learn trading strategies for profiting from today's FX market.
When to increase lot size? When to move stops? How to use auto trading system to max out the profits, how to use technical tools to guide your trades? How to develop a trading system that suits your financial needs? How to utilize the fundamentals of Candlestick and Elliot Wave charting in the Forex market?
You can find all the detail answers here in John Person's book.
In addition to the valuable information found throughout these pages, this book's companion CD contains a Fibonacci calculator as well as a pivot point calculator, which can assist you in developing a trading plan without having to purchase extra software. Best of all, these calculators may give you an edge in determining longer-term price objectives, such as quarterly or annual price outlooks, which most software cannot do. The CD also includes six separate tutorials totaling more than 40 minutes of one-on-one instruction.
Monday, March 23, 2009
US Existing Home Sales Surge Higher
US Existing Home Sales rose in February to 4.72 million from 4.49M in the prior month, consistent with last week's release of a rise in Housing Starts. Sales on a month-over-month basis rose 5.1% following an equally large decline of 5.3% in January. The move came as a surprise as economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the measure to fall to 4.45M and for a monthly decline of 0.9%. Also of note is an 11.4% rise in the sale of Condos/Co-ops, a sharp contrast to the 10.2 percent decline the group suffered in the previous month. Adding further optimism is a small rise in the average price of a sold home, which rose from $206,700 in January to $209,600 for February.
Stability in the housing market is seen by experts as a crucial step towards economic recovery. Rising sales and prices are expected to cause renewed lending and decreases in writedowns for financial institutions. Recovery in the sector may also have a positive effect on consumer spending and confidence as well as increasing industrial activity in construction and basic materials. Despite the upside, caution remains high as the average price decline remains steep at over thirteen percent on an annual basis and the excess inventory of homes remains at a hefty 9.7 months of supply.
Stability in the housing market is seen by experts as a crucial step towards economic recovery. Rising sales and prices are expected to cause renewed lending and decreases in writedowns for financial institutions. Recovery in the sector may also have a positive effect on consumer spending and confidence as well as increasing industrial activity in construction and basic materials. Despite the upside, caution remains high as the average price decline remains steep at over thirteen percent on an annual basis and the excess inventory of homes remains at a hefty 9.7 months of supply.
Bank Research Consensus Weekly 03-23-09
This week the Federal Reserve surprised financial markets by stepping up the scale of its quantitative easing (QE). The reaction in the FX market was profound and the dollar weakened on a broad base. Short term we expect the USD to slide further, at least as long as risk appetite remains in the market, and we see a high probability that EUR/USD will break above 1.40. However, from a short-term technical perspective EUR/USD looks overbought, and the risk of a consolidation is high.
Niels-Henrik Bjørn Sørensen, Senior Analyst, Danske BankFull Article
Niels-Henrik Bjørn Sørensen, Senior Analyst, Danske BankFull Article
Forex Strategy Outlook: Momentum Trading Signals Remain Attractive
Our forex trading signals remain attractive on the recent US Dollar trends, but real risks of a USD rebound threaten the viability of key trades. We see that our trend-based strategies have done very well on the breakdown in the US currency. Typically these momentum trading signals catch big moves in their infancy, but they are susceptible to periods of underperformance through low-volatility range trading environments. We remain on the lookout for a US Dollar pullback, but risk-reward arguably favors playing the USD to the short side through the near-term.Full Article
Jamie
-EURUSD Fibonacci and 200 day SMA at 1.38-1.39-GBPUSD at risk of near term weakness-AUDUSD and NZDUSD at risk of pullbacks-USDJPY bearish below 99
Full Article
Full Article
John
Currency Analyst
JohnRivera
Euro, Pound Finding Support As Equities Rally With Geithner To Unveil Bank Bailout Details
The Euro has started to give back some of its earlier gains and is being weighed by a dismal trade balance report which showed the deficit widening to 10.5 billion from 1.7 billion. The report showed that exports have significantly dropped with a five year low of 4% in U.S. demand leading the way.
Full Article
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Markets
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News on Forex
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Overnight News Bullets
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Today's Calendar
This Week's Highlights
What's Going On?
News on Forex
News on Equities
News on Futures
Why should I learn Forex currency trading?
By reaching to our website, I think you are already aware that Forex trading is a good way to make money at home. More over, I bet you knew someone, or would have heard of someone, who's already making tons of good money in FX trading.
But what you wouldn't know is that 7 out of 10 traders keep losing money in Forex market! That's right, 70% of individual FX traders keep losing their hard-earned money in the market; while the rest of the 30% work freely at home and earn millions annually)
Wonder what differs between the losing 70% and the winning 30%?
Forex trading skills and the trading system! If you want to work less than 20 hours a day at home, if you want to make millions by trading freely at home, if you want to have financial freedom by trading Forex; you better LEARN Forex trading before you start trading Forex. Forex market is definitely not a game for newbie and you need to brush up your skills before getting your hands wet.
But what you wouldn't know is that 7 out of 10 traders keep losing money in Forex market! That's right, 70% of individual FX traders keep losing their hard-earned money in the market; while the rest of the 30% work freely at home and earn millions annually)
Wonder what differs between the losing 70% and the winning 30%?
Forex trading skills and the trading system! If you want to work less than 20 hours a day at home, if you want to make millions by trading freely at home, if you want to have financial freedom by trading Forex; you better LEARN Forex trading before you start trading Forex. Forex market is definitely not a game for newbie and you need to brush up your skills before getting your hands wet.
Trading on Margin
Trading on margin means that you can buy and sell assets that represent more value than the capital in your account. Forex trading is usually conducted with relatively small margin deposits. This is useful since it permits investors to exploit currency exchange rate fluctuations which tend to be very small. A margin of 1.0% means you can trade up to USD 1,000,000 even though you only have USD 10,000 in your account. A margin of 1% corresponds to a 100:1 leverage (or “gearing”). (Because USD 10,000 is 1% of USD 1,000,000.) Using this much leverage enables you to make profits very quickly, but there is also a greater risk of incurring large losses and even being completely wiped out. Therefore, it is inadvisable to maximise your leveraging as the risks can be very high. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.
Why Trade Forex?
24 hour tradingOne of the major advantages of trading Forex is the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day from Sunday evening (20:00 GMT) to Friday evening (22:00 GMT). This gives you a unique opportunity to react instantly to breaking news that is affecting the markets.
Superior liquidityThe Forex market is so liquid that there are always buyers and sellers to trade with. The liquidity of this market, especially that of the major currencies, helps ensure price stability and narrow spreads. The liquidity comes mainly from banks that provide liquidity to investors, companies, institutions and other currency market players.
No commissionsThe fact that Forex is often traded without commissions makes it very attractive as an investment opportunity for investors who want to deal on a frequent basis. Trading the “majors” is also cheaper than trading other cross because of the high level of liquidity. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.
100:1 LeverageLeverage (gearing) enables you to hold a position worth up to 100 times more than your margin deposit. For example, a USD 10,000 deposit can command positions of up to USD 1,000,000 through leverage. You can leverage the first USD 25,000 of your investment up to 100 times and additional collateral up to 50 times.
Profit potential in falling marketsSince the market is constantly moving, there are always trading opportunities, whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relation to another currency. When you trade currencies, they literally work against each other. If the EURUSD declines, for example, it is because the US dollar gets stronger against the euro and vice versa. So, if you think the EURUSD will decline (that is, that the euro will weaken versus the dollar), you would sell EUR now and then later you buy euro back at a lower price. In case that the EURUSD indeed declines, then you can take your profit. The opposite trading scenario would occur if the EURUSD appreciates.
Superior liquidityThe Forex market is so liquid that there are always buyers and sellers to trade with. The liquidity of this market, especially that of the major currencies, helps ensure price stability and narrow spreads. The liquidity comes mainly from banks that provide liquidity to investors, companies, institutions and other currency market players.
No commissionsThe fact that Forex is often traded without commissions makes it very attractive as an investment opportunity for investors who want to deal on a frequent basis. Trading the “majors” is also cheaper than trading other cross because of the high level of liquidity. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.
100:1 LeverageLeverage (gearing) enables you to hold a position worth up to 100 times more than your margin deposit. For example, a USD 10,000 deposit can command positions of up to USD 1,000,000 through leverage. You can leverage the first USD 25,000 of your investment up to 100 times and additional collateral up to 50 times.
Profit potential in falling marketsSince the market is constantly moving, there are always trading opportunities, whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relation to another currency. When you trade currencies, they literally work against each other. If the EURUSD declines, for example, it is because the US dollar gets stronger against the euro and vice versa. So, if you think the EURUSD will decline (that is, that the euro will weaken versus the dollar), you would sell EUR now and then later you buy euro back at a lower price. In case that the EURUSD indeed declines, then you can take your profit. The opposite trading scenario would occur if the EURUSD appreciates.
Important Forex Trading Terms
SpreadThe spread is the difference between the price that you can sell currency at (Bid) and the price you can buy currency at (Ask). The spread on majors is usually 3 pips under normal market conditions. For more information on the trading conditions at Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your Client Station and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.
Pips A pip is the smallest unit by which a cross price quote changes. When trading Forex you will often hear that there is a 3-pip spread when you trade the majors. This spread is revealed when you compare the bid and the ask price, for example EURUSD is quoted at a bid price of 0.9875 and an ask price of 0.9878. The difference is USD 0.0003, which is equal to 3 “pips”.On a contract or position, the value of a pip can easily be calculated. You know that the EURUSD is quoted with four decimals, so all you have to do is cancel out the four zeros on the amount you trade and you will have the value of one pip. Thus, on a EURUSD 100,000 contract, one pip is USD 10. On a USDJPY 100,000 contract, one pip is equal to 1000 yen, because USDJPY is quoted with only two decimals.
Pips A pip is the smallest unit by which a cross price quote changes. When trading Forex you will often hear that there is a 3-pip spread when you trade the majors. This spread is revealed when you compare the bid and the ask price, for example EURUSD is quoted at a bid price of 0.9875 and an ask price of 0.9878. The difference is USD 0.0003, which is equal to 3 “pips”.On a contract or position, the value of a pip can easily be calculated. You know that the EURUSD is quoted with four decimals, so all you have to do is cancel out the four zeros on the amount you trade and you will have the value of one pip. Thus, on a EURUSD 100,000 contract, one pip is USD 10. On a USDJPY 100,000 contract, one pip is equal to 1000 yen, because USDJPY is quoted with only two decimals.
Trading Scenario – Trading Falling Prices
If, on the other hand, you believe that the euro will weaken against the dollar, you'll want to sell EURUSD.
• You sell euro
We quote EURUSD at a Bid price of 0.9875 and Ask price of 0.9880 and you decide to sell euro 100,000 at a Bid price of 0.9875.
• The market moves in your favour
The euro weakens against the dollar and the EURUSD is now quoted at bid 0.9744 and ask 0.9749.
• Now you buy back your euro
You buy EUR at an ask price of 0.9749.
• Your profit/loss is then
Sell price-buy price x size of trade (0.9875 minus 0.9749) multiplied by 100.000 = USD 1260 Profit Remember that trading EUR 100,000 as we have done in our examples, does not mean that you have to put up euro 100,000 yourself. On a 2% margin means that you have to deposit 2.0% of euro 100,000, which is euro 2,000 on margin as a guarantee for the future performance of your position.
• You sell euro
We quote EURUSD at a Bid price of 0.9875 and Ask price of 0.9880 and you decide to sell euro 100,000 at a Bid price of 0.9875.
• The market moves in your favour
The euro weakens against the dollar and the EURUSD is now quoted at bid 0.9744 and ask 0.9749.
• Now you buy back your euro
You buy EUR at an ask price of 0.9749.
• Your profit/loss is then
Sell price-buy price x size of trade (0.9875 minus 0.9749) multiplied by 100.000 = USD 1260 Profit Remember that trading EUR 100,000 as we have done in our examples, does not mean that you have to put up euro 100,000 yourself. On a 2% margin means that you have to deposit 2.0% of euro 100,000, which is euro 2,000 on margin as a guarantee for the future performance of your position.
How to Trade Forex
Trading foreign exchange is exciting and potentially very profitable, but there are also significant risk factors. It is crucially important that you fully understand the implications of margin trading and the particular pitfalls and opportunities that foreign exchange trading offers. On these pages, we offer you a brief introduction to the Forex markets as well as their participants and some strategies that you can apply. However, if you are ever in doubt about any aspect of a trade, you can always discuss the matter in-depth with one of our dealers. They are available 24 hours a day on the Saxo Bank online trading system, SaxoTrader.
The benchmark of its service is efficient execution, concise analysis and expertise – all achieved whilst maintaining an attractive and competitive cost structure. Today, Saxo Bank offers one of Europe's premier all-round services for trading in derivative products and foreign exchange. We count amongst our employees numerous dealers and analysts, each of whom has many years experience and a wide and varied knowledge of the markets – gained both in our home countries and in international financial centres. When trading foreign exchange, futures and other derivative products, we offer 24-hour service, extensive daily analysis, individual access to our Research & Analysis department for specific queries, and immediate execution of trades through our international network of banks and brokers. All at a price considerably lower than that which most companies and private investors normally have access to.
The combination of our strong emphasis on customer service, our strategy and trading recommendations, our strategic and individual hedging programmes, along with the availability to our clients of the latest news and information builds a strong case for trading an individual account through Saxo Bank.
Terms of trading are agreed individually depending on the volume of your transactions, but are generally much lower in cost when compared to banks and brokers. Your margin deposit can be cash or government securities, bank guarantees etc. Large corporate or institutional clients may be offered trading facilities on the strength of their balance sheet. The minimum deposit accepted for an individual trading account depends on the account type. Trade confirmations and real-time account overview are built into SaxoTrader, while further account information can be produced in accordance with your specific requirements.
The benchmark of its service is efficient execution, concise analysis and expertise – all achieved whilst maintaining an attractive and competitive cost structure. Today, Saxo Bank offers one of Europe's premier all-round services for trading in derivative products and foreign exchange. We count amongst our employees numerous dealers and analysts, each of whom has many years experience and a wide and varied knowledge of the markets – gained both in our home countries and in international financial centres. When trading foreign exchange, futures and other derivative products, we offer 24-hour service, extensive daily analysis, individual access to our Research & Analysis department for specific queries, and immediate execution of trades through our international network of banks and brokers. All at a price considerably lower than that which most companies and private investors normally have access to.
The combination of our strong emphasis on customer service, our strategy and trading recommendations, our strategic and individual hedging programmes, along with the availability to our clients of the latest news and information builds a strong case for trading an individual account through Saxo Bank.
Terms of trading are agreed individually depending on the volume of your transactions, but are generally much lower in cost when compared to banks and brokers. Your margin deposit can be cash or government securities, bank guarantees etc. Large corporate or institutional clients may be offered trading facilities on the strength of their balance sheet. The minimum deposit accepted for an individual trading account depends on the account type. Trade confirmations and real-time account overview are built into SaxoTrader, while further account information can be produced in accordance with your specific requirements.
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