Saturday, 9 January 2010

A Quick Introduction At Currency Trading For Dummies

By Eddie Lamb

There are so many details that are important to know that an article this length cannot even begin to touch currency trading for dummies adequately. This is a broad brush stroke of some really basic information that will hopefully give you some ideas on further information that you need. Currency trading is most commonly known as Forex. Forex stands for Foreign Exchange Market. This market, unlike other stock markets, is open, active, and running twenty-four hours a day. The more that you can learn about Forex and the intricacies of trading, the more successful you will be.

Forex traders are betting on the way that exchange rates will move. This sounds easy, but exchange rates for countries are affected by multiple variables. The Forex trading arena is an even playing field, information is received by all traders at the same time. While everyone speculates on changes in the currency market, no one can know for sure when a market is going to rise or fall.

The most telling impact on currency in a country can be seen by the people of that country. Wars, arms, a death of major leaders, all affect the currency exchange rate. The global economy is affecting currency exchange rates around the world. Individuals who are speculating on when this currency will change direction have an opportunity to see significant gains in their portfolios or to lose substantially.

Traders try to predict fluctuations in the exchange rate and bet on the pairs that will give them the largest gains on their bet. When one country's currency is being traded against another country's currency, it is call a "pair". All of the major pairs that are traded involve the US dollar. When a currency pair is being traded that does not involve the US, it is called a "cross currency pair." An example of a cross currency pair would be EUR/JPY (Euro/Japanese Yen). The most actively traded cross currency pairs are the EUR, JPY, and the GBP (sterling pound or British currency).

If you though that the way that the currency is written and listed wasn't that important, think again. The stronger currency is traditionally shown on the left. When you see EUR/USD, it means that the Euro is stronger than the US dollar. The currency that is listed on the left is the "base currency." Whatever happens on the left creates the opposite action on the right. So, if you buy 100 EUR, you automatically sell 100 USD.

On paper it would look like this, 10000 EUR/USD. The currency on the right is called the "counter currency" or "secondary currency." The value of this currency when you buy or sell your base currency will determine what your profit or loss is on your trade.

There are thousands of these trades taking place every minute of every day. The rates move and fluctuate very quickly. Your success as a trader depends on your ability to read market fluctuations and make trades proactively. You will find pairs that are extremely high risk and pairs that are very low risk. Knowing the how much risk you can afford to take will determine which pairs you focus on in trading.

As we said earlier, there is a lot to learn to be able to start trading successfully. There are numerous classes available on Forex trading and many blogs by successful traders that you will find helpful. When looking at tools to make trading more consistent, you will want to look at the historical gains and losses of the method you are looking at. Following a system or method to see how it actually acts when applied to the current market will also help you to select the system that will be most helpful for you.

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