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Jul 26 2009
An investment, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the commitment of funds with a view to minimizing risk and safeguarding capital while earning a return”. Generally speaking, investments are made for the “long haul”, with the belief that the value of the investment vehicle of choice will increase in value. When you say investment to most people in the United States, the first “vehicle” of choice in their minds is the Stock Market, with Mutual Funds in second place, followed more recently by property in third place, and Bonds in a distant fourth. Commodities and currency trading are rarely considered investments because of the speculative nature of those markets. Speculation, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the “assumption of unusual business risk in hopes of obtaining commensurate gain”.
A quick review of the definitions of “investment” and “speculation” immediately highlights the “inherent amount of risk” as the major difference between both practices. If you were to survey all those people who “invested” their life savings in the Stock Market and Mutual Funds just prior to the market crash of September 2000, do you think that they would agree that the Stock Market and Mutual Funds still fit the definition of a safe investment? Bonds in reality are extremely low risk trading vehicles and are therefore considered “investments”. While bonds were also affected in the market correction, they are still primarily an institutional trading vehicle and did not affect individual investors as broadly. While the ownership of private property seems to have escaped the dark shadow of a high risk investment, recent market forces and speculation in private property have eroded the quality of this investment. As of today, the housing boom in the United States has apparently run its’ course due to rising interest rates and increased inventory of discounted properties due to default and foreclosure. Many of the “paper millionaires” which this market has created will soon feel the pinch of paying off properties mortgaged much higher than their present values. And to all those owners of property which has long been paid for, you are in possession of a wasting asset against the forces of inflation and the intentional devaluation of the dollar.
It would seem that the “safest” investments would be in the purchase of hard assets. Gold immediately comes to mind, but its’ greatest value is as a universal currency standard. A man with a silo filled with corn will not starve in the near future. A home will keep a family safe from the elements no matter what it is worth. The only problem is that these assets will only earn you money when they are sold, assuming that their value has increased. These investments are not typically made for the purpose of earning a suitable return on one’s capital. Speculation, on the other hand, is synonymous with large and fast gains on your capital with the higher risk of loss.
The additional risk introduced into traditional investments by current market forces has made the FOREX Currency Exchange an attractive option to investors by blurring the lines between investment and speculation. The FOREX is the most liquid of all the exchanges, trading in excess of 1.5 trillion dollars daily, 24 hours per day. Trading practices include everything from intra-day to trend following. Paper trading is highly recommended to sharpen your skill, and an account balance of as little as $300.00 will get you started.
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Jul 26 2009
Back when I first started learning about investing, I decided to start from the beginning and read basic books on personal finance as well as “guides” for understanding all of the investment world in a nut shell. Most of these authors were very knowledgeable and informative, but their investment advice was far too conservative for my taste. They would literally write chapter after chapter talking about the differences between conservative investing, which according to them generally yields somewhere around 5% PA, as opposed to “risky” investing which usually meant a diversified stock/mutual fund portfolio yielding (in my mind) only slightly higher averages. What kind of returns can you expect in the stock market? Well they say the market has gone up an average of 10% a year since Adam and Eve. Popular indexes like the DOW and the now more popular S&P500 have always, like real estate, “gone up over time.”
Now, these market averages are almost worshiped like golden calves. Repeatedly drilled into my brain was the concept that there were hundreds (if not thousands) of fund managers and other “professionals” out there with Harvard degrees, decades of experience, millions of dollars under management, and they were all spending 15 hours a day consuming every single bit of market information in the hopes of beating these golden calves by a few points.
What chance did I have? If Dr. Fund Guru Jr. who eats, sleeps, breathes the markets and has more credentials than I have individual hairs on my body can’t consistently make 20% a year...well...forget it kid...your chances are slim to none. I guess I’ll buy some shares of XYZ fund and accept the scraps off the table from the stock gurus.
NOT!
The foreign exchange market offers many benefits that the stock market does not have. Most of these have been beaten to death on various forums, blogs, articles, e-books, etc. However, it’s always good to reiterate the positive (my own personal reason is last):
- Forex offers unprecedented liquidity. With over two trillion dollars transacted per day on the market, it makes filling any buy/sell order virtually instant. That equates to less slippage and more profitability. “Paper trading” stocks vs actually trading stocks is very different, because orders may not be filled in a timely manner. The difference between trading a forex demo accout and an actual account is virtually nill.
- Forex is available 24 hours a day 5.5 days a week, as opposed to the daylight trading hours of the stock exchanges.
- Forex is uncontrollable by large entities. Large net worth individuals, banks and fund managers who throw their weight around in the stock market can often have huge effects on price action. Because of the immense volume of foreign currency traded per day, the market is unmoved by “heavy hitters.” Not even central banks can control the Forex market.
- Forex offers up to 200:1 leverage as opposed to 2:1 stock leverage.
- Forex has no restrictions for selling short, as opposed to the stock market’s “uptick” rule
- Forex can actually be traded INSIDE of an IRA or Roth IRA account.
- Forex gains are taxed at the preferred 60/40 rate, no matter what trading style you use (intra-day, swing, position) as opposed to the tax penalties for holding stocks for short periods of time.
The list does go on, but for me the biggest advantage is a psychological one. I know it probably sounds silly, but fear and intimidation can sometimes subconsciously defeat us before we even begin. I don’t like the idea of having to live up to, and in a way, compete with “professional managers” who have more knowledge of the fundamentals of the markets than I ever will. It’s almost as if Forex, in some way, levels the playing field. I don’t have to psychologically compete against anyone’s idea of what kind of returns are “acceptable and realistic” and what kind of returns are “pure fantasy.” I only have to trade until I can find an acceptable reward to risk ratio, and consistent profitability thereof. The only one I compete against is myself.
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Jul 26 2009
Dear Friend,
Have you ever heard of FOREX? FOREX stands for Foreign Currency Exchange Market. This is a fascinating new way of making money in the trading market. With FOREX you can learn powerful techniques that will let you turn $200 to $3,000. You will learn to focus on what trades are the good ones and the most profitable. FOREX is an amazing tool to learn to use. Not only will you profit big, you will also have more confidence when deciding what to trade or not to trade.
The beauty of FOREX is that it’s not only for expert traders, but also for beginners. As a beginner, FOREX teaches the basic terminology used, concepts, and knowledge that will allow you to join the FOREX trading market. FOREX literally points you in the right direction of where to start your trading. It’s as if you’re being held by your hand and being taken to where the money is. FOREX is great, because if you sign up you’ll receive a FREE ebook with training materials that will teach you everything about trading FOREX and how to get started. This is a great course that will really teach you step-by-step in how to make intelligent trades in the trading market. One of the best features about FOREX is it doesn’t cost thousands of dollars like most competitors and you’ll probably end up making much more money with FOREX than these competitors.
FOREX is also beneficial for expert traders. So for you experts out there, you’ll just fall in love with this from the start. You already know the basics and now you’ll become perfectionist in basically making money. Who wouldn’t love this talent? FOREX is a great tool that basically let’s you know when the major market moves will happen and in what direction. It’s as if you’re waiting for someone to give you the go ahead of trading and knowing that it will be profitable. This is just too good to be true. Well with FOREX it’s just that good! Learning these precision techniques will surely help you in achieving HUGE PROFITS.
There are always risks with trading. However, with FOREX the techniques that you will learn will teach you to trade with the smallest risk possible (between 10 to 20 pips). The purpose of FOREX is for you to be amazingly profitable. Like mentioned above, this is not only for experts but for beginners as well. This new powerful tool is feasible that even a child can learn. You’ll see dramatic changes in your income and feel more confident in knowing when and how to trade. You’ll enjoy this new way of living! Just think, you wake up start your day and do a little trade here and there and then that’s it! You basically did your work for the day and then you’re free to enjoy the rest of your carefree day. This type of lifestyle is waiting for you! Just remember FOREX is the place to be.
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Jul 26 2009
Money. We all need it. We all want it. Trillions and trillions of dollars, pesos, euros, pounds, levs, francs, and more change hands every day for goods and services around the world. Most of us are only familiar with the money that is exchanged for goods and services in our own country and are only concerned with getting more of that.
But there is a lot more to money than that. What is the relationship between the currency in your country and the currency of some other country and why should it matter to me? I’m glad you asked. In this article we will explore some of the currencies around the world and answer some questions you may not even know you had.
First, if we are going to discuss currency and it’s relationship to other currency, we have to talk about Forex. That’s short for foreign exchange or the exchange of currency for a different type of currency.
There is no market in the world, including Wallstreet that can compare to Forex in volume of cash traded daily. Retailers, Governments, Currency Speculators, Banks, Corporations, and other financial institutions engage in forex or foreign currency exchange to the tune of trillions of dollars and other currency each day.
It is a truly amazing thing to see. People making money just by trading one country’s currency for another. Keeping up with the latest news in each country, economic trends and indicators, real-time monitoring of current currency values in comparison to another currency are all things required if you are going to speculate in this arena.
More than that, some forex speculators will tell you is, you have to have a good feel for it. You have to understand economies and be able to recognize the events and conditions that will cause people to lose confidence in one currency or another. You have to know when to hold em and when to fold em, as the Kenny Rogers song goes.
If you would like to check the exchange rates for each of these currencies against other currencies, you can open a new browser window and put this url into your address bar. It’s a Forex Calculator. http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter?u
The following is a list of world currencies. It may not be every currency in the world, but it will give you an idea of the complexity of forex.
Albanian Lek, Algerian Dinar, Aluminium Ounces, Argentine Peso, Aruba Florin, Australian Dollar.
Bahamian Dollar, Bahraini Dinar, Bangladesh Taka, Barbados Dollar, Belarus Ruble, Belize Dollar, Bermuda Dollar, Bhutan Ngultrum, Bolivian Boliviano, Brazilian Real, British Pound, Brunei Dollar, Bulgarian Lev, Burundi Franc.
Cambodia Riel, Canadian Dollar, Cayman Islands Dollar, CFA Franc, Chilean Peso, Chinese Yuan, Colombian Peso, Comoros Franc, Copper Ounces, Costa Rica Colon, Croatian Kuna, Cuban Peso, Cyprus Pound, Czech Koruna.
Danish Krone, Dijibouti Franc, Dominican Peso. East Caribbean Dollar, Ecuador Sucre, Egyptian Pound, El Salvador Colon, Eritrea Nakfa, Estonian Kroon, Ethiopian Birr, Euro.
Falkland Islands Pound, Gambian Dalasi, Ghanian Cedi, Gibraltar Pound, Gold Ounces, Guatemala Quetzal, Guinea Franc, Haiti Gourde, Honduras Lempira, Hong Kong Dollar, Hungarian Forint, Iceland Krona, Indian Rupee, Indonesian Rupiah, Iran Rial, Israeli Shekel,
Jamaican Dollar, Japanese Yen, Jordanian Dinar, Kazakhstan Tenge, Kenyan Shilling, Korean Won, Kuwaiti Dinar, Lao Kip, Latvian Lat, Lebanese Pound, Lesotho Loti, Libyan Dinar, Lithuanian Lita.
Macau Pataca, Macedonian Denar, Malagasy Franc, Malawi Kwacha, Malaysian Ringgit, Maldives Rufiyaa, Maltese Lira, Mauritania Ougulya, Mauritius Rupee, Mexican Peso, Moldovan Leu, Mongolian Tugrik, Moroccan Dirham, Mozambique Metical.
Namibian Dollar, Nepalese Rupee, Neth Antilles Guilder, New Turkish Lira, New Zealand Dollar, Nicaragua Cordoba, Nigerian Naira, Norwegian Krone, Omani Rial.
Pacific Franc, Pakistani Rupee, Palladium Ounces, Panama Balboa, Papua New Guinea Kina, Paraguayan Guarani, Peruvian Nuevo Sol, Philippine Peso, Platinum Ounces, Polish Zloty, Qatar Rial, Romanian Leu, Romanian New Leu, Russian Rouble, Rwanda Franc.
Samoa Tala, Sao Tome Dobra, Saudi Arabian Riyal, Seychelles Rupee, Sierra Leone Leone, Silver Ounces, Singapore Dollar, Slovak Koruna, Slovenian Tolar, Somali Shilling, South African Rand, Sri Lanka Rupee, St Helena Pound, Sudanese Dinar, Surinam Guilder, Swaziland Lilageni, Swedish Krona, Swiss Franc, Syrian Pound.
Taiwan Dollar, Tanzanian Shilling, Thai Baht, Tonga Pa'anga, Trinidad&Tobago Dollar, Tunisian Dinar, U.S. Dollar, UAE Dirham, Ugandan Shilling, Ukraine Hryvnia, Uruguayan New Peso, Vanuatu Vatu, Venezuelan Bolivar, Vietnam Dong, Yemen Riyal, Zambian Kwacha, Zimbabwe Dollar.
Can you imagine sorting out all of the relationships between each of those currencies and precious metals. Forex is not for the faint of heart it would seem, but it does make a facinating topic. In some of the currency names you can see how it relates to world history.
I hope you find this article has helped you with at least an explanation of what Forex is and how it works. There is a lot more out there about Forex. Learn more!
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Jul 26 2009
There are several external factors that affect Forex currency trading. These factors include trade reports, GDP, unemployment, international trade, manufacturing etc. The growth or decline in these factors affects a country’s currency value.
Foreign exchange is a continuous global market, providing a 24-hour market access to its players. Since it is open only 5 days a week, so weekend is the closing period. Although foreign exchange is the most liquid of all markets, the fact that it is an international market and trading 24-hours a day, the time of day can have a direct impact on the liquidity available for trading a particular currency.
The major centers and time zones are that of Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York. Therefore, forex alerts must consider which players are in the market, since in the modern interconnected financial world, events that occur at any hour, in any part of the globe, can affect some or all parts of the investment community.
In forex trading, you are not ignorant like one remains in stock for a considerable period of time about the news affecting the liquidity of a stock. In stock market, you come to know about inside trading, revision in earnings only after the market has reacted upon it.
But in forex currency trading, this is not the case. Here you get various forex signals. Significant information affecting a particular currency becomes known to everyone in the trade instantaneously. There isn’t anything as insider trading in a forex market.
There are many online forex trading startegy sites. They all maintain a global economic calendar. This calendar indicates the major forthcoming economic, financial and business related events all over the world and which can have important bearing on foreign exchange market. What you have to do is to keep a track of all important events and news.
Certainly, it will not be an easy task to watch constantly all the factors affecting foreign exchange trading market. They change in importance over time and condition. But the information is available to anyone and for use to one’s benefit. A currency trader has got a chance to react immediately to any new information.
Unlike stock market, another important advantage forex trading offers is that you can do foreign currency trading almost from anywhere from the world. There are so many online forex trading signal platforms available to get instant information and to act within time.
Most important GDP figures that affect forex trading are of USA, Japan, Canada, Australia and Britain. China is also expected to be a major force in online paper trading in near future.
Central banks play a significant role in the forex market because they have the responsibility of changing the country’s “base” interest rate. A central bank has to maintain growth in the economy in accordance with inflation, so it creates a good balance in interest rates. The bank’s decisions on whether to raise, cut, or hold the interest rate fuels speculation in the forex market, where the value of a currency, or group of currencies, changes in real time. Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and militarily actions in a sensitive region can have a significant impact on the forex market as they create a disturbance in the world.
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