Thursday, December 17, 2009

Forex Trading - Online Forex Trading

By Prema Laga

Forex Trading is the business of earning a profit from buying or selling currencies on the forex market. Many people realize the the foreign exchange market is where we exchange one currency for another.

This exchange can be lucrative if done in large amounts. It is reasonably comparable to the stock market. Buy low, sell high. A profit is gained by price performance in or against your favor. But let us touch on the essentials.

All currencies on the forex market are traded in the form of a currency pair. The Usd/Chf is merely a representation of the American dollar against the Swiss Franc. Or the Gbp/Jpy pair which is the British Pound versus the Japanese Yen.

Why are currencies traded in pairs? It is merely a way of determining value. This comparison between two currencies allows us to determine if a currency has risen or dropped in value. They can be paired not just with other currencies but with commodities as well such as silver and gold. Let us look the mechanics of a currency pair. The In any pair, the currency separated to the left is called the base currency while the one on the right is known as the quote currency. In In the case of the Gbp/Jpy pair, the British pound is the base currency and the Japanese Yen is the quote currency. Whenever you buy a pair you are actually buying the base currency and selling the quote currency. When selling a currency pair, the quote currency is bought while the base currency is sold instead.

Buying the popular Eur/Usd pair purely means buying the Euro while selling the US dollar. In reverse, selling the Euro/Usd means buying the American dollar and selling the Euro. This is the same with all currency pairs in the forex trading business. So how does the trader profit from this action?. If the price of a currency pair start to rise, what is happening is the rise in value of the base currency over the quote currency. Should it fall, the reverse happens, the base currency depreciates against the quote currency. This is an necessary element to grasp as all profits ro losses are derived from the fluctuating values of the base and quote currencies.

For a working example, say you bought the Gbp/Jpy at 150.00. This means you are backing the British Pound (Base currency) to rise in value over the Japanese Yen (Quote currency). Assume for a second that the gbp/jpy currency pair hit 150.50 after putting in the order. This would mean that you are making a 50 pip profit minus whatever spreads the broker charged you for the trade. Pips are used as points in the forex market. The pip stands for price index position.

For more information on the spreads and brokers, read here at forex brokers. Assume the gbp/jpy went in the opposite direction instead. Assume the price of Gbpy/Jpy falls to 149.50. Instead of a profit, you will be making a loss of 50 pips with the addition of the spread. All profits or losses are unrealized until the trade is closed. This is how traders make or lose money in forex trading.

Since we have covered the basics of forex trading, we can move on to other areas that can improve your trading performance. Before opening a real account, always use a Free Forex Demo Account before putting in real money to trade with. It is most important that beginners do this. Too many newcomers to forex trading start with a live account and end up losing all their funds. It is recommended that all beginners trade on a demo account for at least half a year before venturing in with a live account. - 23309

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