Currency Trading Sessions

By Ahmad Hassam

The currency pairs that are heavily traded during the Asia Pacific session are USD/JPY, EUR/JPY and AUD/JPY. The financial centers active during the Asia Pacific session are Wellington, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Currency trading volumes in the Asia Pacific session account for about 21% of the total daily global volume. Most of the transaction involves JPY as Japanese companies are trying to convert Japanese Yen into other currencies in order to do business with the rest of the world.

The three currencies are important for the Asia Pacific region JPY, AUD and NZD. News and data reports from Australia, New Zealand and Japan are going to be hitting the market during the session. In terms of the move actively traded currency pairs during the Asia Pacific trading session this news and data affects their price action.

Because of the size of the Japanese market and the importance of Japanese data to the market much of the action during this session is focused on the Japanese Yen currency pairs. The Japanese financial centers are most active during this session so you can get a sense of what the Japanese market is doing based on price movements.

European financial centers begin to open up and the market gets to its full swing about midway through the Asian trading day. European financial centers and London represent over 50% of the total global trading volume.

The European session overlaps with half of the Asian trading day and half of the North American trading day which means that the market interest and liquidity is at its peak during the European session.

London is the global forex center with the highest volume of foreign exchange transactions. As a result some of the biggest moves and the most active trading takes place in the European currencies (EUR, GBP and CHF) and the euro cross currency pairs (EUR/CHF and EUR/GBP).

The trading volumes are much bigger in the European Session because of the overlap between the North American and European trading sessions. Some of the biggest and most meaningful directional price movements take place during this crossover period.

The most important financial markets in North America and US are located at New York and Chicago. The North American Session basically comprises New York and Chicago as financial centers. The North American trading session accounts for roughly the same share of the global trading volume as the Asia Pacific market, or about 22% of the daily global trading volume.

The North American morning is when US key economic data are released and the forex market makes many of its significant decisions on the value of USD. Most US data reports are released around 8:30 AM EST with others coming out later at around 9 AM and 10:00 AM EST.

There are some US economic reports that come out at noon or at 2:00 PM EST livening up the New York afternoon market. Canadian economic data reports are also released between 7 and 9 AM EST.

When the European trading session closes, most of the European traders try to close their open positions. The London or European close can bring volatile flurries of activity. London and European financial centers begin to wind down their daily trading operations around noon eastern time each day. The 12 to 15 hours before an important news announcement (i.e. the U.S. FOMC announcement or the U.S. Non-farm payroll) is a low volume time in the market as well because most banks and institutional traders are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what the news will be. And as we just discussed, lower trading volumes lead to choppy, ranging markets. And again, choppy, ranging markets are one of the best times to scalp and pull pips out of the market.

Market liquidity and interest falls off significantly in the New York afternoon on most trading days. This is the best time for scalping as the market is moving sideways. Scalping is done when a trader enters and exits a trade within a few minutes in order to make just a few pips per trade. The ideal time for scalping is when the markets are moving sidways with very low volatility. On quiet days, the generally lower market interest typically leads to stagnating price action. This can make for challenging trading conditions but not for the scalpers. - 23309

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try These 1500 Pips A Day Forex Signals From Heaven. Know Forex Rebellion!

Currency Profile Of GBP (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

GBP/USD is the most liquid currency pair in the world and is highly popular with the currency traders. 90% of the global currency trading is pure speculation by the market players. Why is GBP so popular with the currency traders? What are the strength and weakness of GBP? Lets discuss the currency profile of GBP. Another name for the British Pound (GBP) is Pound Sterling. GBP is also known as the Cable. This name most probably struck in the early part of the twentieth century when most of the global trading used to be done through GBP via telex machines run on the cables. GBP used to be the international reserve currency of choice in those days. United Kingdom (UK) is the fourth largest economy in the world. UK has a service oriented economy with manufacturing representing a small part of GDP. Manufacturing is only equivalent to one fifth of GDP.

London is still the forex center of the world. New York comes after London in the daily market turnover in forex. The main reasons that London has a higher percentage of trade is that it has always been a financial center and also because of time zones. The London market starts between 7am and 8am, which is the end of the trading day for Asia. Just as the Banks in London are beginning to open at 8am they can deal with other traders in Tokyo, Hong Kong or Singapore whose trading day is just coming to a close. During the later part of the trading day in London, the US market opens up and so catches a healthy portion of that market as well. London Stock Exchange is still the second most important stock exchange in the world after the New York Stock Exchange. The British capital market systems are one of the most developed in the world and as a result finance and banking has become a strong contributor to the GDP.

UK has large reserves of oil and gas in its North Sea. Offshore drilling has made the energy production industry account for 10% of GDP which is one of the highest shares of any industrialized nation. UK is the largest producer and exporter of natural gas to EU although majority of UK GDP is from services.

Trade deficit is an important economic indicator for determining the strength or weakness of a currency. Overall, UK is a net importer of goods with a consistent trade deficit. Increases in energy prices such as oil will significantly benefit the large number of UK oil exporters. This is important for forex traders as energy prices are positively correlated with GBP.

The largest trading partner of UK is the EU with the trade between the two accounting for almost 50% of UK imports and exports activities. The United States on an individual basis still remains UKs largest trading partner.

The leading exports markets for UK exporters are the United States, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. The leading import sources for UK are Germany, France, United States, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The possibility of Euro adoption will still be in the backs of minds of pound traders for many years to come. UK had rejected adopting Euro as its currency in June 2003. Now, if UK decides to join EMU, it will have significant ramifications for its economy.

The most important of which is the adjustment of UK interest rate with the Eurozone interest rate. One of the primary arguments used against adopting the Euro is that UK has sound macroeconomic policies that have worked very well for the country.

Right now Brits are not in favor of a Euro entry. There are many arguments in favor of Euro entry and many against.UK is a highly political country with government officials highly concerned about the voter approval ratings. The voter opinion can change overtime. However, the likelihood of EMU entry will decline if the voters do not support Euro entry.

Bank of England: The monetary policy of UK is under the control of The Bank of England (BOE). BOE is the UKs central bank. BOE is one of the oldest central banks in the world. The Monetary Policy Committee is the nine member committee that sets the monetary policy for UK. The committee was granted operational independence in 1997. It consists of a governor, two deputy governor, two executive directors of the central bank and four outside experts. - 23309

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try These 1500 Pips A Day Forex Signals From Heaven. Know Forex Rebellion!

British Pound Profile (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

Another name for the British Pound (GBP) is Pound Sterling. GBP is also known as the Cable. This name most probably struck in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century when most of the global trading used to be done through the cable. GBP used to be the international currency of choice in those days. United Kingdom (UK) is the fourth largest economy in the world. UK has a service oriented economy with manufacturing representing a small part of GDP. Manufacturing is only equivalent to one fifth of GDP.

The British capital market systems are one of the most developed in the world and as a result finance and banking has become a strong contributor to the GDP. London is still the forex center of the world. London Stock Exchange is still the second most important stock exchange in the world after the New York Stock Exchange.

Although majority of UK GDP is from services, UK is the largest producer and exporter of natural gas to EU. The energy production industry accounts for 10% of GDP which is one of the highest shares of any industrialized nation.

This is important for forex traders as increases in energy prices such as oil will significantly benefit the large number of UK oil exporters. Overall, UK is a net importer of goods with a consistent trade deficit.

The largest trading partner of UK is the EU with the trade between the two accounting for almost 50% of UK imports and exports activities. The United States on an individual basis still remains UKs largest trading partner.

The leading import sources for UK are Germany, France, United States, Belgium and the Netherlands. The leading exports markets for UK exporters are the United States, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.

UK had refused to accept Euro when it was introduced keeping the option open to adopt it in the distant future. UK had rejected adopting Euro as its currency in June 2003.The possibility of Euro adoption will still be in the backs of minds of GBP traders for many years to come. Now, it will have significant ramifications for its economy if UK decides to join European Monetary Union (EMU).

The most important of which is the adjustment of UK interest rate with the Eurozone interest rate. One of the primary arguments used against adopting the Euro is that UK has sound macroeconomic policies that have worked very well for the country.

UK is a highly political country with government officials highly concerned about the voter approval ratings. There are many arguments in favor of Euro entry and many against. However, if the voters do not support Euro entry, the likelihood of EMU entry will decline. Right now Brits are not in favor of a Euro entry. The voter opinion can change overtime.

Bank of England: The Bank of England (BOE) is the UKs central bank. The Monetary Policy Committee is the nine member committee that sets the monetary policy for UK. It consists of a governor, two deputy governor, two executive directors of the central bank and four outside experts. The committee was granted operational independence in 1997. - 23309

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try These 1500 Pips A Day Forex Signals From Heaven. Know Forex Rebellion!

Even Dummies Can Learn Profit Trading

By Chad Reynolds

If you've always wanted to train to become a profit trader in the stock market, it is important to know that there's never been a better time for stock market beginners to join the ranks! With today's technology, there are more resources than ever before to help you achieve your dream of becoming a profit trader. Some might call it stocks for dummies, but we call it a really great training center.

That's right, all it takes to get you moving in the stock trading business is a fantastic training center that can provide you with all the resources you need to make your stock trading business a success. Whether you're new to the stock trading scene or you're a life-long veteran, there are great tools for everyone to make their lives easier and it all starts with a fantastic trading center.

You can start off by simply looking at the training center's Web site. If they are a reliable, well-respected company, you should be able to gather a lot of great information about the stock-trading world for free right off their site. The more information they have on their site, the more you know they're ready to exceed your expectations.

Wouldn't it be great if you could try the program for a month and, if you didn't learn a thing from the subscription, they would give you your money back? It is called a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee and it is something you should look for when searching for a training center.

However, you must remember that the training can only do so much. It is up to you to take the initiative and learn the self discipline to stay dedicated and motivated to your training. The training center should know this and, if they are an honest training center, they will even make note of this right on their site.

Another great feature to look for is the option of a personal trading coach. If you're lucky, they might even offer the first session for free. This will give you a chance to ask any immediate questions about the industry, before you venture off on your own. Hidden values like that are great and you should look for them while choosing a training center.

The training company might send out weekly email alerts about potentially profitable trading candidates, which is another great feature to look for. Some other things that a great training center might offer is access to the resource library, which may include eBooks, past training seminars and webinars, special reports and more.

Just remember to stay motivated, dedicated and focused. This kind of a life change is possible and the resources are out there to help you succeed. Trading stocks is a great option for those looking for a change of career or those who are looking for some extra cash as a part-time job. Good luck! - 23309

About the Author:

Find out more about stocks for dummies. Chad Reynolds is a veteran in the business and he has a plethora of insight for stock market beginners ; let him teach you about the stock market and how to hit the ground running.

Win At Forex Trading With A Forex Education

By Bart Icles

Anybody who wants to invest in Forex currency trading can become a successful and profitable trader with the help of Forex trading education programs; some of these may be free to use, while others are for purchasing and which one is best solely depends on the traders' style or type of trading and his overall preference. As 95% of traders eventually lose their money in the market, it only goes to show that only the remaining 5% are able to get the right Forex education.

Free Forex education programs may or may not have all the information vital to successfully trade Forex can be found on the Internet. Those new to Forex trading will need to make use of Forex charts and must know how to read all the information on the indicators correctly, and by applying their strategies to each situation with patience and discipline in order to succeed.

Forex trading courses for purchase are offered by experienced, retired or active Forex traders themselves who are willing to offer their accumulated knowledge and expertise from their many years of trading Forex. Majority are excellent in nature with a wide scope of coverage of everything one needs to know and learn about Forex trading and the market itself, and should have a money back guarantee to be considered risk free. The trader's learning time is dramatically shortened with the application of their proven strategies, wherein it is put to the test in actual trading to how see how it actually works and performs. This builds confidence in the aspiring trader, enabling him to learn trading effectively but, of course, with the able guidance of the Forex education mentor.

Since, in some cases, the confidence factor may still be lacking in the typical neophyte, there are other alternatives to turn for further help other than Forex education programs which others may find too lengthy and complicated to pursue.

One can purchase a Forex Account from a reputable Forex broker. All the complicated and time-consuming task of researching, gathering and analyzing all important Forex datas are taken out of the trader's hand. All he has to do is to wait for the Forex broker's recommendation when the market closes and it is time to decide whether to buy or sell. The price for each account varies from one Forex broker to another, ranging from hundreds to a thousand dollars per membership.

What Forex education program to get is all up to trader to decide in the end. The free or for purchase Forex education programs available are both great ways to equip one's self to becoming a successful and profitable trader, but will ultimately need to be reinforced by a traders inherent abilities and skills in trading. - 23309

About the Author:

Finding a good forex broker starts with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. But learning online forex takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.