Swing Trading Explained (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

In case of currency trading, the cost of trading is hidden in the bid/ask spreads offered by the broker. Day traders often rake up major commissions charges if they are trading stocks which makes it that much more difficult to beat the overall market. In the end, if you are unable to breakeven, you cannot survive long in day trading. So the more you day trade, the higher your trading cost will become.

Swing trading also entails facing stiff trading costs in the shape of spread in case of currencies or commissions if you are trading stocks. But these trading costs are nothing as severe as in day trading. Because price action spans several days to several weeks, market fundamentals can come into play to a larger degree as compared to day trading.

Swing trading can also generate higher potential profits on single trades because the holding period is longer than in day trading. Day to day currency movements are due less to market fundamentals and more to short term supply and demand of currencies or shares.

There is a misconception that day trading can be taken as a hobby. Day trading demands lots of attention and time commitment from you. It is stressful and a winning position can turn into a losing one within seconds. You have to have strong nerves, if you want to permanently take on day trading.

Swing trading currency markets can be very profitable. Currency markets are open 24/5. You can enter or exit a position even late hours. Now the good thing about swing trading is that you can take it full time or part time. Swing trading with an eye on earning additional income or improving the returns on your portfolio is less stressful than swing trading for a living.

Part time swing trading means doing market analysis when you get home from work! After you have done your analysis and made your trading plan, you can implement trades the following day! You can enter stop loss orders to protect your capital even though you may not be able to watch the market all day. You should first go through this phase of part time swing trading first if you eventually want full time swing trading.

If you have a full time job but can devote a few hours a week to analyzing markets and securities or currencies, swing trading part time is suitable for you. If you are achieving subpar results in your current investment portfolios from your financial advisors or third party then you can take up part time swing trading. You should have a passion for financial markets and short term trading.

Part time swing trading is for those individuals who are not gamblers and dont take undue risks like doubling down their positions. They should also have the discipline to consistently place stop loss orders. Again swing trading is not for fun.

At the end of the day, when it comes down to is the fact that by swing trading instead of day trading, you are able to commit less capital to the markets to reach extraordinary gains. - 23309

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Know Swing Trading. Learn Forex Trading!

Global Macro and Investing in BRIC's

By Warren Gross

Brazil, Russia, India, and China are collectively known as the BRIC's. The paper in 2003 by Jim Oneil entitled The Path to 2050 brought the BRIC's to the forefront of emerging market investors. The idea is that by the year 2050 the BRIC nations will be as large and powerful if not more then existing super powers. Based on economic and demographic forces the paper might be right.

Now that these nations have embraced capitalism and started to throw out corruption they are able to better compete for investment capital with other nations. Due to this and the fact that they have huge and growing populations along with large natural resources and you have a good chance for a big move on their way to power and influence.

Brazil has grown up a lot over the last 20 years. Having been called the next growth engine since the seventies it appears as though Brazil has finally figured it out and is building a legitimate economy that has a solid banking system, several industries, and a huge oil industry. Having gotten rid of the majority of its Latin American corruption Brazil is well on its way to becoming a major force in the world economy.

Who else has oil and is trying to make the jump to developed status? If you said Russia you would be right. Since the wall came down in 1989 Russia has made some major leaps and bounds towards becoming a player in the world economy. The vast natural resources like oil is the primary economic driver but they are trying to expand and be more then a one trick pony. If rampant government corruption can be tamed Russia will be one of the great success stories of this century.

India has over a billion people. That in and of itself is not a big deal, except that they also have one of the largest bilingual populations on earth as well as a large educated segment. This has helped India to become first a humongous outsourcing giant and second to become a real and legitimate technology leader in its own right. They have scientists, engineers, and doctors who are rapidly becoming on par with their western brethren. The next ten and fifty years will be exciting as India continues to improve.

The last country on the BRIC list is not last because of potential but instead just for a catchy acronym. In fact if China can manage its growth right it may become the largest economy on earth over the next forty years. China has the people and is rapidly gaining the technological know how to do almost whatever it wants. The only caution is that government does not blow out the flame, but that is looking like a lesser and lesser problem. These nations have loads of potential for not only their citizens but also for global macro investors. - 23309

About the Author:

If you need actionable trading ideas then check out The Macro Trader It is a weekly global macro investing advisory publication with frequent intra-week updates for time-critical analysis and actionable trading ideas.