Forex Trading Systems Types of Trading Systems

There are basically two types of Forex trading systems, mechanical and discretionary systems. The trading signals that come out of mechanical systems are mainly based on technical analysis applied in a systematic way (technical indicators, chart patterns, etc).

On the other hand, discretionary systems use experience, intuition or judgment on entries and exits.

Which type produces better results? Or more importantly, which one better fits your trading style?

In this section, we will try to answer the question above. We will first analyze the pros and cons of each system approach.

Mechanical Systems

Advantages

• This kind of system can be automated and backtested efficiently.
• They have very rigid rules. Either, there is a trade or there isn’t.
• Mechanical traders are less susceptible to emotions than discretionary traders.

Disadvantages

• Most traders backtest Forex trading systems incorrectly. In order to produce accurate results you need tick data.
• The Forex market is always changing. The Forex market (and all markets) has a random component. The market conditions may look similar, but they are never the same.
• A system that worked successfully in the past doesn’t necessary mean it will work in the future.

Discretionary Systems

Advantages

• Discretionary systems are easily adaptable to new market conditions.
• Trading decisions are based on experience. Traders learn to see which trading signals have a higher probability of success.

Disadvantages

• They cannot be backtested or automated, since there is always a decision to be made based on judgment.
• It takes time to develop the experience required to trade successfully and track trades in a discretionary way. In the early stages this can be dangerous.

Now, which approach is better for Forex traders?

It is advisable to always start trading a mechanical system, as you gain experience, you will realize which signals produce better results but this requires time and experience, so start first with a mechanical system. Another point you should take in consideration is if you are a trader that finds it hard to follow your trading signals, then you are better off using a mechanical system, where your judgment won’t play an important role in your system. You only take the trades that your system signals.

If the psychological barriers that affect every trader (fear, greed, anger, etc.) puts you in unwanted scenarios, you are also better off trading mechanical systems, because you only need to follow what your system is telling you, go short, go long, close a trade. No other decision has to be made.

On the other hand, if you are a disciplined and experienced trader, then you are better off using a discretionary system, because discretionary systems adapt to the market conditions and you are able to change your trading conditions as the market changes. For instance, you have a target of 60 pips on a long trade, the market goes up quickly reaching 50 pips in your favor in a few minutes, allowing you to change the target level to 100 pips. These kinds of decisions are nice to adapt once you have enough experience, however it could be dangerous at early stages.

Does it mean that trading a discretionary system has no rules? This is absolutely incorrect. Trading discretionary systems means that once a trader finds his/her setup, the trader then decides what to do. But every trader still needs certain rules that need to be followed, such as the size of the position, conditions that have to be met before thinking to get into the market, and so on.

Whether you choose to be a discretionary or a mechanical trader there are some important points you should take in consideration:

1. You need to make sure the Forex trading system you are using totally fits your personality. Otherwise you will find yourself outguessing your system (develop it yourself).
2. You also need to clearly define your rules and most importantly have the discipline to follow them.
3. Take your time to build the perfect system for you. It is not easy and requires time and hard work, but in the end, if done correctly, it will give you consistent profitable results.

Forex Trading Systems Creating a Trading System

It is very important to have a system that perfectly fits your personality, otherwise you will find it difficult to follow and it will be hard to generate consistent results. Nevertheless, how do we know if the system we are trading is the right for me? On the last section of this lesson, we will find out the proper steps that need to be followed in order to make sure our system fits us.

Most traders have problems with the system they are using because they did not develop it. A system that works for one trader does not mean that it will work for all traders. The system creator “created it” based on his personality and unique circumstances (trading capital, risk profile, etc).

If this is your case, you need to follow the same rules and re-create and tweak the system until it fits your needs as a trader and personality.

In order to create a successful system you need to take care of the following steps:

1. Types of systems

2. Trading styles

3. Choose the concept of trading

4. System Conceptualization

5. Testing and live trading

Forex Trading Systems- Introduction

By now, you should know that it is important to trade based on a trading system; otherwise, it will be very hard to generate consistent profits from the Forex market. Trading systems tell you where to get in and out the market.

When you devise a system, you look for certain moves and what indicators, patterns or price behavior caught that move, then you create a set of rules; when these rules are present in the future they signal a trade.

Most systems are based on price patterns or technical indicator readings (technical patterns). However, we must not forget something: patterns (whether chart or technical patterns) are never the same, they are only similar. In order for two patterns to be the same exact pattern the same traders need to be involved on both patterns, and not only this, they have to be in the same mood so they behave in the exact same way. We know this is almost impossible since there are just too many variables that need to be accounted for. Take for instance, how many traders are waiting in the sidelines? How many traders will get out of the market sooner than they have planned? How many of them will take partial profits? And so on...

This tells us that there are no certainties about the outcome of every single signal. Even though we don't know the outcome of any individual trade, the outcome of a set of trades is predictable; we also know that if we follow rigorously our system we will be ahead of the game in the long run. When our system signals one trade it only tells you that there is a higher probability that the market will go in the intended direction, probabilities will play their part.

So we know two important things:

• We don't know in advance the outcome of any signal
• If we follow our system rigorously, we will be ahead of the game

What is interesting is that we do not need to know what is going to happen next in order to make money in the Forex market, we only need to make sure we have a well-developed system and follow it rigorously.

However, before we apply this knowledge we need to develop our own system. In this lesson we will show you how to effectively develop a system the fits your personality.

The following topics are covered in this lesson:

Creating a Trading System - 

                                                     Important information about trading systems.

Types of Trading Systems - 

                                                           There are two types of trading systems; we will review their advantages and disadvantages. 

Trading Styles -  

                            Review of the trading styles you might adopt to develop your trading system. 

Trading Concepts -

                                     Not all trading concepts are for every trader, choose the one the better fits you. 

Trading System Conceptualization -

                                                                         After choosing our trading style and concept, we need to begin our system conceptualization. 

Testing and Live Trading - 

                                                       Once we created our system we need to test it and see if it really fits our personality, a few tips to do an effective testing. 

 Some Points to take in Consideration - 

                                                                          Before taking any action please take these important points into consideration.

What is forex?

What is forex? Why trade forex? 

 

The foreign exchange market – or forex for short – is the buying and selling of currencies, and it’s one of the fastest growing markets in the world. From 2007 to 2010, forex market activity increased by 20%, with average daily turnover reaching nearly $4 trillion in April of 2010.

 

 

Forex trading works much like it does with stocks, you buy low and you sell high. The benefit of trading forex is that you don’t have to choose from thousands of companies or sectors. Plus, you can make things even simpler than choosing which company to buy.

For example, most people, even those that are new to forex, have an opinion on the US dollar and the US economy. They can easily take their opinions and translate them into a forex trade. Buying or selling US Dollars as simple as they buying or selling a company’s stock.

Also, another advantage of the FX market is that it doesn’t begin at 9AM and end at 4PM. Trading takes place 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. For most people 24 hour trading means they can trade before or after work. Plus, you have the flexibility to make your trades online.

 

 

Plus, you can buy and sell at any time, in up trends (also called bull markets) and in down trends (also called bear markets).

Forex Trading, Not Having a System

 Some traders make trading decisions without any methodology or system. Imagine yourself on a trip in which you intend to drive to the west coast. If you don't study the route to take, where to rest, or you don't even know what cities or villages you are going to pass by, you will probably end up in the east coast, or on the north border, but most importantly you won’t know in the middle of your adventure if you are on the right path. On the other hand, if you know the route to take, villages and cities you are going to pass by, you will know you did something wrong should you drive into an unknown village. At this point, you will review your route, turn around and get on the right route.

The same goes for trading, if you do not use a system or methodology you won’t know what you are doing wrong until it is too late and your trading account is in great danger.

You cannot get into a trade because you think or believe the price is going to go up or down. You need a plan of action, a trading plan that will get you in and will guide you through each trade.

Imagine a trader at the end of the month; her trading account is up, the best month ever. Then she decides to go back and review all the trades made during that month. When looking at the trades she realizes there is no possible way to replicate those results because all of them were entered without any system what so ever, in a word, randomly. In other words, she got lucky. The same goes when everything goes wrong, she will not be able to discover what she is doing wrong because she is not following any system.

The most important thing about having a system is that all the rules that govern it were made when there was no money at risk. This way you are sure that every decision taken based on the system is in your best interests. These decisions are not clouded by psychological factors (fear, greed, hope, etc.) that are present when real money is at risk.

FACT - You need a system or methodology.

This will help you realize whether what you are doing is right or wrong. It will also guide you through each trade. We all make mistakes occasionally, but recognizing them gives you a chance to study, learn from and work past them. Remember, the only way to get consistent results is by strictly following your trading system.

Success in Forex = Learning + Practicing + Update Knowledge

How To Be Successful Forex Trader-Looking For Easy Money

Unfortunately, most people are attracted to the Forex market for this reason.

All because of the publicity of:

• Some brokers showing or rather trying to show how easy is to trade and make money almost instantly in the Forex market
• Signals providers offering the best signals that will make you rich instantly and reach the financial freedom every trader is looking for by showing you the secrets of the big dogs.

Is it easy to trade?

Yes, it is true, everyone can do it, putting on a trade is only one click away.

Is it easy to make money?

Yes, I will have to agree with this one again, it is easy to make money. No knowledge of even what a constitutes a currency is required to make a winning trade. What they don't tell you though, is that it is even easier to lose a trade (because of the spread).

What is important here is that you cannot earn a living trading that way. In order to make a living trading the Forex market, you need to be consistent, and believe me, this is no easy task. To be a consistent profitable trader means that over several periods of time a trader makes money. Just 5% of all traders achieve this goal. Therefore, it is possible, but in no way easy.

Is it possible that a signal provider could make a trader rich? I don't think so. There are no certainties in this business; in fact, no one (signal providers) will ever care if you lose money. The only person responsible for losing money following someone else’s advice, will be you. Because you are the one who is actually executing the trades.

There are no short cuts; no one will ever make you rich but yourself. How do we achieve this? Working hard, this is the only way you can succeed as a trader.

Besides, what would you get by following someone else's advice? Nothing, following blindly someone else's advice would not give you the knowledge, the experience and nothing else good at all. Because you do not know the reasons behind any trade, you don't even know if the signals come from a system. You might make some money if the signals are good. But let me ask you another question… Do you intend to rely on one signal provider for the rest of your life? I don't think so.

So at the end, you will lose precious knowledge and experience that you could have gained by trading on your own, and most importantly, you will have lost time.

And what about the big dogs’ secrets?

Again, there are no secrets, the only truthful secret is that there are no secrets, but please keep this between you and us J 

FACT - There is no easy way to become a consistent profitable trader. There are no shortcuts, and the only way to get there is through hard work, self-discipline, patience, understanding the market, experience, taking only calculated risks, and more characteristics that we will learn throughout the course.

Common Practices Used by Fundamentalists

Figure Deviation

A common practice used by short term fundamental traders (or more accurately news and event traders) is trading based on the deviation of an economic indicator actual figure vs. the expected figure.

When economic figures are to be announced, usually 3 numbers are shown:

Previous, expected (also called consensus or forecast) and actual figures.

Previous Figure:

                        The actual figure of the previous period (usually the previous month).

Expected Figure: 

                       What experts think the figure should come out as. Usually and average is made between say forecasts of 20 experts on the field.

Actual Figure: 

                     The actual number of the figure.

What news and event traders focus on is on the last two figures: the expected and the actual figure. The more the deviation the actual figure has from the expected value the more the impact it should have in the exchange rate.

Carry Trades

Most fundamentalists trade the currency market for the long term. This is because most of the time changes in supply and demand take longer to be reflected in the charts.

Carry Trades or Rolling over is a common practice that consists of taking advantage of the interest rate differentials between two currency pairs. Most of these trades have a long-term span. Aside from taking advantage in the currency pair movements, they also benefit from buying a high yield currency and simultaneously selling a low yield currency or selling a low yield currency and simultaneously buying a high yield currency. This way, traders are paid an interest or roll over.

Equity Market Correlation

When a given equity market offers greater returns than other equity markets, it is common that fundamentalists buy the currency of the equity market that offers greater returns.

This is because investors around the world will see benefits by investing in that country. As the sentiment gets better, that currency will increase its demand, pushing its price up.

The Psychology of Forex Trading(2)

• What emotions should you watch for in yourself while trading?
To be a little bit more specific about “emotional” trading, let’s go over some of the most common emotional trading mistakes that traders make:

1-Greed – 
                       There’s an old saying that you may have heard regarding trading the markets, it goes something like this: “Bulls make money, bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered”. It basically means that if you are a greedy “pig” in the markets, you are almost certainly going to lose your money. Traders are greedy when they don’t take profits because they think a trade is going to go forever in their favor. Another thing that greedy traders do is add to a position simply because the market has moved in their favor, you can add to your trades if you do so for logical price action-based reasons, but doing so only because the market has moved in your favor a little bit, is usually an action born out of greed. Obviously, risking too much on a trade from the very start is a greedy thing to do too. The point here is that you need to be very careful of greed, because it can sneak up on you and quickly destroy your trading account.
2-Fear – 
                  Traders become fearful of entering the market usually when they are new to trading and have not yet mastered an effective trading strategy like price action trading (in which case they should not be trading real money yet anyways). Fear can also arise in a trader after they hit a series of losing trades or after suffering a loss larger than what they are emotionally capable of absorbing. To conquer fear of the market, you primarily have to make sure you are never risking more money than you are totally OK with losing on a trade. If you are totally OK with losing the amount of money you have at risk, there is nothing to fear. Fear can be a very limiting emotion to a trader because it can make them miss out on good trading opportunities.

3-Revenge – 
                           Traders experience a feeling of wanting “revenge” on the market when they suffer a losing trade that they were “sure” would work out. The key thing here is that there is no “sure” thing in trading…never. Also, if you have risked too much money on a trade (starting to see a theme here?), and you end up losing that money, there’s a good chance you are going to want to try and jump back in the market to make that money back….which usually just leads to another loss (and sometimes an even larger one) since you are just trading emotionally again.

4-Euphoria – 
                                While feeling euphoric is usually a good thing, it can actually do a lot of damage to a trader’s account after he or she hits a big winner or a large string of winners. Traders can become overly-confident after winning a few trades in the market, for this reason most traders experience their biggest losing period’s right after they hit a bunch of winners in the market. It is extremely tempting to jump right back in the market after a “perfect” trade setup or after you hit 5 winning trades in a row…there’s a fine line between keeping your feet grounded in reality and thinking that everything you do in the markets will turn to gold.
Many traders enter into a tailspin of emotional trading and losing money after they hit a string of winners. The reason this happens is because they feel confident and euphoric and forget about the real danger of the market and that ANY TRADE CAN LOSE. The key to remember here is that trading is a long-term game of probabilities, if you have a high-probability trading edge, you will eventually make money over the long-term assuming you follow your trading edge with discipline. But, even if your edge is 70% successful over time, you could still hit 30 losing trades in a row out of 100….so keep this fact in mind and always remember you never know WHICH trade will be a loser and WHICH will be a winner.

The Psychology of Forex Trading(1)

The Psychology of Forex Trading

 

I have been a trader long enough to know a thing or two about how most people think while trading the market. You see, most people experience similar thinking patterns and emotions as they trade the markets, and we can learn many important things from the differences in the way losing traders think and the way winning traders think.
I would be lying to you if I said that success in the Forex markets depends entirely on the system or strategy you use, because it doesn’t, it actually depends mostly on your mindset and on how you think about and react to the markets. However, most Forex websites trying to sell some indicator or robot-based trading system won’t tell you this, because they want you to believe that you can make money in the markets simply by buying their trading product. I prefer to tell people the truth, and the truth is that having an effective and non-confusing trading strategy is very important, but it’s only one piece of the pie. The bigger portion of the pie is managing your trades correctly and managing your emotions correctly, if you do not do these two things you will never make money in the markets over the long-term.
• Why most traders lose money
You have probably heard that most people who attempt Forex trading end up losing money. There’s a good reason for this, and the reason is primarily that most people think about trading in the wrong light. Most people come into the markets with unrealistic expectations, such as thinking they are going to quit their jobs after a month of trading or thinking they are going to turn $1,000 into $100,000 in a few months. These unrealistic expectations work to foster an account-destroying trading mindset in most traders because they feel too much pressure or “need” to make money in the markets. When you begin trading with this “need” or pressure to make money, you enviably end up trading emotionally, which is the fastest way to lose your money.

Forex trading mistakes and traps(4- No trading plan and no routine or discipline)

Not having a Forex trading plan is perhaps the most prevalent trading mistake the Forex traders make. Many traders seem to think that they will create a trading plan “later on” or after they start making money or that they simply don’t need one or can just keep it “in their heads”. All of these rationalizations are simply keeping traders from achieving the success they so badly desire. If you don’t have a Forex trading plan that details all of your actions in the market as well as your overall trading approach and strategy, you will be far more likely to operate emotionally and from a gambling mindset. Beginner traders especially need a Forex trading plan to solidify their trading strategy and to create a guide that they use to trade the market from, and you can’t keep it in your head…you need to physically write out your trading plan and read it every day you trade

Caution: Forex trading is not a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme

A professional Forex trader is someone who uses price movement in the Foreign exchange currency market to make profit. The aim of any Forex trader is to win as many trades as possible and also to maximize those winning trades. A professional Forex chart technician uses price charts to analyze and trade the market. By trading with an EDGE in the market, professional traders can put the odds in their favor to successfully trade price movement from point A to point B.

Caution: Forex trading is not a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme and it is more difficult to make money in Forex than what most popular Forex system-selling websites would have you believe. To trade profitably we must not only have winning trades, but we must also cut our losing trades short so that our winners out-pace our losers. You see, losing is an enviable part of trading the Forex markets, and you must learn to lose properly by taking small losses relative to your winners. This means you must A L W A Y S trade with a stop loss on E V E R Y trade you take and make sure the dollar amount you have at risk is an amount you are 100% comfortable with losing.
Professional Forex price-chart traders have a winning edge which is developed via Technical Analysis (more on this in Part 4). There are also Fundamental Analysis traders and traders who use a combination of both analysis techniques; we will discuss all of these later.
A professional Forex trader understands that reading a price chart is both art and skill, and as such, they do not try to mechanize or automate the process of trading as each moment in the market is unique, so it takes a flexible and dynamic trading strategy to trade the markets with a high-probability edge.

How to calculate profit and loss

Lot size / Contract size
In Forex, positions are quoted in terms of ‘lots’. The common nomenclature is ‘standard lot’, ‘mini log’, ‘micro lot’, and ‘nano lot’; we can see examples of each of these in the chart below and the number of units they each represent:
 

• How to calculate pip value
You probably already know that currencies are measured in pips, and one pip is the smallest increment of price movement that a currency can move. To make money from these small increments of price movement, you need to trade larger amounts of a particular currency in order to see any significant gain (or loss). This is where leverage comes into play; if you don’t understand leverage totally please go read Part 1 of the course where we discuss it.
So we need to know now how lot size affects the value of one pip. Let’s work through a couple examples:
We will assume we are using standard lots, which control 100,000 units per lot. Let’s see how this affects pip value.
1) EUR/JPY at an exchange rate of 100.50 (.01 / 100.50) x 100,000 = $9.95 per pip
2) USD/CHF at an exchange rate of 0.9190 (.0001 / .9190) x 100,000 = $10.88 per pip
In currency pairs where the U.S. dollar is the quote currency, one standard lot will always equal $10 per pip, one mini-lot will equal $1 per pip, one micro-lost will equal .10 cents per pip, and a nano-lot is one penny per pip.

• How to calculate profit and loss
Now, let’s move on to calculating profit and loss:
Let’s use a pair without the U.S. dollar as the quote currency since these are the trickier ones:
1) The rate for the USD/CHF is currently quoted at 0.9191 / 0.9195. Let’s say we are looking to sell the USD/CHF, this means we will be working with the ‘bid’ price of 0.9191, or the rate at which the market is prepared to buy from you.
2) You then sell 1 standard lot (100,000 units) at 0.9191
3) A couple of days later the price moves to 0.9091 / 0.9095 and you decide to take your profit of 96 pips, but what dollar amount is that??
4) The new quote price for the USD/CHF is 0.9091 / 0.9095. Since you are now closing the trade you are working with the ‘ask’ price since you are going to buy the currency pair to offset the sell order you previously initiated. So, since the ‘ask’ price is now 0.9095, this is the price the market is willing to sell the currency pair to you, or the price that you can buy it back at (since you initially sold it).
5) The difference between the price you sold at (0.9191) and the price you want to buy back at (0.9095) is 0.0096, or 96 pips.
6) Using the formula from above, we now have (.0001 / 0.9095) x 100,000 = $10.99 per pip x 96 pips = $1055.04
For currency pairs where the U.S. dollar is the quote currency, calculating profit or loss is pretty simple really. You simply take the number of pips you gained or lost and multiple that by the dollar per pip you are trading, here’s an example:
Let’s say you trade the EURUSD and you buy it at 1.3200 but the price moves down and hits your stop at 1.3100….you just lost 100 pips.
If you are trading 1 standard lot you would have lost $1,000 because 1 standard lot of pairs with the U.S. dollars as the quote currency = $10 per pip, and $10 per pip x 100 pips = $1,000
If you had traded 1 mini-lot you would have lost $100 since 1 mini-lot of USD quote pairs is equal to $1 per pip and $1 x 100 pips = $100
Always remember: when you enter or exit a trade you have to deal with the spread of the bid/ask price. Thus, when you buy a currency you will use the ask price and when you sell a currency you use the bid price.

Going long, Going short

The basic idea of trading the markets is to buy low and sell high or sell high and buy low. I know that probably sounds a little weird to you because you are probably thinking “how can I sell something that I don’t own?” Well, in the Forex market when you sell a currency pair you are actually buying the quote currency (the second currency in the pair) and selling the base currency (the first currency in the pair).
In the case of a non-Forex example though, selling short seems a little confusing, like if you were to sell a stock or commodity. The basic idea here is that your broker lends you the stock or commodity to sell and then you must buy it back later to close the transaction. Essentially, since there is no physical delivery it is possible to sell a security with your broker since you will ‘give’ it back to them at a later date, hopefully at a lower price.
• Long vs. Short
Another great thing about the Forex market is that you have more of a potential to profit in both rising and falling markets due to the fact that there is no market bias like the bullish bias of stocks. Anyone who has traded for a while knows that the fastest money is made in falling markets, so if you learn to trade both bull and bear markets you will have plenty of opportunities to profit.
LONG – When we go long it means we are buying the market and so we want the market to rise so that we can then sell back our position at a higher price than we bought for. This means we are buying the first currency in the pair and selling the second. So, if we buy the EURUSD and the euro strengthens relative to the U.S. dollar, we will be in a profitable trade.
SHORT – When we go short it means we are selling the market and so we want the market to fall so that we can then buy back our position at a lower price than we sold it for. This means we are selling the first currency in the pair and buying the second. So, if we sell the GBPUSD and the British pound weakens relative to the U.S. dollar, we will be in a profitable trade.
(potential arrow image)

Understanding Forex currency pair quotes

You will need to understand how to properly read a currency pair quote before you start trading them. So, let’s get started with this:
The exchange rate of two currencies is quoted in a pair, such as the EURUSD or the USDJPY. The reason for this is because in any foreign exchange transaction you are simultaneously buying one currency and selling another. If you were to buy the EURUSD and the euro strengthened against the dollar, you would then be in a profitable trade. Here’s an example of a Forex quote for the euro vs. the U.S. dollar:

 

The first currency in the pair that is located to the left of the slash mark is called the base currency, and the second currency of the pair that’s located to the right of the slash market is called the counter or quote currency.

You will need to understand how to properly read a currency pair quote before you start trading them. So, let’s get started with this:
The exchange rate of two currencies is quoted in a pair, such as the EURUSD or the USDJPY. The reason for this is because in any foreign exchange transaction you are simultaneously buying one currency and selling another. If you were to buy the EURUSD and the euro strengthened against the dollar, you would then be in a profitable trade. Here’s an example of a Forex quote for the euro vs. the U.S. dollar:
If you buy the EUR/USD (or any other currency pair), the exchange rate tells you how much you need to pay in terms of the quote currency to buy one unit of the base currency. In other words, in the example above, you have to pay 1.32105 U.S. dollars to buy 1 euro.
If you sell the EUR/USD (or any other currency pair), the exchange rate tells you how much of the quote currency you receive for selling one unit of the base currency. In other words, in the example above, you will receive 1.32105 U.S. dollars if you sell 1 euro.
An easy way to think about it is like this: the BASE currency is the BASIS for the trade. So, if you buy the EURUSD you are buying euro’s (base currency) and selling dollars (quote currency), if you sell the EURUSD you are selling euro’s (base currency) and buying dollars (quote currency). So, whether you buy or sell a currency pair, it is always based upon the first currency in the pair; the base currency.
The basic point of Forex trading is to buy a currency pair if you think its base currency will appreciate (increase in value) relative to the quote currency. If you think the base currency will depreciate (lose value) relative to the quote currency you would sell the pair.
• Bid and Ask price

 

Bid Price – The bid is the price at which the market (or your broker) will buy a specific currency pair from you. Thus, at the bid price, a trader can sell the base currency to their broker.

Ask Price – The ask price is the price at which the market (or your broker) will sell a specific currency pair to you. Thus, at the ask price you can buy the base currency from your broker.

Bid/Ask Spread – The spread of a currency pair varies between brokers and it is the difference between the bid and ask the price.

Forex terminology

The Forex market comes with its very own set of terms and jargon. So, before you go any deeper into learning how to trade the Fx market, it’s important you understand some of the basic Forex terminology that you will encounter on your trading journey…

• Basic Forex terms:

Cross rate - 
                      The currency exchange rate between two currencies, both of which are not the official currencies of the country in which the exchange rate quote is given in. This phrase is also sometimes used to refer to currency quotes which do not involve the U.S. dollar, regardless of which country the quote is provided in.
For example, if an exchange rate between the British pound and the Japanese yen was quoted in an American newspaper, this would be considered a cross rate in this context, because neither the pound or the yen is the standard currency of the U.S. However, if the exchange rate between the pound and the U.S. dollar were quoted in that same newspaper, it would not be considered a cross rate because the quote involves the U.S. official currency. 

Exchange Rate - 
                                The value of one currency expressed in terms of another. For example, if EUR/USD is 1.3200, 1 Euro is worth US$1.3200.

Pip – 
        The smallest increment of price movement a currency can make. Also called point or points. For example, 1 pip for the EUR/USD = 0.0001 and 1 pip for the USD/JPY = 0.01.

Leverage - 
                       Leverage is the ability to gear your account into a position greater than your total account margin. For instance, if a trader has $1,000 of margin in his account and he opens a $100,000 position, he leverages his account by 100 times, or 100:1. If he opens a $200,000 position with $1,000 of margin in his account, his leverage is 200 times, or 200:1. Increasing your leverage magnifies both gains and losses.
To calculate the leverage used, divide the total value of your open positions by the total margin balance in your account. For example, if you have $10,000 of margin in your account and you open one standard lot of USD/JPY (100,000 units of the base currency) for $100,000, your leverage ratio is 10:1 ($100,000 / $10,000). If you open one standard lot of EUR/USD for $150,000 (100,000 x EURUSD 1.5000) your leverage ratio is 15:1 ($150,000 / $10,000).

Margin - 
                  The deposit required to open or maintain a position. Margin can be either “free” or “used”. Used margin is that amount which is being used to maintain an open position, whereas free margin is the amount available to open new positions. With a $1,000 margin balance in your account and a 1% margin requirement to open a position, you can buy or sell a position worth up to a notional $100,000. This allows a trader to leverage his account by up to 100 times or a leverage ratio of 100:1.
If a trader’s account falls below the minimum amount required to maintain an open position, he will receive a “margin call” requiring him to either add more money into his or her account or to close the open position. Most brokers will automatically close a trade when the margin balance falls below the amount required to keep it open. The amount required to maintain an open position is dependent on the broker and could be 50% of the original margin required to open the trade.

Spread - 
                  The difference between the sell quote and the buy quote or the bid and offer price. For example, if EUR/USD quotes read 1.3200/03, the spread is the difference between 1.3200 and 1.3203, or 3 pips. In order to break even on a trade, a position must move in the direction of the trade by an amount equal to the spread.

Advantages of Trading the Forex Market:

• Forex is the largest market in the world, with daily volumes exceeding $3 trillion per day. This means dense liquidity which makes it easy to get in and out of positions.
• Trade whenever you want: There is no opening bell in the Forex market. You can enter or exit a trade whenever you want from Sunday around 5pm EST to Friday around 4pm EST.
• Ease of access: You can fund your trading account with as little as $250 at many retail brokers and begin trading the same day in some cases. Straight through order execution allows you to trade at the click of a mouse.
• Fewer currency pairs to focus on, instead of getting lost trying to analyze thousands of stocks
• Freedom to trade anywhere in the world with the only requirements being a laptop and internet connection.
• Commission-free trading with many retail market-makers and overall lower transaction costs than stocks and commodities.
• Volatility allows traders to profit in any market condition and provides for high-probability weekly trading opportunities. Also, there is no structural market bias like the long bias of the stock market, so traders have equal opportunity to profit in rising or falling markets.
While the forex market is clearly a great market to trade, I would note to all beginners that trading carries both the potential for reward and risk. Many people come into the markets thinking only about the reward and ignoring the risks involved, this is the fastest way to lose all of your trading account money. If you want to get started trading the Fx market on the right track, it’s critical that you are aware of and accept the fact that you could lose on any given trade you take.

Advantages of being a Forex trader

Being a Forex trader offers the most amazing potential lifestyle of any profession in the world. It’s not easy to get there, but if you are determined and disciplined, you can make it happen. Here’s a quick list of skills you will need to reach your goals in the Forex market:

Ability - to take a loss without becoming emotional

Confidence - to believe in yourself and your trading strategy, and to have no fear

Dedication – to becoming the best Forex trader you can be

Discipline - to remain calm and unemotional in a realm of constant temptation (the market)

Flexibility - to trade changing market conditions successfully

Focus – to stay concentrated on your trading plan and to not stray off course

Logic – to look at the market from an objective and straight forward perspective

Organization – to forge and reinforce positive trading habits

Patience – to wait for only the highest-probability trading strategies according to your plan

Realism – to not think you are going to get rich quick and understand the reality of the market and trading

Savvy – to take advantage of your trading edge when it arises and be aware of what is happening in the market at all times

Self-control – to not over-trade and over-leverage your trading account

As traders, we can take advantage of the high leverage and volatility of the Forex market by learning and mastering and effective Forex trading strategy, building an effective trading plan around that strategy, and following it with ice-cold discipline. Money management is key here; leverage is a double-edged sword and can make you a lot of money fast or lose you a lot of money fast. The key to money management in Forex trading is to always know the exact dollar amount you have at risk before entering a trade and be TOTALLY OK with losing that amount of money, because any one trade could be a loser. More on money management later in the course.

Currency Names and Symbols

As you may have noticed, the symbols (abbreviations) for all currencies have three letters. The first two letters denote the name of the country and third letter stands for the name of that country’s currency.

As an example, let’s look at the USD. The US stands for United States and the D stands Dollar.

The currencies on which the majority of traders focus are called the “majors”. The most widely traded currencies are represented on the grid below:

Not to be confused with major currencies are the major currency pairs. The Major Pairs are any currency pair with USD in them. For example, the EURUSD would be considered a Major Pair.

Currency pairs without the USD in them are referred to as Cross Pairs. The EURJPY would be an example of a Cross Pair.

To carry this one step further, any EUR pair without the USD in it would be referred to as a Euro Cross. So the EURJPY would be a member of the EURO Cross group. Other member of that group would be EURGBP, EURCHF, EURNZD, EURCAD and EURAUD.

Other currency groups of this type would be comprised of the JPY crosses, GBP crosses, AUD crosses, NZD crosses and the CHF crosses.