Forex Manual Blog

T J Madigan asked:


Just how important is an automated system to the Forex trading system?

Before we answer that question, let us first determine how large Forex trading market is. From there, we will know the importance of automated systems for the Forex market.

It is true that the Forex market is the largest market around the world not just in terms of average daily turnover and average revenue per trader. It is also the largest market in terms of participants.

You name it, weve got it. Take a look at the following:

BANKS- they are not just for saving money and lending capital to entrepreneurs, but they are one of the major players in Forex market. Banks cater both to large quantity of speculative trading and daily commercial turnover. Well-established banks can trade billions of dollars worth of foreign currencies everyday. Some of the trades are undertaken on behalf of their clients, but most are through proprietary desks.

COMMERCIAL COMPANIES- these commercial companies trade small quantities of foreign currencies compared to larger banks and their trades produce small and short-term impact on the market rates. However, the trade flows from transactions made by commercial companies are essential factors with regards to the long-term direction of the exchange rate of a certain currency.

CENTRAL BANKS- central banks play an important function in the Forex market. They have the control over the supply of different currency, inflation, and interest rate. In addition, they have also official target rates for the currencies that they are handling. They are responsible for stabilizing the Forex market through the use of foreign exchange reserves. Their intervention in the market is enough to stabilize a certain currency.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS- these firms commonly manage huge accounts on behalf of their clients such as endowments and pension funds. They are using the Forex market to facilitate transactions, specifically in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

RETAIL FX BROKERS- they handle a fraction of the total volume of Forex market. A single retail Forex broker estimates retail volume of between 25 to 50 billion dollars each day, which is estimated to be at 2% of the total market volume.

SPECULATORS- these are individuals who purchase and sell foreign currencies and profit through fluctuations on its price as opposed to popular methods such as interest and dividends. They perform the important role of transferring the risk to individuals who do not wish to bear it.

In Forex market alone, there are already six major players partaking on the $1.8 trillion worth of daily turnover. With a large number of Forex players, there is really a need in switching from manual to automated Forex trading system.

Among the aforementioned major Forex players, the automated trading system is of great advantage to the speculators. Since they focus on the price fluctuations of various foreign currencies in order to profit, the real time data analysis will help them determine trades that will give advantage to them.

There are several automated Forex trading systems available in the market. There are also automated Forex systems that are offered for free or as part of their trading account acquired from their Forex brokers or agents. Such complimentary system packages are typically elementary trading system. Thus, if you are looking for more features, you can avail of it through additional payments.

There are two types of automated Forex trading system. These are discussed in the following:

Desktop-based system- all Forex-related data are stored on your desktops hard drive. This system is unpopular to Forex traders because all data are susceptible to computer virus contamination and other security problems. Worse, when the computer malfunctions, all essential information might be lost and cannot be retrieved (unless you have some back-up files of your own). However, it is little expensive compared to the other types of automated trading system.

Web-based system- the security of your Forex account and other data are provided by your web-based provider. These are hosted on secured servers. It is also convenient in the sense that there will be no software required and it is universally compatible with your Internet browser.

You may also try different automated trading system demos first so that you will be able to determine the automated Forex trading system that suits your personal preference and needs.

Even if you are just a small-time Forex player, it will be to your advantage if you will use an automated Forex trading system for your future trades.



DAGEN

Nathan Young asked:


During the last decade, Forex trading has become one of the most attractive business opportunities to ever hit people’s interest around the world. Every day people from many walks in life is actively considering entering the profitable world of the currency markets due to its accessibility and trading characteristics.

One of the first things you will do once you decide you want to enter and learn about the forex markets will be to choose your forex broker and then download the free trading platform software from your broker website.

When you first open your trading station software, you will find that there are a number of ways to enter the market or, said in another way, there are a number of ways to place an initial order to buy or sell any currency pair.

One of these types of orders is what is called a “Market order”; this is an order to buy or sell a currency pair at the market price considering the instant that the order is received and processed (which is usually within seconds of hitting the “OK” button on your trading platform). When a market order is placed, you are simply saying “I’ll buy or sell the currency pair at whatever price it is at when my order gets processed.”

There is a different way to enter the market that is called an “Entry order”; this is an order to buy or sell a currency pair when it reaches a certain price target; which you should determine by using your knowledge of technical and fundamental indicators. In theory this can be any price. You could set an entry order for the low price of a time period, or the high price of the same time period’; it all depends on your intentions, to sell or to buy. As an example, one usual recommendation is that you should always set an entry order to be the same price as the ‘open price” of the time period. When you place an “entry order” to buy, for example, you are simply saying “I want to buy this currency pair at a given future price and if it never reaches that price, I won’t purchase the pair.”

Stop and Limit orders are two different ways to exit a trade, automatically (i.e., without closing out your position via the click of your mouse or manually), after the trade is entered. And they are widely used as safety locks so you won’t end losing everything in a bad trade. In short, you must always use stops and limits when trading the forex markets.

A “stop order” is used to stop losses. A “limit order” (recommended if you can’t monitor your open trade) is used to redeem profits. Where these orders are placed, in relation to your open trade, depends on the direction of the entry order, this is; if you buy or sell.

Remember; a “stop order” is always placed below the current market value of that currency pair when you are in a long (buy) trade. And a “limit order” is always placed above the current market value of that currency pair when you are in a long (buy) trade.



MCWATERS

Andres Munoz asked:


The best forex trading software for you will always depend upon your needs and expectations. However, many types of software need to have basic features to allow you to trade with the smallest risk, least human allowance for error, maximum security and highest revenues.

Many available autopilots are on the net. You can try browsing to give yourself a better idea of every product. You can also ask people who have tried the system in order to find for yourself the best trading software. They will tell you of the advantages and disadvantages of a particular program and you can decide for yourself which pros you are most likely to buy and which cons to avoid.

If you are to pick the best forex trading software, there are basic things you should look for in it.

First, it should teach and guide you from the installation process up to the use of the software. There should be available help desks in case you need to inquire about something regarding the product. There should also be 24 hour maintenance and technical services available online or through the phone in order to assist you in case you need one. Most software have manuals, which provide easy to follow steps in installation and use but there should always be a back up operator to assist you in case you find yourself in chaos. After buying the product, you should not be left all on your own wondering how to make the software work.

Second, the best forex trading software to work for you must ensure the security of your financial and personal information. Hackers are all over the net and there should be a built-in firewall to keep these nasty peekers away. This is very important since you will be trading using either credit card or other financial accounts.

Third, many products offer weeks or even months of free trial in order to give you the chance to test their system, Although you should not fully rely on the results of these tests, you should not skip them altogether as they will familiarize you with how you should use forex software and project results. The tests will also show how accurate the system is in finding the best profit margin for you without risking real money as you can use it to back test historical data.

The best forex trading software should not promise you are going to be rich overnight. If it does, you can ignore it totally and move on in finding another one that works best for you. Trade experts will tell you this is totally a lie.

Some of the software come complete with other tools useful in the business like tips on forex trading which you can use even if you opt to choose another type of software. Take advantage of this helpful information as you can use them in enriching yourself in this trade you have chosen. Remember that the more you know the better equipped you become in gaining your riches.



WEINFELD

T J Madigan asked:


Why Forex trading?

This is probably one of the questions that you need a reasonable answer. There are hundreds of investments out there that you can prefer, but why go trading foreign currencies instead?

Forex investment is unique in various aspects.

Its trading volume is relatively huge compared to other market.

It has extreme liquidity or the capability of either buying or selling the currency without causing significant movement in the market price.

It has the largest number and variety of traders.

It is one of the markets that have long trading hours (24 hours each day, except during weekends.

Trading locations are almost everywhere, not just in the United States or major cities of Europe.

There are different factors that affect foreign exchange rate.

Another whooping fact that will make you excited to go on Forex trading: it has an average turnover in traditional foreign exchange market of around $1.88 trillion daily, according to the Triennial Central Bank Survey of the BIS (Bank for International Settlements). Here are the daily averages of turnover on the Forex market for the last 17 years:

$500 billion (April 1989)

$750 billion (April 1992)

$1.18 trillion (April 1995)

$1.48 trillion (April 1998)

$1.16 trillion (April 2001)

$1.88 trillion (April 2004)

From the figures alone, you will notice that the average trend of Forex turnover is increasing. It is estimated to reach as high as 2 to 3 trillion dollars within the next 8 to 10 years, if the number of traders around the world will continue to increase. As a matter of fact, everyone have the chance of getting a substantial slice of the Forex market wealth pie, especially that the Forex trading marketing is now on its automation process.

The concept of automation becomes the new trend to the foreign exchange trading market. The Interbank spot Forex market has also considered switching to the automated method as well.

There are several benefits that a Forex trader can derive from automated Forex trading. Here are some of such benefits and figure out why Forex trading as well as other investments (futures and commodities) prefer the automated process.

Through automated process, transactions can now be done in real time. Although manual systems have existed for quite some time now, it is difficult to achieve such benefit that the automated Forex system can offer to its traders. All of the trades can happen within a few milliseconds and can be a big plus for automated transactions against the manual system. In fact, there are problems that are addressed using automated Forex trading especially if the trader is losing a few times in a row that prevents him from making new trades. Such problem could be addressed using the automatic trading system.

With automated Forex trading, you will have a greater diversification. It means that you can trade in various markets in different time zones at a time. You can execute trades with traders from Singapore or London even it is already 12 midnight in the United States. This benefit allows you a multiple exchange model option. You can use varying trading models to evaluate short-term data. This means that you will be able to predict the trend for a shorter period of time, let us say from fifteen minutes to half an hour.

As previously mentioned, the Forex market is unique because of its extreme liquidity. This liquidity is increased when the market goes automated.

Risk management problems are solved through automated Forex trading. International checks, which are commonly used in making purchases on Forex market, are synchronized through automated technology. Since the transaction in an automated process is now on real time, there is a slim chance that the payments will be delayed, reducing the risk of non-payment by either parties. Although there are problems noted with the use of the automated system, it can be fixed through consistently-updated technologies.

With automated Forex trading market, the prediction of $2-3 trillion average daily turnover within the nest 8 to 10 years can be changed within the next 4 to 5 years. Given the quick yet efficient trades on varying time zones, automated Forex trading will now be among the existing lucrative business around the world.



CRANFIELD

Gerald Mason asked:


The concept of automated Forex trading system is mind-catching.

Before the automation of the Forex market, exchange-traded futures market was the first to switch on automation. Then, the traders on the Interbank spot FX market decided to catch up with the latest trend and moved too to the new system.

Automated Forex trading system enables traders to execute their trade on spot Forex market automatically and anytime of the day, based on existing technical indicators and custom trading rules. There are various features included in the automated trading system, such as:

• Automatic trailing stops especially if the trader is losing in a particular trade position;

• Account equity management;

• Stop and/or limit orders;

• Discretionary market orders; and

• Various technical analysis indicators within your discretion for enabling trend-following systems.

Automated Forex trading systems supports most of the following indicators (the technical support will depend on the technology used as well as the available features of the system):

• WMA (weighted moving average);

• EMA (exponential moving average);

• SMA (simple moving average);

• VMA (variable moving average);

• TMA (triangular moving average);

• TSMA (time series moving average);

• WATR (wilder’s average true range);

• VHF (vertical horizontal filter);

• Standard deviation;

• Trailing stops;

• Mass index;

• Fixed limits and stops, and others.

The success of the automation process to the Forex market is attributed to several factors, such as the following:

• Its ability to perform or execute trades in real time. Because of the automation, a trader can close trades within a few milliseconds. It is impossible in manual systems, as previous trades are normally closed after several hours. In addition, there are also instances wherein a trader incurs several losses in a row that prevents him from making any fresh transactions. Thus, with automated Forex trading system, this problem could be avoided.

• Its ability to greater diversification. With automated trading system now in place, a trader can trade in various local as well as international markets within varying time zones. In other words, you can place trade or close deals with different traders from various markets around the world even at the middle of the night.

• Its ability to analyze short-term data. This feature is not available in manual trading system. Thus, traders using automated system have the bigger advantage since they can predict market trends in less than an hour.

If you will consolidate the features as well as the benefits of automated Forex trading system, it will give you a solid conclusion: with the Forex market on automation, you will be able to place more trades on a single day, thus increasing the average volume trades daily.

To further clarify the conclusion. Let us take the following scenario: If you are trading using the manual system, you will notice that it takes time before a trader confirms if he will accept your deal or not. He will look on the market condition first as well as the exchange rate of the currencies that you are trading with. Thus, if it takes time before a transaction will be finalized; there would be fewer trade volumes.

Now, if you are using the automated Forex trading system, the evaluation of exchange rates and market conditions could be done within a few minutes, since Forex data are now updated in real time. Probably after less than an hour, you will be able to take your position whether you will push through the deal or not.

If a Forex transaction per trader is averaging within an hour, a single trader can place as much as 8 trades within the regular trading hours (if he is following the day trading schedule) and additional trades beyond the regular trading hours. There are thousands of traders in just a single market who can place such average number of trade per day. Combining it with the number of Forex markets around the world, the figure is just huge enough.

In addition, the technology is changing continuously, thus there is a tendency that the average number of trades per day will increase, thus a possibility of increased trade volumes on daily basis. With faster trade execution, that is a certain possibility.

Be thankful, the Forex market is now at the helm of automation. Transactions are now faster, and earning money through Forex trading is now easier.



BOLENBAUGH

Tim Rohrer asked:


You’ve probably seen a ton of forex robots online, perhaps you’ve even tried a few. The truth is, a lot of them do work, however you have to find the optimal settings in order for the expert advisor to work properly.

The majority of forex robots come with a complete setup guide, or in some cases video tutorials that walks one through the setup process. The robot then acts on a set of rules or indicators and when conditions are met, a trade is taken. A quality trading system will do everything from start to finish flawlessly. Everything from opening the trade to setting the stop-loss, to taking the profit and even being able to adjust itself during choppy market conditions. People tend to say trading systems or forex robots do not work . This is only the case when they do not know how to properly identify a quality system or begin changing the settings the system was originally designed for. Sure, it’s great to experiment with new settings and different currency pairs, however it’s also wise to use the fx trading robot as the manual suggests without tampering with the settings.

So how then do we identify a quality forex trading system? There are dozens of robots to choose from, in fact hundreds, how can you possibly know which ones are actually going to work? There is a simple formula or set of questions one can ask themselves that will help weed out all of the junk. One of the first things we need to identify or ask ourselves is how many currency pairs does the trading system trade on? Is it one, five, or a dozen? We only want to pay attention to systems that trade on one currency pair, simply because each currency pair tends to move and react differently within the markets. For example, the Euro dollar tends to trend and it’s daily range is a lot smaller compared to the Yen. It’s not possible for a day trading system to be an expert on each currency pair due to the nature of each, therefore we again will only focus our attention on systems that trade on one currency pair.

The next question we have to ask ourselves, is how does the trading system perform during choppy markets? We can spot a quality forex system when it has been backed tested for at least 3 years. If a system can withstand various market conditions through back testing, or should I say how the system would have performed based on historical data, and focuses on one currency pair, then you have yourself a quality trading robot.

Again, there are plenty of fx trading systems out there. When reviewing various trading robots, pay close attention to personal testimonials and look for proof that the robot has proven itself. If we find a system that meets our criteria, then it’s definitely worth looking into.



WHETSTINE

Darrin Reservitz asked:


The popularity of Forex trading has given birth to a variety of trading software. Forex trading system software is an essential tool necessary for survival in the Forex market. It is also a weapon for achieving more optimized earnings through continuous Forex alerts, giving you the complete Forex edge you have been longing for. Over the years, Forex trading system software has become very popular due to the on-going competition in the Forex market. However, before venturing into a Forex trade with the use of this indispensable tool, one needs to take precautionary measures and proper education so as to avoid damages and downfalls.

What should I learn before engaging a Forex trading system software service? You should always keep in mind that just like any other business venture, being properly educated should be the primary prerequisite. Without adequate knowledge, you are more vulnerable to failures and financial losses.

What are the different types of Forex trading system software? Mainly, there are two basic types of this software. One being the web-based software and the other being desktop based. Both have their own unique pros and cons but weighing all these, the web based trading software proves to be of more advantage. Why? Web-based applications are more secure, up to date and user-friendly. Plus, you have the option to engage in 24/7 technical support to avoid bugs and errors while you do your transactions. The only drawback is that web-based software needs an internet connection for you to access it. This means that you need to be within the proximity of an internet connection or at least be wired to it. Nevertheless, a web-based service is more of a Forex edge rather than a weakness.

As some have found, desktop trading software can increase your risk as there are few security safeguards. Whereas for web-based software, being protected by web and Forex experts makes you less vulnerable to making hasty trades and unyielding dives at Forex events. Desktop based applications also have no updates available for the user to weigh and analyze his or her chances of getting more in the Forex market.

Trading has never been easier with Forex trading system software. You need not manually do all the analyses, confirmations and validations of crucial events, keep track of the currency trends - the Forex trading system software will do it all for you to get that Forex edge over other market competitors.



JURY