Smart Plan for your Investment

To be successful at investing, you need to have a well thought out plan that sets where your basic value system, your objectives and a variety of investment kinds and strategies. Every one reading this article will be living, working and investing in different circumstances, with mind boggling possibilities for variation.For example: someone may have a full time job, but invests part time; The other one may run a small business, with investment on the side; Yet another may invest full time, as a business.
However, very few of us get to start full time investing right away – but we don't have the capital. So, what we can do? You need to develop your own long term Investment Plan - one that will allow you make changes in your circumstances and lifestyle. Every plan must be different and flexible. Here are some principles that you can use to develop your own plan: * Don't quit your day job until you have built up sufficient capital to weather the inevitable draw downs that every investor has to go through. Don't live in the stupidly false hope that it won't happen to you - it will! Take this as a given, and plan for it! * Start with a relatively low risk, but steady investment strategy (like selling options). Save the windmills (like buying options) for when you have the time to really focus on your investments. Once you have built up your capital with a relatively safe (and boring) strategy, start branching out into more fun stuff! * Diversify your investments, at several levels. Invest in different kinds of investment vehicles like stocks, bonds, CDs, mutual funds and dividend earners. Use different investment strategies, in ways that match your lifestyle, time allocation and risk tolerance. Consider long term position trading, momentum trading, swing trading, selling options (like credit spreads and naked puts), buying options (buying puts and calls or Deep-in-the-money options). Allocate your portfolio to different TYPES of investments and different STRATEGIES of investment. * Add an extra leg to your income generating efforts. If you have a full time job, then start a small business on the side - one that can run itself once you have set it up. Unless you really need this money, use the income from this business as seed money for your investment portfolio. * Don't get obsessed with investing. Invest for a purpose, not just to get rich. Use the money to GET A LIFE - preferably with your family. The classics are too full of stories and histories of people who end up hugely rich, but divorced, abandoned by their children, rejected by their friends... and so on. Investing can swallow a person up, and unless you keep a large perspective, you can drown. * GET OUT OF DEBT! Why pay interest to someone else, when you could be investing that money. I am talking about all kinds of debt....credit card, mortgage...everything! Add up all the interest that you have paid this year, then work out how rich you would be if you had taken that money (instead of making someone else fat) and invested it in plan that gave you a good return. The result will shock you! * Be generous!!! History shows that generous people are always much better off and much happier than the other kind. Remember: those who fail to plan plan to fail. The cliche is old, but truth remains!

Forex types of accounts | ForexGen

There are many different types of forex accounts available to the retail forex trader.
Demo accounts are offered by forex brokers as a way to introduce traders to their software and execution methods.
live account is an account opened by traders with real money deposited in order to start trading for real profit
Mini accounts, and full accounts are the most common types of funded accounts. Mini accounts are similar to regular trading accounts; however currency is traded in lots of 10,000 rather than 100,000. This allows for lower mandatory initial deposits, and greater customization of risk management.It is important that the currency trader consider what they want to get out of their account, before deciding on the type to open. Demo accounts, and mini accounts, are great for the retail forex trader to learn a profitable system, and get used to the execution methods of the broker. For the currency speculator that doesn't want to trade by themselves, a managed account would be better.

(level 6) Another 5 Ways to Avoid Losing Money Trading Forex

31. Afraid to Take a Loss - Trading is business. Don't think that a poor trade is a reflection on you. It could be you are just ahead of your time or a commercial order hits the market and temporarily creates a small unexpected move. Again, place your stop beforehand and NEVER increase your pre-determined risk. If it's going bad, it will probably get worse; I think that's Einstein in motion stays in motion
32.Jumping the Gun : Don't be penny wise and dollar foolish; wait for your trade signal to be clear. Put on your trade and give it a decent size stop loss so that you don't get knocked out by random noise. Do trades and don't buy lottery tickets (extremely tight stops).
.33 Over-Relying on Risk Reward : There is zero advantage in risk reward; if you put a 20 point stop and a 60 point profit your chances are probably 3-1 that you will lose; actually with the spread its more like 4 to 1 (from entry point if it goes down 17 points you lose or up 63 you win; 17/63 is close to 4-1).
34. Trading for Wrong Reasons : Because the EUR/USD is going up is not in itself a reason to buy. Buying EUR/USD because its not moving is even worse; you're paying the toll (spread) without even a hint that you will get a directional move. If you are bored, don't trade - the reason you are bored is there is no trade to do in the first place.
35. Rumors : Rumors are rumors almost 100% of the time; think about where in the motion you heard the rumor. If EUR/USD is up 50 points in last 15 minutes and the rumor is dollar negative, well then you missed it. Whenever you trade, determine where in the motion you are entering.

(level 6) Another 5 Ways to Avoid Losing Money Trading Forex

. 26 Mixing Apples and Oranges : Have you ever done this: you see the EUR/USD trading higher, so you buy GBP/USD because it hasn't moved yet. That's a mistake. Most of the time the reason the GBP/USD hasn't moved yet is because its already overbought or some 4:30am UK news was bearish. Don't mix apples and oranges; if EUR/USD looks good, buy EUR/USD.
27. Rationalizing Killer. Absolute Killer: Put your trade on and let it run. If it hits your reasonable pre-determined stop, you're out. Moving your stop is like getting up after being crushed with a knockout blow; it's pointless, things will only get worse. Don't ignore the obvious - you are wrong, so get out. Come back the next day and try again. A small loss will not hurt you, but a catastrophic loss will.
28. Too Much Detail : If you are trading more than 2 indicators, then you need to clean house. Having many indicators stifles trading and finds reasons not to trade. A setup and a trigger is all you need.
29. Avoiding the Hard Trades : Bank FX traders have an axiom: the harder the trade is to do, the better the trade. This I learned from experience - when I needed to buy EUR/USD and it was hard to get them, that's when it is necessary to pay up and get the business done. When it's easy to get them, then sit back and wait for better levels. So if you're trying to get into a trade or more importantly get out of a trade, don't putz around for a few points; get your business done.
30. Giving Up Too Easy : Your first trade of the day may not be your best but certainly it's no reason to quit. I have a preset daily trading limit and I use it; you can't make money by making excuses. Getting trades wrong is natural and should be expected.

(level 5) Another 5 Ways to Avoid Losing Money Trading Forex

21. Interpreting forex news incorrectly Fact: is the press only has a very superficial understanding of the news they are reporting and tend to focus on one element and miss the point. Learn to read the source documents and understand it for real.
22. Lucky or Good : Your account balance changes don't tell you the whole story about your trading; fact is, if you are taking a lot of risk and making money you will eventually crash and burn. Look at the individual trade details; focus on your big losses and losing streaks. Ask yourself this - if I had a couple of consecutive losing streaks or a couple of consecutive big losses, how would my account balance look. Generally, traders making money without big daily losses have the best chance of sustaining positive performance. The others are accidents waiting to happen.
23. Too Many Charity Trades : When you make money on a well thought-out trade, don't give back half on a whim; invest your profits from good trades on the next good trade.
24. Courage Under Fire : When a policeman breaks down the door to a drug dealers apartment, he is scared but he does it anyway. When a fireman climbs onto the roof of a burning building, he is scared but does it anyway - and gets the job done. Its the same with trading – it's OK to be scared, but you have to pull the trigger; no trigger = no trades = no profits = no trader.
25. Quality Trading Time : I suggest 3 hours a day of quality, focused trading time; that's about all your brain allows. When you are trading, you must be 100% focused - half way is plain bullshit and does not work. Don't even think that time spent in front of the computer watching the rates has any correlation with profitability; it doesn't. Spend less time but when you are trading, be 100% focused.

What types of accounts are available for forex trading?

There are many different types of forex accounts available to the retail forex trader.
Demo accounts are offered by forex brokers as a way to introduce traders to their software and execution methods.
live account is an account opened by traders with real money deposited in order to start trading for real profitMini accounts, and full accounts are the most common types of funded accounts. Mini accounts are similar to regular trading accounts; however currency is traded in lots of 10,000 rather than 100,000. This allows for lower mandatory initial deposits, and greater customization of risk management.It is important that the currency trader consider what they want to get out of their account, before deciding on the type to open. Demo accounts, and mini accounts, are great for the retail forex trader to learn a profitable system, and get used to the execution methods of the broker. For the currency speculator that doesn't want to trade by themselves, a managed account would be better.

Developing a Forex Strategy with ForexGen

A fool-proof trading strategy can help you gain profit from day one in the Forex market. If you spend some time to study the market you will find some price patterns that recur consistently.
You can substantiate your observations with charts or graphs using a strategy builder software and then finally develop a strategy unique for your trading habits.
So developing a sound and effective trading strategy is the important foundation of the trading. You must develop working knowledge of technical analysis as well as knowledge of some of the more popular technical studies before deciding which is going to be the best strategy for you.
A trading strategy should optimize your risk with respect to the reward, or vise versa. It should have a disciplined method of limiting the risk and make the most out of favorable market moves. Read more…

Trading Forex Currency Pairs for Maximum Profit

It is also known as domestic currency or accounting currency and sometimes also referred to as the primary currency of a Forex currency pair. The price represents how much of the quote currency is needed to get one unit of the base currency.
When a currency is quoted against US Dollar, it is known as direct rate. Any currency not against the US Dollar is called a cross rate.
The quote currency is translated into a certain number of units of the base currency. This is also referred to as the foreign currency, secondary currency or counter currency. For example, if you find that a quote of USD/JPY is at 1.30, it says that for every 1 US Dollar, you get 1.30 Japanese Yen. When you quote for AUD/JPY of 67.73, it says that for every 1 Australian Dollar, you get 67.73 Japanese Yen.
Currency pairs are generally traded as 100,000 units of the base currency. For example, if you were buying EUR/USD at 0.95 you would be paying Dollars for Euros as follows:
100,000 x .95 = $95,000 for 100,000 Euros
When you find a quote going up, it means that the value of the base currency is rising or in other words, it is getting stronger. If a quote is going down, it means that the base currency is weakening.
The dominant base currencies are:
Euro - EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, EUR/CHF, EUR/JPY, EUR/CADBritish Pound - GBP/USD, GBP/CHF, GBP/JPY, GBP/CADUS Dollar - USD/CAD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF
The currency pairs are usually traded and quoted with a ‘bid’ and ‘ask’ price. The ‘bid’ is the price at which you are willing to buy and the ‘ask’ is the price at which price you are willing to sell.
For example, if the USD/EUR currency pair is quoted as - USD/EUR = 1.5 and you purchase the pair, this means that for every 1.5 euros that you sell, you get US$1. If you sold the currency pair, you receive 1.5 euros for every US$1 you sell.
The key to successful trading lies in selecting one or two pairs of currencies that you wish to trade in as a beginner. As you gain confidence, you may wish to add more pairs in your trading portfolio. But for a new trader or investor it is always advised to have limited pair just to ensure simplicity. And that what ForexGen Promises with.

Financing your FX with ForexGen

Financing your FX positions held overnight (known as interest rollover or ‘TomNext’) Trading strategies involve the use of interest rate differentials between the currencies in a pair and those positions that are rolled over from one trading day to the next will incur financing based upon these interest rate differentials. You pay interest on the currency that you sell and receive interest on the currency that you buy.

The interest rate applied is ‘TomNext’ which is an abbreviation for ‘Tomorrow’ or the ‘Next’ business day because the first value date is tomorrow or the next business day. The TomNext price reflects the applicable interest rate between Tomorrow/Next and the ‘Spot value’ date. At (22:00) 10:00pm London Time (Standard FX market Value-Date change time) each day, ForexGen settles all spot positions by closing the trade at the current market rate and re-opening it for the following day’s spot date at a rate that will reflect the interest rate differential.

Example:You are long the GBP/USD pair.You will receive interest on the GBP and pay interest on the USD.If GBP has a higher interest rate than the USD, you will receive a net interest payment but if GBP has a lower interest than the USD, you will pay out a net interest payment.

ForexGen Advantages

1] 24-hour Internet, telephone and Reuters tradingAccess ForexGen, spot gold and silver prices ensuring price integrity, transparency and consistent liquidity.

2] Transparent competitive two-way pricingWe offer very competitive spreads on over 27 currency pairs, typically 1 pip spread on the major currency pairs.

3] Instantaneous auto trade executionsWe are committed to ensuring you deal on the prices you see. At a glance you can see where the market can be bought and sold (under normal market conditions).

4] Low margin requirementsAccess ForexGen, spot gold & silver with margin requirements starting at just 1% or leverage of 100-to-1.

5] State-of-the-art trading platformsFree easy-to-use Windows-based click and deal mini and maxi trading platforms which are fully customisable and offer multiple stored layouts. Our platforms offer a wide variety of order types - MARKET, LIMIT, STOP and OCO. We aim to make it as easy and seamless as possible to access demonstration and live trading platforms and to open and fund your trading accounts.

6] Flexible lot sizesYou are not restricted to trading in standard lot sizes. Take advantage of our wide range of trading sizes from 0.01 million - 100 million (equivalent to $1 / point - $10,000 / point).

7] Risk management in real timeOur platform monitors and controls risk exposure in real time. Based on your margin requirement, it calculates funds needed to retain current open positions and resources available for new positions or for adding to existing open positions.

8] Hedging capabilityYou have complete control over whether you close or hedge your positions to reduce risk. You can run multiple positions for each currency pair which can be individually selected for closing.

9] Earn interest on cash balancesUnlike many FX brokers ForexGen Securities pays interest on those funds not being used for margin purposes.

10] 24 hour personalised customer serviceOur experienced and knowledgeable people are available 24 hours a day to answer questions and provide assistance. Our professional dealers can be accessed at all times via live chat and telephone, and our technical and administrative support is second to none.

11] A fast and efficient back office systemWhen you fund your account and start trading, you receive straight-through-processing of your trades offering live position keeping, margining, statements, unrealised and realised profit & loss.

Exchanges Around the World with ForexGen

Technology has fueled the growth of global trading over the past decade, fostering dreams of a single universal marketplace. Yet, investors who have diversified their portfolios across borders and product lines might not always know how their orders are handled on a multiplicity of exchanges and market centers around the globe.
Rules and trading technologies differ significantly not only from one country to the other, but often from one exchange to the other. Rules change frequently too, as exchanges continue to evolve from members-owned monopoly utilities into competitive execution businesses.
ForexGen LLC , which provides direct access to over 50 exchanges and market centers around the world, has incorporated these various exchange rules in its SMART-routing technology to ensure that customers obtain true best execution, no matter what product they trade or where they trade it.
The business of the exchanges is in flux, due to heightened competition and the consolidation trend inherent to a utility-type sector. A number of exchanges have already demutualized and turned themselves into for-profit corporations, some of which are publicly traded. Other markets are merging to better compete in a low-margin business where innovations require substantial investments.
U.S. exchanges face important regulatory challenges as well, with the Securities and Exchange Commission mulling crucial reforms to modernize U.S. capital markets in the 21st century.
The proposed Regulation NMS would acknowledge the advance of electronic trading and likely force the remaining floor-based securities exchanges to alter their model in order to remain competitive. In anticipation of the changes, the New York Stock Exchange has already submitted a proposal for a new hybrid model.
An even bigger challenge may come from the SEC concept release on self-regulatory organizations. It questions the “advisability of implementing enhancements to the current SRO system or pursuing an alternative regulatory model,” which could lead to a single independent regulator with no business ties to the exchanges. Without a regulatory franchise, exchanges would be businesses fighting for customers.
ForexGen has followed how trading began and is still evolving on the major venues that its Universal platform accesses via broadband to trade equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, futures, foreign exchange and bonds. With Universal, ForexGen provides a gateway to global markets and multiple products from a single account in a single currency.

Types of Analysis with ForexGen

There are two principal and confronting schools in Forex analysis - the fundamentalists and technicians. Both are supposed to be right. Sometimes technicians are more successful, other times the fundamentalists are gaining more profit. And usually when one group of analysts makes a mistake the other surely says, "We told you so." So, which one to chose? There are many possible answers to that question, and three of them are the most popular.
If you are a "long-term" Forex investor in search of enterprises with big capital, growth and income potential, the fundamentals are better. If you are a "short-term" Forex investor, or a Forex market trader, in search for companies who are "on the verge" of being discovered, fundamentals will be better. If you are a "long-term" investor who is not as concerned about one company's basics because you will diversify to minimize risk, or you are a "short-term" investor waiting for investor sentiment to change, then technical analysis will be useful for you.
Nowadays many traders use both fundamental analysis and technical analysis. The technicians tell you about the broad market and its trends. The fundamentalists tell you if an issue has the "basics" for reaching your investment goals. Fundamental and Technical analysis are different in many points. There isn't clear answer, which method has gained more profit during a definite period of study. It's better to use the best ideas from each side. Then the result will be impressive. Read more…