Showing posts with label Bid-ask spreads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bid-ask spreads. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Forex trading basics

Forex Market Basics

The Foreign Exchange market (also referred to as the Forex, FX market, "Cash" Forex or Spot Forex market ) is the largest financial market in the world, with more than $1.5 trillion changing hands every day — 30 times larger than the combined volume of all U.S. equity markets. Another major feature of the Forex market is that it operates 24 hours a day, corresponding to the opening and closing of financial centers in countries all across the world, starting each day in Sydney, then Tokyo, London and New York. At any time, in any location, there are buyers and sellers, making the Forex market the most liquid market in the world.

What to trade in Forex Market?


In the forex market, currency trading is always done in currency pairs, such as EUR/USD or GBP/USD. Accordingly, all trades result in the simultaneous buying of one currency and the selling of another. The base currency is the "basis" for the buy or the sell. It is useful to consider the currency pair as an instrument, which can be bought or sold.

Understanding Forex quot
e

* Base currency: The first currency in the pair.
* Counter Currency: The second currency in the pair. Also known as the terms currency.

The US dollar is the centerpiece of the Forex market and is normally considered the ’base’ currency for quotes. This includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD. For these currencies and many others, quotes are expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the second currency quoted in the pair. For example, a quote of USD/CAD 1.1302 means that one U.S. dollar is equal to 1.1302 Canadian dollar.

BID and ASK Prices

When trading forex you will often see a two-sided quote, consisting of a ’bid’ and ’ask’. The ’bid’ is the price at which you can sell the base currency (at the same time buying the counter currency). The ’ask’ is the price at which you can buy the base currency (at the same time selling the counter currency).

Commission-free, but with spreads

Most Forex brokers offer commission-free Forex trading. Spread - The difference between the bid and ask price of a currency. Normally 3-5 pips on the Majors


[ForexGen Demo Accounts Contest]

Win Cash Prizes

[ForexGen] has the pleasure to announce the launching of the Demo Account contest on the first of every month.

Interested clients who wish to participate in this event shall send an e-mail request on demo.contest@forexgen.com including the following information:
- Full name: - Phone number

Also provide us with the following identification document:
" Certified copy of the information pages of account holder current valid passport or government issued photo ID"
After we receive your request we will provide you with further details and with your [demo account] login information which will be used in the trading contest.

By the end of each contest:

1. All participants that manages to open at least 20 lots will be awarded a Live Account with $50 credit 2. All participants that manages to open at least 20 lots and keep their demo account initial balance will be awarded a Live Account with $100 credit 3. The highest 5 accounts with the highest profits (including the floating P/L) will be awarded a Live Account with $250 credit.

The contest starts on the first Sunday of each month at 10 pm GMT and ends on the last Friday of that month at 10 pm GMT.


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Thursday, December 25, 2008

1/2-pip spread brokers

The difference between the bid and the ask prices is known as the bid-ask spread.


Bid-ask spreads are like part of our business cost in trading. Like transaction commissions, it is how the forex brokerages make money out of us. Certain forex brokerages offer fixed bid-ask spreads depending on the currency pair (eg, Interbank FX) and some forex brokerages offer variable bid-ask spreads that can be as low as 1/2 pip! (Eg, MB Trading) WAIT! There is a catch! Seriously, if a brokerage is just charging 1/2 pip, we’d better not stick with the brokerage for too long

[ForexGen Money Manager]

An individual who is responsible for the entire financial portfolio of another individual or another entity. A money manager receives payment in exchange for choosing and monitoring appropriate investments for the client.

Benefits of being a Money Manager with [ForexGen]:

* Providing three different commission sources.
* Weekly commission plan.
* Easy & fast commission withdrawals.
* Fixed percentage of the profits.
* P = k * D “P=Profit, k=Variable Parameter, D=Deposits”

The money manager gets a fixed percentage of the profit previously agreed upon with the client for managing the client funds as a bonus feature.

The most competitive trading conditions:

* 2 pips spread on six currency pairs.
* Providing online trading services without maintenance margin, margin call and no automatic closing of positions below the initial margin on weekdays for accounts with initial equity of up to $1 million US. The margin level have to be recognized Fridays at 23:00 CET and before public holidays.
* Leverages up to 1:200 for accounts up to $1 million US.
* Liquidity and 24/5 availability are the characteristic factors of the Forex market compared with other financial markets.