Archive for March, 2009
They represent the idea that you need a middleman when you are trying to trade in the market, and the Forex broker has been a feature of trade currency for a long time now. When I first started in the currency market, I myself needed the help of one Forex broker to get me around the currency market. Independent trading can be quite a hassle, you need to link to the financial systems, open an account and then start trading in the currency market.
All the back end work is being done by both the brokerage and your hand is being guided initially by the broker, who will tell you all about the currency market and what you need to do. I did not use my broker for very long , and in fact, after the initial training period and a few months after that, I began to trade on my own, which proved to have much better results as I could only rely on my advice, fundamental analysis and technical indicators like price charts and forecast bars to make my trading decisions. Well, the one thing that I am definitely not saying is that all Forex brokers are not necessary. In fact, I know many people who have had some resounding success on the market with the help of the brokers, and this really justified the fee they were paying. But where do you draw the line. For one thing, the skill that you need to do is to recognise when you are getting a bad deal. One of the main problems that people are facing is that they are getting diluted attention from brokers who are handling more accounts than they can actually handle and what happens is that they blanket advise all the accounts. This is something that you should really avoid when you are in the whole concept of trading.
Also, make sure that you can communicate with the broker, and when thinking about this, you really need to be in a position where you can understand that you have a connection with the broker beyond technical translation and you are able to gain an understanding and actually absorb all of what he is saying. Another thing that you must look out for are the scam artists who pose as brokers. You can spot them a mile away from their ever selling demeanor and their promises that they can make you millions of dollars faster than you can blink.
Right and purple pigs are serving tea at my house in about 5 minutes. They are seducers and salesman to the core, drawing you in with their big talk and they will talk right up till the moment when you deposit your money in their account. This is not how things are done. In the end of the day, getting a bad one means that Forex brokers can be your best enemy and you will see your profit margin slowly going down the toilet. So, get a good one and as soon as you can, do things on your own.
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You may decide to develop your own trading system or you may prefer to purchase one that has already been developed for use and has a proven track record. In this article we will look at the basics of developing your own trading system. In essence a trading system is any set of rules that must be conformed to when trading, so you could for example detail the following rules.
If a 5 period exponential moving average (EMA) crosses up over a 13 period exponential moving average(EMA), enter a long trade. If a 5 period exponential moving average (EMA) crosses down over a 13 period exponential moving average (EMA), enter a short trade. You have now created the basis of your trading system. Of course this would not be nearly enough to produce a successful trading system, so now you need to enter some safeguards.
If the 5 period EMA crosses up over the 13 period EMA enter a long trade and immediately place a stop loss order at 50 pips below the entry value. If the 5 period EMA crosses down over the 13 period EMA enter a short trade and immediately place a stop loss order at 50 pips above the entry value.
So far you have only one criteria for trade entry and this could lead to many false signals. To help prevent this you might well add one or more technical indicators as a filter, but keep in mind that the more filters, the less trades will be signaled and although this can be a good thing, it is important to maintain a balance. Continuing with the system building process, you might choose to add MACD as a filter.
If the 5 period EMA crosses up over the 13 period EMA AND MACD is rising above the signal line, enter a long trade and immediately place a stop loss order at 50 pips below the entry value.
If the 5 period EMA crosses down over the 13 period EMA AND MACD is falling below the signal line, enter a short trade and immediately place a stop loss order at 50 pips above the entry value. It will be necessary to back test your trading system with various time frames to establish the optimum time frame(s) for the system.
Back testing can be carried out by using a back testing program or by visually looking back at the charts and identifying the points at which “your trading system” conformed to the trade entry rules. Then look forward to see if the trade would have been successful. Make sure that you make precise notes regarding each theoretical trade.
Next you will need to develop a rule or set of rules for exiting the trade. There are many ways to do this. Developing a reliable exit method is in many ways more important than developing a reliable trade entry system.
One popular method is to use a trailing stop and to continue to trail price until the trade is eventually “stopped out” in profit. A trading system, no matter how good, will not produce a winning trade for every trade entry. Your goal is to establish a system that is successful more than 50% of the time. The higher the percentage the better the system will be.
If your system checks out favourably during back testing you should proceed to trade it in REAL-TIME but using a DEMO ACCOUNT only. It is most important at this stage not to put any real money at risk, because back testing is not reliable enough to prove a trading system’s worth.
If after a month or two of REAL-TIME testing the system shows a consistent winning average of above 50% then you can consider making further adjustments to improve the average. Each time that you make an adjustment, it is most important to go through the whole testing process again from the beginning, to ensure that the adjustment has made a favourable difference.
There is no reliable short cut to this process. Make sure to only make changes one at a time and carry out the whole testing process for each change. If you make more than one change at a time, you will never be certain which of the changes were beneficial and which were not.
Finally, after all of your testing has been carried out and you are ready to fund a live account, it is essential to apply a system of money management. This needs to be a rigid set of rules that might for example include – Never trade using more than 2-3% of your trading account on any one trade – and so on.
Good luck and happy trading.
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Forex trading systems are popular just switch them on and turn your computer into a regular money making machine. That’s the theory, the reality is 95% or more lose due to curve fitting and if you don’t know what it is then you should.
Curve fitting is when a forex trading system is bent (curve fitted) to price data to make a profit.
A trader I once knew likened this to shooting at a barn door with a gun and then afterwards going and drawing a circle around each shot, to make it look like a bulls-eye.
Vendors when testing their forex trading systems on past data, find that it doesn’t work or doesn’t work well enough, so they bend or curve fit the system, until it does.
A curve fitted trading system will never work in real time trading.
Why?
Because the data sequence will never re produce exactly again.
Clues to curve fitted systems are:
- Lots of rules and parameters.
- Different rules for different currencies or trading conditions.
- Extraordinary profit and low or little drawdown.
Generally, a good trading system should consist of a few rules and parameters and work the same in all market conditions and in all currencies.
While many traders make genuine attempts and curve fit by accident, most don’t – they simply make up the track records and curve fit to make a track record look good. How many systems do you see sold for a few hundred bucks that promise you 1,000% per annum $10,000 bucks a month etc – The answer is loads.
These vendors are NOT traders, their marketing companies and they know they can put out any track record they like so long as the disclaimer has the words “done in hindsight” “simulated” Of course we can all make a profit going backwards – but the problem is we have to trade not knowing the future and that’s a little more difficult.
The internet means you see them all the time and while most traders pass them by on the basis that, “if it looks to good to be true it probably is”, many others let greed, naivety or both get the better of them and buy them.
If you want to buy a forex trading system, your best option is to get one that’s got a real time track record, to show it’s based on sound logic.
After all, if the vendor does not have the confidence to trade it why should you?
If you buy a simulated one, then it should be one with very few rules which work on all currencies, in all markets and you should understand how and why it will works.
So when you see that track record promising you untold riches – think curve fitting and think losses rather than profits.
Shop Around For The Good Ones
You can make money with a forex trading system but you need to be careful in your selection.
If you are then your time will have been well spent and you could enjoy long term currency trading success with it.
forex trading systems
A Forex automated trading system is a software that will watch the market and make all the decisions for you, including trading. Most automated Forex trading systems on the market are EAs for MT4 (MetaTrader 4).
There are advantages in using them but there are also disadvantages. If you’re thinking about purchasing one, I advise you to read both advantages and disadvantages carefully before you make your decision.
Forex automated trading systems advantages:
- The most obvious advantage is that the software work for you. You just need to install it and the software will analyze the market 24 hours a day and will also trade for you.
- Another big advantage is that you can easily do a backtest to see how the system performed in the past. You can see the trades that were made, the profits, the losses and even the maximum drawdown.
- Some of these automated trading systems allow you to redefine certain points. You take advantage of this, if that’s the case of your automated system, by adjusting the risk/reward ratios, for example.
- A big advantage of these softwares is that they don’t guide your trades by greed or fear – the traders’ worst enemies. They simply analyze the market and trade.
- The price is also a great advantage. You can get automated trading systems usually for less than $100.
Forex automated trading systems disadvantages:
- As you already know, you can backtest the system to see how it performed in the last days, months or even years. Although, as they base their calculations on technical analysis, a great past performance may not equal a great present and future performance.
- If you’re an experienced Forex trader or even a beginner, you most probably have noticed that when certain news are released, the volatility surges. As a software is different from a trader, it may not adapt to any kind of market as a trader can.
- The last big disadvantage of Forex automated trading systems is that you can become dependent of it. This may not sound like a disadvantage and it really isn’t when you’re winning. If, by any chance, the automated system doesn’t work anymore as it used to work, you won’t know what to do to adapt yourself to the new market conditions.
The purpose of writing about Forex automated trading systems advantages and disadvantages was solely for you to know exactly what you can expect of it. If you’re aware of both pros and cons, you’ll be able to make a better decision.
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The topic of Forex Brokers allowing scalping is very hot. I was looking for answers in various forums, tried searching with keywords in search engines, tried reading policies and FAQs on the websites of different Forex brokers… It seemed like I had only guesses, but nothing solid to rely on. And then I came up with a simple solution – sending customer support inquiries to the different Forex brokers… My question to all of them was the same: “Do you allow scalping? By scalping I mean holding a position for less than 1 minute.” That’s it. Today, I’d like to share with you what my research has revealed. So, brokers allowing or not allowing scalping…
I’ve got the answers the same day from the next Forex brokers:
MG Financial Group Thank you for contacting MG Financial Group. In regards to your question, you may keep your position open for as long or short a duration of time as desired. InterbankFx We do allow Scalping but it might become a problem with our liquidity providers and filling orders etc… We recommend that you stay in a trade for at least 93 seconds. If a customer engages in scalping and it somehow becomes a problem we will notify that person. MIG Investments MIG Investments does not require a minimum number of trades per month as neither we require a minimum pip value or open time for positions before allowed to close. We do accept scalpers but since it is difficult to cover such positions in the market, we would need to increase the spreads for clients with permanent scalping strategies. We consider an scalpers somebody who systematically pip hunts below 5 pips as average. All the cases are studied based on general performance and we do get in contact with our clients prior to take any related decisions. Update 13.08.2008: The new M I G Investments General Terms and Conditions are effective immediately (13.08.2008) and have been updated with reference to M I G’s current position on Scalpers: Due to the difficulties associated with covering such trades, M I G Investments does not accept scalpers. OANDA The term scalping here primarily refers to latency trading, where clients unfairly exploit, to their advantage, delays that may occur due to the fact that FXTrade is Internet-based. OANDA does not have any restriction on the length of time a trade is held. MB trading Got two short replies: Yes, scalping is allowed. Yes you can scalp with us. Forex.com Yes, you can do that. As long as you have enough margin to open a position, you can close it at any time during our normal trading hours which is between Sunday 5 pm ET and Friday 5 pm ET. Global Forex Trading Yes we do not have any restrictions to the length of time on holding positions. West Capital Forex In answer to your question, Scalping is not recommended by our dealers and they actively discourage it. The next day I’ve targeted remaining on my list Forex brokers and got next replies: CMC Markets You are able to hold a position for less than a minute, however, we do not encourage scalping. United Global Markets Scalping is not an issue so long as you are not taking advantage of our price feed lag. We do allow scalping, news trading, grid traders and other in and out traders CROWN FOREX SA Thank you for your interests with CFSA, we are so glad to reply your query regarding allowing scalping. kindly note scalpers can trade with CFSA under the following conditions: a. 3 pips spread b. Max leverage at 1:100 (fixed margin requirements of $1000 per standard lot) C. Depending on how aggressive the scalper is; a commission per standard lot or an increase in the spread may apply. IFX Markets Your question is very easy to answer. We allow scalping, we don’t care if we hold your position for 1 second if you can make money that quickly. FX Solutions Yes, we do. Interactive Brokers Dear Trader, IB does allow scalping. Saxo Bank The answer to your question is yes. You can hold a position for less than 1 minute. But we don´t allow that you take advantage of the system. NorthFinance Forex Broker Please note that we do not allow scalping. We actively discourage the trading method. The minimum required time difference from opening to closing a position is about 10 minutes. Forex Club Financial Company Yes we allow scalping. Only thing if you going to request a lot of quotes and not act on them the system will put you on the bottom of the list and you will receive lesser priority. CMS Forex We have no age requirement for positions. Be they open for 1 year or 1 minute, you can mange your positions as you wish within our market. EFX Group We allow any trading strategy, including the one you mentioned! Then from the FAQ of Global ForexNow I’ve copied next: “Do you allow scalping? We don’t condone any one particular type of trading style.” So far seems like almost nothing should bring clouds to your sunny sky… Is it really so..? Opening accounts with each and every of mentioned here Forex brokers and scalping for at least about a month to get a result would be a very difficult task… So, hopefully, we are going to hear from other traders about their experience. Please drop us a line in a form of comment below. Thank you! There were also two brokers that did not gave a straight forward answer on my question, but to complete my check list report I’m going to cite their replies anyway: ACM I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as your Account Executive at ACM. In the next few days I will contact you in order to discuss how to use our services to your best advantage.
Please note, that my research is based not on a real account with each broker and actual scalping with no problems. It is rather a journalist report on some sort of “interview” with brokers’ customer support. So, there is no way I can guarantee that you can go out and scalp freely with any of these brokers.
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Forex robot software is software where the forex trades are automatically traded without any human intervention. The software is based on highly specialized and sophisticated algorithms. The software’s are designed by highly trained and experienced traders and forex managers. There are a number of these softwares available online. The minimum lot size can differ from one software to another. Many of them charge $10,000 as the minimum account size.
Some of the benefits and advantage of this type of software are:
It relieves the traders of constantly monitoring the system. The Forex software will trade and manage the account according the specific instructions and customization by the trader.
The robot software is designed to look at the short term opportunities that are present during the day for trading of the currency pairs. The software uses highly advanced algorithms to execute and place the orders.
Forex software is used by traders to diversify their portfolio including forex, stocks, mutual funds and real estate. Many existing forex managers and traders use the Forex robot software to trade a portion of their funds while trading on rest of the capital using other forex trading software.
Robot software is also for those who aren’t very comfortable their own capital and would rather let someone else trade for them. It’s also for those traders who can devote only part time for trading in forex. Also many financial institutions want alternative places where can invest money. For them Forex software provides the opportunity to trade in forex.
Many forex brokers also offer software to let their customers minimize their losses.Good Forex software offers the trading companies customers alternative choices.
Forex software usually trades in the major currencies of the market and not the minor currencies. The software is also managed by professional forex dealers. It also offers trading opportunities in rising and new markets. All the reporting is done in real time and the reports can be generated at any time by the customer.
Many of the Forex robot software packages also allow the customers to participate through the Individual Retirement Plan (IRA) and though certain customer retirement plan. Forex is a high risk, high gain investment.
Currency markets are extremely volatile and liquid. Traders are also allowed to take out their money as and when they require it making it one of the most liquid investments. With this type of software you would think that you may be able to take over the world with all your money but the truth is while Robot Software is good, it is not the be all and end all otherwise forex traders would rule the world.
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