Review

“…is a concise, easily digested snapshot of the currency market. It is a solid introduction to a trading specialty and probably a better fit for investors already well versed in stocks or futures and looking for a new market opportunity. Chen’s edition is a Forex 101, a helpful base that is likely to encourage investors to pursue further study.” (SFO Magazine, June 2009) “…has written this guide to trading in the foreign exchange (forex) market for both novices and experienced professionals. The author explains the fundamental mechanics of the forex markets before launching into the various strategies and insights that have been proven successful in the field.” (Book News, May 2009) “The book is very well suited to the novice trader. The primer on technical analysis offers a great review for CMT candidates. More experienced traders in stocks, bonds, or commodities will benefit from the book’s comprehensive explanation of the mechanics in the mar (more…)

In recent years many smart investors have exited the stock market and other investment areas because they have essentially lost control of their investments. They have relied on the advice and skill of their brokers, bankers, and financial advisors. Many investment and retirement accounts have dwindled. Fortunately, there is a wonderful but little-understood alternative: currency trading and investing. As with many other business segments, the Internet and technology have opened up this attractive marketplace to a new breed of individual investors and speculators working part-time. You and I can now stand on an even playing field with the largest banks and trading institutions from the comfort of home. Currency trading is the practice of exchanging one country’s currency for another country’s currency. The foreign exchange (Currency or Forex or FX) market is the largest trading market in the world exceeding $1.9 trillion every single day! Essentially there are four var (more…)

Review

“It offers practical guidance and savvy tips..” (Hedge Fund Manager, Thursday 23rd August)  “…gives readers a step by step guide (to) getting acquainted with the forex market and to making those killer transactions.” (Professional Pensions, Thursday 30th August 2007)

Features forex market guidelines and sample trading plans The fun and easy way to get started in currency trading Want to capitalize on the growing forex market? This nuts-and-bolts guide gives you a step-by-step action plan for understanding and trading the forex market. It offers practical guidance and savvy tips in everything from comprehending currency quotes to using leverage, trading with fundamentals, and navigating technical analysis. Identify trading opportunities Understand what drives the market Choose a trading broker Execute a successful trade Minimize risk and maximize profit Analyze currency charts

S (more…)

As head FX strategist at CMC Markets–one of the world’s leading forex/commodity brokers–Ashraf Laidi understands the forces shaping today’s currency market and their interplay with interest rates, equities, and commodities. And now, with Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis, he shares his extensive experiences in this field with you. Throughout the book, Laidi outlines the tools needed to understand the macroeconomic and financial nuances of this dynamic field and provides you with insights that are essential to making the most of your time within it.

From the Inside Flap

Currencies are becoming an integral part of many investors’ portfolios and have grown to be a distinct asset class in banks’ investment products. While the mechanics of the forex market and the theories underpinning it have been widely explored, there has been little discussion regarding the practical intermarket relationships shaping currencies via interest rates, equities, (more…)

It would of course be correct to call the currencies of a number of countries around the world commodity currencies if we use a very wide description. For keen followers of currency and commodity trading however, the term refers to three major countries where commodities represent a substantial component of output and exports.

The Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar and Canadian dollar are all affected by movements in the price of global commodities, with gold price movements strongly reflected in changes in the Australian dollar, while the Canadian dollar has a strong relationship with the price of crude oil. Meanwhile the New Zealand dollar (or Kiwi), while not linked to a particular commodity like the other two currencies, displays a general correlation with movements in the Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index.

When the gold price weakens, what can we expect to see happen? There is likely to be a similar fall in the AUD/USD pair (the Aussie), as all currencies trade in pairs. In effect we are seeing a weakening of the Australian dollar against the US currency, conversely the US dollar is strengthening in that pair. As the global economy comes out of a period of uncertainty, such as after a recession or falling inflation, investors may be more confident and so reduce their safe haven holdings of gold. Currency and commodity traders can see how gold affects the Aussie, and so go short this pair.

Commodities contribute a significant proportion of Australias GDP and over 50% of its exports, with gold and other precious metals making a significant contribution. Trading charts show the very positive correlation of gold with the Aussie, which means a trader can either go for trading gold in the futures market or as an ETF, or follow the AUD/USD pair in the spot forex market.

Followers of currency and commodity trading will know that Canada is a major commodities producing nation and specifically one of the worlds largest crude oil producers. Accordingly, there is a fairly strong negative correlation between movements in the USD/CAD (the Loonie) pair and the price of crude oil.

The USA is the worlds largest consumer of oil and its biggest supplier is its next door neighbour Canada. While a high crude oil price is good for the Canadian dollar it is negative for both the US economy and US dollar. If a trader is bullish about crude oil prices they could go long on the Canadian dollar in the forex market, instead of buying oil ETF’s or Nymex crude futures.

Looking at all three of these currency pairs gives currency and commodity trading followers a real opportunity to choose spot forex trading as a way of capturing the movements in the commodity markets, either for gold, crude oil or across the whole spectrum of commodities. There is always a bull market in currency trading, it just depends which currency in the pair you are long or short.

The author, William Davies, studies the commodities markets carefully and pens articles for an informational Commodity trading website. Learn more about how you could profit by entering the global currency and commodity trading markets.

Every day of the year, there is a trading market that is open for business. Unlike most markets that keep bank hours, the Forex or foreign exchange market never closes its doors for business. The Forex market is nothing like the stock markets that most people trade their fortunes on. Foreign currency is traded on the Forex market.

Each day on the Forex, trillions of dollars of currency is traded. The Forex does not have a physical location that can be visited. It runs virtually, over networks and servers, all day, every day. You’ll never be able to ring the bell on the Forex floor, but you’ll be able to complete trades almost nonstop.

The Forex is the largest and most liquid market on the planet. There’s no actual building you can walk into to witness the Forex in action. Unlike the stock exchanges in New York and Chicago, the Forex takes place completely in a virtual world. Banks, governments and large corporations trade constantly, all day and night, over the opening and closings of other countries markets. The Forex, itself, is a series of computer networks and systems.

Currency is not like stock. It can fluctuate sharply and for no apparent reason. While no trading market offers complete certainty, with the stock market, there is much less speculation than with the Forex market. The Forex market never closes. It is, because of its lack of a physical base, always open. The markets of the world roll over across time zones and continue to facilitate trades.

There are several factors which play into currency fluctuations. The financial status of a country favors greatly into the determination of market value. Changes in gross domestic product and inflation cause swings in the value of each country’s currency.

Whenever there is a political issue within a country, the value of that currency will also greatly change. Whenever a country is at war or in the middle of a political uprising, expect to see a drastic change in the currency. For instance, whenever there is an election being held for a major political office in small countries, there may be a temporary cessation of that currency being traded. When the U. S. Holds Presidential elections, the U. S. Dollar fluctuates greatly in value, as well.

There are several major currency pairings that are most typically traded. These include the Euro and the US Dollar, the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen and the Great Britain Pound and the US Dollar. These trades that occur on the spot are usually settled within two business days of the trade. This helps make the Forex market one of the most liquid markets in the world.

While it’s hard to know for certain what is going to happen with the market, Forex signals send warnings to Forex bots and investors hope to minimize loss. The Forex is the most liquid of all trading markets in the world. Each day over three trillion dollars worth of currency is bought and sold on the Forex market.

The Forex is the fastest moving and liquid market in the world. The differences in trading foreign currencies and stocks are enormous and the Forex has no base for most of its fluctuations. If you’ve got money to spend, there’s plenty to be made on the Forex. Whenever you make any financial decision, the pros and cons should be greatly weighed with caution.

There are 100s of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and HOLDRS covering key industry benchmarks such as the various Standard & Poor (S&P) Indexes, Russell Indexes or the Dow Jones Products. There are other ETFs that cover the other less well known narrow based sectors.

For example, SPY tracks the Standard & Poors S&P 500 Composite Index. It is the largest of the ETFs. You should know the major indexes as an investor that are either key benchmarks or have ETFs tied to them.

Standard & Poor: Standard & Poor (S&P) is the financial services segment of the McGraw Hill companies. It has been providing independent and objective financial information, analysis and research for nearly 140 years.

It is also the provider of equity indexes. Investors around the globe use S&P Indexes for investment performance measurement. These indexes are also used as the basis for wide variety of financial instruments such as Index Funds, Futures, Options and ETFs.

S&P 500 Composite is one of the most popular indexes in the global financial markets. Hundreds of companies around the world have licenses with the Standards & Poors for their index products and the influence and name recognition of S&P 500 is unparalleled. S&P 500 is also used as a key benchmark for money manager performance.

The S&P 500 is a capitalization weighted index that tracks the performance of 500 large capitalization issues. S&P 500 represents more than 75% of the capitalization of the entire US Stock Market. Each year thousands of money managers have the single minded goal of outperforming the S&P 500.

30 years back most of the stocks in S&P 500 were from the Industrial Sector. By 1970s, six of the top companies were from the Oil Sector. Over the years, the complexion of S&P 500 has changed. In 2000s, technology composed about one third of the capitalization of the index. The stocks in the S&P 500 are determined by a nine member committee in accordance with the general guidelines.

The other Standard & Poors indexes are the S&P Midcap 400 Index. It is based on 400 chosen domestic stocks and is also capitalization based. It measures the performance of the midsize companies of the US economy.

The S&P SmallCap 600 Index consists of 600 domestic stocks chosen for market size and liquidity. It is also capitalization weighted and is of interest to institutional and retail investors. There are also sub-indexes based on these S&P Indexes.

NASDAQ: You will often hear in the media that the Nasdaq market being up or down on a given day. NASDAQ Composite Index contains more than 4500+ companies. It represents a market capitalization of trillions of dollars in the US economy.

There is another Nasdaq Index called the Nasdaq-100. It is composed of the top 100 nonfinancial companies in the Nasdaq Stock Market. The QQQ is based on the Nasdaq-100 Index. NASDAQ-100 is a modified capitalization weighted index.

As a forex trader, you might well be aware of the importance of being updated with the latest goings-on in the currency market. Indeed, changes happen every minute in the foreign exchange market that it helps to have up-to-date information on the market trends and conditions. Other than news articles on currency issues and updates, you can also learn more about these important details from forex blogs. If you look up a forex blog, you will notice that it contains valuable information for beginners. More often than not, forex blogs will also contain information that both beginners and seasoned traders will find helpful.

One such detail that you can learn more about in a forex blog is the vulnerability of currencies. It is not enough that you are familiar with the different currencies and their valuation. You should also learn more about the different factors that affect their strength in the market.

For example, there has been a noted decline in the power of the US dollar these past few weeks. If you try to check forex blogs, most of them will cover the different reasons why the US currency has weakened. There are those who say that the decline in the dollar rate is brought about by the rising oil prices that has somehow revealed vulnerabilities in the US economy. Pressures from the Federal Reserve also affect the strength fof the US dollar, as well as the growing consensus on whether or not central banks should start or continue to cut interest rates.

Forex blogs do not only feature news and updates on the US currency, it is also normal to see a forex blog highlighting stories on other currencies, such as the British pound and euro, as well as Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand dollars. Many foreign exchange traders are interested in these currencies because they tend to be strong and stable as compared to the US dollar. The British pound and euro are also valued more than the US dollar, although the US currency still remains as a universal trading denomination.

When you are after the latest news and updates regarding the variable forex market trends and conditions, you can either set your eyes on finance news broadcasts or you can look up a reliable forex blog on the internet. Keep in mind that when you are surfing the web for a forex blog, see to it that it is maintained by a reputable forex trader or someone who has advanced knowledge on the market.