By CountingPips.com
Monday February 14th
- Reserve Bank of Australia meeting minutes
- Australia NAB business confidence
- Chinese consumer price index
- Chinese producer price index
Nasdaq Vulnerable to Cyber Attack In 2011
By James McKee
As if there were not enough fear surrounding the finance market a recent series of events has brought scrutiny to the US stock market with regard to their security. A series of stock market “freezes” with regard to prices that would not update sent some into a panic. The cause thought to be responsible for this recent issue is a breach of security undertaken by computer hackers. While there is no proof of this strange computer files left on trading system computers are seen as suspicious to investigators and many are wondering how vulnerable the system may be.
The USD is inextricably linked to the US stock market and when the very security of the market itself is tested and even broken the USD will inevitably suffer to a degree. Where there is a lack of confidence there is a lack of investment, if there is a lack of confidence in the market itself not due to financial instability but to the security of the system itself we are facing a whole new set of challenges. Officials have admitted to some strange files being found on their systems but have not confirmed the presence of any cyber intruders.
The fact that the financial systems of the United States have been compromised sends a message to the investors of the world that not even NASDAQ is full proof and that doubt may cause problems. Investors from the outside and even within the United States are very concerned about what has occurred and rightfully so. Those on the Forex currency exchange should stay on top of what actions are undertaken to correct this security breach and prevent others in the future. Failure to properly secure the computer systems that regulate financial markets could have catastrophic consequences for the world’s economy in the future if this problem is not corrected.
About the Author
Author is a Forex trader and financial analyst residing in Denver, Colorado. To stay up to date on all the latest developments in the financial world and beyond be sure to check out the forex exchange rates regularly.
Forex Trading Demo
By John Lismo
Are you a beginner when it comes to the world of online Forex trading? Well, you ought to know that there’s quite a lot of information to take in before you can even consider yourself ready to take on the trading action. But why is learning important when it comes to trading, especially when there are software available out there that could pretty much eliminate the entire learning curve? Well, it’s simple. At some point in your trading career, you would need to trade manually and you should be prepared for that. Also, this software can only do so much. You still have to rely on your own skills and instincts as a trader in order to make profits. Luckily for beginners such as yourself, there is a Forex trading demo account wherein you would be able to put your skills to the test long before you jump into the trading game.
These demo accounts would allow you to participate in real time trading without the need to deposit money into it. After all, wasn’t it said before that the best teacher is experience? What better way to do that than through a demo account. Besides practicing, you can also make use of these accounts to test new techniques or strategies that you have been thinking about applying to your trades. Of course, it is important that you test these new strategies before using them because you have to be sure that they would work and wouldn’t backfire on you. Now, whilst all of these things sound good and well, there is one drawback that you ought to know about. It is a very important one too.
Basically, a demo account is, more often than not, not modeled after a standard trading account. This can be quite challenging since once you get on to using an actual trading account, the differences might throw you off by a bit. This is where you’ll need to make certain adjustments. They are easy enough to do and probably wouldn’t cause you that much trouble. Of course, you should keep in mind the major differences between the two as well. After all, losing on a demo account wouldn’t mean much since you aren’t really losing anything but don’t let those feelings cloud your judgment when it comes to the actual trading process. You might become a bit too complacent, since this is how you were with the demo account, and forget that you’re actually trading real money.
It might have certain drawbacks but there is no denying just how useful a demo account can be especially for beginners. After all, there is no better way of perfecting your skills and instincts than through this account which would show you how the market functions and the type of the things that you can do within it. Even experts have gone through using demo accounts and there certainly is no better introduction to the world of online currency trading besides it. You basically learn as you go and do pretend trades.
So there you have it, a quick look at the importance of a Forex trading demo account.
About the Author
Are you looking for more information regarding Forex trading demo ? Visit http://www.learnforextradingbasics.com today!
USDCHF stays above a rising trend line
USDCHF stays above a rising trend line on 4-hour chart. As long as the trend line support holds, uptrend could be expected to continue and next target would be at 0.9800-0.9850 area. However, a clear break below the trend line could indicate that a cycle top is being formed, and the rise from 0.9328 is complete.
FOREX Brokers – 9 Essential Points to Consider When Open an Account
By Sacha Tarkovsky
There are lots Forex brokers to choose from when trading currencies online – and finding the right one to work with us critical, if you’re going to maximize your FX trading profits.
Here are 9 points to consider when choosing a Forex broker.
1. Pip Spreads Offered
Spreads between brokers vary dramatically and the difference can be as much as double so first and foremost when trading FX you need a tight spread
Transaction costs mount up – especially if you are trading frequently and impact on your profits and add to your losses. The tighter the spread, the more profits
you will make.
Today, many brokers offer 3 – 5 pips – and this is what you should look for.
2. Deposit Online & ease of account operation
Look for a broker who will take online payments to your Forex account via and secure online payment method. This is great for funding your account quickly – and getting your trading profits back to.
3. Negative Balance Protection
Leverage or gearing is one of the main reasons that people are attracted to online currency trading. Of course, leverage is a double-edged sword – and where there are high rewards, there is high risk.
With this in mind many Forex brokers now offer guaranteed stops and negative balance protection which is a big comfort to those traders who are new to the market or want to have a finite risk.
Fees for the service tend to be quite competitive and their a popular option with many traders
4. Leverage Offered
The leverage brokers will give you varies from broker to broker, but today 100 – 200:1 leverage is common and some brokers will go as high as 400:1 meaning you have the potential to leverage your account for greater FX profits
5. Other Charges & Broker assist accounts
Your only transaction cost should be the currency spread – you should NOT pay other commissions.
Avoid broker assisted accounts where a broker supposedly will help you make money from Forex trading they wont! If brokers were good traders they wouldn’t be brokers!
If you trade in this way you will lose and you will extra commissions to.
You are responsible for your FX profits so accept this fact and go with an execution only broker.
6. Investment Minimum
Today, currency trading is not just the preserve of wealthy individuals and banks – anyone can get involved and minimum deposits have dropped dramatically.
You can open a trading account online with some Forex brokers with as little as $100.00.
This means that novice traders can start off with small amounts.
7. Trading Platform
If you are trading online, you will go through a Forex trading platform.
You want ease of use and reliability – Many brokers offer demo accounts so try them out.
8. FOREX Trading Education
While you should always make your own investment decisions, it’s good to get some freebies that can help you with your Forex trading strategy such as:
* FREE trading guides
* Forex trading seminars
* Trading news and charts
* Trading recommendations & ideas
* Forex trading systems
* Trading books etc
9. Look at the overall package
When choosing a Forex broker you have a lot of choice and the above tips will help you while there are a lot of small brokers around and many are good go for someone who has been around for a while and is established.
Forex brokers are not all the same and some are far better than others in what they offer and if you use the above tips you will find one that will help you maximize your online currency trading profits.
About the Author
Grab 5 FREE Trader PDF’s Much More
Get a user-friendly multi-lingual online trading platforms
tight pip spreads,built-in risk management system, and 24-hour professional support.
http://www.bestonlineforexbroker.com
Forex Review – Is Automated Trading The Solution?
Contributor: By Daren
The trading advantages of Forex robots have been determined and defined by experts as you can read from forex reviews. Many trading experts will agree with the fact to the convenience of Forex robots in boosting their trading and profits, but why are many people attracted to the Forex market initially which would make it so popular?
Well, considering that the daily turnover of the Forex market is well over $3 trillion, indicates there are huge earnings for those knowledgeable in trading in it. The result is that not only people are getting involved, but also banks, corporations and other institutions, all setting their sights on big earnings from Forex.
Even if an amount of luck might be involved, there is much more to learning to become a successful Forex trader. There are simple steps which you can take, and you can start by reading forex review and working smart. Putting lots of time and effort into your trading endeavor is a good start, however you ought to maximize the time and effort that you set in trading by working smart too.
There are many various strategies traders use in Forex, and it is a possibility to learn these strategies to gain a good knowledge of how the market works. Apart from that there are also automated systems which can aid in your learning development. Get information on the best strategies and automated systems from honest-to-goodness forex review. As well as aiding and making your job easier, automated trading tools and programs can also be instructional.
A good trading mindset is an additional vital asset for a successful trader. Success comes from your state of mind, and how you deal with day to day trading. Results can be proportional to how much effort and thought you put into trading. You will see minimal results from something you didn’t set any thought and effort into. Like the old saying, “if you believe you can, you can.”
Forex trading is a high risk business. Oftentimes, it could even be referred or compared to gambling. Because the market is very volatile, in order to generate profit from trading good timing is crucial. Your emotional condition plays a part too, because emotions like fear can get in the way of making trading decisions. Some traders who find controlling their feelings difficult would gladly take advantage of a trading robot. There so many trading robots available on the market, so make sure to read forex review before using or purchasing one.
One more aspect that makes a successful Forex trader, is the need for a great deal of patience. Potential winning trades don’t come round all the time. Still with the markets huge trading turnover, it doesn’t indicate that you would constantly and consistently have good trades. You continuously require patience.
Several traders employ the use of robots to generate income for them. Automated trading robots must be used with caution, as you don’t want to check back on them in order to find it has traded all your funds away. Always choose a well respected robot based on forex review and even then you should keep close eye on it.
One can try to learn trading from someone who is a successful trader having years of experience, but would they be happy to give up their secrets? A Forex robot or automated trading system may be the solution to learning the skills required while earning through trading. But keep in mind, successful Forex trading involves more than skill, knowledge and tools, but character as well.
About the Author
Please visit Forex review site to be well-inform on real facts about forex platforms, forex strategies, forex traders and forex robots coming from the expert professional forex traders who are authors of Forex review articles.
FOREX: Large Currency Speculators continue to increase shorts of US Dollar. Euro positions dip.
By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that futures speculators added to their short positions of the US dollar against the other major currencies to the highest short position in four months. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were overall net short the US dollar by $26.3 billion against other major currencies as of February 8th. This is a rise from the total short position of $24.9 billion on February 1st, according to the CFTC data and calculations by Reuters which calculates the dollar positions against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc. Short dollar positions are now at their highest level since October 5, 2010 when shorts totaled $30.5 billion.
EuroFx: Currency speculators trimmed their net long positions in the euro against the U.S. dollar after three weeks of gains. Futures positions in the euro fell to a total of 34,734 long positions as of February 8th following a total of 39,934 long positions on February 1st. The graph below overlays the EUR/USD spot closing price of the Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported.
The COT report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions as of the previous Tuesday. It can be a useful tool for traders to gauge investor sentiment and to look for potential changes in the direction of a currency or commodity. Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, where as a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar. The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair .
GBP: Speculators increased their net long British pound sterling positions for a fifth straight week as of February 8th to their highest position since November 16th. Pound sterling contracts rose to a total of 24,475 long positions after totaling 22,659 long positions as of February 1st.
JPY: The Japanese yen net long contracts increased higher as of February 8th to a total of 36,731 long contracts. Yen positions had totaled 31,481 net long contracts reported on February 1st.
CHF: Swiss franc long positions declined to a total of 8,181 long contracts as of February 8th. Franc contracts totaled a net of 10,441 long contracts on February 1st.
CAD: The Canadian dollar positions advanced higher for second straight week to a total of 39,790 net long contracts. CAD long positions had registered 33,814 net longs on February 1st.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions rose to their highest level since April with AUD contracts totaling a net amount of 71,979 long contracts as of February 8th. AUD positions had totaled 60,077 net long contracts on February 1st.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures positions rose for a second straight week to a total of 10,857 long positions as of February 8th. NZD large speculator long positions had increased the previous week to a total of 10,270 long contracts on February 1st.
MXN: Mexican peso long contracts edged higher for a fifth consecutive week as of February 8th to 103,812 net long positions after totaling 103,117 longs the week prior on February 1st.
COT Data Summary as of February 8, 2011
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
Euro: +34,734
British pound sterling: +24,475
Japanese yen: +36,731
Swiss franc: +8,181
Canadian dollar: +39,790
Australian dollar: +71,979
New Zealand dollar: +10,857
Mexican peso: +103,812
Go to the Commitment of Traders CME raw futures data
Further COT Resources from around the web:
Forex Setups in US Dollar Index, Japanese Yen and Currency ETF
By Chris Vermeulen, thegoldandoilguy.com
Over the past few years Forex traders have really had to step up their game in order to continue making money in the currency market. Back in the day before currency trading was main stream, currencies used to trend in a direction for a long period of time with a low level of volatility. But with so many individuals now involved speculating on price action coupled with international concerns in most countries, the once slow and steady currency market now moves like the stock market with large price swings on a weekly and even daily basis.
With currency trading growing at an incredibly fast rate, stock traders have been giving tools to trade currencies using ETFs. If you are familiar with leveraged ETFS then you have most likely seen the huge opportunities (100,200 even 400% gains) which they can provide during major trends. Below are a couple major trends that both Forex and ETF traders should be keeping their eye on.
Japanese Yen – 30 year Monthly Chart
Over the last couple years China has taken most of Japan’s manufacturing, creating some terrible fundamentals overall for the Yen. With a weakening economy and the Yen making a major top in 1995, I feel we could be seeing a 16 year double top forming. This means shorting the Yen for a multiyear correction (bear market). This could generate some serious gains in the coming 2-5 years with very little work.
YCS 200% Short Yen Exchange Traded Fund – Daily Chart Setup
This fund allows stock/ETF traders to play the currency market within a regular trading account. The YCS fund is a 200% leveraged inverse fund, meaning this fund goes up in value as the Yen declines. For example, if the Yen drops 10% in value YCS will rise 20%.
Everyone has seen that infomercial to cook food with the saying “Set-It-And-Forget-It!” Well that’s more or less what this position will be like if we get a setup to buy this fund. This trade could easily last 5+ years with the potential to generate 150% – 400% gain.
US Dollar Weekly Chart Setup
Taking a look at the more common currency “The Dollar”. It has been forming a similar price pattern and is trying to form a base and bottom. The dollar does have one major issue which will most likely cause a breakdown thus an even lower value in the coming year. The problem is that the fed reserve constantly prints money increasing the money supply and devaluing the dollar (quantitative easing).
Currently, the dollar is trading within a large range and is poised for a short term bounce. There will not be any major trends until a breakout of this trading range to either the up or down side.
Major Currency Trends for Major Gains
In short, while playing shorter term trends is exciting and rewarding and keeps us busy on a daily/weekly basis, it is nice to have some long term positions at work which slowly mature into large percentage gains which boost you’re overall portfolio value each year with little work. Both the Yen and Dollar look like there is big potential just around the corner using the buy and hold mentality.
Each year I find 3-5 major opportunities where I can put some money to work, not tie up much capital and if they move 150% or more in my favor then those small investments boost my overall yearly portfolio gains substantially.
I do have another major trend setup forming which I’m calling the “Holy Cow” setup… which could be a real money maker this year. The exciting thing about it is that I have not seen ANYONE talk about this investment in years…
Chris Vermeulen
Forex Economic Calendar Events this Week February 13th-18th
By CountingPips.com
Sunday February 13th
- New Zealand retail sales
- Japan gross domestic product
Monday February 14th
- Reserve Bank of Australia meeting minutes
- Australia NAB business confidence
- Chinese consumer price index
- Chinese producer price index
Tuesday February 15th
- Japan interest rate decision
- United Kingdom consumer price index
- United Kingdom retail price index
- Eurozone gross domestic product
- Eurozone trade balance
- United States Empire Manufacturing
- United States advanced retail sales
- United States net TIC flows
- United States ABC consumer confidence
- Japan Tertiary Industry index
Wednesday February 16th
- United Kingdom jobless claims
- Bank of England inflation report
- United States housing starts/building permits
- United States producer price index
- Canada leading indicators
- New Zealand producer prices
Thursday February 17th
- Eurozone current-account
- United States consumer price index
- United States weekly jobless claims
- United States leading indicators
- United States Philadelphia Fed survey
Friday February 18th
- United Kingdom retail sales
- Canada consumer price index
Investing In The Stock Market – Why You Need To Hone Your Skills
By James Woolley
You will often hear about lots of people investing their own money nowadays. However the trouble is that very few investors are able to consistently make money. A major reason why that is the case is because they are unable to deal with changing market conditions.
The honest truth is that any idiot can make money in a bull market. If you stick to the mid and large-cap stocks, you will generally find that nearly all of them will rise in line with the overall market. So you don’t need to be an expert stock-picker to make money.
However the major problems arise when you have markets that trade in a sideways trading range for months on end, or worse still, when markets start heading downwards across the board. You would be amazed how many people think they are the world’s greatest investor when markets are rising, but who suddenly become totally clueless when they start falling.
You really do need to think about how you are going to make money from the stock market in all market conditions. This involves adopting sound money management principles and maybe looking at other ways you can take advantage of these challenging conditions. For example you could learn about spread betting or options trading so you can potentially make money when the markets are falling sharply.
You can also learn about how you can effectively manage an investment portfolio when the markets are flat or falling in value. If you study some of the top performing fund managers, you will often see that they don’t desperately cling on to shares when the wider stock market keeps going down and down. Instead they start investing their clients’ money into other instruments such as bonds, for example, in order to generate a more secure income while they are waiting for the markets to recover.
Making money from shares alone will always be very difficult because there will always be bad years when stocks are in a strong downward trend. This is why you need to keep an eye on the wider economic picture because most of the time the big falls are pretty well telegraphed in advance.
The point is that you need to constantly evolve as an investor. It is no good having one simple breakout strategy, for example, because what will you do in a bear market when hardly any stocks are making new highs? You need to have systems in place to deal with all market conditions, otherwise I’m afraid the losses that occur during the bear markets will really decimate your profits gained during the good years if you’re not careful.
About the Author
Click here to read a review of Zecco Trading, the online stock broker that offers free trades, and to read a full TradeKing broker review.
