Your Online Forex Trading Broker -- Why Use Alerts?When you are searching out an online forex trading broker, it is worth making sure that you get a b

When you are searching out an online forex trading broker, it is worth making sure that you get a broker who will send you forex alerts. This is simply an email or cellphone text message alerting you to the latest developments in the forex market. Often the broker will recommend a particular course of action in the message, which you can follow or not as you like.

Until you get into foreign exchange trading, you may not see the value of this. It's simple to explain. Forex is a 24/7 trading platform because currency trading happens in all 24 time zones across the world. This means massive opportunities for traders with billions of transactions happening every day. But it also means that, unlike stock market traders whose day ends when their national market closes at 5 or 6 pm, forex traders have to keep track of a constant flow of information.

Nobody can be watching markets 24/7. Brokers and companies can do it, of course, by employing staff on shifts, but a sole trader has to take time out. Even if you stick with just the top five markets -- US, Euro, Britain, Australia, Japan and Switzerland -- you have 15 pairs of currencies to monitor in 4 different time zones. And sometimes big money can be made on the more volatile minor currencies. If you want to have any kind of life away from your computer without missing out on the majority of opportunities, see your kids and save your marriage, the best way to manage this is by receiving alerts.

Currency Trading Investment Techniques

I wanted to take the time and talk to you about currency trading investment techniques. There is a lot of money to be made in this $3 trillion dollar a day market, but if you don't have a strong knowledge of investing than you're really jumping into rough waters without a life jacket. It is estimated that an overwhelming majority of people that enter this market are losing money and they lose for the simple reason that they jump right in without knowing how to protect themselves from a loss. I've been doing this for a few years now, so I'll share a little of what I learned.



Your broker is the most important part of trading. It is the middleman. It holds your money and it is the gatekeeper. Having the best quality broker will take a lot of headaches and anxiety away. The first point I want to make is that all brokers are not equal. There are a lot out there that are of poor quality and some which are just scams. You need to do the necessary research to find a broker that is of quality and meets your needs. The best thing you can do is use online forex forums to read about brokers. These forums are typically full of currency trading investment talk, but there are a lot about brokers.

Forex and Forex Brokering - The Cheapest Way to Transfer Money Overseas

The foreign exchange market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. This is an international exchange market where simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another is done. Currencies are traded in pairs, for example Euro/US Dollars (EUR/USD) or US Dollars/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). It is by far the largest market in the world, in terms of cash value traded and includes trading between large banks, central banks, multinational corporations, governments and other financial market and institutions.

The foreign exchange market is unique because of its trading volume, the extreme liquidity of the market (i.e. price stability even with the fastest buying or selling), the large number and variety of traders in the market, its geographical dispersion, its long trading hours (24 hours a day - except weekends) and the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.

The minimum trading size in this market is usually $1 million, with an overall trading volume of about $1.9 trillion per day worldwide. Buying and Selling of currencies is basically for two reasons. About 5% of daily turnover is from companies and governments that buy or sell products and services in a foreign country or must convert profits made in foreign currencies into their domestic currency. The other 95% is mostly for profit. In fact, this market has the potential to earn almost $100,000 with an initial capital of only $500!

The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume. These are Deutsche Bank (17%), UBS (12.5%), Citigroup (7.5%), HSBC (6.4%), Barclays (5.9%), Merrill Lynch (5.7%), J.P. Morgan Chase (5.3%), Goldman Sachs (4.4%), ABN AMRO (4.2%), Morgan Stanley (3.9%). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually only 1-3 pips. One pip is the smallest measure of price move used in forex trading and refers to 1/10,000 of the bid/ask spread. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203 (i.e. 3 pips difference).

Although the banks get the least and most stable bid/ask spread they never offer the same rates to their customers, since their key purpose of participating in this market is for profit.

Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.2045 dollar. According to April 2004's BIS (Bank for International Settlement) study, the most heavily traded products were: EUR/USD (28 %), USD/JPY (17 %) GBP/USD (14 %). The US currency was involved in 89% of transactions, followed by the euro (37%), the yen (20%) and sterling (17%) - (Note that volume percentages should add up to 200% - 100% for all the sellers, and 100% for all the buyers). Although trading in the euro has grown considerably since the currency's creation in January 1999, the foreign exchange market is thus still largely dollar-centred. For instance, trading the euro versus a non-European currency ZZZ will usually involve two trades: EUR/USD and USD/ZZZ. The only exception to this is EUR/JPY, which is an established traded currency pair in the inter-bank market.

According to the BIS study, 53% of transactions were strictly inter-dealer (i.e. inter-bank), 33% involved a dealer (i.e. a bank) and a fund manager or some other non-bank financial institution, and only 14% were between a dealer and a non-financial company. The inter-bank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account.

On the other hand, retail forex brokers handle a minute fraction of the total volume of the foreign exchange market, estimated at $25-50 billion daily, which is about 2% of the whole market. In the retail forex industry market makers more often than not run two separate trading desks- one that they use to actually trade foreign exchange (essentially serving as a proprietary trading desk or "non-dealing desk") and one that is set up for the expressed purpose of off-exchange trading with retail customers (called the "dealing desk" or "trading desk"). The dealing desk operates much like the currency exchange counter at a bank. Inter-bank exchange rates, those coming in from the inter-bank system and displayed at the non-dealing desk, are adjusted to incorporate spreads that safeguard the bank's (in this instance the market maker's) profit before they are displayed in the lobby (at the dealing desk) to the retail customer. Dealing desk pricing is, therefore, not a direct reflection of the currency exchange but artificial pricing created and controlled by the originating broker.

Find the Best Broker of Foreign Exchange

Foreign exchange refers to exchanging of money in one currency for another which is traded on foreign exchange market or forex. Having an average daily trade of US$ 2 trillion and above, forex is the largest trading market in the world. Everyday new investors are jumping in forex to earning substantial profits. It’s good till they garner high return on investment but what if they tumbled down in the very first effort? Well, it may happen; especially when one is not at all exposed to the odds and calculated risks of foreign exchange. Therefore, it is suggested to move with a broker of forex, who knows foreign exchange more than him. Now how to hire an honest broker of forex? You may get the answer below:

Before hiring a forex broker make sure you know his job well i.e., for what he is assigned and how much he can do for you. Your expectation should be in tune with the experience of your broker. You may find a broker of the forex market, who is chic and cool with a long list of satisfied customers. But it’s not what you want from him. Before hiring a broker of forex, you should check out the spread of the forex broker. Go through his terms and agreements. Have an insight into the stipulations of service.

Embracing a broker who promises no risk may lead you to loss. You should not go after words of such brokers as forex involves certain amount of risks because of the nature of the market. Add to this, while selecting a broker of forex or foreign exchange market, see whether the broker has mini account or not. Mini account is designed for newcomers in the online currency trading and those who have limited investment capital.

Before selecting a broker of forex market, check out the leverage option. Leverage can be expressed as a ratio that held between total capital which is available to be traded and your actual capital. Also try to find out a broker of forex market, who has expertise in offering best resources and information about foreign exchange. A good broker of foreign exchange should offer real time news, website support, meticulous data interpretation service, updated charts, technical analysis to name a few.

Forex is the largest market marked for its geographical dispersion and 24 hour activity. Your broker should also offer you 24 hour support. He should know the demand of foreign exchange and need of urgent trade agreements of forex. Check out all possible support systems offered by the broker of the forex market.

Forex Brokers - 9 Essential Points to Consider When you Open an Account

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.

Currency Exchange Concerns

One of the country's leading economists, and Investment Editor of the Financial Times, John Authers says, "That the chances of an acute recession have receded significantly..."

Plus to the advantage of our economy and unstable currency is benefited by the chances of a recession in the US falling. Although the market isn't stable, varying prominent economists have all suggested there are suggestions of a slight improvement. In previous times leading up to a recession there has been different signals. In 2000 the ISM has fallen to 41 and a decade previous to 39.2.

Such credit squeezes on the banking systems affect our currency exchange rates; and therefore any subsequent overseas spending.

In business, such a poor exchange rate means that exports become so much more expensive. However individual clients on a personal level will find that there are two downfalls, either of which is when we exchange our money into other currencies.

For those who travel there is an upside and a downside. For those choosing to travel to Europe will find a downside as their purchase of holiday spends into Euros will be drastically reduced if compared to previous years. Those traveling to the US will discover the upside and their pound will get them more dollars.

The other downside is for those individuals choosing this year to re-locate into Europe, more especially those countries that have adopted the euro. Imagine for one moment those with a £100,000... In July of 2007 they would get around 142,000 Euros; today however they would only get 122,000 euros. That's a difference of 20,000 Euros. That of course could be the difference between 2nd or a third bedroom, or a finca and a small apartment.

Currency Brokers have seen an upsurge in business, in a natural way, as people find a need to work harder in getting the best out of their money. Our High Street Banks, although they do change large amounts of currency, cannot compete with the Currency Broker. Lower overheads and fewer staff help to trim off their costs.

Currency Brokers charge less than 1% as opposed to the hefty 3 to 4% charged by the banks. This may not sound much until you consider exchanging £100,000; that would be a nice 'shareholders meeting bubbly session' costing almost £4,000, if you catch my humour.

Forex Scalping

There are many day traders who go in for FOREX scalping trading several times a day and trying to get out with small profits which will add up over time.

This form of hit and run trading is more popular than ever.

Let’s look at how it works.

Well firstly, it doesn’t work at all and will doom your trading to failure – Any trader who day trades or tries to scalp profits loses – PERIOD.

Here we will explain why.

Data is meaningless.

If you are studying charts you need to get the odds in your favour.

This is of course not possible in day trading as all volatility is random and prices can and do go anywhere.

This is obvious when you have millions of people trading trillions of dollars daily.

If you don’t have data that can help you get the odds in your favour then it is pointless applying any technical indicator.

Moving averages, support and resistance and pivot points which are useful tools for longer term trading simply don’t work in day trading.

There only good tools if you feed them with the right data! And day trading doesn’t do that.

Scalping the market is doomed to failure and it’s made even worse by the fact it ignores the fundamental rule of investing:

Run your profits to cover your inevitable losses.

You are going to have losses even the top traders have them, but you must keep them small and day trading or scalping FOREX markets does this and it of course has a lot of them!

FOREX scalping by its very nature doesn’t run profits.

So what do you end up with?

When Searching for a Forex Broker

Forex brokers are valuable to those that wish to enter into a forex currency trading. With the advent of online businesses assisted by the technology of the Internet, online forex brokers are popping up like plants in the World Wide Web because of the ease and inexpensive ways of establishing a corporate appearance. If you are a novice forex trader, you need a very good broker at your side. However, with so many of them to choose from, what should you look for in a broker?

First, brokers should offer competitive spreads, or the difference between the selling and buying prices of a certain currency. Good forex brokers offer anywhere between 3 and 5 pips, the ideal spreads that can make sure you are gaining from your investment. Avoid as much as possible those brokers that offer variable spreads, as you may find a spread that suddenly widens during a busy market, which is where you would gain money, but only if the market is bullish.

Another good indication of a reliable broker is one who uses a secure online connection to take payments and funding for your forex currency account. This ensures smooth trading, because you don’t have to make time-consuming e-commerce transactions just to get money into your account, and another transaction to transfer profits to your bank account. Remember, you don’t only trade, but you also have to look at forex brokers’ data in order to make decisions. You don’t have the time to make time-consuming transactions in between.

Next, as a way to maximize your potential profits when engaging in the trade, you need to have a broker that will grant a leverage of about 200:1. This is the ideal leverage that forex brokers should have; however, there are some that offer higher leverages. These leverages even reach 400:1 as a maximum, offering your higher potential profits from your forex currency trade.

Of course, you should not be paying brokers extra charges beside the forex currency spread. This is where brokers earn money, and nothing else. Avoid those brokers that charge brokerage commissions because by law, these brokers are not allowed to make charges such as these commissions as well as anything else. You should only be paying for the information they give you, and that is the currency spread.

Of course, there is the unspoken rule of verifying the legitimacy of your broker. By law, all brokers are required to register with the Futures Commission Merchant. Check with this agency if any potential brokers you have in mind have a record in their database. You can also check if there is any derogatory information in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the agency regulating forex brokers, before you entrust your forex currency trading with any of them.

The Important Role of Brokers

Mortgage broker: mortgage brokers guide customers through the process of selecting a suitable mortgage package with competitive package offers. They also offer financial advice on mortgage and property. Their job is to find a mortgage package that meets the borrower's needs, and to help the client process and complete their mortgage application form. In the United States, mortgage brokers negotiate over 80% of home loans issued. Banks go through brokers to effectively outsource the job of finding and qualifying borrowers.

Real estate broker: real estate brokers finds buyers for those wanting to sell real estate and finds sellers for those wanting to buy real estate. Real estate brokers help sellers market their property and sell it for the highest possible price; they also help buyers purchase property for the best possible price. Once the broker successfully finds a buyer, the real estate broker receives a commission for his or her service. In the U.S. a 6% commission is usually the case for residential real estate and is usually paid by the seller. This is generally split 50/50 between the listing agent and the selling agent.

Forex broker: forex brokers are firms or individuals, who assist individuals or firms to trade in the foreign exchange market. Forex brokers make money from pip or "spread." A spread is the minimum price increase in currency. For instance, in Euro/US Dollar, a shift from 0.9007 to 0.9008 is one spread. In US Dollar/Japanese Yen, a shift from 127.40 to 127.41 is one spread.

Stockbroker: a stockbroker is a person or company who buys and sells stocks on behalf of another person or company, and tries to match up buyers and sellers. Many people seek the advice of and pay for the services of a stockbroker to help them in making informed decisions about their finances with the knowledgeable and interactive guidance of a licensed stockbroker.

Insurance broker: insurance brokers source contracts of insurance on behalf of their customers. An insurance broker will help you to choose the best to fit your needs.

An investor looking for an investment avenue will benefit greatly from using a broker, as brokers tend to be more up-to-date with trends and happenings in the market. Also as per law the broker has a fiduciary duty to advise the customer in the customer's best interest.

Forex - Forex Trading 101 - A Basic Understanding

he Forex market has been available to individual traders for nearly ten years now. In the past, it was only available to large financial institutions, such as banks, big companies, multi-national corporations and top currency dealers. However, now that it's open to individual traders, it's become a hot topic that many new traders are eager to learn more about.

So what is it? Forex is short for foreign exchange. Forex trading is trading in the currencies of the world through the Forex market, which is the largest financial market in the world. In fact, it generates trillions of dollars of currency exchanges everyday.

In addition, it operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making it the most liquid market in the world. Though trading starts in Sydney and ends in New York, Forex trading is not centralized in a single location. This means you can trade in Forex market whenever you wish, regardless of the local time. A big advantage for traders, especially for those in search of optimal liquidity.

Trading in Forex requires trades to done in pairs. When you purchase a currency, you sell another currency at the same time. The most commonly traded currency pairs in the Forex market are: USD/GBP, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, and GBP/USD. As you can see, each currency is represented by three letters. USD is the United States dollar. GBP is the British pound sterling. JPY is the Japanese yen. CHF is the Swiss franc.

The first three letters of a currency pair represent the currency you used for the investment, while the last three letters represent the currency in which you invested. For example, USD/GBP means you used United States dollars to purchase British pound sterlings.

To get started in the Forex market, you'll need a computer with a high speed internet connection, a funded Forex account, and a trading system. Most individual Forex traders will also use a broker, an individual or company that offers assistance to the trading process.

A broker earns his money off a small commission from your trades. In addition, although he'll be trading your funded account, all decisions will remain yours, assuming that's your wish. Here's what else a Forex broker can do for you:

- Offer you advice regarding real time quotes.
- Offer you advice on what to buy or sell based on news feeds.
- Trade your funded account basing solely on his or her decision if that's your wish.
- Provide you with software data to help you with your trading decisions.

Many experts say that you'll never really understand how Forex works until you've traded in the market. To help you gain this experience without having to risk your money, you can set up a demo account at many of the Forex educational sites available on the Internet. You can also invest a modest amount for a Forex simulator, which allows you to explore a never-ending variety of market conditions and see the impact they've had on currencies in the past.

There's no question Forex offers the trader the opportunity to earn a boat load of money. However, as with any other form of trading, and particularly because this is such a liquid market, it does have its risk. No trader will make money on every trade, and even seasoned traders can get caught and face substantial loses if they aren't careful and wise.

Regulated Forex Brokers

Are you considering a career as a regulated Forex broker? Forex brokers work in the ever changing field of foreign currency, making millions for their customers. They also earn quite a bit of money in commissions for themselves, betting on which countries exchange rates are going to rise or fall in the future.

Who Regulates Forex Brokers?

Since Forex brokers work throughout the world in numerous different countries and cities, no single agency regulates all Forex brokers. Instead, brokers are regulated through the local brokerage regulation agency in their respective home countries. Hence, U.S. Forex brokers are regulated by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the Office of the Comptroller of that currency.

Forex brokers located in Japan are regulated through the Financial Services Agency, while Forex brokers in Iraq are regulated by the Iraq Securities Commission.

What Rules Cover Forex Traders?

Trading on foreign exchanges is very different than trading on the NYSE or the Nasdaq. The rules for Forex trading are made by the National Futures Association. The majority of trades involve the major currencies: The American, Australian, and Canadian dollars; The Euro, British Pound, the Japanese Yen, and so on.

National Futures Association

Regulations such as these are set forth in the National Futures Association Retail Off Exchange Foreign Currency Rules. Included in these rules is information about assessments as well as dues, requirements for managing a Forex account, obligations of assignees, and an assortment of additional situations that arise throughout the course of trading.

The online website of the National Futures Association carries a wealth of information for the starting Forex broker as well as Forex Investor. There you will learn rules that govern Forex traders; Forex investor alerts; Forex requirements for reporting, notices to Forex members, notice of judgments interpreting the rules, as well as other resources for individuals who wish to learn more about Forex.

The website also furnishes links to resources for electronic filings needed to establish and maintain a Forex brokerage: promotional materials, exemptions, Forex reporting, complaints, and the annual questionnaire.

Be Wary of Unregulated Brokers

An increasingly pervasive problem that investors need to aware of is Forex fraud. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approximates that customers have lost over $395 million dollars in fraudulent Forex schemes.

What are Your Options Regarding Forex Options Brokers?

Forex option brokers can generally be divided into two separate categories: forex brokers who offer online forex option trading platforms and forex brokers who only broker forex option trading via telephone trades placed through a dealing/brokerage desk. A few forex option brokers offer both online forex option trading as well a dealing/brokerage desk for investors who prefer to place orders through a live forex option broker.

The trading account minimums required by different forex option brokers vary from a few thousand dollars to over fifty thousand dollars. Also, forex option brokers may require investors to trade forex options contracts having minimum notional values (contract sizes) up to $500,000. Last, but not least, certain types of forex option contracts can be entered into and exited at any time while other types of forex option contracts lock you in until expiration or settlement. Depending on the type of forex option contract you enter into, you might get stuck the wrong way with an option contract that you can not trade out of. Before trading, investors should inquire with their forex option brokers about initial trading account minimums, required contract size minimums and contract liquidity.

There are a number of different forex option trading products offered to investors by forex option brokers. We believe it is extremely important for investors to understand the distinctly different risk characteristics of each of the forex option trading products mentioned below that are offered by firms that broker forex options.

Plain Vanilla Forex Options Broker - Plain vanilla options generally refer to standard put and call option contracts traded through an exchange (however, in the case of forex option trading, plain vanilla options would refer to the standard, generic option contracts that are traded through an over-the-counter (OTC) forex dealer or clearinghouse). In simplest terms, vanilla forex options would be defined as the buying or selling of a standard forex call option contract or forex put option contract.

There are only a few forex option broker/dealers who offer plain vanilla forex options online with real-time streaming quotes 24 hours a day. Most forex option brokers and banks only broker forex options via telephone. Vanilla forex options for major currencies have good liquidity and you can easily enter the market long or short, or exit the market any time day or night.

Vanilla forex option contracts can be used in combination with each other and/or with spot forex contracts to form a basic strategy such as writing a covered call, or much more complex forex trading strategies such as butterflies, strangles, ratio spreads, synthetics, etc. Also, plain vanilla options are often the basis of forex option trading strategies known as exotic options.

Exotic Forex Options Broker - First, it is important to note that there a couple of different forex definitions for "exotic" and we don't want anyone getting confused. The first definition of a forex "exotic" refers to any individual currency that is less broadly traded than the major currencies. The second forex definition for "exotic" is the one we refer to on this website - a forex option contract (trading strategy) that is a derivative of a standard vanilla forex option contract.

To understand what makes an exotic forex option "exotic," you must first understand what makes a forex option "non-vanilla." Plain vanilla forex options have a definitive expiration structure, payout structure and payout amount. Exotic forex option contracts may have a change in one or all of the above features of a vanilla forex option. It is important to note that exotic options, since they are often tailored to a specific's investor's needs by an exotic forex options broker, are generally not very liquid, if at all.

Exotic forex options are generally traded by commercial and institutional investors rather than retail forex traders, so we won't spend too much time covering exotic forex options brokers. Examples of exotic forex options would include Asian options (average price options or "APO's"), barrier options (payout depends on whether or not the underlying reaches a certain price level or not), baskets (payout depends on more than one currency or a "basket" of currencies), binary options (the payout is cash-or-nothing if underlying does not reach strike price), lookback options (payout is based on maximum or minimum price reached during life of the contract), compound options (options on options with multiple strikes and exercise dates), spread options, chooser options, packages and so on. Exotic options can be tailored to a specific trader's needs, therefore, exotic options contract types change and evolve over time to suit those ever-changing needs.

Since exotic forex options contracts are usually specifically tailored to an individual investor, most of the exotic options business in transacted over the telephone through forex option brokers. There are, however, a handful of forex option brokers who offer "if touched" forex options or "single payment" forex options contracts online whereby an investor can specify an amount he or she is willing to risk in exchange for a specified payout amount if the underlying price reaches a certain strike price (price level). These transactions offered by legitimate online forex brokers can be considered a type of "exotic" option. However, we have noticed that the premiums charged for these types of contracts can be higher than plain vanilla option contracts with similar strike prices and you can not sell out of the option position once you have purchased this type of option - you can only attempt to offset the position with a separate risk management strategy. As a trade-off for getting to choose the dollar amount you want to risk and the payout you wish to receive, you pay a premium and sacrifice liquidity. We would encourage investors to compare premiums before investing in these kinds of options and also make sure the brokerage firm is reputable.

Again, it is fairly easy and liquid to enter into an exotic forex option contract but it is important to note that depending on the type of exotic option contract, there may be little to no liquidity at all if you wanted to exit the position.

Firms Offering Forex Option "Betting" - A number of new firms have popped up over the last year offering forex "betting." Though some may be legitimate, a number of these firms are either off-shore entities or located in some other remote location. We generally do not consider these to be forex brokerage firms. Many do not appear to be regulated by any government agency and we strongly suggest investors perform due diligence before investing with any forex betting firms. Invest at your own risk with these firms.

Forex broker, learn about currency trading brokers

brForex Broker

There are now hundreds of online forex brokers available. You can actually search on any search engine and receive numerous results. Most forex brokers offer practically the same tools and may differ only very minimally in the processing fees. What you will be required to do is to open an account with a forex broker and deposit money into that account. Some would offer free trading advice while others would let you try trading in a simulated forex currency market with a practice account of $50,000.

A forex broker will usually also offer basic lessons on online trading or maybe give training through email. A good broker will often have 24-hour customer service which ensures that the technical glitches that might arise will be fixed immediately, especially since currency trading is such a fast-paced endeavor.

It would also be beneficial if you make sure that the forex broker has a reliable security system because if you succeed in online trading, sooner or later you might be trading in high volumes and it would be unfortunate if this will be lost due to lack of security.
Our pick for the Best Forex Broker is Easy Forex they meet all of the above criteria and more.

They offer:

* Live training, with one-on-one help
* Personal account management
* Start trading in less than 5 minutes
* Start trading with as little as US$25
* Credit Card or PayPal use for instant Deposit
* Guaranteed Stop-Loss Rate
* Freeze the Rate you see (Freeze&Trade)
* No hidden costs, Competitive spreads
* Special Terms for frequent traders
* No download to software
* Live Quotes, real-time
* Full Transparency
* Security and Safety

Forex Trading Analysis

Many believe that with the advent of the internet, online trading has become much simpler. On the contrary, forex currency trading has only become much more complicated with the many participants all over the globe and the fluctuating currencies of different nations. Even the economy has become more unpredictable. What is true is that anyone can jump into the forex currency trading market but there are no guarantees as of success.

A forex trader buys currency with the expectation that its value will eventually rise. When it does, it is wise to sell the currency or trade it. This picture is simple enough to grasp but once you actually get into forex trading, you will see how complicated it becomes.

While success is almost never guaranteed, there are tools which can help you get ahead of the millions who have joined the forex market.

Forex Trading Systems offer software which may help in analyzing the trends in the currency market. There are several kinds of systems. Some offer free and up-to-date news on currency trends while others organize historical data into simplified charts which can show you the trends and behavior of the market. After a while, when you have become accustomed to the patterns in the currency market and you that there are lesser risks if you go by your own routine, you can use platforms with which you can automate your buy or sell instructions so that you would not have to be in front of the computer all the time.
Forex Basics

More than anything, to ensure that you will not be left behind by your fellow forex traders, you must have a reliable internet connection and reliable computer. Remember that online trading is fast paced. Changes often occur in seconds and it will be to your disadvantage if you are held back by internet down time or worse, a computer crash. Make sure that your computer is protected from hackers and viruses.

In forex currency trading, the time you would take for changing connections or computers would always be considered wasted time. Before getting into the forex market, make sure that you can depend on the basic tools you use.

So with a reliable forex broker, a good trading system, a dependable Internet connection and a stable computer you are well on your way to making your millions in the forex market.

Forex.com aka gain capital group-Forex Brokers

Welcome, my friends.

I`ll start reviewing with Forex.com.

From their site:

FOREX.com … division of GAIN Capital Group, one of the most respected online forex trading firms in the industry. The company’s flagship service, GAIN Capital, is used by institutional investors, professional money managers and experienced day traders from over 140 countries.

I can not agree that forex.com is one of the most respected online forex trading firms. After investigated a lot of sites found that there a lot of unsatisfied traders:

…This is the worst trading platform I have ever used. For starters the layout is appalling and account transaction statements won’t work. The java edition is very unstable, crashing every other minute. Secondly, execution of orders is slow and you are only successful after several attempts. Thirdly when I tried phoning them I was waiting for half an hour before I gave up, nobody answered the phone. Their live chat is useful but they’ll give you a phone number and then when you try it they’ll say there are problems with that line, duh! Fourthly, their 5 pip spread on GBP! Don’t waste your time and money with them…

…First experience in FX was with them. Absolutely horrid platform. Of dealing desk brokers, hard to get any worse, only ACM lies with them at the bottom of the barrel. Their rollover policies royally suck and they have all the disadvantages of a dealing desk broker with none of the advantages…

and 2 positive:

…I have traded equities and currencies for the last 15 years, I recently added Forex trading to the fold. I open my first account with FXCM and never even entered a trade. They have a rule which prohibits entering limit orders at or near the current buy/sell price. After checking out several other firms I learned this was a common practice. I had heard a lot of shady things about Forex but this was unbelievable, talk about stacking the card in the houses favor. I then began to search around to see if this was industry standard. Luckily it was not I came across Forex.com. There service has been outstanding from opening the account, to trading the account. Yes there platform is a little primitive but who really relies on there platform for trade ideas, for that matter I don’t really even think that the pip spread matters either. I looked at the spread calculator on ONA! DA, that is completely misleading because the only thing that matters is what price you actually buy and sell your position. In trading you are either right or wrong. When you are right you need to make more then when you are wrong or you won’t be trading very long. What matters is that the pip spread is representative of the real market. Anyway the reason I am so happy with them is that they allow me to enter limit orders, stop orders, stop limit orders, or cancel other (OCO, and If then orders. All of these orders can be entered at any price I choose. They also give me Advanced Get which is an e-signal program which include e-signal data that is a compilation of over 200 banks and brokers best prices. They give me the tools to see the real market and don’t block me from entering my orders at the presice place and time in the market. I don’t know what else a trader could ask for. By the way I have not had a margin call yet, but according to what they tell me is that it is all done by there computer system. They are from the east coast and I bet if Felix argued enough they would have eaten that error. In my 15 years of trading I have had plenty of error and bad fills. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. Don’t let it get to you.

- second one i can`t find at this moment

GAIN Capital Group is pleased to offer individual investors access to its award-winning trading platform and professional-level services via FOREX.com.

FOREX.com is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (NFA ID #0339826) and a member of the National Futures Association. As an FCM, FOREX.com is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), must uphold the highest standards and business practices and is subject to strict financial requirements and reporting. Interested parties can visit the NFA web site at any time to review FOREX.com’s record as an NFA member in good standing…”

Spread Questions for Forex Brokers

Transparency with respect to spreads enables you to understand not only what you are paying, but under what circumstances and why. It will quickly reveal the presence-or absence-of value. The following is a list of questions to help frame your evaluation of forex brokers with respect to spreads. OANDA's answers to these questions are included below.

Question List

• What are the typical spreads?
• Are the spreads fixed or variable?
  • If fixed, are there any exceptions to the fixed-spread policy?
  • Are there any restrictions on trading or entering orders around news announcements?
• Do the spreads differ depending on ticket size?
• Do all clients on your platform get the same spreads, all of the time?
  • Are there clients who get rebates or volume discounts?
• Does a portion of the spread for any client go to anyone other than the firm?
• Or more generally: does anyone other than the firm itself get paid as a result of your trading activity?
• Does the firm have an open, uncensored forum where their clients can post trading experiences?
• How does the demo platform differ from the real platform in terms of execution and spreads?
• What is the minimum to open an account, and what is the minimum trade size?

Explanations and OANDA's answers

What are the typical spreads?

Not just for one or two of the more popular currency pairs, but for all of them. You don't want to be constrained from trading new pairs later on. "Loss-leader" pricing has no place in forex markets.

	OANDA's response: At time of writing (October, 2005), typical OANDA FXTrade spreads are: EUR/USD: 1.5 pips USD/JPY: 2 pips USD/CAD: 4 pips USD/CHF: 3 pips EUR/GBP: 1.5 pips etc. OANDA is committed to offering the lowest spreads possible, so expect them to tighten even more in the future. You can always find the spreads in effect for the previous seven days for all traded currency pairs on the Recent OANDA FXTrade Spread page.

Are the spreads fixed or variable?

The interbank forex market has variable spreads. If you are trading fixed spreads you are in effect paying for an insurance premium -unless you trade only around news when markets tend to be more volatile --- since fixed spreads are traditionally higher than variable spreads.. Is it worth it? That depends on your trading pattern.

	OANDA's response: OANDA has variable spreads. As in the interbank forex market, during times when liquidity is tight, spreads will widen dynamically. This typically occurs around news announcements but can also happen during off-market hours. OANDA FXTrade allows you to trade all weekend, but spreads will be significantly wider then since liquidity will be almost non-existent.

If the spreads are fixed, then you should also ask:

Are there any exceptions to the fixed-spread policy? Any at all?

If you read the fine print, there may be. And if so, you are paying for insurance without getting full coverage. Make sure the exceptions are clearly spelled out. Precisely. And find out when the policy on exceptions last changed to gage how frequently the rules change.

Are there any restrictions on trading or entering orders around news announcements?

Again, if there are, then what are you paying insurance for? Make sure any restrictions or conditions are spelled out.

	OANDA's response: No. On OANDA FXTrade there are no restrictions on trading or entering orders around news releases.

Do the spreads differ depending on ticket size?

In the interbank market, spreads are wider for larger ticket sizes. When you review typical spreads it is important to understand for what ticket sizes the spreads apply. And if spreads differ depending on ticket size, find out what the typical spreads are for different ticket sizes. All too often, brokers offering matching platforms display very tight spreads, but these spreads apply only to very small ticket sizes.

	OANDA's response: On OANDA FXTrade all spreads are the same, whether the ticket size is $1 or $10M or anything in between. (FXTrade does not support ticket sizes above $10M at this time; in order to trade larger amounts, trades must be split into tickets of $10M maximum.)

Do all clients on your platform get the same spreads, all of the time?

Or does the spread depend on who you are, how large your account is, or who introduced you to the broker?

	OANDA's response: OANDA does not discriminate among clients: all clients trading on FXTrade at the same time get the same spread.

Even if everyone gets the same spread, ask:

Are there clients who get rebates or volume discounts?

If so, guess who is paying for the rebates.

If different clients get different spreads, then find out what you have to do to join that privileged group that gets a better spread.

	OANDA's response: On FXTrade, everyone gets the same spread. Period. No one gets any form of rebate or volume discount. Instead, we work on reducing the spread further for everyone.

Does a portion of the spread for any client go to anyone other than the firm?

Forex brokers frequently agree to pay third parties-such as introducing brokers and sales agents-a portion of the spread on your trading activity. While some firms argue that introducing brokers are not really getting a portion of the spread, don't be fooled. Ask if the introducing broker is being paid in direct proportion to your trading activity.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this practice, but it is a fact worth knowing. Only then can you decide if the introducing broker is providing enough added value for the amount you are (indirectly) paying him. And you should also ask if you could get better spreads by cutting out this middleman and trading directly.

	OANDA's response: The spreads on OANDA FXTrade are already very tight, often tighter than the interbank market spreads, so there is no room to give anyone a piece of the spread. In particular, OANDA does not pay introducing brokers, sales agents or anyone else any portion of the spread.

Or more generally: Does anyone other than the firm itself get paid as a result of your trading activity?

You'd be surprised, but some firms pay their traders and sales agents in proportion to the firm's profit on your trades: a nice conflict of interest that raises inevitable questions about quality of execution.

	OANDA's response: OANDA does not pay any third party as a result of your trading on FXTrade.

Does the firm have an open, uncensored forum where their clients can post trading experiences?

Open, uncensored forums are a good place to get an initial understanding of what existing clients think of the broker's platform and quality of execution. It is important to have access to all posts for at least the last 12 months. If this sort of information is not available, ask why not. And note that "chat rooms" are something different, typically because their purpose is not to warehouse the historical information you need.

But beware: since the Internet allows for anonymity, it is often very difficult to determine who is really behind a post. How do you separate real concerns, real problems, and real compliments from, say, posts by agents working on behalf of a particular broker?

There are some generally recognized guidelines. Note the total number of posts made by any individual, and read some of their previous posts to judge their credibility. Discount extreme comments by traders who are new members or who have posted only a few messages. These individuals are most likely guerilla marketers who blitz forums-sometimes overtly, at other times covertly.

	OANDA's response: Please see: http://fxtrade.oanda.com/resources/forums.shtml There you will find every complaint any client of ours has ever had. But you will also find many compliments and insightful comments. After reading several pages, you'll wonder why other firms don't have this.

How does the broker's demo platform differ from their real platform in terms of execution and spreads?

A demo platform can be useful to observe how prices and spreads vary under different market conditions. And it can give you an idea of how good the quality of execution is-but only if the demo platform behaves exactly the same as the real one. Beware: rejected trades, delayed execution, price-skewing and stop-hunting often happen only on the real platform. And sometimes, even spreads may be different.

Is there a time limit or "trial period" for using the demo platform? (One of the best uses of a demo platform is to test new trading strategies over time.)

	OANDA's response: OANDA takes every effort to make the demo platform, FXGame, and the real one, FXTrade, as similar as possible. In principle, the rates and the spreads are exactly the same. However, there are three differences you should be aware of: FXGame is used to test new software upgrades before the upgrades are released on FXTrade. At times the two platforms may support slightly different features. Because FXGame and FXTrade support different sets of users, the load on the two systems is different. Typically-but not always-FXGame has a higher load, increasing the possibility of delayed execution. FXGame and FXTrade are run out of different data centers; Internet connectivity to the two platforms may impose delays that are not uniform. Note that FXGame is one of the few demo platforms you can use as long as you like. And opening an FXGame account will not result in any sales calls or spam emails.

What is the minimum to open an account, and what is the minimum trade size?

Unfortunately, the only way to truly test quality of execution is to try the real thing. Some brokers will impose a minimum account opening balance or require a minimum trade size and as a result testing a platform can be prohibitively expensive.

	OANDA's response: The minimum amount required to open an FXTrade account is $1, and the minimum trade size is also $1. And trading $1 gets you the same spread as trading $100,000 or $1M or $10M. Opening an account with $1 probably doesn't make much sense, but you can get a realistic sense of FXTrade's quality of execution and real spread behavior with as little as $100.

Asking tough questions and carefully sorting the answers can tell you a lot about a broker.