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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Want To Learn Forex ?

Investments & Trading

Want To Learn Forex ? By J. Foley

It isn’t hard to learn forex, but it does take time and dedication. The principles involved are fairly easy from a mathematical standpoint, and the basic way that the system works is straightforward enough once it’s been explained to you. But the details and nuances of the market can make it daunting.

The first step as you set out to learn forex should be to do some basic reading on how the foreign exchange market works. The foreign exchange Wikipedia article is good basic reading, and there are plenty of Web sites that offer overviews to help you learn the fundamentals.

Plenty of books have been written on the topic, some of which will help you and some of which just want your money. Try the public library first: Books are free, and if they’re in the library, they were probably published by legitimate publishing houses with legitimate editors and researchers. The information will be more reliable than something you get from a Web site where a guy wants you to buy his e-book.

After that, you have a number of options, all of which will help in different ways. You can make your choice depending on what your own learning process is usually like, whether you’re a visual learner or prefer written instruction, for example.

There are many forex seminars held in major cities, sometimes for free. In these, experienced traders offer tips and strategies to new traders trying to learn forex for the first time.

There are also online courses available, which you can take at your own pace over the course of several weeks. These almost always cost money, and the quality varies. (Remember, you usually get what you pay for.) Some of these courses come from brokers who want you to learn the system so you can start trading with their companies, so it’s in their own best interest to train you well.

You should also consider a demo account, which can help you practice through a realistic simulation of currency trading. You get the full experience of trading without any of the financial risk.

Many firms also offer mini forex accounts, which are real accounts with real money, only with much smaller amounts. For example, instead of a minimum starting investment of $1,000, the minimum might be only $100. This lets you learn forex through actual hands-on practice, but with a risk that is much smaller than usual. You can quickly see if you’re cut out for trading or if it’s just not in your constitution to handle the emotional roller coaster.

Once you learn, forex can be fun and exciting, not to mention financially lucrative. It is necessary to learn, though, and not just jump in blindly.

Learn How To Trade Nasdaq, Nyse Or Any Other Volatile Stock Market!


Article Written By J. Foley

Saturday, February 09, 2008

The Buttonwood Agreement – The Forerunner To The NYSE

Investments & Trading

The Buttonwood Agreement – The forerunner to the NYSE By J. Foley

When we think of the current New York Stock Exchange, images come to mind of the Big Board, ticker tape and incredible amounts of stress. But it didn’t always use to be that way. There was a time when a group of men met under a shady tree in the spring to found what would become one of the most powerful and well known exchanges in the world.

The story of the Buttonwood Agreement actually goes back even further than 1792. Two years earlier, then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (pre-duel) issued a then staggering amount of $80 million in war bonds to help pay for the rising costs of the Revolutionary War. It would be these bonds that would play a key role in the founding of the Buttonwood Agreement.

A major reason for the founding of the Buttonwood Agreement was that securities trading in New York City at that time was a bit disorganized. Auctioneers would deal in commodity trading, land speculation and foreign currency exchange, but the Buttonwood Agreement sought to organize and streamline the trading so that it could be done in one place.

Two years later, on May 17, 1792, a group of 24 prominent New York City business men met outside of 68 Wall Street in lower Manhattan and put together the Buttonwood Agreement. With a simple two-sentence contract, they formed the New York Stock & Exchange Board and the first securities to be traded were those very war bonds that Alexander Hamilton had issued two years prior. The first company to be listed on the new exchange was the bank of New York. The original home for the new stock & exchange board would be the Tontine Coffee House, which was owned by Hugh Smith, one of the 24 founding members. Other founding members included well known New York business men such as Charles McEvers Jr, John Bush, Alexander Zuntz and Ephraim Hart.

In 1817, the adopted name of the New York Stock & Exchange Board was formally adopted, as well as a comprehensive constitution and bylaws, and later in 1863, this name was shortened to the name we know today, the New York Stock Exchange.

It’s amazing to consider that the billions of dollars that trade hands every day on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange started as a group of business men looking to organize colonial American commodity trading under a tree. But it’s true, and their legacy is felt every single day and it will continue to be felt for as long as the NYSE stands.
Learn How To Trade Nasdaq, Nyse Or Any Other Volatile Stock Market!

Article Written By J. Foley

Friday, February 01, 2008

A Good Forex trading Strategy Can Mean The Difference Between Failure And Success

Investment & Trading

A Good Forex trading Strategy Can Mean The Difference Between Failure And Success By J. Foley


No sane person would jump into the forex market blindly. You might as well set your money on fire if that’s what you’re going to do. Sensible investors study the market carefully first, learn the ins and outs of currency trading -- and even then, before they launch into it, they devise a smart forex trading strategy.

The market is constantly changing and is not always predictable, true. But you still need a strategy, one that allows for unknowns and surprises.

Your strategy should begin with how much money you can afford to lose. That may sound like a negative outlook -- after all, the goal is to MAKE money, not lose it -- but common sense tells you that the forex market is a gamble. There are precautions you can take that will make you less likely to lose your initial investment, but there’s no way to guarantee it. Your strategy must allow for the possibility that you’ll take a bath, and for that reason you should never invest more than you can afford to lose.

Another good tip for your trading strategy is to avoid putting all your investments in one currency. What’s the old saying about eggs and baskets? Yeah, don’t put ‘em all in one. Spreading them out makes it much, much less likely that you’ll be wiped out, the way you would if you relied on one currency and it bottomed out.

As you prepare your trading strategy, make yourself aware of what the market is doing right now. Is it trending upward, or downward? What’s the general mood among traders? They all have a strategy, too, and are eager to know what others are thinking.

Consider also what your timeline is. How long do you want to stay in the market before taking your profits and getting out?

Your strategy must also involve learning the timing of the business. Timing is everything: Too late or too early and your potential profit evaporates. As you learn to gauge the market and make trades at just the right time, your profits will increase. A good strategy will factor in this learning curve and allow for a few mistakes at first.

Above all, to prepared to accept surprises when it comes to forex trading. Strategy can only get you so far. The rest is ingenuity and a little bit of luck.

Article Written By J. Foley