Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Forex Expert Adivsers

There are plenty of automated forex trading systems available today, and the question we have to ask ourselves can we really turn a profit
with this systems? In short, the answer is yes, however we need to know what to look for in a quality forex robot.

One of the primary reasons traders fail is due to a lack of experience and misunderstanding of the psychological aspects of the market. There are more and more speculators popping up in the markets each and everyday trying to reach their trading goals in the forex market. Forex trading also involves a lot of risk and with that it requires one to have complete control along with excellent discipline. The problem is most traders, even the experienced ones either do not have the time to trade or cannot discipline themselves to follow a set of rules.
Fortunately for us, we've developed forex robots, or again, expert advisers that do the thinking and trading for us. Forex robots have many benefits and one is the robots ability to remove all human emotion from trading, thus enabling the system to make sound trading decisions based on a set of rules and indicators that have proven themselves overtime. Another benefit from expert advisers and forex robots is there ability to adapt to changing market conditions and to place trades even while you're away from the computer.

We have to ask ourselves, what does a good forex trading system look like? What are the key elements to a forex robot that can return consistent profitable results? A solid forex system will have a success rate of 60% or higher and the system will have the ability to adjust stop losses and targets accordingly to hit it's profit targets. A good forex system should be built around just a few currencies
rather than trying to cater to all major currencies. The reason being, each currency tends to have it's own predictable ranges and movement. It's almost impossible for a forex system to be able to cater to each currency, therefore the ones that stick to just a few tend to be the most successful.

A solid forex robot uses sound money management
and never over trades. Though it's good to find systems with a 60% success rate or higher, ultimately proper money management will allow you to maintain consistent returns even if you lose the majority of your trades. How is this possible? Using a risk to reward ration of 3:1 or better. Meaning, if you win 3x the amount you lose, than you can be wrong 40% of the time and still come out a profitable trader in the end.

There are plenty of forex systems and robots to choose from. The good ones are not hard to find and sometimes can be right under your nose. Make sure do your research.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

Tim Rohrer is an established forex trader and has achieved great success in the forex market. To learn more about automated trading systems and how to profit, visit forex systems

Trading Forex With A Mini Account

Forex, for the retail investor, things are totally different than the banks and institutions who trade with each other 24 hours per day on a daily basis and in the millions with actual transactions occuring (usually 2-3 days later also known as the Spot Value).

Investment banks will take out a credit check on each other, a bit like when a person applies for a mortgage. Whilst currency trades are placed and completed real-time either by computerised system or telephone, the actual transfer of funds happens a couple of days later.
However, with the retail forex trader, usually, the trade is only placed in the brokers books and no real transfer of funds occurs, although the retail investor is in effect trading with the banks at almost the same quotes and with a very similar spread these days.

So who is the forex broker and what is their relevence in the answer to this forex topic? The retail investor places their trades through the environment of the margin broker. Trades are placed in real time and via a trader who receives the order from the investor, either buy (long), sell (short) or close position.

The broker not only allows retail investors to trade forex live with the banks, but also provides a system of leverage. This means that the broker only requires a deposit to represent the amount of currency a person wants to control, so long as the deposit is enough to cover any losses that might be incurred by the trade.

Take for example a margin leverage of 100:1 given to you by the broker. This means to control $100,000 of real currency (1 lot), you need to provide security to the broker of only $1000. Each 'pip' movement in price will cause your equity to increase or decrease by $10. For example if the currency pair you are trading is GBP/USD (also known as cable) and the price you are quoted is 1.8484, this means 1 UK pound sterling is equal to 1.8484 US dollars.

So, if you are controlling 100,000 units of currency (or you have placed a buy/sell forex trade of '1 lot')in the above case, each time the price changed by 1 pip - ie. 1.8484 changes to 1.8485 - you gain or lose $10 US. This is because 0.0001 x 100,000 = 10 and you have opted to control 100,000 units of currency.

The amazing thing though is that you as a retail trader have only used a security measure of $1000 deposited with the broker in your brokering account and the only cost for placing the trade is a small spread (no comission in many cases) of say 2-3 pips in which the broker makes his profit regardless of whether your trade is successful or not. And the chances of you losing that entire $1000 in the trade are extremely slim, especially if you use risk management and safeguard your capital from losses by setting a "stop loss" - a topic out of the scope of this article.

So what about mini-forex trading. It's a subject which many people seem to want to know about. What is a mini-forex trading account? What is mini forex trading? Mini Forex trading is quite simple to explain given the above information. In light of the information that is told to you above about retail forex trading in general, the use of a mini-account is exactly that!

Rather than trading 1 whole lot each time (ie controlling 100,000 units of currency using only 1000 units of security or deposit to trade for a profit of about $10 per pip depending on the forex currency pair you and trading) you can use a mini-account (sometimes this is entirely indistinguishable from a standard lots account) to trade a fraction of a lot. This could technically be as little as 0.1 lot (ie $1 profit per pip) or half a lot - $5 profit per pip etc.
This is the authors understanding of mini-forex-trading.

In conclusion then, mini forex trading is explained away by understanding what a 'lot' is in forex. Once you understand that forex is traded in 'lots' and what '1 lot' means to the investment banker/forex trader in the bank and to the retail investor using margin leverage provided by a broker, you can understand that mini-forex trading is forex trading on a mini-scale. Instead of trading in lots or multiples of lots (more than one) the retail investor uses a smaller deposit with the broker and trades for less profit, but less risk as well and not needing so much profit to start out with, eg 0.1 lots or 0.5 lots. Some forex brokers these days will allow currency trading with a deposit of as little as $500 into a customers account.
About The Author

Sam Beatson lives with his wife and 2 daughters in Sheffield, UK and enjoys daytrading, running, walking and swimming. He owns http://www.fasttrackforex.com the Forex training crash course.

Trading on a Mini Forex Platform

Mini forex trading is the fastest and the most cost-effective method to trade in the major liquid currencies from your home or office round the clock at the same prices as large banks and financial organizations.

So an automated mini forex trading platform provides all the advantages of a standard forex trading platform but the smaller trade size gives you the opportunity to trade live with less risk or exposure to the market. The mini forex trading platform, therefore, is the best for a beginner or new investor, who can get a feel of the actual forex trading market without bothering much about win or loss.

The forex mini trading platforms come with the option of opening a demo account in which you get free access to online forex quotes, news and also can trade currencies, but with virtual money. Once you develop the confidence you can open a real live account in the mini forex trading platform. This mini forex trading platform will allow you to start real dealing with mini forex contracts.

If you are an experienced trader or investor and looking for the best and most cost-effective online forex trading platform, then you can open a mini account with the mini forex trading platform, so that you can judge the performance of the platform with little risk.

Most of the mini forex trading platform opens your mini account with as small as $100. The trading platform allows you to trade 10,000 of base currency per lot whereas the standard minimum on real forex is $100,000. You receive the advantage of margin requirements of the mini forex trading platform which may be 0.5% of the actual value of contract you can trade. This comes about $50 per lot.

You can control $10,000 with this $50 deposited on your mini account with the mini forex trading platform. Here you can trade currencies without any commissions and even get profit with positive ‘Swaps’.

An ideal mini forex trading platform should incorporate front end and back office functionality to provide information and dealing or trading capabilities on forex market. The platform should be based on user friendly formats allowing easy navigation and customization of pages to suit your specific requirements.

In a mini forex trading platform you should be able to place market orders on real-time prices and execute your trade instantly. You must have the facility of setting a stop order which closes a trade automatically once it reaches the value you specify. In your mini forex trading platform you can place a limit order which close the trade when it reaches the profit value you are targeting.

Your mini forex trading platform must present a record of past and present trading activity through which you can easily monitor positions and orders combined with margin account management. It should provide access to forex instruments and comprehensive charts, different technical studies including Moving Averages, Bollinger bands, Elliot waves etc.

For choosing a mini forex trading platform you should look for:

· Easy to use interface and ability to use multiple trading strategies

· Can execute multiple types of orders with multi-currency based account

· Complete technical analysis package with in-built indicators and charting tools

· The ability to create different custom indicators

· Should be functional in different time periods

· Option of receiving advice and market information

· Multilanguage Support.

To start earning money trading currencies online visit Mini Forex Trading Platforms

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Bryan

7 Things You Really Ought To Know

Trading the forex market using a mini account is a great way to get you started in forex trading. Below are 7 things you really ought to know when opening a forex mini trading account.

1. Minimum Amount

Mini forex accounts are usually opened by traders who are new to the forex market and do not have the funds to open a regular account. A forex mini account can be opened with as little as $50 to about $300, whereas a regular account usually requires $2,500 or more.
2. Mini Account Contract Sizes

In a mini account, the minimum trading lot size or contract size is 10,000 per contract, whereas for a regular forex account, the lot sizes are 100,000. This means that the mini forex contract is 1/10th the size of the standard contracts. The smaller trade size gives traders the opportunity to trade live with less overall risk or exposure to the market

3. No. of Currency Pairs Offered

Most brokers offer the same number of currency pairs that you can trade whether you are using a mini account or a regular account. Just make sure the 6 major currency pairs are there: EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, USD/CAD. These currency pairs account for 90% of the total daily FX trading volume.

4. Leverage

Leverage allows you to trade more of a currency that you have money in your account. This means that if you have $200 in your mini account and your broker gives you 100:1 leverage, you can trade up to $20,000 in forex. Use leverage carefully. It can magnify your gains but also your losses as well.

Fortunately, with a forex mini trading account, because the lot sizes are 1/10th of the regular contract, your potential losses are also 1/10th the size. For example, if you are trading with a regular account and incur a 30 pip loss, this is equivalent to a loss of $300. With a mini account, this translate to about $30 only.

5. Same Features as Regular Accounts

Forex mini trading accounts are great for traders with less than $10,000 to start. You have all the same features and tools as the regular accounts. That means you will enjoy the same trading platform, charting, market analysis, spreads, customer service, etc. Although the standard trade size is 10,000 units – you are not limited to trading one lot! For instance, you can trade 10,000 units, 20,000 units or 80,000 units. This means as you become more seasoned, you can slowly increase the size of your trades to maximize your potential.

6. Develop a Disciplined Trading Strategy

When trading a mini forex account, a 20 pip floating loss is approximately $20. That same 20 pip movement against you on the regular account now becomes a $200 floating loss. By starting with a mini account, a trader loses only a small amount on every losing transaction making it easier to stick to a disciplined trading strategy. Education and discipline trading are key to your success in forex trading.

7. Build Confidence With a Mini Account

Opening a mini account with a broker lets you test out their trade execution time, services and spread movement. Although a broker may advertise narrow spreads, these spread can change during releases of economic data and other important news. It also allows you to test out different trading strategies while minimizing your risk exposure. As your trading confidence grows, you can then upgrade to a regular account.

Disclaimer: Please note that forex trading involves substantial risk of loss, and may not be suitable for everyone.

Christabelle Chiam is an avid forex trader and writer. Did you know only 25% of forex professionals use technical analysis as their primary decision making tool? Learn how to trade the forex market like a pro. Visit http://www.forexsecretweapon.com

Forex Brokers

With the advent of technology, it has become possible for new and small investors to start currency trading. These investors do not have the huge capital that a conglomerate or an MNC (Multi-National Company) has. Therefore, such small investors are given an option of opening a mini forex account.

Mini-Forex Brokers allow investors to open their forex accounts by putting down a comparatively smaller down payment. The minimum requirement for actual forex trading is $100,000. Mini forex brokers may accept contracts as small as $10,000. Also, the margin in real forex trading is 1%, where as mini accounts may operate at around 0.5%. Many mini forex accounts can be opened with a deposit as low as $100.
A mini-forex broker offers the investor a quick and inexpensive way to trade from the comfort of home day and night. All the specifications remain the same, except that these trades are operated from a mini forex account.

For beginners, many online websites of these brokers offer demo or trial accounts that help the investor practice trading skills. These accounts also help increase the understanding of the functioning of the real time forex market.

Mini-forex brokers often guide their customers regarding the best trading options that could yield the most profit. The major factors to consider while choosing a mini forex broker are feedback from other traders about the broker, if the broker has insured his client's funds and the amount of commissions charged.

A trader's success in forex trading depends on the information they possess. Brokers keep traders informed of market fluctuations, which help them to take maximum advantage of the forex market.

Forex Brokers provides detailed information on Forex Brokers, Forex Trading, Forex Market Makers, Online Forex Brokers and more. Forex Brokers is affiliated with Forex Brokers.

the Difference of Trading Mini Lots Vs. Full-sized Lots

In Forex trading there is something called, a Mini Account, and it uses a different leverage calculation than a regular (100k) account. This is, instead of trading full-size currency lots (100,000 units), you'll trade in lots that are just 1/10 the size (10,000 currency units), which in turn greatly reduces your risk. Pips in a Mini Account are worth, on average, $1 instead of the $8 to $10 value they have in a regular account. The Mini Forex account offers up to 200:1 leverage, this means that just a $50 margin deposit will allow you to trade lots worth roughly $10,000 , but the smaller lot sizes, with correspondingly smaller pip values, means that you'll be assuming less total risk. For example, while a 20-pip loss on a 100,000 USD/JPY position would be $200, the same loss on a 10,000 USD/JPY position in a Mini account would amount to $20.
Here you have an overview of leverage (Margin, Account Size) on each of the two accounts discussed above:

100K (Regular Full-sized Account)

- Minimum required account deposit = $2,000

- Recommended required account deposit = $5,000 to $10,000

- Traded in 100,000-unit currency lots

- Default Margin: set at 1% ($1,000 per lot)

- Leverage = 100:1 or 50:1 (if margin is set at 2%)

Mini Account

- Minimum required account deposit = $300

- Recommended required account deposit = $2,000

- Traded in 10,000-unit currency lots

- Default Margin: set at 0.5% ($50 per mini-lot)

- Leverage = 200:1

There is no downside to trading a mini account , you will be still enjoying all the benefits that full-size FX account holders enjoy; including, same state-of-the art trading software, charts, resources, and tools, etc. This mini accounts are ideal for a new Forex trader to develop a disciplined, rational forex trading strategy without excessively focusing on profits and losses.

Also there is no maximum trade volume when you use a mini account. Although the standard trade size is 10,000 units, you are not limited to trading one lot. For instance, you can trade 10,000 units, 50,000 units or 200,000 units. This means as you become more seasoned and build up confidence you can slowly increase the size of your positions to maximize profits. In fact the trade size of 10,000 units allows for more flexibility in terms of customizing the size of your trade. The ability to customize the size of the trade allows you to have a better risk management.

With less capital at risk in a Mini FX account, it is easier for you to develop a disciplined trading methodology, as well as the confidence needed to be a successful currency trader, without the anxiety and distractions that come with large Profit and Lose swings.

Adrian Pablo; Forex trader and freelance writer.

You can download a free Fibonacci trading report at his website: http://www.1-forex.com

Forex Mini Account for Eligible

If you were just learning about Forex Markets a good idea for you would be what is called the Forex mini account. The mini account is also great for those who want to start off with a fairly low investment. A mini account can be opened with only $250 while a regular one has to involve a minimum of $2,500. The option of the Forex mini account is definitely a more realistic option for smaller businesses that would like to get involved in the world market with very little available capital.

Many people wonder if those who are owners of these Forex mini accounts suffer any disadvantages because of the need for less capital. In most cases they do not, and than can definitely be a huge draw to those looking at the world market and not wanting to get taken advantage have by larger companies. Free trading platform and small spreads are just as easily available to Forex mini account holders as they are to anyone else involved in the Forex markets.
There are also some additional benefits to being a holder of a foreign exchange mini account. Those who own these mini accounts only needs fifty dollars as a margin deposit for a ten thousand dollar trade. This benefit of having leverage is one of two hundred to one, when you own a mini account. This means the trader can trade more in a commodity than the amount of money they available to them.

There is also another advantage with an FX mini account, in regards to losses and minimizing its losses. This type of accounts contract size is 1/10th the size of standard contracts and this is how they can save themselves from too much of a loss. These mini lots in a mini account are excellent way to save money in potential losses, depending on you set up your stop loss.

Also with a Forex mini account you are allowed more flexibility in regards to customizing your trades and minimizing your risks. This means that those with less money in their bank account can do better in this type of account. They can feel more comfortable in using the mini accounts because of the advantages and the fact that they have less risk because of them. This can help those with smaller bank accounts have a chance to invest in more areas without as much of the risk. In the end, Forex mini accounts are the best way to go for those with not as much cash available to them and yet want to minimize risk, and still be able to trade on the world market.

Check out http://www.forex-made-ez.com/ for more articles on daily forex signals and forex trading strategies.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Singh

Perfect For The New Currency Trader-With Mini Forex Trading Accounts

A mini Forex trading account is extremely helpful for a new trader who is more interested in developing a disciplined, rational trading strategy without focusing entirely on profits and losses.

When you start Forex trading you can begin with a paper trading account with which you can understand how the market moves and you can develop more skills and knowledge about this trading account. Once you are successful with the paper trading account then you can move in for the mini Forex trading account.

In mini Forex trading, you get all the benefits of a full-size Forex accounts. The same software, charts and graphs can be used while handling mini Forex trading. However, it helps you to develop the confidence needed to be successful without the anxiety and distractions that come when large sums are on stake.

Mini Forex trading is done in smaller contract sizes of ten thousand units, which is 1/10th the size of the standard account. For opening a mini Forex account you would require 100-300 dollars. Here one PIP is equivalent to one dollar for EUR/USD and GBP/USD.

With a mini Forex trading account you can learn risk management, which will help you in future while dealing full-size trading account. You can trade by using one mini lot and can then build up on the lot size later.

In a conventional sense, you should use only one mini lot for every thousand dollars that you have in your account. Say if you have five thousand dollars, you can take only five mini lots. But in mini Forex trading the pip value is one dollar and therefore, you can concentrate on building strategies without paying much attention to the profit and loss.

With mini Forex trading, you can invest just $250, but trade 10,000 worth of a currency because of the high leverage. In a mini account, the margin deposit requirement per $10,000 lot traded is only $50. This leads to a leverage of 200 to 1 (10,000/50 = 200). Therefore, with your $250, you can trade a maximum of 5 mini lots, with $500 a maximum of 10, with $1000 a maximum of 20, etc.

So the basic advantages of mini Forex trading are:

1) The account can be opened with as small an amount as $250

2) It has a leverage of 200 – 1

3) It facilitates smaller trade size

The account helps new Forex traders build confidence as they are trying out different strategies

There are other methods like Base 10 Trading for small traders. However, mini Forex trading is most suitable if you want to maintain the account under $10,000. It will provide you the flexibility of implementing strategies and offer more staying power in the Forex market as you can take advantage of multiple trades without over-leveraging your trading account.

Paul Bryan is a successful and experienced Forex trader and also the webmaster for http://www.investawise.com, bringing you all the latest Forex news, reviews and advice.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Bryan

Why You Should Auto Trade a Mini Forex Account

An auto trade mini forex account uses the same trading platform as any other regular automated forex trading account. The only major difference is the account size, which is much small than a standard account. You can open up a mini forex trading account with as low as $50. Auto trade mini forex account can be a great option for you if you are a new investor in the forex trading market. Internet based auto trading has revolutionized and intensified the advantages of operating a mini forex account by many fold.

The steps you need to follow for opening an auto trade mini forex account are quite simple. First you have to select a brokerage firm that is offering their services to open an auto trade mini forex account. Fill in some personal details like your name, address, contact number, e-mail address, and the specific type of account you like to open. After filling in this online query form, you can directly open your mini account. Many agencies now accept $50 to open an auto trade forex mini account, but in an extremely volatile market as forex and because of high leverage, it is better to invest at least $2000.
There are quite a few advantages of an auto trade mini forex account. The mini accounts are perfectly suited for those who are new to the forex market. The mini accounts trade in smaller contract sizes, which gives the traders the opportunity to trade with less risk or exposure to the market. This smaller trade size also helps the trader to build confidence. As the trading is completely automated, you can experiment with the features of the trading platform and judge the efficiency of the system.

As the pip value on any mini account is just $1 per pip, you can develop a disciplined trading strategy while handling an auto mini forex account. Moreover, you learn to overcome your tendency of emotional trading, which, at times, leads to irrational trading decisions. You also learn to limit losses and decide your entry and exit points.

Auto trade mini forex account gives you more staying power in the market. This enables you to take advantages of multiple opportunities without over-leveraging your account. Most of the auto mini forex account provides user-friendly trading software. It has all the interactive and useful features of a standard rapid execution from live, streaming prices.

In some currency pairs like EUR/USD etc., a one-pip movement in the exchange rate is equal to a one dollar gain or loss in the account value per lot. Usually the auto trade mini forex account offers a spread of 3 or 5 pips on most currencies. So, open an auto mini forex account to master the art of trading before venturing into the market with high volume of investment.

For more information on automated currency trading please visit Auto Trade Mini Forex

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Bryan