Forex Newbies – What You Should Know?

by Mike Keeler on February 22, 2010

The largest and most liquid market in the world trades in the trillions! It offers trading 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. This leading market is Forex.

Experienced dealers have constant opportunities to take advantage of the high levels of volatility that occur on a daily basis. This volatility is the result of many different currencies being traded, which can bring a profit to those who understand the market.

As you will find in the equity market, Forex takes many steps to assist you in your dealings, including tools to help mitigate risk, which can assist you in turning a profit regardless of the state of the market. An excellent benefit of Forex is that is has zero dealing commissions while permitting highly leveraged trading with low margin requirements relative to its counterparts in the equity market. Experienced traders will know that large minimum trade sizes make using margin essential to the trader. Equity market traders will know the terms futures, options, spread betting, and CFDs, all of which also apply to Forex.

When you buy and sell on Forex, you will trade when you think the currency that you are buying is going to increase in value relative to the one that you are selling. Currencies are always priced in pairs, so a trade consists of one currency being bought while another is simultaneously sold.

In case the currency that you have bought, does not rise, you have the option to reverse the other currency to lock your profit. Holding on to your positions without altering or closing the position, it is called an open trade.

Currencies are quoted as follows: The first currency in the pair is the “base”. The second is the “counter” or “quote” currency. The US Dollar is most often considered the base currency, and quote or counter currency is measured by the value of the US dollar. The exceptions to this are the Euro, the British Pound Sterling, and the Australian Dollar.

There is a bid price and an ask price. The price at which the trader is willing to buy the base currency is called the bid price. The ask price is what is offered by the market to sell the base currency and buy your counter currency in exchange.

The bid and ask prices are used to determine the spread, which is the difference between the two. Spreads are used to determine the price of establishing a position. The point, or pip, refers to the final digit in the cost.

If you want to find out more about this, make sure to check out forex autopilot.

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