الجمعة، 15 يناير 2010

Futures Trading Software

To use futures trading software, it pays to know a little about futures trading. A future contract can be described as a contract to buy and or sell a certain commodity of a standard quality on a certain future date at a price determined by the market, which is called a futures price. These contracts re then traded on the futures exchange. These contracts are not securities like stocks or bonds but are still securities that are considered a kind of derivative contract. The types of things involved in these contracts ranges from currency to financial instruments and intangible assets like stock indexes or interest rates. The future date is also known as the delivery date, and the official price of the futures contract is the settlement price at the end of a business day on the exchange floor.

There are many types of futures trading software programs available for free download on the internet, as well as many that are pay per use programs. There are a few options that all traders well seasoned or new, should look for in these futures trading software programs. This includes daily data updates or live and streaming quotes as well as charts, historical simulated trading information and customizable indicators. Also available options that should be looked into are seasonal, spreads and bulls and bears proprietary tools.

Since futures trading is considered high risk by many, it is important to understand your futures trading software program. Finding one that offers a tutorial or the option of running an artificial test of your knowledge in trading futures is ideal. This gives you the opportunity to test your capabilities before risking any of your money in the market.

To be successful trading with futures trading software, you have to trade with a plan instead of running in headlong with no idea where you are going. Accept at times that not all of your trades will be winners, and analyze every trade you are interested in along with keeping detailed records regarding that trade. Keeping track of your trading information on your futures trading software is ideal, so look for this as an option before you commit to using any software regularly. There is nothing wrong with downloading a couple of different futures trading software programs and trying each to see which you are the most comfortable with. There are some that will offer up to the second updates, real time exchange information as well as up to 30 years of historical data for comparison and educational purposes. Deciding which futures trading software you want to use is a matter of deciding what type of trader you want to be.

There is one tool that only a few futures trading software programs offer that is priceless to this type of trading, called a margin account calculator. This is great for futures and options traders, and gives all the information you need to make informed decisions on your futures. If you are not aware of what the margin account is, you must do a little homework before deciding to trade publicly.

Forex Trading - 7 Secrets to Increase Your Forex Profits

How do you make money trading currency? You have an idea. You think you know what you wanna trade Forex. But how do you really wanna do it?

Well, you have to go back to the fundamentals. About what makes a currency go up or down in value in the Forex market. Generally, it's whether that country is taking in more cash and paying out. Sort of like your home, if you see your checking account steadily going down in value, you are not feeling very good. And if you go to borrow money, you are gonna pay a higher rate of interest.

However if the value of your checking account is consistently going up. Well, the banks are gonna love you. They're gonna want to lend you money at the lowest rate possible. So, countries are sort of the same.

Now, how do you get that data? You can go back to Bloomberg or to Reuters to look for it. But the easiest way is to go to your bookstore and get the economist, the magazine. When you go to your bookstore and you go buy the economist, it costs about $4 dollars.

There is a table on the back of the magazine which comes out every two weeks. And talks about whether that country is bringing in more money than it is spending. Or spending more money than it's bringing in. It's identified as the current account. If the current account is negative, in our way of thinking you wanna short that currency. If the current account is positive you wanna be long with that currency when trading Forex.

An example, here in the United States, our current account today is about 5% of GDP. That to me means that you probably wanna remain short the US dollar, against other currencies that have more money coming in. Who would that be? The Yen certainly, the Euro and the Swiss Frank.
So the economist table is the best place to start.

Make sure you follow these rules when you are trading Forex:

1. Strive for 20 pips to begin with.
2. Use MACD indicator only for divergence and confirming a trend. Don't use it as a signal generator.
3. Make sure you use stop losses at 20 to 30 pips. I want to clarify that. When you put a stop on it. Make sure the stop is 20-30 pips away from a pivot point. However, if there is a long hammer. A distinct hammer. My rule will keep you away from that trade. But the exception is where you see a long hammer then this rule doesn't apply. Because when you see a long hammer, you know that the price is gonna change direction.
4. Specialize in one currency.
5. Keep a log.
6. Sit on your hands unless you see something to do.
7. This is not about scalping.

الثلاثاء، 12 يناير 2010

Forex Robot - Top 3 Things to Consider When Choosing Your Online Forex Broker

Once you have bought the Forex trading robot that best meet your specific needs, its time to choose your online Forex broker. If you are a newbie, then this might be a little frustrating. But do not worry. This article is written especially for you. Let me present to you a list of things you should look for when choosing you online broker.

1. Brokers with lower Spreads

The Forex industry has something called spreads - it is the ask price and the bid price of any given currency. If you Forex broker can detect that you are using robots to bid, then he might increase the spread of the currency you are trading. That would cause you to lose money. Look for brokers who have lower spreads or just avoid the risk of being caught by using a Forex trading robot that can conceal its activity from the broker. The Forex Megadroid has this feature. If you have other Forex Trading robot in mind, evaluate and make sure that they have this feature.

2. Leverage

Do you know that you can trade more money that you have in your initial capital? This is called "leverage". If you can trade with 500 dollars for every 1 dollar in your initial account, then you have a 500:1 leverage. Mini accounts have a standard leverage is 200:1 - this means that for every 1 dollar, you can trade for 200 dollars! You can win a lot of money when you win while trading with leverage. But if you lose, you will be in red or get negative money. Because the Megadroid can help you win, leverage will not be a big problem. Nevertheless, it is still important for any trader to know about leverage.

3. Low Minimum Account Requirement

You can start venturing into Foreign Exchange trading with very little money. Micro trading accounts can be as low as 250 dollars, mini-trading with 10,000 dollars and the standard trading accounts starting with 100,000 dollars. It is wise that newbie traders should start with a mini account first, then gradually increment as the robot wins you more money. Look for trading robots that have the lowest minimum account requirement because it is not good to trade and possibly lose money you do not have.

Put this 3 things in mind and use it for consider when you are choosing an online broker. Good Luck!