Advantages of Forex Institutional Traders | ForexGen

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Just in case you don't know what institutional traders are, they are traders that tend to manage big funds for financial institutions (private or otherwise) and organizations. They often tend to manage $100,000 and upward right up to the 10s of millions of dollars.

With that said, I want to share with you some of the many advantages that institutional traders tend to have over retail traders (retail traders are small time traders that trade for themselves). I can safely share this as I've been an institutional trader before.

Ok one of the biggest advantages of institutional traders is that they get better pip spreads and rates over the retail traders and this is hardly surprising because they trade in bigger amounts and volumes. How does 1 pip spread on GBPUSD sound to you?

Do not underestimate this whole pip spread thing for a second. 1 less pip for the broker is actually 1 more pip for you.

Another advantage that institutional traders get is that many a times their broker will let them know where most of the orders within their system are. This gives a great edge because it shows where the big money is leaning on.

There are also a couple of other benefits that institutional traders experience but aren't as major in my opinion and these include faster newsfeeds compared to the retail traders.

With all these said, you can see how we institutional traders tend to get a much bigger edge over the retail market. Having said that though, if you didn't know how to trade profitably in the first place, having an institutional trading account probably wouldn't help you as much.

ForexGen provides a unique online trading experience based on our intelligent online Forex trading package, the ForexGen Trading Station, including the best online trading system.

ForexGen serves both private and institutional clients. We have a strong commitment to maintain a long term relationship with our clients.

ForexGen | Insider Tips to Choosing the Best Forex Broker

It is important therefore to find a Forex broker capable of providing superior customer support services. It should be able to give such services 24/7 because the Forex market never sleeps. Several communication channels must be made available for you. This should include live chat, email ticket, VoIP, and telephone support. The combination of online and offline support is crucial so you can contact your broker anytime and anywhere.

The best Forex broker should also be able to provide you with tons of resources to study the ins and outs of the Forex market. Such materials could be in the form of professional articles, downloadable e-books, video tutorials, podcasts, and online webinars. You will need these kinds of Forex resources to understand the basics of trading. These can also develop your skills in Forex trading so you may know advanced trading techniques. Later, you can devise your own strategy based on the resources provided by your broker.

You need to find out also the extent of leverage that can be provided by the Forex broker. Leverage is the ratio between your capital and the actual amount that you can trade with. The best broker will be able to give you flexible trading leverages. This is important so you can choose the level of risk you are willing to take. By giving you wide leveraging, you will be able to amplify your seed capital and trade big time at the market.

The 1 pip spread value is also an important factor that can be used in choosing the best Forex broker. Your broker should be able to provide several ranges of spread values so you can execute your trade flexibly. Pip spread values are dependent on market activity. If the Forex market is a bit bearish, then the pip spread would be small. But if market activity becomes frenzied, pip spread values could be very high. If you have several choices of spread values, you will be able to determine what to take based on market sentiment.

Choosing the best Forex broker is not really difficult. Simply go to websites that provide broker comparisons and reviews. There are numerous reputable brokers which could really help you at the Forex market. All you have to do is to search diligently and compare the services of several Forex brokers.

Why ForexGen?

1. Lowest spreads in the market with 0-1 pips in 10 pairs, no commissions, no swaps and instant account Activation.
2. Scandinavian quality with Swiss precision, funds secured and local agents in 18+ countries.
3. ForexGen offers Forex trading in the major currency pairs and crosses.
4. Low capital start, with $250 as a minimum account size.
5. Liquidity and 24/5 availability are the characteristic factors of the Forex market compared with other financial markets.
6. ForexGen offers a free trial Forex demo account that allows you to test your skills and practice without risking real money.

Lows and Highs in Stocks

Friday, November 7, 2008

In stocks, traders and investors base their bids/asks, or buy and sell on lows and highs. The high and low in some instances have pips, currencies, spreads, or shares involved.

Most people in the trading industry will use charts to keep updated on pips. 1 Pips are what traders call percentages factored into points. The percentages are quotes that determine the price set on currencies. The charts help these traders to keep track so they know when to buy and sell.

In the business, small and large banking institutions, as well as large and small companies invest in stocks, or Forex exchange. Using charts, the traders are provided quotes on both sides, which make up ask and bid phrase, depending on the stock market. The bids make up pricing, which is prompted once indicators within programs alert traders on Base Exchange that occurs between buying currencies on opposing sides. Once the alerts come in, the trader may select "ask" has the pricing occurs. The trader bases exchange on his, ‘ask' which could flip at the drop of a dime.

Quotes enable traders to set their marks on pips, which can decide decimals that rise over the averages. In stocks, decimals convert in some instances to match exchange within the currencies of a sole country. Decimals base values, which are constant at all times.

One of the largest industries and growing is Forex. The foreign market exchanges currencies in stocks that have reached in the trillions of dollar brackets. That is trillions in a sole industry. This fiscal market has made the highest mark in the stock market industry. The market has overridden the largest United States equity branches.

Charts are employed in Forex. The guides, aid traders by allowing them to read, interpret through indicators, which send signals. Within the charts are treks, basic strategies, powers, and so on.

Anyone intending to get in on stocks or in the stock market, should take time to learn about highs/lows, bid/asks, charts, pips, spreads and so on to avoid increasing the high risks. Staying informed is the key to successfully gaining in any stock exchange. Still, you want to choose charts and information that offers you precision in the stock market, Forex exchange markets and other stock industries.

Your best solution for just starting out is to download free charts that allow you to monitor and analyze, while exploring pips, spreads, highs, lows, currencies and so on in stocks.

The ForexGen Trading Station is our clients' gateway to the world's Foreign Exchange and Bullion markets. We have chosen the ForexGen Trading Station as our solution for the professional trader because in our opinion, it is the most reliable, professional and secure online trading software on the market at the current time.

Forex is All About Time

Traders spend a lot of time and money trying to figure out HOW to trade.They expend an enormous amount of their resources on systems,methodologies, techniques, and strategies that ultimately will give them only half of what they need. The secret the professionals don’t want you to know, however, is WHEN to trade. After all, they are on the winning side of every one of your losing trades.

Even though the Forex is open twenty-four hours a day, there are times when the market for a given currency pair is highly active, other times when it is moderately active, and times when there is no activity at all.

While you can make money whether the market is moving up or down, it’s extremely difficult to make a profit when the market is moving sideways.

And since the market for a particular currency may spend 60% to 75% of its time moving sideways, it is very important to know WHEN the trending activity is most likely to occur. It’s also easy to enter the market at the tail end of a trend and not know, except in hindsight, that the end was so near. After all, the indicators were telling you the trend was still going strong—so if you don’t know that this particular pair makes seven-bar moves, you go ahead and enter on the sixth bar of the trend. Two bars later, your trade is heading south in a hurry. It’s critical to know how many bars a trend is likely to last before there is a retracement or consolidation period, given the day of the week and the hour of the day the trend first began. Exiting too late is another common experience many traders share. At 6 AM, you place a contingent (IF THEN) order with your entry price and your stop loss, and head off to work. At noon, you check your trade and find out that by 11 AM the market had moved 90 pips in your favor. But in the last hour the price dropped 65 pips. The next time you’ll be able to check your trade is after work, so rather than tighten your stop loss to break-even in the hopes of a rally, you exit the trade at market for a 25-pip gain. That’s certainly better than nothing, but if you had known how many pips this currency pair was likely to move given the day of the week and hour of day the trend began, you could have set a target to exit with an 85-pip profit. Thus, if you know for a given currency pair the best days and hours to trade, the likely number of price bars the move will cover, and the number of pips this pair will most probably move, you would have to agree that you would possess some very powerful knowledge.

What does a typical 24-hour Forex trading day look like?Before we get into WHEN to trade, let’s take a closer look at a typical day in Forex time. This information is generally available on the Internet, but has been compiled here for your convenience.

Technically, the Forex operates on a global time scale, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with no start or end time. Given that no one stays awake 24 hours a day and that very little trading takes place on theweekend (from Friday at 13:00 PM US EST to Sunday at 17:00 PM US EST), the Forex trading day naturally breaks itself down into three major trading sessions:

1. the Australasian session (New Zealand, Australia, and Tokyo)

2. the London session, and

3. the New York session.

It’s interesting that these sessions just happen to coincide with the opening and closing of their associated stock markets.The first thing you probably noticed is that from the New Zealand open to the New York close, the entire 24-hour day is covered. What’s more, you can see that the Australasian session has three stock markets open at the same time, with the last hour of the Australian and Tokyo sessions (3:00-4:00 AM US EST) coinciding with the opening hour of the London session.Furthermore, the London and New York markets share the hours between 8:00AM US EST and 13:00 US EST. In other words, from 19:00 US EST to 4:00 US EST and from 8:00 AM US EST to 13:00 PM US EST, two or more markets lap. In fact, the areas highlighted in yellow represent the Forex market’s busiest fourteen hours. This is because when two or more markets share the same hours, there are more traders to drive volume and volatility up.

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How to Choose Which Currency Pairs to Trade Forex On?

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Forex Trading involves buying one currency in a currency pair, by selling the other. So if one is trading in EUR/USD, the trade may involve buying EUR by selling USD at the current market rate or vice-versa. Similarly buying EUR in EUR/GBP would require GBP to be sold.

Unlike options or stocks which have lots of companies that can be traded on, the forex market has got limited currency combinations which can be used to place the trades.

Despite this, often people wonder which currency pairs should be chosen for trading? Should it be USD based or should it be the one that is heavily volatile or should it be some other?

Lets look at few parameters which can be used to decide -

1. What is the pip spread involved - The biggest factor to be considered is the spread between the currencies. In layman's terms, Spread is a difference between the sell price and the ask price of forex currency pairs as given by the forex broker.

In other words, it is a commission of the broker or agent through which the trades are made. The lower the spread, the better it is for the forex trader
. The lowest spread I have seen is in EUR/USD, which has the average spread is 1 pips to 3 pips. Typically a spread of upto 5-6 pips is good enough to trade.

2. What is the liquidity? - The more the liquidity, that means the higher is the amount of money being traded on that currency pair. So, this eventually means that that particular currency pair moves a lot in a the trading sessions. Its better to trade on such from a day trading perspective as the trades don't need to be kept open for a longer time. I have seen that the GBP/USD is heavily liquidated. On average it moves about 100-150 pips everyday. This is followed by EUR/USD and USD/CHF.

3. How does the currency pair behaves? - Does it move technically or is it primarily fundamental driven? The one that is primarily fundamental driven doesn't has much regard for technical analysis. I have seen JPY (Yen) as one such currency which is heavily fundamental analysis
driven.

So, these are the some factors that can be used in identifying the currency pairs to be traded on. Though these factors are not an exhaustive list, they can be used as minimum basic rules. The pip spread is one important criteria. The lower, the better it is. However the currency pair should also be sufficiently liquidated as this means that there will be significant pips movement during a trading day.
Why ForexGen?

1. Lowest spreads in the market with 0-1 pips in 10 pairs, no commissions, no swaps and instant account Activation.
2. Scandinavian quality with Swiss precision, funds secured and local agents in 18+ countries.
3. ForexGen offers Forex trading in the major currency pairs and crosses.
4. Low capital start, with $250 as a minimum account size.
5. Liquidity and 24/5 availability are the characteristic factors of the Forex market compared with other financial markets.
6. ForexGen offers a free trial Forex demo account that allows you to test your skills and practice without risking real money.

Pips and Stocks

Those of you contemplating on getting in on stocks or in the stock market, should take time to learn about highs/lows, bid/asks, charts, pips, spreads and so on to avoid up-and-coming* the high plunges. Staying informed is the key to successfully gaining in any stock market exchange industry. Despite, you want to commit oneself to charts and information that offers you trueness in the stock market, Forex exchange markets, and other stock industries. Failing to do so could lead to financial blunder.
About Stock Charts:

Charts are engaged in stock market exchange and Forex trading industries. The charts are guides, that aid strategists by allowing them to read, interpret through indicators, which submit signals. Inside the boundaries, the charts are treks, inherent strategies, powers, and so more.

In AMEX's, strategists and investors base their bids/asks, or buy and sell on under and highs. The high and low in some instance have pips, currencies, spreads, or shares, which traders make good use of stock charts to keep up with these factors in stock exchange.

In the stock biz, small and large cyber-banking institutions, as well as large and small companies globally invest in stocks, or Forex stock exchange. Brokers, investors and traders use charts, which the strategists are, issued recites on both sides, which make up ask and bid phrase, depending on the stock market. The bids make up pricing, which initiates once indicators inside the boundaries programs alert traders on Seat Questioning that sprouts between buying currencies on conflicting sides. Once the brisk' come in, the tradesman might select the option "ask" once the pricing occurs. The trader fundamentals proof on his, 'ask' which could alter.

Quotes enable traders to set their marks on pips, which can decide statistics that rise, in excess the averages. In AMEX's, decimals convert in some instances to match exchange within the currencies of any participating country engaging in stock exchange. Decimals base values, which are dependable at all times.

Charts read out prints of daily activities in stock market exchange. The charts present the highs and lows, as well as various other factors in stock marketing, which are invaluable to anyone trading, investing or brokerage in the market.

One of the vast growing stock industries is FX or Forex market exchange. The foreign market exchanges currencies (E.g. USD/JPY, EUR/USD, etc) in stocks that have reached in the trillion brackets. That is trillions in a sole stock exchange industry. This fiscal market exchange has created the hardest mark in the stock market industries. The market has overridden the preponderant United States investment branches. In fact, the Europe (EUR) dollar is more valuable currently than the dollar in the United States of America.

If you intend to invest or take part in stock exchange, you are wise to become informed before making any investment. Those informed often have a better chance at winning in the game of stocks. Learn more about pips, spreads and other specifics so that you know what it outlines for you.

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If you are an experienced ‘FOREX’ Trader or just a beginner looking for the opportunities offered in the ‘FOREX’ market, Forexgen has created ForexGen Academy to give you the chance to get a ‘FOREX’ education and improve your trading skills. No hard expressions, no buzz words, and no rocket science language are used throughout these lessons.

Who Else Wants to Understand the Secrets of Forex Charts and Spreads?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Nothing affects your profitability more than the spreads offered by your Broker. But spreads in the Forex charts
spot market can be confusing to understand, and the marketing from many brokerages can be deceiving. Nearly every broker is claiming to have the tightest Forex charts and spreads in the industry. However, what does this mean, and how can you tell if a brokerage is delivering what they promise.

In order to understand the spread, you need to know what it is. A spread is the difference between the ask price (the price you buy at) and the bid price (the price you sell at) that is quoted in the pips. The pips are the smallest unit of difference between the two currencies in the quote. If the quote between EUR/USD at a given moment is 1.2222/4, then the spread equals 2 pips, the difference between the 2 and the 4. If the quote is 1.22225/4, then the spread is going to equal 1.5 pips.

The spread is how brokers make their money. Wider Forex charts and spreads will result in a higher asking price and a lower bid price. The end result of this is that you will pay more when you buy and get less when you sell, making it more difficult to realize a profit. Brokers generally don`t earn the full spread, especially when they hedge client positions. The spread helps to compensate the brokerage for the risk it assumes from the time it starts a client trade to when the broker`s net exposure is hedged (which could possibly be at a different price).

Forex charts and spreads affect the return on your trading strategy in a big way. As a trader, your sole interest is buying low and selling high (like futures and commodities trading). Wider Forex charts and spreads means buying higher and having to sell lower. A half-pip lower spread doesn`t necessarily sound like much, but it can easily mean the difference between a profitable trading strategy and one that isn`t.

The tighter the spread is the better things are going to be for you. Nevertheless, tight Forex charts and spreads are only meaningful when they are paired up with good execution. A good example of this is when your screen shows a tight spread, but your trade is filled a few pips in the wrong direction, or is mysteriously rejected.

When this occurs repeatedly, it means that your broker is showing tight Forex charts and spreads but is effectively delivering wider Forex charts and spreads. Rejected trades, delayed execution, slipping, and stop-hunting are strategies that some brokers use to get rid of the promise of tight Forex charts and spreads.

Forex charts and spreads should always be considered in conjunction with depth of book. Oddly enough, when it comes to economies of scale, Forex charts doesn`t even act like most other markets. On the inter-bank market, for example; the larger the ticket size, the larger the spread is. So when you see a 1 pip spread on an ECN platform, you have to wonder if that spread is valid for a $2M, $5M or $10M trade, which it probably isn`t. In many cases, the tight spread that is offered applies only to a capped trade sizes that don`t work for most of the common trading strategies.

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What is traded in the Forex market?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The instrument traded by Forex traders and investors are currency pairs. A currency pair is the exchange rate of one currency over another. The most traded currency pairs are:

USD/CHF: Swiss franc
GBP/USD: Pound
USD/CAD: Canadian dollar
USD/JPY: Yen
EUR/USD: Euro
AUD/USD: Aussie

These six currency pairs generate up to 85% of the overall volume in the Forex market. So, for instance, if a trader goes long on the Euro, she or he is simultaneously buying the EUR and selling the USD. If the same trader goes short or sells the Aussie, she or he is simultaneously selling the AUD and buying the USD.

The first currency of each currency pair is referred as the base currency, while second currency is referred as the counter or quote currency. Each currency pair is expressed in units of the counter currency needed to get one unit of the base currency. If the price or quote of the EUR/USD is 1.2545, it means that 1.2545 US dollars are needed to get one EUR.

Bid/Ask Spread
All currency pairs are commonly quoted with a bid and ask price. The bid (always lower than the ask) is the price your broker is willing to buy at, thus the trader should sell at this price. The ask is the price your broker is willing to sell at, thus the trader should buy at this price.

EUR/USD 1.2645/48 or 1.2645/8

The bid price is 1.2645

The ask price is 1.2648

A Pip
A pip is the minimum incremental move a currency pair can make. A pip stands for price interest point. A move in the EUR/USD from 1.2545 to 1.2560 equals 15 pips. And a move in the USD/JPY from 112.35 to 113.40 equals 105 pips.
Margin Trading (leverage)
In contrast with other financial markets where you require the full deposit of the amount traded, in the Forex market you require only a margin deposit. The rest will be granted by your broker.

The leverage provided by some brokers goes up to 400:1. This means that you require only 1/400 or .25% in balance to open a position (plus the floating gains/losses.) Most brokers offer 100:1, where every trader requires 1% in balance to open a position.

The standard lot size in the Forex market is $100,000 USD.

For instance, a trader wants to get long one lot in EUR/USD and he or she is using 100:1 leverage.

To open such position, he or she requires 1% in balance or $1,000 USD.

Of course it is not advisable to open a position with such limited funds in our trading balance. If the trade goes against our trader, the position is to be closed by the broker. This takes us to our next important term.
Margin Call
A margin call occurs when the balance of the trading account falls below the maintenance margin (capital required to open one position, 1% when the leverage used is 100:1, 2% when leverage used is 50:1, and so on.) At this moment, the broker sells off (or buys back in the case of short positions) all your trades, leaving the trader "theoretically" with the maintenance margin.

Most of the time margin calls occur when money management is not properly applied.

How are the mechanics of a Forex trade?
The trader, after an extensive analysis, decides there is a higher probability of the British pound to go up. He or she decides to go long risking 30 pips and having a target (reward) of 60 pips. If the market goes against our trader he/she will lose 30 pips, on the other hand, if the market goes in the intended way, he or she will gain 60 pips. The actual quote for the pound is 1.8524/27, 4 pips spread. Our trader gets long at 1.8530 (ask). By the time the market gets to either our target (called take profit order) or our risk point (called stop loss level) we will have to sell it at the bid price (the price our broker is willing to buy our position back.) In order to make 40 pips, our take profit level should be placed at 1.8590 (bid price.) If our target gets hit, the market ran 64 pips (60 pips plus the 4 pip spread.) If our stop loss level is hit, the market ran 30 pips against us.

It’s very important to understand every aspect of forex trading. Start first from the very basic concepts, then move on to more complex issues such as Forex trading systems, trading psychology, trade and risk management, and so on. And make sure you master every single aspect before adventuring in a live trading account.

ForexGen.com is an online trading service provider supplying a unique and individualized service to Forex traders worldwide. We are dedicated to absolutely provide the best online trading services in the Forex market.

ForexGen provides a unique online trading experience based on our intelligent online Forex trading package, the ForexGen Trading Station, including the best online trading system.

ForexGen serves both private and institutional clients. We have a strong commitment to maintain a long term relationship with our clients.