10 Ways To Avoid Losing Money In Forex by By Jean Folger

The global forex market boasts over $4 trillion in average daily trading volume, making it the largest financial market in the world. Forex's popularity entices traders of all levels, from greenhorns just learning about the financial markets to well-seasoned professionals. Because it is so easy to trade forex - with round-the-clock sessions, access to significant leverage and relatively low costs - it is also very easy to lose money trading forex. This article will take a look at 10 ways that traders can avoid losing money in the competitive forex market. (There are no specifically forex focused programs, but there are still some advanced education alternatives for forex traders. Check out 5 Forex Designations.)

TUTORIAL: Trader's Guide To Forex

1. Do Your Homework – Learn Before You Burn Just because forex is easy to get into doesn't mean that due diligence can be avoided. Learning about forex is integral to a trader's success in the forex markets. While the majority of learning comes from live trading and experience, a trader should learn everything possible about the forex markets, including the geopolitical and economic factors that affect a trader's preferred currencies. Homework is an ongoing effort as traders need to be prepared to adapt to changing market conditions, regulations and world events. Part of this research process involves developing a trading plan. (For more, check out 10 Steps To Building A Winning Trading Plan.)

2. Take the Time to Find a Reputable Broker The forex industry has much less oversight than other markets, so it is possible to end up doing business with a less-than-reputable forex broker. Due to concerns about the safety of deposits and the overall integrity of a broker, forex traders should only open an account with a firm that is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA) and that is registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a futures commission merchant. Each country outside of the United States has its own regulatory body with which legitimate forex brokers should be registered.

Traders should also research each broker's account offerings, including leverage amounts, commissions and spreads, initial deposits, and account funding and withdrawal policies. A helpful customer service representative should have all this information and be able to answer any questions regarding the firm's services and policies. (Discover the best ways to find a broker who will help you succeed in the forex market. Refer to 5 Tips For Selecting A Forex Broker.)

3. Use a Practice Account
Nearly all trading platforms come with a practice account, sometimes called a simulated account or demo account. These accounts allow traders to place hypothetical trades without a funded account. Perhaps the most important benefit of a practice account is that it allows a trader to become adept at order entry techniques.

Few things are as damaging to a trading account (and a trader's confidence) as pushing the wrong button when opening or exiting a position. It is not uncommon, for example, for a new trader to accidentally add to a losing position instead of closing the trade. Multiple errors in order entry can lead to large, unprotected losing trades. Aside from the devastating financial implications, this situation is incredibly stressful. Practice makes perfect: experiment with order entries before placing real money on the line.

4. Keep Charts Clean
Once a forex trader has opened an account, it may be tempting to take advantage of all the technical analysis tools offered by the trading platform. While many of these indicators are well-suited to the forex markets, it is important to remember to keep analysis techniques to a minimum in order for them to be effective. Using the same types of indicators – such as two volatility indicators or two oscillators, for example – can become redundant and can even give opposing signals. This should be avoided.

Any analysis technique that is not regularly used to enhance trading performance should be removed from the chart. In addition to the tools that are applied to the chart, the overall look of the workspace should be considered. The chosen colors, fonts and types of price bars (line, candle bar, range bar, etc) should create an easy-to-read and interpret chart, allowing the trader to more effectively respond to changing market conditions.

5. Protect Your Trading Account 
While there is much focus on making money in forex trading, it is important to learn how to avoid losing money. Proper money management techniques are an integral part of successful trading. Many veteran traders would agree that one can enter a position at any price and still make money – it's how one gets out of the trade that matters.

Part of this is knowing when to accept your losses and move on. Always using a protective stop loss is an effective way to make sure that losses remain reasonable. Traders can also consider using a maximum daily loss amount beyond which all positions would be closed and no new trades initiated until the next trading session. While traders should have plans to limit losses, it is equally essential to protect profits. Money management techniques, such as utilizing trailing stops, can help preserve winnings while still giving a trade room to grow.

6. Start Small When Going Live
Once a trader has done his or her homework, spent time with a practice account and has a trading plan in place, it may be time to go live – that is, start trading with real money at stake. No amount of practice trading can exactly simulate real trading, and as such it is vital to start small when going live.

Factors like emotions and slippage cannot be fully understood and accounted for until trading live. Additionally, a trading plan that performed like champ in backtesting results or practice trading could, in reality, fail miserably when applied to a live market. By starting small, a trader can evaluate his or her trading plan and emotions, and gain more practice in executing precise order entries – without risking the entire trading account in the process.

7. Use Reasonable Leverage
Forex trading is unique in the amount of leverage that is afforded to its participants. One of the reasons forex is so attractive is that traders have the opportunity to make potentially large profits with a very small investment – sometimes as little as $50. Properly used, leverage does provide potential for growth; however, leverage can just as easily amplify losses. A trader can control the amount of leverage used by basing position size on the account balance. For example, if a trader has $10,000 in a forex account, a $100,000 position (one standard lot) would utilize 10:1 leverage. While the trader could open a much larger position if he or she were to maximize leverage, a smaller position will limit risk. (For additional reading, see Adding Leverage To Your Forex Trading.)

8. Keep Good Records A trading journal is an effective way to learn from both losses and successes in forex trading. Keeping a record of trading activity containing dates, instruments, profits, losses, and, perhaps most importantly, the trader's own performance and emotions can be incredibly beneficial to growing as a successful trader. When periodically reviewed, a trading journal provides important feedback that makes learning possible. Einstein once said that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Without a trading journal and good record keeping, traders are likely to continue making the same mistakes, minimizing their chances of become profitable and successful traders.

9. Understand Tax Implications and Treatment It is important to understand the tax implications and treatment of forex trading activity in order to be prepared at tax time. Consulting with a qualified accountant or tax specialist can help avoid any surprises at tax time, and can help individuals take advantage of various tax laws, such as the marked-to-market accounting. Since tax laws change regularly, it is prudent to develop a relationship with a trusted and reliable professional that can guide and manage all tax-related matters.

10. Treat Trading As a Business
It is essential to treat forex trading as a business, and to remember that individual wins and losses don't matter in the short run; it is how the trading business performs over time that is important. As such, traders should try to avoid becoming overly emotional with either wins or losses, and treat each as just another day at the office. As with any business, forex trading incurs expenses, losses, taxes, risk and uncertainty. Also, just as small businesses rarely become successful overnight, neither do most forex traders. Planning, setting realistic goals, staying organized and learning from both successes and failures will help ensure a long, successful career as a forex trader.

The Bottom Line
The worldwide forex market is attractive to many traders because of its low account requirements, round-the-clock trading and access to high amounts of leverage. When approached as a business, forex trading can be profitable and rewarding. In summary, traders can avoid losing money in forex by:

• Being well-prepared
• Having the patience and discipline to study and research
• Applying sound money management techniques
• Approaching trading activity as a business

Read more: 10 Ways To Avoid Losing Money In Forex | Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/11/10-ways-avoid-losing-money-forex.asp#ixzz3wZn1GmbD 
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How to Make Money Trading Forex

In the forex market, you buy or sell currencies.

Placing a trade in the foreign exchange market is simple: the mechanics of a trade are very similar to those found in other markets (like the stock market), so if you have any experience in trading, you should be able to pick it up pretty quickly.

The object of forex trading is to exchange one currency for another in the expectation that the price will change, so that the currency you bought will increase in value compared to the one you sold.

Example:

An exchange rate is simply the ratio of one currency valued against another currency. For example, the USD/CHF exchange rate indicates how many U.S. dollars can purchase one Swiss franc, or how many Swiss francs you need to buy one U.S. dollar.

How to Read a Forex Quote

Currencies are always quoted in pairs, such as GBP/USD or USD/JPY. The reason they are quoted in pairs is because in every foreign exchange transaction, you are simultaneously buying one currency and selling another. Here is an example of a foreign exchange rate for the British pound versus the U.S. dollar:

The first listed currency to the left of the slash (“/”) is known as the base currency (in this example, the British pound), while the second one on the right is called the counter or quote currency (in this example, the U.S. dollar).

When buying, the exchange rate tells you how much you have to pay in units of the quote currency to buy one unit of the base currency. In the example above, you have to pay 1.51258 U.S. dollars to buy 1 British pound.

When selling, the exchange rate tells you how many units of the quote currency you get for selling one unit of the base currency. In the example above, you will receive 1.51258 U.S. dollars when you sell 1 British pound.

The base currency is the “basis” for the buy or the sell. If you buy EUR/USD this simply means that you are buying the base currency and simultaneously selling the quote currency. In caveman talk, “buy EUR, sell USD.”

You would buy the pair if you believe the base currency will appreciate (gain value) relative to the quote currency. You would sell the pair if you think the base currency will depreciate (lose value) relative to the quote currency.

Long/Short

First, you should determine whether you want to buy or sell.

If you want to buy (which actually means buy the base currency and sell the quote currency), you want the base currency to rise in value and then you would sell it back at a higher price. In trader’s talk, this is called “going long” or taking a “long position.” Just remember: long = buy.

If you want to sell (which actually means sell the base currency and buy the quote currency), you want the base currency to fall in value and then you would buy it back at a lower price. This is called “going short” or taking a “short position”. Just remember: short = sell.

Read more: http://www.babypips.com/school/preschool/how-to-trade-forex/how-you-make-money-in-forex.html#ixzz3wZi90woI

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Ron Burkle raised millions for the Clintons, but he hasn't heard from Hillary's campaign

Welcome to Trail Guide, your host through the wilds of the 2016 presidential campaign. It's Wednesday, Jan. 6, and here's what we're talking about:

• Billionaire donor Ron Burkle assesses Hillary Clinton's campaign and his longtime relationship with Bill Clinton with The Times during a rare interview
• Donald Trump's past statements have Republicans committed to putting down a marker for the party on healthcare
• Clinton's efforts to be more relatable appear to be bearing fruit, at least in Iowa
• Your guide to the dark, dark ads of 2016
• Clinton and the rest of the Democratic field were at a Harry Reid-hosted dinner last night in Las Vegas

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EUR/USD posts modest gains, as Fed reiterates gradual tightening path

EUR/USD rose moderately on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve reiterated a plan to normalize monetary policy gradually and investors reacted to a wave of downbeat geopolitical and economic data in Asia and the Middle East.

The currency pair traded in a broad range between 1.0711 and 1.0839 before settling at 1.0783, up 0.30% on the session. With the modest gains, the euro halted a four-day skid dating back to the last trading day of 2015. The euro has still closed lower against the dollar in six of the last eight trading days. Over the last month of trading, the euro is relatively flat against the dollar down approximately 1% during the period.

EUR/USD likely gained support at 1.0556, the low from November 30 and was met with resistance at 1.1059, the high from Dec. 15.

The minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) December meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that all of its voting members were in agreement that labor market and inflation conditions at the time were appropriate to raise short-term interest rates modestly by 25 basis points. Last month in a historic decision, the FOMC abandoned a seven-year zero interest rate policy by approving its first rate hike in nearly a decade. Previously, the FOMC's benchmark Federal Funds Rate, remained at a zero bound range between zero and 0.25% for every meeting dating back to December, 2008. Furthermore, the members agreed that all subsequent rate hikes would be gradual and would remain low in the long-run future for some time.

Market players are closely parsing Fed statements for clues on the path of tightening the U.S. central bank embarks on as it continues to normalize monetary policy. Earlier on Wednesday, Fed vice chairman Stanley Fischer said in an exclusive interview with CNBC, that estimates of four interest rate hikes in 2016 were in the right "ballpark." In long-range forecasts issued last month, the FOMC estimated that the upper range of its benchmark Federal Funds Rate will increase by 1.0% by the end of 2016 to 1.5%.

At the same time, there may be some dissension between FOMC on the timing of further hikes, as the December minutes indicated that several members viewed last month's lift-off as a "close call." Furthermore, the minutes showed that those participants would need "greater confirmation," that inflation is moving toward the Fed's objective of 2% before they approved the next rate hike. Long-term inflation has remained under the Fed's targeted goal for every month over the last three years.

Any rate hikes are viewed as bullish for the dollar, as foreign investors pile into the greenback in order to capitalize on higher yields.

The FOMC cited an uncertain inflation outlook, a subdued neutral real interest rate and a lack of flexibility for stabilizing the economy in the case of unanticipated economic shocks for factors in why it plans to raise rates gradually.

"Gradual adjustments in the federal funds rate would also allow policymakers to assess how the economy was responding to increases in interest rates. In addition, by several estimates, the neutral short-term real interest rate was currently close to zero and was expected to rise only slowly as headwinds restraining the expansion receded," the FOMC said in the statement. "Moreover, the ability of monetary policy to offset the economic effects of an unanticipated economic shock remained asymmetric, and a cautious approach to normalizing policy could help minimize the risk of having to respond to a negative economic shock while the policy rate remained near its effective lower bound."

Elsewhere, currency traders reacted to downtrodden geopolitical and economic news in Asia, as North Korea announced that it successfully detonated a miniature hydrogen bombon Wednesday morning, while China said activity in its service sector in December fell to its lowest level in 17 months. While the apparent escalation of North Korea's nuclear capabilities spooked markets throughout Asia and sent a ripple effect through equity markets around the world, a host of experts expressed intense skepticism that Wednesday's test contained a highly-destructive hydrogen bomb. The test triggered a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey, nearly matching the Richter scale readings of three other tests conducted by North Korea since 2006. The size of the tremor is generally regarded as too small for a hydrogen test. In China, the yuan fell to a fresh five-year low against the dollar as the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the onshore yuan midpoint at 6.5314 per dollar, its weakest fixing since 2011. The South Korean won, meanwhile, fell to its lowest level in four months.

The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, reversed territory late in Wednesday's session to close at 99.30, down 0.17%. The index halted a six-day winning streak.

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Calcul du risque au forex et gestion financière

http://bit.ly/1mDgvC7  présente la meilleure manière de faire une bonne gestion financière avec votre compte forex. Le risque est un facteur clé du forex et il convient de toujours le minimiser pour s'assurer des profits réguliers sur le long terme.

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Markets to Focus on Fed Minutes for Rate Hike Pace Clues

The Minutes from the FOMC Meeting Will Unveil Policy Maker Insights Behind Historic Decision 

The U.S. Federal Reserve ended a seven year stretch of near zero rates with the first benchmark interest rate hike of 25 basis points on December 16, 2015. The market was anxiously awaiting the statement from the American central bank after the confusion caused by the European Central Bank (ECB) a week before. The ECB had failed to deliver on its implied promises and fell short of market expectations sending the EUR higher. The market was later reassured by the actions of the Fed but the USD ended 2015 at 1.0890 when it was trading below 1.06 ahead of the December 3, 2015 ECB rate statement and press conference.

The first week of the year bring two major releases that will dictate the course of the USD. After the influential December FOMC, the notes from that meeting will be released on Wednesday, January 6 at 2:00 pm EST. Ending the week the biggest forex indicator the U.S. non farm payroll (NFP) will be published on Friday, January 8 at 8:30 am EST.

Investors will be going over the minutes to find more information about what does “gradual” mean for the Fed. The American central bank has stepped up use of the word leading up to the rate statement. Chair Yellen only clarified during her press conference that gradual does not mean mechanical, but that only leaves the market back to policy decisions being data dependant. A more hawkish tone to what was a unanimous decision would boost the USD as the currency has started the year strong. If the notes show a divided committee behind the scenes with the interest rate a close call, could deflate the USD and dampen more rate hike expectations in 2016.

The EUR/USD has lost 1.781 percent in the first week of the year. The data out of the U.S. has not been encouraging, but it has sparked more optimism than that out of Europe which hints at the ECB being called into action sooner rather than later. The USD index has touched highs not seen since 2002 as the market awaits the minutes from the December FOMC tomorrow as well as the employment data on Friday.

The pace of the rate hikes is the main speculation surrounding the actions of the central bank. There are few analysts who expect a change in the interest rate in January with the majority forecasting a March and June hikes if the data between then and now backs up the decision. Fed policy members have published their own expectations of four rate hikes, but 2016 being an election year the central bank will play a background role near the final month ahead of the votes for president are cast.

The USD has regained some of the strength that was lost with the ECB failure to communicate. With China still showing signs of a difficult transition from manufacturing to consumer demand led economy and Europe and Japan stuck near deflation the economics validate the rise of the U.S. currency.

USD events to watch this week:

Wednesday, January 6
8:15am USD ADP Non-Farm Employment Change
8:30am CAD Trade Balance
8:30am USD Trade Balance
10:00am USD ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI
2:00pm USD FOMC Meeting Minutes
7:30pm AUD Trade Balance

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