Forex versus Other Investments
Forex means the foreign currency exchange, and that today alone nearly $2 Trillion will be traded by banks, governments, corporations, trading partners and private and corporate speculators. Speculators trade to make a profit by purchasing one currency and simultaneously selling another. And people like you are making handsome profits everyday from home, after hours, trading without thinking about commissions and margin calls (dreaded word for day-traders)
So is Forex for you? Yes and let me list the benefits that are available to all - including you. As stated Forex Trading is the exchange of currencies for profit, and it offers unmatched potential for profitable trading in any market condition or stage of the business cycle. No other market can make that claim - and I haven't even begun to list the cool things yet.
Here we go:
- No commissions. No clearing fees, no exchange fees, no government fees, no brokerage fees.
- No middlemen. You can deal directly with the market using an online trading platform.
- No fixed lot size. You can start a trading account for as little as $300, because the lot sizes are not pre-determined.
- Low transaction cost. True there is no official commission, but there is a spread between the bid and ask price of a currency paid. But that spread is about 0.1% of the actual transaction - making it relatively much cheaper than other markets.
- High Liquidity. A trader can enter or exit the market at will in almost any market condition. Your bottleneck is your internet connection speed! You have almost instantaneous transactions.
- Low margin, high leverage. These factors increase the potential for higher profits (and losses if you gamble with your money)
- 24 hour market. A trader may take advantage of all profitable market conditions at any time - there is no opening bell or 'after hours' trading - its always open!
- Online access - you can do this all from home or work... even on the train or plane or coffee stop with WiFi access!
- Not related to the stock market! Because you can profit no matter what the stock markets are doing to the world currencies, you don't really care whether the DOW is up or not!
- Interbank Market. The backbone of the Forex market consists of a global network of dealers. They are mainly major commercial banks that communicate and trade with one another. There are no organized exchanges to serve as a central hub, like the New York stock exchange... the Forex market will never crash because of some major world event. Sure prices may be affected, but your trading opportunities are always present.
- No one can corner the market. Due to its sheer size and number of participants, not even a central bank can control the market price for an extended period of time.
- No insider trading. Again because of its size and de-centralized nature, there are no significant fraud opportunities compared to other markets.
If you are familiar with either equity (stock) or futures markets - the list above will be very impressive to you. If you are not familiar with this stuff, take my word - its good news and its way cheaper than trading stocks. The profits can be staggering and so can the losses. That's why it's critical that beginners invest in a training program that will give them an understanding and trading system that minimizes losses and emphasises educated trading.