For a long time, the accepted wisdom would have been to entrust your investment capital to some local brokerage service, and aside from browsing your regular monthly statements, that was the extent of your responsibilities. Very often an intelligent and clever person will start to contemplate whether they can handle helping to make their own investments, especially in the on-going economic crisis. Today, as a result of prevalent accessibility to electronic markets and software applications, just about anybody is able to get themselves into the market. Many, however, are intimidated by the mind-boggling complication and endemic corruption that prevails in the stock game, and many will probably take away that as an solution. There is another market, having said that, which provides the astute learner an arena into which they can safely venture. With all the self esteem that the excellent schooling gives you, and the reassurance that a developed sense of discipline instills, the Forex market can be a dream become reality for the hopeful market warrior.
Convenient Accessibility
Probably the most enticing arguments that the Forex market is accessible to just about anyone is the fact that you can find virtually thousands of brokers that provide 100% Free of charge, no commitment, no deposit, down-loadable trading platforms that enable you to trade the market live employing a "demo" account. A Demo account provides you with almost identical experience that you will experience in case you at some point plan to start trading with actual money. The value of this type of practical experience is incalculable, mainly because it makes it possible for the trader to discover if or not he or she has got what it takes to contend in the world's greatest financial market. The ambitious trader can brainstorm, evaluate and test out methods for numerous days, months or years before they think they are really ready to get started. For the patient and disciplined, the value of this cannot be overstated.
Another advantage that the Forex market affords the amateur trader looking to uncover his niche may be the simplicity of entry into a live account. The playing field of stock trading is dominated by a select few online brokers who have jointly decided that $1,500 to $3,000 is apparently the minimal amount that they're going to settle for to open an account, and at those levels, the level of services is even decreased. In contrast, there are many reputable Foreign Exchange Brokers who have established Micro-lot programs which allow the trader to enter the marketplace with a very small level of risk by trading what is known as micro-lots. These programs extend their hand to the trader with minimal funds to use by minimizing the entry threshold to as small as $25.00. Moreover, these deposits can be achieved easily and quickly via a credit or debit card, while the vast majority of stock broker deposits require a wire transfer or ACH deposit.
One of several aggravating moments in a budding stock trader's career comes along at the time they figure out just how much funds they have to commit to a stock trade in order to earn substantial money on a shorter term move. As an example, to produce $500 on a 5% move over the course of one or two weeks, the trader needs to put in at a minimum $10,000 if he or she isn't margined. If margined at the ordinary maximum of 2 to 1, then that amount could be as low as $5,000, however the trader is exposed to the hazards inherent with being leveraged in the stock market. Sizable opening gaps and major surprise press releases can occur any time, and devastate the traders balance without giving that individual any possible way of avoiding the catastrophe. By comparison, the foreign exchange market supplies the trader a much reduced risk profile by offering as much as 500 to 1 leverage in certain marketplaces. A lot more reasonable would be the latest US standard of 50 to 1, but still, this amount of leverage enables a trader to drill right down to the lower time frames and develop a plan that extracts sizable gains from a considerably more tolerable risk profile. And, considering that the Forex market trades 24x7 during the weeks time without any gaps, the probability is narrow that price will move substantially distant from the trader's entry price before they are able to make an exit determination. As long as the clever Currency trader exits trades on Friday, and enters again following the Sunday night EST opening time, the chances of getting burned by way of a gap or excessive flash move are very low.
On a similar wave link as the preceding point, the Forex market permits the trader to enter and exit in an unfettered manner, whatever the size or configuration of their account. On the other hand, the US stock markets require a participant to maintain an account balance with a minimum of $25,000 in their trading account to become classified and permitted as a "day trader". Without this kind of classification, you're going to be limited by 3 in/outs per 5 day rolling week, meaning that you are eligible to enter and exit within the same market session, but only three times every five day rolling week. This constraint causes fresh market participants to miss out on some of the most dependable setups that exist in the stock exchange, as they are not legally in a position to routinely enter and exit during the same day. Forex is victorious again!
"Technically" more accurate
Apart from the entrance requirements with regard to trading a live account, the Forex market provides the novice trader a not so steep learning curve than does the stock exchange. Simply because Forex trades at any hour, and traders are not "in a hurry" to sell or buy before an upcoming close in the marketplace, market players don't usually generate unreasonable movements that can't be predicted. The stock exchange, with its' pre-market, New york open, lunchtime doldrums, bond closings, NY close, and post-market trading produce a maze of motions that people outside the Wall Street Elite are left to simply make educated guesses about. The Currency markets, although it does react powerfully to some news items and from time to time does something that seems out of nowhere, generally gives the qualified trader intelligent and definable patterns with which to measure entries, stops and take profit levels. Forex, like every markets, enters into sideways patterns that are difficult to forecast, but, just like all markets, that's not the time to trade heavily. When the Forex market starts to trend, however, the proficient player is much like the proverbial "kid in a candy store" looking at and scooping up those little green and red candies.
The size of the Forex market is not able to even be fairly compared to the stock market. Nearly $4 trillion every day will be exchanged, and if you relate those dollars to the example of each and every one as being a vote, then it may help one comprehend the realities. Each and every one of those trades is a vote about what the present valuation on each currency set really should be, and the simple fact is that having such an huge ocean of variant thoughts about where the rate should be offers a dampening effect that results in a softer all around price movement. The effect can result in a more foreseeable and playable market.
In the stock exchange, the volume of shares on the market to trade of any one security will surely have an enormous impact on the way in which that security trades. The smaller the float, the more erratic and unforeseen its' movements can be. A lot of day traders don't like trading anything that trades less than 1 million shares every day. This method insures that the instrument is fluid enough for them to enter and exit with an acceptable degree of slippage. Compare and contrast that with the Forex market, where 4 million times that amount of dealings take place. To an Forex trader who eliminates trading news events and the 5pm EST carry over, slippage should really be wholly restricted to the market spread at the time of entry and exit.
That leads to one more reason that Forex makes sense as a trading vehicle for the rational trader, the reduced expenses of commission rates. In fact, hardly any Forex brokers even command commissions, as the primary revenue stream for a trustworthy Forex broker is the "pip spread". This is the difference between the typical bid and offer that is present with every market, however in Forex, that's everything that you "pay", although you never really write a check or see it subtracted from your account. The spread just gets folded into the trade, whether it profits or loses, so that when you exit all trades and your account is flat, the balance that shows in your balance is all yours. There is going to be no extra broker service fees, SEC fees, Exchange fees, data fees, etc... Now that's something that you are certain to get pumped up about.
Instruction can be acquired, but Buyer Beware!
Needless to say, it would be nearly impossible to find anyone who would consent that just anyone can enter in the market profitably without first obtaining a proper education. Despite the fact that, in rare instances, this has been accomplished, even then it wasn't without a variety of "near financial death" experiences, and very hard won lessons. Training is vital to successfully manage in the worlds' largest market, but where should an ambitious trader go to obtain the best instruction as well as the very best dollar value?
At this time there undoubtedly are a large number of operations on the net that claim to be able to convert the beginner trader into a professional in "just one weekend" or after "learning the secret that no one else knows"! Level headed individuals can detect these fraudsters a considerable ways off, but others haven't been so fortuitous. The best advice will be to limit the level of funds you invest in instruction in the beginning, since trading capital is easily the most priceless asset that every trader has.
The best "trade" for an aspiring Forex trader would be Cutting Edge Forex Education and Training that is more effective and affordable than the current alternatives. FXBattleground.com uses the collective experience and knowledge of the Professional Trading Team to provide just that, and more.
