Friday, October 30, 2009

Information About Margin In Forex Trade

 Several forex traders are doubtful while applying the margin. But after that, they have small option and the majority of them have to employ the margin to do foreign trade.

One single lot includes 100,000 units of a currency in a normal account. One lot in Mini account may possibly include 10,000 units of a particular currency. This, as most of you would optimistically have the same opinion, is important cash to keep in an account. As well, the majority of people have been look to trade above one lot at a time.

And nearly all Forex trading firms need traders to have admission to margin funds. All in all there is just no options which will aid us turn clear of applying the margin in currency trading.

Significant aspect for a forex trader to bear in mind is that there are reasonable ways to employ the margin gainfully in addition to sensibly.
Margin is customizable: Margin is bendable and can be applied till the level at which the trader is comfy and thinks the requirement to exercise it. If the trader desires to play it protected, 5% to 10% of margin is measured comfy. For a trader who is start to taking a few risks, 40% to 50% percent of margin is measured standard or strong.

Therefore, the margin sum for every trade can be customized opening from zero to 100 percent. A person has to think every trade independently and has to create it a division of his long term forex currency trading strategy and create a well-versed verdict about how lot the margin is most appropriate for him.

Main Tools Of Trade In Forex

In the forex market, the forex traders do their trading in online forex trading if they use Technical Analysis for finding trades. In the online trading forex there are a lot of technical analysis strategies that helps a forex trader in to forex trade to become a profitable trader. The Technical analysis monitors many indicators and also important price activity. If the forex trader needs some information the Technical analysis gets together large amounts of the data that the trader wants to include in his analysis and there by engineer some plans to go for good investments
There are advantages of being a long term trader, it is mainly because a trader can isolate himself from the huge up and downs in the markets.
It is also a golden rule, (unwritten rule in forex) that a forex trader stops its losses and there by protect the capital. A forex trader is recommended to sell a little by little because if he sells the whole he might miss a huge profit when the currency value rises again as soon as he sells. But at the same time if he waits and then at the end of the day it comes down then the trader will feel guilty of not selling it at the right time.
With the development of technology, like the introduction of internet, mobile phones- it has become a possible to trade from anywhere in the world. A forex trader should select a good forex broker to perform well. To know more about the online forex brokers, the CFD Report is the one that forex traders should go for good selection.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Popular pairs in Forex

Without a doubt the EUR/USD and GBP/USD, as currency pairs, receive a great deal of attention by online Forex traders.
Each provides tradable patterns almost every day. Why some traders prefer trading one of these pairs versus the other is almost a matter of personal preference. Both pairs will reflect global sentiment regarding the dollar. As a result, it is usually the case that they will share the same trend patterns.

If world reaction to economic news is positive for the US economy, as a general rule, both the Euro and the GBP will tend to weaken. The chart below, for example, shows how the EUR/USD and the GBP have moved on the 1 hour pattern. Notice how similar the patterns are. The hour charts below show that both pairs provided a similar reaction to the Nov 4th economic release of the non-farm payroll report.

Clearly, it is hard to develop an argument of which pair is better to trade. But there is more that the online Forex trader can do with these pairs. online Forex traders can generate totally new trading opportunities by dropping the US dollar component of the pair and, thereby, creating a Cross-pair known as the EUR/GBP Before we take a look at the EUR/GBP chart, let’s try to understand what makes this pair a good source of trades, particularly, in the coming year.

The best way to understanding this Cross-pair is to realize that it generates a picture of the battle between two different economies- the EU vs. the British economy.
The EU countries experience different levels of economic growth and expectations of growth than that of Great Britain.

Currency Risk

A form of risk that arises from the change in price of one currency against another. Whenever investors or companies have assets or business operations across national borders, they face currency risk if their positions are not hedged.

For example, if you are a U.S. investor and you have stocks in Canada, the return that you will realize is affected by both the change in the price of the stocks and the change in the value of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar. So, if you realize a 15% return in your Canadian stocks but the Canadian dollar depreciates 15% against the U.S. dollar, this will amount to no gain at all.

Academic studies of currency risk suggest - although without absolute certainty - that investors bearing currency risk are not compensated with higher potential returns, meaning it is essentially a needless risk to bear.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Dukascopy - Swiss Forex Marketplace launches Live Economic Calendar.
Dukascopy - Swiss Forex Marketplace launches Live Economic Calendar. This is a new service which instantly delivers data on influential reports and announcements to the trading platform allowing news-traders to benefit from real-time access to essential information. The calendar event data is also available via JForex API interface, which enables pre-programmed trading on news releases.
Stocks Soar in US. CURRENCY TRADING SUMMARY – 23rd October
U.S. Dollar Trading (USD) gained during the day as hedge fund sales of long NZD, AUD positions helped the Dollar. A sharp reversal in US stocks put the USD on the back foot with the EURO regaining the 1.5000 level. Weekly Jobless Claims at 531k vs. 515k previously. In US Stocks, DJIA +131 points closing at 10081, S&P +11 points closing at 1092 and NASDAQ +14 points closing at 2165. Looking ahead, September Existing Home Sales forecast at 5.35mln vs. 5.1mln previously.
The Euro (EUR) fell as Asian and European stocks suffered heavy losses but was always supported. 1.4950 contained the losses and the pair regains the 1.5000 level with the rise in US stocks. August Current Account was -5bn vs. 9.3bn previously. Overall the EUR/USD traded with a low of 1.4942 and a high of 1.5040 before closing at 1.5010. Looking ahead, October IFO Business Climate forecast at 92 vs. 91.3 previously.
The Japanese Yen (JPY) traded at month highs as the pair turned more and more positive with USD/JPY testing 91.60. EUR/JPY traded above 137 Yen and GBP/JPY recovered from a sell off in Europe. September Trade Balance was at 530bn vs. 630bn previously. Overall the USDJPY traded with a low of 90.87 and a high of 91.71 before closing the day around 91.30 in the New York session.
The Sterling (GBP) came under pressure as more talked of QE expansion spooked the market and September retails sales were flat vs. +0.5% forecast. The rise in US sales let the market resume tracking higher and the pair finished just under month highs. Overall the GBP/USD traded with a low of 1.6488 and a high of 1.6638 before closing the day at 1.6610 in the New York session. Looking ahead, Q3 GDP forecast at 0.2% vs. -0.6%.
The Australian Dollar (AUD) fell heavily from 0.9300 to 0.9200 as stock losses added a bit of risk aversion in the European market but the 0.9180 level held firm and the pair finished the US session on the front foot. Overall the AUD/USD traded with a low of 0.9186 and a high of 0.9299 before closing the US session at 0.9280.
Oil & Gold (XAU) quiet movements dipping and then recovering with US stocks. Overall trading with a low of USD$1051 and high of USD$1061 before ending the New York session at USD$1060 an ounce. Oil consolidated the gains from Wednesday. Crude Oil was down -0.32 ending the New York session at $81.05.

Friday, October 23, 2009

USDJPY Analysis.
USDJPY trades in a range between 90.07 and 91.31. Another fall to re-test the support of the rising trend line from 88.01 to 88.83 is possible later today. As long as the trend line support holds, price action from 91.31 is treated as consolidation of uptrend from 88.01 and one more rise towards 92.00 is expected. However, a clear break below the trend line support will indicate that the uptrend from 88.01 has completed, then the follow downtrend could take price to 88.50 zone.

20091022_usdjpy_1

EURUSD Analysis.
EURUSD runs in a rising price channel on 4-hour chart and continue its upward trend from 1.4484. Further rally is still in favor and next target would be at 1.5100 zone. Support is now at the lower border of the price channel, as long as the channel support holds, uptrend will continue. However, a breakdown below 1.4827 key support will indicate that the rise from 1.4484 has completed, then the following pullback will take price to 1.4700-1.4750 area.

20091022_eurusd_1

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

All eyes on the Dow and Dollar...but watch the EUR/USD

10-1-2009 2-11-38 PM.gif

Correlations are my thing...and when it comes to playing the EUR/USD the Dow and the U.S. Dollar play a big part. Today's Dow sell-off has taken prices to some key levels, namely the 34ema Wave support on the daily. The Dollar has not been able to take out the 73.33 resistance and this should create a floor on the Dow.
With that in mind the pullback on the EUR/USD (above) has found support within the Wave and specifically the 50% Fibo level. The U.S. Dollar ceiling -- if it holds -- should allow the EUR/USD to bounce from 1.4516 which is just north of the key 1.4500 psychological level.
Prices did break the uptrend line support of the channel up pattern on this chart but since the 34ema high is just below it, the two combined create more of a buying zone. IF there was more room between the uptrend line and the 34ema high there could have been an opportunity to play the gap between the two. But with today's EUR/USD weakness there were much better and lower risk shorting opportunities across shorter term intraday charts like the 30 minute. (below)

10-1-2009 2-43-49 PM.gif

Monday, October 19, 2009

Forex Glossary
The Foreign Exchange market has its own terminology which is normally used by all Forex brokers, investors and traders. Here is a brief list of the frequently used Forex terms and their meanings.

Ask Price/ Offer Price
The ask and offer price is the price at which the market is ready to trade a specific currency. This is the price where, an investor can purchase the base currency. When seeing a quote, it is located on the right side.
For example, in the quote EUR/USD 1.4547/52, the ask price is 1.4552.
Base currency
The currency listed first in a Currency Pair is known as the Base currency.
Bids
A Bid is the price at which the investor is willing to purchase a currency.
Bid/Ask Spread
Simply stating, Bid/Ask spread is the variation between the bid and offer price. It can also be defined as the degree of difference in pips, amid the buying price and the selling price of a currency pair.
Broker
A person or an organization acting as an agent, putting together buyers and sellers for a commission or fee, can be defined as a Broker. They are the ones who work on behalf of their investors.
Counter Currency
The currency listed second in a Currency Pair is known as the Counter currency.
Currency symbols
EUR - Euro
AUD - Australian Dollar
CAD - Canadian Dollar
CHF - Swiss Franc  
JPY - Japanese Yen
GBP - British Pound
Day Trading
Day trading refers to the buying and selling of positions within a single day’s trade.
Foreign Exchange
Also known as Forex or FX, it is the process of buying of one currency in exchange of other currency in an over-the-counter market.
Leverage
Leverage is the ratio of the deposited amount to the amount that can be traded. Find out Importance of Forex Leverage
Limit order
Limit orders let the Forex investors stop further trading and leave the market at preset profit objectives. It is an order which restricts the greatest price to be paid or the lowest price to be received.
Liquidity
Liquidity can be defined as the capacity of a market to allow fat transaction with negligible impact on the price stability.
Margin
Margin is the minimum amount required to be deposited before an investor starts trading. This can also be known as the initial amount with which the Forex trading account can be opened.
Pip / Point
When dealing in terms of quotes, prices are expressed in terms of Pips. Pips can be defined as “percentage in points” and are mostly the fourth decimal point i.e. 1/100th of 1%. A pip can also be defined as the smallest value at which an exchange of currency can take place.
Stop Loss Order
Stop/loss commands allow the investors to set an exit point for a loss. By limiting your losses to a pre set position, Stop/loss orders help investors control their risk conditions. 'Stop-loss' can lower an investor's exposure to risk by a large proportion.
What is Forex?
The largest financial market in the world, Foreign Exchange market, Forex or FX market, all the terms are used to describe the business of trading of the world's various currencies, with more than $2 trillion changing hands every day. Being an international foreign exchange market, Forex is a market where money is sold and bought freely. FOREX was launched in the 1970s, to become the biggest liquid financial market today, dealing in more than hundred times the daily trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
FOREX is a perfect market to invest in, as it is free from any external control and free competition. Mostly, all Forex trading are tentative and unlike the stock market trading, the Forex market is not conducted by a central exchange, but on the “interbank” market, which is thought of as an OTC (over the counter) market. The trading takes place between the two dealers, either over the telephone or through Internet, all over the world. The major trading centers are the ones at Sydney, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and New York, making Forex a 24-hour market.
Forex Trading requires the employing fundamental as well as technical analyses. These analysis help a trader to foresee and determine the development in the price trends of currencies, based on which, he attempts to predict market changes and make profits. Fundamental analysis can be said to use techniques to analyze the value of a state’s currency with the help of its economic indicators, quality markets and political events and associations. Political stability also influences the exchange rate at Forex. Its not just that Forex Trading is intutive, rather its technical
While Technical analysis engages the study of patterns of price trends and movements, making it easier for the trader to predict the path of the future developments in the Forex market. The primary data for a technical analysis are values, be it the highest or the lowest values, the price of opening and closing in a definite period of time, and the amount of transactions taking place. Any factor, be it economic, political or psychological, having little or some influence on the value or the price, has already been measured by the market to be included in the price.
How to earn in Forex 
Forex, where the commodity to be traded is currency, and not stocks and shares, is a trading market which gives its investors, returns in the form of the relative value of one currency exchanged against another. Forex trading is therefore, always dealt in currency pairs with the major currency pairs being Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD) and US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), to name a few.

And it is with concurrent buying and selling of currencies that the trader hopes to make a profit on favorable exchange rate fluctuations. Exchange rates are always fluctuating, going down as well as up, within seconds and the whole art of trading lies in perfectly foreseeing the trend of the variation between two currencies.

US Dollar: Same Old Story

These days, it’s hard to offer a fresh perspective on the Dollar. The factors driving its short-term momentum – namely low interest rates and its perception as a financial safe haven – have been in place for nearly a year. It’s long-term prognosis, meanwhile, also hasn’t changed much. Since the beginning of the decade, the Greenback has been in a state of perennial decline as a result of its twin deficits and the related notion that it will be soon be replaced as the world’s pre-eminent currency.

The Falling Greenback

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Canadian Dollar Down as CPI Falls for Fourth Straight Month, Bank of Canada Rate Decision Next Week

The Canadian dollar eased back on Friday after the release of the nation’s consumer price index (CPI) fell for the fourth straight month in September, the longest series since 1953, as energy prices remain low relative to a year ago. Indeed, the annual CPI rate fell to -0.9 percent, but on the other hand, the annual rate of the Bank of Canada’s core CPI eased back less than expected to 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent. Nevertheless, the data adds to evidence that the central bank will leave rates unchanged next Thursday, especially as they’ve already said in recent months that they would maintain a neutral stance through June 2010 and indicated that the Canadian dollar’s strength remained a threat to not only growth, but the return of inflation back to target. Overall, indications that the Bank still sees downside risks for inflation could weigh on the Canadian dollar, but as we’ve seen in the past, the currency is more responsive to changes in the economic outlook.
British Pound Rally Continues Following Comments from BOE’s Fisher Signaling End of QE

The British pound continued its rally and finished Friday as the strongest of the majors as traders anticipate that the Bank of England (BOE) will close down their quantitative easing (QE) program by the end of the year. However, the GBPUSD pair closed right near key resistance formed by the 100 SMA and a falling trendline drawn from the August high near 1.6350/1.6400, and this could prevent further rallies at the start of next week. On Thursday, the Financial Times published an interview with BOE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Paul Fisher, and in it, he said that he feels “much more confident now that the asset purchase program is having the scale and speed of impact that we would have hoped for when we started," suggesting that the central bank may not need to continue with the program when it expires as planned toward the end of the year.

Next week’s event risk could go a long way to add to this speculation, or refute it completely. On Wednesday, the minutes from the BOE’s October meeting will be released and there are a variety of potential comments that could impact the British pound. First, the vote count is likely to show the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members were unanimously in favor of neutral policy for both the Bank Rate and the Asset Purchase Facility (APF), but any dovish deviation in this would trigger an immediate pullback in the British pound. The other possible trigger pertains to outlooks for growth and inflation, particularly upgrades or downgrades from previous forecasts, as this would lead traders to shift their expectations for interest rate decisions in 2010, with Credit Suisse overnight index swaps currently pricing in 86 basis points worth of rate hikes by the BOE over the next 12 months.
Euro Consolidates as Exports Dive, Warning That Ireland May Require IMF Aid

The Euro-zone's trade surplus narrowed to 1 billion euros in August from 6 billion euros, as exports fell a seasonally adjusted 5.8 percent from July, the sharpest drop in seven months. European exporters have two main forces working against them: lackluster global growth and the appreciation of the euro. Indeed, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said today that “there’s a risk” the currency's gains could impede the region's recovery and that the topic will be discussed at an October 19 meeting in Luxembourg. Furthermore, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday that it is “extremely important” that US authorities pursue a strong dollar policy, calling excessive currency volatility “an enemy.”

Meanwhile, the Irish health and finance ministers offered bleak outlooks for the nation ahead of the December 9 announcement of massive budget cuts as they experience the deepest recession in the Euro-zone. Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said Ireland was “on the road to ruin” if it failed to reduce spending and control mounting debt, and called the budget “a test of our ability to rise above our difficulties” while warning that the prepared cuts would look like a “picnic” when compared to the measures that would be made necessary by waiting. In fact, Health Minister Mary Harney warned that if the government does not slash the budget, “then others will come in like the IMF and overnight they will make decisions,” suggesting that in such a case, the health budget alone could be cut by 30-40 percent. All told, it’s clear that Ireland is in the worst position of the Euro-zone member nations, and presents a risk to the stability of the currency.
US Dollar Gains as Risk Appetite Fades, DJIA Closes Back Below 10,000

The US dollar was one of the strongest major currencies, falling only against the British pound, as risk aversion faded and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell back below 10,000. Looking to the news on hand, US industrial production rose for the third consecutive month in September, this time at a rate of 0.7 percent, while capacity utilization hit a seven-month high of 70.5 percent. Meanwhile, foreign demand for long-term US equities, notes and bonds totaled $28.6 billion in August as, on net, investors bought Treasuries for a third straight month, indicating that international buyers are not shunning US assets. In less positive news, preliminary readings showed that the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index fell to 69.4 in October from a 20-month high of 73.5. The decline was led by a deterioration in the economic outlook, as sentiment on current economic conditions went relatively unchanged. A further breakdown also shows that 1-year inflation expectations shifted from 2.2 percent in September up to 2.8 percent, indicating that consumers anticipate that price pressures are building.

US dollar event risk will start to pick up again next  Tuesday, as US housing starts and building permits are projected to have risen for the second straight month in September to 10-month highs, with starts anticipated to hit 610,000 from 598,000 while permits may rise to 590,000 from 580,000. While the unemployment rate is still in the process of rising, the federal government’s tax credit for first-time home buyers of up to $8,000 is likely to remain supportive of demand through the end of the year. However, if the program expires as planned on December 1, the growth we’ve started to see in the housing sector could start to wane.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Canadian Dollar Farther From Parity With Greenback on Stocks

Canadian DollarThe Canadian dollar, which benefited from a high on crude oil markets and traded near parity with its U.S. counterpart witnessed a significant fall towards the end of these week’s session as equities did not perform in favor of the Canadian currency.
The loonie is ranking among the top winners versus the greenback this year, only losing to the Australian dollar and the Brazilian real, being all these currencies benefiting from a high in commodity markets, due to their raw material exporter profile. This week, the loonie managed to trade near parity with the U.S. dollar, but this Friday, a reverse movement in stocks worldwide created a rather bearish scenario decreasing risk appetite in currency trading, pushing the loonie away from equality with the greenback, as investors shifted their bets before the session’s closing.
Optimism towards the U.S. economy and speculations that the greenback would be undervalued, combined with a negative performance in stocks and commodities forced the Canadian currency down towards the end of this week, according to analysts. The Canadian dollar is likely to remain in this band between parity with the U.S. dollar and up to $1.05 for a while, as long as there are no events that would drastically change the sentiment towards the currencies involved.
USD/CAD traded at 1.0430 as of 12:25 GMT from 1.0305 yesterday, after trading near parity in the middle of the week.

Pound Extends Gains on Renewed Optimism

Great Britain poundThe pound had the best performance this week in months after speculations suggest that the national central bank will stop its current asset-purchase program used to stimulate the economy to escape from recession.
The pound rose to the highest level in three weeks versus the greenback as stocks in London posted a second straight week of gains, benefiting from a renewed sentiment of improvements regarding the British economy, after the government suggested that the current asset-purchase program may be suspended.
GBP/USD traded at 1.6353 as of 21:35 GMT from a previous rate of 1.6265.

Dollar Rebounds on Undervaluing Speculations

US DollarThe U.S. dollar had a weak performance this week reaching record lows versus the euro and the Australian dollar but managed to pare some of its losses as traders could think the current devaluation may be too severe and that it would not reflect economic fundamentals in the U.S.
The greenback managed to gain versus most of the 16 main traded currencies towards the end of this week’s session, in a movement that many analysts considered to be a corrective, profit taking from a part of traders, but at the same time could indicate a shift in the dollar trends, as fundamentals in the country are not so negative as the sentiment towards the currency.
EUR/USD closed this week at 1.4904 after touching 1.4963 during the week.

Forex: USD/CHF ends week below 1.0200

FXstreet.com (Córdoba) – Despite falling on Friday, the Swiss Franc ended the week with sharp gains against the Dollar. USD/CHF finished below 1.0200 but far from intra-week lows that lie at 1.0117 (15-month low). The pair has fallen in 5 out of the last 6 weeks. USD/CHF is still under pressure and the downside bias has a strong support at a downtrend line in daily charts. On the upside has a key resistance level at 1.0230/50, a break above could send it higher.

Against Cable, the Swiss fell sharply on Friday. GBP/CHF extended the rally and finished above 1.6600 at a two week high. The pair rose 450 pips in the last two days.

Pricey Swiss VPS Hosting for MetaTrader

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
ForexVPS.ch is a rather new VPS hosting company that offers its services for the Forex traders with the MetaTrader 4 platform pre-installed on all servers. The only operating system currently available for the VPS is Linux but they are planning to launch Windows in December 2009. The main problem with this hosting is its price (CHF 79 per month), a set-up fee (CHF 99 once) and a minimum length of contract (12 months). I am not sure that many traders will go for such a pricey VPS hosting option from a company that has no known reputation around the market. Other features of ForexVPS.ch include:
  • Payments via PayPal
  • Servers hosted in Switzerland
  • No phone numbers for support

Pricey Swiss VPS Hosting for MetaTrader

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
ForexVPS.ch is a rather new VPS hosting company that offers its services for the Forex traders with the MetaTrader 4 platform pre-installed on all servers. The only operating system currently available for the VPS is Linux but they are planning to launch Windows in December 2009. The main problem with this hosting is its price (CHF 79 per month), a set-up fee (CHF 99 once) and a minimum length of contract (12 months). I am not sure that many traders will go for such a pricey VPS hosting option from a company that has no known reputation around the market. Other features of ForexVPS.ch include:
  • Payments via PayPal
  • Servers hosted in Switzerland
  • No phone numbers for support

Broker with Swiss Name and Mauritian Registration

The new Forex broker that was added to the list of the list on my site is Basel Financial. Although, its name suggests a Swiss connection (Basel is a major city in Switzerland), the company is registered and regulated by the Financial Service Commission of Mauritius, which is quite far from Europe. This Forex broker has very favorable conditions for the traders with only $50 minimum account size and a leverage up to 1:500. It’s a MetaTrader broker (which one isn’t nowadays?) and they accept three major e-payment systems — PayPal, Moneybookers and WebMoney. The overall conditions for all traders are more than good; I’d even say that they are excellent. Unfortunately, I don’t have any real account trading experience with Basel Financial and can’t say anything about their execution, stability and transaction handling quality. Other features of this Forex broker are:
  • Forex, metals, energies and index trading
  • Deposit bonuses for real account traders
  • 1 pip spread on EUR/USD
  • 0 pip spread for micro accounts
  • Islamic accounts are available

EUR/USD at Max Level Since August 2008

EUR/USD rose to its maximum level in more than a year today as the set of the fundamentally stimulating reports moved the global stock markets up, lowering the attractiveness of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency. Along with the better than expected macroeconimical statistics and the FOMC minutes release, EUR/USD was also spurred by the good financial reports from the major U.S. companies. The currency pair is now trading near 1.4913, while the daily high was set at 1.4946.
Advance retail sales report for September showed a monthly decrease by 1.5%, which followed a 2.2% growth during a previous month. The decrease isn’t a good result but the forecasted change was -2.1%, which would have been much worse.
U.S. export prices decreased by 0.3% in September after rising by 0.7% in August, while the import prices went up by 0.1% after rising by 1.6% a month earlier.
Business inventories fell by 1.5% in August, following a decrease by 1.1% and a forecast of a decrease by 1%.
Crude oil inventories dropped by 1.0 million barrels last week and total motor gasoline inventories increased by 2.9 million barrels during the same period.

Forex Broker with Too Good to Be True Conditions

The latest Forex broker that was added to my site is 1pipfix from Canada (it’s still unregulated but is in the process of entering the regulation). This broker has a lot of advantages for the traders — like MT4 platform, 1 pip spread on all majors (at least it looks sustainable in this case, they don’t have any affiliate program), up to 1:500 leverage and deposits via all popular e-currency systems (PayPal, WebMoney, Moneybookers and Liberty Reserve). But the broker is very new — it’s on-line only since March 2009 and their website is poorly designed, which make me cautious about their reliability. In my opinion, 1pipfix offers too good to be true conditions, but that doesn’t mean that they are scam. Unfortunately, you won’t know it until you try it. Other highlights of this broker include:
  • Accounts from $100
  • CFD, gold and oil trading
  • Muslim-friendly accounts available

EUR/USD Posts Bearish Day on Better Treasury Flows

The EUR/USD currency pair declined on the Forex market today, close to its Wednesday open level as the U.S. treasury notes still show some demand among the foreign investors. Industrial production report also turned out to be positive for the U.S. dollar for some reason. EUR/USD is currently trading near 1.4871.
Net long-term purchases of the U.S. securities by the foreign investors were at $28.6 billion in August — almost twice as much compared to $15.3 billion in July. The currency traders expected a higher value ($30 billion) but that’s still an optimistic result for the U.S. economy and the dollar.
Industrial production and capacity utilization both increased in September. The production wen up by 0.7% after rising by 1.2% a month ago (positively revised from 0.8%) — significantly faster than the expected growth of 0.2%. Capacity utilization increased from 69.9% (revised from 69.6%) to 70.5%. The estimated value was 69.8%.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Economic Conditions Improve — EUR/USD Falls

The U.S. dollar rebounded against the euro today as the U.S. economic reports were very positive. The EUR/USD correction can only be explained as a technical one, which follows the similar correction on the U.S. stock market. EUR/USD is now trading at 1.4895 after reaching a new yearly maximum at 1.4966.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.2% in U.S. in September. Traders expected the same value from this report. It was slightly less than 0.4% growth of the index in August.
N.Y. Empire State Manufacturing Index rose from 18.9 to 34.6 in October after a forecast of a decline to 17.3 by the market analysts.
Initial jobless claims decreased from 524k to 514k last week. The expected decline decline was to about 520k.
Philadelphia Fed index fell from 14.1 in September to 11.5 in October — that’s slightly worse than the expected value of 12 for this business outlook index.

Fundamental Factors behind Major Currencies

Every currency traded in Forex is influenced by the conditions in its country of origin, and the external relations that affect its value. Economic Indicators (GDP growth, import/export trade accounts), social factors (unemployment rate, real estate market conditions) and the country’s central bank policy are the factors that determine the currency value in the Forex market. Each one of the six major currencies has its particularities, and we are going to analyze the fundamentals that drive the currencies individually.

The U.S. dollar (USD) is the most traded currency in the Forex market. It is also used as a measure to evaluate other currencies and commodities. The reserves in USD are by far the largest being held by different nations, and they compose 64% of the world reserves. Globally speaking, the fundamentals that drive the U. S. Dollar are several. Since the largest amount of metallic commodities and the oil are mostly traded with prices in USD, significant demand variations in these markets will reflect directly on the currency value, as it happened in 2008 with the EUR/USD reaching 1.60, being the oil price a big contributor for this event. In the domestic market, the biggest factor that has been moving the dollar are the industry indicators and the real estate boom, and both were caused by an unsustainable credit system which could not be paid, causing a domino effect in the United States economy, and consequently, worldwide. During the last few years, the USD has been losing ground for other currencies, thanks to the credit bubble, and erroneous social policies, but it will still remain as one of the most powerful currencies for an undetermined period of time.

The euro (EUR) is by far the newest currency traded among the major pairs traded on Forex markets. It is used by 16 European Union member countries and it tends to enlarge during the next few years. The fundamental factors that move the Euro are often based on the strongest economies using the new common currency, such as: France, Italy and mainly Germany. The countries’ indicators regarding export trade, inflation and unemployment rate tend to have a high impact on the EUR movements, considering that countries such as Germany are larger exporters of manufactures and technology. Europe still remains an energy dependant from the Russian gas and the Middle Eastern Oil, making higher demands for these commodities to have a negative reflect on the European Union common currency.

The pound sterling (GBP) is the national currency of the United Kingdom, and the fundamental factors that move it are as complex and variable as the British economy and its global influence. The London commodity market plays a fundamental role in the GBP trends, being a reference for oil and gold trading. Nevertheless, as a powerful and globally dynamic economy, the United Kingdom indicators, social situation and the housing sector are perhaps the main determinant factors for the GBP price. Lately, the British economy has faced inflation issues, which led the interest rates to be cut, industrial recession, and other domestic factors that made the trading movements to naturally flow from the GBP towards other strong economically backed currencies, such as the EUR.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What is the Online Forex Trading Market?

The foreign currency exchange market, also known as forex market, or FX, is the biggest market in the world. In the Forex Market money is bought and sold between different foreign currencies all the time. In this market, there are several major and minor currencies being traded. The Market has been around since the 70's and has recounted many changes and shifts until the present day.

The major currencies are:

  • The USD (United States dollar)
  • The EUR (European euro)
  • The JPY (Japanese yen)
  • GBP (UK pound)
  • CHF (Switzerland franc
  • CAD (Canadian dollar
  • AUD (Australian dollar)

Time and Place for the Online Forex Market

Online Forex is the best and most profitable market to invest in because of its freedom from outside control and regulations and because no other market offers that kind of free competition. Each day over 1.5 trillion dollars are traded in the online Forex market. The foreign currency transactions are done 24 hours a day through the internet and all over the world. This means that fxinfo.com is available for you all day long.

What does it mean to trade online forex?

Trading in the online forex means that when you investing forex, you are buying one currency and simultaneously selling another currency. For example, you're buying 500 $ and selling that equivalence in Japanese yen. Then, if the dollar's worth rises in comparison to the JPY, you will make a profit. On the other hand, if the yen rises in value in comparison to the USD, you will have loses.
This way, if you manage to predict which currency will rise in value, you will be able to make profits in online forex without difficulty. Before you start trading, get to know more about various concepts critical for online Forex investing such as the margin.

Why do prices of foreign currency change?

The forex currencies keep changing from various reasons, starting from fluctuations in economic conditions up to political instability or change in interest rates. These changes should be monitored by the wise investor and given into account while investing in forex online trade.