Forex

“Forex” is a combination of the words “foreign exchange”. The Forex market deals in the buying and selling of currency and it is the largest financial market in the world. Currency is always traded in pairs. The price of the currency bought as compared to the price of the currency sold is called the exchange rate. The Forex market is often referred to as the “FX” market.

It has a major difference that sets it apart from other markets in that it has no physical location and no central exchange. It operates through an electronic network of banks, corporations and individuals who engage in this type of trading. The lack of a physical exchange makes the Forex a true 24-hour market that extends from one time zone to another without any interruption in trading.

Forex trading begins each day in Sydney, followed by Tokyo, London, and New York. Unlike other financial markets, Forex investors can respond to currency fluctuations caused by economic, social and political events in real time.

The best trading opportunities are usually considered to be the currencies that are the most commonly traded. Their rapid movement makes them the most liquid. Over 85% of all daily transactions involve the buying and selling of these currencies that are sometimes referred to as the “Majors”. They include the US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar.

The Forex market is considered an Over The Counter (OTC) market because transactions are conducted between two entities either over the telephone or through an electronic network.

There are some specific reasons why entities trade in the Forex market. The most common is to earn short-term profits from fluctuations in exchange rates. Traders also use the market to acquire the foreign currency necessary to buy goods and services from other countries

intro-forex

1) Introduction to Forex - Major Currencies

a) The U.S. Dollar.

The United States dollar is the world's main currency – an universal measure to evaluate any other currency traded on Forex. All currencies are generally quoted in U.S. dollar terms. Under conditions of international economic and political unrest, the U.S. dollar is the main safe-haven currency, which was proven particularly well during the Southeast Asian crisis of 1997-1998.

As it was indicated, the U.S. dollar became the leading currency toward the end of the Second World War along the Breton Woods Accord, as the other currencies were virtually pegged against it. The introduction of the euro in 1999 reduced the dollar's importance only marginally.

The other major currencies traded against the U.S. dollar are the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, and Swiss franc.

b) The Euro.

The euro was designed to become the premier currency in trading by simply being quoted in American terms. Like the U.S. dollar, the euro has a strong international presence stemming from members of the European Monetary Union. The currency remains lagued by unequal growth, high unemployment, and government resistance to structural changes. The pair was also weighed in 1999 and 2000 by outflows from foreign investors, particularly Japanese, who were forced to liquidate their losing investments in euro-denominated assets. Moreover, European money managers rebalanced their portfolios and reduced their euro exposure as their needs for hedging currency risk in Europe declined.

c) The Japanese Yen.

The Japanese yen is the third most traded currency in the world; it has a much smaller international presence than the U.S. dollar or the euro. The yen is very liquid around the world, practically around the clock. The natural demand to trade the yen concentrated mostly among the Japanese keiretsu, the economic and financial conglomerates. The yen is much more sensitive to the fortunes of the Nikkei index, the Japanese stock market, and the real estate market.

d) The British Pound.

Until the end of World War II, the pound was the currency of reference. The currency is heavily traded against the euro and the U.S. dollar, but has a spotty presence against other currencies. Prior to the introduction of the euro, both the pound benefited from any doubts about the currency convergence. After the introduction of the euro, Bank of England is attempting to bring the high U.K. rates closer to the lower rates in the euro zone. The pound could join the euro in the early 2000s, provided that the U.K. referendum is positive.

e) The Swiss Franc.

The Swiss franc is the only currency of a major European country that belongs neither to the European Monetary Union nor to the G-7 countries. Although the Swiss economy is relatively small, the Swiss franc is one of the four major currencies, closely resembling the strength and quality of the Swiss economy and finance. Switzerland has a very close economic relationship with Germany, and thus to the euro zone. Therefore, in terms of political uncertainty in the East, the Swiss franc is favored generally over the euro. Typically, it is believed that the Swiss franc is a stable currency. Actually, from a foreign exchange point of view, the Swiss franc closely resembles the patterns of the euro, but lacks its liquidity. As the demand for it exceeds supply, the Swiss franc can be more volatile than the euro.

RISK INFORMATION

The risk of making a loss on the FOREX market can be rather significant. That is why you have to analyze your opportunities concerning trading transactions in detail, taking into consideration your financial situation.

While making decisions you should know the following:

1.        You can lose all of your margin cover and any additional money deposited on your account VIGRI Ltd. (trademark PRO-FOREX.com) for opening or maintaining your position on the market.

2.        Orders of the type “stop-order” and “limit-order” may not be filled because of the current situation on the market.

3.        Low demands for leverage may lead to significant profits as well as to significant losses.

The present risk information does not reflect all the risks as well as other important aspects of the FOREX market. So, before starting to trade, you should learn the specifics of trading on FOREX market in detail. You should conclude an agreement for opening and/or closing on the FOREX market, only if you are absolutely sure of the size of its possible risk and you understand the scope and range of your rights and obligations in details.

I have read, I understand and I agree with the contents of the present RISK INFORMATION

Signature of the client…………………..       Date “…..”……..2006

The Future of the Oil & Gas Industry in Egypt

The Ministry of Petroleum (MoP) oversees four holding companies that manage all elements of the oil and gas business and form joint ventures with international partners: the Egyptian Holding Company for Natural Gas (EGAS), the Egyptian Holding Company for Petrochemicals (ECHEM), Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE), and the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC).

EGPC, set prices and controls every facet of the oil business in Egypt. Oil and gas revenues go directly to EGPC and aren't incorporated into the Egyptian treasury.

The new minister will be under pressure to reform the Oil & Gas sector and to facilitate transparency. A major shake-up at EGPC is inevitable. The likeliest scenario would split EGPC in three between exploration and production activities, refining, and marketing and sales. This will allow the Government of Egypt to have greater visibility into oil and gas revenues.

Egypt's Declining Oil Fields Lead to Growing Reliance on Gas. Many question marks surround the Natural Gas business in Egypt. Israel is importing large quantities of gas from Egypt, which was expected to significantly grow in the coming years. The deal with Israel has raised controversy at home. The new minister faces many challenges and will have to answer tough questions raised by the Egyptian people.

Ghorab the New Minister of Petroleum in Egypt

Eng. Abdallah Ghorab, the Chairman of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) accepted the nomination to serve as Egypt Petroleum Minister and to replace Mahmoud Latif who was appointed as a Minster few days ago.

Dr. Essam Sharaf, the new Prime Minister of Egypt meets with Ghorab Today “Monday” for further discussions.

Oil, Oil, Everywhere

The price of oil remains high only because the cost of oil remains so low. We remain dependent on oil from the Mideast not because the planet is running out of buried hydrocarbons, but because extracting oil from the deserts of the Persian Gulf is so easy and cheap that it's risky to invest capital to extract somewhat more stubborn oil from far larger deposits in Alberta.

The market price of oil is indeed hovering up around $50-a-barrel on the spot market. But getting oil to the surface currently costs under $5 a barrel in Saudi Arabia, with the global average cost certainly under $15. And with technology already well in hand, the cost of sucking oil out of the planet we occupy simply will not rise above roughly $30 per barrel for the next 100 years at least.

The cost of oil comes down to the cost of finding, and then lifting or extracting. First, you have to decide where to dig. Exploration costs currently run under $3 per barrel in much of the Mideast, and below $7 for oil hidden deep under the ocean. But these costs have been falling, not rising, because imaging technology that lets geologists peer through miles of water and rock improves faster than supplies recede. Many lower-grade deposits require no new looking at all.

To pick just one example among many, finding costs are essentially zero for the 3.5 trillion barrels of oil that soak the clay in the Orinoco basin in Venezuela, and the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada. Yes, that's trillion -- over a century's worth of global supply, at the current 30-billion-barrel-a-year rate of consumption.

Then you have to get the oil out of the sand -- or the sand out of the oil. In the Mideast, current lifting costs run $1 to $2.50 per barrel at the very most; lifting costs in Iraq probably run closer to 50 cents, though OPEC strains not to publicize any such embarrassingly low numbers. For the most expensive offshore platforms in the North Sea, lifting costs (capital investment plus operating costs) currently run comfortably south of $15 per barrel. Tar sands, by contrast, are simply strip mined, like western coal, and that's very cheap -- but then you spend another $10, or maybe $15, separating the oil from the dirt. To do that, oil or gas extracted from the site itself is burned to heat water, which is then used to "crack" the bitumen from the clay; the bitumen is then chemically split to produce lighter petroleum.

In sum, it costs under $5 per barrel to pump oil out from under the sand in Iraq, and about $15 to melt it out of the sand in Alberta. So why don't we just learn to love hockey and shop Canadian? Conventional Canadian wells already supply us with more oil than Saudi Arabia, and the Canadian tar is now delivering, too. The $5 billion (U.S.) Athabasca Oil Sands Project that Shell and ChevronTexaco opened in Alberta last year is now pumping 155,000 barrels per day. And to our south, Venezuela's Orinoco Belt yields 500,000 barrels daily.

But here's the catch: By simply opening up its spigots for a few years, Saudi Arabia could, in short order, force a complete write-off of the huge capital investments in Athabasca and Orinoco. Investing billions in tar-sand refineries is risky not because getting oil out of Alberta is especially difficult or expensive, but because getting oil out of Arabia is so easy and cheap. Oil prices gyrate and occasionally spike -- both up and down -- not because oil is scarce, but because it's so abundant in places where good government is scarce. Investing $5 billion dollars over five years to build a new tar-sand refinery in Alberta is indeed risky when a second cousin of Osama bin Laden can knock $20 off the price of oil with an idle wave of his hand on any given day in Riyadh.

The one consolation is that Arabia faces a quandary of its own. Once the offshore platform has been deployed in the North Sea, once the humongous crock pot is up and cooking in Alberta, its cost is sunk. The original investors may never recover their capital, but after it has been written off, somebody can go ahead and produce oil very profitably going forward. And capital costs are going to keep falling, because the cost of a tar-sand refinery depends on technology, and technology costs always fall. Bacteria, for example, have already been successfully bioengineered to crack heavy oil molecules to help clean up oil spills, and to mine low-grade copper; bugs could likewise end up trampling out the vintage where the Albertan oil is stored.

In the short term anything remains possible. Demand for oil grows daily in China and India, where good government is finally taking root, while much of the earth's most accessible oil lies under land controlled by feudal theocracies, kleptocrats, and fanatics. Day by day, just as it should, the market attempts to incorporate these two antithetical realities into the spot price of crude. But to suppose that those prices foreshadow the exhaustion of the planet itself is silly.

The cost of extracting oil from the earth has not gone up over the past century, it has held remarkably steady. Going forward, over the longer term, it may rise very gradually, but certainly not fast. The earth is far bigger than people think, the untapped deposits are huge, and the technologies for separating oil from planet keep getting better. U.S. oil policy should be to promote new capital investment in the United States, Canada, and other oil-producing countries that are politically stable, and promote stable government in those that aren't.

Gold Deposits: The Quartz-Pebble Conglomerates

When it comes to gold exploration, the saying goes “gold is where you find it.” Gold is found in a variety of geological settings, and is contained within sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. Various classification systems have been developed, many of these can be quite confusing if you are not a geologist. The most basic classification system is to group gold deposits into two broad categories; primary and secondary.

Primary deposits form where gold precipitates during chemical reactions between hydrothermal mineralizing solutions and rocks in the Earth’s crust. To further simplify primary deposits, they can be classifications as epigenetic and syngenetic. Epigenetic are deposits that form after the formation of the surrounding rocks while syngenetic deposits refer to deposits that form at the same time as surrounding rocks. In epigenetic hydrothermal deposits gold may occur as the principle metal or as a secondary mineral associated with other metals, such as iron, copper, lead and zinc.

Secondary deposits, also commonly referred to as “placer deposits”, are formed from the weathering and erosion of primary deposits that are later re-concentrated into gold-bearing sedimentary deposits. Secondary gold occurrences are generally classified according to their depositional environment. Marine placers occur offshore near coastlines, and fluvial placers occur in rivers and stream valleys.

Gold can also occur is somewhat unexpected places. In fact, quartz-pebble conglomerates and quartzite deposits are an unusual place to find gold. While these locales may be an unexpected place to find gold, they are, overall, the world’s largest source of gold- supplying more than 50 percent of the world’s gold. These deposits may also be economic sources of uranium, thorium, and rare earths.

The origin and evolutions of these styles of deposits is complex, and diverse, and beyond the scope of this piece. There are, however, some basic characteristics that can help identify these types of deposits. The ore bodies in the quartz-pebble conglomerate deposits are marked by the presence of abundant pyrite or hematite with variable and usually minor to trace amounts of a host of other sulfides, arsenides, and sulfosalts. The gold is mainly present as the native metal in a very finely divided form essentially in the matrix of the conglomerates or quartzites; minor amounts of the element also occur in the pyrite and in the various other sulfides, arsenides, sulfosalts, and so forth. Elements concentrated in the quartz-pebble conglomerate type of deposit are variable.

When it comes to quartzite deposits, in the past these deposits have been overlooked because the gold in quartzite can be invisible to the unaided eye.  The gold in quartzite occurs when sandstone is metamorphosed by hydrothermal action with gold and silver bearing hydrothermal waters that further cements the grains together. Sandstone is porous readily giving this water access. It is the silica in the water causes the transformation of sandstone into quartzite by cementing the individual grains together.

Uranium

It is important to note that gold bearing, quartz pebble conglomerates can be an important source of uranium. In fact, they were the primary source of uranium for several decades after World War II.  The most significant deposits of this type are the Huronian Supergroup in Canada and in the Witwatersrand Supergroup of South Africa. These deposits make up approximately 13 percent of the world’s uranium resources. The deposits are typically low grade but characterized by high tonnages.

The Witwatersrand

The Witwatersrand of South Africa is a quartz pebble conglomerate that hosts economic reserves of gold and uranium. The Witwatersrand Gold Rush of 1886 has been attributed to the establishment of Johannesburg. The “Rand” or reef, as the Witwatersrand is sometimes known, is famous for being the source of 40 percent of the gold ever mined from the earth. It extends for 280 kilometers from Klerksdorp in the west to Bethal in the east and is 4 kilometers deep in places. The deposit was such a key component to the development of South Africa, that the local currency “The Rand” was named after it.

Quartz-pebble conglomerate deposits are a valuable asset for miners and explorers. Here is a sample of miners/explorers with interests in gold quartz-pebble conglomerate deposits:
Gold One International (ASX:GDO)(JSE:GDO) (formerly BMA Gold)
Yamana Gold (TSE:YRI)
StrikePoint Gold (CVE: SKP)

African Barrick Gold: One Year Later

In the first year following  African Barrick Gold‘s (LON:ABG) rocky start going public on the London Stock Exchange, the company has reported higher-than-expected earnings in its first full-year results since listing due to the strong gold price, and despite the company’s decline in production. In fact, even after missing its output target, the company has reported to have doubled its pre-tax profit, earning US $309 million in 2010, up from US $150.4 million in 2009.
African Barrick Gold is a spin-off of the world’s largest gold producer, Toronto, Canada-based Barrick Gold Corp. In March of 2010, African Barrick Gold was aiming to raise US $978 million, selling shares in an initial public offering (IPO). When the IPO closed on March 19, 2010, results were disappointing, with only $874 million raised. The deal was reported as being “well covered,” according to bankers, but analysts attributed the weak performance of other IPOs in Europe as dampening investors’ appetite for new offerings. It should be mentioned that Barrick Gold Corp does still hold a 75 percent stake after listing, diluted from a 100 percent holding.
African Barrick operates exclusively out of Tanzania, where it holds four gold mining properties. In July, it cut its 2010 production forecast because of delays accessing higher grade ore at Buzwagi, the newest of the company’s four mines. Over a ten‑year period, the African Barrick Gold Group has become the largest gold producer in Tanzania, growing from no production in 2000 to approximately 716,000 attributable ounces in 2009.
Recently, Tanzania’s Chamber of Energy and Minerals urged the U.S. to remove the country from a list of nations linked to conflict minerals in eastern Congo to try to protect its gold exports. These rules are part of the U.S. Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform bill passed last year.
“Tanzania is not a source of conflict minerals, and there is no reason we should be affected by the proposed restrictions,” Tanzania deputy energy and minerals minister Adam Milima said in an article with Dow Jones.
The company’s net income increased in spite of missing its 2010 production target, with output falling to 700,934 ounces in the year. This is a two percent decline on its production of 2009, and short of its 716,000 ounce target. The company initially expected to produce as much as 850,000 ounces in 2010, but downgraded its target twice last year, after it experienced problems at its Buzwagi mine. The company says it expects to produce between 700,000 and 760,000 ounces of gold in 2011. They have, however, reported much greater expectations for the future, planning to raise annual output to more than 1 million ounces by 2014.
“We have kept a reasonable range to take into account some risks … but there are plenty of opportunities to get some growth,” said Chief Executive Greg Hawkins in an interview with Reuters.

Oppenheimer Gold and Special Minerals Fund

By Dave Brown – Exclusive to Gold Investing News

The US based Oppenheimer Gold and Special Minerals Fund (MUTF:OPGSX) has generated a significant amount of attention since its inception dating back to July 18, 1983.  Last year the fund won the prestigious Lipper Fund Award for the United States in the Gold Oriented Fund category for its 5 year performance.  Over the course of the one, three, and five year categories the fund has generated compound annualized average returns of 54.5 percent, 19.1 percent and 25.9 percent respectively.  Relative to the total return of funds within its category, Oppenheimer Gold is top quartile in the US, from the Lipper ranking over 1, 3 and 5 years; and  managed to finish in the ultra elite second percentile among Morningstar Specialty-Precious Metal fund over a one year period.

Investment considerations

At $5 billion of assets under management, the size of this fund is relatively large, limiting some risk and also the exposure to smaller exploratory positions which can constrict the upside potential.  This is a US based fund, so it is necessary for investors to note the direct currency exposure to the American dollar. This fund features a competitive Management Expense Ratio totaling 1.12 percent of assets; however, because different regulations apply to US funds, the composition of what is included in the MER is slightly different.  A very unique aspect of this fund to for investors to consider is that the manager believes that uranium shares will be a broad range phenomenon for changing energy structure over a long term horizon and any market correction could be seen as a good buying opportunity.  Other metals and special minerals covered are platinum, palladium, silver and even lithium; when these industries are experiencing a supply and demand mismatch.

Portfolio management

Shanquan Li is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager who has served as manager of the fund since June 1997. Mr. Li completed all requirements except a dissertation for a Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University and holds an M.A. in International Finance and Economics from Brandeis University and a B.A. in Statistics and Management Planning from the People’s University of China.  Prior to joining Oppenheimer Funds in 1995 as a Senior Equity Analyst, Mr. Li was a Senior Quantitative Analyst in the Investment Management Policy Group of Brown Brothers Harriman, where he built stock screening and valuation models, formulated quantitative strategies and participated in the management of a quantitative small-cap fund.

Style

The fund uses a proprietary three-tier model that is designed to assess a company’s financial statements and management structure, as well as the company’s operations and new developments. To arrive at buy-and-sell decisions, Mr. Li considers the growth potential and the valuations of the stocks of particular companies, and ranks the companies that have been reviewed by the model.  Investments are qualitatively screened initially by the value of those reserved resources and the ease of extraction of the ore as well as the metal from the ore. Secondly, location and geopolitical risk is considered, as the resources must be located in a country with stable governments and good operational environments which should reduce the production cost. The third factor Mr. Li considers is the management team of the company, their past history and capacity and their trustworthiness, especially with respect to shareholders.

Following this qualitative methodology the market cap and liquidity are taken into consideration.  As quantitiave metrics are employed one of the most important evaluation methods appraises the price-to-net asset value to assess intrinsic value.

Equity positions in the portfolio are created in three tiers in order of importance. The first tier is a list of some ten companies with relatively lesser risk, which form the core holdings in the portfolio. These holdings represent about 50 percent of the assets in the portfolio.

The intermediate tier consists of emerging producers or miners that have put in resources and money and are on the verge of production. Investors will note that these firms typically draw a lot of attention in terms of liquidity, trading and industry news flow coverage.

The third tier has the list of companies that are the riskier early stage exploration companies. Since these firms have no production, it is more difficult to evaluate them and so Mr. Li prefers to hold many names to have diversity and thus reduce concentration risk. The size of the investment universe for the fund is about 500 equities and it will hold somewhere around 95 names to make up the portfolio while covering all three tiers.

Forex Trading — Understanding Commissions, Spreads and Trading Costs

The forex market is quickly becoming one of the most popular markets for trading.

Not only are the experienced traders looking to this market to maximize their trading returns, but many new, individual investors are now able to trade the Forex market — just as they do stocks and futures.

More and more individuals are seeing Forex not only as a new way to diversify their portfolio, but are also finding that it is becoming the most profitable component of their investments.

And that's because of the many advantages Forex offers over other markets like stocks or commodities. Here's what you will typically see advertized about Forex:

— Unparallelled liquidity. It is the largest financial market in the world by far. Almost $2 trillion being traded daily!

— Excellent leverage potential. Individual investors have access to leverage of 100:1 and even 200:1

— No Commissions (more on this later on)

— Low trading costs.

And yes, the Forex market really does offer all these advantages.

But the last two points above talk about costs, and that's what we'd like to focus on in this article.

Like any trading, there are costs involved, and, while these may be much lower than they used to be, it is important to understand what those are.

Let's start by looking at stock trading, something that most of us investors are pretty familiar with.

When trading stocks, most investors will have a trading account with a broker somewhere and will have investment funds deposited in that account.

The broker will then execute the trades on behalf of the account holder, and of course, in return for providing that service, the broker will want to be compensated.

With stocks, typically, the broker will earn a commission for executing the trade. They will charge either a fixed dollar amount per trade, or a dollar amount per share, or (most commonly) a scaled commission based on how big your trade is.

And, they will charge it on both sides of the transaction. That is to say, when you buy the stock you get charged commission, AND then when you sell that same stock you get charged another commission.

With Forex trading, the brokers constantly advertise "no commission". And, of course that's true — except for a few brokers, who do charge a commission similar to stocks.

But also, of course, the brokers aren't performing their trading services for free. They too make money.

The way they do that is by charging the investor a "spread". Simply put, the spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price for the currency being traded.

The broker will add this spread onto the price of the trade and keep it as their fee for trading.

So, while it isn't a commission per se, it behaves in practically the same way. It is just a little more hidden.

The good news though is that typically this spread is only charged on one side of the transaction. In other words, you don't pay the spread when you buy AND then again when you sell. It is usually only charged on the "buy" side of the trades.

So the spread really is your primary cost of trading the Forex and you should pay attention to the details of what the different brokers offer.

The spreads offered can vary pretty dramatically from broker to broker. And while it may not seem like much of a difference to be trading with a 5 pip spread vs a 4 pip spread, it actually can add up very quickly when you multiply it out by how many trades you make and how much money you're trading. Think about it, 4 pips vs 5 pips is a difference of 25% on your trading costs.

The other thing to recognize is that spreads can vary based on what currencies you're trading and what type of account you open.

Most brokers will give you different spreads for different currencies. The most popular currency pairs like the EURUSD or GBPUSD will typically have the lowest spreads, while currencies that have less demand will likely be traded with higher spreads.

Be sure to think about what currencies you are most likely to be trading and find out what your spreads will be for those currencies.

Also, some brokers will offer different spreads for different types of accounts. A mini account, for example may be subject to higher spreads than a full contract account.

And finally, because the spreads really are the difference between bid prices and ask prices as determined by the free market, it is important to recognize that they are not "guaranteed". Most brokers will tell you that there may be times during periods of low demand, or very active trading when the spreads widen and you will be charged that wider spread.

These do tend to be rarer situations because the Forex market really is so large and demand and supply are generally quite predictable, but they do occur, especially with some of the lesser traded currencies. So it's important to be aware of that.

In summary then, when trading Forex, understand that the "spread" is truly your most important consideration for trading costs.

Spreads can vary significantly between brokers, account types and currencies traded. And small differences in the spread can really add up to thousands of dollars in trading costs over even just a few months.

So be sure to understand what currencies you are going to be trading, how frequently, and in what type of account and use those factors to help decide which broker can offer you the best trading costs.

Forex: Benefits of Trading the Forex Market

Trading the Forex market has become very popular in the last years. Why is it that traders around the world see the Forex market as an investment opportunity? We will try to answer this question in this article. Also we will discuss come differences between the Forex market, the stocks market and the futures market.

Some of the benefits of trading the Forex market are:

Superior liquidity.

Liquidity is what really makes the Forex market different from other markets. The Forex market is by far the most liquid financial market in the world with nearly 2 trillion dollars traded everyday. This ensures price stability and better trade execution. Allowing traders to open and close transactions with ease. Also such a tremendous volume makes it hard to manipulate the market in an extended manner.

24hr Market.

This one is also one of the greatest advantages of trading Forex. It is an around the click market, the market opens on Sunday at 3:00 pm EST when New Zealand begins operations, and closes on Friday at 5:00 pm EST when San Francisco terminates operations. There are transactions in practically every time zone, allowing active traders to choose at what time to trade.

Leverage trading.

Trading the Forex Market offers a greater buying power than many other markets. Some Forex brokers offer leverage up to 400:1, allowing traders to have only 0.25% in margin of the total investment. For instance, a trader using 100:1 means that to have a US$100,000 position, only US$1,000 are needed on margin to be able to open that position.

Low Transaction costs.

Almost all brokers offer commission free trading. The only cost traders incur in any transaction is the spread (difference between the buy and sell price of each currency pair). This spread could be as low as 1 pip (the minimum increment in any currency pair) in some pairs.

Low minimum investment.

The Forex market requires less capital to start trading than any other markets. The initial investment could go as low as $300 USD, depending on leverage offered by the broker. This is a great advantage since Forex traders are able to keep their risk investment to the lowest level.

Specialized trading.

The liquidity of the market allows us to focus on just a few instruments (or currency pairs) as our main investments (85% of all trading transactions are made on the seven major currencies). Allowing us to monitor, and at the end get to know each instrument better.

Trading from anywhere.

If you do a lot of traveling, you can trade from anywhere in the world just having an internet connection.

Some of the most important differences between the Forex market and other markets are explained below.

Forex market vs. Equity markets

Liquidity

FX market: Near two trillion dollars of daily volume.

Equity market: Around 200 billion on a daily basis.

Trading hours

FX market: 24hr market, 5.5 days a week.

Equity market: Monday through Friday from 8:30 EST to 5:00 EST.

Profit potential

FX market: In both, rising and falling markets.

Equity market: Most traders/investor profit only from rising markets.

Transaction costs

FX market: Commission free and tight spreads.

Equity market: High Commissions and transaction fees.

Buying power

FX market: Leverage up to 400:1.

Equity market: Leverage from 2:1 to 4:1.

Specialization

FX market: most volume (85%) is made on major currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD and AUD.)

Equity market: More than 40,000 stocks to choose from.

Forex market vs. Futures market

Liquidity

FX Market: Near two trillion dollars of daily volume.

Futures market: Around 400 billion dollars on a daily basis.

Transaction costs

FX market: Commission free and tight spreads.

Futures market: High commissions fees.

Margin

FX market: Fixed rate of margin on every position.

Futures market: Different levels of margin on overnight positions than day time positions.

Trade execution

FX market: Instantaneous execution.

Futures market: Inconsistent execution.

All this makes the Forex market very attractive to investors and traders. But I need to make something clear, although the benefits of trading the Forex market are notorious; it is still difficult to make a successful career trading the Forex market. It requires a lot of education, discipline, commitment and patience, as any other market.

Forex Enterprise — A Full Review

A new marketing course to hit the internet by Nick Marks that advertises earnings of $1000 a day and $30,000 a month respectively. This turnkey system generating multiple streams of income is relatively new and so it is my pleasure to review it for you.

After purchasing you are given a login page where you are introduced to the system which is in website format. Everything is easy to access and well organized.

After Nick gives you a little pep talk about positive thinking and goal setting, you will be introduced to his first recommendation: join Coastal Vacations. While not a part of his main Forex system this is a recommendation I could've done without.

In the pay per click section you are given a large list of keywords that Nick found convert really well with his system. Some of the keywords in the list have bid prices already attached to them so you can get front page exposure.

The course also has $50 in free adwords credit that unfortunately only works with new accounts so I was out of luck. If you don't already have an account this is worth the price of the course alone.

The forex course shows you some inexpensive traffic methods and provides links to these sources. He also covers stuff like pop-over ads, e-mail lists and autoresponders. Not bad information by any means, and is an alternative to pay per click advertising if you have a smaller budget.

He has an ebook package that seemed like it was going to be really cool as there were dozens of bonus ebooks and software programs covering everything from creating ebooks and website templates, to getting top positions in the major search engines.

As I took a closer look at this package I realized there were some bargain bin informational products included. However, there were also alot of goodies in there as well that I found rather useful. You get so many ebooks and software in here that it really is worth far more than the price of the course.

There is a section on becoming an Ebay power seller in 90 days that goes into a fair amount of detail and wasn't bad. However, Ebay isn't something I have ever been particularly interested in doing. There is also a section on baccarat strategies that I had no interest in.

One of the last sections of his course introduces you to e-currency exchanging using the DXINONE system. It is a great way to acquaint yourself with this increasingly popular opportunity without having to buy standalone e-currency courses which can cost a couple hundred dollars.

The author has combined several effective ways to earn money online and rolled them all into one course. While I didn't jump up and down about all of his strategies, the free ebooks, software, and adwords credit make Forex Enterprise worth the money.

Why Trade the FOREX

My purpose for writing this article is to demonstrate to you the advantages of trading on the Forex market. However, there is one myth that I want to dispel before I go further. The myth is that there is a difference between trading and investing. To dispel that myth I quote from Al Thomas, President of Williamsburg Investment Company, who wrote "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It". He said "Everyone who invests is a trader, only the time period is different." It is a lesson that I took seriously after taking a beating in the stock market in 2000.

So now, let's compare features of currency trading to those of stock and commodity trading.

Liquidity — The Forex market is the most liquid financial market in the world around 1.9 trillion dollars traded everyday. The commodities market trades around 440 billion dollars a day, and the US stock market trades around 200 billion dollars a day. This ensures better trade execution and prevents market manipulation. It also ensures easily executable trading.

Trading Times — The Forex market is open 24 hours a day (except weekends) which means that in the US it opens at 3:00 pm Sunday (EST) and closes Friday at 5:00 (EST), allowing active traders to choose the times they want to trade. Commodities trading hours are all over the board depending on which commodity you are trading. Including extended trading times US stocks can be traded from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm (ET) on weekdays.

Leverage — Depending on your Forex account size, your leverage may be 100:1, although there are Forex brokers that offer leverage of up to 400:1 (not that I would ever recommend that kind of leverage). Leverage in the stock market can be as high as 4:1, and in the commodities market, leverage varies with the commodity traded but it can be quite high. Because the commodity markets are not as liquid as the Forex market, its leverage is inherently riskier. Although I was never shut out of a commodity trade by the day limit, the fear was always in the back of my mind.

Trading costs — Transaction costs in the Forex market is the difference between the buy and sell price of each currency pair. There are no brokerage fees. For both the stock and the commodity markets, there are transaction costs and brokerage fees. Even when you use discount brokers, those fees add up.

Minimum investment — You can open a Forex trading account for as little as $300.00. It took $5,000 for me to open my futures trading account.

Focus — 85% of all trading transactions are made on 7 major currencies. In the US stock market alone there are 40,000 stocks. There are just over 200 commodity markets, although quite a few are so illiquid that they are not traded except by hedgers. As you can see, the fewer number of instruments allows us to study each one more closely.

Trade execution — In the Forex market, trade execution is almost instantaneous. In both the equity and commodity markets, you count on a broker to execute your trades and their results are sometimes inconsistent.

While all of these features make trading the Forex market very attractive, it still requires a lot of education, discipline, commitment and patience. All trading can be risky.

Advantages of the Forex Market

What are the advantages of the Forex Market over other types of investments?

When thinking about various investments, there is one investment vehicle that comes to mind. The Forex or Foreign Currency Market has many advantages over other types of investments. The Forex market is open 24 hrs a day, unlike the regular stock markets. Most investments require a substantial amount of capital before you can take advantage of an investment opportunity. To trade Forex, you only need a small amount of capital. Anyone can enter the market with as little as $300 USD to trade a "mini account", which allows you to trade lots of 10,000 units. One lot of 10,000 units of currency is equal to 1 contract. Each "pip" or move up or down in the currency pair is worth a $1 gain or loss, depending on which side of the market you are on. A standard account gives you control over 100,000 units of currency and a pip is worth $10.

The Forex market is also very liquid. When trading Forex you have full control of your capital.

Many other types of investments require holding your money up for long periods of time. This is a disadvantage because if you need to use the capital it can be difficult to access to it without taking a huge loss. Also, with a small amount of money, you can control

Forex traders can be profitable in bullish or bearish market conditions. Stock market traders need stock prices to rise in order to take a profit. Forex traders can make a profit during up trends and downtrends. Forex Trading can be risky, but with having the ability to have a good system to follow, good money management skills, and possessing self discipline, Forex trading can be a relatively low risk investment.

The Forex market can be traded anytime, anywhere. As long as you have access to a computer, you have the ability to trade the Forex market. An important thing to remember is before jumping into trading currencies, is it wise to practice with "paper money", or "fake money." Most brokers have demo accounts where you can download their trading station and practice real time with fake money. While this is no guarantee of your performance with real money, practicing can give you a huge advantage to become better prepared when you trade with your real, hard earned money. There are also many Forex courses on the internet, just be careful when choosing which ones to purchase.