Tag: FX Trading

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Forex Brokers

FXDD Review

Through its European (Malta) and international (Mauritius) licenses, FXDD offers its services to traders from all over the world. Established in 2002, this broker’s priorities revolve around providing account holders with competitive prices, immediate order processing tools and features that suit traders who follow all types of strategies. Equally as important, FXDD’s offerings are backed by a customer support team that is available 24 hours a day.

Through its European (Malta) and international (Mauritius) licenses, FXDD offers its services to traders from all over the world. Established in 2002, this broker’s priorities revolve around providing account holders with competitive prices, immediate order processing tools and features that suit traders who follow all types of strategies. Equally as important, FXDD’s offerings are backed by a customer support team that is available 24 hours a day.

Through its European (Malta) and international (Mauritius) licenses, FXDD offers its services to traders from all over the world. Established in 2002, this broker’s priorities revolve around providing account holders with competitive prices, immediate order processing tools and features that suit traders who follow all types of strategies. Equally as important, FXDD’s offerings are backed by a customer support team that is available 24 hours a day.

In this review, we will go over all of the details (including the firm’s account types, spread prices, deposit/withdrawal methods, fees, educational tools, and more) that demonstrate how FXDD truly upholds its mission statement and vision.

Account Types

FXDD offers 2 account types: Standard and ECN. The Standard Account is suitable for users who like to execute trades manually, while the ECN is appropriate for high-frequency traders that prefer computer-speed position entries and exits.

Standard Account:
Minimum Deposit: $0
Spreads: From 1.8 pips
Commission: $0

ECN Account:
Minimum Deposit: NA
Spreads: From 0.2 pips
Commission: $0.299 to $0.499 per mini lot (10,000 of the base currency)

In addition to those 2 account types, you can also open either a personal or a corporate account. The former is for retail traders who want to grow their own funds while the latter allows you to manage a company or business’s investments. It seems that both of the personal and corporate accounts can be opened as a Standard or ECN. Standard users don’t pay any commissions, while ECN Accounts pay $0.299 on 7 currency pairs. All others have a $0.499 commission that ECN users pay. There is no minimum deposit required to open the Standard. The same might apply to the ECN, but it is always worthwhile to check with the broker beforehand.

Platforms

Traders who open an account with FXDD can choose between the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platforms. Both of them are available on Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS devices. These state-of-the-art platforms allow you to create your own trading algorithm, access historical performance data and execute orders instantaneously. MT4 and MT5’s other main features include the availability of many financial instruments and the ability to contact customer support in different languages. MT5, the more advanced version, has better charting tools and lets you place more orders at one time.

You can also use WebTrader, instead. This platform is available on all devices and browser types (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.). You can immediately execute orders, get support from expert analysts, and create custom technical charts. Just as with MT4 and MT5, WebTrader lets you create your own automated trading algorithm.

Leverage

While FXDD provides traders with plenty of great features, their leverage is limited to 30:1, which applies to both of the Standard and ECN Accounts. This is because the broker has to abide by European Union regulations on risk management. However, if you have sufficient trading experience, you are able to get your leverage raised to up to 100:1. It is also important to note that each forex pair has its own buying power. While many of the currencies that FXDD offers have 30:1 in leverage, some of them only have 20:1. For most exotics and cryptos, leverage is low as 2:1 because of the volatility associated with trading these instruments. Professional traders, meanwhile, can get up to 10:1 in cryptocurrency buying power, which is much higher than what most brokers offer.

Trade Sizes

You can trade standard (100,000 of the base currency), mini (10,000), and micro (1,000) lots on FXDD. This feature is available on MetaTrader. However, only accounts with a balance of $5,000 or less can trade micro-lots.

Margin Call: Depends on leverage
Stop-Out: 50%

When a margin call is issued, FXDD requires you to either close some of your open positions or deposit more funds into the account. If your balance further falls to 50% of the margin requirement, all of your trades will be immediately closed at the current market price.

Trading Costs

As mentioned, FXDD doesn’t charge the Standard Account any commissions. This portfolio type, however, does incur rollover rates when positions are held overnight. The swap fees are based on each currency’s interest rate, which is set by the home country’s central bank. FXDD also offers swap-free Islamic portfolios, a feature that can be added to each of the Standard and ECN Account. Instead of paying interest, the Islamic type is charged a fixed, non-changing fee on overnight trades.

ECN accounts pay a $0.299 commission per mini lot (10,000 units of the base currency) on 7 forex pairs: USD.JPY, USD.CHF, GBP.USD, GBP.JPY, EUR.USD, EUR.JPY, and AUD.USD. All other currency pairs have a $0.499 commission, which proportionately changes based on the lot size. For example, a micro lot (1,000 units of the base currency) would incur $0.0299 on the 7 forex pairs above and $0.0499 on the rest. Meanwhile, the standard lot (100,000 base currency units) has a commission of $2.99 and $4.99 on the said forex pairs, respectively.

It is important for you to keep in mind that FXDD also charges inactivity fees. If you don’t make any trades for a period of 90 days, you will incur a $30 expense. In case your account had less than $30, the fee applies to the remaining balance, but not any more than that. For example, if you have $25, you will be charged that amount, and, afterward, your account will have $0 in it (as opposed to being charged $30 and having a -$5 balance). When your account reaches $0, you will no longer incur any inactivity fees.

Assets

You can trade 67 different forex pairs through FXDD, alongside 4 cryptos (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, and Ethereum). Other available instruments include energy and metal commodities, CFDs of market indices, and stocks.

Spreads

Spreads are different and largely depend on which currency pair or crypto you want to trade. While both the Standard and ECN Account types have access to the same instruments, their spreads vary. It is also important to keep in mind that the spreads are floating and can change from one day to the next. This is the case for both account types. Major currency pairs (EUR.USD, AUD.USD, NZD.USD, and others) can have a spread that is lower than exotics. In fact, the bid/ask price gap for exotics could be in the triple digits, especially when it comes to ZAR (the South African rand).

You can access a list of live spreads on FXDD’s website. It is instantly updated and, at times, bid/ask prices will change every minute. Cryptos have a larger spread. However, the differences between ECN and Standard are in cents. For example, LTC/USD has a $65.2 and $65.7 spreads for ECN and Standard, respectively. When you trade crypto pairs, such as BTC.USD and BTC/EUR, the difference in the spread could be as large as $0.50 to $1.00 from one account type to the other.

Minimum Deposit

FXDD, on their website, list not having a minimum deposit as a key incentive for traders to open an account. That is to say: You could get started with this broker by simply having enough money to trade the smallest position size possible (which is a micro-lot). This is a positive aspect of FXDD because it gives you the opportunity to increase trading capital at your own pace. There are no requirements listed when it comes to the ECN Account. If the $0 minimum deposit applies to this, traders can enjoy an extra level of flexibility. They may choose the account type with the spreads, commissions, and trading conditions that suit their needs (without having to worry about minimum deposit rules). However, it is uncommon for a broker to offer low spreads without requiring a certain deposit amount. Traders should contact the customer support team to inquire about this.

Deposit Methods & Costs

You can deposit funds in six different currencies, which puts FXDD at an advantage over other brokers, especially since many of them offer limited options in this regard. FXDD deposits can be in USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CHF, and Bitcoin. In addition, the broker doesn’t charge any deposit fees. To wire money into your account, you would do so through the Customer Portal. Each currency has its own deposit instructions and available methods, which you can view from the Customer Portal.

The major ones are debit/credit card, bank wires, Skrill, Neteller, Safeecharge Cashier, and Smart2Pay. All of them have a maximum deposit size of $10,000. Bank wires, however, allow you to transfer unlimited funds. You can deposit money in USD, JPY, and EUR through these methods, while GBP is also available through Neteller and Safecharge Cashier. All transaction methods have a 2 day processing time.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

FXDD’s withdrawal fees are burdensome and can make the funds you deposit there relatively illiquid. Each month, you only get 1 free withdrawal. Afterward, each transaction will cost $40 throughout the remainder of the month and you can withdraw a minimum of $100 per transaction via bank wire transfers. If you withdraw less than $100 out of your account, then the transaction fee is only $25.

Bonuses & Promotions

This broker offers an Introducing Brokers (IB) partnership program, where traders are awarded when they refer others to FXDD and convince them to open an account. However, the IB promotion is mostly offered to professionals that are responsible for managing their clients’ money and trading on their behalf. As far as retail traders are concerned, FXDD’s website doesn’t offer plenty of information about bonuses and promotions.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are trading guides on forex pairs, commodities, and emerging markets, alongside other downloadable PDFs that are incredibly resourceful to beginners. Moreover, FXDD live-stream webinars and trading sessions on their website. You can use the latter to follow (and potentially copy) the positions of other FXDD account holders. There is also a calculator that allows traders to calculate a potential position’s volume, the used margin, and losses if the forex pair goes down.

Seasoned and beginner traders, alike, can access detailed research reports. Firstly, on a daily basis, FXDD publishes strategy articles that examine different forex pairs’ movements and related economic news. Secondly, the ‘Price Action’ and ‘Wave Analysis’ segments entail chart reviews and technical briefings, both of which are prepared and presented by award-winning market professionals.

Customer Service

You can contact FXDD anytime between 5 pm on Sunday and 4:55 pm on Friday (Eastern Standard Time). They can be reached via phone, email, and regular mail. You also have the option of communicating with them by filling out a contact form on the website.

Phone: +356 2013-3933 (Support); +356 2013-3939 (Trading)
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

FXDD allows you to open and close positions via phone. By calling them, a team member can execute trades, place stop losses, and other tools that are available through the online platform.

Demo Account

It is very easy to open a demo account. After filling out a simple, straight-forward form, traders can test their strategies and the platform’s tools through investing paper money. However, keep in mind that the spreads might not be as accurate as they are on the live Standard or ECN, which is a downside to FXDD’s demo accounts. Nonetheless, the demo is active for 90 days, but you can always request an extension or open more than one paper account. In fact, FXDD even allows some traders to have a demo that doesn’t expire. You can start trading with $3,000 in virtual funds, but users may always increase that amount.

Countries Accepted

Traders located across the European Economic Area (EEA) can open an account with FXDD, this includes EU members and other countries in Europe (such as Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom). In addition, China, Hong Kong, Australia, and Canada are amongst the listed countries in the live account application form. The United States and Japan, on the other hand, are not included. When you open an account, you would have to do so through either FXDD Malta (Europe) or FXDD Mauritius (other locations). Keep in mind, due to regulatory rules, some features (such as bonuses) may be offered by FXDD Malta, but not by FXDD Mauritius. Since every trader’s location and personal circumstances vary, it is always best to consult with customer services regarding whether FXDD Malta or FXDD Mauritius is more suitable.

Conclusion

In short, here are the main takeaways after examining this broker’s offerings and features. First, their spreads are notably tight, regardless of which account type you choose. ECN’s bid/ask price gaps are down to the fractions of a pip. While Standard has a larger spread, it is still amongst the lowest in the industry. Equally as important, FXDD doesn’t charge the Standard Account any commissions, which is undoubtedly a positive aspect. Even though the ECN type must pay these fees, its commissions are also minimal when compared to other brokerage firms.

To add to that, depositing money into your FXDD account doesn’t cost any money. Not only can you pick between different transaction methods, but there isn’t a minimum deposit requirement. In other words, regardless of how much trading capital you have, this broker will give you the option of opening a no-commission portfolio (Standard) or paying these fees in exchange for an almost nonexistent spread (through the ECN Account).

Having said all that, FXDD’s withdrawals cost a hefty $40 fee, but traders do get 1 free outbound transfer per month. The firm’s bonuses mostly target professional and institutional investors, as opposed to retail traders. However, experienced and novice market professionals will certainly benefit from the tutorial guides/PDFs, video webinars, live-streamed trading sessions, daily review articles, and technical analysis chart reports. Furthermore, since FXDD’s account holders can access each of MT4 and MT5, the platforms’ state-of-the-art trading tools will complement the broker’s offerings and ensure that users enjoy a comprehensive market experience.

To conclude, this broker, just like any other firm, has its own pros and cons. However, FXDD’s different portfolio types and lax deposit requirements will allow you to pick an account and platform that are aligned with your trading philosophy.

Categories
Forex Basics

Comparing Popular Forex, Crypto and Penny Stocks Trading Methods

From podcasts to blog posts, we are constantly exposed to countless pieces of information. Everyone is nowadays sharing their opinions on the best investment strategies that should get you from zero to professional in no time. As we can at times rely a little too much on other people’s thoughts and ideas. You should know […]

From podcasts to blog posts, we are constantly exposed to countless pieces of information. Everyone is nowadays sharing their opinions on the best investment strategies that should get you from zero to professional in no time. As we can at times rely a little too much on other people’s thoughts and ideas. You should know […]

From podcasts to blog posts, we are constantly exposed to countless pieces of information. Everyone is nowadays sharing their opinions on the best investment strategies that should get you from zero to professional in no time. As we can at times rely a little too much on other people’s thoughts and ideas. You should know that there is a particular indicator which grants success regardless of what one decides to trade – profit. The final outcome and goal of every trade anyone ever does is one thing – money.

So, if you happened to be wondering if your investment strategy is the right one, just ask yourself the question of what is more important – being right or being profitable. While this is often easier said than done, we should first put effort into understanding which skills can help you begin or jump-start your career as a cryptocurrency trader. If you are a successful crypto trader or a forex trader attempting to trade cryptocurrencies, you will find that specific knowledge unique for the world of forex may be the one thing you have not given a try yet.

Firstly, we must acknowledge the fact that, to be able to understand how any form of trading functions, we really give ourselves the opportunity to compare and contrast as many different types of trading as possible. Not only will such an approach generate more knowledge, and therefore more insight, expansion across several markets will also lessen the chances to severely endanger your financial stability. While sources we turn to in order to learn more about trading often point to one of the popular markets, such as stocks, metal, etc., exploring the options to cover more than one market can give you an advantageous position as the truth is always somewhere in between.

By focusing on a single market and references which only praise that particular type of trade without acknowledging the power of a more comprehensive standpoint, you both deprive yourself of the opportunities to increase your profit and reduce your prospects of becoming a truly prosperous trader. Moreover, if you have already faced some challenges and experienced some losses trading in one or more markets, you are that much more apt to decide for yourself what your next step should be. Although they say we should learn from other people’s mistakes, even if you have made the mistakes we are going to discuss here, you probably know that almost every professional trader undergoes some level of disappointment in the process of gaining invaluable experience, which in itself is a reason strong enough for you to diversify your array of trading knowledge and skills.

Quite interestingly, the experiences of penny stock traders appear to be quite comparable to the ones of crypto traders. Both are often pushed to respond to quite pressing invitations to invest, further entailing an idea that one should not miss such rare opportunities to earn a profit. What is more, the common sites traders use to track trends and exchange ideas on lucrative investments are frequently the very places where the most enthusiastic supporters share inconsequential conclusions and thus mislead others into making unwise investment decisions. With such elevated emotions and stories which are blown out of proportions more often than not, penny stock traders become susceptible to hidden psychological manipulation. Because they are so closely involved with the group, these traders start trusting far-fetched ideas which their peers keep reinforcing one after the other.

As the underlying reasons for such miscalculations are mainly related to hope, shared by all participants jointly highlighting their wish to succeed, an individual can slowly start distrusting their own analytical skills. Placing one’s trust in the wrong hands can even lead to overlooking some real investment opportunities just because of the lack of hype surrounding these monumental events. In assessing various pieces of information traders come by, many times traders mistake interest for value, failing to recognize that some of the news receiving the least attention can actually indicate some very real lucrative investment opportunities. As a result of being so caught up believing whatever information available, these traders’ sense of what is right and wrong becomes heavily impaired. At this point, such traders are so oblivious to the accompanying risks that they in fact resemble poker players who invest $100 to earn 20 times more only to lose everything by the time the night ends.

This parallel between penny stock and cryptocurrency traders’ experiences should only serve as an example of how you can protect yourself from harming your financial stability and repetitively falling for the same trap. Therefore, to safeguard future investments, every trader should strive to implement some essential skills, which successful forex traders appear to display more prominently than those in other markets. With so many individuals having become deeply immersed in the cult-like crypto community, you may want to begin to assess how much your decision-making depends on groupthink.

While drawing constructive conclusions does entail a substantial degree of research, relying on a single-perspective source both deprives you of valuable insight and limits objectivity to a great extent. Moreover, although investing does imply a certain level of risk, deciding to go all-in actually goes against some basic trading principles. Besides, to be able to secure some stable, sustainable profit, you should start thinking about a strategy before you set out to reach your goals, as this will prevent some very probable misfortunes. As a crypto trader, you may have already missed some steps discussed here, but if you perceive your failures as invaluable lessons, you will help yourself to adopt a powerful mindset that allows the experience to transform into success.

You can always extend your cryptocurrency portfolio and turn to some other markets as well since you know now how experience in one market can affect your chances of amassing a fortune in some other ones. As we could see from the examples above, so many crypto and penny investors had to learn the hard way which key skills they require to avoid common trading mistakes. Nonetheless, due to the extensive array of experiences, lessons, and trading examples, you may now begin to grasp the importance of sensibly and logically analyzing one’s strategies, devising a strategic and well-thought-out plan, and intelligently growing an independent investor mindset, which are all considered essential forex trading skills.

Categories
Forex Basics

Top Four Questions For a Professional Prop Trader

Becoming a professional prop trader is not easy. The positive results of trading and effort come after a few years. Whatsmore, they may not even come at all. Investors commonly have a crafted mindest when it comes to decision making. They will put all the possible outcomes of an investment or action on one side, […]

Becoming a professional prop trader is not easy. The positive results of trading and effort come after a few years. Whatsmore, they may not even come at all. Investors commonly have a crafted mindest when it comes to decision making. They will put all the possible outcomes of an investment or action on one side, […]

Becoming a professional prop trader is not easy. The positive results of trading and effort come after a few years. Whatsmore, they may not even come at all. Investors commonly have a crafted mindest when it comes to decision making. They will put all the possible outcomes of an investment or action on one side, and the negatives on the other. When we want to decide if Forex trading is a good venture, it may be hard to measure that investors balance. The final question we have to ask, the question that covers all the others, is can we dedicate ourselves to Forex, can we persist and endure the challenges this market will throw at us? If you have doubts when you fully understand what you are facing, turn away, find some other options, only financial or psychological frustration will await you. Every trader feels these challenges.

Proprietary traders mastered these emotions, persisted, and have built trading systems that put them on the top, consistently squeezing the profits out of forex. They are rewarded for their years of endurance. Traders that are just starting can greatly shorten their path to becoming consistently profitable for the first time by learning from these masters. Yet, few of proprietary traders share their knowledge as a goal, creating valuable and rare resources for the starter traders who have decided to walk this path. This article contains their opinions and answer to the top 4 questions asked by traders, some of which are already experienced.

US citizens seem to be the ones that ask the most although even more surprising is the fact Forex is not that popular in the US. The US is the most economically developed country and since the stock market is the first place to go for investors. Whatsmore, the media has a great contribution to this, shadowing what other markets are there. Still, such is the habit in the US, where the rest of the world seems far, unrelated, not important to the lives of US citizens. This creates ignorance and therefore makes some of the questions funny and uninteresting for experienced traders.

A good analogy to this is comparing the NFL to the UEFA Champions League, in addition to the football and soccer being completely different sports for the US citizen, while abroad it is the same for most. Soccer is Forex for the rest of the world and the NFL is a stock market for US citizens. Most of the proprietary traders are trend following strategy traders in many variations. These strategies are scientifically proven to be, according to their sources, the most successful ways to trade. As such, the questions asked do not primarily come from traders who are trend followers.

So, starting from the number 4 top frequent question:

Where do you think the EUR/USD is going to go?

The EUR/USD is the most popular currency pair to trade (which prop traders avoid) and the pair could easily be substituted with any asset on the forex market. Prop traders are masters of analysis, psychology, and systematic approach to trading. But they cannot see the future. The shortest answer to this question would be – I do not know. The question is also not very well defined for them. They need more information, they need precision. Prop traders would ask you back about the timeframe, then how far into the future, what risk tolerance, and so on. Still, the answer is the same. They will also say that it is a good thing they do not. If you can know the future, there would not be any profit to be made in a perfectly balanced market (since everyone knows what is about to happen). And it would ruin all the fun. This answer is shocking to people, who have probably just entered into forex. The answer also turns them away, discredit the prop trader, making prop traders question if the effort of sharing the knowledge is worth the trouble. However, this is the extension of the answer – prop traders use technical analysis (not all of them).

Charts, indicators, and tools show them using math where are the points a trade can be entered. These signals are not extended into the future, they are in real-time, what is going on right now. Prop traders have a daily routine, they wake up, eliminate any distractions, and have precise time when it is time for trading analysis and operations. There are three options the charts or tools can tell them, trade long, short, manage already open trade (partially close, exit, scale in, move Stop Loss, etc), or do not trade at all. Then, they move on to the next asset and repeat. Sounds simple right? They have worked hard for the system to work, once it is all set and they are ready, it becomes one of the best “jobs” in the world. Yet again, this is not the answer most will be satisfied with. Another reason why people fail is that they seek something to consume right away, something to use, a takeaway that will make them pips. It will not work.

Forex will filter these attempts, you may try again, differently, fail again. Those that remain have a great chance of becoming good at extracting profits from forex. There is another group who like to get informed this way just to sound smart in front of other people, and have no idea how to trade. One more thing prop traders want to add, making forecasts is a bad way to trade. Weird as it may sound, predictions will be met with a bust account, sooner or later. Forecasting is extremely popular. Just turn on the TV and enjoy all the smart speeches by renowned financial figures. They are terrible traders. They are good analysts, say smart things about the market conditions.

In practical trading, they are not good. Guess that is why being on TV is a better business option for them. Similarly can be said for certain brokers account managers or recruiters. This may be hard to believe. If you need some proof, we can quote Ray Dalio, one of the best hedge investors in the world estimating over 17 billion in net worth. In reference to his book, “Principles”, aside from being the classic on investments, on page 42, he says:

“Truth be known, forecasts aren’t worth very much, and most who make them do not make money in the markets.”

It is not uncommon to find professional traders that have aligned their trading methods with the Ray Dalio ideas. A certain group even dares to say fundamental analysis and forecasting is a waste of time! So prop traders do not care to please the masses with this answer, they do not trade Forex to impress people, they do it for financial freedom, effective use of their time and this should also be a genuine reason for future traders too. Moving on to the next question, which is:

Based on _____(some elections, economic news, reports, etc) happening in the world, where do you think _____(some forex asset, EUR, USD) will go?

Now, thins question is very similar to the first one, just a bit expanded to new aspects. The answer by a prop trader is not the same. Let’s fill in the blanks with Trump elections and the USD moving as a consequence because the question was posed soon after the US elections. There is an answer to this but it is somewhat complicated. Trump elections can be regarded as surprising. Trump was never “supposed to” win. When he did, investors are on the rampage to find good opportunities. The market was already expecting Hilary Clinton’s victory and went in the corresponding price direction. Hilary did not win, investors looked for the surprise piggyback. This move can be predicted by prop traders because they know how forex works and how the big banks work.

If you are not familiar, the Big Banks article explains how the price is set by these big players on forex. The Big Banks and institutions decide how the price is going to move. Any serious trader must know this. In the case of the USD prospect when Trump won, the long term is bearish. But the exact time when this trend is going to take fold is on the big players of forex to decide. Basic logic says weaker USD opens up the economic expansion and Trump is a businessman first, money-making mindset. At no point is he going to allow equity markets plummet during his mandate.

The result until now in 2020 is exactly this, Indexes rise even quickly after the trade war and COVID-19 pandemic. The move when the USD is going to start trending down was not expected to start right away. Banks know that this logic is evident to many, even to the inexperienced investors. The EUR/USD move up was not to be seen, on the contrary, the big banks pulled it down, sharp. There were just too many long positions big banks could not let go by, investors who went in too soon were met with a surprise they could not handle. Even the ones with a deeper Stop Loss tolerance were not spared.

A slight correction took place to give out a slight hope of the logical bull (USD weakening) move they have expected. Well, this hope was chocked along with the investors’ positions until the bing banks ran out of long positions to flush. This answer is also not for the common people. Even more, the answer will not change much, the same will repeat. Other events, like the Brexit and its consequences, are not this easy to predict. Most prop traders would not even try, they will focus on the present. The final point to all this is to know that massive directional trades because of a major event are transparent to you, other investors but to the big banks too, and their word is final.

The second question is: Do you trade cryptocurrencies?

Crypto assets are new to the scene and they come with several risks. Therefore, prop traders still need to adapt to this risk so they can trade it as they would forex. The idea of cryptocurrencies is great, it is the new age of money. Traders who entered early deserve their share of the fortune, although this market has a different kind of rule(s). It is an alien with many unknowns and it is not adapted to the world yet. Prop trader likes the environment with proven track records, movements, actors, and information resources. This is how they can have an edge – when all rules are known. This knowledge is trader specific, you should not invest with a market you are not familiar with. Of course, some games are designed players only can lose in the long run. Casinos have many of them.

Luckily for prop traders and others who know how to play, forex is not one of these games. Forex can also be thrilling as the casino games but you are probably reading this article for the money-making reasons too. The Crypto market simply does not come into play with careful traders yet. This does not mean you should not test it or build the trading system for the crypto world, you would be limiting yourself an opportunity.

The number one question for a prop trader is (and the most ridiculous one):

I have some Iraqi dinars here, a lot of them. Do you think they will go up in value sometimes?

Prop traders would smile awkwardly, they get this question a lot. This question is posed mostly by US citizens that served in Iraq or have this currency from a relative. This could be a souvenir they would like to be valuable, carrying the mystic feeling of a secret-treasure they never knew about sitting in the attic. Or, they bought the currency notes off a scamming seller claiming its worth in the future, building up this treasure in the attic feel. You can check the USD/IQD chart and analyze if this is going to happen. To prop traders, this idea could stay just as an idea for a very long time. The country like Iraq has a very different history, culture, government, economy, and everything in between to consider rebounding the value of the IQD soon. Unfortunately, forex brokers and other actors around this market are not always honest, similarly to the seller of IQD with a story to back it up. Keeping your reason open will identify this. Forex scams are present and not hard to fall into one, but this is a subject for a separate article.

*Source: No-nonsense Forex Channel

Categories
Beginners Forex Education Forex Basics

Reasons Why FX Trading Requires Dedication

When you started out with trading or when you had the idea of trading, how did you picture it? Did you think that you would start out with an hour here and there, or did you listen to those stating that you can work a couple of hours a week and make it big? If […]

When you started out with trading or when you had the idea of trading, how did you picture it? Did you think that you would start out with an hour here and there, or did you listen to those stating that you can work a couple of hours a week and make it big? If […]

When you started out with trading or when you had the idea of trading, how did you picture it? Did you think that you would start out with an hour here and there, or did you listen to those stating that you can work a couple of hours a week and make it big? If you had any sort of thoughts sling those lines then you would be greatly mistaken. Much like anything in life, if you want to be good at something it is going to take a lot of work and a lot of dedication. If you do not put in the work, you will not get the rewards.

The way that the forex industry is going, things are getting easier and easier to get into and to gain access to various things that in the past would have been pretty hard to come by. In order to get into trading now, all you need is an internet connection and a bank account. You can simply go online, find the broker you want, sign up, deposit, and start trading.

Things being easy to access does not however make them any easier to do. In fact, the number of people who start trading is increasing, but so is the percentage of those traders that lose money or blow their accounts. This shows that while it is easy to get into trading, it is not easy to do it successfully.

From the outside, it is always quite difficult to judge exactly how you will be able to deal with certain situations or to cope with prolonged exposure to something that can potentially cause stress or loss. People from all walks of life and from all sorts of professions take up forex trading in the hope of being successful, coming from different backgrounds and having different base levels of discipline and dedication cannot really prepare anyone for how much dedication is actually required to be successful.

So despite the ease of access and the heaps of educational and learning material out there, it should be easy to get to grips, but sadly this is not the case, you will need to work hard and you will need to put in the work.

The majority of traders come away from trading as a loser, they have lost either all or at least some of their deposits. This does not necessarily make them a bad trader. In fact, everyone that has even traded, even the most successful ones, have had losses, lots of losses. Part of becoming a successful trader is being able to encourage and force yourself to continue to work once you have those losses. It is very easy to just give up and think that this is not for you, however having the discipline and dedication to stick with it, even though those losses is what will ultimately make you a successful trader.

If you take a professional sports player, it takes years of practice to be at a level where they can actually make money, it is exactly the same for someone wand trading. You will have plenty of losses at the start. In fact, it will probably take you a year to be a break-even trader, but if you keep pushing and learning, just like a professional sports player, you will improve and you will begin to win some of your matches, or in this case trades.

There needs to be an understanding when you first go into trading that there will be a lot of losses and it will be a very long process. If you expect to be profitable when you first start out then you will be disappointed and quit, however, if you come in knowing that it will be a hard journey, it will be far easier for you to push through these initial losses and to continue learning until you are profitable.

Trading is an endurance event, not a sprint, you need that mentality and you need to be able to stick with it, if you want quick results, you will need to look elsewhere, however, if you understand that trading will take years of practice before you are truly successful, then it could be a good path for you to go down.

Categories
Forex Basic Strategies

FX Trading Strategies To Avoid: Grid Strategies

There are thousands of different strategies, some are fantastic and work for most trading conditions, some work really well during specific trading conditions, some work with some of the time, some most of the time. Some are safe and some are a little bit riskier, we are going to be looking at one of those […]

There are thousands of different strategies, some are fantastic and work for most trading conditions, some work really well during specific trading conditions, some work with some of the time, some most of the time. Some are safe and some are a little bit riskier, we are going to be looking at one of those […]

There are thousands of different strategies, some are fantastic and work for most trading conditions, some work really well during specific trading conditions, some work with some of the time, some most of the time. Some are safe and some are a little bit riskier, we are going to be looking at one of those slightly more risky ones, in fact, it is one of the riskiest ones. It is known as a grid strategy and it works much as the name suggests, so let’s take a look at what this strategy involves and why it is so risky.

There are a lot of different variations of the grid strategy, but before we look at any of them we need to outline what a grid-based strategy actually is. To put it into simple tmr,s if you look at the charts, you will see a grid on the background, this is similar to how you need to imaging the strategy, there are vertical lines going up the screen at fixed intervals, lets for the examples state say that the grid lines are 25 pips apart. A trade is opened if it goes the right way, it is done and profits can be taken.

However, if it goes the wrong way, when it gets to negative 25 pips, you will open up another trade going the same direction as the original, if it then moves another 25 pips to a total of 50 pips negative, you will open a third, this will continue until the markets reverse and the trades can all be closed at the same time for an overall profit.

So you can see how it can be a little risky if the markets continue to move against you, there is a very good chance that you will continue to open up new positions until you get a market call and the broker protects itself and you by closing out your trades. That is the barebones basics of how the strategy works, there are of course a lot of different variations of it. Some make it safer, some riskier and some just make it go a little crazy, but whichever version people use, it will have a lot of risks attached to it and so this strategy remains very risky and is one of the most dangerous ones to use due to its lack of basic risk management.

Now let’s take a look at what some of these variations of the strategy involve:

Grid + Martingale

The martingale strategy is another strategy that you may have heard of and is another sky one, so you can imagine that combining it with the grid strategy, which is an already risky strategy could be making things a little worse.

This strategy works much the same way as the standard grid strategy does, its main difference is that when more than one trade is opened due to the markets going the wrong way, each subsequent trade is opened at a larger size. What size that depends on the trader using the strategy, some people use double the lot size, some people increase it by just a specific amount each time. Other than that, it works exactly the same way, at a set interval the new trade will be opened.

As the lot sizes are now increasing it will make a couple of differences, the first is that the drawdown that the account experiences will be a quite a bit higher than the standard version, the other differences is that if the markets do decide to change and reverse, you will be able to get out of the trades in profit from a much smaller move. So there is a positive and a negative, but overall this version of the grid strategy offers a lot higher risk to the standard one, which we will remind you that it was already quite risky to begin with.

Extending Grid

As this is a grid-based strategy, it works in a similar fashion once again, as the markets go against you, new trades will be open dup at set intervals the main difference for this version is that the grid expands as it gets large, so the first trade will open after 25 pips, the second would be after 75 pips and the third would be after 150 pips, so as you can see, the gap between each trade is getting larger, this helps to slow down the speed that the drawdown will be increasing. This version of the grid helps to reduce some of the risks that come with the strategy, but this does not make it a riskless strategy, it still involves a lot of risks.

Increasing or Decreasing Sizes

Another variation of the strategy takes a different approach to the lot and trade sizes rather than the size of the actual grid. There are two different variations within it, one where the trade size decreases with each trade and another when it increases, we have already mentioned the increasing version in the form of the martingale variation, so the other one is the decreasing size. This is where each trade is opened at a slightly smaller trade size, this is done to try and reduce the speed that the drawdown increases while still allowing you to open up additional positions. This is a version that is far less performed due to the larger reversal required but it does have the benefit of not risking as much of your account as quickly as the other versions do.

Those are a few of the different styles of the grid strategy, there are of course additional variations that people use, what is important to note is that they do not change the actual mechanics and ideas behind the strategy, so we know what some of the versions are, but in what situation is this strategy actually effective in?

The strategy works best in a market that is oscillating and ranging, it moves up and down and does not break out into any trends, this allows you to consistently take profit at each move up and down as you would be opening up trades, taking profits and then opening another, this continues and can be very effective when the markets continue like this for an extended period of time.

The main issue with this strategy is when the markets begin to trend, when this happens, things can begin to go wrong very quickly. A trend can last for hundreds of pips, if this happens the grid will open up a lot of trades and unless you have a very large account, there is a good chance that the tread can continue long enough to cause an account to blow. The only hope with people using this strategy is that the trend reverses or that there is a pullback where you are able to get out of all trades at the same time with a profit.

So those are some of the different grid-based strategies, they are some of the strategies that people are often told not to use, and for good reason, the strategies are very dangerous and can put your entire balance at risk, so if you are looking to protect your account, we would strongly suggest that you try a different, more conservative strategy to a grid-based one.

Categories
Forex Market

Classic Dual Line Forex Scam

What makes us vulnerable to scams and what can we do to make ourselves less vulnerable? There’s a particular phenomenon out there amongst forex traders, one that we have all seen or even experienced ourselves but that it is worth spending a little bit of time discussing. We all have our vulnerabilities and it doesn’t […]

What makes us vulnerable to scams and what can we do to make ourselves less vulnerable? There’s a particular phenomenon out there amongst forex traders, one that we have all seen or even experienced ourselves but that it is worth spending a little bit of time discussing. We all have our vulnerabilities and it doesn’t […]

What makes us vulnerable to scams and what can we do to make ourselves less vulnerable?

There’s a particular phenomenon out there amongst forex traders, one that we have all seen or even experienced ourselves but that it is worth spending a little bit of time discussing. We all have our vulnerabilities and it doesn’t even matter how long you have been trading, you still have them to some extent. Over time you might shed the ones you started out with – or at least you will probably have learned what they are and how to suppress them – but there’s a good chance you will also gain new ones along the way. Now, for the more seasoned traders among you, this will involve a little trip down memory lane. For those of you who have only been trading for a couple of years, listen up as this will be the kind of knowledge people don’t just share with you every day.

Emotional Rollercoaster

Everyone who has ever gone into forex trading has experienced one of two things at the beginning. Some have lost money right from the get-go – often they’ve everything they put in. Others have arguably had the sharper end of the stick and had some luck to begin with. That can be worse because it gives you a false sense that you know what you’re doing. It gives you the feeling that every decision you make is a stroke of genius and that you’re a natural at this. Either way, it can suck you in, in an emotional sense. Those who’ve won from the start become hooked on that euphoric feeling of getting it right – it’s a feeling like hitting the jackpot or scoring a winning goal or point. It can be very satisfying but also it can mislead you.

Those who’ve lost out most often still want to play but can no longer trust themselves to rake in the money. But that first feeling of having found the solution to a lot of your problems with forex trading – that’s a hard feeling to shake. And so we stick with it and cling on to the hope that we’re going to be able to get back in the game. That hope you feel, that against the odds you will figure this out and that you can find a system that works – that hope can be a useful thing if you don’t let it rule your decisions. It can also be a dangerous thing.

It can be dangerous because there are scammers out there who prey on that hope. Or, to be more precise, they prey on those whose hope has consumed them and turned into desperation. Scammers will do what they can to make you feel like they are your knight in shining armor, riding in to rescue you from your failures and promising big things. For people who are desperate to regain their losses, who feel like they have a mountain of learning to climb and are looking for a shortcut, that message can be irresistible.

Baltimore Stockbroker

There are a great many scams out there and many people and groups looking to run them on anyone they can identify as a potential victim. It might be instructive to take a look at how one of these scams works to get a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this unscrupulous racket. Now, this particular scam we’re going to examine here more closely goes under several different names, the most popular of which is probably the Baltimore stockbroker but it is also sometimes known as the file drawer problem or the touting pyramid.

It is most commonly run in the sports betting world but it has migrated across to equity, forex, and other kinds of trading and investment. It is also worth bearing in mind that it has many different iterations and variations, so what we’re covering here are just the main principles.

In its most basic form, the scam starts by making outrageous claims through mass emailing or through social media. Sometimes they’re even run as ads or promoted social media content – although it is worth mentioning that most of the larger social media platforms are doing a better and better job of clamping down on these scams and reporting them to the authorities. Nonetheless, they still get through. And we’ve all seen these claims: “Turn just $1,000 into $10,000 with this amazing trading technique!”, “Earn yourself returns of 100% every month!”, “Use this unique trading technique to make 2,000 pips or more!”

Of course, these claims are outrageous and you’d have to be desperate for them to reel you in but that’s just the point. Scammers pulling the Baltimore stockbroker and other similar cons rely on your desperation. Also, it is certainly worth bearing in mind that these examples are pretty basic. Scammers have devised much more sophisticated methods to get these claims across and make them seem both more believable and more legitimate. One such technique is to use real testimonials from people who are marks in the scam but are temporarily doing well out of it. As you will see, for a time some people will be victims of the scam but will have bought into it so deeply that they will sound very genuine when recommending it to others.

Using these tactics the scammer builds up a pool of marks. Often this pool will number tens or even hundreds of people but in order to keep it simple here, let’s say the scammer’s pool is just 16 people. Firstly, the scammer will charge the marks a fixed amount per week or per month to stay in the game. And they buy into it because they have become convinced that they are onto something that will make them that fee back and then some. The scammer then tells the marks that he has some secret, inside information about some future movement of the market. For example, they say they have the lowdown on an upcoming news event and they know which way the market will move as a result. For the sake of this example, let’s say the scammer tells his sixteen marks that he has some information about some news that will affect the EUR/USD pair and he knows which way it will send the price of the dollar against the euro.

Now, here’s the key component. The scammer will use the fact that none of the marks know each other or have any contact with each other to split them into two equal groups – in this case, with eight people in each group. One group receives a prediction that the dollar will go up against the euro in response to the news event, while the other group gets the exact opposite prediction. Each group is completely convinced that they have the right prediction because they are completely unaware that there even is another group.

So when a news event does come around, one group will have made money on their trades while the other group will have lost – and they will probably have lost everything because the scammer will have advised them to leverage their accounts to the max. But, of course, the scammer doesn’t care that one group lost because they’re relying on the monthly fee from their marks.

Here’s where it gets really devious. The group that won big is still in the game. The scammer now splits them into equal halves again – in our example, this would be two groups of four but in real life, it could be much larger groups. Then it’s just a case of rinse and repeat. One group will have made money again, through sheer chance, while the other group loses big. Then the scam goes back to the beginning and is run again.

But here’s what’s interesting. There will eventually be a group of surviving marks who have been on the receiving end of the most miraculous series of predictions you’ve ever seen. At this point, they must be thinking that the scammer feeding them these predictions has a crystal ball or a sixth sense or is otherwise a member of the Illuminati. They are not only ready to pay to stay in the game but are willing to write or record the most glowing testimonials to the scammer possible. And these testimonials are additionally believable because these marks aren’t making it up – they really have been winning big on the back of seemingly impossible predictions of the market.

This not only helps the scammer to attract a new pool of marks but also means that they are likely to part with increasingly large sums of money along the way. And here’s the thing, you would be too. If you thought you were onto a good thing like this, you would be more than happy to keep reaching into your pocket to stay in, happily unaware that each prediction is no better than a random guess.

The flip side is, of course, all of those marks who weren’t in the surviving group. Most of them will certainly have dropped out when they lost the first time but, sadly, some of them will stay in despite their losses and will not only lose more on the next ‘prediction’ but will also be paying the scammer to do so.

The scam relies on a number of psychological tricks. Firstly, like almost all scams, it targets our vulnerabilities but it also relies on selection bias – where the results look amazing because the scammer is essentially only showing you the winning marks. In 2008 a British TV magician and entertainer used a variation on this scam to send a woman correct tips for five successive horse races. She was so blown away by his ability to predict the outcome of the races that he was able to persuade her to bet her whole life savings on the sixth race. Luckily for her, this was just a TV show and he simply revealed at the end that he’d tricked her and she got to keep her money. In real life, the scammer would simply have disappeared into the ether.

Protecting Yourself

You are probably reading this and thinking to yourself, “that’s all very well but it doesn’t apply to me because I would never fall for a scam like that.” Maybe that’s true but ask yourself this: before you read this, did you even know how this scam worked? And that’s not even the scary part of this, the scary part is that scammers will work hard to conceal that it’s a scam and there’s a good chance you won’t see it coming. Also, you should never underestimate the desperation you might feel if you hit a losing streak and you need a big win to get back on the horse. Or, conversely, if you smell the sweet, sweet smell of potential success just around the corner. Because those two drives will make you vulnerable to scammers and they can smell that vulnerability just as sure as you can smell a win.

But that’s not the crux of the matter. The real way to protect yourself is not to know how each and every scam works and to avoid them like the plague. First off, because nobody outside the white-collar crime department of the FBI can be expected to know all of the scams and cons out there – and even they probably struggle to keep up. And, secondly, because fraudsters will always be looking to change and adapt their scams so they can hook in as many marks as possible.

The real way to protect yourself is to maintain at all times a realistic appraisal of the situation. Trading forex is not like winning the lottery and those people who treat it like that are leaving themselves open both to scammers and a big, big disappointment down the road. There is no easy way to “win” at forex trading. There is no cheat code. Nothing gets handed to you on a silver platter. Becoming a successful forex trader takes hard work, dedication, intelligence, the ability to learn and adapt, and an ingrained understanding of oneself. This is, after all, a multi-trillion dollar market and the ranks of successful traders are brimming with the cream of the crop in terms of brains and determination. You can’t simply walk up, enter a few trades, and get your hands on the big bucks.

By keeping your expectations realistic you are not only giving yourself a shield against the allure of all kinds of scammers and tricksters, you are also setting yourself up to stay in trading long-term. It is only by staying in it, building up your experience and putting in that hard graft everybody seems so keen to avoid these days, that you can become consistently good. There are no guarantees for anything, of course, but keeping on going until you find systems and approaches that work is the only thing that gives you a chance to play the long game. And playing the long game is the only way that you will continue to improve and evolve, which is ultimately your best shot at success. Anybody who tells you otherwise is probably selling something.

Categories
Forex Basic Strategies

Buy and Hold FX Trading Strategies

In this article, we will discuss and explore options you have once you are already trading on Forex. It is also for beginner traders so they can understand all the benefits of becoming a consistent, successful trader. At one point, as an established professional Forex trader, you would need to consider options with the capital […]

In this article, we will discuss and explore options you have once you are already trading on Forex. It is also for beginner traders so they can understand all the benefits of becoming a consistent, successful trader. At one point, as an established professional Forex trader, you would need to consider options with the capital […]

In this article, we will discuss and explore options you have once you are already trading on Forex. It is also for beginner traders so they can understand all the benefits of becoming a consistent, successful trader. At one point, as an established professional Forex trader, you would need to consider options with the capital you can extract from Forex. The skills traders gain in their career are universal. They do not apply only to Forex. It is not only the mindset, but it is also the system(s) they have built. This way they can use the money from one business and use to invest in another. The money will be multiplied many times over throughout their life. Of course, some people may not be interested in this, and they are probably not reading this as motivated future traders. However, this group will most likely have only one way of winning, while Forex traders have many ways to win.

Buy and Hold strategies are not very well presented and the people that talk about them do not give you anything substantial traders can use. There are a couple of them and in this article, we will discuss some applicable to Forex traders. Also, why to Buy and Hold Strategies are important, the number of people who have one is so small compared to the ones who do not. Forex traders have a huge advantage to those who are investing long term. This advantage will be discussed later. Note this is just an opinion and observation by certain professional prop traders.

People come to Forex for the most attractive reason, to gain a lot of money in the short term. This is possible although very unlikely. Forex is therefore interesting to those who do not have much to invest. However, the sooner you have, the better. It is imperative to start using the Buy and Hold strategy at the beginning of your life or as soon as you can. Regret you did not will come after many years. The long game or long term investing is not popular. The rewards are late. Sometimes too far for us to consider it as a solution to our present problems. We give present problems priority even if we have a solution for our future problems in the present. Part of this mindset is the same reason why many fail to trade on Forex. It is finding a quick fix for their financial and career problems, they want to quit their captivating job and break free.

This might be a good idea if your life expectancy is short, although for most it Is not. Having an early start will be very soothing for the future you, the longer you delay, the Buy and Hold strategy will have a diminishing effect. Once the strategy is started, it keeps snowballing and you will start to make good decisions that are lifechanging. Feeling secure in your future will relieve you of stress and you will feel the security few people do. So, from another view, you already have something right away, peace of mind. Another reason Buy and Hold investment may be unappealing in the fact many people are tied to the money they made by working hard, the idea they need to start investing stirs fear, they are hanging to the money they have. This is not a wise decision.

The book “The Richest Man In Babylon” by George S. Clason is a classic but the most interesting part is when a poor man comes to the rich and asks him how to become rich. The answer is first you need to earn 10 coins a month, then, put one away. Make this a rule you will not break. The poor guy protested, stating he will not have anything left at the end of the month, he needs every penny. This is not an option, however, to become rich you will need to make this step. After a while, the poor man came back and said there is no difference except now he has some savings, and that he never felt better.

Even if you are a good, profitable trader, earning money in one way is the same as saying you are putting all eggs in one basket. Not wise, you should play the offense and defense at the same time. The defense analogy part is known as Passive Income. The best teams play both sides, why not you. While you are making nice gains off Forex, do not spend the whole batch, set one part aside, and create your evergrowing capital. This move will take trading anxiety away because even when your trading comes to a halt, you will have the Passive side still working behind the scene. Imagine that terrible month where all of your previous year gains are negated, it feels like a year is wasted. But if you have that other Passive side, it will not feel that bad.

The Mystery of Buy and Hold Strategies

Buy and Hold strategies are not explained and not present on the internet, because the internet places the most popular first, not the most beneficial to you. So how we can use our forex trading skills to become better than most of the population who is doing this? Some common sense takeaways are often overlooked with this strategy and we, as forex traders will know what to do better. There is a lot of ways you cad do a Buy and Hold strategy. They are not all great but let us start with the Buy and Hold Forever idea. This one is not too bad to follow, there are a good argument and logic behind this strategy. When you look at the stocks or Indexes history, they just rise up and up, even when they crash a bit they end up recovering and rising again. The history will repeat, cycles will do their thing until the repetition does not hold and something new occurs.

That equities rally may just stop rising, you simply do not know. All you have are the odds. The odds imply that it does not matter when you enter the market with the Buy and Hold forever strategy as long you keep that forever mentality. This means if you invest in Gold and it starts to decline in price, you do not blink, do not bailout. On the contrary, this is an opportunity to buy more, you are playing the long haul. The plan is set here to hold the asset for a very very long time as the price moves up and up. Withdrawal is not set in the plan and it is not uncommon people never withdraw. They might come to the point of old age where all that money is not very useful to them and pass it on to their kids. There are many iterations of this approach and there is nothing wrong with it.

The Buy and Hold until you cash out big is the one with many weak spots, and here is why. The plan is to collect all the investments and put everything into the pocket. This form of Buy and Hold is very common, especially with the people who are into investments. They may have an idea to wait until the price is very high (high relative to what?) and cash it out, then use the money for something else or just count the bills. This plan is not a good one. Until you have a precise number when this investment ends, it is not a good plan. Now, for example, if we take an excited blackjack player who comes with just $100 and lifts his game to $40.000, he will just keep playing. He will play $40,000 for more until he is back to $100 all in one day. These people did not have a plan.

The same people who bought Bitcoin when it was just $1000, hyping when it reached almost $20,000. Then the talk about the BTC made millionaires circles, but the truth is only about 40 out of hundreds of thousands of people got out at the right time. The majority let the hype run and when it is over some may even go with the Buy and Hold Forever strategy. Od course, they would for sure sell near the $20,000 mark and buy it back when it went down if this option is available. After all, just be sure to avoid this strategy.

Forex would like the approach with a structure, even in the Buy and Hold strategy. This is a type where investors Buy and Hold and cash out along the way. Where are the points in time and level where you cash out, is subjective. It depends on the investor’s tolerance, how long to hold, and what is the asset held. Forex traders will have a plan and structure for this. Again, having a passive income element is very important as your trading will not be as great as before.

Long-Term Swing Trading

Long-term Swing trading types may not really be in the category of the Buy and Hold idea, but it is also very interesting for forex traders who have a plan and a system. More on this strategy later. Just to point out what makes forex traders better right off the bat is their Money Management structure. Without Money Management, there is no money. If you are strictly following the Buy and Hold Forever strategy then you probably do not need to worry about Money Management.

However, people who follow this strategy fail with their psychology trading element. When you think of it, all they have to do is invest and do nothing. The do-nothing part is a very hard thing to do it seems. Warren Buffet can do it but most cannot. When the markets stir up with volatility, their fears kick in as their asset is going down. Then they get out at the wrong time. Trading by fee is the worst possible way to trade, and it is often what beginner traders do, not just forex traders. So it can be said that all decision making is just better when the emotions are not in the way. Forex traders beat this with their systems. Unfortunately, others do not have the system. The rules for forex trading is easy. Trade according to your system, then go away, and repeat.

Taking the above into consideration, we can create some common-sense rules you can follow. Just by using these general pointers and then create your strategies over time, you will probably do very well with the Buy and Hold investing. Have a plan. Most do not have one, which gives you an advantage right away. Execute the plan. Write it down and follow it like it is holy. Writing it down will also write it in your mind. This will make a psychological effect that helps to obey the plan. A forex trader can also use their trading platforms to set Take Profit levels, etc.

You may be caught in a mania, an emotional excitement when your asset shoots up. There will be an urge to move that TP level higher or cancel it altogether just to see where is the limit of this fortune. If your plan set the TP, then messing around with it is not an option, no exceptions. There are no regrets, as another opportunity always shows up. Regret is another emotion that may cause bad decisions so enjoy your cool just by following the plan no matter what. At the begging, you will have these urges, but in time it will vanish.

Buy and Hold Cash Out

Now let us go back to that Buy and Hold and cash out along the way strategy where you can apply the plan. Forex traders already have their Money Management plan so they can set a Stop Loss if it is not a Buy and Hold Forever type. How deep the SL level will be is on the trader to determine, but have one in place. Have a Take Profit level too at some nice gain point, at least one, and then move your SL to breakeven when TP gets hit. This is all basic common sense and an example you should already know if you are a forex trader. In the Buy and Hold strategies, it is also applicable.

Since in this type you cash out along the way, you can put multiple TP levels and leave that little bit in the asset. That little bit can be saved for your potential “flyer” rally breaking the sky limits with the trailing stop so you do not miss those life-changing investments. It may not be amazing that just a part of your initial investment captured that rally but you can rest easy, you have a system that is making it all happen again. This basic plan will get you in the top 95-99% of investors, and it can even get better.

So we know we have great odds in our favor by having a plan, but nowadays we also have the ability to go short, not just long. We can do it on gold, commodities, ETFs, and many more assets. This almost double our odds, there is no need now to sit out the drops. Surprisingly, many people do not use this ability and there is no reason why forex traders should too. Further improvement of the forex trader odds is by selecting the assets that almost have no chance of dropping to zero or going so low they do not have a chance of recovery. These assets are stocks, some companies do not have chances of recovery, for example like Sears. Gold is an asset that will probably not going to drop to zero, Energy ETF baskets too. The final and great advantage forex traders have is their technical analysis system. With the well made and tested system forex traders have better odds than investors and even financial advisors.

Now you need to decide do you want to Sell and Hold or Buy. There are many inverted ETFs that will allow you to short indexes. So are we in the seller’s market or the buyer’s market now? If you think we are in the cyclic bubble right now then you may go in the selling direction but know that you might be wrong. This means you should not go all-in on the short side. Also, the algorithm will tell when is the right time to make a trade. The timeframe used for trading is not optimal for long term investment so increasing to monthly is recommended.

For that Long term Swing trading strategy, the weekly timeframe is the most optimal. Swing trading on this timeframe is not really considered Buy and Hold but it is for those who want to participate in the price action. If you have the system that works universally on every timeframe, then why not use it to squeeze more. Whatsmore, trading on a weekly will relieve you of the trouble if the market is in the sellers or buyers zone.

Categories
Beginners Forex Education Forex Basics

Forex Supply and Demand Comparative

If you had to make a choice between stock, commodities, forex, and crypto markets, which ones would you say are affected by supply and demand more often than not? Contrary to common belief, forex is actually the only one that does not yield to the impact of the relationship between supply and demand among all […]

If you had to make a choice between stock, commodities, forex, and crypto markets, which ones would you say are affected by supply and demand more often than not? Contrary to common belief, forex is actually the only one that does not yield to the impact of the relationship between supply and demand among all […]

If you had to make a choice between stock, commodities, forex, and crypto markets, which ones would you say are affected by supply and demand more often than not? Contrary to common belief, forex is actually the only one that does not yield to the impact of the relationship between supply and demand among all four markets. Although the two terms are tightly connected to the subject of price, forex is exempt from such rules regardless of perceived relatedness.

Naturally, one may wonder why we should still learn about supply and demand despite the fact that forex is not susceptible to this type of market push-and-pull motion of prices. Also, can the skills we obtain through doing trading in the forex market be further utilized in trading in the other three markets and vice versa? We are going to discuss here how such inter-market support and information exchange can prove to be quite profitable down the road, what some substantial points of divergence between different markets are, and how the law of supply and demand affects money-making.

Building a Foundation of Financial Literacy

First of all, to be able to take part in the forex market, each trader must build on financial literacy. To trade money, one needs to comprehend the language of money, which implies the understanding of basic terms, trends, and laws of finance. While people who do not possess this knowledge may exist, such an approach should not be your goal or rule to live and work by. We can admit that we do not know a particular field or that committing to behaving in a specific way is not one’s forte, but the lack of feeling the urge to develop one’s skills and pool of information probably reflects the person’s mindset, rather than being an individual trait. Therefore, as financial literacy certainly isn’t an imperative, if you desire to become a professional forex trader, wouldn’t you want to do everything in your power to secure this future affluence?

Once you become really good at trading forex, you have naturally absorbed the knowledge and skills which can help you grow further and, if you feel the need, you have the chance to expand to other markets as well. Trading currencies can teach you the universal language of trading and thus help you apply this system to any other market of choice. The very necessary analysis and risk management skills used in forex can protect you and allow you to multiply your profit through expansion. If you have a stable foundation, you can allow yourself to think big and start acquiring other necessary pieces of information that such a transition could require. As expected, although general principles of trading are vital for shifting from trading in one market to trading in another, copy-paste mentality will not work. Regardless of one’s trading expertise, every individual should invest in growing context- and market-specific knowledge in order to be able to generate capital and make a profit.

The ability to trade in several markets, spreading your know-how from forex into other markets, puts you in a desirable position. At this stage, people will not only look up to you as a successful forex trader, but they will also be interested in trading any other commodity (such as grains, oil, etc.) or stocks. The possibilities are countless in this scenario because you are perceived as marketable. Nonetheless, if you are not eager to make this move, do not push yourself into undergoing this transition. Despite a degree of accompanying convenience, incentives, and benefits, spreading out should be a conscious choice, not a decision made just because.

The Importance of Diversification

Another important side of trading includes diversification – we do not only need to focus on shifting to other markets here. Diversification should be a constant approach in your trading, which pushes you to make career decisions that would support you in your search for additional sources of profit. Not only is this a good decision from the financial point of view, but it is also very smart to adopt as much knowledge about other markets as possible (e.g. cryptocurrency) due to the nature of trade. One day, hypothetically speaking, currencies as we know could disappear and knowledge of other currencies, for example, could not only alleviate the incurred challenges but help you prosper as well. We may not be able to control global events, yet we can adopt such a mindset to both prevent any possible losses and build a sustainable money flow.

Having an array of strategies to earn money at your disposal secures financial gains regardless of external factors. If you are successful at forex trading alone, you are already safe despite market trends, sudden highs and lows, or even recession. Nonetheless, no matter how dexterous a trader you may be, a time may come when a local change in laws and regulations affects this market or forex loses its significance globally, so you should consider different ways to fortify your foothold.

Devising such a clever plan always implies exploring several options and building on knowledge, as we discussed above. Even history has shown how a number of stock traders who turned to forex initially failed precisely because they resorted to the same strategies they had previously used to trade stocks. These early-on attempts to incorporate supply and demand, some old indicators, the highs and lows of the market, etc. only made them quit, thinking that forex is unsafe, unpredictable market with no future whatsoever. Even if you wanted to apply forex strategies in the stock market, for example, you would not be able to succeed without making certain adjustments. Therefore, we need to truly invest in understanding the differences and why our long-term plan could suffer unless we alter a particular approach which bore fruits in some other setting before.


In the context of supply and demand, we always have a similar situation whether we are talking from the perspective of a manufacturer, instructor, or consumer. Let’s assume that an individual possesses all of the aluminum there is on the planet, so they could always tap into this supply and trade it for whatever price they desired. As we know that aluminum can be used in a number of industries (e.g. automobile, construction, etc.), this individual would always enjoy considerable demand because everyone needing this commodity would turn to them regardless of the price.

However, if another person happened to discover a fresh supply of aluminum, the first individual would not be able to dictate the price as they used to. While the demand for aluminum did not change in this scenario, the supply did. Hence, the other person could set a lower price and therefore take over a significant portion of demand. As time goes by, someone could discover a substitute for this element, which could be used in the automotive industry instead and thus substantially influence the demand. Although this was an invented story, this rule of supply and demand always determines the price in the real world all around the globe.

Remember, Availability Always Drives Price

If we only have a limited number of items for one product, this product will always be in high demand because everyone wants or needs to have it. Moreover, its price will always be high because every manufacturer would want to use this opportunity to earn a profit. Therefore, low supply and high demand always imply high prices. Conversely, with high supply and regular demand, manufacturers cannot charge a high price for such products. In the context of the markets we trade, this phenomenon is closely related to the notion of intrinsic value. If we take all factors surrounding the stock or commodity we want to trade into considerations, everything boils down to what we believe their value is.

Quite interestingly, although markets heavily operate based on this notion, we do not need to know the intrinsic value of a product to be able to effectively trade it. The forex market, therefore, does not depend on this value especially because fiat currencies stopped being tied to the value of gold. The fact that currencies do not have intrinsic value does not imply that they have no value at all, quite the contrary, but they are not connected to anything that has real worth.

Where do supply and demand come into play when we are talking about the stock, commodities, forex, and crypto markets? When we think of the stock market, we naturally think about the worth of assets, people, information, and technology, among others, which naturally fluctuates. With the commodities market, we know that the supply is limited, while the demand can oscillate both up and down. Although involving the notion of currency, the crypto market heavily relies on supply and demand as well. As we stated before, unlike these three markets, supply and demand have no power in the world of forex trading. While there is a great number of people who propose otherwise, turning to disreputable, untrustworthy, and ill-advising sources on one hand or replicating actions and methods used in the stock market on the other can have severe consequences.

Of course, thinking about the supply, we can discuss the impact of quantitative easing and the cases when the government prints more money; however, in reality, we cannot truly predict how this affects the price. Many times we may assume that the price would go down when, in fact, it goes the opposite direction. We can, however, acknowledge the relevance of demand to forex trading. This market often witnesses a unique phenomenon where, if there is too much focus on one currency, big banks enter the picture to push the price down. Nonetheless, the relationship between supply and demand is nonexistent, which is why it does not apply in this market.

Learning from the Past

If a trader does not learn how to see past the differences between markets, they will never achieve the rewards which such knowledge bears. The understanding that the forex market is completely different from other markets must come first, and the awareness concerning supply and demand also belongs here. Likewise, the phenomenon of overbought and oversold, which is directly connected to supply and demand, simply does not apply to spot forex. Unlike other markets, currency pairs act differently to any other commodity or stock, and big banks may move prices in any direction they want.

The only other outside factor which can affect currencies is the government stepping in when a currency is officially too low or too high. However, such interventions are not predictable or regular for that matter. What is more, we cannot create a strategy based on their impact because predicting the change they are going to bring about in advance, or the market’s reaction to them is simply not possible. This entire setting with all of the key factors and players is what undeniably separates forex from any other trading market. These are in fact such essential pieces of information that are inextricably related to one’s likelihood of succeeding in forex trading.

Turning to the markets of intrinsic value, we must apply the same rule put forward for the forex market – we cannot use the same approach. The tools and values used in forex trading cannot be blindly transferred to other markets without previously making any adjustments to those markets’ needs and structures. Of course, we can always acknowledge the existence of some similarities, but to be able to draw any significant conclusions, we must address the basic discrepancies between the stock, commodities, forex, and crypto markets. Nevertheless, this should not stop you from putting some extra effort into becoming an expert trader across several markets. While this expansion might take some more time, diversifying could open up a world of new and exciting opportunities.

Of course, the topic of supply and demand, as well as the notion of intrinsic value, is vital for any long-term success in markets we trade. Most importantly, these markets’ core values and differences are so abundantly clear and straightforward that the knowledge you gather should directly help you go beyond the forex market and secure a substantial profit as a result.

Categories
Forex Options

FX Options Market Combined Volume Expiries for 10th June 2020

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

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FX option expiries for June 10 NY cut at 10:00 Eastern Time, via DTCC, can be found below.

– EUR/USD: EUR amounts

  • 1.1300 1.0b
  • 1.1390 714m

The EURUSD pair is in a consolidation period having strongly rejected a move below 1.1250 (position A) during yesterdays European and US session. Currently overbought on our one hour chart, but price is currently looking to test the resistance line at 1.1362. The 1.1390 maturity looks more likely, and especially if a candlestick can be formed above the 1.1362 level, which would confirm the resistance becoming a support line. US data and Eurozone policymaker speeches before the cut may affect price action.

– USD/JPY: USD amounts         

  • 106.90 530m  
  • 108.20 580m

The USDJPY pair is maintaining a bear trend with pullbacks, but is oversold on our one hour chart and price action is currently fading. 107.00 will act as a strong support barrier. Meanwhile, key support levels at 107.50 and 107.40 have both been breached and the bears remain in control.

– AUD/USD: AUD amounts

  • 0.6900 554m

The AUDUSD pair is in a wedge formation with the 0.7000 level acting as an area of resistance. If a candlestick can be formed above this key level, it will act to move the pair to the previous high at 0.7042 and beyond. The maturity at 0.69 looks to be out of play.

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As you can see on the charts we have also plotted the expiration levels at the various exchange rate maturities and we have also labelled in red, orange and blue. Therefore, if you see option expiry exchange rates labelled in red these should be considered in-play, because we believe there is a greater chance of the expiry maturing at these levels based on technical analysis at the time of writing. There is still a lesser possibility of a strike if they are in orange and so these are ‘in-play’ too. However, if we have labelled them in blue, they should be considered ‘not in-play’ and therefore price action would be unlikely to reach these levels, which are often referred to as Strikes, at the time of the 10 AM New York cut.

Our technical analysis is based on exchange rates which may be several hours earlier in the day and may not reflect price action at the time of the maturities. Also, we have not factored in economic data releases or keynote speeches by policymakers, or potential market volatility leading up to the cut.

Although we have added some technical analysis we suggest you take the levels and plot them onto your own trading charts and incorporate the information into your own trading methodology in order to use the information to your advantage. Remember the higher the amount, the larger the gravitational pull towards the exchange rate maturity at 10:00 AM Eastern time.

If you want to learn how forex option expiries affect price action in the spot FX market see our educational article by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2VR2Nji

DISCLAIMER: Please note that this information is for educational purposes. Also, the maturities will look more or less likely to become a strike at 10 AM NY time due to exchange rate fluctuations resulting in a different perspective with regard to technical analysis, and also due to upcoming economic data releases for the associated pairs.

Categories
Forex Options

FX Options Market Combined Volume Expiries for 29 May 2020

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

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FX option expiries for May 29 NY cut at 10:00 Eastern Time, via DTCC, can be found below.

– EUR/USD: EUR amounts

  • 1.1050 547m 

The EURUSD pair is overbought on the one hour chart and there is a good chance of a pullback due to profit-taking as price begins to fade. Eurozone and US data out later.

– GBP/USD: GBP amounts        

  • 1.2200 259m
  • 1.2225 463m
  • 1.2300 475m
  • 1.2355 257m
  • 1.2375 225m
  • 1.2450 349m

Cable has run into an area of resistance at 1.2350 and is currently overbought on our one hour chart. Likely to find support at 1.23. US data up during the US session and an important announcement from Pres. Trump regarding China. This will likely cause market turmoil.

– USD/JPY: USD amounts         

  • 107.50 361m
  • 108.25 526m
  • 108.50 520m

USDJPY pair is oversold on our one hour chart. Yesterday we pointed out that price action had previously stalled at the 5 areas we marked. Indeed that happened again yesterday. Expect some upside where the 107.50 maturity looks to be in play.

– AUD/USD: AUD amounts

  • 0.6600 1.1bn 
  • 0.6650 666m
  • 0.6700 1.5bn

AUDUSD is in a bull retracement having found support at 0.6600. Currently looking to break out of a wedge formation. The upside looks as if it still has more room on our one hour chart which is overbought. The pair is likely to conform with the US$ so watch out for news and data due out later.

– EUR/GBP: EUR amounts

  • 0.8900 455m

The EURGBP pair is well bid with Euro’s getting bought across the board. This option at 0.8900 is out of play.

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As you can see on the charts we have also plotted the expiration levels at the various exchange rate maturities and we have also labelled in red, orange and blue. Therefore, if you see option expiry exchange rates labelled in red these should be considered in-play, because we believe there is a greater chance of the expiry maturing at these levels based on technical analysis at the time of writing. There is still a lesser possibility of a strike if they are in orange and so these are ‘in-play’ too. However, if we have labelled them in blue, they should be considered ‘not in-play’ and therefore price action would be unlikely to reach these levels, which are often referred to as Strikes, at the time of the 10 AM New York cut.

Our technical analysis is based on exchange rates which may be several hours earlier in the day and may not reflect price action at the time of the maturities. Also, we have not factored in economic data releases or keynote speeches by policymakers, or potential market volatility leading up to the cut.

Although we have added some technical analysis we suggest you take the levels and plot them onto your own trading charts and incorporate the information into your own trading methodology in order to use the information to your advantage.

Remember the higher the amount, the larger the gravitational pull towards the exchange rate maturity at 10:00 AM Eastern time.

If you want to learn how forex option expiries affect price action in the spot FX market see our educational article by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2VR2Nji

DISCLAIMER: Please note that this information is for educational purposes. Also, the maturities will look more or less likely to become a strike at 10 AM NY time due to exchange rate fluctuations resulting in a different perspective with regard to technical analysis, and also due to upcoming economic data releases for the associated pairs.

Categories
Forex Options

FX Options Market Combined Volume Expiries for 25th May 2020

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

Thank you for visiting the Forex Academy FX Options market combined volume expiries section. Each day, where available, we will bring you notable maturities in FX Options of amounts of $100 million-plus, and where these large combined maturities at specified currency exchange rates often have a magnetic effect on price action, especially in the hours leading to their maturities, which happens daily at 10.00 AM Eastern time. This is because the big institutional players hedge their positions accordingly. Each option expiry should be considered ‘in-play’ with a good chance of a strike if labelled in red, still in play and a possible strike if labelled in orange and ‘out of play’ and an unlikely strike if labelled in blue, with regard to the likelihood of price action meeting the strike price at maturity.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

FX option expiries for May 25 NY cut at 10:00 Eastern Time, via DTCC, can be found below.

– EUR/USD: EUR amounts

  • 1.0795 628m
  • 1.0895 559m

The EURUSD pair is in a bear channel but is oversold on our one hour chart. We should expect subdued price action due to a lack of market data out today and the fact that it is a public holiday in the UK and USA. The option maturity at 1.0895 is currently in close proximity to the exchange rate and we may see a pull-back to the level later in the session. However, at the moment the bears are in control..

– USD/JPY: USD amounts         

  • 1.0795 628m
  • 1.0895 559m

The USDJPY pair is in a pull-back phase of a bull trend on our one hour chart. The 107.95 option maturity is very much in play. Again, a lack of economic data and public holiday in the USA may see subdued price action. However, the pair has been known for extra volatility during US public holidays and caution should be taken around the time of the New York cut.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

As you can see on the charts we have also plotted the expiration levels at the various exchange rate maturities and we have also labelled in red, orange and blue. Therefore, if you see option expiry exchange rates labelled in red these should be considered in-play, because we believe there is a greater chance of the expiry maturing at these levels based on technical analysis at the time of writing. There is still a lesser possibility of a strike if they are in orange and so these are ‘in-play’ too. However, if we have labelled them in blue, they should be considered ‘not in-play’ and therefore price action would be unlikely to reach these levels, which are often referred to as Strikes, at the time of the 10 AM New York cut.

Our technical analysis is based on exchange rates which may be several hours earlier in the day and may not reflect price action at the time of the maturities. Also, we have not factored in economic data releases or keynote speeches by policymakers, or potential market volatility leading up to the cut.

Although we have added some technical analysis we suggest you take the levels and plot them onto your own trading charts and incorporate the information into your own trading methodology in order to use the information to your advantage.

Remember the higher the amount, the larger the gravitational pull towards the exchange rate maturity at 10:00 AM Eastern time.

If you want to learn how forex option expiries affect price action in the spot FX market see our educational article by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2VR2Nji

DISCLAIMER: Please note that this information is for educational purposes. Also, the maturities will look more or less likely to become a strike at 10 AM NY time due to exchange rate fluctuations resulting in a different perspective with regard to technical analysis, and also due to upcoming economic data releases for the associated pairs.

Categories
Forex Service Review

Market Marker MT4 Indicator Review

Market Maker MT4 was first uploaded by Evgeny Shevtsov on the 4th of February 2016, it can currently be found within the indicators section of the MQL5 marketplace. It received its most recent update on the 24th of March 2020 and is currently at version 3.1. Overview Market Maker MT4 is an indicator that was […]

Market Maker MT4 was first uploaded by Evgeny Shevtsov on the 4th of February 2016, it can currently be found within the indicators section of the MQL5 marketplace. It received its most recent update on the 24th of March 2020 and is currently at version 3.1. Overview Market Maker MT4 is an indicator that was […]

Market Maker MT4 was first uploaded by Evgeny Shevtsov on the 4th of February 2016, it can currently be found within the indicators section of the MQL5 marketplace. It received its most recent update on the 24th of March 2020 and is currently at version 3.1.

Overview

Market Maker MT4 is an indicator that was created for the MetaTrader 4 platform, it works by displaying the peak levels of activity formes by the maximum volumes, it will also track the correlation of the candles on all timeframes.

The indicator will look at the supply and demand levels, it will then find a target for the demand level and also a target for the supply levels.

In terms of the parameters available to alter, they include things like the alerts, advise the volume increase reference, to show preview markers, volume type, button positions, marker areas, box contrast, future symbols, and more.

Service Cost

The Market Maker MT4 indicator can currently be purchased with a one-off payment of $39, this will get you up to 5 activations with no other added limitations, there is not an option to rent this indicator so the one-off purchase is currently your own option.

There is a free version available too, this version will have some added limitations but we are not entirely sure what they are, as they are not mentioned on the site, this may mean that the free version can only be used with the strategy tester within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Conclusion

The Market Maker MT4 currently has 6 different user reviews, they have given the indicator an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5.

“So far all signals are wrong. Always says signal canceled because of divergence, after you have already taken a signal. Useless!” – A 1-star review.

“The “Market Marker” is truly an awesome indicator. It gives an awesome alert which is 100% sure thing. I’m truly very happy with the performance.” – A 5-star review.

“Excellent indicator, very helpful seller. Great indicator to identify trend exhaustion.” – A 5-star review.

The majority of the reviews are very positive showing that the indicator is doing what it is meant to be doing, the one negative review is stating that all signals are wrong which leads us to believe that it may have been set up incorrectly as most other are having success. There are also over 30 different comments, the developer has been replying to each one quite promptly which is a good indication to the sort of support that you would receive should you decide to purchase the Market Maker MT4 indicator.

This Forex Indicator is currently available in the MQL5 marketplace: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/14392