I drew trend channel lines but Ican't foresee trend reversals

Answer
Rick over at http://www.forexnewstrader.com is a master scalper. He scalps 1 min and 5 min candles, news events and serveral other strategies. Check him out.

What is the truth about forex?

I traded succesfuly in a demo account for 3 months, now if i can make a 10 % monthly accumulated, then it seems like i can score a million in 4 or 5 years. now what's the catch ??

i use scalping and also trade in 15 min frame trading, use several indicators, now there are several miths (or thuths i dont know) out there about forex: it's a zero sum game !!! ecn dont manipulate your prices like market makers do!!! forex is a scam they hunt your stops and or manipulate prices, they delay your orders !! when you start making a lot of money they close your account !! they dont let you withdraw your money!!

It takes a little comon sense to realize that it is not a zero sum game since a currency pair that moves 100 pips in one direction from 1.2810 to 1.2910 ten guys can make ten pips each buying and selling each other. and even the last guy could probably buy for a longer position and hold for days or weeks with larger stops.

I also heard that things changes when you move from a demo to a real live account: with slippage and other problems.
Now with so many scams it is hard to make a desicion about what broker to choose.
FXCM, CITI, SAXO, CMC, CMS, OANDA, ETORO, FOREX.COM, GFT. Seems to be the best rated, but then again is so easy to fake a review, plus i found all of them to have negative reviews in some websites.

My question is what is the technical difference between a real and demo account, not the emotional of course when you trade a real one you risking hard earned money. i also found this link in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forex_scams
CFTC investigated more than 80 cases involving the defrauding of more than 23,000 customers who lost $350 million.

So im looking for somebody out there that has been trading succesfuly for more than a year, and tell me his/her experience regarding all this matters. What is the best broker, ecn and so on and on.
I appreciate any help and comments, best of luck.
thanks comon sense, i thank you for taking the time to answer was expecting more especific information.

Answer
I was , like you, very interested in currency futures trading; this was many years ago.

Like you, I played around with a demo account, and after a while, my results looked quite good so I started a real Forex account.

Within a few months, I had not only lost ALL of the initial money I put in, I was on the hook for many thousands in Margin Calls. I finally got out with a significant loss.

Much later, I had a friend who knows some of the inside scoop on Forex, and he explained that in the demo accounts, they kind of rig it so that you always get the best price quoted at the time you put in a trade - in other words, there is always a "virtual" buyer/seller for you at your ask/bid price, to take everything you have to sell/buy.

This is not so in the real world. If there is buyer/seller imbalance, the prices drop or rise very fast, you will be caught before you know it. If your capital is insufficient to meet margin requirements, they phone you and ask you to deposit more money, or they will get you out of the position at market pricing - which almost always means a huge loss.

This is not meant to discourage you; but rather to let you know that the odds are stacked against the individual investor; there are hundreds of professional traders backed up by sophisticated computer systems on the other side of your trade - what do you think your chances are of winning against them consistently?

How can I advertise my web page on yahoo finance, or would it be better to advertise somewhere else?

Answer
start out with scottrade.com/forex.com/answers.com and WARREN BUFFERT.COM! GOOD IDEA AND GOODLUCK!

What is the best way to learn fundamental forex trading?

Is forex trading worthwhile as a second income generator?

Answer
Well you could take courses on US and World economics, read some financial economies books and/or know when and the fundamental news that affects price swings are reported. Stay clear during these volatile times because they can take out your stop in a heartbeat and a few beats later go back the other way. And remember that the news could already be mostly priced into the current price.

http://www.forex.com/learn.html
Link will answer many questions and answers you should know. I have 3 accounts (never put all your money/eggs in one account/basket). You can start with $500 when you can afford to open account. Since you are just starting you will lose money if you don't learn the basics, first. #1 best tip, don't trade your real money until you try trading demo account. When you can trade a demo for about 2-3months daily and make money then if you feel ready slowly start trading real money. So making and/or losing money depends on how well you can trade. For some it very profitable, for many it is not. So trading with the right tools and knowledge can become a very good income(s) for short and long term goals. And trade with the current trend.

I use Lightning Strikes Trading System for trading in any time frame and it works on forex, stocks, bonds, etf's, mutual funds, etc... They have 3 free training sessions a week and you don't have to buy the software to join in the live chat and text. They focus their training/trading on the Forex markets major currencies. You can even watch some recorded past live sessions. Here are some past charts that I used.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R0zjjaZ...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16RxjOUQt...
There are 7 indicators (2 short, 2 medium, and 3 long term) and if volume is reported another one is added (on balance volume). Plus whatever time-frame is used the 2 green horizontal lines are the support and resistance for that time frame. So when indicators are all touching the bottom price is at or very, very near support. At top is at or very, very near resistance. Which helps my entry/exits and risk/reward ratio.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9Wv-wt...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9wSKdV...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R2fYIj6...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R3R0VQe...
If you can not view charts above or want to see other charts, I can email them.

Start learning the basics of fundamentals and technical analysis so you will be more informed in your investments. You can find all the basic info you need to learn on websites for free.
This site should give you a good start.
http://finance.yahoo.com/education

Try what you learn on demo sites. They can be a very fun but educational way to learn from mistakes. If you pick 75% right with play money then you might be ready to start slowly investing.
http://simulator.investopedia.com/
http://simulator.zacks.com/
http://www.fxcm.com/open-free-100k.jsp
http://www.alpari-idc.com/en/metatrader4...
Or just google for more.

Here are my favorite sites.

http://stockcharts.com/
Has basically all you need from fundamental to technical terms. Plus stock screens, charts, public chart lists, and much more useful info.

https://www.fidelity.com/
Has good learning resources.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
In addition to yahoo finance.

http://www.reuters.com/
For news and more.

http://www.marketwatch.com/default.aspx
For news and more.

http://www.valueprime.com/index.php
For rating stock risk/reward ratio and reports.

http://www.barchart.com/
For investing in more than stocks.

http://www.investopedia.com/
For more great learning tools.

http://www.lightninglive.com/
For best software timing your entry/exits any time frame for day traders and long term investors.

Others worth exploring.
http://www.equis.com/
http://www.stockta.com/
http://www.secform4.com/

Best Wishes,
Burt Whitley

Looking to learn more about currency trading any good books on the matter would be helpful. Also looking to start an account online to accomplish this. I heard of Forex? anyone that has shorted currency with success I value your answer. Is there a George Soros in the house?

Answer
FX (Forex)... currency trading...... there is no such thing as shorting.... not in the same sense as you would with stocks. All currencies are traded in pairs. You either buy the pair or sell the pair to establish a position. So the EUR/USD would be a good example. You can sell or buy this pair which creates the side of the position you want.... buying the EUR against the USD or buying the USD against the EUR.
It's not magic.

So... any Forex broker can do this for you. The problem is..... they all stink. Some less than others. If you're a USA citizen... stick to a USA firm like;
GFT
FXCM
IBFX (InterbankFX)

Forex will quickly wipe out your portfolio...... unless you take years to slowly learn trading & practice very good trading money management skills. Lots of people and companies make it sound like people are getting rich everyday from trading FX. If you approach it that way.... I guarantee you'lll quickly lose your account.

Which is the best place for investors trading financial instruments, regarding to the subject of taxes?

What is the best country or US state that offers the most charming taxes for investors trading primarily Foreign Exchange, Futures, Options, and Stocks?

Answer
Yeah that would be owning your own small island in the middle of nowhere, and declaring your own independence. Don't forget to create your own flag. :-)

Actually if you are in the USA, you can't move your account overseas, at least not for the Forex, anymore. They caught on to people trying to do that, and now most brokers are having to move accounts back to the USA if the person who opened the account lives in the US. Really annoying, isn't it? Anyway but, I guess what matters most, is just having a good strategy that makes money. For that, I did find a large index of strategies online. Very worth looking into. I'll post the link in my sources below. Otherwise, to avoid paying away all your money in taxes to causes you probably wouldn't support if you even knew... you can DONATE money to tax-exempt organizations, of your choice, and get tax credit for doing so. That way, rather than paying a million dollars in taxes to support God only knows what, you can give it to support a cause you actually do care about.

I know that the stocks/ETFs UNG and GAZ are tied into the price of natural gas but supposing I have a stock trading account but no commodities like forex, gold, oil etc. Is there a way I can bet on the price of gold and the price of oil through a stock rather than having to open a forex account?

Answer
Yes,

1x long gold
SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gld

2x long gold
PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN (DGP)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dgp

1x long silver
iShares Silver Trust (SLV)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SLV&=

1x long USD
PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (UUP)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=uup&=

oil/ and related
iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Ttl Ret Idx ETN (OIL)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=oil&=

Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xle&=

2x long
Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (DIG)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dig&=

2x short
UltraShort Oil & Gas ProShares (DUG)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dug&=

Oil Services HOLDRs (OIH)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=oih&=

to name a few...

Which stocks or ETFs are linked to the price of gold?

I know that the stocks/ETFs UNG and GAZ are tied into the price of natural gas but supposing I have a stock trading account but no commodities like forex, gold, oil etc. Is there a way I can bet on the price of gold and the price of oil through a stock rather than having to open a forex account?

Answer
Yes there is, you do not have to open a forex account - the ETF that track the price of gold is 'GETF'. Search for it on Yahoo's ETF section in the finance page.

Answer
I have to agree with the 1st responder. Commodities are extremely risky. The reason they are is because they are purchased as futures on very low margin requirements--10%. And such events as a droubt or a freeze in Florida or Russia buying up the entire soy bean crop can cause prices to advance dramatically. Or in the recent case of oil and natural gas, prices can fall dramatically. In either case if one is caught on the wrong side of a position, the results can be catistropic, as a hedge fund recently discovered with their natural gas positions. Currency trading on the Forex falls also into that category as margin requirements are similar.

Similarly commodities and currencies and also yield the highest returns. Anyone who shorted oil back in June made a ton of money. In fact could have easily become a millionaire overnight. Similarly anyone who had shorted the dollar 3 years ago would also have done very well or bought gold contracts.

Someone mentioned selling naked calls as being very risky. That is a common belief but is not supported by the facts. There are instances, very few instances, where that strategy does yield large losses but in general it is a very rewarding strategy, yielding good returns about 85% of the time.

T-bills yield about the least returns of the sophisticated investments. Savings accounts by far yield the least returns of the un-sophisticated investments. And perhaps whole life policies. And social security contributions. ROI on social security contributions is about a negative 5 to 25%.

How do you buy stocks?

I've never been a stock buyer before. So i just want to give it a try
and buy any stock. How do you buy a stock on Toronto Exchange for
example? Can you do that on the internet?

Answer
I'm assuming since you are asking about the TSX, you are from Canada. I am from Vancouver and use questrade but there are plenty of discount brokers available with low minimum deposits and no inactivity fees. As well, I can buy Canadian and US equities as well as options and forex.

Your statement - never been a stock buyer before want to give it a try worries me. Please remember that this is real money on the line and before you even consider buying stocks, please do some reading on the basics.

I can't stress enough to people that the equity markets, particularly in this environment, are still extremely dangerous. The best traders cannot come to a consensus on whether this is a true bull market or bear market rally. We are in uncharted waters here. Personally I am being extremely particular with stock valuations and am pulling the trigger quickly on gains due to the uncertainty in the marketplace.

The TSX is so heavily weighted in materials and energy that it makes things extremely volatile. Canada has lot of exposure to the fluxuations in the US dollar (commodities are priced in US $ so a drop in US $ means a rise in commodity prices as a general rule and vice-versa). Commodities are extremely volatile so please use extreme caution when trading TSX (even if it is the IShares index) due to this weighting. If you have any doubt about this please check the charts on Natural Gas, Oil, Copper, etc...

The majority of my trading is done on the TSX and due to currency risk I tend to use ETF's to play foreign markets. So if you have any specific questoins, I would be happy to try and answer them for you. Just know I'm not a professional,but I do have some experience that I'd be happy to share.

I am going to be 18 in 26 days and I want to become a millionaire quickly by trading either stocks or forex. I want to know in your opinion which of them would make the best vehicle to trade to make the easiest, quickest path to wealth? Also, when I say easy, I don't mean that it would be easy to do, but easy in terms of currencies and stocks to choose from and the least complicated to research out of the two. Good, reasonable answers would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Answer
Both Stocks, options, or trading forex are not generally easy to learn right off the bat. It depends on

A. How much money you have to work with if you are trading stocks or options you should have at least $3,000 to $5,000 to start with. You want to use all you money to begin trading, in case you lose you want to have enough to keep going. With forex you can start out with less because you can leverage your account trading with a mini or micro account -- You can start out with $1000 some brokers let you start with $500.

B. You need to get educated about stocks and reading charts either way. Personally I spent thousands to learn how to read charts, manage money, how to set your stop loses, control my emotions while trading(VERY important), etc etc. Remember only about 3% or traders out there actually make money on a consistent basis. Thatâs because they under stand technical analysis, and fundamental analysis.

The pro's are just taking money from the people that don't get a good education.

The good part is once you learn this you know this and do it for a long time.

One way you can start learning is by paper trading to learn different strategies before you start the real thing. The down side is real trading is still a lot different from paper trading. I still do this if I am trying a new strategy.

One shortcut using Forex is to subscribe to a call service or forex signals. They will look at the markets and find a high probability trade and they will tell you where to enter a trade and where to take profit, and where to set your stop loss.

One service I found offers a 2-week free trial, to the service- you can paper trade it to see how it works. I think itâs the only one that has a free trial. He also shows how he made the trade so you can learn how to do this on your own.

Good luck!

What kind of news should I start reading in order to make decisions about forex trading?

I got a check in the mail for $40 from my forex account. I blindly put money into eur/usd. So now that I know this is real and one can make money off of it, what kind of news should I start paying attention too? What section of the newspaper should I start reading and things of that nature

Answer
Do we do any business blindly? I think a big "No" for that. While Forex trading can earn you good money, it can also make you big losses and hence please never take it as an easy way to make money.

In case you are very serious about it then you should keep and eye on fundamentals (economic releases) as well as technical indicators/analysis. As I always say that fundamental analysis is the canvas and technical analysis is the color on it to make the art. You get an overall picture by fundamental analysis and then use technical analysis to make your trades. You may find the details of important economic releases and some more details at http://www.forexabode.com/fundamental-analysis and for technical analysis please check http://www.forexabode.com/technical-analysis.

For the sake of repetition, please know that Forex trading needs to be taken as a serious business and not as a gamble and hence some real hard work is required.

Best regards

I don't know much about finance etc. I downloaded a demo/ practice account so I can try and learn to trade forex, Its always something I have been interested in, kind of like gambling. I expect to lose my money, I view it as payment for having a little fun. I have no idea what im doing and the interface may as well be in Chinese, how do I learn how to trade? Even the "forex for dummies book starts assuming you have basic fundamental knowledge. Are there any instructions for people who are totally and completely ignorant to the way this all works?

Answer
3 Basic Forex Trading Strategies - Richard Krivo (YouTube VIDEO)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=880UGOQyK40

This video is about BASIC FOREX TRADING STRATEGIES that can be implemented in a variety of forex market conditions. I like this guy, easy to understand and learn from.

How do I get started on trading online?

I'm not new to investing, I have done risky stuff as well as some mutual funds. Since I understand tech. analysis and have practiced it (for fun not with real money) for many years, I can tell I do know something about trading.
How would I go about starting doing it online with $13,000 and little experience? Should I trade stocks, forex or something else?
Is there a way to start slow and grow? Mistakes to avoid?
Thanx to everybody.

Answer
As usual "Common Sense" has given good sound advice, while "David" is totally off the wall - It's almost impossible for any trader to use Sharebuilders, Kramer is a nightmare,

Let me add my suggestions for you
To be a trader you must first learn how to invest. You must know the products and the markets in which they trade and more importantly you must know the rules that govern those products and markets. So you must know what youâre doing, why youâre doing it, and how to do it. You should start by reading âInvesting for Dummiesâ by Eric Tyson.

Then hereâs a list of books you should consider, at least read half of them
Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered, by Gallea
How to Trade in Stocks, Jesse Livermore
Millionaire Traders, Lein & Schlosberg
One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, Edwin Lefevre
The Disciplined Trader, Mark Douglas
Trader Vic-Methods of a Wall Street Master, Victor Sperandeo
Trader Vic II-Principles of Professional Speculation, Victor Sperandeo
Trading for a Living, by Alexander Elder
Trading in the Zone, Mark Douglas

And when you think you want to trade, try some paper trading to test your skills without spending you money http://simulatorinvestopedia.com/ http://www.moneyworks4me.com/
and/or http://www.tradingsimulation.com/

Before you enter your first order you need to address four major policies and have very strong discipline to follow them
1 - You need a written sound trading/investment plan with rules that will not only help you but more importantly protect you, mostly from yourself. Always use stops either to protect you on the down side or to lock in profits on the up side. Never trade on emotions, when emotions get involved walk away. Donât try to out-smart the market, youâll loose but if you always take what the market is willing to give you, youâll be successful. Other words, you donât trade against the trend since the market is always right. And NEVER trade on emotions, once you let emotions in your trades you will loose
2 - A written money management program is essential. Remember never invest 100% of your capital into any one security and never have 100% of your capital invested. Never go into a trade without knowing when and where you are going to get out of it. Never let a loss on a trade get greater than 8%-10%, always take you loss and walk away - don't loose more than you need to and don't be afraid to take the loss. Remember you never can get hurt taking a profit. Never average down, but you can average up.
3 - You must have sufficient trading/investment capital. Use your own money, thereâs no need to go into debt so that you can trade and/or invest. Margin can be used but only with restraints, never let the account wall below 45% equity. Unless you fully understand margins you should not use it.
4 â A full and complete understanding of the rules & regulations of the industry. If your going to play in the game be sure you know the rules of the game and always follow them.

Unless you are willing to study and follow the above you will never make it as a trader. To be successful as a trader it takes work and constant study of the markets and the products traded in those markets, there is no easy way.

I've only had experience with the MarketAxess Fixed-Income trading platform, but am interested in setting up a demo account with FOREX. Any thoughts?

Answer
Iâve been using the FreedomRocks system and have came across a lot of posts on various forums and wanted to share my personal experience. First of all the system takes the guesswork and emotion out of trading on the Forex market. Itâs a proprietary system that does 95% of the work and takes a few minutes per day to manage.

As we all know even experienced Forex traders can make big mistakes and most people end up loosing all of the money that they invest within the first couple of months. Unlike most forex programs FreedomRocks is not attempting to guess which way the market is going to move because quite frankly no one can predict that and thatâs why the majority fail.

Let me emphasize that this is a long term investment strategy and not a get rich quick program. Itâs a very simple and easy system to understand and Iâve never seen any other program where someone with no prior trading experience could invest in the market and actually be profitable.

The FreedomRocks system represents a complete paradigm shift from traditional Forex investment practices:

- The automated system does the trading for you

-No charts, no graphs and no more Guesswork

-Spend only 20 minutes per week managing your account

-Structures your trading: Buy Low/ Sell High

- Allows you to collect daily interest on leveraged money

-100% control over your money

I believe that this is the best system for trading on the Forex but of course I donât expect anyone to take my word. I would encourage anyone looking for a smart way to trade in the market to take advantage of the 15-Day free trial so they can experience for themselves how it works.

For More information check out: http://www.yourforexinvestor.com

* Iâve also created a worksheet to assist people in setting up their account using the system so if anyone be interested I would be more than happy to share it.



Best Regards,
Brandon Wells
877-773-5345
bjwells@yourforexinvestor.com

p.s. I personally like the GFT platform but you can use any platform you choose.

Does anyone know of any good Forex Expert Advisors, Indicators and signals that I can buy?

I need Expert Advisors, Indicators and signals that can make near 100% a week or less or if not at least between 80%-95% a week.

Answer
All of us would like an investment that does that.

Very few of us are silly enough to believe you can have that return reliably.

I always think that I could performed better as trader in stock, commodity and forex market. Right from my childhood I have been interested in our family business of trading. My dad used to get amused when I learned some complex concepts like arbitrage, hedging and short selling etc at a very early age.

What about you ?

Answer
Yes indeed , i always thought about that ., i have interest in many areas and i wish i could be a all rounder . but sadly fate played in my life .... but believe or not , everyone will get only what they are destined . even you run behind that you wont get . beauty of life is you get only what you dislike much ..

Why can i trade commodities only through futures?

I'm with optionsxpress.com and i realized i can't trade commodities and forex directly. I can only do it indirectly via futures. Shouldn't futures trading be at a higher trading level than spot trading? And since i can trade futures then i should be able to trade less complicated assets like spot commodities. How do i buy them directly?

Answer
FX and commodities have different answers:

FX - Spot trading FX is a fairly small market relative to the big boys - interbank forwards, swaps, and futures. The problem is that if you are speculating on currencies, the interest rate available on that currency is an integral part of the trade. For instance, the "arbitrage" that occurs to all kids sometime is that Brazilian real (or whatever ) yields 12% so why not convert your dollars into real, get 12% and then convert back? Of course the answer is that the 12% says that you expect real to depreciate and that depreciation is implicit in the pricing of the derivatives. The spot trade gets you no yield as you just own a bunch of uninvested real which you then have to go do something with (which is not as easy as you might think). The retail internet spot forex is actually just divvied up interbank forwards.

For commodities - it's all about delivery and quality. You can trade spot crude oil but if you think it is "less complicated", think again. Crude oil gets different prices depending on what it is and where it is and how easy it is to deliver. There are storage concerns and fees. I know some folks who do this for a living and it is a reasonably tough job which punishes mistakes. Trading a crude oil future and never taking delivery is a vastly easier way to bet on crude oil prices.

Just as an introduction to the complications of trading crude oil go read the delivery specs on a nat gas futures contract and see if you understand it (you won't). That's the very first step in trading physicals. But a nat gas futures contract is simplicity itself, if you are long and at gas goes up you win (and the other 3 cases are easy).

i need a trusted book or a series of books or a collection or seminars or videos or anything that can take me from A to B because simply I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT but i am curious and i want to learn it and if i like it i will continue

Answer
There are many sources to learn forex trading. As a matter of fact too many that one often get confused. The numerous forums with 101 views just adds to the confusion :p

My advice always is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There is no shortcut to riches. Be prudent ya! Anything that advocates understanding of the market and proper money management is probably good.

what is the best source to learn forex trading?

i need a trusted book or a series of books or a collection or seminars or videos or anything that can take me from A to Z because simply I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT but i am curious and i want to learn it and if i like it i will continue

Answer
There are many sources to learn forex trading. As a matter of fact too many that one often get confused. The numerous forums with 101 views just adds to the confusion :p

My advice always is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There is no shortcut to riches. Be prudent ya! Anything that advocates understanding of the market and proper money management is probably good.

how well the known systems work in Forex trading (carry trade,...) and how much do you risk applying them, and for how long?

Answer
Traditional trading of stocks on margin at 2:1 leverage is considered risky. Forex is leveraged at 100:1 and even 200:1 but few people take the time to understand this and simply focus on potential profits. All beginners focus on all the wrong things like "How much can you make?"

How much do you risk? Beginners risk their entire account and their house every time they put on a trade. How long? minutes. A leveraged position is almost impossible to hold more than an hour by anyone less than an astute trader. Most people don't have a clue what a trader is or does, but it takes many years to become an astute trader. There are no shortcuts. Most people think that if they work harder and learn more, they will eventually become successful at trading like they would any other conventional "job"; not true. Most very smart, hard-working people lose money trading.

Factoid: 90% of traders lose money, regardless of what they trade.

The carry trade is generally done only by institutions with millions of dollars to invest and need a place to park those millions.

Known systems? You mean that make money consistently? Myth.

Which is the best way to become a millionaire on the stock/forex markets; speculating or investing?

Just curious as to which option is the best option if you want to become a millionaire on the stock/forex markets out of speculating or investing? Also, which is the best recommended and what are the advantages/disadvantages to each of them?

Answer
Investing requires thoughtful study and the use of analytical techniques proven to enable one to track corporate progress. The uninformed tend to view stock investments as speculative but the stock investor will usually call currency markets a potential win-or-lose-it-all proposition.

You wouldn't believe the long hours an investor puts into his/her work. Credibility is on the line at all times for retail investors rely upon us for secure, meaningful information before making their investments in our recommendations.

Investments rarely lose all money invested in a day or a week. This isn't the case alternatively in the case of currency trading. A successful investor must be vitally aware of and able to summon up balance sheet stats on each portfolio investment. Working at this is a full time job and then some, it's not just calling the broker and placing your order. Still, it's the greatest woork in the world for me and anyone who happens to enjoy geopolitical drama and has a penchant for detail.

Some might argue that this isn't about safety but only about making $1 million. When luck is the premise, anything can happen. But you also ask about which is "the best way" and I'll have to vote for investing as it can eventually lead towards big earnings. I've won some major gains, also have lost my share. But I know from experience a diligent investor with basic skills and lots of hard work can do it.

Len

Im looking for people who have expericence in Forex, and the best way to get started. Do you start at the bank? A brokerage? Please no advertisements or scams, only ppl who are good at investing and managing their own finances. Oh, and I don't really need any special software, i'm pretty good with web services, and I can grab my own charts and other info

Answer
First of all the Forex market is very complex and you could spend years trying to study the market, and even at that most people end up loosing all their money within the first couple months of investing. With that being said after trying just about every Forex program, signal service, indicator, etc, and trying to read charts and study graphs and loosing a lot of capital I almost gave up on the market entirely until I accidently came across the FreedomRocks system. It's a very safe hedging strategy, does 95% of the work, and takes about 15-30 minutes to manager per week. Do some research online and you'll find a lot of great feedback about it.

Best Regards,

Brandon Wells
877-773-5345

Do you find it really interesting to use a minimalist wordpress themes for a blog spot that discusses forex?

I need some help and suggestion regarding this matter.

Answer
The use of the theme will give a better impact than looking plain, but if you choose the plain looking themes and you can incorporate the use of graphs and stats on your own way without the need of the theme it may sound fair.

I just watch The Dark Knight Rises and saw the scene where Bane stole money by hacking into the computers at the Gotham Stock Exchange can that really happen in real life?

Answer
We've all seen too many movies of someone hacking into a high security system with just a few clicks. It's pretty stupid of us to believe anything we see on TV; it's just entertainment. Without someone at the institution giving you their pass codes, it takes hours, maybe weeks of work, only to meet up with their software and hardware firewalls and tracking systems that leave your footprints all over the place. It just isn't done, at least not successfully. After hours of work trying to get through their security systems, several red flags are raised and security people are alerted long before you can do anything meaningful like withdraw or transfer money (which is going to require authorization by a top-level employee if for a significant amount), even if you manage to get in.

"Can you really rob a bank electronically?" No. Is it possible? Anything's possible. Can you get away with it. Not likely.

"Can you really rob a bank in person?" Sure. Will you get away with it? Not likely. About 99% of them get caught. Almost all of these bank robbers are lazy people that were never successful at anything else, so why would they be successful at this?

When you hear of someone getting robbed electronically, it is almost always a security breach of the individual person, not the bank. These cyber criminals are using a form of social engineering attack model combined with malware. Their favorite targets are large business customers.

Details abound on physical robberies of banks, but almost no data is released by the federal gov't on cyber crime.

Addendum
Just a little story for some fun.
I used to program and run mainframe computers in a previous life, so I'm very security conscious. About 10 years ago, I was trading forex and got the attention of a lot of people, maybe the wrong people that wanted to steal my algorithms.

I had one of the best hardware firewalls money could buy for an individual PC (not a network or mainframe), that cost about $1,500. The logging feature alerted me to some persistent hack attempts, but I didn't pay too much attention since they weren't getting anywhere.

I was in the habit of leaving my computer on all the time, 24/7. One Monday morning, I came to work and my computer was down. Not only that, I couldn't get online. I'm a computer genius, right, so I tried checking the firewall logs and connections, but it would not let me communicate with it. I am the master, and it was blocking ME. Fine, rebooted the hardware, and everything was back to normal, with a few exceptions. It required my logins for security control. This was weird, so I checked the logs.

A persistent hacker had been hacking away at my firewall all weekend. He gave up after six hours on Saturday, but came back and hacked at it for four hours on Sunday. The alerts had been sent to my computer, but nobody was there on the weekend. This hacker was good, and almost got in. The firewall saw that he was about to get through, knew it was an unauthorized entry, and alerted me multiple times, pleading with me to break the connection. At the last minute, just when the hacker was making real progress, the hardware firewall severed the connection to all outside sources and shut down my computer, requiring re-authorization to start again. The poor hacker wasted a whole weekend for nothing.

Needless to say, I don't leave my computer on over the weekend anymore.

Incidentally, the security system and multiple firewalls used by businesses and banks are a hundred times more complex than my little $1,500 hardware firewall. And theirs are monitored 24/7 by real people.

Anybody know whats going on with Knight Fox Holdings?

Have they gone under?
Thanks for the reply....but it seems that the phone# on their website directs you to some real estate website that does not work. Has anybody had any direct contact with anybody from the company?

Answer
No, they're still around. Contact info is:
Knight Fox Holdings
The Pinnacle Building
3544 Peachtree Rd. North East
5th Floor
Atlanta, Ga. 30326
(404) 419-6094
info@knightfoxholdings.com

http://www.knightfoxholdings.com/

What's more, I found this:

"If anyone suggests you borrow money using the equity in your house to invest in a Forex based trading scheme don't walk away, run away as fast as you can.

Did you notice this little gem from their disclaimer?

"The possibility exists that you could sustain a total loss of initial margin funds and be required to deposit additional funds to maintain your position. If you fail to meet any margin call within the time prescribed, your position will be liquidated and you will be responsible for any resulting losses."

http://www.knightfoxholdings.com/disclai...

In other words, you could give them $50,000 and have a $60,000 loss, in which case you owe them another $10,000.

I have no experience with the company. My comments are based on your question and what I found about them at their website."
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Avd_8idhjb2nPiATq2HzJTwjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20080402185328AA0AoGC

What about Commodity market? Is it also like forex market?

Answer
My majority of retail (i.e you and us, not big banks and hedge funds) are short to medium term traders. Retail Forex trading is not really suited to those wanting to take a long term view on the currency markets, this is due to the fact that the majority of retail traders make use of substantial leverage. By using leverage traders incur rollover costs, essentially leveraged traders have to pay interest. Typically this interest works out to LIBOR+3% divided by 365. Which can significantly eat into long term profits.

Many people think the Foreign exchange market is very high risk and very volatile. This is not really the case, the major currencies pairings are infact less volatile than some of the bigger stocks. What makes retail Foreign exchange particularly is the amount of leverage that traders can use. In the US leverage on stocks is limited to 2:1, but Forex traders can use up to 10:1 leverage. Leverage both increases your risk, as well as increasing the size of your returns. Making leverage a particularly dangerous tool.

The same goes for the commodities markets which can suit both long term and short term strategies. However, small individual traders tend to again trade shorter term than big institutional investors.

When buying currency via FOREX, how long can one hold onto the currency?

Is it true that most forex brokers/ platforms charge fees for holding currency in your account, as to encourage a person to trade quickly and often?

Answer
Hi,

Charging a fee for holding your funds with a broker is that broker's decision.
Most of the brokers do not charge a fee for holding your balance, however some might charge an administrative fee.For example, if you stop trading on your account for 2-3 years without closing that account, your broker might have a clause that allows it to charge you an administrative fee.
To make sure if there is an fee charged for holding your funds with your broker, you will however need to contact your broker directly on this matter.
Another type of charge most brokers charge is the swap or the rollover. Each liquidity provider or broker charges a fee for holding a position open overnight. If you check the swap rates displayed on your broker's web site, you will notice that some are negative and some are positive.
If you hold a position open overnight, the negative swap rates will be deducted from your account equity at the end of the trading day, whereas the positive swap rates will be added to your account's equity.
If you wish to look at this from a different perspective, you might say that your liquidity provider/broker is encouraging you to trade instruments that have a positive swap rate.

Best Regards,
FXCC Representative

Interest rates affect all curriences and help determine the rise and fall of all major dollar levels. Where can the earliest daily results be found? The euro, yen , dollar, and many other curriences are major factors in global economic trading decisions. How can I learn how this information is conveyed, displayed, expedited, and understood throughout the markets?

Answer
There are no "daily results" per se - The are non-stop from Sunday afternoon (EST) until Friday afternoon.
Here are some real time 5-minute charts for various currencies against the dollar:
EUR/USD - http://forex.tradingcharts.com/charts/index.php?sym=EURUSD
USD/JPY - http://forex.tradingcharts.com/charts/index.php?sym=USDJPY
AUD/USD - http://forex.tradingcharts.com/charts/index.php?sym=AUDUSD
NZD/USD - http://forex.tradingcharts.com/charts/index.php?sym=nzdusd

And you are right, interest rates have an effect, often a big effect.
Here is a 1 hour chart for the New Zealand Dollar vs the US Dollar: http://forex.tradingcharts.com/charts/index.php?sym=NZDUSD&data=b&tz=GMT&type=b&cs=1&period=1h&defdates=1&bmonth=Jan&bday=1&byear=2007&bhour=&bmin=&emonth=Jan&eday=1&eyear=2007&ehour=&emin=&Img+Type=png&drsi=0&ma1=0&dmacd=0&ma2=0&bol=0&dstoch=0&Submit=Submit
Near the end of the day on 03/07/07 (20:00 hours to be exact) you will see a large drop in the "Kiwi" vs the dollar. What happened is that New Zealand announced they were raising the cash rate (interest rate) to 7.50% from 7.25%. Normally when a country increases their interest rates, their currency appreciates but in this case there is a worry that the NZ Reserve Bank may strangle growth with such a high interest rate thus the currency is less attractive.

That's all probably more than you asked for, but I was on a roll :)

Question about Forex market?

$1.45 for 1 GBP. It used to be $2.00. If it went back to $2.00, it would be an increase of 38%. Does my investment really just increase in value to 38%? What sort of hidden fees are there, etc. And how likely is it that GBP would even return to that value.

Answer
The leverage for Forex is 100:1. This means that you only need a $1000 to control an amount $100000.
1 pip is 0.0001 and is worth USD $10 for GBP/USD currency pair. If GBP/USD goes up from 1.45 to 2, it will be a profit of 5500 pips * 10 = USD $55000. This makes the return to be 5500% for the initial margin of USD $1000.
There is no commission for Forex but you need to take care of the bid/ask spread in the trade. When you roll over to the next day, you will either receive interest or pay interest depending on which currency have the higher interest rate. If you buy the currency with the higher interest, you will receive interest when you roll over.
IMHO, it is unlikely will GBP/USD return to $2 level in the short term as the economy outlook is uncertain.

I currently dabble in the forex market and using a US broker. How will I be taxed on my earnings, and what happeneds if I lose money that year, is it a capital loss? HOw does this work in regards to canadian tax laws with the broker being in the US?

Answer
Your tax reporting for dealing with a US broker is the same as dealing with a cdn broker in that the income reporting and transactions should be translated in Cdn $.

Regarding your quesion whether your loss should be a capital loss depends on whether your "playing" in the fx market constiute an investment or a business. There are no provisions in the Act which specify whether a foreign exchange gain or loss is on account of income or capital. An investment is generally in a situation of buy and hold, while a business is in a situation when you are knowledgeable and maybe with insider information, lots of daily time spent and numerous buys and sells during the day or week, etc.

Please see the CRAâs IT-95R âForeign Exchange Gains and Lossesâ. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tp/it95r/it95r-e.txt

What is the secret to successful forex trading?

A complete newbie to forex trading, I am having difficulties figuring out where to look for information, but also what exactly to look for. Commodities? Bank quarterly results?

Answer
Well you could take courses on US and World economics, read some financial economies books and/or know when and the fundamental news that affects price swings are reported. Stay clear during these volatile times because they can take out your stop in a heartbeat and a few beats later go back the other way. And remember that the news could already be mostly priced into the current price.

http://www.forex.com/learn.html
Link will answer many questions and answers you should know. I have 3 accounts (never put all your money/eggs in one account/basket). You can start with $500 when you can afford to open account. Since you are just starting you will lose money if you don't learn the basics, first. #1 best tip, don't trade your real money until you try trading demo account. When you can trade a demo for about 2-3months daily and make money then if you feel ready slowly start trading real money. So making and/or losing money depends on how well you can trade. For some it very profitable, for many it is not. So trading with the right tools and knowledge can become a very good income(s) for short and long term goals. And trade with the current trend.

I use Lightning Strikes Trading System for trading in any time frame and it works on forex, stocks, bonds, etf's, mutual funds, etc... They have 3 free training sessions a week and you don't have to buy the software to join in the live chat and text. They focus their training/trading on the Forex markets major currencies. You can even watch some recorded past live sessions. Here are some past charts that I used.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R0zjjaZ...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16RxjOUQt...
There are 7 indicators (2 short, 2 medium, and 3 long term) and if volume is reported another one is added (on balance volume). Plus whatever time-frame is used the 2 green horizontal lines are the support and resistance for that time frame. So when indicators are all touching the bottom price is at or very, very near support. At top is at or very, very near resistance. Which helps my entry/exits and risk/reward ratio.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9Wv-wt...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9wSKdV...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R2fYIj6...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R3R0VQe...
If you can not view charts above or want to see other charts, I can email them. Or you can view more charts in this yahoo group. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/lightninglive/

Start learning the basics of fundamentals and technical analysis so you will be more informed in your investments. You can find all the basic info you need to learn on websites for free.
This site should give you a good start.
http://finance.yahoo.com/education

Try what you learn on demo sites. They can be a very fun but educational way to learn from mistakes. If you pick 75% right with play money then you might be ready to start slowly investing.
http://simulator.investopedia.com/
http://simulator.zacks.com/
http://www.fxcm.com/open-free-100k.jsp
http://www.alpari-idc.com/en/metatrader4...
Or just google for more.

Here are my favorite sites.

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/lightninglive/
Join group to see and discuss LS charts.

http://stockcharts.com/
Has basically all you need from fundamental to technical terms. Plus stock screens, charts, public chart lists, and much more useful info.

https://www.fidelity.com/
Has good learning resources.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
In addition to yahoo finance.

http://www.reuters.com/
For news and more.

http://www.marketwatch.com/default.aspx
For news and more.

http://www.valueprime.com/index.php
For rating stock risk/reward ratio and reports.

http://www.barchart.com/
For investing in more than stocks.

http://www.investopedia.com/
For more great learning tools.

http://www.lightninglive.com/
For best software timing your entry/exits any time frame for day traders and long term investors.

Others worth exploring.
http://www.equis.com/
http://www.stockta.com/
http://www.secform4.com/

Best Wishes,
Burt Whitley

I opened a Bank stock trading account ( a custody account) in Iceland in June 2006. Purpose is to trade securities on the Iceland stock exchange. My deposit into the account was $191.00 (middle of June). In the middle of August my initial deposit was worth $209.00 I am not exactly sure what the interest rate might be but it is high. Regardless of how i approach my new brokerage account the underlying asset will be the currency (Iceland ISK). The custody account gave me the option of currecies to convert my US dollars from-To ISK or GBP or Denmark Krona, a few others. Any suggestions as to how i might play this account to my advantage to make a continuous profit just from the currency? Without trading stocks on that exchange? Thanks

Answer
Well, $209 - $191 = $18
$18 is 9.24% of $191, and that was for about 2 months, or 4.62% per month.
Assuming you continue at that rate, and just leave it there
for 20 years, it will have grown to $11,688,740.88 in June 2026.

What is this place so I can get an account there also?

Stay way from FOREX accounts, they use extreme margin and unlike stocks can lose all your money if they drop a mere 1 or 2%.