What program do you use to trade the Forex Market?

Answer
To find out how traders themselves rate their forex broker, go to elitetrader.com and check out the broker ratings thread. Here is the link: http://elitetrader.com/br/

The list of forex brokers are listed together with different brokers on the left hand column.

I used to trade with FXCM, but chose to move all the funds under my management to OANDA. You'll find out why later when you check the ratings.

OANDA's trading platform is java based. I find it easy to use, and you can enter your trades by clicking on that price level in the chart to enter either a limit order or a market order. All accounts are updated in real time, plus their spreads are one of the lowest in the industry today.

Another thing I like with OANDA is that you can open a trading account with any amount. There are no minimum lots to trade. You can open a live trading account with only $1 and trade that account as much as you want, with the same spreads that the big boys trade with. This works well with any risk management profile.

What I don't like about OANDA's trading platform is that I cannot enter notes on the chart. Unlike other trading platforms that I have used. But I guess it's a small trade-off; they claim their developers are working on an upgrade for that.

Hope this helps.
Jim http://jsforex.blogspot.com

Do you think investing in the Russian ruble is a good idea?

I was planning to invest about $500 in the Russian ruble. Not through forex, but to actually have the tangible cash in my safe. This would be almost 15,000 rubles.

In two years time, do you think I will have made money?

Thanks in advance!

Answer
You leave out some pertinent facts. Where do you live? Are you located near the Russian border, so you can acquire and sell the currency at minimal expense? If you get this from a currency dealer, you will pay a very high markup. In the United States, banks and currency exchange desks at airports charge exorbitant fees and use rip-off exchange rates. You'll be far behind from the get-go. When you sell, you'll be hit hard in the other direction, unless you live close enough to Russia to go there and spend the money easily. So even if the ruble goes up, it must go up enough to overcome the expenses you incur.

This is a major gamble, with little prospect of an after-expense profit. Especially a profit larger than what you would have made had you simply placed the $500 into a money market fund.