what exactly is a position? a lot?

what is the advantage in investing now that the economy is in shambles and the dollar has depreciated?

I don't know a lick of this stuff so please be specific, thank you!

Answer
You take a "Forex position" when you enter the Forex market buying or selling a specific currency pair at a specified price. The size of the position is determined in "lots" or units. For instance, lets imagine that you have a Forex account that you funded with U.S. Dollars. The first trade you decide to take is to buy 100,000 units of EUR/USD. At the moment you buy those 100,000 Euros you simultaneously sell the difference in the exchange rate in Dollars (136,000 approximately). If the price of the EUR/USD at the moment you bought was 1.3600 you now hold 1.0 lot (commonly referred to as 1 standard lot or 100,000 units) of EUR/USD long. If the value of the EUR/USD climbed to 1.3700 and you exited (or converted your euros back to dollars) you would have made $1000.

I am sure, you now have many more questions. I believe it would be much easier if you took one of the free Forex courses online. The easiest is www.babypips.com/school but you can google to find others if you prefer.

As for the advantage of Forex now over other asset classes. Well, the biggest advantage is that there is no such thing as a bullish or bearish Forex market. You can make money Forex, no matter the market condition if you know what moves the currency market, take a disciplined approach to trading the market, and have a solid trade/cash management strategy.

As for the claims by many that Forex is a "scam," let me say this. Do people lose money in Forex? Sure. Are there companies out there willing and able to steal money from unsuspecting Forex newbies? Absolutely. But if you are careful, smart and educate yourself about Forex you will be fine.

The potential in the Forex market is unlimited - but the dangers are also great. Take your time. Don't rush into it. Find a few mentors and you can make it.

What is the cheapest forex broker out there?

I would like to know about forex brokers that offer low balance accounts. Do you have any recommendations? What about forex research? What are all the important events or meetings that affect the forex market?

Answer
trading is like a university education, it requires on the order of 10 to 20 years to become proficient and you have to be ready to accept it as a full time career. With that said, the broker that I use is oanda. I use this broker mainly because it allows smaller lot sizes which allows me to be very flexible with my exposure.

My recommendation- do not trade with less than 50k account. Do not trade live until you have risk capital (money that you will not need or regret losing) or minimum few years on paper accounts.

Forex research is a huge topic. Do not fall for technical analysis, it works in some situations, but the best bet would be to read the prices correctly via price patterns and timing. Do not trade during non farm payrolls or during tokyo and NY lunch hour. Trade during the overlap of US UK sessions for best liquidity. Watch for inflation levels, what central bankers say (and if what they are saying is just a warning or if they are serious about it).

For example you would want to monitor the japanese central bank decisions right now because their currency is strong enough to make their bank sell it to lower the price to keep exports competitive.

For CAD, watch for gold prices (oil is their major export). ect.

FINALLY: the only way to make money in forex safely is with law of large numbers in terms of capitalization. You have to have an account upwards of 50 mil, so this is not a get rich quick thing. The real money lies in market making and dealing.