Markets Quiet Awaiting Fed Beige Book Later Today

In the forex market we find the Dollar listless after slumping to yearly lows. Last trade on the Euro $1.4503 off 1/100ths of U.S cent. Crude Oil is down 11 cents at $70.99. Traders are not quite sure what to expect when the Vienna OPEC Meeting kicks off today. Unfortunately the estimates for this week’s Oil Inventories are not currently available.

Markets appear to be quietly drifting in advance of this afternoon’s release of the Fed Beige Book. The Beige Book is an anecdotal collection of business conditions throughout the Federal Reserve districts. It is how the Fed gets the pulse of American Business. Since the report does not hit the tape until 2pm eastern; traders will have little to sink their teeth into for market direction before then.

Traders will once again be glued to the Dollar markets and Oil for guidance. As for the metals; they are also drifting with Silver down 7 cents at $16.35. Gold is $2.00 lower with the last European trade at $995.00. Palladium remains unchanged at $292.00. Platinum is $1283.00 up $3.00 per ounce.

Over in the stock market the Dow ended Tuesday with a 56 point gain but looks 4 points lower this morning. In other matters; President Obama will hold a nationally televised speech tonight where he will once again make his case for health care reform including the the contentious public government option.

Crude Rises on the Dollar’s Decline

The metals closed the New York trading day only marginally higher after Gold was unable to hold the magic $1000 level.v Despite the sharply higher Euro and a $3.00 jump in the price of Oil; the metals finished the day only a shade higher and well below the session highs.

Silver closed up 8 cents at $16.42. Gold finished at $997.00 up $1.10 per ounce. Palladium slipped $3.00 to $292.00. Platinum rose by $16.00 to $1280.00. Volume was moderate.

Over in the currencies the Dollar continued to weaken on fears of Chinese Dollar liquidations and growing concerns of U.S inflation. Last on the Euro $1.4504 up 1.69 cents against our Greenback.

Crude rose on the back of the weak Dollar gaining $3.38 per barrel to $71.40. Remember tomorrow’s OPEC meeting. Stocks are also well off the session highs with the Dow Jones industrial Average currently sitting at 9469 up only 27 points.

When we return tomorrow traders will have two fresh pieces of data to contend with. We get the Weekly Oil Inventories and the latest Fed Beige Book. The Beige Book; named for the color of it’s cover is an anecdotal compilation of business conditions in the 12 Federal Reserve Bank districts.

Tomorrow’s economic calendar:

RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND Rate Decision
OPEC Meeting
Weekly Oil Inventories
U.S. Fed Beige Book

Forex Trading Robots: What Beginners Need to Know

Forex trading robots can cut your learning curve in half or more. Currency trading is a great way to make money for those who are skilled at it, but without robots (also known as automated trading systems) it takes a lot of study time to aquire the knowledge you need to profit.

Beginners who are starting out trying to trade for themselves have a lot to learn before they can consistently make money. Not only do they have to master what seems like a whole new language, but they have to get to grips with all kinds of charts and graphical indicators that help them to see when currency prices are taking a turn in a certain direction. In short, they have to learn how to predict the market.

On top of that, unless new traders are willing to tie up their money in a long term trade, they often feel they have to watch the markets at every waking moment and sometimes in their sleep too. Because of their global nature, the foreign exchange markets are open 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday. Experienced traders know the importance of scheduling their time so that they can have some kind of life away from the computer screen, but beginners can easily be sucked into the fast moving currency trading world until their health and family life start to suffer.

Automatic forex trading systems seem to offer a way around these problems. They will watch the market for you 24 hours a day; you just have to leave your computer connected. They will open and close trades automatically, according to their settings, which you can adjust to suit your own position size and risk comfort zone.

They do have some possible issues which you should be aware of before you start trading. First, they can take a while to set up. Do not assume that you will have your forex robot running perfectly within a few minutes of purchase. Software does not always run the same on every computer and there are quite a few variables that you will need to set for yourself. For example you need to open a broker account that is compatible with the software, and then hook up the two. Of course you will receive instructions on all of this but you cannot expect it to be instant. Do not give up, just contact the program’s support service if you run into an issue that you cannot solve alone.

Second, sadly even forex trading robots are not infallible. They do not exactly make mistakes, they always do what they are programmed to do, but they apply a predetermined system. Nobody has ever invented a system that works 100% of the time so you are bound to have some losing trades. This is true for every currency trader that ever existed, no matter how skilled. It should not be a problem if the system is profitable and if you know how to manage your funds.

The most important thing is not to risk too much on one trade. 2% to 5% is usually about right depending on the system that you are running. Most automated trading robots come with advice on the level of risk that is appropriate to their system. Keep on the cautious side, especially at first.

If you want to get into foreign currency trading in any form, you must understand that it is a risky business. It is possible to make a lot of money but it is possible to lose a lot of money too. Do not try to make too much too soon or you will probably fall on your face. But if you take this advice into account, then one of the best forex trading robots on the market could be a good choice for you.

Best FX Trading System – How to Choose

Forex traders are always looking for the most profitable forex or FX trading system. The truth is that no system is perfect and that is why there are so many of them out there. In fact, there are probably as many forex systems as there are traders. Even traders who buy a system to follow from the get go usually modify it to suit their own trading plan.

Here are three things to look out for in an FX trading system.

1. Strategies That Suit Your Trading Style.

The best forex systems will have a selection of different strategies that you can use in different market conditions. For example, long and short term trading strategies, or one strategy for a choppy market and another for a stable market. You need to check that they all (or most) suit the way that you want to trade.

One criterion here is the time that you have for trading. A day trading system may depend on you being online at certain hours or for a certain length of time each day. It may not suit you if you have a full time job. You would want instead a longer term trading strategy that you can set and forget.

2. High Rate Of Successful Trades.

The main reason why you want a high success rate (or rather, a low number of losing trades) is psychological. Some systems have a lower success rate but maintain profitability by winning a lot when they win or not losing so much when they lose. This is OK in theory, but in practice it can be very discouraging. You will frequently have 3 or 4 losses in a row, sometimes even more, or a period when you seem to be dropping more than you gain for quite some time. This can lead to losing faith in the system, which in turn leads to erratic trading, bad decisions and, of course, more losses. A high success rate can protect you from this and help you maintain the psychological edge that you need to be a successful forex trader.

3. Effective Training.

Most FX trading systems that are sold online come with training but this can vary in quality. You need to make sure that the training offered is step by step. Video is often the best way and this becoming more and more common. You can watch and see exactly what you need to do.

However, ideally you should also have the steps written down in an ebook. That way you can quickly refer back later when you need a reminder of something, without having to watch a whole video again.

If you pick out a good system according to these rules you will have no trouble trusting it. As we said earlier, having faith in your system will make it much easier for you to stick to it through thick and thin, giving you the best chance of making money with your FX trading system.

Forex Trading Strategies for When You Lose

First off let me say congratulations on your decision to check out this article on forex trading strategies. That title, strategies for when you lose, would have put off most people who do not have any idea how important a subject this really is.

We all want to hear about winners and how we can win. We would rather not hear about losing and what do when we lose. And yet the way to become a winner is to know how to deal with the inevitable losses. It’s that important.

In forex trading there is no possibility of having 100% successful trades. Every experienced trader knows that. Of course you go into every trade believing that it has an excellent chance of being profitable, otherwise you would be crazy to even open the trade, but at the same time you know that losing trades are part of the game. The aim is not to win every time, but simply to gain more than you lose.

So the first thing to do when you have a loss is to treat it as something normal. I’m assuming here that you operated a stop and didn’t lose a huge amount. Do not be devastated; forgive yourself and move on. You might want to stop trading for the day if you are kicking yourself real hard but come back to it next day.

If you followed your trading plan then you should not even be kicking yourself at all. Your system may allow for 1 in 10 losing trades and you just had one of them. There is no blame here and no reason to act any differently at all. In fact you could call this a balancing trade, and not really a loss at all, since your system plans and accounts for it.

If things are going very wrong, you may need to rethink your approach. I’m thinking here about a very large loss or series of losses that almost wipes you out, or if you observe that your trades over a period of time are producing a small but steady loss rather than a balance on the plus side.

In this type of situation the first thing to do of course is to ask yourself whether you are applying your trading strategies and your trading plan correctly. If your losses are the result of straying from your system and taking unplanned risks, you need to work on self discipline. One way of doing this is to open a mini or micro account and train yourself to apply your system exactly with a lot size that is just 10% of your normal position. Only when you are following your plan 100% of the time and showing a profit, do you return to trading with your usual lot size.

Another option is to get back to basics. Stop trading for real and take time out to go back to school by signing up for some kind of forex trading training. This can be a very useful option if your system seems to be at fault and is no longer giving you the results that it should. It can also help you a lot if your problem was over confidence. Concentrate on mastering various methods of analysis and you will almost certainly find yourself improving your system or developing new forex trading strategies that you can test on a demo account.

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