About the Blogger

Hi,
I am Gautam Borkar and i work for Wipro (Yeah yeah BPO). I was much impressed with the oneliner "You dont have to be wealthy to be investor but you have to be an investor to be wealthy." Words of wisdom indeed. Being unarmed with no formal training or background in Finance i embarked on an mission to be an millionaire by 2030. Hmmmmm started out with Mutual Funds but my adrenaline pushed me into studying a more volatile market...."FOREX". Being regular forex advisor and watching the highs and lows of FOREX ticker for about 6 years now i regularly advise beginners on the pros and cons of investing in forex.

Win at Forex Trading - The Major Problem You Must Confront To Enjoy Success

There is one problem that most forex traders fail to come to terms with and lose and its operating in an unstructured environment – this is the major underlying reason traders lose, so lets it explain it and its significance in more detail.

In normal society we confirm to rules and laws they govern our lives and those of our fellow citizens, were used to them and we conform to them.

When a forex trader trades, he has to operate in an unstructured environment and create his own rules to live and survive by.

This sounds easy enough to achieve, however nothing could be further from the truth – it’s very hard and most traders simply can’t achieve it.

Let’s take a closer look at the problems associated with operating in an unstructured environment.

1. Taking Responsibility For Your Actions.

This means taking charge of your destiny and most people simply cannot accept this responsibility.

They want the comfort of having someone to hold their hand and blame if thinks go wrong.

Problem is if you don’t accept responsibility, you won’t win - no one else will make you rich in Forex trading, you’re all on your own.

2. You Have To Create a Set of Rules to Survive

The market which you confront is all powerful, it moves as and when it wants – it’s always right and you can only be wrong .

Again, this causes major psychological problems for traders – we all hate being wrong, but in this instance you have to accept the market is right ALL the time, if you don’t you will run loses and the market will destroy you.

Most traders get frustrated and break their rules, or create a new set as they lose and end up chasing their tail. If you create rules you must have the discipline to apply them and most traders simply lack the mindset to do this.

3. The Work Ethic Does Not Apply

Most people try and overcome losses with a higher work rate.

After all the more you put in the more you get out. They assume if they acquire more knowledge or trade more often, their profitability will increase but the markets won’t reward effort.

You get your reward for being RIGHT and that’s it in forex trading, not the effort you put in.

4. Forex Traders Need To Be Anti Social!

We don’t mean you have to be rude to anyone - but you need to keep yourself to yourself and stay away from the pack and its opinions when trading forex.

Remember 95% of forex traders lose!

We find this uncomfortable.

After all, were pack animals and since stone age times we have sought comfort and belonging with others of our species. When we go against the majority opinion, we feel uncomfortable, as were simply not used to it.

Operating in the forex markets is far harder than many people think and most traders are simply unprepared for the mental problems that it confronts them with.

You will hear often that it is mindset more than method that contributes to success in the markets and its true.

If you have ever wondered why traders find it so hard to trade with discipline, this article may have helped you see why and given you an insight into what you need to do to achieve currency trading success.

Forex Advisors

Many forex systems are sold online as mechanical automated trading systems, or in Metatrader language called Expert Advisors. Expert advisors are programmed mechanical forex systems designed to work on certain trading platforms, called Metatrader platforms. The Russian designed trading platform is now the most popular trading software among brokers and traders.

An EA could be as simple as a technical indicator (a small software which shows market conditions, up, down, trends, etc..), or could be a sophisticated program based on complicated mathematical and statistical algorithms and several other pre-designed indicators. The expert advisor, as its name indicates, gives advice to the trader as when to buy, sell or close a position and usually it will also tell the trader what size of trade to take. Also, the EA has the functionality and power, if authorized, to automatically place trading orders, or cancel them, buy, sell, and close forex positions!

1. Market Entry

All expert advisors should advise the trader when to enter or leave the market. It can also place orders at market or at another price automatically. The Expert advisor should collect the relevant information from previous historical chart data, and base the decision on that information. The level of information to be collected depends greatly on the parameters which should be entered manually by the trader.

2. Order direction

The EA will also decide, besides market entry, the direction of trade, either buy or sell. 3. Money Management

If required, the EA can also apply money management to your trades. A good expert advisor should know how much to buy or sell, by applying known money management techniques. Some expert advisor would simply change the size of order according to the equity. Some would use a more complicated algorithm. Some do not apply any money management rules.

4. Stop Losses and Take Profit

Expert advisors also have the ability to place, change, or remove stop losses and take profits orders.

5. Trailing stops

There is nothing better than expert advisor to monitor your open positions and use trailing stops. The EA is there 24 hours monitoring your trades and ready to execute anything relevant to what it was programmed to do.

Quality Reserach Paper on Forex.

“The Interaction Between the Frequency of Market Quotes, Spread and Volatility in Forex”

Forex for Dummies

Forex Basics
If you've already read the "What is Forex?" section then you should know what Forex market is and what it is all about. If not, please, do it. There are five essential aspects of foreign currency market a beginner trader (and an old one as well) should be aware of:

Forex Fundamental Analysis
Forex Technical Analysis
Money Management
Forex Trading Psychology
Forex Brokerage
Understanding and mastering these sides of trading are crucial to organize your Forex trading experience.


Forex Fundamental Analysis
Fundamental analysis is the process of market analysis which is done regarding only "real" events and macroeconomic data which is related to the traded currencies. Fundamental analysis is used not only in Forex but can be a part of any financial planning or forecasting. Concepts that are part of Forex fundamental analysis: overnight interest rates, central banks meetings and decisions, any macroeconomic news, global industrial, economical, political and weather news. Fundamental analysis is the most natural way of making Forex market forecasts. In theory, it alone should work perfectly, but in practice it is often used in pair with technical analysis. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis:

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
What Moves the Currency Market?

Forex Technical Analysis
Technical analysis is the process of market analysis that relies only on market data numbers - quotes, charts, simple and complex indicators, volume of supply and demand, past market data, etc. The main idea behind Forex technical analysis is the postulate of functional dependence of the future market technical data on the past market technical data. As well as with fundamental analysis, technical analysis is believed to be self-sufficient and you can use only it to successfully trade Forex. In practice, both analysis methods are used. Recommended e-books on Forex fundamental analysis are:

The Law Of Charts
Candlesticks For Support And Resistance
Trend Determination

Money Management in Forex
Even if you master every possible method of market analysis and will make very accurate predictions for future Forex market behavior, you won't make any money without a proper money management strategy. Money management in Forex (as well as in other financial markets) is a complex set of rules which you develop to fit your own trading style and amount of money you have for trading. Money management play very important role in getting profits out of Forex; do not underestimate it. To get more information on money management you can read these books:

Risk Control and Money Management
Money Management (A chapter from The Mathematics of Gambling)

Forex Trading Psychology
While learning a lot about market analysis and money management is an obvious and necessary step to be a successful Forex traders, you also need to master your emotions to keep your trading performance under strict control of mind and intuition. Controlling your emotions in Forex trading is often a balancing between greed and cautiousness. Almost any known psychology practices and techniques can work for Forex traders to help them keep to their trading strategies rather to their spontaneous emotions. Problems you'll have to deal while being a professional Forex trader:

Your greed
Overtrading
Lack of discipline
Lack of confidence
Blind following others' forecasts
These are very professional books on psychology written specially for financial traders:

Calming The Mind So That Body Can Perform
Emotion Free Trading
The Miracle of Discipline

Forex Brokerage
Every Forex trader like any other professional needs tools to trade. One of these tools, which is vital to be in market, is a Forex broker and specifically for Internet - on-line Forex broker - a company which will provide real-time market information to trader and bring his orders to Forex market. While choosing a right Forex broker things to look for are the following:

Being a professional company you can trust
Provide you with real-time quotes
Execute your orders fast and accurately
Don't take a lot of commissions
Support the withdraw/deposit methods you use
For beginning Forex traders I recommend these three broker companies, which are probably best Forex brokers to start with:

LiteForex - broker that supports MetaTrader 4 Forex trading platform and doesn't require a lot of money to start with.
FXcast - good because you can start trading Forex with as little as 1$. They have easy-to-use trading platform (FXcast Swing) along with a Metatrader 4 platform, while you can deposit and withdraw money via e-gold, WebMoney and many other ways.
FXOpen - one of the most popular MetaTrader 4 brokers, allows Islamic Forex trading accounts, while you can deposit and withdraw money via e-gold.

Forex Brokers

Forex Brokers

MetaTrader 4 Forex Brokers — a list of Forex brokerage firms which support MetaTrader 4 Forex trading software as their trading platform.

PayPal Forex Brokers — a list of Forex brokers accepting PayPal on-line payment system as a way to deposit/withdraw money to/from customers' accounts.

e-gold Forex Brokers — a list of Forex brokers which accept e-gold payment system as the method of depositing/withdrawing funds to/from the trading accounts.

WebMoney Forex Brokers — a list of Forex brokers that accept WebMoney e-currency system as the fast deposit/witdhrawal method, offering high security combined with the fast transfers.

Muslim Friendly Forex Brokers — a list of Forex brokers which try to be friendly to Muslim Forex traders offering "no-interest" margin accounts.

Forex Brokers with Web Based Platform — a list of Forex brokers which fully support Forex trading without installing any trading software.

Forex Brokers with Advanced Trading Platform — a list of Forex brokers with unique and powerful Forex trading software.

Institutional Forex Brokers — a list of on-line Forex brokers which are backed by strong and respected off-line financial companies.

Forex Brokers with CFD Trading — a list of Forex broker companies that allow their traders to trade not only Forex, but also CFDs (Contracts for Difference).

ECN Forex Brokers — a list of on-line Forex brokers which act as ECNs (Electronic Communication Network) offering Forex traders highly competitive spreads.



A full list of retail Forex broker companies that offer on-line Forex trading services:

Sort by: Order | Minimum Account | Traders' Rating | Name

Forex Broker Name Min. Account Size MT4 e-gold CFD Browser-based
Platform Registered
with any Regulator Easy On-line
Account Opening Rating
FXOpen $1 + + - - + + 8.4
LiteForex $0.01 + - + - + + 6.6
MasterForex $1 + + + - + + 4.6
Easy-Forex $50 - - - + + + 4.8
Ava FX $100 - + - - - + 8.3
FXcast $1 + + - - - + 6.8
eToro $50 - - - - - + 5.8
HY Markets $50 - - - + + + 5.5
Marketiva $1 - + - - + + 5.9
Finexo $100 - - + + + + 10.0
Forex WebTrader $25 - + - + - + 3.3
InstaForex $10 + + + - - + 2.8
OANDA $1 - - - + + + 9.4
FXCM $300 + - - - + + 6.8
Saxo Bank $2,000 - - + - + - -
GFT Forex $250 - - - - + + 4.0
Alpari $200 + - - - + + 6.4
Interbank FX $250 + - - - + - 7.1
Forex.com $250 - - - + + - 6.9
Realtime Forex $3,000 - - - - + + 7.5
Forex Broker Name Min. Account Size MT4 e-gold CFD Browser-based
Platform Registered
with any Regulator Easy On-line
Account Opening Rating
ACM $2,000 - - - + + - 6.5
Deutsche Bank FOREX $5,000 - - - - + - 4.3
FX Solutions $250 - - - - + - -
CMS Forex $200 - - - - + + 5.3
Interactive Brokers $5,000 - - + + + + 7.5
X-Trade Brokers $2,000 + - + - + - 4.0
MB Trading $400 - - - - + - 5.8
Tadawul FX $1,000 + - - - + - 6.7
Forex.CH $2,000 - - - - + - 6.5
Finotec $200 - - + - - + 8.8
Hotspot FX $7,500 + - - - + - 7.5
EFX Group $400 - - - - + + 8.0
ECN broker $200 - - - - + + 10.0
PFG Forex $1,000 - - - - + + -
Dukascopy $50,000 - - - - + - 5.5
High Street Networking $100 - - - + - - -
Real Trade $20 + + + - - + 3.8
Forex Club $10 - - - - + + 9.5
Crown Forex $300 + - - - + - 4.7
MIG Investments $2,000 + - - - + - 5.1
Forex Broker Name Min. Account Size MT4 e-gold CFD Browser-based
Platform Registered
with any Regulator Easy On-line
Account Opening Rating
RCG fxtrader $5,000 - - - - + - -
Questrade FX $250 - - - + + - -
IKON GM – Royal Division $1,000 + - - - + - 7.2
ODL Securities $2,000 + - + - + + 6.3
MGFOREX $200 - - - - + - 6.5
MF Global $10,000 - - + - + - -
IG Markets $200 - - + + + + -
IFX Markets $500 - - - - + + -
MoneyForex $250 - + - - + + 2.5
Pip Forex $200 - - - - + + -
CMC Markets $2,000 - - - - + - -
IFC Markets $1 - + - - + + 4.4
Neuimex $400 + + + - + + 3.1
MFN $500 - + + - - + 4.8
Invest2Forex $1000 + - - - + - 4.2
iFOREX $100 - - - + - + 1.0
FIBOGroup $300 + - + - - + 4.3
FXDD $500 + - - - - + 5.9
Synthesis Bank $10,000 - - + - + + -
iTradeFX $300 - - - - + + 7.5
Forex Broker Name Min. Account Size MT4 e-gold CFD Browser-based
Platform Registered
with any Regulator Easy On-line
Account Opening Rating
ActiveTrades €250 + - + + + + 5.8
ABN AMRO marketindex £1 - - + + + + -
GCI Financial $500 - - + - - + 4.3
Forex Trading Edge $1,000 + - - + + + 3.8
Xforex $50 - - - + - + 5.3
CitiFX $10,000 - - - - + - -
VarengoldBankFX $1,000 + - + - + - 2.8
FxPro $100 + - + - + + 6.6
GFS Forex & Futures $500 - - - - + + -
DeltaStock $100 - - + + + - 10.0
Forex-Metal $50 + - + - - + 5.7
TradeView Forex $2,500 + - - - + - 3.2
One Financial $1,000 - - + + + - 4.0
Exto Capital $5,000 - - - + + - 7.0
NobleTrading $250 - - - + + + -
NordMarkets $1,000 - - - - + - 5.0
ForexYard $100 - - - + - + 9.0

Forex Market Books

Forex Market Books
The Forex books that are presented in this section cover the general aspects of Forex and financial trading. They provide the information that is interesting not only to the Forex beginners but also to the experienced Forex traders that want to learn something new or to maintain a proper structure of their knowledge of the Forex market.

Almost all Forex e-books are in .pdf format. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open these e-books. Some of the e-books (those that are in parts) are zipped.

If you are the copyright owner of any of these e-books and don't want me to share them, please, contact me and I will gladly remove them.

Screen Information, Trader Activity, and Bid-Ask Spreads in a Limit Order Market — An in-depth work on a Limit Order Market by Mark Coppejans and Ian Domowitz.

Strategic experimentation in a dealership market — by Massimo Massa and Andrei Simonov.

Limit Orders, Depth, and Volatility — by Hee-Joon Ahna, Kee-Hong Baeb and Kalok Chan.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator — the best of the best book on financial trading by Edwin Lefevre.

Market Profile Basics — by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan.

Quote Setting and Price Formation in an Order Driven Market — by Puneet Handa, Robert Schwartz and Ashish Tiwari.

Phantom of the Pits — General thoughts and opinions on trading and market by Arthur L. Simpson.

An Introduction to Market Profile and a User's Guide to Capital Flow Software — by J. Peter Steidlmayer and Ted Hearne.

The Effect of Tick Size on Volatility, Trader Behavior, and Market Quality — by Tavy Ronen and Daniel G. Weaver.

Trading as a Business — by unknown author.

What Moves the Currency Market? — by Kathy Lien - Find out which economic factors help shape the short-term and long-term forex landscape.

Macroeconomic Implications of the Beliefs and Behavior of Foreign Exchange Traders — by Yin-Wong Cheung and Menzie D. Chinn.