Don’t act surprised when you realize that forex trading is actually quite difficult. After all, did you really expect to learn everything there is about this trillion dollar market in one day?!
The first step every forex beginner needs to do is to stop looking for an easy way out – forget about automated robots that supposedly trade for you while you sleep, say no to all the scam artists that offer the Holy Grail, run away from suspicious “account managers” that promise 100% profits.
What is Forex Trading?
Forex trading, also known by the name of currency trading or FX trading, refers to buying a particular currency while selling another in exchange. Trading currencies always involves exchanging one currency for another.
The ultimate aim can vary and can be any of the below but not limited to the below:
- 1. Exchanging currency A (e.g. USD) to currency B (e.g. EUR) for travelling purposes;
- 2. Exchanging currency A (e.g. USD) to currency B (e.g. EUR) for trading purposes;
- 3. Exchanging currency A (e.g. USD) to currency B (e.g. EUR) for speculative purposes, with the goal to make a profit.
Due to all the above, and not limited to the above, the forex trading market is today the world’s most liquid and most volatile market, with over $5 trillion traded daily.
How Does Forex Trading Work?
Forex trading is in essence trading currencies for one another. As such, an XM client sells one currency against another at a current market rate.
In order to be able to trade, it is required to open an account and hold currency A and then exchange currency A for currency B either for a long term or a short-term trade, with the ultimate goal varying accordingly.
Since FX trading is performed on currency pairs (i.e. the quotation of the relative value of one currency unit against another currency unit), in which the first currency is the so-called base currency, while the second currency is called the quote currency.
For example, the quotation EUR/USD 1.2345 is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, which means that 1 euro equals 1.2345 US dollars.
Currency trading can be carried out 24 hours a day, from 22.00 GMT on Sunday until 22.00 GMT on Friday, with currencies traded among the major financial centers of London, New York, Tokyo, Zürich, Frankfurt, Paris, Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong.
What Influences Prices in Forex Trading?
There is an endless number of factors that all contribute and influence the prices in forex trading (i.e. currency rates) daily, but it could be safe to say that there are 6 major factors which contribute the most and are more or less the main driving forces for forex trading price fluctuation:
- 1. Differentials in inflation
- 2. Differentials in interest rates
- 3. Current account deficits
- 4. Public debt
- 5. Terms of trade
- 6. Political and economic stability
In order to best comprehend the above 6 factors, you will have to keep in mind that currencies are traded against one another. So when one falls, another one rises as the price denomination of any currency is always stated against another currency.
You are responsible for your money and your knowledge of trading. In order to become a successful trader, you have to learn the basics. By basics I don’t mean reading some online e-book once, open live account and deposit thousands of dollars right away. NO! You have to learn all there is to forex trading, open a demo account, practice for several months, make notes of your trades and your emotions, work on a good strategy and, last but not least, figure out the money management.
Avoiding troubles in trading is the biggest challenge of all. You need to be very organized and disciplined – after all, one little slip and your account can get wiped out. Don’t be too surprised when it happens though. Even with an awesome plan and great strategy, every beginner in forex makes bad decisions from time to time.
One of the important factors to consider is choosing the right forex broker. It is important to find a broker that is trustworthy and regulated. What do I mean by regulated? A broker that is under a supervision of an governmental authority is called regulated and therefore tends to follow the rules and not trick customers into something they don’t want to be doing.
Each broker offers different kind of trading conditions and terms. It is vital to go over those terms before you sign any kind of agreement (and by signing an agreement, I mean pressing a button or a check box “I agree” during the registration process).
Pay attention to the spreads and leverage offered – these two things significantly affect your trading experience. How do you know that a broker is fair? The rates shouldn’t jump too much while the market is volatile.
Another thing that shouldn’t skip your attention is slippage. Slippage is the cost that a trader pays when he tries to enter to leave the market. Bad brokers make it nearly impossible to make any kind of money. Your job is to find a broker that is fair, trusted and supportive.
Why do beginners in forex do so poorly while traders with experience make significant chunks of money? The answer is quite simple – with experience comes success. Forex trading is not all about skills. A professional forex trader has a clear understanding of psychological factors involved in gaining or loosing considerable amount of money within short periods of time.
While a beginner in trading might be overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations and objectives for each trade, an experienced trader learns to look at a wider picture by skipping the unfortunate losses and examining the overall profits within several months or longer.
Do you really think that every single trade will bring profits? Do you really believe that there is such a thing as 100% profits without loses? If you do, go back and read about currency market concepts again, because you are clearly still delusional!
The truth is that not every trade will be the right trade, not every day will be the perfect day for trading… Greed is your worst enemy, so learn to control it now, before it is too late.
Last, but not least, spend time figuring out money management. Forex trading is not only about making profits but also about keeping them! Never risk more than you can afford to lose. Trading with a risk of more than 2% of your total margin will eventually result in losing all of your money very, very quickly.
Erase your gambler mind set. This is not a poker game. Understand the risks, follow the trading plan, stay away from real money account before you create a solid trading system that has been tested with demo account for several months, work on your emotions and expect losses along the road. If you take forex trading seriously, you will be surprised how much money you can actually make!
Use a Practice Account
Nearly all trading platforms come with a practice account, sometimes called a simulated account or demo account, which allow traders to place hypothetical trades without a funded account. Perhaps the most important benefit of a practice account is that it allows a trader to become adept at order-entry techniques.
What makes trading Forex so difficult is the constant trial and error. You need an incredibly thick skin to stick with it.
How to Make Forex Easy to Learn
The best way to make Forex easy to learn is by finding the best quality educational material online. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need to pay for premium courses or content. Much of the best content online is free.
Manage your trading time
The forex market is open 24/5 and there will be many times that you will miss opportunities as a trader because you were not on the computer. However, this does not mean that you have to be trading non-stop. It is a significantly better strategy to make sure that you are available to place trades when good opportunities arise which means that you need to manage your trading time in a smart way.
The average forex trader is an average person with a full-time job, a family, hobbies, social life, and other activities which means that committing to 20 hours of trading is not only impossible but also not necessary.
So you need to find the right timeframe that works for your lifestyle and make sure how many hours a day you can commit to. Managing your trading time properly that you are managing the risk too because time is often a highly valuable component to trading happiness and success.
Manage Leverage
Although these mistakes can afflict all types of traders and investors, issues inherent in the forex market can significantly increase trading risks. The significant amount of financial leverage afforded forex traders presents additional risks that must be managed.
Leverage provides traders with an opportunity to enhance returns. But leverage and the commensurate financial risk is a double-edged sword that amplifies the downside as much as it adds to potential gains. The forex market allows traders to leverage their accounts as much as 400:1, which can lead to massive trading gains in some cases – and account for crippling losses in others. The market allows traders to use vast amounts of financial risk, but in many cases, it is in a trader’s best interest to limit the amount of leverage used.
Find a Reputable Broker
The forex industry has much less oversight than other markets, so it is possible to end up doing business with a less-than-reputable forex broker. Due to concerns about the safety of deposits and the overall integrity of a broker, forex traders should only open an account with a firm that is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA) and is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a futures commission merchant.2 3 Each country outside the United States has its own regulatory body with which legitimate forex brokers should be registered.
Traders should also research each broker’s account offerings, including leverage amounts, commissions and spreads, initial deposits, and account funding and withdrawal policies. A helpful customer service representative should have the information and will be able to answer any questions regarding the firm’s services and policies.
Is Trading Forex Hard or Easy?
This is a question only you can answer, for yourself. The answer is related directly to what kind of person you are. Forex trading will be easy for you if you are a patient, unexcitable, analytical person who can spend a lot of time thinking on your own without getting overly excited or depressed about good or bad fortune. The further away you are from this temperamental and skill-based model, the harder you are likely to find becoming a successful Forex trader.
Can I trade Forex with $100?
Yes, you can start trading with $100. Most brokers require minimum deposits of $100 or less. You do not need to start with millions of dollars to be a profitable or successful trader, but it will obviously take you more time to make significant amounts of money the smaller the amount of capital you have available to start with.
Is it easy to trade Forex?
It all depends on you and the effort you are willing to put into it. Trading forex will be easier if you follow some basic rules, such as having a trading plan, managing your psychology, having a reliable trading platform, and learning every day.
Is trading Forex easier than stocks?
Forex is usually much less volatile than stocks, and there is not really any long or short. Trading costs can also be relatively very low. For these reasons, many people find Forex trading easier than trading stocks, although the mostly bullish stock markets over recent decades arguably hand an advantage to long stock traders.
How long does it take to learn Forex trading?
Forex requires the discipline to keep learning and training always. The market evolves every single day, and traders should do too. However, experts suggest that you trade six months in a demo account and prove yourself to be profitable on paper before going live and risking any real money.
