Online Currency Trading

Online currency trading is also known as Forex - a term that is a contraction of the words, foreign exchange. This term is even contracted further sometime to simply FX. The basic idea behind trading currencies is reasonably simple: the exchange rate between any two world currencies is in a constant state of flux moving against each other, so if you can buy at a low price and sell at a higher one, you can make a profit. The Forex market is the largest market in the world. It is worth an estimated $3 trillion of currency transactions a day, and it trades five days a week with weekends off. This market has no fixed location. It is traded at several major trading centers in cities such as New York, London, Tokyo, Madrid, Sydney, etc. Traditionally, currency trading was conducted by telephone, and it still is. However, the Internet has provided a much friendlier platform for online currency trading and today most of the trades are conducted online. Using a computer to access currency market information means that you can also use sophisticated software to help in the analysis of potential trades, as well as past trades and market movements. This can significantly speed up the research time required, providing a much clearer picture all round. One of the best resources for learning online currency trading, or Forex, is to be found at Baby Pips . This is an excellent site for the absolute beginner. Here you can learn all the very basic stuff where terms like Fibonacci, Momentum Indicators and Elliot Waves become understandable. If you really put some effort into learning how to trade currencies here, you should do well. There are basically three groups engaged in online currency trading: the major players, the smaller players, and the individuals who trade in very small amounts. You are likely to be in the last group if you decide to get into the world of currency trading. However, don't think that trading in very small amounts will not be worthwhile. It's a relative term. The major players trade in millions of dollars. The small players trade in hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the very small players can ride on the back of the small players and trade in hundreds, or even in tens of dollars. Before the 1990s you would have needed a few tens of millions of dollars to get into currency trading. The trading of currencies was originally set up for the big rich guys, like bankers and stockbrokers - people who think big and play big. The advent of the Internet changed all that, and now you can start online currency trading with as little as $250. One big advantage of Forex is that you don't have to pay commissions or brokerage fees to anyone. There are brokers involved, but they get their cut from a thing called the bid-ask spread, and it doesn't really affect you at all. By far the best way to learn how to be successful at online currency trading is to start with a practice, or demo, account. This lets you trade in real time and in exactly the same way that you would for real, but your trades do not involve real money. You can start with $2,000 and try to make a profit. Once you can profit more often than you lose, you may feel confident enough to try the real thing. You can open a practice account with $2,000 of virtual money at eToro: http://www.etoro.com/webtrader/start/