Learn Forex Blog

August 15, 2009

fxcm broker review

Filed under: My forex blogs — Ellie @

After trying out fxcm broker for a while i have come to these findings. I will try to paint a complete picture of my research.

FXCM.com – 24 hour online forex trading with No Dealing Desk, spreads as low as 1 pip, trading from charts, and live support.

My findings:

Pros – big company, I think they may be the biggest fx broker today for normal trader. Some people may find this to be more safe. Of course nothing is guaranteed to be safe after what we have seen in the last 1-2 years in financial companies. But for the present time fxcm has to be one of the safer companies to use as broker.

Cons – The platform is not the greatest. Although generally reliable.. there are some slow execution times. Spread is okay, but only certain types of accounts have really good spread.

I also read a lot of reviews from users to confirm other peoples experiences with my own. They seem fairly mixed, either people really like them, or really dislike them. Very few in between so I suppose for fxcm broker your experience will come down to your preferences for broker and how important trade execution is for your trading strategies. I believe overall I can only recommend this broker if trade execution is not vitally important to your trading strategy and that price slippage is not a major concern for you.

Here are some examples of reviews from fxcm customers.

Wide spreads, always pricing away 2-3 pips more expensive than other brokers. Lets not forget this is the daughter of the late Refco ! The company that got more than 300 regulatory actions from NFA & CFTC.
- Reviewed by ForeXPP, December 3, 2008. Rating = 1/10

No Dealing Desk?? sometimes possibly. Have had an account for a few years with FXCM. last six months have traded Asian session a couple times and after entering the market watched the spread to go up to 10 or more on the GBP/USD. Recently, had a spread of 8 but was in 10 pips of profit (standard account) set a stop at break even and stepped away for about 2 min. came back and was closed out @ -15 pips. MY charts showed no more then 1 pip movement (dialed it down to a 1 min chart). Their excuse was that the stop order was hit and the order slipped 15 pips due to low liquidity at that time of day. (11:00PM ET) Again… No Dealing Desk? mmmmmm.
- Reviewed by Mikey, November 13, 2008. Rating = 3/10

FXCM has been fantastic so far. I have used FX Solutions, MB trading, and forex.com. They are before the best. Their platform is way more intuitive then the rest of these. Their customer service is topnotch. One of their agents even called me and asked me if their was anyway they could help me with my trading. I told them my biggest issue was managing risk and then sent me some free information with tips on such. I feel that with their separate news website, customer service, and classes they are doing everything they can to make successful traders. Who doesn’t want a broker like that?
- Reviewed by classyguy83, October 7, 2008. Rating = 10/10

I watch my stops being executed 2-3 pips away, even when the quotes/chart never get closer than 2-3 pips from the stop. The price I get is the price for the ordered stop, the difference is in fxcms pocket I guess, is that Fraud?? I’m moving on.
- Reviewed by will change, August 27, 2008. Rating = 3/10

People complain on reviews about losing their trades. Let’s be smart guys and gals, the majority of people lose money in the fx market. You can’t just open an account and expect to make money. Spend time trading a practice account and actually learn about techs and fundamentals. Learn to use them together and make money instead of blaming your loss on FXCM. FXCM does a great job and has good customer service!
- Reviewed by Jamison, July 19, 2008. Rating = 9/10
All live account quotes suspended during news sessions, but live quotes hided! Creating DUAL quotes! FXCM will selectively execute those quotes against your interest! FXCM violates the true nature of Forex Markets!
- Reviewed by FXCM Scam, July 7, 2008. Rating = 1/10
Awesome!
- Reviewed by 12, June 30, 2008. Rating = 10/10

August 1, 2009

How to become succesful in trading!

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

Most new forex traders ask themselves this question. Just to make sure if they still have a chance to become successful in this form of trading. Upon reading this, I know some of you will answer it “it depends upon on how you trade”. Does it make sense? Yes, it is. Here are some few tips to follow, I am not saying that this will make you successful absolutely, but it will lessen losses on your part.

1. Implement a trading plan.

A trading plan is especially crucial in Forex trading to stay ‘in-control’ against the emotional stress in speculative situation. Often, your emotions will blind and lead you to the negative sides, which is greed that causes you to over-ride on a win while fear causes you to cut short in your profits.

2. Trade within your means

If you cannot afford to lose, you cannot afford to win. Losing is a not a must but it is the natural in any trading market. Trading should be always done using excess money in your savings. Before you start to trade in Forex, we suggest you to put aside some of your income to set up your own investment funds and trade only using that funds.

3. Avoid emotion trading

If you do not have a trading plan, make one. If you have a trading plan, follows it strictly! Never ever attempt to hold your weakened position and hope the market will turn back in your favor direction. You might end up losing all your capital if you keep holding. Move on, stay within your trading plan, and admit your mistakes if things do not turn as you want.

4. Ride on a win and cut your losses

Forex trader should always ride till the market turns around whenever a profit is show; while during losing, never hesitate to admit your mistakes and exit the market. It is human nature to stay long on loses and satisfy with small profits – this is why as mentioned earlier that a strictly followed trading plan is a must-have.

5. Love the trends

Trends are your friends. Although currency values fluctuate but from the big picture it normally goes in a steady direction. If you are not sure on certain moves, the long term trend is always your primary reference. In long run, trading with the trends improves your odds in the Forex market.

6. Stop looking for leading indicators

There aren’t any in the Forex market. While some firms make a lot of money selling software that predicts the future, the reality is that if those products really worked, they wouldn’t be giving the secret away.

7. Avoid trading in a thin market

Trade on popular currency pairs and avoid thin market. The lack of public participation will cause difficulties in liquidate your positions. If you are beginners, we suggest the big five: USD/EUR, USD/JPY, USD/GBD, USD/CHF, and EUR/JPY.

8. Avoid trading in too many markets

Do not confuse yourself by overtrading in too many markets especially if you are a beginner. Go for the major currency pairs and drill down your studies in it.

9. Implement a proper trading system

There is hundreds of trading systems available on line. Pick one that you are most comfortable with and stick with it. Stay organized in your trades and fully utilized stop-loss or limit functions in your trades.

10. Keep learning

The best investment is always the investment on your brain. Without a doubt, Forex trading needs much more than just a few guidelines or tips to be successful. Experience, knowledge, capital, fortitude, and even some help of luck are all crucial in one’s success in the FX market. if you lose in a trade, do not lose the experience in it. Learn from your mistakes and regain your position in the next trade.

I hope this will enlighten the mind of new comers in Forex world.

July 20, 2009

How to choose your forex broker!

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Ellie @

Tips on Choosing the Best Forex Broker

Forex broker is an agent that does trading on your behalf. As such, they collect a spread everytime you make a trade no matter if you’re making losses or earnings. So, here are a few points to consider when you’re choosing a forex broker.

Reputation

Reputation of a broker usually exceeds them and it’s easy to see who makes money and who are experienced. In this case, you can check their record to see whether they are consistent in forex trading. In this part you should do a thorough check because it is important to see who you have as your broker.

Reasonable Deposit

One way of choosing a broker is by looking at initial deposit that they ask. Initial deposit is not needed as it is not for investment purposes, but just to pay the broker in case they’re not paid during the course of investment. The ideal payment should be between $200 to $500 depending on the market movement.

Good software

A good software should be simple, easy to use and at the same time is clear on the investment that you’re making. If you are new to forex trading, your broker should be able to let you trade on a demo account. A demo account works the same as a real software but it gives you the opportunity to test it before you actually make your first real trade.

Variety of Currency Pairs

Every good broker should be involved in different currency pairs and that makes them offer a lot of selections. So, choose at least a broker that has currency pairs that you are most interested in. Remember that every currency pairs have their own patterns in the market.

Customer support

With every currency pairs that you trade in, its actually different across the whole world. Therefore, you won’t want to call a broker who is sleeping half a world away when you want to make your trade. Therefore, it is vital to have a broker who can take your orders anytime you want. Try to contact the customer service desk and see how they respond to your questions regarding forex trading. Make sure you’re comfortable as these guys are who you entrust your money with.

Therefore, make sure you do enough homework regarding the aspects above before you really proceed into the forex market!

July 3, 2009

Top 10 Trader Mistakes

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

There are reasons why some traders win in trading, and some are not because of mistakes. What are these mistakes? Here it is.

“Top 10 mistakes traders make”

1. trading with emotions

- our emotional  guidance system is really not quite enables us to trades successfully because when it comes to trading it is purely more visual and logical thing

2. not having discipline

- do not take the trading if you don’t know how to control yourself

3. not having a trade plan

-like every business activity, planning is a very important ingredient in trading because of these 2 reasons:

*It keeps you in the right direction

*Trading is a business and successful businesses ALWAYS have                     plans

4. changing the trade plan mid-trade

- this usually happens because of fear, a plan should be based statistics that work overall, not every trade will work out

5. proper money management

- trade 5% margin instead of trading 20% or more margin, and trade another day.

6. increasing your commitment with success

- When you see that you’re winning in the trade, you are tempted to add additional lots to increase profits. But look out, because market reverse right after.

7. adding to a losing trade

- If you are wrong on a trade, just take the loss and wait for another trade.

8. setting a stop loss based on risk tolerance

- A stop should be set to tell you if you were wrong, not on the amount you are willing to lose.

9. using a mental stops vs. stop loss orders

- You will lose more by not using a stop, so, place a stop farther away. This usually happens when you use mental stop is you say “just give it some time, it will come back” and it never does and you end up losing much more than you should.

10. Overtrading your account

- Have patience, you don’t need to trade everyday to make profit.

June 2, 2009

Demo Platform

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

A free platform that will be send to the trader, much more to those new interested people who wants to learn forex trading. New beginners have their own preferences and downloads demo platform from brokers that they know it will help them a lot. Demo platform serves as the training ground for new forex traders. It is where they will easily learn forex trading. They don’t have to worry if they will lose in this trade, since they will not trade with real money yet.
Some traders underestimate forex demo, because they believe that strategy is still the best in the trade. These are the people who have so MUCH confident with themselves. And in the end, if they lose their money, they will blame the forex itself. Let me enlighten you people. You should demo trade at least 6 months before you even think about putting real money on the line. Don’t rush yourself to trade right away. Maybe you will be asking why 6 months? It is because in every business, 6 months is considered the time for decision making whether to continue or not to continue the business. You’re thinking that 6 months is too long to wait for trades, but to tell you, within this 6 months, I’m sure you are now ready financially and emotionally to face the world of forex.
Now, if you wanted to be in this kind of business, you should learn first the demo trade. To those people who wanted to be in this trade, this is good for you to ponder. “Lucky are those who wait, because they will learn well and knows how to trade”.

May 1, 2009

Forex going Twitter

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

There’s a lot of forex sites where we can check-out forums and sometimes to ask questions. Like babypips, forexfactory, forexface and etc.. Most of the subscribers here are the newbies or the newly members of the forex sites who asks a lot of questions. Lot of them has their own concerns that I sometimes can relate. I was surprised that in twitter, they discuss forex. You can ask questions, share your thought and ideas. Tell anything about forex.
Considering that twitter is an easy access to communicate with other forex member, it also has its disadvantages. I tried twitter, at first it’s good, but then I still need to open forex sites because in forex sites, you can find all what you need. In twitter, they discuss their ideas about forex but still it lacks something. In the forex sites, you will find demo account where you can practice. They give you an advice to trade on a demo account for 6 months before trading on a live account. You meet other people with the same platform as yours. A lot more things to learn from a forex sites than in twitter.
Well as of now the good forex sites that I visited is the babypips.com. It is an all-in-one site for forex. You can learn there the basic steps of trading. You can check the forex terms that are being use in trading. Check it out, this is better than the all-known social network account Twitter.

April 1, 2009

I’m in Love

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

The first time I saw it, I fell in love with it, it’s good features, attractive candlestick and with its high tempting profit. This is the feeling that I have when I was introduced by my friend to forex trading.

I didn’t know that I will get into this kind of trading. I was an ignorant back then. I have a lot of questions, because at first I thought its an online game. Haha, yeah, I know I’m not an up-to-date person. I asked my friend to teach me how to trade, but she told me that  it’s better for me to learn by myself.  So, I started with a demo trade.

My first try on the live trade, I experienced losses. But, I wanted to gain profit, so, I try and try and try. And guess, how many times I lose in the trading? Many times… And guess, how many times I win in the trade? No win… But because I’m in love with  this forex trading, I am still trying, maybe someday, somehow, I will win the trade. :)

March 4, 2009

Trading Psychology

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

I read a lot of blogs about people who hate forex trading in a forex websites wherein they speak much about their hatred about it. They speak negative things about forex. I wonder why, some of them criticized forex trading. Well, I guessed, maybe because they lose most of the times on the trading and they blame it on the forex and not on the way they trade. But, then I cannot blame them for that, because I read some of the forex bloggers commented on the forum that most of the traders lose on the trades. Hmm, I wonder of how to remain profitable in this kind of trading.

This gives me an idea to consult astrology, specifically on the numerology. I don’t want to enter forex trading to have fun, but rather to gain and not to lose. (Is this possible?) Well, yeah, I know that no business in this world existed without experiencing losses for once. But, I have this phobia on investing money. Before, when I was still young, I invested my earnings in this particular business, my partner in this business contributed his service, while I contributed on the capital. Then, for almost seven months of operation, our business was closed. Because of some odd reasons and I feel bad about it.

One day, I have this friend who suggested me to consult a feng shui expert, she told me that in order for me to become successful in any kind of business, I have to follow the rules of feng shui. So, I started arranging my bed’s location, I started collecting plants, because Chinese people believe that having plants in your place balance your environment. I also bought a book about feng shui to learn more about it, I also bought aquarium with gold fishes in it and a lot more.

Now, I doubt if this kind of strategy really works, because after I arranged my bed, I can’t sleep for three consecutive nights. One of the gold fish that I bought was died, I am not a green hand person that’s why my plants died. Which makes me think for the second time around before involving myself in forex trading? Oh, I don’t like to experience losses again.

February 8, 2009

Two Sides of forex

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

The first time I heard forex, first thing that comes to my mind is dealing with money. So I feel interested that’s why I researched about it. I visited and check some of the forex websites that talks about experiences and ideas of forex beginners. I read a lot of comments on the forex websites, and some of them found trading forex as a form of gambling. I wonder why they think trading forex is a gambling. I also read someone who wrote in his forum that forex is not to be considered a business. So what I did was I reply on his post and wrote there that it is not a gambling, it is a business which is the main purpose is to trade currency to other form of currency. Another one here, a guy who posted on his site that 90% of traders experienced losses, while 5% of it are the people who have break-even results and the only remaining 5% are the traders who gain from trading forex. This people are confusing me.

But all of those are the not so good part of forex, because when I read and researched about forex trading, I found out that it is the largest and most liquid in the world financial market. You can also trade for 24 hours. If you’re going to look at it, every businesses have its two sides. So why should I think of the other people’s perspective, when it is better to think of the brighter side. Come to think of it.

January 20, 2009

It needs proper mind set!

Filed under: My forex blogs — Tags: , , , , — Ellie @

Jan 9, 2009, night. I was hired as a call center agent. That moment I feel happy and excited, much more that I will be working as an agent. It means that new faces to meet and new environment to work. I was then so excited for the account that I will be handling. When one of my work mate announced that the account that we’re going to handle is forex account, I was like relax but no idea about the account. So what I did was just to listen and follow any command from the boss. Honestly, at first, I’m having a hard time to comprehend the demo platform, before, I thought it’s a line graph, good thing my boss corrected me, so I started to call it platform. I was so curious about it. I studied and analyzed the platform, and the first thing that comes to my mind was we’re going to explain and analyze the platform to the customers. I went home with mind-boggling moment. The second day, and the second time around, I was like afraid to learn this forex stuff because anything that deals with numbers is my waterloo. So, what I did is to listen to our boss and to discuss with my work mates, good thing they’re getting it and they’re sharing it with me. I was motivated because the two of my colleagues are doing well. So I said to myself that I will motivate myself to learn forex.

Now, I am learning forex, that will makes me do positive output to the company :-)

« Newer Posts

Powered by WordPress