FOREX is open 24 hrs a day, 5 Days of the Week

Active between Sunday 4 p.m.  ~ Friday 3 p.m. Central Time

CURRENCY BASICS 

Forex (FOReign currency EXchange market) is traded in currency pairs and involves the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another, for example EUR/USD, (Euro/US Dollar) or USD/JPY, (US Dollar/Japanese Yen). As one currency goes up, the other goes down, similar to a teeter-totter.  

Base/Counter

We buy or sell the 1^st or BASE currency, which sells or buys the other currency, called the COUNTER currency. 

When…

Base Pair is WEAKER / Counter Pair is STRONGER 

Base Pair Price is GOING DOWN…SELL!

SELL: bear, drubbing, going short, shorting (in Options it is a PUT)

(This does NOT mean you have to own that currency to sell it..you are simply Shorting, buying the SELL or PUT)

When…

Base Pair is STRONGER / Counter Pair is WEAKER

Base Pair Price is GOING UP…BUY! 

BUY: bull, going long (in Options it is a CALL)  

In Trading the TREND Direction:

Base WEAKER – going DOWN – SELL!

Base STRONGER – going UP – BUY!  

Samples of Trend Direction Trading:

In Trading the COUNTER-TREND Direction:

This is based on fact that currency movement will often reverse or re-trace.

Base WEAKER – going DOWN – BUY!

Base STRONGER – going UP – SELL!  

Samples of Counter-Trend Direction Trading:

Currency pairs that do not involve the U.S. Dollar are called CROSS currencies. i.e. EUR/JPY (Base/Cross)

The major currencies:

AUD = Australian Dollar

CAD = Canadian Dollar

CHF = Swiss Franc

CNY = Chinese Yuan

CZK = Czech Koruna

DKK = Danish Krone

EUR = Euro (currency of European Union)

GBP = British Pound Sterling, also called Cable

HUF = Forint

JPY = Japanese Yen

KRW = Korean Won

MXN = Mexican Peso

MYR = Malaysian Ringgit

NLG = Netherlands Guilder

NOK = Norweigian Kroner

NZD = New Zealand Dollar

PLN = New Zloty

SEK = Swedish Krona

SGD = Sinapore Dollar

THB = Thai Baht

USD = US Dollar

XAG = Silver

XAU = Gold

ZAR = South African Rand

If interest rates go up with the Fed it typically strengthens the US Dollar.

Dollar Index: going up =USD is stronger, going down = USD weaker

When the price of GOLD is up, the USD is usually down..and vice-versa.

UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF INCREASES AND DECLINES IN QUOTES (INDEXES)

Using the currency pair of EUR/USD as study subject.

EUR/USD = BASE/ COUNTER = $1/variable X

Variable X is the quote amount or Index we watch.

For every 1 EURO dollar it takes X US Dollars to buy (typically 1.25 or so) 

So when the price (variable X) or index is increasing the EUR or BASE currency is STRENGTHENING  as it now takes more US Dollars or COUNTER currency to purchase the base currency. So you would BUY EUR betting on continued increases.

Trading Strategies: There are countless numbers of ways to trade the Forex market and strategies may be either manually run or run with an automated program, such as an Expert Advisor or in short referred to as an 'EA'. 

Strategies may be devised to either trade 'with the trend', Selling when the Base pair is weak and Buying when the Base pair is strong; or they may be based on a 'counter-trend' strategy, which would Sell when the Base is strong and Buy when the base pair is weak. Though this 2nd , counter-trend method seems like it would be a losing way to trade, it is based on the known fact that a currency index does not always move in a straight line. So the market may surge forward, but will fall back (retrace) and change directions. 

Most trading strategies incorporate technical indicators, which are applied to a chart, to assist in seeing patterns and direction changes. The most common ones are Moving Averages, MACD (moving Average Convergence Divergence), Support, Resistance, Pivots Lines, Fibonacci Retracement Levels and Trend Lines. The Forex market is greatly impacted by financial and economic news around the globe. This is referred to as Fundamental Indicators. Some of the most market moving news events are the USA Non-Farm Payroll release, FOMC, and rate statement releases from major countries around the world. The good thing is that these are mostly confined to a strict release schedule and they are listed on a site called ForexFactory.com (see link below).

As a Forex trader, you will learn the importance of keeping an ear on news events as the Forex market is greatly impacted by them. On our Forex Home tab under 'Education' you will find an XLS file that we try to keep current with past events. Also the Options Expiration calendars show when that event hits each month, another very volatile time. Typically we suggest avoiding the times of highest volatility because the Broker is flooded by so many orders they are unable to process them in a timely fashion so what happens is orders get 'slipped' or not filled or filled at dramatically different prices. Not good.

Here is the link to Forex Home
http://www.secretsfromtheheart.com/forex.htm

Most events for the XLS sheet are from a site called Forex Factory. Here is the direct link to them:
http://www.forexfactory.com/

In the USA we are mostly limited to 50:1 leverage. For some strategies, higher leverage, 200:1 or greater is recommended. Learn more on Leverage, Margin and Margin Calls at this link:

http://www.secretsfromtheheart.com/leverage.htm

>>> Click for Market Club 2 Week Free Trial  <<<

Below is a link to a free school you can go through to learn about Forex trading:

                                                         http://www.babypips.com/school/

We also offer a free Forex glossary here:
http://www.secretsfromtheheart.com/FOREX%20GLOSSARY.pdf

The platform we use to run the Forex programs called 'Expert Advisors' or in short referred to as an 'EA' is a trading platform developed by MetaQuotes software called MetaTrader 4 or for short, MT4. 

You can download the MT4 program, which will run on your home PC from numerous brokers. We recommend FX Open or FX Pro. When you open a Demo Account you can 'paper trade' without risking real money, just to learn and test strategies. This is an important step with every new program you get. Never trust someone else's results! You must verify them on a platform from a broker you plan on using.

   FX Open link: http://www.fxopen.com/TerminalMetaTrader4.aspx Look at the bottom for 'Download 

          FXOpen MT4 Trading Terminal'

   FX Pro link: http://www.fxpro.com/downloads/platforms/client-terminal  MT4 Client Terminal

You will typically need to download and install the platform, then open up a demo account before you can use it. The set up will either prompt you through this or from the MT4 platform, right click on the word 'Accounts' in the Terminal window, then select 'Open an Account'. Fill out the form they provide to get registered, making your desired selections. Take some time to explore the MT4 platform and learn its basic functionality. You will become more comfortable with it as you get more familiar with using it.

On the SecretsFromTheHeart.com site, if you click on the Forex Auto-Trading tab there is a PDF file to help traders understand some of the basics of using the MT4 platform. Here is the direct link to that:
http://www.secretsfromtheheart.com/Loading_Running_Troubleshooting_an_EA.pdf

Investopia.com also offers a tutorial for learning the MT4 platform. The link is:

http://www.investopedia.com/university/meta-trader-guide-intro/#axzz1mwNIyvP0

They also have tips they recommend for success. The link is:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/08/successful-trader-traits.asp#axzz1mwNIyvP0

You will need to try several methods both manually trading and using auto-trading programs to learn what you are most comfortable with using. 

In surfing the web you will likely find numerous free Forex forums. Many traders are there discussing their latest and greatest free 'Holy Grail' system. They can all look great at first but over time we learned that the forums are more of a distraction then a help. Doing your own research and study may prove more beneficial.

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