Learning Foreign Exchange

If you are considering hiring a forex broker, one of the many ways in which you can possibly learn about their credibility is by means of forex broker reviews. These things can be found just about anywhere in the internet. You just need a search engine where you can place these keywords and then wait for the results to show up. Reviews on forex brokers can give you the following benefits:


1. Credibility - Reputation is an important thing when it comes to hiring forex brokers. Although you would not really use their services in terms of marketing yourself or your business, you need to make sure that you are not partnering with a run off the mill type of broker who cannot provide you with results. You also need to have someone whom you can trust enough with your transactions and even some vital confidential business information.


2. Network - The main reason you would be hiring a forex broker is to expand your business. Through online forex reviews, you can easily spot the industry names when it comes to forex brokering. You will know who's who in the trade and the people who have made quite a number of following and transactions throughout the span of their career.


3. Expertise - Reviews about forex brokers would definitely dissect the credentials of the person in discussion. After all, that's what reviews are for. It aims to discuss the pros and cons when it comes to specific subjects in terms of its features. Reviews about forex brokers help give you a better understanding of the professionals alongside their field of expertise and so you can identify if their expertise fits well with your business.


But given these benefits, you should also place careful observance when reading forex broker reviews. Make sure you choose those that are reputable enough and have been written by professionals themselves. Reviews are a combination of opinion and actual experience.


In finding the best reviews when it comes to forex brokers, here are some important points you would need to consider:


a. Who wrote the review? - It would be great to read reviews coming from forex professionals themselves. Some of them put up their reviews in their very own website and write them down in the form of a blog. This way, it's easier and much more inviting to read. You can also try searching for such articles on forex sites which also has a feature on the authors themselves.


b. When was the review created? - Forex is a very dynamic business. Make sure you only read reviews that are updated. The latest you can probably consider is a year before the present day. Unless of course you wanted to unearth issues and questionable stories associated with the forex broker, then feel free to delve deeper in your research.


c. What affiliations does the writer have? - This helps establish the fact that the person is indeed an expert reliable enough to write forex broker reviews. Industry associations tell you much especially in terms of the network that the review author has.

Online forex brokers can turn out to be your competitive advantage in the line of foreign currency trading. They are deemed as a valuable asset especially if you wanted to enter into a high stakes game of currency trading. Because of these, forex brokers are highly esteemed in the market and there are some misconceptions that have also been formed around them. With the industry booming, it's about time that some of those misconceptions be straightened out once and for all.


The Truth behind Trading with Brokers


Most of the time, we feel way too assured for our own good when we get the services of online forex brokers. We tend to feel that we are in the hands of experts so all we have to do is sit back and relax as they do all the needed work for us. So when things don't turn out quite the way we expect them to, we tend to put all the blame on the brokers. Sometimes we even feel cheated that we are paying for nothing. But the truth is that we are also to blame for the losses we incur.


All forex brokers know that in the trading arena, losses amounting to 95% are but a common thing. This is why most of them choose to abide by the rules of day trading. Exchanging currencies are very dynamic and at the end of the day, all your broker ever really does is to provide you with leads. The hand that still makes all the vital decisions is yours and not your broker.


Brokers and Offered Leverage


One of the selling points used by most forex brokers is the leverage they offer. Leverage is the profits that you can be promised by relying on just one forex broker alone. Some even go as far as giving 300:1 and unfortunately some people take the bait. In truth, 20:1 is the maximum that brokers can handle and assure you with. It's easy to believe that they can do it with a spectrum of trading methods but at the end of the day, keep in mind that these brokers are human too. They can only do so much to cover that much and also consider the fact that you may not be their only client.


Listening to Your Forex Broker


One of the great offers that a forex broker can perhaps give you as an extra benefit is their word of advice. You would especially appreciate this if you are new in the game. But the thing is, you should not swallow every piece of advice that your forex broker will give you. Online forex brokers are hired to help you find opportunities but they should never be the ones made to handle the course of your business. At the end of the day, you should still listen to your own gut feel and instincts.


Also, you should never buy most of the things that your forex broker tells you out of the context of work. As much as possible, keep your relationship at a professional level.

If you are thinking of getting in touch with USA forex brokers, there are some important factors you need to consider. It's actually not that tough to find one considering there are lots of these professionals out in the market today. The real challenge however is finding someone who can really bring you results and assure that you are going to get quality services out of your investment. Bear in mind that forex brokers' rates vary accordingly and they may turn out to be a bit pricey.


The reason why it is important to hire a forex broker that specifically trades in the US dollar currency is that it gives you exposure to experiential and technical aspects. The US currency is one of the most widely used trading money in the market today. It's like the base where other currencies peg their rates at so when the US dollar fluctuates, it tends to change the course of the trading market as well. Liquidity is something that you must expect when it comes to the trading game.


Here are some important points you might need to consider when it comes to choosing among USA forex brokers.


1. Is the forex broker duly regulated? - The US bank and its related financial agencies have a say on the players in the forex market. Therefore it is important that you get in touch with these types of people. The great thing about using forex brokers who are regulated is that they are quite meticulous with their process. They need to do this because aside from liaising with you and their business spread partners, they also need to submit their financial standing and reports to regulating authorities. This way, you are assured that you are getting in touch with reliable people with a solid reputation.


2. Be the one to specify your trading platform - Although forex brokers are known to employ their own trading platforms, it would still be best if you are the one who will be giving directions for this system. Your trading platform should depend on the amount of time you can devote on the project and your work system. There are many different kinds of trading systems which you can use. You can either choose to have your trading run on autopilot, you may want to purchase a licensed trading software, or simply log online to an open source trading network. If you are not yet familiar with these things then you can also ask the expertise of forex brokers to help you choose the platform that would suit you best.


3. Trading methods used - Aside from the trading platform being used, you should also delve deeper into the specifics of the trading methods being used by your preferred forex broker. Here is where things such as spread, funds safety, and fractional trading would come into picture. All of these key ingredients to facilitate your forex business.


Do not let yourself be overwhelmed with having plenty of choices for USA forex brokers. Make sure you trim them down to qualified individuals whom you feel comfortable to work with.

There are a number factors to consider when you choose a Forex broker and to help you do so here is a list of 10 of the key factors you should consider when you select a Forex Broker that will suite you.

1. Reputation This may seem like an obvious place to start but surprisingly this is quite often overlooked in people's quest for profits. A simple place to start is to check out several Forex forums to see what other traders have said about their experiences with brokers and this will help you to get a good idea of the general user experience as well as details about the level of service and support you are likely to get from particular brokers and probably most importantly, payments.

2. Foundation and legitimacy Most Forex brokerages are usually either associated with or are part of a bank or large financial organization but with the rising number of online Forex brokers there are a number of checks concerning their foundation that should be made. Brokerages that are associated with large financial organizations or banks are not only backed up by funds from their Forex trading but also have other income streams and investments which means they don't have all their eggs in one financial basket. Having fund insurance against fraud or bankruptcy is good to have as this means you aren't relying just on being paid from their backup investments which might otherwise mean a longer wait for your money should they be experiencing any financial difficulties. Are they registered with the appropriate regulatory organizations? Legitimate Forex brokers should be registered with the Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Note: It is also worthwhile checking out any parent company's website for any financial information that can assure you that your funds are covered and secure.

3. Execution Quite simply this is how they conduct their business. There are two main business models that Forex brokers use, Electronic Communication Network, (ECN), and Market Maker. The ECN model is one where a Forex Broker provides a marketplace for Market Makers, traders and banks to enter their competing bids and offers into this trading platform and have them filled by liquidity providers. All trades made in this environment are made in the name of the ECN broker which means that your trades are all performed completely anonymously. The Market Maker model provides pricing and liquidity for a particular currency pair and then stands ready to buy or sell that currency at the quoted price. A market maker takes the opposite side of whatever your trade is and has the option of either holding that position fully or to partially offset it with other market traders in order to manage their aggregate exposure to their clients. Other aspects of the Forex brokers' execution of their business are: Do they use automatic execution for trades? If they do not have this as part of their model then how fast is their average order execution? How much are you allowed to trade without having to request a quote? Do they offset client trades?

4. Trading Platforms Forex trading is a rapidly moving environment and it pays to have a home computer that can keep up with the processing involved because time lag could mean you are not trading on the latest figures. If your current computer is not as up to date as you would like it to be and you are not in a position to bring it up to a faster processing specification or replace it with a faster workstation, then it is worth considering only using Forex Brokers that operate the ECN platform because this software requires less processing power to run at full speed as it is simpler software Some Forex brokers have restrictions on the number of currency pairs you can trade so check how many of these you are allowed to trade. Get used to the trading platforms and the features they have, such as one click trading, mobile trading, orders types and other features. The best way to do this is to sign up for a Demo account as these use the same software you would use with a live trading account. These accounts are free and if you are considering several Forex brokers then why not try them out with a demo account to see which one you prefer?

5. Account Size If you are starting out you aren't going to go gungo-ho and open large live trading accounts that have high minimum trades, but having said that you might want to increase your amounts later and so need some flexibility. Ascertain what the minimum trade size is as well as whether or not you can adjust the standard lot traded. Unsurprisingly the minimum account opening balance a broker requires is important in deciding which broker to use. It is also very worth checking whether or not unused equity will earn you interest.

6. Spread The spread is the difference between the ask price (the price you buy currency at) and the bid price (the price you sell it at). These are quoted in pips. An example of this is: If you are trading the currency pair US dollars and Euros you might see a spread like this, 1.2700/05, the spread is the difference between 1.2700 and 1.2705, or 5 pips. In order to make the most from your trades you need to know the brokers spread so find out if they use a fixed or variable spread? How tight is the spread? Is the spread larger for small accounts?

Note: Fixed or variable? This choice depends on your trading pattern. If you make trades only or mostly influenced by news announcements--when markets tend to be volatile--you might be better off with fixed spreads. Although this is only if the quality of execution is good. Some brokers have different spreads for different clients. Clients with larger accounts or that make larger trades can receive tighter spreads. Clients that are referred by an introducing broker might receive wider spreads so as to cover the costs of the referral. Other brokers though might offer everyone the same spread regardless of whom they are or the size of their account. It can be difficult to determine a company's spread policy so the best way to find out is to try various brokers, or talk to other traders who have, and of course check out the forums.

7. Slippage Slippage is the time between when your order is placed and the transaction is completed, so find out how much slippage can be expected for fast and normal moving markets.

8. Commissions This is probably the simplest thing to find out. Check your prospective Forex broker's commissions to see if they are built into the spread, as with most Market Makers, or if they charge a separate commission.

9. Margin The margin is the amount of deposit required to either open or maintain a trade position. Margins are either "free" or "used". A used margin is the amount which is being used to maintain a position that is open, and a free margin is the amount that is available to open a new trade position. Check what the broker's margin requirement is. Is this margin the same for both standard and mini accounts? Does the margin change for different currency groups or change for different days of the week?

10. Rollover Policy Rolling over will either accrue you interest or cost you interest depending on whether you bought a currency with a higher interest rate or sold a currency with a higher interest rate. Check the broker's conditions or requirements regarding earning rollover interest. There may be a minimum margin requirement before can earn interest on overnight positions so make sure you know your position. visit www.forexandoil.blogspot.com for daily forex signal and powerful trading system

Trying to decide what broker is preeminent for you is a hard one, so this article hopes to bring to light some of the things that you need to consider.

With the dawn of further FOREX retail traders in the market, competition amongst brokers has led to a multiplication in platform flexibility and features. Therefore, every broker over the preceding few years has tried to provide a better and easier way into the foreign exchange market in support of the beginner. I will pose various of the more obvious questions you need to find out from or ask your broker.

First and foremost are 'spreads' and how the broker deals with them. Spreads are valuable as the beginner needs to minimise his chance and reduce any expenses when entering and exiting a trade. Frequently, spreads are quoted by the broker as being 'fixed' or 'variable' for every currency pair. I have noticed that these days, spreads are continuously 'variable' and few brokers offer really fixed ones. Although they may say EUR/USD has a 3 pip spread, what they mean is so as to this is the minimum spread. You can be guaranteed that in times of high volatility, as prices are moving quickly, the spread will expand. Note furthermore, that some brokers boost their spreads if the 'lot' size is lower - see the types of account beneath. This seems a bit odd as this certainly will not promote new business for the broker!

One point to bring up is that although this point is valuable for the beginner trader, as you get extra experience, spreads turn into less of an issue while choosing a broker as they become less important and more skilled traders will point out other features over spreads when taking into account what broker to pick out. Here are lots of websites listing broker details such as http://www.etoro.iwow.us so do your homework before choosing!

The next entity is whether the broker offers all three of the 'standard' accounts - regular, mini and micro. Regular accounts deal with full 'lots' ($10 loss or profit for each pip movement in the currency, if trading a USD pair) and therefore require the principal amount of opening capital of around $5000. Although mini accounts ($1 loss or gain for each pip movement) are now abundant and ordinary, they still require a certain amount of capital to open so as to may be further than some new traders. Micro accounts (Only 10c loss or gain for each pip movement) deal with such small sums of money that they are better than trading demo, but the chance is low when it comes to losing capital. Consequently, they require the smallest amount start-up capital in the region of only a couple of hundred dollars.

Various checks will be made when you open an account, and if the company is based in another country, you will need to fill in various tax exemption forms such as a W-8BEN previous to the account will be opened, don't let this put you off!

A further check you could wish to do previous to considering a broker is to check their performance at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission website www.cftc.gov to ensure they are listed and have the vital minimum turnover and liquidity. Any sizable court cases will also be listed.

If you expect to carry out 'position' or 'swing' trades, such that you will be holding overnight positions, you might want to check what rates of interest will be paid/debited from your account. This is now and again hard to find on some websites, but can be very informative as generally brokers offer poor 'carry' interest if you are in a trade for a lenghty period of time.

Check to ensure what currency pairs they offer - again, generally companies offer most of the most commonly traded pairs but it's nice to see how 'established' they are by seeing if they offer other trades such as gold, S&P, futures etc.

Unfortunately, something you can't check is the kind of service the broker offers. Mainly will be 'discount' brokers, which basically means that they offer no trade advice or all-purpose help and if you address to anybody on the trading floor about your trade, they will be usually be brief and 'to the point'.

Try to find a broker who has downloadable free software that you trade from on your computer. The other way is to trade 'live' from a website, but I discover this inflexible, especially if you constantly need to click between screens as this usually requires the loading of a new webpage and makes everything quite 'clunky' even if you maintain a fast broadband connection.

Various brokers offer trading platform software and separate charting software, so you can use the best looking charts from one company and the platform from a different - watch for variations in price quotes though!

If you're new to Forex trading your first and most important goal is choosing a Forex broker to work with. And the 3 most basic characteristics you should check out first are: reputation, experience and track record. Obviously, there are also other important qualities, and we'll get to those in a minute, but everything else depends on that 3-part foundation.

Finding a Forex Broker

The safest approach to choosing a Forex broker is to contact the authority or agency that licenses brokers in your area. (And an extra little side tip - be especially careful when checking the background of any broker who approaches you with some dazzling, over-the-top offer, or who guarantees you're certain to have success and sure winnings.) Start cautiously... don't allow yourself to be rushed into decisions. That's how many beginners are taken advantage of: many scam artists specialize in preying on the inexperienced because they're so eager to get started that they often throw caution and common sense aside.

1. Check Their Reputation

The Forex trading world is a fairly tight community. Use that fact for your protection. After you've done your initial research, work up a shortlist of 3 brokers you consider strong candidates. Then begin your due diligence. Research them online. Ask around for word-of-mouth opinions. And definitely contact governing authorities to check for a pattern of complaints in their history. Ask other traders about the experiences they've had with the brokers you're considering. Ask friends and others with experience in Forex trading to recommend a reputable broker. Find out if they're easy to deal with by first contacting their customer service desk with ALL the questions you have. If their answers are slow (or sketchy), it's better to steer clear.

2. Check Their System of Safeguards

Don't go near a Forex broker who has few safeguards for protecting you as a customer. Find out the name and contact information for their regulatory body. What protection does that organization provide - and is it hard to shake it loose? Are the funds of clients shielded from possible fraud or bankruptcy?

3. Do They Offer a Free Trial Account?

A very common introductory inducement is a free trial trading account. Basically they're giving you "play money" to practice with. When choosing a Forex broker this trial account gives you an excellent opportunity to learn exactly how the system works and to see how you might profit or lose when you move on to using real money. Some brokers also offer training videos for beginners, or even send out an actual Forex broker to help you in person. The level of service the broker provides during your free trial is a good indicator of how you'll be treated once you sign up as a customer. You'll also learn how their system functions, meaning you'll already know your way around before your own money hits the table.

4. Check Out the Extras They Offer

Most of the reputable and trustworthy brokers offer pretty much the same kinds of tools for you to work with. Some processing fees are a bit higher, some a bit lower. Some offer free trading advice while others offer the simulated trading mentioned above with a practice bankroll of $50,000 or so. Most reputable Forex brokers will also have basic lessons in online trading available. The training may come to you via email or by DVD. Also check to make sure they can provide customer service 24 hours a day.

5. How Secure Is Their Online Server?

One of the most crucial elements is security. Your Forex broker absolutely must provide a fully secure trading environment to keep your personal details private and the money you invest safe from theft.

6. Check for Hidden Charges

Are the Forex brokers you're investigating totally upfront regarding costs? It's a good idea to ask them specifically about hidden costs and also whether they offer special terms for more frequent trading. You have a right to expect - and receive - full transparency from your broker in all operations. When you're choosing a Forex broker, any questions about costs, returns or other information should be met with prompt, understandable and honest answers. If they waffle, drop them.

7. Compare Several Free Trial Offers

Actually using a number of different free trial offers is one of the best ways to compare the look and feel of each Forex broker's online trading platform. Is it a good fit? Is one of the interfaces more logical-seeming or more comfortable than the others? Check to see which you'd prefer using long-term. Some websites even offer charts comparing the features between larger brokers so you can instantly see which services are offered and how their operations differ.

8. Are They Far Away or Local?

Your safest choice is to choose a Forex broker in your local area. That way, you and your broker are both close to the authorities you'd be contacting for help if anything went wrong. Another factor is the currency your broker uses - is it the same as your local currency? An offshore broker would be denominating all transactions in their local currency, which could involve extra fees and affect your returns.

9. Is Their Trading Platform a Good Fit for You?

Another vitally important factor to consider when choosing your Forex broker is the trading platform they use. This includes the currency pairs offered and their typical spread (difference between bid price and asking price). Once you've opened and used practice accounts with a few brokers, you'll have enough experience to judge which platform is the best fit for you.

Remember, the broker you select is the person who will stand beside you in any success or failure you have. Don't opt for failure before you even begin by choosing a bad broker with a disreputable or dishonest record. Thoroughly research all the brokers on your shortlist and be sure to spend some time with their practice accounts. This ensures that, when choosing a Forex broker, you'll know how they operate before you ever spend a penny.

1. Is it regulated?

The first question you have to ask yourself is: is the broker I want to use Regulated ? There must be no doubt about this first point. All regulated brokers must submit financial reports to regulatory authorities, and when they fail to do it, authorities have the right to fine them or terminate their membership. This enforces Forex brokers to keep transparent financial reports.


The brokers must be regulated by their local regulatory authorities, for instance, for brokers based in the US , they must be regulated by the NFA (National Futures Association) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), Swiss based brokers must be regulated by the FDF (Swiss Federal Department of Finance) and so on.



Also when a Forex broker is regulated allows investors to dispute any resolution, increasing the investor protection.
2. Trading Conditions

This point refers to the features of the trading platform and the trading conditions with the chosen broker. Amongst the most important factors are:


Spread - Obviously the smaller the spread on currency pairs the better the conditions are for investors and traders.


Platform execution - Trading execution refers to how fast and consistent are the execution of trades. Some brokers guarantee fast and transparent executions during normal market conditions.


Fractional trading - Some brokers allow investors and traders to trade on a fractional basis, instead of trading full lots "100,000 units" or "300,000 units", they allow you to trade "163,345 units" or "325,911 units". This is very helpful for trades risking certain percentage of their balance on each trade.


Safety of funds - We need to make sure our trading funds are kept in a segregated account or at least insured.