How to Trade Forex? It's a Piece of Cake!

By Steve Maenshel

How to trade Forex? Trading Forex is a snap. It might be hard to believe, but Forex trades merely consist of selecting one of the currency pairs, selecting the amount of the base currency, and defining whether you would like to buy or to sell at that time. Once you have placed your first order, you will merely have to wait for a time to exit your transaction at a profit. How to trade Forex profitably? Learn the main rules of Forex trading.

Trading with a Demo Account

The easiest way to learn how to trade Forex is using a demo account. Any mistake that you make while trading on a demo account will not incur any losses. For example, if you buy or sell the currency at the wrong time, if you click the "wrong button" while trading, and so forth. Give your demo trading enough time. Jumping into live trades before you do your homework will merely put you among the 90% of the day traders, who fail in Forex.

Currency Pairs

There are lots of different currency pairs, and you should choose the right one. It is a good idea to choose the most traded currency pair, when you are just starting to learn how to trade Forex. This currency pair is USD/EUR. No matter what currency pair you select, you should try to learn its distinctive features well, before proceeding to trading other currency pairs. This is very important because every currency pair will have its own distinctive features as well as the reasons behind the fluctuations of this currency pair, such as various fundamental factors.

Currency Quotes in Forex trades

Learn to understand the currency quotes, because Forex trades are done in terms of quotes. Quotes are two-sided, and involve two prices: Bid price (price at which base currency will be sold, simultaneously buying the counter currency) and Ask price (price at which base currency will be bought, simultaneously selling the counter currency). Understanding of Bid/Ask is one of the first steps in learning how to trade Forex.

First currency in the quote is the base currency, and second currency is the counter currency (also called quote currency or terms currency). In the example of the USD/EUR currency pair, USD is the base currency and EUR is the counter currency. The value of the base currency is always 1. The value of the counter currency is calculated against the base currency, i.e., 1 USD = 0.7422 EUR. Prices in the terms of quotes are expressed through pips, which are usually the 4th decimal point. Once you understand the currency pairs, you will be well on your way in the process of learning how to trade Forex.

Understanding Leverage and Margins

In order to safeguard your capital, learn how to trade Forex without taking leverage from a broker. If you can put down a small amount of your own money (called margin), the dealer will provide you with more money (called leverage). Leverage will allow you to trade with more lots. Is margin trading good or bad? Same as bank loans and mortgages, margin trading may be both good and bad. While providing you with more opportunities, it will also tremendously increase the possibility of losses.

No matter what dealers may say, they often do not care much about the outcome of your trades. Dealers are similar to banks, which are willing to provide you with a loan, and they do not care much if you will lose your property for example. You will still have to pay back the loan, as well as the interest to the bank. You should try to never trade on a margin since the outcome may be frightening. You should consider trading on a margin only after you gain sufficient knowledge of how to trade Forex.

It's very easy to learn how to trade Forex. However, how to trade Forex with a profit? Allow enough time to train on a demo account before proceeding to real-life trading. - 23196

About the Author:

The author: Steve Maenshel can you help you navigate how to trade the forex markets. For more forex trading information, visit his forex resource center.