How Choosing the Right Forex Trading Broker can Double Your Profits

By James Smith

The number of traders who have entered the forex market in the last 12 months is staggering. Many have been attracted by the ability to make positive returns while the stock markets plummet. Others are attracted by a market which is open 24 hours a day. Either way, thousands of traders each day are signing up for an account with a forex trading broker. In this article we will examine factors which traders need to take into account when choosing a forex trading broker.

Over the recent 12 months, there have been several unregulated forex trading brokers who have been shut down by the regulators for trying to defraud clients of their funds. One of the most important things to check with your forex trading broker is that they are regulated by the appropriate authorities. So, if you are in the UK, the relevant organsation is the Financial Services Authority, and in the US, it is the National Futures Association, alongside the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A key consideration in choosing your forex trading broker is how much commission they will charge you to make a trade, or how wide the 'spread' is between the bid price and the ask price. Typically, the spread on major currency pairs will be between 2 and 4 pips. Spreads on currencies such as USD/CHF and EUR/GBP will be around three or four pips. Currency dealers with spreads wider than five pips for these currency pairs are best avoided.

Traders from stocks and options who move into forex trading will have a new concept to deal with, called leverage. Each forex trading broker will offer varying levels of leverage. Leverage can drastically increase your forex profits, however it can also magnify your losses. For example, if a broker offers 100 times leverage, this means that if you have a balance of $1000, you can trade with a notional $100,000.

Similarly, if you have a $10,000 balance in your currency trading account, and your forex trading broker offers leverage of four hundred, then you can trade with a notional amount of $4,000,000. The risk of using a lot of leverage means that if your trade is an unprofitable one, then you could get wiped out very quickly, and end up broke.

In the currency market, currency prices move very quickly, in miliseconds, so it is crucial that your forex trading broker can ensure that your trades are executed just as fast, and at the price that you require. So for good measure, before you open a realtime forex account, you should trade with a demo account, and test how good the execution prices are, and whether they reflect the true prices in the currency market.

Another consideration to bear in mind is that you will need a forex trading broker who will provide you with a suitable charting and analysis programme with the trading account. Most brokers today offer MetaTrader charting with their platform, and this is a very useful addon for a forex trader. This enables the trader to take a trade directly off the charts, and ensures that the trader gets the best possible trade position. - 23212

About the Author:

For more information about foreign exchange dealing and choosing a reputable forex trading broker go to Forex Village, a leading forex trading information web portal.

Reasons to Invest in Oil and Gas

By Terry Stanfield

There are many reasons you might consider oil and gas investments. There are many benefits that make this sort of investment look very attractive. Here are six reasons why you might consider investing in oil and gas.

1. Easy to understand and research. Oil and gas investing is an easy investment to understand. You don't have to do years of research as you would in the stockbroker world. The gas investments field is very easy. You can make a good decision on your financial future without being a genius.

2. Potential returns. Returns can have a projection of anywhere from five to ten times the initial investment. This is a very risky investment but you can make a lot of money when oil is found. The investment is in most cases of success is incredibly profitable.

3. The investment. When you get into gas investments and your investment does well you have the potential to be very rich. Money is what it is all about and the industry of oil and gas gives the biggest profit for investors.

4. Immediate results. You can start receiving money when you hit a well as soon as 60 to 90 days. Profit begins immediately. The profit on this type of investment will happen right away and the projections are usually through the roof. There isn't an investment on the market that provides results as quickly as oil and gas has the potential to.

5. Tax deductions. There are many tax deductions you can claim the next time you file your taxes. These deductions can get you a good sized return or make it so you owe less money when you file next year. Oil investments have more tax write-offs than any other investment out there. This is because there is so much about your investment that you can claim. The things you can claim include the tangible and intangible costs, you are given a depletion allowance, and more.

6. If you don't find oil, 100% of your costs can be written off. In the event that you hit a dry hole and find your investment is down the hole and you lose everything you can write off 100% of investment as a loss of a business. This is a very big advantage.

There are many reasons you might consider oil and gas investing as your next big endeavor. If you are looking for something solid to sink your money into this might be it. Oil investments can be a risky decision but you can make a huge profit in the long run. - 23212

About the Author:

Visit Evans Energy's site for information on investng in oil and gas and oil and gas investment benefits.

Trading Strategy: Pyramid Your Profits!

By Jordan Weir

We've all heard the age old adage, cut your losses short, and let your profits run. Yet the vast majority of traders don't use this concept to its fullest. The proper application of this single, pivotal piece of advice can be the difference between showing a profit at the end of the month, and showing a loss. This method is known as pyramiding your profits.

Risk management is one of the most crucial elements of your trading system. Badly managed risk will lead to eventual losses, while well managed risk will lead to profits. A basic principle of speculation is that no more then 5% of your portfolio should be at risk during any trade. On a $50000 portfolio, thats $2500 at risk. This does not mean that you cant invest more then $2500 into a given trade, but it does mean that when setting a stop loss, you need to decide on position sizing accordingly.

To determine your position size, what you do is you take the amount your willing to risk, and divide that by the amount your risking per share (the difference between the stock price, and your stop loss). So on a $20 stock, if your stop loss is at 17.50, and your risking $2500, then you do $2500/2.50 = 1000 shares. Your position size should be 1000 shares.

With your standard trade, that would be hit. An order to sell at a certain price, and order to buy at a certain price, and a stop loss. When your pyramiding your profits though, there's an integral extra step. When the stock has gone up in price, and you have some profits, you add MORE to the position. Lets say it goes up to $22.50, and you decide to move your stop loss up to $21.00. You now have 1000 in gains if you get stopped out. To pyramid your profits, you add that 1000 in gains to your risk amount for the trade, for a total of $3500. Since its now at 22.50, and we can risk up to $3500, then we should purchase another 2300 shares. (3500/1.5 = 2334).

If it gets stopped out at 21, then you made gains of $1000 on the shares bought at 20, but you lost $3450 on the shares bought at 22.50, for a total loss of 2450, which is approximately how much you were risking on this trade. If it then continues to go up to $25/share, then you made $5000 on the shares bought at 20, and another $5750 on the shares you bought at 22.50, giving you a total gain of $10750, while only putting 2500 at risk. By adding shares, or pyramiding your profits, you substantially increased the potential reward of the trade, while maintaining a safe level of risk, and by cutting your losses short, and letting your profits run, your ability to profitably trade the markets will be greatly enhanced.

Make no mistake; this strategy is applicable to long term investors as well. Assuming youre invested in an up trending stock, then adding shares to your investment whenever it breaks above the last high will greatly assist in maximizing the profits from the big overall trends that appear in the markets. If you're investing for longer time periods, its advisable to leave some profit in the case of it hitting the stop loss.

You may have heard the saying, you never go broke taking a profit. This idea is the polar opposite to pyramiding your profits, and is in fact, dangerous. To succeed in the investing world, your profits must be substantially higher then your losses, and that is whats accomplished by a trading strategy such as pyramiding your profits. Cut your losses short, and let your profits run.

The most successful traders in the market aren't the ones who are right on 80% of their trades. Many of the most successful aren't right on 50% of their trades. A few of them aren't even breaking 30 or 40%. What separates the best from the rest isnt how often their right, but how much they make when they're right compared to how much they lose when they're wrong. By pyramiding your profits, you'll make massive gains, and small losses, which is a key to becoming a successful trader. - 23212

About the Author:

Don't even CONSIDER trading another stock before checking out Jordan's website on Stock Trading Stategies. Learn about Stock Option Stategies, Exchange Traded Funds, shorting and more by visiting the Stock and Options Guru!

Ways to Invest in Oil and Gas

By Terry Stanfield

If you are interested in oil and gas investing there are three primary ways you can go about starting your investment. These ways include investing in companies, mutual funds, and commodities. You can make a lot of money in this industry if you are smart about your investments.

Investors consider gas investments to be safe. This is because there are so many ways that someone can invest their money in the industry. You are not limited to only buying stock in a business but there are so many other ways to invest too. It is easy to diversify your portfolio of investments with only oil and gas in the many different ways you can invest.

The primary way to take advantage of oil investments is through company stock. If you find a drilling company that you want to invest in because you believe they will strike oil some time soon you can purchase their stocks. There are tons of companies out there who drill for oil. There are independent companies and medium-sized businesses and more. It is important to know that stock with gas investments does not always provide the largest return on investment.

Mutual funds that have a primary focus on energy is another way you can look at oil and gas investing. A mutual fund in this field may focus on the oil and gas but have stock in many companies in the field. This fund may include large companies and independent companies too. One type of a mutual fund is a drilling fund. This is broken down into two fields; exploratory and developmental drilling. Exploratory drilling is as the name suggests, exploring to find oil and gas. Developmental drilling uses wells that already exist. It monitors the development and production limits.

Gas investments can also include commodities. This includes things like royalty funds, leas acquisition funds, and even combination funds. There are many ways commodities are offered for investments in the oil and gas industry.

There are many ways you can invest in the oil and gas industry. If you are interested in oil and gas investments you should consider looking into the different methods. You can invest your money in company stock, mutual funds, and even commodities. Some investors make a huge amount of profit and some don't. Any type of investing is risky so you should do plenty of research before you do anything with your investment. - 23212

About the Author:

Visit Evans Energy's site for information on investng in oil and gas and oil and gas investment benefits.

Educate Yourself Before Trading Forex

By Hass67

If you want to do anything new in life, you have to first learn it. The same principle applies to forex trading. Forex trading without proper learning and no education is a sure recipe for disaster. If you want to trade forex than you need to first understand how the forex markets work.

Just like by buying tennis racquet or a golf set wont make you a good tennis or a gold player. When as a boy, I started playing tennis; I was a very poor player. Good tennis player would not play with me. But I had an ambition to become a good tennis player.

The whole day I would wait when evening would come and I could play tennis. I would do wall practice. So, I would practice and practice. Sometimes, I would play with my coach.

Everyday before entering the tennis court, I would imagine myself playing very well. Every defeat would strengthen my resolve to win. In six months, I had started defeating the good players who in the beginning did not consider me good.

Becoming a successful forex trader should be your dream. Learn everything you can about forex. Practice and practice! Dont rush.

Your first step should be to digest a good forex trading course. Go through the course again and again. Digest even small points given in the course. Pause and ponder on each line in the course.

The most important steps for you to grasp is to how to identify the behavior of the market at a certain point in time. You can only do this by learning Technical Analysis.

You should be the master of using indicators in your trading. Learn what type of indicators is lagging and what type of indicators is leading.

Grasp every small detail. Go through example of successful trades given in the course. Open the charts learn how to apply the SMAs, EMAs, MACD, Bollinger Bands, Pivot Points etc.

Understanding the principles of money management is must for you. Do not put more than 1% of your account on a single trade. Many traders overlook money management but it is the thing that will determine your long term success. - 23212

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in online trading; stock and forex trading. Know the Best Forex Trading Course. Discover a revolutionary new Forex Robot.

Five Signs of an Oil and Gas Investment Scam

By Terry Stanfield

If you are talking to a company about oil and gas investments it is important to know the signs of a scam. There are scams in every industry or anything that pertains to money. Don't let someone scam you of your money. Here are six easy ways to tell you are talking to a scammer.

1. If you are talking to an oil investments company who claims there is absolutely no risk with the investment, it is a scam. Oil is a risky investment. Any smart investor knows this and any company who tells you otherwise is lying. You can lose every dime when you invest in oil and gas. This is a fact. You can also make a killing, but the risk is very high.

2. If a gas investments company tells you that they have found a well that is guaranteed to make money, you know it is a scam. There is no guarantee that a well is not dry. If the investment firm knew 100% that the well was guaranteed they wouldn't be asking you for your money. No well is for sure. You are taking the risk of the investment that it might not be.

3. Many scammers will tell you that a well known oil company is planning to start drilling in a particular area. Think about your investment. Are you investing in a location, the drilling company, or what? Drilling is about location but you cannot guarantee a location has oil.

4. It is also common for scammers to say they have landed a huge discovery and they want to share it with you for a price. This is not how oil investments work and you should be leery about anything like this. Many scammers offer e-books and other things that claim inside of them is the truth about investing and you will make a ton of money if you buy the products. Don't fall for these types of scams.

5. The Better Business Bureau has many complaints from people about being scammed. If someone gets scammed they are quick to go to this resource. Always verify the company is not ripping people off.

If you are looking into oil and gas investing it is important you do plenty of research. You can trust people but you must always verify what they are saying is true. Many things being said to you may not even be worth wasting your time to verify because they are just not true. Understand that anyone who dumps their money and funds into gas investments is taking a serious risk. There are no 'secret' tips and there is no guarantee, ever. - 23212

About the Author:

Visit Evans Energy's site for information on investng in oil and gas and oil and gas investment benefits.