Forex Trading: A Brief History

By Bart Icles

The foreign exchange or forex market is perhaps the biggest market in the world. With the leverage, high liquidity, and availability it offers - not to mention its low dealing costs, more and more people are becoming interested in engaging in forex trading. Although the forex or currency trading market is largely the sphere of financial institutions, practically anyone who is interested in forex trading can learn the basics, engage in the market activities, and earn the benefits.

So how did the foreign exchange come to be? One can say that it all started with the introduction of minted coins to trading. As years passed, stable governments introduced paper as "I owe yous" and gained popular acceptance during the middle ages. These paper "I owe yous" later became the foundation of what we know today as currencies.

With the rise of banks and central banks came the concept of the convertibility of currencies into gold. Prior to World War I, exchanging paper money for gold did not happen often. On several occasions, the failure to print paper money in proportion with a government's gold reserves led to inflation that in turn resulted to political instability. To counteract these devastating results and protect local national interests, governments started to agree on foreign exchange controls to keep market forces from reproving monetary irresponsibility.

After World War II, countries faced the biggest challenges on monetary inflation. To address this, governments have reached the Bretton Woods agreement that suggested a currency exchange system built on the US dollar. This resulted in a system that dealt with fixed exchange rates that reinstated the gold standard to a certain degree, fixed the value of the US dollar, and fixed the value of other main currencies to the dollar.

In the 1960s, national economies moved in different directions that placed the Bretton Woods agreement under increasing pressure. For quite some time, several realignments helped keep the system alive but the Bretton Woods agreement finally collapsed in the early 70s when President Nixon suspended gold convertibility in August 1971. However, governments continued to trade currencies based on fixed rates, and even set off regional efforts to stabilize the monetary volatility.

The European Economic Community or EEC introduced another system based on fixed exchange rates. This came to be known as the European System of 1979. Although this modern system almost met its end in 1993, efforts to stabilize currency continued in the region and it has successfully renewed the attempts to fix currencies and replace many of these currencies with the Euro.

Today, the foreign exchange market remains to be one of the most lucrative and dynamic trading markets in the world. It continues to exist not only to facilitate trade and investment, but also to place appropriate value on multifarious international currencies. - 23212

About the Author:

A forex trading system is powerful when coupled with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Learning forex trading systems takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.

Ways to Find a Forex Scalper Robot

By Davion Wong

Forex trading can be done on a short-term basis, and in order to automate these trades, a Forex scalper robot is now used by some traders. Although long-term trading is still popular, some people choose to take advantage of the currency fluctuations within minutes or hours. This is basically what scalping entails.

In order to make profits out of scalping, you will need to make several trades within a single day. Scalpers take advantage of the movements in the market within hours. One such example is the period when the US currency market is closing and when the European currency market is just opening. Typically, many day traders are known to prefer scalping when making Forex trades.

With the fewer risks associated with Forex scalping, many traders are tempted to go with this course, rather than to go for long-term trading. As long as you keep making regular profits for each trade you make, you will eventually gain quite a sum at the end of the day. To do away with manual trades, a scalper robot for Forex trading can be utilized.

Many first-time traders are worried that they may not be able to make a few pips from their regular trades. In scalping especially, you will have to keep your eyes open for fluctuations, trends, as well as the opening and closing of the currency markets. This can be time-demanding and highly strenuous for anyone. If you want to automate your trades, you can get a Forex robot scalper instead.

Since there are various robots marketed on the web nowadays, you should be able to pick the scalping system perfect for your trading requirements. Your scalping robot should help you take advantage of the currency fluctuations in the market, so as to be successful in Forex trading. A Forex scalping robot needs to have the needed applications valuable in short-term trading.

In the world of Forex trades, long-term trading is still preferred by many traders who want to be more consistent in their strategies. For those who are into long term trading, the profits could be substantial in the long run. This does not mean however that short-term trading does not offer enough chances for profits.

It is highly important that you choose a reliable, updated and well-automated scalping system. Even with the higher costs associated in scalping; it is still possible to gain excellent trading profits through it.

For more about getting a competent Forex scalper robot, drop by my website anytime and learn how you can find one. - 23212

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Declaring your dividends

By Samatha Ferguson

Dividends are payments from shares, unit and investment trusts, which, investors hope, are not only regular (usually twice a year) but also rise over time to reflect the companys (or trusts) growing fortunes. Dividends are taxable as income.

The good news is tax on UK share dividends is deducted before you get it. If you are a basic rate taxpayer, you dont have to do anything else. Nontaxpayers and ten per cent taxpayers dont need to do anything either. But theres bad news here: You cant reclaim the deducted tax under any circumstances. Even though its called a tax credit by HMRC, we refer to it as a deduction to save confusion.

Top-rate taxpayers have to declare dividends on their self-assessment form and have the cash ready to pay the gap between the 40 per cent rate and the tax deducted.

Whether you get income from unit trusts, investment trusts, or individual shares, look at the date the dividend was declared and ignore the period for which the dividend applied. A 10p a share dividend for the year ending 31 December 2006 declared on 1 May 2007 and paid on 1 June 2007 counts as part of your 2007 " 08 return, not the 2006"07 calculation.

If you invest for long-term growth in shares that pay low or no dividends, youll pay less income tax. But dont forget these shares tend to be riskier. And you can get hit for capital gains tax on your profits.

Dont forget if you are near the top of the basic rate ladder " earning around $36,000 a year " your dividends can push you into the top tax bracket. For instance, if you earn $36,500 and have $3,500 of dividends youll be over the $39,825 (in 2007"08) basic rate tax limit for a person aged under 65.

Dividends from stocks traded in foreign markets can be tough to deal with. You may have to convert dividend payments into sterling as well as account for them separately.

You need to fill out the foreign income pages of the self assessment form. The UK has double taxation agreements with most foreign countries. The effect of these agreements is to cap the tax due on foreign-sourced income so you are no worse off as a result of possibly being taxed twice.

Many stock market companies have schemes by which shareholders can opt to receive new shares to the value of their dividends rather a dividend cheque. Even if you choose this option, you still have to declare the value of the new shares and any balance carried forward in cash because it is not large enough to buy a share. Youre liable for tax on re-invested dividends in just the same way as a cash dividend. - 23212

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Learn How to Invest Today from the basics to advance. Find financial freedom from debit and other money issues by learn how to invest and learning to control your money.

Forex Training: Forex Market Background

By Bart Icles

If you plan to engage in foreign exchange (forex) trading, it would be to your advantage if you arm yourself with substantial knowledge of the foreign exchange market. Forex trainings are all over the Internet and there are even some consultants offering help on educating yourself about the dynamic forces that go about the forex market. If you take a look around, you can choose from numerous forex training programs available. With the massive number of forex trainings that can help you in your learning, you can easily conclude that they cover a wide range of topics. Varied as they may be, one of the common factors that these different forex trainings have is that they all help you understand the complex milieu of the forex market.

One the most rewarding markets that has opened its doors to various traders is the forex market. It continues to attract new traders and investors because of its identifiable trading patterns, and comparatively low margin requirements.

Unlike in stock markets, one can conduct trading in the foreign exchange market without the restrictions of a central physical exchange. Instead, one can arrange for transactions through the telephone or the Internet. Having this kind of transaction structure, the forex market has come to be recognized as the largest marketplace in the planet. It averages a foreign exchange volume of more than $1.5 trillion per day. This high volume allows traders to make faster transactions with lower transaction costs. As a result, a large number of banks, financial institutions, and multinational corporations has seen forex trading as an exceptional investment opportunity.

Most forex training courses or programs also help would-be traders in understanding the significance of trading decisions, and how they affect entry into forex trading. Forex trainings also cover important topics such as controlling risks and exiting trades.

Forex trainings should also assist future forex traders in learning more about forex charts and how to interpret them. At the same time, forex trainings should also make learners understand the value of forex charts to forex trading. Forex trainings must also update learners on technical studies on forex trading, market news and analysis, and current and predicted trading signals.

Take note that no one can become a forex trading expert overnight without going through a comprehensive forex training program. Mastery of forex trading does not only come with a single forex training course, CD, or book; mastery of the market is achieved through continuous learning, additional trainings, and trading experience. - 23212

About the Author:

Using forex trade signals starts with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Learning to use free forex signals is a powerful technique, it takes a good teacher and mentor. But once you learn how to trade using them your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.

Forex Accounts

By Ahmad Hassam

For trading success, good money management is the key. Many traders ignore this aspect of trading at their own peril and get their account blown in a few weeks of trading. Trading discipline means using a trading system based on money management rules that limit your risk and avoid making trading decisions based on emotions.

One of the worst blunders that trades can make is to try to trade without sufficient capital. This does not mean that you should have a lot of money before you start trading; it only means that you need to have enough capital in your account to take advantage of the movements in the markets. Low capital increases your chances of getting blown out.

The minimum amount required to open a standard account with many forex brokers is $2000. You can start with $2000. However, it is recommended by most of the professional traders that you should start with at least $5000 to get good results. A trader with limited capital is always a worried traders always looking to minimize losses beyond the point of realistic trading. Never ever trade live without practicing on the demo account for a few months.

A standard account or a regular account (often also called 100k account), lets you trade a $100,000 standard lot with a $1000 deposit. This $1000 is kept as the margin by the broker. This is a 1% margin. Your account should have more than $1000 if you want to trade a $100k lot.

You can change the margin account to whatever you feel comfortable with. When you open an account with the broker, you must determine what the default margin is. If you start at 2% margin, then it will cost you $2000 to trade one standard lot.

You can get a leverage of up to 200% in most of the standard accounts. Using 200% leverage means trading $200,000 with a $1000 deposit. Too much leverage is dangerous. Dont use more than 4% leverage while trading in the beginning.

Its not that leverage is bad. It is a double edged sword that cuts both ways. It increases your profit but at the same time wipes you out in case of a slight miscalculation on your part. Its just that you need to understand and learn how to use it. You can only do so with practice. With practice and more experience, you can increase the level of leverage in your trading.

Mini accounts are great for beginners. You can open a mini account with most of the brokers with a deposit of only $300. The mini account was developed to accommodate investors who were looking for bringing more diversification to their stocks portfolios. This small dollar requirement allows many small investors to participate in the forex markets. Many were previously unable to do so. Some brokers offer micro accounts as well.

On a mini account, you have different lot sizes as compared to the standard account. One lot on a mini account means $10,000. You only need $50 to control a mini lot of $10,000. A pip size on the mini account is equal to $1 instead of $10 as on a standard lot.

If you lose 100 pips on a mini account, it means losing only $100. Losing 100 pips equal $1000 on a standard lot. A mini account reduces your risk by 10%. But it also reduces the profit that you can make by 10%. Start with at least $500 on a mini account. A mini account is a great way for new traders to practice forex trading. First develop the feel of how the forex markets work. Once you become an expert, trade on a standard account. Standard lot gives you the opportunity to make good ROI. - 23212

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading and swing trading stocks and currencies. Discover A Revolutionary New Forex Robot. Develop your own Forex Trading System.