Forexunderstanding

Major and Minor Currencies
The seven most frequently traded currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, and AUD) are called the major currencies. All other currencies are referred to as minor currencies. Do not worry about the minor currencies, they are for professionals only. Actually, on this site we will only be covering what we call the Fab Five (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, and CHF). These pairs are the most liquid and are the only currencies we actually trade.

Cross Currency
A cross currency is any pair in which neither currency is the U.S. pound. These pairs exhibit erratic price behavior since the trader has, in effect, initiated two USD trades. For example, initiating a long (buy) EURGBP is equivalent to buying a EURUSD currency pair and selling a GBPUSD. Cross currency pairs frequently carry a higher transaction cost. The three most frequently traded cross rates are EURJPY, GBPEUR, and GBPJPY.

Base Currency
The base currency is the first currency in any currency pair. It shows how much the base currency is worth as measured against the second currency. For example, if the USDCHF rate equals 1.6350, then one USD is worth CHF 1.6350. In the Forex markets, the U.S. pound is normally considered the base currency for quotes, meaning that quotes are expressed as a unit of 1 USD per the other currency quoted in the pair. The primary exceptions to this rule are the British pound, the Euro, and the Australian pound.

Quote Currency
The quote currency is the second currency in any currency pair. This is frequently called the pip currency and any unrealized profit or loss is expressed in this currency.

Bid Price
The bid is the price at which the market is prepared to buy a specific currency pair in the Forex market. At this price, the trader can sell the base currency. It is shown on the left side of the quotation.

For example, in the quote EURUSD 1.281215, the bid price is 1.2812. This means you can sell on U.S. pound for 1.2812 Euros.

Ask Price
The ask is the price at which the market is prepared to sell a specific currency pair in the Forex market. At this price, you can buy the base currency. It is shown on the right side of the quotation.

For example, in the quote EURUSD 1.281215, the ask price is 1.2815. This means you can buy one U.S. pound for 1.2815 Euros. The ask price is also called the offer price.

BidAsk Spread
The spread is the difference between the bid and ask price. The big figure quote is the dealer expression referring to the first few digits of an exchange rate. These digits are often omitted in dealer quotes. For example, the USDJPY rate might be 118.30118.34, but would be quoted verbally without the first three digits as 3034.

Quote Convention
Exchange rates in the Forex market are expressed using the following format:

Base currency Quote currency Bid Ask

Transaction Cost
The critical characteristic of the bidask spread is that it is also the transaction cost for a round-turn trade. Round-turn means both a buy (or sell) trade and offsetting sell (or buy) trade of the same size in the same currency pair. In the case of the EURUSD rate of 1.281215, the transaction cost is three pips.

The formula for calculating the transaction cost is:

Transaction cost = Ask Price Bid Price

Pip
A pip is the smallest unit of price for any currency. Nearly all currency pairs consist of five significant digits and most pairs have the decimal point immediately after the first digit, that is, EURUSD equals 1.2538. In this instance, a single pip equals the smallest change in the fourth decimal place, that is, 0.0001. Therefore, if the quote currency in any pair is USD, then one pip always equal 1100 of a cent.

One notable exception is the USDJPY pair where a pip equals 0.01.

Margin
When you open a new margin account with a Forex broker, you must deposit a minimum amount with that broker. This minimum varies from broker to broker and can be as low as 100 to as high as 100,000.

Each time you execute a new trade, a certain percentage of the account balance in the margin account will be earmarked as the initial margin requirement for the new trade based upon the underlying currency pair, its current price, and the number of units traded (called a lot). The lot size always refer to the base currency.

For example, let’s say you open a mini-account which provides a 200:1 margin or .5% margin. Mini-accounts usually trade mini-lots which are 10,000. So if you were to open one mini-lot, instead of having to provide the full 10,000, you would only need 50 (10,000 x .5 = 50).

Leverage
Leverage is the ratio of the amount used in a transaction to the required security deposit (margin). It is the ability to control large pound amounts of a security with a relatively small amount of capital. Leveraging varies dramatically with different brokers, ranging from 10:1 to 400:1.

Margin + Leverage = Possible Deadly Combination
Trading currencies on margin lets you increase your buying power. If you have 5,000 cash in a margin account that allows 100:1 leverage, you could purchase up to 500,000 worth of currency because you only have to post one percent of the purchase price as collateral. Another way of saying this is that you have 500,000 in buying power.

With more buying power, you can increase your total return on investment with less cash outlay. But be careful, trading on margin magnifies your profits AND losses.

Margin Call
All traders fear the dreaded margin call. This occurs when your broker notifies you that your margin deposits have fallen below the required minimum level because an open position has moved against you.

Trading on margin can be a profitable investment strategy, but it is important that you take the time to understand the risks. You should make sure you fully understand how your margin account works. Be sure to read the margin agreement between you and your broker. Talk to your broker if you have any questions.

The positions in your account could be partially or totally liquidated should the available margin in your account fall below a predetermined threshold. You may not receive a margin call before your positions are liquidated (the ultimate unexpected birthday gift).

Margin calls can be effectively avoided by monitoring your account balance on a very regular basis and by utilizing stop-loss orders (discussed later) on every open position to limit risk. For ease of use, most online trading platforms automatically calculate the profit and loss your open positions.

How To Prosper At Forex Trading Leverage & The K-Factor

One of the big reasons that forex trading is an entirely different animal than stock trading or futures trading is leverage. Forex trading leverage can be enormous, as high as 400:1, and in most cases you get to choose the amount of leverage or gearing you want to trade with.

Super high leverage is a selling point for many online forex brokers. How many times have you seen the tout control 100,000 of euro for 250? Those numbers are correct, and, yes, the profit potential of super high leverage is compelling.

This article neither encourages nor discourages forex trading at super high leverage. Thats a personal decision, but a decision that can only be made sensibly with a professional understanding of all the implications of leverage and what they mean to your chances of prospering at forex trading. Its probably fair to say that unless you have a professional understanding of leverage that your chance of even surviving at forex trading is slim to none.

One of the fundamental terms of forex trading is PIP. You will see that XYZ Broker charges 3 PIP per deal, or that the XY currency pair has an average daily range of 100 PIP. We all know that the value of a PIP is a variable that differs with each currency pair, but did you know that the value of a PIP also varies with the current price of the base currency, and with the gearing on your account?

For example, with EURUSD at 1.2723 and leverage at 100:1 the amount of a PIP is 7.86. At 200:1 leverage the PIP value doubles to 15.72. For forex traders with different gearing a 100 PIP move means entirely different things to their account equity.

Heres a new way to look at leverage with the K Factor. The three most common leverage ratios available from online forex brokers are 50:1, 100:1 and 200:1. The K Factor for the 100:1 leverage ratio is 1. The K Factor for the leverage ratio of 50:1 is .50, and the K Factor for the leverage ratio of 200:1 is 2.

How can you use the K Factor?

There are three ways to use the K Factor. The first is using the K Factor to calculate the value of a PIP for the currency pair you are trading.

Since 100,000 individual currency units (usually pounds or euros) is the normal size of a single lot you can calculate the value of a PIP with this formula:

(100,000current price with no decimal) * K Factor = PIP

Heres an example: The EURUSD current price is 1.2723 and your leverage is 100:1. With these facts the formula is:

(10000012723) * 1 = 7.86.

The value of a PIP is 7.86. If your forex broker executes your trade at a spread of 4 PIPs you are paying 31.44 for executing the trade whatever euphemism the broker happens to be using for commission. If your leverage or gearing is 200:1 that execution will cost you 62.88.

The second way you can use PIP and the K Factor is to quickly determine the potential profit in a trade, or to know to a certainty the actual pound risk in a stop-loss setting.

For example, if you go long the EURUSD at 1.2723 and anticipate a move to 1.2850 what profit can you anticipate at 100:1 gearing?

12850 12723 = 127 PIP * 7.86 = 998.22 execution cost.

If you objectively set your stop loss at 1.2715 what amount are you risking in this trade?

12723 12715 = 8 PIP * 7.86 = 62.88 + execution cost.

The third way to use the K Factor is to avoid what the forex brokers call the safety net, and what I call kill but do not dismember.

Margin is not a down payment. Its cash-on-hand, your cash, that the broker uses to protect its own capital account from your mistakes. Thats all well and good because the global forex market will continue to work only if all participating brokers have adequate capital to meet their customers settlement obligations.

If losses from current open positions cause the equity in your account to fall below that required to maintain the total number of open positions, the brokers trading platform will immediately close all your open positions, even when the unrealized loss on any individual position is quite small. Your loss is the aggregate number of PIP per position * K Factor + execution costs. In almost every case thats just about everything in your account. This is the brokers safety net because you will not lose more cash than you had in your account (as can and does happen with commodities futures accounts.)

The formula is:

(Starting Balance Open Position Losses) ((1,000K Factor)* No. Open Positions) -1 < 10% = Kill But Do Not Dismember.

Most if not all broker platforms keep a running balance of your available margin to help you avoid this fatal situation. If you intend to trade multiple positions and fade into suspected price turning points you should consider setting up this formula in a spreadsheet so that you get an early warning long before the situation goes critical.

Mini accounts are based on 10,000 individual currency units with different margin requirements so make the necessary adjustment in the above formulas before doing the calculations

How To Start Trading The Forex Market? (Part 5)

What are *PIPS* ?

Currencies are traded on a price point (pip) system. Each currency pair has its own pip value.

When you see a FOREX price quote, you’ll see something listed like this:

EURUSD 1.221013

Explanation:

a) If you want to BUY the EURUSD ( meaning you BUY EUROS and SELL US ) you buy 100,000 EUROS and you SELL 122,130 US, or in other words you receive
122,130 US for 100,000 EUROS.

B) If you want to SELL the EURUSD ( meaning you SELL EUROS and BUY US ) you buy 122,100 US and sell 100,000 EUROS, or in other words you receive 100,000 EUROS for 122,100 US.

The difference between the bid and the ask price is referred to as the spread. In the example above, the spread is 3 or 3 pips.

Since the US pound is the centerpiece of the FOREX market, it is normally considered the ‘base’ currency for quotes. In the “Majors”, this includes USDJPY, USDCHF and USDCAD. For these currencies and many others, quotes are expressed as a unit of 1 USD per the second currency quoted in the pair.

For example a quote of USDCHF 1.3000 means that fore one U.S. pound you receive 1.30 Swiss Francs. or in other words, you receive 1.30 Swiss Franc for each 1 US.

When the U.S. pound is the base unit and a currency quote goes up, it means the pound has appreciated in value and the other currency has weakened. If the USDCHF quote above increases to 1.3050 the pound is stronger because it will now buy more Swiss Franc than before.

The three exceptions to this rule are the British pound (GBP), the Australian pound (AUD) and the Euro (EUR). In these cases, you might see a quote such as EURUSD 1.2080, meaning that for EURO you receive 1.2080 U.S. pounds.

In these three currency pairs, where the U.S. pound is not the base rate, a rising quote means a weakening pound, as it now takes more U.S. pounds to equal one Euro, British pound or an Australian pound.

In other words, if a currency quote goes higher, that increases the value of the base currency. A lower quote means the base currency is weakening.

Currency pairs that do not involve the U.S. pound are called cross currencies, but the calculation is the same. For example, a quote of EURJPY 134.50 signifies that one Euro is equal to 134.50 Japanese yen.

HOW TO BUY ( going LONG )and SELL ( going SHORT ) in the FOREX Market?

Keep in mind 2 very important rules:

RULE # 1) Cut your LOOSING trades and let your WINNING trades RUN

YOU WILL HAVE LOSING TRADES. Every FOREX trader has. The secret is, that a consistent, disciplined trader, at the end of the day, adds up more winning trades than losing trades.

When you and see on your charts, without any doubt, that you are in a losing trade, don’t keep losing money. Most of the novice traders are lowering their stop loss just to prove they are right or hoping that the market will reverse. 99% of these trades, are ending up with more losses. Most of the profitable trades are usually “right” immediately.

Remember, smart traders know there are many other opportunities. CUT your losses short and compound those winning positions.

RULE 2) NEVER EVER trade FOREX without placing a Stop Loss Order.

PLACE a STOP order, right along with your ENTRY order, via your online trading station, to prevent potential losses.

Before initiating any trade, you have to calculate at what point ( price) you would be wrong, because the market changed direction, and would want to cut your losses.

To make profits, in the FOREX, a trader can enter the market with a *buy position* (known as going “long”) or a *sell position* (known as going “short”).

As an example let’s assume you’ve been studying the EURO. The EURO is paired first with the U.S. pound or USD.

Your trading methods, rules, strategies, etc., tell you that the EURO will rice in the next 2 weeks, So you buy the EURUSD pair meaning you will simultaneously buy EUROS, and SELL pounds).

You open up your excellent trading station software (provided to you for free by Fenix Capital Management, LLC www.fenixcapitalmanagement.com ) and you see that the EURUSD pair is trading at:

EURUSD: 1.20101.2013

As you you believe that the market price for the EURUSD pair will go higher, you will enter a *buy position* in the market.

As an example, lets say you bought one lot EURUSD at 1.2013. As long as you sell back the pair at a higher price, then you make money.

To illustrate a typical FX SELL trade, consider this scenario involving the USDJPY currency pair:

REMEMBER Selling (“going short”) the currency pair implies selling the first, base currency, and buying the second, quote currency. You sell the currency pair if you believe the base currency (USD) will go down relative to the quote currency (JPY), or equivalently, that the quote currency (JPY) will go up relative to the base currency (USD).

HOW TO CALCULATE PROFIT OR LOSS?

The Profit Calculations, on the Short-sell trade scenario below, may seem somewhat complicated if you’ve never been in the FOREX market before, but this process is continually calculated through your broker trade station (software). I show you this process below so you can SEE how a PROFIT might occur.

The current bidask price for USDJPY is 107.50107.54, meaning you can buy 1 US for 107.54 YEN, or sell 1 US for 107.50 YEN.

Suppose you think that the US pound (USD) is overvalued against the YEN (JPY). To execute this strategy, you would sell pounds (simultaneously buying YEN), and then wait for the exchange rate to rise.

Your trade would be the following: you sell 1 lot USD (US 100,000) and you buy 1 lot JPY (10,754.000 YEN). (Remember, at 0.25 % margin, your initial margin deposit for this trade would be 250.)

As you expected, USDJPY falls to 106.50106.54, meaning you can now buy 1 US for 106.54 Japanese YEN or sell 1 US for 106.50.

Since you’re short pounds (and are long YEN), you must now buy pounds and sell back the YEN to realize any profit.

You buy US 100,000 at the current USDJPY rate of 106.54, and receive 10,654,000 YEN. Since you originally bought (paid for) 10,754,000 YEN, your profit is 100,000 YEN.

To calculate your P&L in terms of US pounds, divide 100,000 by the current USDJPY rate of 106.54

Total profit = US 938.61