Forexunderstanding

The presented article covers one of the most important (in authors opinion) aspects of trading in general and FOREX trading in particular managing of orders and positions. This includes choosing entry points, making decisions about exit points, stop-loss and take-profit of the trader. I hope this article will help new traders, who just began to work with FOREX, and also to experienced traders who trade regularly and regularly make or loose their money to the market.

When I started to trade FOREX and made my first big losses and profits I began to notice when very important thing about the whole trading process. While the right time to enter a position was rarely a problem for myself (nearly 80% of all my open positions had gone into the green profit zone), the problem was hidden in the determining the right exit point for that position. Not only was it important to cut my risk on the potential losses with stop-loss orders, but to limit my greediness and take profit when I can take it and make it as high as I can. There are many known guidelines and ways to enter a right position at a right time like major economic news releases, global world events, technical indicators combinations, etc. But while the entering into a position is optional and trade can decide to miss as many goodbad entry point moments as they wish, this is untrue if we talk about exiting a position. Margin trading makes it impossible to wait too long with an open position. More than that, every open position in a certain way limits traders ability to trade.

Choosing the good exit points for positions could be an easy task if only the FOREX market wasnt so chaotic and volatile. In my opinion (backed by my trading experience) exit orders for every position should be toggled constantly with time and as the new market data (technical and fundamental) appear.

Lets say, you took a short position on EURUSD at 1.2563, at the time you are taking this position the supportresistance level is 1.25001.2620. You set your stop-loss order to 1.2625 and your take-profit order to 1.2505. So now, this position can be considered as an intraday or 2-3 days term position. This means that you must close it before its term is over, or it will become a very unpredictable position (because market will differ greatly from what it was at the time you have entered this position). After the position is taken and initial exit orders are set, you need to follow the market events and technical indicators to adjust your exit orders. The most important rule is to tighten the lossprofit limit as time goes by. Usually if I take a middle term position (2-4 days) I try to lower the stop and target order by 10-25 pips every day. I also monitor global events, trying to lower my stop-losses when very important news can hurt my position. If the profit is already quite high, I try to move my stop-loss the entry point, making a sure-win position. The main idea here is to find an equilibrium point between greed and caution. But as your position gets older the profit should be more limited and losses cut. Also, trader should always remember that if the market began to act unexpectedly, they need to be even more cautious with exit order, even if the position is still showing profits.

Every trader has their own trading strategy and habits. I hope this article will make its readers think about such an important aspect of trading as the exit orders and this will only improve their trading results.

Comments on Forex Trading Account Sizes, Lots and Margin Calls.

Forex trading is one of the best business opportunities you can think of joining these days. No other market in the world allows the Leverage that the profitable world of currency-trading does. Leverage is all about margin trading. In the Forex market, it is essentially the ratio of the amount used in a trade to the required security deposit needed, by the particular broker you chose to use, for that trade.

Normally, for most brokerages, a margin deposit of just 1,000 allows you to control a 100,000 position in the Forex market. That’s 100:1 leverage, or 1%. Or, said in a different way, a regular full-sized account, sometimes referred to as a 100k account, allows you to trade with lot sizes equal to 100,000. Each lot is worth 100,000 in currency. So It would only require 1,000 to trade one lot.

This great feature in Forex trading is what makes this market the hottest market to trade in right now. The Forex broker has given you a loan of 99,000 pounds secured only by your 1,000! This is a huge loan and, as you may know by now, this is what allows traders to make extraordinary incomes in this market. And, as you also are probably used to hearing , “leverage is a two-edged sword” , it is what can cause you to lose a lot of money if you trade without rules or Stop-loss orders.

But just as an example, let’s say you were a person that likes to trade with reckless abandon, i.e., with no strategy, no common sense, no money- management principles, etc. Thats never recommended for anyone, but being a Forex trader has such great advantages, that even someone with a trading mind like the one described before, will never lose more than what he has placed into a trade.

Unlike Futures (Commodity Trading), the market that most people associate with High leverage, you can never have a debit balance when trading Forex.

So, despite the greater leverage associated with FX trading, it is still arguably less risky than futures trading. Futures markets are often prone to sudden and dramatic moves, against which you cant protect yourself, even by trading with protective stops. Your position may be liquidated at a loss, and youll be liable for any resulting deficit in the account. But because of the Forex markets great liquidity and 24-hour, continuous trading, dangerous trading gaps and limit moves are very unprobable. Orders are executed quickly, without slippage or partial fills, which is just great.

And as it was not enough, there are no margin calls, for your protection, the forex broker’s trading platform will automatically close out some or all of your open positions if your account equity, meaning the total floating value of the account, falls below the level required to hold the positions. Think of this as a final, automatic stop, always working on your behalf to prevent a debit balance.