Getting started as an online Forex trader

Whether you’re a novice or an experienced trader, this section will help you make the most of online trading online with MetaTrader 4. We’ll help you to get started on MetaTrader 4 and give you all the help you need to read and understand the trading markets.

Here you can learn how to read the ever-changing market and understand the various forms of market analysis using MetaTrader 4 – our online trading platform

By downloading the risk-free Demo Account, you will be able to trade the Forex market with virtual money.Then when you’re ready to open a Live Account, we’ll be here to help make sure you understand the process every step of the way.
1: Open a Demo Account.

You can apply your knowledge in a real-life trading environment without risking your money.

Demo accounts are used for:

  * Developing and testing trading strategies:
  * Gaining confidence and familiarity of the trading platform;

  * Apply your Risk Management strategies and learn from the results:

www.forex4you.com

Alpari (UK) provides institutional-level online FOREX trading services and technologies.

The catalyst behind Alpari’s success is its dedication to invest in institutional-level online trading proprietary technologies, comprehensive market analysis and educational tools, as well as delivering world-class customer service.


With daily trading volumes now reaching billions of US Dollars, we are committed to improving our clients trading experience. Consequently, to handle the demands of increasing trade volume and to advance the quality of execution, we are happy to announce the introduction of two new account types - Micro and Classic.

  * MICRO ACCOUNTS
  Micro accounts are designed to accommodate traders who are new to the Forex market and service clients who are trading relatively small volumes. Demo Accounts will never be able to simulate the psychology behind risk and the fear of making a loss; this is where Micro accounts are effective because they help to introduce the Forex market to novice clients without exposing them to excessive risks because trade size is limited.
  Micro accounts allow users to trade only via MetaTrader4.

  * CLASSIC ACCOUNTS

  Classic accounts are designed to accommodate experienced retail traders as well as professional traders, as there is no maximum trade size, no maximum open position and a minimum trade size of 0.1 lots, while the trade size increment remains flexible at 0.01 lots.

* Place market orders with just one click

  * An excellent option for news-event traders

* Choose from "One-Click," "Double-Click," and "Click and Confirm" trading modes

There are three trading modes to choose from:

  * Click and Confirm
  * One-Click
  * Double-Click

The default trading mode for all accounts is "Click and Confirm."

You also can choose your order type ("At Best" or "Market Range") for the "One-Click" and "Double Click" modes in this window. Click here to learn more about "At Best" and "Market Range" order types.


Click and Confirm

This is the default trading mode. Every time you buy, sell, or close a position, you will receive a confirmation window with the parameters of the order. This allows you to easily check that you have keyed in your order correctly before making it.


One Click

To open a buy or sell position, simply click on the "Buy" or "Sell" price for the currency pair you want. You can set the number of lots you want to trade in the dealing rates box before clicking on the price.

www.forex.com/uk

www.online-spread-betting.com

Spreads below are displayed in pips.

XCM's No Dealing Desk* aims to provide transparent and fair execution. Every trade is executed back to back with one of the world's premier banks or financial institutions, which compete to provide FXCM with bid and ask prices. The best spreads available to FXCM are streamed to you with a small markup, which is generally one pip or less for major currency pairs.

Lower Spreads

  * Euro/U.S. dollar spread is frequently 2 pips, British pound/dollar 3 pips
  * Trade on rates provided to FXCM by multiple global banks
  * FXCM's monthy trading volume of over $365 billion drives price competition
  * Fractional pip pricing facilitates the tightening of spreads even further

No Dealing Desk Execution

  * No conflict of interest between broker and trader
  * No dealer intervention in trades
  * Price providers (banks) do not see your stops, limits, and entry orders
  * Competition reduces the potential for market manipulation by price providers

No Trading Restrictions

  * Trade during breaking news
  * Place entry orders anywhere—even inside the spread
  * Scalp the market
  * Rollover transparency—all amounts are displayed in advance
  * Receive positive rolls at all margin levels

Why Trade at FXCM
www.freshpips.com
An average of over $365 billion in notional volume is traded each month on trading platforms offered by FXCM. As a result, we have obtained close banking relationships with some of the world's largest and most aggressive price providers. Having multiple price providers is especially important in volatile markets, when one or two banks may post wide spreads, or simply avoid quoting any price at all. With so many major banks quoting prices to FXCM, there are competitive spreads, even during market-moving news events. .

FXCM does not take a market position—eliminating a major conflict of interest. A dealing desk broker, which acts as a market maker, may be trading against your position. However, with our No Dealing Desk execution, we fill your orders from the best prices available to us from the banks. While an individual bank may try to skew its prices off the market, the unattractive price on the bid or ask side will lose the price competition and as a result, not factor into the prices streamed to you. At FXCM, prices are not subject to manipulation by a broker or a banks dealing desk.

www.finotec.com

source
http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184173304-c0031008-46481

WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers on Wednesday said tighter regulation of hedge funds may be necessary to protect ordinary investors from unforseen losses.

That was the consensus among many Democrats, and some Republicans, at a House hearing focused on Bush administration recommendations for managing the economic risks posed by hedge funds and their high-dollar cousins, private equity firms. But lawmakers also expressed uncertainty about how to proceed without further study of the issue.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184165855-c0031008-39705

The Bush administration recommendations, made in February, call for increased vigilance on the part of regulators, investors and lenders, but not any new regulation.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and other members of the House Financial Services Committee voiced concern about the fallout from the recent near collapse of two hedge funds managed by Bear Stearns Companies Inc.

Since many public pension funds invest in hedge funds, such difficulties could hurt the retirement savings of schoolteachers, firefighters and other employees, members of the committee said.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184169252-c0031008-42951

"I don't think anybody can be entirely confident that everything is well here, but neither is it obvious what to do," said Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Frank said the panel wouldn't "rush to regulate," but he noted that many of the bad loans that have roiled the mortgage markets were made by brokers and other unregulated entities.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184169134-c0031008-42840

The Bush administration guidelines were issued by the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, which was formed after the 1987 stock market crash. The group is led by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson and includes the heads of the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The hearing is the third in a series by the House Financial Services panel this year on hedge funds and private equity firms, which are attracting increasing scrutiny in Washington.

ttp://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184247765-c0031008-37818

Both have grown rapidly in size in recent years, heightening their potential impact on the broader financial markets

Hedge funds, which trade rapidly in everything from commodities to real estate to complex derivative investments, now control approximately $1.4 trillion in assets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday adopted a new anti-fraud rule for hedge funds. The rule, adopted by a unanimous vote of the five SEC commissioners, makes it a "fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative act" for hedge fund managers to make false or misleading statements to or otherwise deceive investors or prospective investors.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184241153-c0031008-31416

source: http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184193720-c0031008-54210

WASHINGTON (AP) - Private equity firms that sell shares to the public should be designated as investment companies, a category that would have meant more regulation for Blackstone Group, Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said during a House hearing that the Securities and Exchange Commission made a mistake last month when it refused to classify the New York-based Blackstone as an investment firm before it proceeded with its initial public offering.

Such a classification would have required Blackstone to disclose more information about its holdings, set up an independent board of directors and limit the amount of debt it could take on.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184204237-c0031008-02223

Most mutual funds are considered investment companies and are subject to those rules.

Critics of Blackstone's initial public offering, including labor groups such as the AFL-CIO, said it could set a dangerous precedent because the SEC allowed a private equity firm to go public while escaping strict regulation.

If more private equity firms and hedge funds follow a similar route, Kucinich said, ordinary investors will have access to high-risk investments that were formerly restricted to more sophisticated investors. Kucinich chairs a subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184199898-c0031008-01006

Last month, Kucinich and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., joined the AFL-CIO in asking the SEC to delay Blackstone's public offering as a result of their concerns, but the New York-based firm proceeded with its IPO June 27 and raised $4 billion.

Private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts&Co. and Och-Ziff Capital Management LLP are both planning initial public offerings later this year, while other firms such as The Carlyle Group are rumored to be considering doing so.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184197658-c0031008-00531

The firms have faced increasing scrutiny in Washington as they engage in ever-larger buyouts, such as Cerberus Capital Management's $7.4 billion purchase of DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit and Blackstone's $26 billion acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corp.

The Senate Finance Committee held a separate hearing Wednesday on whether the huge earnings of private equity and hedge fund managers should be subject to higher taxes.

Andrew J. Donohue, the SEC's director of the division of investment management, defended the agency's decision in the Blackstone case and said the private equity firm is "more akin to an investment adviser."

The SEC concluded that the value of investment securities held by Blackstone and Fortress Investment Group, the first private equity firm to go public, was less than 40 percent of the firms' total assets --the definition of investment company under federal law, Donohue testified. That's partly because Blackstone sold shares in its management entity, which is separate from its investment funds.

John C. Coffee, a professor at Columbia University Law School, told the House members that there are other ways to increase the oversight of partnerships like Blackstone.

The SEC should urge the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to require partnerships to accept similar corporate governance rules that the exchanges require of other companies, Coffee said, such as an independent board of directors and shareholder voting rights. Partnerships are currently exempt from such rules.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184173140-c0031008-46284
http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184176214-c0031008-48227

source:http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184227674-c0031008-18752

WASHINGTON (XFN-ASIA) - The United States said it is considering forging a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan but ruled out a free trade pact in the immediate future.

The two sides raised the possibility of an investment accord during annual talks under a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which usually precedes a free trade pact.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184229930-c0031008-20827

"Both sides agreed to intensify discussions of possible concrete steps to deepen bilateral cooperation in the investment area, including the possibility of a bilateral investment agreement," said deputy US Trade Representative Karan Bhatia.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184218376-c0031008-07408

"Basically, it would commit both sides to a high standard of investment protection," he told reporters.

Taiwan has been seeking a free trade pact with the US, its key investor, trading partner and top arms provider. Annual US-Taiwan trade is valued at about 60 bln usd.

Resolutions have been adopted in the US Congress and at least 39 of 50 US state legislatures support an FTA with Taiwan, but the US administration and business community are reluctant to pursue it with vigor due to concerns over the likely adverse reaction from Beijing.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184218386-c0031008-07417

Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979.

Bhatia said an FTA prospect with Taiwan did not arise because the administration of President George W. Bush had lost its nearly five-year-old Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), known as "fast-track" on June 30.

"In the absence of TPA, any discussion of FTA will be premature," he said.

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184226454-c0031008-17499

Under the TPA, the administration negotiated trade agreements that could only be approved or rejected by the legislature, but not amended.

www.gencappartners.com

source:

http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184216416-c0031008-06276

Forex - US dollar gains vs yen after Bank of Japan leaves key rate unchanged

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - The US dollar strengthened against the yen after the Bank of Japan on Thursday kept its overnight call rate target unchanged at 0.5 percent for the sixth straight meeting, as widely expected by the market.
http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184205642-c0031008-02680
At 2.17 pm (0417 GMT) in Sydney, the dollar was trading at 122.35 yen, up from 122.29 yen in early Asia trading, while the euro was at 1.3754 dollars, up from 1.3748 earlier.

The Japanese central bank said the vote by its nine-member policy board was eight to one, with Atsushi Mizuno voting against the proposal by BoJ governor Toshihiko Fukui to leave the overnight call rate at the current level.

"The BoJ's decision and the vote were largely as expected by the market, including Mr Mizuno's dissenting vote," said Mitsuru Sahara, a senior manager at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184176818-c0031008-48479
Currency markets are now awaiting Fukui's speech which is due to begin at 3:30 pm Tokyo time (0630 GMT).

Sahasa said unless the BoJ governor indicates that a rate hike in Japan is unlikely next month, then the currency market will not likely be affected too much by his remarks.

He said the market is currently looking at a 70-80 percent chance of a rate increase in Japan in August. The BoJ's next policy meeting is on August 22-23.
www.forextradingsoftwarenextgeneration.com
Elsewhere in Asia, traders will again find themselves short of key data releases for the second consecutive night and range trading will likely dominate into Friday.

NAB Capital strategists said carry trades are likely to remain supported following the BoJ's decision.

"With no change in the glacial pace of interest rate increases, it's hard to see why Japanese investors won't continue to invest abroad in high-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar," they said.

CMC Markets chief analyst Ashraf Laidi said the US dollar/yen currency pair could stabilize around the 122.10 yen level if US equity markets continue their recovery from this week's earlier sell-off.
http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184173669-c0031008-46709
But he said the greenback's weakness is becoming more structural in nature, suggesting renewed losses down to 121.60 yen and possibly further to 121.20 yen. Key support for the US dollar remains at 120.75 yen, he said.

Laidi said that while a rebound in US equities should boost the euro on rising risk appetite, a decline in US equities may not be as negative for the euro as proven in previous episodes.
www.childtrendsdatabank.org
"Traders must also watch the price of gold. If we see a decline in equities accompanied with rising gold, then this reflects a sign of reduced risk appetite coupled with overall dollar weakness from subprime (lending) woes," he said.
http://www.forexhelp.com/news-1184173304-c0031008-46481

1. Narrow your objectives.

You probably won't be able to achieve every financial goal you've ever dreamed of. So identify your goals clearly and why they matter to you, and decide which are most important. By concentrating your efforts, you have a better chance of achieving what matters most.

2. Focus first on the goals that matter.

To accomplish primary goals, you will often need to put desirable but less important ones on the back burner.

3. Be prepared for conflicts.

Even worthy goals often conflict with one another. When faced with such a conflict, you should ask yourself questions like: Will one of the conflicting goals benefit more people than the other? Which goal will cause the greater harm if it is deferred?

4. Put time on your side.

The most important ally you have in reaching your goals is time. Money stashed in interest-earning savings accounts or invested in stocks and bonds grows and compounds. The more time you have, the more chance you have of success. Your age is a big factor - younger people (who have more time to build their nest egg) can invest differently than older ones. Generally, younger people can take greater risks than older people, given their longer investment horizon.

5. Choose carefully.

In drawing up your list of goals, you should look for things that will help you feel financially secure, happy or fulfilled. Some of the items that wind up on such lists include building an emergency fund, getting out of debt and paying kids' tuitions. Once you have your list together, you need to rank the items in order of importance (if you have trouble doing so, use the CNNMoney.com Prioritizer for help).

6. Include family members.

If you have a spouse or significant other, make sure that person is part of the goal-setting process. Children, too, should have some say in goals that affect them.

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7. Start now.

The longer you wait to identify and begin working toward your goals, the more difficulty you'll have reaching them. And the longer you wait, the longer you postpone the advantage of compounding your money.

8. Sweat the big stuff.

Once you have prioritized your list of goals, keep your spending on course. Whenever you make a large payment for anything, ask yourself: "Is this taking me nearer to my primary goals - or leading me further away from them?" If a big expense doesn't get you closer to your goals, try to defer or reduce it. If taking a grand cruise steals money from your kids' college fund, maybe you should settle for a weekend getaway.

9. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Although this lesson encourages you to focus on big-ticket, long-range plans, most of life is lived in the here-and-now and most of what you spend will continue to be for daily expenses - including many that are simply for fun. That's OK - so long as your long-range needs are taken into consideration.

10. Be prepared for change.

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