No matter how well you did in school or what kind of IQ you have, we all need specialized training in certain areas. The forex market is no exception to this. Forex training should be a prerequisite for anyone considering getting serious about trading world currencies for profit.
Is formal training truly necessary? After all, there are plenty of books and online articles on the subject. Wouldn’t it be enough to read them on your own and getting into the market without going through the hassle of official training?
Well, look at it this way. You could read manuals on how to fly a plane, but you probably wouldn’t want to try it for real without getting some hands-on training first in a simulator. By the same token, you shouldn’t jump into buying and selling currencies without getting some training first. You might be able to manage successfully without it, but you’ll be so much better prepared with it.
Many forex platforms offer simulators or practice accounts. In these, no real money is involved. It’s pure simulation, giving new traders an up-close-and-personal look at the market without any financial risk. In these demos, you get all the charts, figures and other data you’d get if you were doing it for real. It’s excellent practice for the real thing.
How much training you need depends on how serious you are about joining the marketplace. If you truly want to make money buying and selling currencies, it might be wise to get as much training as possible.
We all know that most Forex platforms offer a demo account with thousands of dollars for you to start your experience with Forex trading. These demo accounts have their pros and cons, as you can read here.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could start trading with real money and make real profit, without risking your own? I'm not talking about some type of cashback after you deposit. I'm talking about an account with real money deposited into it without you having to deposit a single dime.
Plus500, a great platform, very easy for anyone to use, offers an account with 20 Euros if you just register and verify your phone number. At Plus500 you can trade Forex, Stocks, Commodities, CFD.
I sincerely think it's worthwhile to try it. Click here to register and start trading for real in no time.
Last week gave some extraordinary opportunities for Forex traders to make profits from going long on the U.S Dollar. The two leading fronts on which the USD marked unique gains are against the EUR and the GBP.
It appears that the USD saw this bullish trend as a result of some unexpected positive news, especially regarding the housing sector. Last week, both the Existing Home Sales, and the New Home Sales, delivered better than expected figures, reflecting in 4.72M residential buildings that were sold during February, and in 337K new single-family homes that were sold during February as well. This data came as a big surprise, as analysts had quite gloomy predictions for the two reports, and therefore turned a very strong uptrend for the Dollar. In addition, as you all must remember, this entire recession began as a result of a deep crisis in the U.S home sector, and now a series of positive result from that sector has managed to elevate the USD so rapidly. Another positive data which came last week were the Durable Goods Orders indices which delivered both much better than expected figures. Whilst analysts anticipated negative growth in the total value of new purchased orders for durable goods during February, the real figures showed almost 4.0% growths.
As for the week ahead, two major events will most likely determine the Dollar's direction for the upcoming week. The first will be the Pending Home Sales which is currently expected to continue to positive line of the housing sector; however a surprising negative result could create some worries among investors regarding the U.S economy. The second major news event will of course be the Non-Farm Employment Change, expected on Friday, 12:30 GMT. as proven many times before, investors are putting a lot of faith in the credibility of this survey, and as such react immediately to its results.
Traders are advised to follow those two leading economic indicators as they are likely to set the tone for the USD trading this week.
EUR
Would the ECB Cut Interest Rates to 1.00% Later On This Week?
An extremely volatile week, which included many ups and downs, concluded with a deep drop for the EUR. The EUR/USD dropped to almost 1.32, and the EUR/JPY fell below 129.50.
The first reason for the EUR drop was the strengthening Dollar, which rose against the EUR as well. The second and even greater reason was the unwillingness of the European Central Bank (ECB) to create a rescue plan for the European Nation, which could somehow imitate the American plan. Investors are now seeing the U.S economy as a dynamic, flexible economy, in which its leaders are doing all they can in order to salvage the situation while they can. On the other hand, the European monetary system is beginning to be seen as a conservative organization, which is reluctant to react to the rapidly changing conditions of the global economy. Investors are thirsty for a European rescue plan, and if one shall arrive, it will probably signal an uptrend for the European currency.
As for this week, the ECB will announce the new Minimum Bid Rate on Thursday, and is widely expected to cut Interest Rates by 0.5% to merely 1.00%. Some might say that this move is too little, too late, as the U.S, Japan and Great Britain have all lowered their Rates below 1.00%, without succeeding in making a real change in their economies. Nevertheless, if indeed the ECB will decide to cut Interest Rates, an immediate reaction of a drop in EUR value is expected.
Forex traders are also advised to follow Jean-Claude Trichet's speech on Monday, as he may discuss the possibility of cutting Interest Rates. Such comments could have massive influence on the market.
JPY
The JPY Looks to Halt Its Bullish Momentum
Over the last trading week the JPY saw rising trends against the EUR and the GBP, and experienced mixed results vs. the USD. The JPY underwent it most remarkable bullish trend against the EUR, as the EUR/JPY dropped to the 129.40 level.
Last week the Japanese Trade Balance showed a difference of -0.04T between exported to imported goods during February. Although this is a negative figure, it was much better than the -0.29T which was expected. This indicator has an immense impact on the Japanese economy as it relies greatly on its export activity. Also last week, the Tokyo Core Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in price of goods and services, rose by 0.4% in March, also indicating that the Japanese economy is on the phase of expanding, and not contracting.
As for the week ahead, most of the impacting data will be delivered from the Euro-Zone and the U.S economy. Nevertheless, traders should follow the Tankan Indices, which are expected on Tuesday night. These surveys cover a wide range of the local manufacturers, and thus have a large impact on the Yen. Analysts forecast extremely negative figures for the indices, and such result might generate a bearish trend for the JPY.
