The FOREX, FX or foreign exchange market is the place where currencies from one country are traded for the currency of another country. Forex futures trading accounts for a very small percentage of the trillions of dollars that are traded in the forex market on a daily basis. Forex trading strategy involves buying currency whose exchange rate will increase, while simultaneously trading out or selling a less valuable currency. Forex futures trading strategy is basically the same. The difference is that an investor may choose to contract to buy or sell a specific currency at a specific price on a future date. If you are interested in forex trading, you are probably not actually interested in forex futures trading. Not many people do it and there is no fundamental difference between forex futures and the traditional futures market, but forex trading has quite a few advantages over the traditional futures market. First and most important for many people is that forex trading platforms are available through websites 24 hours a day; there is no central exchange as there is in the futures market. Forex trading is commission free trading. There are no National Futures Association Fees. Forex trading offers higher liquidity and price certainty since getting in and out of positions tends to happen with lightning speed. The price quoted for a futures contract, on the other hand, is not necessarily the price for which the contract will be filled. By using forex trading online platforms, the investor can see real time prices and exchange rates. There also tends to be a controllable amount of risk with forex trading; the required margin amount can never exceed the dollar value of an account. Forex trading strategy is also quite different from futures market investing and desired results -- other than making money of course -- are different. Before beginning to trade, education is important, devising a forex strategy and what you need from that strategy is important, and choosing a broker or website trading platform and deciding what you need from them is also important. As previously alluded to, there are no commissions charged by forex brokers. Forex brokers make their money on the spread. To the investor, this means that a lower spread saves money. As a final note, education on forex trading and the futures market, as well as assistance in developing a strategy are available from many websites with a trading platform. We cover some of the best with our top recommendations. Our recommended newsletter is written by forex pros and includes mentoring and analysis of current factors influencing currencies. |
