Posts Tagged ‘trading in forex’

Order Types in Forex

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

There are different types of orders that a Forex trader can use to trade in Forex.

We begin by explaining that the Market Order: This is the most basic type of order and commonly used. A market order is an order to buy or sell at the existing price of purchase or sale. When you want to enter a position in the market quickly, with the best price available at that moment, you should always place a market order (Market Order). The disadvantage of a market order is that if the markets move quickly, sometimes it can enter your order with a different price to that you wanted or was initially. But to explain more extensively see below for a list of various types of orders.

The types of commands you can use when trading are:

• Market Order (Market order): It is an order placed to enter or exit the market at current market price, may be the “Ask” the “Bid” or the quoted price at the time of execution. May be the sales price or purchase price.
• Limit Order (Order to ensure profit) is an order placed to enter or exit the market at an exact price or a better price without scrolling. It is when an traders sets the price at which you want to close your position and ensuring the resulting profit.
• Stop Loss Order (Order Stop to stop the loss) An order placed to enter or exit the market at an exact price which, once reaching that price and market order is executed. This is used in the event that the Forex market is not in the expected direction. The trader sets the maximum amount (in terms of pips) that is willing to lose in a given operation.
• To gain (Take Profit): This is another command you can close your position for you automatically and is called take profit (Take Profit, sometimes abbreviated TP). A take profit order ensures that your position is closed if its price target is reached while you are away, or a fast-moving market where price can reach the target price too quickly to react.

We recommend having both a stop and a target price, when you open a new position in The Forex Market. A trader can set a target price above the current price if you are in a long position and below the current price if you are on a short position. For long positions a trader should take profit order and executed when the price (bid) equal to the amount you set, and the price for short positions (ask) must equal the amount of the take profit order.

For a better understanding of the subject see the following example: a position opened at a price of 1.1502 (Purchase Order). Under the stop loss order, the position is closed if the price drops to 1.1491. The position will be closed if the price reaches 1, according to the order of limits.1507. All that you set when you start the trading and can leave the computer while it has already established its limits, and so on.

In another example, suppose you think the USD / CAD are trading at 1.2696/1.2699. Then you believe that the USD / CAD, which is currently trading at 1.2696/1.2699, will continue its upward trend. So, he believes the pair could break above 1.2707, which would generate at least 50 pips. So you should place an entry order with a stop at 1.2707.

In other words we can say the following:

If you put a sell order above the market it is called the stop order to lock in profits. If it was reversed and you place an order below the market, this is also called a stop order to lock in profits or limit order. If you place a sell order below the market’s stop is called stop-loss or stop order. Traders place orders above and below market, with orders to stop losses and lock in profits.

All entrances to the market must have three orders:

• Order Entry
• Order Out to stop potential losses
• Order start to ensure potential earnings.

If you want to enter the market by buying, you need two orders of sale. One for losses is called stop-loss order and a stop order to lock in profits or limit order. Yes, for some reason you decide to enter the market by buying you will want to place a protective stop-loss order or stop loss order, just in case it is not desired. But if the market is in your favor you’ll want to get away with what will be an order to sell for profit or limit order.

The execution procedures are really simple:

1.    One Cancels Other (OCO / One cancels the other): After entering the market place a stop order to lock in profits (Stop Limit) and a protective stop order or Stop loss. Either the first or second cancels the other order, you can set it and forget about your computer for a while. OCO orders are a combination of both types of orders, with the price and the limit stop. When one order has been executed, the other is automatically canceled. OCO orders can be used in open positions or to open a new position

2.    Orders cancellation / replacement (Cancel / replace order): Any order that you cancel and replace with a new order.

3.    Order stop / reversal (Stop / reverse order), a stop / reversal is an order has been placed for execution at a certain price. Arrived at that price, the original position is liquidated and a new entry is generated in the opposite direction, so as to relocate the trading in the opposite direction and price of the stop order.

Remember that getting an education and a steady secure learning, enjoying being a successful trader. To view other articles see the following link:

http://forexandpips.com/forex-articles/

The Realm of Automated Systems: The Forex Market

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Just how important is an automated system to the Forex trading system?

Before we answer that question, let us first find out how big the trading market is. From there, you can get to know the importance of automated systems for the Forex market.

It is real that Forex is the most extensive market around the world not just in terms of average daily turnover and average revenue per trader. It is the largest market in terms of participants.

You name it, we’ve got it. See the following:

BANKS- they are not just for saving money and lending capital to enterprisers, but they are also one of the greater players in Forex market. Banks cater both to large quantity of speculative trading and daily commercial turnover. Well-established banks can trade billions of dollars worth of foreign currencies. Some of the trades are accepted on behalf of their clients, but most are through proprietary desks.

COMMERCIAL COMPANIES- these commercial companies trade small amounts of foreign currencies compared to larger banks and their trades produce small and short-term effect on the market rates. However, the trade flows from transactions made by commercial companies are vital factors with regards to the long-term direction of the exchange rate of a certain currency.

CENTRAL BANKS- central banks play an important role in the Forex market. They have the control over the supply of different currency, inflation, and interest rate. Additionally, they have also official target rates for the currencies that they are handling. They are responsible for stabilizing the Forex market by using foreign exchange reserves. Their intervention is enough to stabilize a certain currency.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS- these firms commonly manage huge accounts on behalf of their clients such as endowments and pension funds. They are using the market to promote transactions, specifically in foreign securities. An investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

RETAIL FX BROKERS- they manage a fraction of the total volume of Forex market. A Forex broker estimates retail volume of between 25 to 50 billion dollars each day, which is presumably at 2% of the total market volume.

SPECULATORS- these are individuals who purchase and sell foreign currencies and profit through variations on its price as opposed to popular methods such as interest and dividends. They play the important role of transferring the risk to individuals who do not wish to bear it.

Only in Forex market, there are already six major players partaking on the $1.8 trillion worth of daily turnover. With a large number of traders in the market, it is becoming a real need to switch from manual to automated Forex trading system.

Among the major Forex players mentioned above, the automated trading system is of great advantage to the speculators. Since they focus on the price fluctuations of several foreign currencies in order to profit, the real time data analysis will help them identify trades that will give advantage to them.

There are several automated Forex trading systems available in the market. There are also automated Forex systems that are offered for free or as part of their trading account acquired from their Forex brokers or agents. That kind of complimentary system packages are typically elementary trading system. If you are looking for more functions, you can avail of it through additional payments.

There are two kinds of automated Forex trading system. These are discussed in the following:

Desktop-based system- all Forex-related data are stored on your desktop’s hard drive. This system is unpopular to traders due to the susceptibility of all data to computer virus, contamination and security problems. Worse, when the computer malfunctions, all vital information might be lost and cannot be retrieved (unless you have some back-up files of your own). However, it is little expensive compared to the other types of automated trading system.

Web-based system- the security of your Forex account and other data are supplied by your web-based provider. These are hosted on secured servers. It is also convenient considering that there will be no software required and it is universally compatible with your Internet browser.

You may also try different automated trading system demos first so that you will be able to opt for the automated system that suits your personal preference and needs.

Even if you are just a small-time trader, it will be an advantage for you to use an automated Forex trading system for your future trades.

If you would like to have more information please click here: The Forex Market