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    • Month: June 2018

    When and Where Forex is Traded

    A primary reason for the forex market’s popularity among retail forex traders is that it trades virtually around the clock during the usual work week.

    In essence, you can get a competitive quote on the active currency pairs from the Sydney open at 5 PM EST on Sunday until the New York close at 5 PM EST on Friday. Although the best times to trade forex tend to be when two major financial centers like Tokyo and London or London and New York are open.

    A significant advantage of this 24-hour forex trading is that you can leave a Good ‘Til Canceled or GTC order with your forex broker or bank. Such an order will then be worked overnight or even throughout the week until you request that it be disregarded.

    This significantly enhances your chances of being executed at your desired price, which is a good thing if the order involves taking profits at a better level than the prevailing market.

    Read our Previous Article: Forex Majors, Minors and Exotics Currencies

    When Forex Trades in the Major Financial Centers

    The forex trading day starts at 5 PM EST as the market opens in Sydney, Australia. Nevertheless, the start of this trading session can be quite thin and hence dealing spreads can widen and it may be easier for large traders to trigger stop-loss orders.

    Liquidity then grows significantly as Tokyo opens at 7 PM EST. Tokyo’s session subsequently overlaps with the forex market’s primary trading center of London between the hours of 3 AM EST when London opens and 4 AM EST when Tokyo closes.

    New York then opens at 8 AM EST. This starts a very active trading period for the forex market as the trading sessions of the major financial centers of New York and London overlap between the New York open at 8 AM EST and the London close at 12 Noon EST.

    New York then closes and hands off to Sydney at 5 PM EST, as another trading day begins in the forex market.

    Benefits of Trading During Overlapping Sessions

    Although the forex market trades around the clock, the forex market is most active when trading sessions for the major forex trading centers of London, New York, and Tokyo overlap.

    By having more than one major dealing center open simultaneously, the forex market generally sees a higher trading volume and an improved degree of liquidity that can include better-dealing spreads as market makers in both centers compete for business.

    Traders employing short-term dealing strategies like scalping or day trading will often have a better chance to profit during such highly liquid periods.

    Fewer Holidays in the Forex Market

    Although stock markets tend to subject to closure on bank holidays in the country in which they are located, the forex market observes far fewer holidays, and then usually only partially.

    Basically, when a bank holiday closes trading in one country due to a regional, religious or national holiday, other countries that do not celebrate that event often may not close down forex trading at all due to differing cultures.

    For example, Asian countries like Japan may be celebrating the Buddha’s birthday and take the day off, while the forex market will generally remain open in the United States, Australia, and Europe.

    Although trading may be thinned down somewhat and show tighter trading ranges during such partial holidays, you can generally still get a forex quote if necessary.

    Read Next: Forex Market Players – Know Types of Participants

    Forex Majors, Minors and Exotics Currencies

    In the fundamental terminology used in the forex market, each currency is placed in one of three major groups according to their average daily trading volume and liquidity.

    The most actively traded currency pairs belong to the group known as the Majors, while somewhat less active currency pairs belong to the minors. The rarer currencies with the lowest trading volume fall into the exotic currency group.

    The sections below list the currencies corresponding to these groups and describe each currency group in further detail.

    Currencies Listed According to Group

    Some representative currencies included in the three groups and their three letter ISO 4217 currency codes are:

    Majors

    • USD:        United States’ Dollar
    • GBP:        United Kingdom’s Pound Sterling
    • EUR:        European Union’s Euro
    • CHF:        Switzerland’s Swiss Franc
    • JPY:          Japan’s Japanese Yen

    Minors

    Commodity Dollars

    • CAD:              Canada’s Canadian Dollar
    • AUD:              Australia’s Australian Dollar
    • NZD:              New Zealand’s Dollar

    Scandinavian Currencies

    • SEK:              Sweden’s Swedish Krona
    • NOK:              Norway’s Norwegian Kroner
    • DKK:              Denmark’s Danish Kroner

    Exotics

    • RUB:       The Russian Federation’s Ruble
    • HKD:       Hong Kong’s Dollar
    • INR:         India’s Indian Rupee
    • MXN:       The Mexican Peso
    • ZAR:        South Africa’s Rand
    • SGD:       Singapore’s Dollar
    • KRW:       South Korea’s Won

    Major Currencies

    The currencies that are included among the majors tend to have a high trading volume and belong to major economies. Also, most of them are used as reserve currencies by central bank and governments.

    First among the majors in terms of trading volume is undoubtedly the U.S. Dollar, which accounts for over 85% of daily turnover in the forex market. Also, most currencies trade in pairs against the U.S. Dollar, and those pairs that do not include the U.S. Dollar are known as crosses.

    Minor Currencies

    The minor currencies consist of those currencies traded somewhat less active than the majors, although their economies are still significant and they also tend to be active in international trade. The minors can be further broken down into the commodity currencies and the Scandinavian currencies.

    As their name implies, the commodity currencies, or com dollars as they are also sometimes called, correspond to nations that produce and export natural resources. The value of such currencies tends to be linked to that of the commodities they export, like gold in the case of the Australian Dollar or oil for the Canadian Dollar.

    In addition to the commodity currencies, the Minors also include the so-called Scandinavian Currencies or Skandis. These currencies come from the Scandinavian countries of northern Europe that have not yet adopted the Euro.

    Exotic or Emerging Market Currencies

    All other less actively traded currencies make up the Exotics currency group. These currencies tend to belong to developing countries, and for this reason, they are also commonly called emerging market currencies.

    The currencies in this group trade largely as counter currencies against the U.S. Dollar. Also, the markets for this group tend to lack liquidity relative to those for the Majors and Minors.

    Read Next: When and Where Forex is Traded

    4 Tips for Forex System Trading for Beginners

    So you’ve found the perfect Forex system that you want to trade, but you’re simply unable to stay up 24 hours per day for 6 days a week to execute each trade as it is recommended? Join the group. Obviously – Forex system trading requires different tools than those which are used for full time or part-time traders.

    If you’re wanting to have a Forex system traded for you automatically, here are the top 4 tips to help you get things going – without the needs for a costly trial and error period.

    Tip 1: Find an Automatic-Execution Broker

    When it comes to an automated system based on Forex trading, it is essential that you find a broker allowing automatic execution. This means that instead of sitting in front of your computer for the entire day, you are able to let the system automatically trade itself.

    Not all brokers allow automatic execution, and even fewer provide you with the right tools to be able to use a Forex system properly. That’s where IMMFX comes as best.

    Tip 2: Run the Forex System Server-Side

    If you are serious about Forex system trading – you’ll want to look into the possibility of running the system server-side. This means that in order for your system to place trades and close out existing positions, you won’t need to have your own computer running.

    This is pivotal – because imagine what would happen if you had a power cut or an outage with your Internet service provider. Should a trade already be open, the system wouldn’t be able to monitor price movements, and therefore wouldn’t be able to close the trade if it wanted to. A server-side Forex system, however, would continue to operate, regardless of the state of your home computer.

    Tip 3: Constantly Monitor the System

    It might be easy to set and forget your Forex system – but it is absolutely vital that you continuously monitor it. Whilst many systems limit the potential drawdown of an account, it is up to you to ensure that you have enough capital in your account to meet your Forex broker’s requirements.

    Tip 4: Ensure you have enough Account Capital

    A margin call is the last thing you need when trading with a Forex system. Ensure that you have enough capital in your account at all time, and furthermore be sure that you do not run close to having your open trades closed by the broker as a result of insufficient funding.

    Managed Forex Accounts Are They Worth Opening?

    A Managed Forex Accounts basically constitutes an account that can be used for trading on the currency market. The main difference between a regular and a managed forex account is that managed forex accounts are taken care of by professional financial experts who are experienced in trading in the currency market. A managed forex account is suited to someone who does not have the time or the expertise to trade in the currency market but who wants to put his money in the currency market.

    Opening managed forex accounts is somewhat different from opening a regular forex account. This is due to the fact that to open a managed forex account, one needs to put in a lot of investment. This is due to the fact that professional service providers charge hefty fees and are not interested in trading on accounts having an investment that is quite small.

    A managed forex account is the perfect way of earning a return of 10-12% per month on your investment without doing any kind of work. This is possible due to the fact that these accounts are in the hands of people who have a lot of experience of trading in the currency market and are ready to provide their services to you on a commission basis. Apart from this, these investors have access to latest technical and analytical tools to help them analyze the current market scenario before investing, something that a regular or common trader is lacking in.

    Managed forex accounts are also helpful because most of the novice traders, who want to invest huge sums in the market, do not have the time to keep in touch and follow the round-the-clock operating forex market. Another added advantage of having such an account is that you need to not pay any fees or commission if no profit is being generated from your investment. On the other hand, the commission is not based on the amount of time spent on trading on your investment; it is based on the profit generated. Commissions in managed forex accounts are generally pre-determined and are a percentage of the profit generated.

    But there are several things that need to be kept in mind while opening a managed forex account. The first is that since a large amount is being invested, the company should be checked for its legitimacy. Also, details such as the amount of fee charged, commission rates and expertise of the trading staff need to be kept in consideration while opening a managed forex account in a company.

    Thus, in conclusion, it can be said that opening a managed forex account is the first step towards generating profit from your investment and enjoy monthly gains without having to worry about anything.

    IMMFX has just developed a new Investment tool that will guarantee constant monthly ROI tailored in a newly created IMMFX Managed Investment Account.

    Forex Trading Scams – things you need to know

    SCAM is always there, where there is MONEY. This is just a fact of life. Sadly, due to the very nature of the online forex trading industry, trillions of dollars being exchanged each and every day, and likewise, forex trading scams are happening on a daily basis also.

    So how do you spot forex trading scams before they bite you in the wallet? We’ve compiled a list of handy tips which might save you in the long run.

    Spotting a Forex Scam

    Thankfully, most forex trading scams come in one form managed accounts. Now, we want to make this very clear from the outset: not all Forex managed funds are scams. In fact, there are a number of managed funds which are genuinely profitable.

    In the past, many traders have had vast success with managed funds. But do you actually know what they are? In essence, a managed fund is a pool of money, where a single trader (or a group of professionals) places ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ orders with the groups’ money, on your behalf. That means that you trust them to make trading decisions which reflect your trading ideas.

    As you can imagine – a large level of trust is needed here. For a managed Forex fund to be successful – the head traders literally need full access to your account, and they can basically do anything they want to with your money (except withdraw it).

    How Forex Scams Work

    If you are unlucky enough to invest in a managed fund scam, there are a few obvious signs which might follow. Take a look at these indicators:

    • The fund makes extraordinary profits well beyond what you expected.
    • The website of the fund mysteriously disappears now and then.
    • The contact details for the fund managers are missing or incorrect.
    • Performance records are inconsistent or incomplete.

    These are the best ways to spot a Forex scam. If you see any of these things – you should think twice about investing your money in a Forex Managed Fund.

    Of course, these are not the only ways to spot a Forex scam. The best way to prevent yourself from falling into one is to read reviews of different Forex programs on the internet before committing your money to a particular one.

    This way, you will be able to see what other people think about the program, and how their experiences have been. You can bet your house that if someone has been scammed, it will be streamed to the ends of the earth for you to hear about.

    Learn more from our forex blog to be updated with the Forex Trading Scams and make your journey safe in online forex trading.