Thursday, October 16, 2008

Investment Strategies for Beginners by Dr Joshua Geralds

Beginners are usually very zealous investors, but unfortunately also more often than not uninformed. This is a sad fact, because it is certainly no fun to lose all the money you have borrowed or save for the purpose of growing it. Although there is much to learn about trading Forex, getting a good grasp on the basics is very important. In fact the key to making money is in the basics and not all the advanced stuff. For a new trader learning what works best is the single most important step to take.

In Forex there are different types of tools that help us traders define and interpret the market data. In this article let's explore the 2 most commonly used tools and their strategies.

First is Fundamental analysis, heavy weights like Warren Buffet and George Soros swear by Fundamental Analysis. Fundamental analysis is news, it is information that will sway the minds of people and cause them to behave in a certain manner. A savvy trader whop knows how to "read the wind" will know from which direction this "wind" is blowing and then trade accordingly. Fundamental Analysis helps define the trend and for all traders trading with the trend is always good as that increases your probability of a successful trade. For example if the trend is on a downtrend, you should look at your set ups to go short. Since the trend is already falling, there will be more sellers than buyers, if you become a buyer; you basically give your money away to the sellers! Unless you have a lot of money to spare my honest suggestion is sticking to trend trading regardless of the trading plans you use. A counter trend trade is always risky and frankly I would rather not lose any hair by taking such risk as the returns do not justify the actions.

The second newer tool is Technical Analysis, the fact that there are charts means that you are using technical indicators already! Technical analysis is defined as the study of past price actions to determine future movements. Pure technical analysts believe that history will repeat itself and look to the charts to show this as the case. In a way that is correct, as a trader you deal with people, and people tend to be fairly predictable if charted on a large scale. Individually humans are hard to guess, but when you start taking large groups of people and then track their actions over a long period of time you will see patterns emerge. That is what technical indicators do, they define these patterns and then based on what we know happened in the past, there is a high probability that it will happen in the future. For example, you use 2 indicators on your candlestick chart, a stochastic slow and 2 EMA lines. When the stochastic hits a oversold position and the 2 EMA lines cross upwards you go long (buy) when it is in reverse you go short (sell)

Regardless of what sort of tools you decide to use, always integrate them with proper money management. For money management is the only way that will allow you to make consistent profits and grow your account steadily.


About the Author

Dr. Joshua Geralds is a successful investment specialist with over twenty years experience increasing the income of people world wide. For a limited time get his free Money Management to a Million Dollars e-course here: http://www.pipsalot.com


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Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Power of Technical Analysis by Daniel Kertcher

Technical analysis is the study of share prices. By researching the past performance of a share, we can gain an insight into how it will likely perform in the future.

To fully appreciate the power of technical analysis it is important to understand the basics. There are three key principles upon which technical analysis is based:

● Everything is discounted and reflected in market prices.
● Prices move in trends and trends persist.
● Market action is repetitive.

Let's examine each principle in detail.

The first and most important principle is that everything is discounted and reflected in market prices. All knowledge, regardless of type (fundamental, political, economical, psychological or other) is already reflected in market prices.

It can be time consuming studying fundamental information such as company financial statements, earnings and P/E ratios in an attempt to determine the potential for a share to rise in value. The real value of a share at any point in time is determined solely by supply and demand, as reflected in trades made at the stock exchange.

Technical analysts do not care what the underlying forces of a shift in supply and demand are; instead he or she is interested in what occurs to the price.

If demand is greater than supply, prices will increase. On the other hand, if supply is greater than demand, prices will decline. The study of market prices is all that is necessary to make money from the stock market.

The second principle on which technical analysis is based is that prices move in trends and trends persist.

The supply and demand balance sets a trend in motion. Once in motion, a trend remains intact until it ends. For example, if a stock's price is moving up, it will continue its rise until there is a clear change in direction.

It is far easier to follow the trends, rather than fight them. The old Wall Street adage, "the trend is your friend" is true because, once begun, a trend is likely to continue once it is in place. A trend will usually give us warning that it is about to change direction. The warning can sometimes last a day or longer, so it is important to become familiar with recognising the signs.

The final key principle on which technical analysis is based is that market action is repetitive. Certain patterns appear time after time on charts. These patterns have meanings that can be interpreted in terms of probable future price movement. Although not infallible, the odds are in the analysts' favour. Common reversal patterns include Double Tops, Shooting Stars, Doji's and Head and Shoulders.

These patterns, when seen during an uptrend (bull run) consistently identify a likely trend reversal, i.e. a fall in share prices.

Human nature is such that it tends to react to similar situations in consistent ways. As a rule, people will act the same in the future as they have in the past. Since the stock market is a reflection of the actions of people, technical analysts study it to determine how people will react under certain conditions and thus, how share prices will move. Technical analysts analyse the recurrence of similar characteristics in an attempt to identify the likely future price direction.

As you can see, technical analysis can be defined as the study of individual share prices and the overall market based on supply and demand. Technical analysts record, usually in chart form on a computer, historical and up-to-date price and volume activity and deduce from that pictured history the probable future trend of prices.


About the Author

Passionate and energetic, Daniel Kertcher is an investment specialist with over 15 years experience in property, stocks, options trading, CFDs (contracts for difference), technical and fundamental analysis, futures and commodities trading.

Daniel is currently CEO of Platinum Pursuits. For more information, visit Daniel Kertcher


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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Trading Rule Part 1 - Set the Difference Between Novice and Professional Trader

If you ask me what is the major difference between a novice and a professional trader, the difference is whether he or she set the trading rules and follow the rules. There are thousands set of trading rules that you can create or follow, what I recommend is that you do not need to create a certain of trading rules, you can just follow them which came from the famous investor and traders.

One of the famous investor that I admire and respect a lot is Warren Buffet. In his world, rules are more important than anything. His famous quote is as follow:

Rule 1: never lose money 
Rule 2: never forget rule no 1

Funny enough? But the fact is, many people understand the importance of setting rules but never learn to follow the rules.

For part 1, I would like to share the rules that I follow before I enter the market.

Rule 1 - Always do market research before market open: 
Open your CNBC or any finance website to get the latest update, understand what's happening in the market right now. Either is it oil price drop, or some where having a war, focus on news that may be making any impact to the US market and the stock you are trading. After learning the news, try to figure out the market sentiment, for example, is oil inventory going lower a good thing to the market? Certainly not! With the latest news in hand, it will help you to make a better decision when entering the trade.

Rule 2 - Limit your trading size: 
Do not over trade, always make sure you have enough money to play for the next game. Thumb of rule is always using 1/20 of your total money for each trade. If you have $5000, each trade is $250, in that case you can have 20 games to play.

Rule 3 - Give your trade a reason: 
Before entering the position, make a note and jot down what makes you buy or sell certain options, as well as what strategy you use, and why? Put all this down in your trading journal, so that you can revise it back. If you end up a loss, make sure you understand where the problem is. If you earn a profit, remember what you did right.

Rule 4 - Set exit level: 
When you see a potential trade, holds your trigger, make sure you set your exit level before clicking the button. Many people are good traders, they know when to enter the trade, but do not know when to get out. You need to set two exits, one for your stop loss, one for your profit limit. Especially for stop loss, set at the level that you are comfortable with your risk level, from the technical point of view, you can set your stop loss at certain support level, when the stock break through the next support level, cut the loss and run.

To learn more about options trading, please find out from TraderWork.com Always trade with your passion!

I love options trading and I am here to share my humble experiences so that you can be benefited from it. You can find out more from http://traderwork.com Always trade with your passion! Cheers!


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