Foreign exchange fraud is a collective term referring to any scheme that intends to defraud traders through deception, convincing investors of high returns by trading on the forex market. In essence, the foreign exchange market is a zero-sum game, wherein one person experiences gains while another suffers from losses.

We all know by now that online investments are pretty risky. This is especially true in the foreign exchange landscape. There is an abundance of forex scams online, initiated by scammers who get their confidence from the Internet's anonymity. Identifying a scam from a legitimate forex trading activity is imperative to protect yourself from financial ruin.

Aggressive forex brokers

Recovery from a forex scam can be arduous and slow for its victims. Before you become one, it is best to recognize the typical warning signs. Legitimate forex traders are not aggressive when marketing their expertise or service to prospective investors. On the other hand, if a few forex brokers or companies persistently contact you whom you do not know personally, it is best to proceed with caution. If you are interested in forex trading, seek references from people you know.

Exaggerated claims of high returns

A classic indicator of a forex fraudster is exaggerated claims of massive returns on modes investments. It is most likely a scam if you are promised guaranteed high returns. The success of your investment is highly dependent on a highly volatile market. You may receive returns quickly, or you may not. But a company that purports consistently high returns is giving you false claims because it is not feasible in the foreign exchange trading market.

High spread offers

The standard spread ranges between two to three points in USD/EUR. Be cautious when approached by a forex trader that offers up to seven points spreads. Bear in mind that major currency pairs have a price of four decimals.

Use of complicated jargon

Forex scammers take advantage of their knowledge of the forex exchange market by using complicated jargon when preying on their victims. Terms like risk disclosures and terms of use are often used to limit their liability should investors suffer losses along the way.

Withdrawal restrictions

If you are attempting to withdraw funds from your account and cannot do so, it might be time to start worrying about your investment. If a broker provides you with a vague explanation or unclear apology when this happens, you need to re-consider your investment, or better yet, pull out before losing more money.

Blacklisted broker

Avoid brokers who fail to provide you with the proper credentials at all costs. You want a trustworthy person to manage your account. Do due diligence and check out regulating bodies to verify if a forex broker has a good legal standing in the foreign exchange market.

Conclusion

It is recommended to partner with a regulated broker with a well-established reputation, flawless track record, and has positive feedback from previous and existing investors to avoid becoming a victim of a foreign exchange trading scam. While the allure of quick returns is hard to dismiss, it is best to err on the side of caution and be more thorough in your vetting process.

Understanding the relative strength of currencies is a way to understand which pairs are bullish or bearish, confirm the pairs you want to trade, and the best time to trade a pair. In forex trading, currency strength is one of the main determinants of the value of currency pairs and can be used by short-term traders to develop news trading strategies.

Since the currency strength of a pair can increase or decrease depending on the factors affecting such currencies, traders need to have good knowledge of what relative currency strength is and how to calculate it. 

What Is Relative Currency Strength?

Relative currency strength is the purchasing power of a currency when traded against other foreign currencies or used to trade products. It is also a technical indicator used in technical analysis by forex traders to chart the historical and current strength or weakness of currency pairs based on the recent trading periods.

There are about 27 currency pairs traded in the forex market, with 7 of them being the major currency pairs. These pairs are chosen because they are economically stable and demand insufficient qualities. However, with so many currencies available for traders, it can be difficult to choose which is most beneficial to trade and that is where relative strength comes into play.

Why Are Currency Strengths Compared?

The forex market is unique because it involves trading two markets together which is not done in the stock market or any other financial environment. When a trader is looking at a chart, they cannot determine which of the currencies is stronger or weaker based on the upward or downward movement of the chart. If they cannot determine which currency is stronger, it affects their ability to buy, sell and make a profit from the currency pairs. To solve this, there needs to be a way formulated to measure which market is strongest, the currency you need to buy or sell, and to avoid trading the wrong markets. 

Currency strength helps you to understand the value of one currency as it relates to another and what trend you should look out for when making a trade. For instance, if you do not find opposing markets in a currency pair, then you know that you are trading the wrong pair and where there is sufficient distance in a currency pair with one moving higher than the other, then that is the best time to sell the weaker currency and buy the stronger one. 

Factors That Can Affect The Relative Strength Of A Currency

Forex trading can be complicated due to the different variables affecting the strength of such currency. This can affect the ability of a trader to trade such currency as it determines whether the currency should be bought or should reduce losses and increase the potential for profits. Here are some factors that affect the strength of a currency:

Interest Rates

 This is one of the first factors considered when evaluating the strength of a currency. Interest rates are the amount needed to borrow money and high-interest rates mean it would cost more to borrow a particular currency while lesser interest rates would encourage borrowing and can stimulate an economy.

In forex, understanding interest rates in relation to currency strength is advantageous as a trader can make a profit from the difference between the interest rate of two currencies. The higher the interest rates of a particular currency, the higher the demand for the currency, and currencies with lower interest rates experience lower demand. Buying higher interest rates increases the rate of return when the currency pairs are exchanged.

Inflation 

While a small rise in inflation may be good for a currency, too much inflation affects the economy, and a government may try to stabilise the rising prices by increasing interest rates which in turn would strengthen a currency in the forex market.

Economic Policies/ Growth

Another major determinant of the strength of a currency is the economic policies made and the growth of such an economy. When the growth of an economy is high and stable, there will be an increased demand for such currency, and a downward slide in economic growth will reduce the demand for such currency and determine how a forex trader trades such currencies. Also, good monetary policies can strengthen a currency, thereby increasing its relevance and demand. 

Stability Of The Currency

 Forex traders are more likely to buy or sell relatively stable currencies, which is why the EUR/USD is one of the most traded currency pairs due to the stability of those currencies.

When a currency is plagued with problems such as large debts that cast uncertainty around the currency and make it unstable, the strength of such currency can become affected as it becomes unattractive to traders. 

How Can You Compare The Relative Strength Of Currencies?

There are several ways you can compare the relative strength of currencies:

1. Currency Strength Meter

A currency strength meter is a technical tool that provides a graphical representation of the relative strength and weaknesses of all major currency pairs in the forex market. 

A currency strength meter gives you the ability to find correlations among different currencies and gives you a confirmation regarding the one you want to trade. Also, most currency strength meters are free, which saves cost, and you can find a couple of good ones that provide accurate information regarding the currencies in question. 

While you can use this technical tool as a way to check the strength of a currency, it doesn’t exactly tell you the best time to trade which is why it is combined with other tools used in technical analysis to determine the best entry and exit points to trade good currency pairs. 

2. Look at the common currency (the US dollar)

The 7 major currency pairs are traded against the US dollar because it is one of the most stable currencies and is regarded as the standard for historical reasons. This is why an easy way to test the strength of your currency is to measure it against the US dollar using the US dollar index.

The US  dollar index, commonly called DXY by traders measures the value of the USD against a basket of currencies. The currencies that make up this basket are the EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, SEK, CHF, as they are some of the major currencies used by traders. The US dollar index or DXY is important to traders because they can gauge the strength of other tradable currencies in respect of the USD. The index rises if the dollar strengthens against the other currencies and falls when the dollar is weaker than the others which allows traders to hedge risks and make strategies in respect of the dollar (knowing which currency to buy or sell).

3. Check informative websites

 Some websites can help you rank the performance or percentage movements of different currency pairs. Using these sites is a good way to study the historical and current trends of currencies to determine the strength of such currency but the downside is, it doesn’t tell you much about the optimal setup or which pair is the best to trade. 

4. Currency strength matrix

 The currency strength matrix is a market analysis tool made to analyse the strengths of the major currencies in the forex market based on the movements or trends of their pairs. Traders need to read charts to analyse the trends in the market but even the most successful traders are prone to making mistakes that can be very costly. 

To eliminate the guesswork, reduce the risks faced by traders, and the possibility of losses, the strength currency matrix allows traders to spot bad trading pairs, create better strategies, and have a more proactive and focused approach towards trading.

How Do You Decide The Best Pair To Trade After Comparing Their Relative Strengths?

Comparing the relative strength of currencies allows you to recognise the direction of the trend and shows you the performance of a currency when compared to other currencies. You can take advantage of massive trends by pairing the strongest currency shown with one of the weaker currencies or the weakest one to increase the potential for profits. 

Conclusion

Comparing the relative strength of currencies helps you discover the best currency pairs to trade and there are several ways to measure the strength of a currency. However, it is important to remember that it does not inform you of the best time to enter the market and you would need additional tools to determine the best entry and exit points to trade the currency pairs with the most potential.

Also, when using a tool like the currency strength meter, you can make small changes to utilise the different trading time frames. 

The Main Financial Benefits Of Forex Trading

1. Trade From Any Location

Typically, all online trading can be conducted from any location and time if the trader has a reliable internet connection. It allows you to pick the place and time of your preference. Moreover, most exchange platforms have tools to help traders' initiate and execute actions automatically through their accounts. For example, you can customise your account to buy or sell currencies when they hit some value, thus making an easy profit.

2. The Potential For Big Profits

The possibility of making colossal trading profits is the primary reason many people opt to trade. You’ll need to diligently learn the skills and know what type of trade is more beneficial. For example, forex trading is the leading global financial market, which isn’t closely regulated compared to other digital channels such as commodities and bonds. The currency market is ever open, subjecting the rates to fluctuation, depending on the market dynamics. You’ll need to understand all the concepts if you want to win.

This requires you to carefully pick the Exchange Traded Fund (EFT) you purchase and the time to acquire it. You should scrutinise the Contract for Differences (CFDs) on the platforms. The CFD limits will help you decide on the positions (short or long) when buying and selling.

3. Minimal Capital Investment

You don’t have to spend a fortune to start online trading. Since the online trading market isn’t supervised institutionally, there is no consistency in trading rules, timeframe, or fees. Forex traders, for example, do not need cash reserves since they can open and close trades with significantly lower amounts, unlike other investors.

4. You Can Benefit From Uncertainties (Economic And Political)

Trading allows you to take advantage of the uncertainties in the economy and politics. One of the critical ingredients of success in digital trading is forecasting. While this skill can be hard to grasp, you can master it with dedication and effort. It lets you know what could happen and how the event may affect the market. 

Some uncertainty levels are challenging but not impossible to predict. However, such uncertainties can present traders with exceptional skills in predicting golden opportunities to make a good fortune.

5. Trade Whenever You Are Ready

You can temporarily stop trading if you’re cash-strapped or have a tight schedule that can not allow you to trade effectively. Online trading does not require the traders to avail themselves at a specific time or for a particular duration—stop and start whenever convenient for you. 

This flexibility also gives you the luxury of not buying or selling assets when you feel that you could make more if you wait. Besides, the trading markets are always open, meaning they are continually operating and have fluctuating rates depending on the dynamics. 

How Can I Start Trading? 

Do you have a credit card and have been planning on joining any trading programs but aren't sure if it's good for you? You only need to understand a few things to get started.

First, you must realise that this is a high-risk enterprise with the potential for highly significant returns. As a result, it is critical to select a skilled and reputable broker or a trusted app.

After you've created a solid working connection with your broker, they will assist you in establishing a demo trading account to help you get acquainted with the procedure. Fortunately,  you will not pay any amount while using the demo account. 

What If I Have No Capital To Start Trading?

Trading is, in many aspects, the ideal business. However, you must have some capital to begin. You may have the needed trading skills, but the gains you produce will never be good enough if you don't have a substantial quantity of trading capital. Fortunately, there are incredible platforms like Viva Payday Loans, which can offer you start-up capital for your trading. It offers payday loans online same day ranging from $100 to $5000, with repayment terms ranging from 2 to 24 months and interest rates ranging from 5.99 to 35.99%.

You Can Start Online Trading Today

Online trading is an ideal business that doesn’t need workers, supervisors, offices to rent, or products to sell. As an individual trader, your start-up and operating expenditures are minimal; you only need a computer, a workspace, and affordable trading software. With just a few requirements, the profit margins are significant when trading is performed wisely and efficiently. Furthermore, online trading comes with many benefits, such as the ability to trade from anywhere and at any time, the potential to quickly earn lots of cash, small capital, among other advantages. 

Most financial advisors tell their customers the best thing they can do to grow their wealth after getting rid of debt and preparing for the future is to invest. Of course, there are various ways to grow your money through investing, and countless vehicles to use for your trading strategy. Finding the right solution for you can take some significant time and investigation.

For the majority of people, the most common areas to explore will be either share and stock trading, or forex trading. With shares and stocks, you pay for portions of a company, which you can trade or sell at a later stage. With forex, or FX, you’re making money by buying foreign currency and exchanging it from one currency to another. Let’s explore whether FX could be right for you.

What is Forex Trading?

FX or foreign exchange trading is one of the most actively traded environments in the world. Companies, banks, and individuals alike all carry out huge transactions on a regular basis. While much of the foreign exchange that happens every day is done for practical reasons, most currency conversion occurs as a result of forex trading. The amount of currency big investors choose to convert in a day can even lead to price movements for some currencies, making the market more volatile. Although FX might seem quite complicated, it’s much simpler than you’d think. The process starts with choosing a pair, or two types of currency that you can trade against each other, like EUR/USD.

Unlike other forms of investment, forex is usually quite fast-paced, as it requires users to act on slight changes in the value of a currency to make the biggest profits. You’re constantly working finding the most valuable lots for your portfolio. For beginners, it can be a little tricky to get started, which is why it’s so valuable to read guides that explains the considerations involved when investing in foreign currency in Australia when first getting started.

Is FX Trading Profitable?

For those looking to grow their wealth, the right forex trading strategy can be extremely beneficial. There are plenty of people out there who have made money by trading regularly in the foreign exchange market – but not everyone is suited to this task. If you’re looking for a more long-term solution where you can invest in something and leave your money to grow over time, this probably isn’t the environment for you.

Forex is all about speed and timing. You need to ensure you’re acting as quickly as possible when little changes happen in the market, or you could risk losing a lot of cash. However, if you have the time and skills to focus a decent amount of attention on this type of trading, it could be a powerful tool. As with most forms of wealth building, it will be up to you to determine how much risk you can take on as a trader, and whether the forex environment is a good place for you to begin exploring. There are always plenty of other options if you decide forex is too confusing.

In this article, you might learn about the steps of increasing the success rate. We hope it will help you to go a long path to fulfilling your dream. 

Learn to cope up

New traders face issues adjusting to the new situation. They can’t think properly. They become puzzled. For this reason, they face issues. Sometimes, if the traders can learn to cope up, they may get better results. Because they might understand how to apply the techniques to make money. So, they need to gain the knowledge which might aid them to get the success. However, do not try to take any action in an aggressive way. So, be aware of this.

Be self-restraint 

If you become self-restrained, you might not face any issues. You may get a better opportunity which might help you to make more money. So, being a trader, you need to increase your patience level. Otherwise, you might face problems. So, try to keep the discipline which might help you to get success. Always remember, if you can increase the discipline level, you might also increase your patience level. So, try to become self-restrained. Do not try to do work in a hurry. Try to become calm so that you can make the right decision. If possible, look at this site and learn more about the conservative trading technique. Once you do that, you will no longer feel the urge to trade with aggression.

Make some logical changes

Sometimes, depending on the situation, traders need to make some changes. Because, if they can make the right plan at the right time, they may make money. But, most of the time, traders face problems as they are not aware of the different characteristics of the market. Sometimes, traders can’t check their plans after making the changes. But, if they can check the plan, they might be able to play the plan properly. So, they should try to make practical changes.

Keep practising

You need to do practice properly. Always remember, you can use a demo account for free. For this, you don’t need to invest a single money. So, try to improve yourself through regular practice. If you can do regular practice, you might not face any hassle. So, learn to do your task properly. However, sometimes, traders face issues because they are not properly prepared. They think they can instantly make the decision. They should try to practice more and more. However, traders must open a demo account to justify themselves. 

Be courageous in a tough situation

Newbies need to become courageous as they have to overcome the barriers. Moreover, if the traders can grab the big challenges, they may reach their target. Moreover, traders must be prepared to increase their courage level. If they know what to do, it might be possible to make money. So, traders need to concentrate on developing their performance. For this, they need to keep the record. If they can review the record correctly, they might make profits. Because they’ll become aware of their mistakes and thus they can decide the right action.

In the Forex market, these tips will help to stay in the field for a long time. Traders should follow these properly. If they apply these properly, they may reach their goal. So, they should always run their business systematically. If they can do so, they may get a better result.

Act in haste, repent in leisure.

Newcomers to trading forex and other assets could do well getting that tattooed about their person, such is its importance to long-term profitability. Indeed, it’s a lesson that some experienced investors also need to remember from time to time.

Those six words highlight the importance of removing emotions from your trading, of how sometimes we can eat into our bottom line by opening and closing positions at the wrong times – maybe because we’ve suffered a succession of ‘losing’ trades or because we’ve closed a trade and then watched the asset increase in value thereafter.

Having the right mindset is arguably the most important weapon a trader owns, and if you find yourself acting in haste when trading, then this article is for you.

We want to explore techniques that will help you to eliminate ‘emotionality’ from your game, from taking a breath to using automated software and Tickmill trading accounts, which will help you to retain your discipline.

Get your head right and, hopefully, profit will follow.

Accept defeat

There will be losing days, weeks and possibly even months.

This is one of the universal truths of trading, and yet so many still utterly fail to grasp the basic concept that not every trade you execute will be paved with gold.

The implication is that, as the hands of time tick away, there is so very often the temptation to chase losses and try to turn a losing spell into a profitable one.

And so we start opening positions that we normally wouldn’t, or closing trades to lock in a return, when, actually, the indicators might be suggesting that holding for longer is the smart play.

If we could somehow divorce ourselves from our minds, we wouldn’t fall into such traps, and it perhaps explains why the most successful traders often use software to automate their actions.

Why? Because the mechanical approach takes the human element out of your trading game, and automation also enables you to use tools – such as stop loss and take profit – that actually take the emotion out of the equation.

The mindful approach

If trading becomes the only thing that you are thinking about, it won’t be long before you start mentally chasing your own tail.

If you are seeking a secondary income stream from your investing, then it’s only human nature to become preoccupied with thoughts of, ‘can I make more money?’ Such a mindset will almost inevitably lead to increased activity in the market, and for reasons already explored, this usually leads to bad trades.

Try to take time away from trading. It can be exciting in the early going, but in the long term you will benefit from refreshing your mind and body by not chaining yourself to your laptop/tablet/phone.

Taking regular breaks will enable you to replenish your thinking, taking some time to consider the assets you want to trade, and whether now is the right time to enter the market. Walking is scientifically proven to improve your brainpower – so why wouldn’t you take a stroll?

Alternatives include other forms of exercise, listening to music, cooking a nice meal, spending time with friends and family, and so on. Anything that gets the endorphins rushing is a good idea.

Know your limits

Some people are target driven – it helps them to have a clear goal in mind to avoid uncluttered thinking. This can actually be really beneficial to traders, who can set a profit target and stick to it.

However, just as important is setting loss limits, which are a pre-defined amount in a trading session that makes you go ‘okay, enough is enough’ before walking away from the action.

Of course, the stop-loss tool available in many software packages is exactly as above, but there are many traders who prefer hands-on, manual activity – in which case, setting your own loss limit is sensible. You can even write it down on a Post-it note and stick it to your device so that there’s no way that you might ‘accidentally forget’ when things are going well/badly.

No FOMO

Trading has a wonderful community of newbies, amateurs and professional investors who all do their bit to cheer each other along and aid improvement.

However, that brings with it challenges – especially when your fellow investors speak of their trading wins and profits.

So, learn to switch off forums, messaging services and groups during your trading and immediately afterwards – there’s nothing like a bout of FOMO to lead you into bad moods and bad decisions.

The forex market is highly liquid and records over $5 trillion in trades worldwide, every day. It involves the process of buying, selling, and exchanging different currencies at ongoing prices or pre-determined prices. Due to its massive popularity, retail traders continue to join the forex bandwagon. However, forex trading without proper market knowledge and trading skills can lead to huge financial losses. So, if anyone wants to learn about forex trading and become a better trader, they must abide by the following practices.

1. Know The Forex Market

The forex market is highly dynamic and brings new trends every day. Therefore, the most important approach for succeeding in this market is to be aware of all new information. So, one needs to have great research skills besides being good with numbers. Skills like the interpretation of charts, graphs, financial ratios, and identification of profitable currency pairs are also must. In case you are not equipped with these technical skills, you can instead consider other platforms that provide you with the best forex signals to execute a trade. 

2. Define Goals And Strategy

Before you begin trading, you must set realistic financial goals and select strategies based on your risk appetite and capital allocation, which should be followed in a disciplined manner. The ones who lack patience may opt for approaches like scalping while the ones with little more patience and good analytical skills can choose daily trading. A swing trading approach can be adopted by patient individuals who believe in long-term market analysis.

3. Keep A Check On Emotions

You must never allow strong emotions to dictate your trading decisions. Emotions like greed, excitement, panic or fear only hinder success. For the most successful trades, one must have a logical approach and should manage their risks properly and keep their emotions to a bare minimum because that would help them take well-strategised positions and generate maximum profits.

4. Select A Broker

Selecting a reputed broker is very important. One must choose a broker who offers desired trading goals and whose trading platform is suitable for performing the kind of analysis they are comfortable with. A good broker having a poor platform or a poor broker having a great platform can both invalidate all the gains that one has acquired through their hard work and studies.

5. Demo Accounts

The new traders can start off with demo/simulation accounts to gain some practical experience about the forex environment by testing different trading strategies. However, despite being realistic, these demo accounts fail to deliver the sense of discipline and money management or risk management skills amongst the traders, as here you trade with demo money that wouldn’t match the amount of capital the person would generally have access to.

6. Analyse Conflicting Information

Many traders are often confused by the conflicting information provided by different charts belonging to different time frames. While some weekly charts would show a buying opportunity, the intraday charts would give a sell signal. So, to avoid taking any misinformed decisions synchronisation of all the charts is a must. For that when weekly charts show a buy signal traders must wait to confirm the same from the daily charts.

7. Accept Losses

Forex trading involves high risk and some losses are inevitable. Even the most experienced forex traders have a history of both profits and losses. So, rather than focusing on the small losses, one should shift their focus towards improving their trades instead and learn from their past mistakes. 

8. Maintain A Trading Journal

Both beginners and experienced traders should always keep a record of their trades. Without taking proper notes it is very difficult for a trader to assess his trading weaknesses and strengths. The journals would also help in self-evaluation and review of the previously made trades.  Additionally, this information can be used to customise the trading style and strategies so as to get better results.

9. Stop-losses

Many people often forget their trading limits and end up incurring losses as a result. To avoid such a situation and maintain discipline in trading, tools like stop-losses are used. These stop and limit orders ensure that the traders lower their risk profile and have a method to cut or minimise their losses. You can set these stop-loss orders based on market conditions beforehand.

10. Follow The Trend

Following the trend is always advisable, especially for beginners, with little or no expertise in forex trading. So, if a trader can easily identify the trends in the forex market, they can position themselves at favourable entry and exit points, enabling them to derive consistent profits. 

Experience is the best teacher in forex trading. Still, the above-mentioned steps can help forex traders lower overall risks by following a structured approach while refining their trade practices. Moreover, you should trust your strategies and remain open to learning new methods because of the high dynamicity involved with the forex market.

Forex signals contain trade recommendations that tell you - the forex trader - which forex pair to trade, whether to buy or sell it, when to enter the market and how much profit you can aim to generate by following their specific ideas. While some forex traders choose to exclusively follow the trade ideas given by signals, others use these signals as part of their deeper analysis into the market to come up with their own, unique trading strategy.

As a forex trader, whichever way you choose to depend on forex signals, it helps to get a better understanding of what they are and how they can help you trade better. Here are some key aspects of forex signals you should know before you start using them as a tool to help you trade the forex market.

How do forex signals systems work?

There are essentially two kinds of forex signals systems – automated and manual. Read on to understand what goes on in the background and how each kind of forex signal is derived.

Automated forex signals: Automated signals are created by professional analysts and/or traders in conjunction with code developers, and use algorithms to recommend trade ideas based on historical trends on how the market moves. This type of signals exclusively uses technical indicators to observe and identify trade ideas. While the concept may sound a bit too complex, automated signals systems use several mathematical formulas to discover patterns and send out forex signals when there is a match with parameters their algorithms are programmed to detect.

Such systems are also known as forex robots or Expert Advisors (EAs) as they require no human intervention to analyse the market and come up with trade ideas. Most forex bots let you pick and choose various parameters and technical indicators that are used for the analysis to come up with signals. In addition, such systems also let you customize the spreads and currency pairs you wish to trade. Automated trading signals systems analyse technical indicators and price action to publish signals with high probability of success based on historical data on market movements.

Manual forex signals: On the other hand, manual forex trading signals are generated by professional analysts and/or traders who use technical indicators along with fundamental analysis of the markets to identify potential trade recommendations. This includes examining past information about the price and trend in a specific forex pair. Where manual forex signals differ from their automated counterparts is in the next step: analysts who put out such signals also study current news events, also known as fundamental indicators, that could influence price action in the forex pair.

While some forex traders choose to exclusively follow the trade ideas given by signals, others use these signals as part of their deeper analysis into the market to come up with their own, unique trading strategy.

Fundamental indicators such as financial and political developments and market sentiment tend to have a heavy influence on a forex pair’s movement, and this coupled with analysis of popular technical indicators on charts can offer an insight into which way a forex pair could move and by how much, so that you can jump in and profit on the movement.

While some signals systems offer forex trading signals for free, others employment a payment or subscription-based model to provide this information to you. Payment can vary from anywhere between $40 and $50 all the way up to even $500. When you subscribe to such a service, either for free or on payment, you will receive alerts via text, email or app notifications by the system whenever a new forex signal is published.

What are they based on?

As you learned in the previous section, forex signals can be generated through the analysis of technical and/or fundamental indicators. But what do we mean when we say this? To become an informed forex trader, here’s what you need to know about these indicators and their relationship with forex trading signals:

Fundamental indicators or fundamentals: Fundamental analysis involves understanding the impact the real economy has on forex markets and currency pairs. Some of the popular fundamentals used to generate forex signals include:

• Carry Trade strategy – which depends on the difference between interest rates of two currencies in a forex pair instead of price action to find trade ideas.
• News – which includes the release of key economic data and political developments from the respective countries of a forex pair and analysis on how it could impact the value of a specific currency.
• Market sentiment – which is essentially the overall momentum of the market and can drive movement in certain currencies. For instance, safe haven currencies that strengthen when the market sentiment turns risk-off, or commodity currencies that benefit when the price of commodities goes up, or risk currencies that strengthen when the markets trade with a risk-on sentiment.
• Volatility – which involves the use of some trading strategies such as the use of widened targets, minimal losses, lower leverage and diversifying of portfolio to make quick pips when the market sees sudden moves.

Technical indicators: Technical strategies are vital in identifying entry and exit levels of forex signals. Fundamentals can be used to determine the direction of movement in a forex pair, i.e., whether to enter into a buy or sell trade. On the other hand, technical indicators tell you how much of a range you can trade in and hope to earn profits, or essentially, how much risk you can take. Some of the most commonly used technical indicators in identifying forex trading signals include candlestick patterns like the bullish engulfing candle and shooting star patterns, Fibonacci indicator, head and shoulders pattern, divergence, triangles and wedges, Elliot Wave pattern, liquidity and hedging.

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How can forex traders use them?

Forex signals systems send alerts to you whenever they publish a new signal, either on your email or on your smartphone. Once you receive the signal, and if it is a trade idea you are interested in, you can go ahead and place a trade based on it. Here are two ways to use this information:

For non-professional traders: As a novice who is unsure of how the forex market moves, it is safer to rely entirely on the forex signal for your trade idea. This means that you use the information provided just as it is, making no changes whatsoever to the recommended levels for entry price, stop loss and take profit. Depending on the signals system you use and its level of integration with your trading account, you can either copy the trade automatically with just a click of a button on the alert or manually copy the levels mentioned in the forex signal into a new trade that you open.

For professional traders: Once you feel more confident and have earned enough experience to conduct your own analysis and get a deeper understanding of how forex trading works, you can use these signals as an additional tool to assist with your analysis. You can use the trade recommendation provided by the forex signal and build up on it through your own technical and/or fundamental analysis, and choose to change the levels based on your risk-taking capabilities. For instance, if you feel confident that the price action could be more than what the forex signal suggests, you can move the take profit and stop loss levels further away to generate more profits.

To conclude

Whatever forex signals systems you sign up for and however you choose to use the signals to help you become a better trader, do keep in mind that forex trading comes with its own share of risks and that there are no guaranteed profits to be made. Forex trading signals, while extremely useful, do not assure profits but can reduce some amount of risk from trading. It is up to you to use your discretion and trade carefully and wisely by managing your risk to generate profits.

However, are there also cases in which these practice accounts would be used by more experienced traders, and if so what are they?

The Features That They Offer

To understand why people of different experience levels use demo trading accounts, we need to first of all take a look at what features they include. Generally, they will offer a full range of functionality, allowing users to carry out similar trades to those which they would make with real money.

Some trading services offer a fully functional demo platform that can be accessed on desktop or mobile devices. Support and education is also provided to users, including a selection of webinar sessions.

Through demo trading accounts, users can trade products based on stock indices, commodities, forex, and economic event markets. They can carry out the full transaction from start to finish, letting them see how much money they likely would have made or lost on a comparable real transaction.

A Way to Try Out New Strategies

For an experienced trader, perhaps the biggest reason for using a demo account is to try out new strategies. For instance, it could be used to attempt an advanced scalping forex approach, or to use triangular arbitrage techniques.

Most traders will have one or more strategies that they feel completely comfortable with. Yet, in different economic situations it may be necessary to turn to new strategies that they have never used before.

By doing so with a demo account, the risk of any financial loss if it goes wrong is removed. Any mistakes that the trader makes on the new strategy adds to their learning experience without causing any negative effects.

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The Option of Looking at Different Markets

It may also be the case that a trader is experienced in one market but would like to diversify into another. One example is that they may be a forex expert but decide that they want to try and make money from stock market trading too.

This could happen because they feel that the market they currently focus on doesn't offer good investment opportunities right now. It could also be the case that they want to test themselves or just explore new ways of using their skills to potentially make more money. There are advantages and disadvantages to both stock market and forex trading to be considered.

In this situation, their existing knowledge will be useful, but there will be gaps in their expertise that need to be filled in. This could be in terms of learning new strategies or in discovering the tools that give them most value in their new type of trading.

Every Trader Can Use a Demo Account from Time to Time

An experienced trader might go through long spells in which they don't have much need for a demo account. Yet, they are also likely to find that it is something that comes in handy at certain times.

Lee McDarby, Managing Director, Corporate Foreign Exchange and International Payments at moneycorp, offers Finance Monthly his advice for SMEs and corporates looking to keep their financial requirements stable as they expand.

With Brexit on the horizon, and COVID-19 likely to be around for a little while yet, it’s more important than ever that businesses across the UK have access to experts, and know that they can access their money at any time, wherever they are in the world. In the past decade, the payments sector has moved at an increasingly fast pace. With this continuing to develop, there’s a need to further drive innovation that supports financial inclusion for all corporates, SMEs and individuals, to enable international success.

If you’re currently looking at expanding your business to different markets, or adapting your supply chains, and thus payment routes, it’s important that your banking partner can take the stress out of your financial requirements, enabling you to focus on elevating your business. So, what should you be on the lookout for when it comes to your banking and FX needs?

Multi-currency International Bank Account Number (IBAN)

The multi-currency IBAN supports British businesses looking at international expansion. We know that some traditional banks require you to open multiple bank accounts for different currencies – bringing an increasing amount of hassle to the simple act of receiving a payment. It can also take months to open multiple euro and/or dollar accounts, so a modern multi-currency IBAN is the hassle-free and significantly simpler option.

With one multi-currency IBAN, businesses can receive international payments in varying currencies across the globe. Supporting UK corporates to enhance their supply chain and take their business to the next international step in their global expansion.

With one multi-currency IBAN, businesses can receive international payments in varying currencies across the globe.

Security of funds

When choosing a provider for your payments and foreign exchange needs, it’s important to ensure it has safeguards in place to protect your funds. There are a number of specifics you can look out for to ensure the security of your accounts. These include:

• Ascertaining where your money is held. Client funds should be held in safeguarded segregated accounts.
• What your FX provider does with any margin provided by a customer. Many firms use the margin provided by customers as security for forward contracts to fulfil their own margin requirements – using client money to secure their liabilities. At moneycorp, we only ever secure positions with our banking counterparties with our own funds.
• Whether your provider has external audits to ensure it is managing and holding client funds securely.
• If the provider has been subject to any regulatory, investigations or sanctions.

The human touch

Customer service is key when it comes to the relationship between a business and a bank. While it is imperative that customers have 24/7 access to their account regardless of where they are in the world, talking to a person at the other end of the phone is just as important.

While our society has moved to be digital-first, when there’s an issue, the first thing the customer wants is to speak to someone. As such, access to a support team, across a multitude of channels, is irreplaceable when you need it most. To support all of your customers across the entire spectrum, it’s imperative that customer services are multi-faceted.

Ease and speed

Varying customer needs are echoed in the diverse range of Application Programming Interface (API) solutions. For an SME, corporate, or individual trading in various currencies across the globe, a seamless API that integrates ease of user experience, along with speed of delivery is crucial. However, one API doesn’t fit all.

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At moneycorp Bank, we’ve been able to seamlessly align the agility of fintech with substantiative banking networks to create bespoke API solutions, dependent on the client requirements. In addition, the central API endpoints built as part of the programming allow clients to have access to the core banking facilities on a multi-currency wallet, peer-to-peer facilities for instant transfers, global and local beneficiary validation, view balances, 24/7 multi-bank dealing, international payment and transactional and statement capabilities as standard.

Having a banking system that offers API integration gives you access to an array of benefits that leave you with more time to invest into your business. It also gives customers the capability to monitor exchange rates and automate conversions at a desired value, putting FX hedging tools right in the palm of their hands.

Looking ahead

Fundamentally, whilst we are currently navigating extraordinary times, there are also opportunities afoot for UK businesses to look at expansion. At moneycorp Bank, we believe that by picking the right partner for their payment needs, businesses can assemble best-in-class services when it comes to technological advancements in the sector, security, and customer service – without needing to trade one for the other. This in turn, will allow companies to start a new journey on the international stage, putting their best financial foot forward.

Many forex traders enter the market because of the low entry costs and the fact that the market stays open round the clock. However, most traders leave soon because they suffer losses. Therefore, we are going to suggest five ways in which you can avoid losses and stay in the game while trading forex.

Homework Is Essential

People think that since getting into forex trading is easy, they can afford to ignore due diligence. They do not realize that forex knowledge is the key aspect of successful trading.

Even though the major part of learning comes from the experience of live trading, a trader must know about everything related to the forex market, especially the geological and political aspects that affect the currencies. Forex traders should therefore use practice accounts before they start live trading. Some of the things to learn from practice accounts are:

• Techniques of analysis
• Money management procedures
• Control leverage amount
• Maintain a trading journal
• Treat forex trading as a business
• Understand the tax implications
• Formulate a trading plan

Find a Reputable Forex Broker

As with any financial industry, forex trading has its share of fraudulent brokers. Therefore, make sure that you start your trading with a reliable and honest forex broker. Look for a broker that provides a 100% deposit bonus when you trade with them. They should provide you with trading tools that are convenient to use.

As with any financial industry, forex trading has its share of fraudulent brokers.

There must be transparency about the commissions, and you should be able to make the withdrawals in any currency of your preference. International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) monitors the forex broker's operations to ensure that they follow the legislation and framework of regulations. That means it is safe and reliable to trade with a broker that abides by the IFSC rules. 

Keep Your Charts Clean

You might feel tempted to use several of the analytical tools offered by forex trading platforms. Even though most of them are meant to provide you insights into the forex market, using too many of them can clutter your charts and confuse you.

Therefore, use one tool for each analysis, like a volatility indicator or an oscillator. Using multiple tools for the same indications can offer opposing suggestions and become counterproductive. 

Remove any analysis techniques or tools that you do not use regularly. Pay attention to how the charts and the dashboard look when you select the tools. Use contrasting elements that are easy to interpret so that it becomes easy for you to work. It will also enable you to respond appropriately to changing market scenarios.

Keep Your Trading Account Safe

Most people concentrate on making profits while trading forex. However, it is also equally important to mitigate losses. Most experienced traders would tell you that you can enter at any price position and make some money. But what matters the most is to know when to get out of a trade before you start losing money.

Many people make the mistake of holding on to a losing trade in the hope of making up for their losses. However, you may end up losing more money than you had originally imagined. That is why you must set a limit to which you can handle the losses before you get out of the trade.

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You can also select a limit to the maximum loss you can endure in a day, beyond which there will be no further trading for your account until you choose to initiate it again. 

Treat Your Trading Like a Business

When you start live trading, treat it like you would treat a business. Start with small amounts and build up your profits. Don't get tempted by lucrative trades and end up investing a lot in the early days of trading. You would not be able to anticipate the slippage accurately all the time, so play it safe. These are some suggestions to keep in mind while trading.

• Start with small amounts and build up gradually
• Control the amount of leverage
• Maintain the records of your trading every day
• Keep your emotions of losing and winning away from trading
• Know how to treat your trading for tax implications

The forex trading market looks lucrative to many people because they can start small, the market stays open round the clock, and they can get good leverage. But forex trading must be approached like a business with proper due diligence, practice, and precautions.

Choose a reliable forex broker to avoid legal hassles and avoid losses. You must also use efficient money management methods and clean charts to stay in the game and make profits.

Trading on the forex market is undoubtedly winsome, especially if we consider the daily profit the forex exchange market makes. The six trillion figure that daily forex trading makes is far more than the stock market with its 23 billion per day. Besides this fact, currency trading can be as profitable as thrilling, especially when you achieve a decent skill level. If you are new to the currency market and aiming to become a seasoned forex broker smartly and securely, here are some critical steps to take.

1.  Understand forex language

Forex can seem too complex at first sight. It's because there are many new terms related to trading operations and strategies. Before opening an account and choosing the broker, it is highly advisable to learn the forex language and all the terms you will have to deal with. That way, you will be able to correctly read the market and lead informed discussions with more experienced traders.

It will also help you understand forex brokers' reviews when checking them to choose the most reliable one. Don't worry! You will not have to buy a dictionary and learn all by heart. As you start reading educational content related to forex exchange, you will naturally acquire these terms. Let's just mention the most used and most important ones: currency, pairs, exotic currency pairs, trading margin, long term and short term position, a spread, a bid, and ask price.

2.  Decide on currency pairs you want to trade

As a forex trader, you are going to trade in a currency pair. For instance, you want to sell the euro, but the only way to do it is in pair with some other currency. The most common currency pair is the euro/dollar but there are plenty of other pairs. Some are called exotic pairs since they are less traded but still attractive and exciting for investment for different financial or political reasons. In a nutshell, one pair represents the base currency and the second one is the quote currency. Supposing that you trade EUR/USD 1.11151 means that one unit of the base currency corresponds to $1.11151.

As a forex trader, you are going to trade in a currency pair.

3.  Learn how to use the forex calculator

You are bad at maths but want to start trading forex. No worries! Forex is quite mathematical but be reassured that the gods of forex have already thought about that. So they made a forex calculator, which allows the traders to calculate the risks of their positions. This type of calculator does not have much in common with ordinary school calculators. There are dozens of them all over the internet and on many trading platforms. Their difference consists of different evaluations you want to make. Let's mention some of them: the forex profit calculator, the pip calculator, the stop-loss calculator, profit-loss calculator.

All in all, this useful software helps you to shape your trading strategy better and manage your trading risks. So, don't matter if you don't have a clue about Forex or you are an experienced trader, there is a forex calculator to assist you.

4.  Research forex brokers

The forex broker you choose is at the core of your trading success. You can select a reliable and honest forex broker, but  there are several things to be aware of first. First of all, go for the regulated brokers who have clearly put their contact details on their websites, such as their phone number, email address, and headquarters address.

Then, be sure they have customer service available, such as email support or live chat. There must also be a way to communicate in your native language, so multilingual customer support is necessary. Lookup for the trading platforms they offer, such as mobile platforms, web-based platforms, or both. Check what the range of their trading instruments is. If it includes stocks, securities, cryptos, all the better. It proves they have a larger number of different clients.

Regarding trading conditions, also checks what is the minimum deposit and also if they are offering the possibility to trade on demo accounts. It's crucial, assuming that you come into this as a newbie trader.

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5.  Personal or managed account?

When opening an account, you will have a choice to trade personally or to delegate your trading to the account manager. It may be better to start with an account manager before you are sure enough in your trading skills. It's also the best option if you haven't enough time to dedicate to forex. But stay away from those brokers who are offering unrealistic returns in profits. That implies that they are taking a considerable risk to achieve a high investment return.

6.  Practice with a demo account

Just like in sports, half of success is achieved on the practice field. After analysing the market with charts of historical data of the currencies you want to trade, start practicing with a demo account. That way you will acquire the trading reflex and be able to manage funds on your own when you decide to invest the real money. Using the perks of demo trading will allow you to feel the real market and hone your trading skills.

Final Thoughts

The huge profit and sometimes the idea of becoming instantly rich entices many people to start trading forex. Forex trading is a thrilling activity. On the other hand, you must be aware that it takes risks, just like any trading. Emotions, as such, shouldn't be your drawback. Knowing yourself and how to handle your emotions is necessary for successful trading. The point is to move towards your feelings, recognise them, change them, and adopt our trading strategy. Also, don't forget to manage your budget rationally so you can avoid running your budget before making any profits.

Being a newbie in any field can be daunting and stressful, but only at the beginning. That's why we gave you these steps to follow to feel more comfortable making your first investments in forex. Be patient, learn, and practice on a demo account, and the success will come naturally.