Thursday, September 18, 2008

Review of Easy Forex - One of the Largest Forex Brokers in the World

Easy Forex.Com is the 2nd most visited site on the internet related to the Foreign Exchange Markets (FX) and overall the 5,542 most visited site on the internet according to the latest updates. Base on these facts I decide to investigate them and detail my findings.

Selecting a FX broker is as essential element in determining if a private trader will ever become a successful trader or remain as one of the 95% of investors that enter the currency exchange markets whom are never able to make money. There are many factors to consider when making this difficult decision. Some of which are; support, trading software, educational tools, managing risk, hidden cost, PIPS, and allowable margins.

I personally think that support is one of, if not the most critical elements when I am dealing with any financial institution online. In the past I have deposit funds into my trading account which were removed from my bank account and never showed up in my trading account. Or the other way around, I would withdrew funds from my trading account into my bank and they were never was transmitted to my bank account. I don't know about you, but when something like this happens to me I want to get somebody on the telephone right away. At Easy Forex.Com you are assigned account manager whom knows you by your first name, which always helps, that you are able to contact over the phone, through email or over an online chat system. Even it the account manager is not there you are always able to get help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The next factor I take into consideration is the trading platform or the company's software. If you have been doing this a while, it only takes one time for a server to go down to understand how important this. There you are getting ready to initiate a trade, purchasing a position or selling a currency and the firms servers goes down. The first thing I do is get them on the phone and ask, what is happening? And I really just don't want to hear what I have heard so many times in the past, which is our server will be up in 10 minutes after we reboot it. I don't care if you have really low PIPS, if you can't afford a second server and be up constantly I don't want to trade with you. At Easy Forex.Com you are not required to download their software which means you are able to trade in real time anywhere in the world and their sever is never down. Well, I am sure it goes down sometimes, but it has never happened to me. They have multiple servers and are able to manipulate them in such a way you are always able to get into your account.

Almost all of the online brokers provide you free learning materials and a demo account once you have filled out the application for an account. You don't have to deposit funds, but just fill out the application. Easy Forex.Com is no exception. I have been trading a while, so I don't really use the training support to much. After I reviewed the tools and videos I found them to be on par with any of the other major brokers, if not better. With either the real money account or demo account you are able to put in Stop-Loss and Take-Profit rates. This is an essential element in managing your risk. There are no hidden cost and you only pay the PIP's which are some of the lowest in the industry are. Another risk management tool is your ability to control your margins. All Forex brokers will provide you with margins which are a form of leveraging your investment. Unfortunately, for the beginner the margins provided by the many brokers are too high, and sooner or later your in over you head. At Easy Forex.Com depending on your experience and your investment the initial margins supplied to you is often at the lower end. But, you are able to adjust this once you feel more comfortable which helps you to manage your risks.

Selecting a Forex broker can mean the difference between being a profitable trader and one that is in for a long learning curve. It is just so important that you thoroughly understand all the consequences of choosing the wrong broker and some of the assets to examine when making the final decision. There is a reason Easy Forex.Com is visited so much on the internet and they are one important site to consider when opening a currency brokerage account.

Forex Money Management - The Key To Long Term Profits

Although it can be tempting to whip out your credit card and take advantage of a strong upward trend in your favorite currency, failure to manage your money properly will leave you broke faster than you can say "sell, sell, SELL!!"

Forex trading, just like any other form of investment, is not a guaranteed money maker 100% of the time. Professional investors know this, and they know that some of their trades *will* lose money. The reason they're still successful is that they plan for these losses accordingly so that in the long term they remain profitable.

Consider this example: a new trader finds a forex trading system that proves 75% successful, definitely a system to hold on to. What this means is that out of every 100 trades, 75 will generate a profit. The problem lies in not knowing which of the trades will be successful and which will cause a loss. What if the first 25 trades executed with this system generate losses, while the next 75 generate profit? If the trader has not practiced money management wisely he may have lost his entire investment capital on those first 25 trades.

The more aggressive forex trader will no doubt claim that the only way to big profits in a short period of time is to risk more of your capital, but in essence all he is doing is gambling. Indeed, an aggressive forex trader may get lucky and hit ten profitable trades in a row generating a very nice profit, but what happens if the next 19 trades all generate losses? If he's still wagering large sums of money on each trade he'll soon be back to where he started from, or more likely in an even worse predicament.

A disciplined forex trader will only risk a smaller percentage of his or her investment capital on each trade. Sure, the profits will be smaller in the short term compared to a more aggressive trader, but when the downturn hits (and it most definitely will), the forex trader practicing wise money management will be able to weather the storm far better than the aggressive trader.

It may not be the most exciting of strategies, but you're not in the forex trading business for thrills, you're in it to generate consistent profits. Using anything other than wise money management when investing in the forex market is simply gambling, and if you want to gamble then you're better off at the casino. Even professional poker players, widely labeled as gamblers by spectators, employ money management systems. They realize that they can't possibly win every single tournament they enter, so instead of risking their entire bankroll on one game they risk only a percentage at each one. This allows them to recover far more quickly when their losing streaks hit. Those that don't practice money management quickly find themselves playing Crazy Eights instead.

In conclusion, don't let the promise of quick riches cloud your judgment. Forex trading is not a get-rich-quick scheme; it's an investment vehicle that can provide healthy profits for those who manage their money wisely. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.