At present, if we are not already in a recession, then we are without a doubt edging very close to one. Experts and economists argue about that non stop, but one thing they cannot argue about is the economy. In a word, the economy is a disaster. Gas prices are ridiculous, groceries are ever more expensive, and nowadays people can hardly even make monthly payments for necessary utilities.

The point of making that known is not to depress you. Rather, it is to emphasize why so many people are turning to Forex Tracer, which is an automated Forex trading software system. The Forex market is, of course, short for the Foreign Exchange Market, one of the most lucrative markets out there - if you know how to work it right of course.

The Tracer system helps you know exactly how to work it. Part of the reason it is so popular among novice traders and even among veteran investors is because it is so easy and simple to use. Literally, even if you have never traded before, this Forex system can still help you make substantial amounts of money. One of the reason this system is so great is because emotions do not come into play when it trades for you. You see, you might sit there worrying about potential risks and gains, worrying what will happen if your trade does not come through the way you want it to, et cetera. The Tracer, however, relies on technology, science, algorithms, and signals. It has knowledge that you cannot possibly access. Besides, it is configured to enter into a trade only when it is opportune to do so, and it will likewise pull out of a trade if the risk gets too high, thereby making you a profit when it sells at an opportunistic a time.

The Forex Tracer is specially and specifically designed to minimize the risk of losses for you. Naturally, that is every investor’s dream come true - the whole idea of Forex trading is to minimize the loss and maximize the process, and yes, the Tracer does that as well.

CLICK HERE to find out why Forex Tracer is the best automated forex trading system on the market. Includes honest reviews and information on where to buy it.

Forex Tracer Review.

With a daily turnover estimated at around $1.8 trillion the answer to the question “Does the Forex make money?” is pretty obvious.

The bigger question is: “For whom?”

With the opportunity for anybody and everybody with a computer and an internet connection to participate in the Forex to make money in recent years, thousands of individuals have had some exposure to the challenges of Forex trading.

Is The Forex A Fool’s Game?

According to some estimates, the vast majority, perhaps as high as 95%, lose money.

Is it a fool’s game, just an elusive dream to trade the Forex to make money to try and achieve financial security?

In view of the high failure rate, it is prudent for anyone who is contemplating entering Forex trading to do their homework first. While the majority fail to make consistent profits from the Forex, a minority do, and some of them make huge profits from the Forex.

The Realistic Mindset

What is the key? A realistic mindset when approaching the Forex, a commitment to learn and get a proper education, and then, application of the knowledge learned in a disciplined way backed up by perseverance!

For an individual who has already had experience trading stocks, or futures, the learning curve may only involve a few months when switching to the foreign exchange market.

For the complete novice the learning period will probably run into years, anywhere from 1 to 3 years according to some estimates.

During this time the novice will have to first get acquainted with the workings of the Forex, learning the terminology, and working with a demo account on a trading platform supplied by an online broker.

Months will need to be spent sitting in front of a computer screen studying candlestick charts, getting acquainted with specific patterns, learning to recognize high probability setups. There is no shortcut for this part of the educational process if you want the Forex to make money for you.

The Most Critical Factor

Then comes the most critical part of all: developing the mental discipline and emotional control necessary for safe trading.

The Forex can be a minefield for anyone who is not in control of their emotions. For a person who has a gambling instinct, the Forex will suck their account dry in a very short time. The Forex is not a game of chance.

Successful trades are the product of careful market analysis, an understanding of how the market moves acquired from months and years of experience, and a strict control of equity management.

Even with all that input, the successful trader will still regularly lose trades. As long as there are a greater number of trades that are successful, the Forex will make money for you.

Make An Informed Decision

If all this sounds overwhelming and a little foreboding, you are getting the picture of what is involved once you start down the road as a Forex trader.

On the other hand, this is a job that can be done from home, with as many hours committed to it as you wish to allow, and in the long term, once the skills have been acquired, the Forex can provide a substantial form of income.

Will the Forex make money for you? That is an individual question and will depend on all the variables discussed above. Do your homework, check out educational materials, examine your current workload and circumstances, be honest about your personality style, and then make an informed decision.

To learn how to preserve your mental and emotional resources in addition to your account equity click here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/forex-day-trading-mental-equity.htm

For a free pivot point calculator, Fibonacci calculator and the best free economic calendars click here:

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A forex robot is a highly mechanical trading system that can work almost as a human trader and comes with some added advantages. To earn profit from forex trading may not be an easy proposition if you are not knowledgeable enough with the workings of the market. But if you have software with you, things become quite simple. An efficient robot can return handsome amount with machine-like periodicity. With very little start up cost and without any technical skills you can enjoy the profit generally achieved by the expert forex traders.

A Forex robot can help you to develop a second source of income. You go on performing your usual office responsibilities or carry on with your hobbies, and the forex robot will work relentlessly to earn money for you. Some good forex robots like Forex Tracer or Forex Killer are capable of taking control over the entire situation. They are developed on the basis of historical performances, analysis of the results obtained with various fundamental and technical indicators, and forex experts, who put in their years of experience on the system. These exclusive inputs you can never expect from an average forex trader.

But, it is advised that you do not limit the potential of this kind of software by treating it as a black box. I assure you, it would be exciting to explore some basics to understand how your forex robot can be so precise? What makes it work for you over and over again? This will, in turn, make you more confident with your decisions. There are some factors, which can enhance the performance of their outcome. One such tip would be to use stable pairs only while trading with them.

Read more about a Forex Robot here

Here are some simple rules that will help you trade smarter.

Do you sometimes get confused and wonder if you are making the correct trading decisions?

(1) Never base your trades on a correlation to company news or fundamentals. It’s a losing battle. The best indicator of a stock’s potential price movement is the current price movement itself.

(2) Always let the market, make your buying decisions for you. Allowing a stock’s own price movement to trigger the purchase of a stock will be more accurate over the long run than your gut feeling of where you should buy. Control your entries through use of a buy-stop limit order or a limit order at the specified trigger price.

(3) Be very selective about where you take your trades. After getting a buy signal, only go long on a stock just above its 5-day moving average and only short a stock just below its 5-day moving average.

(4) Never trust a stock further than you can throw a grand piano. At no time should you own a stock and not have a standing Good-’til-Canceled sell order in place. i.e. Stop-Loss. Don’t expose your account to catastrophic loss.

(5) Never average down or add to a losing trade. Only add to a position when you have an open gain. In other words you only want to build positions in stocks that are moving powerfully in your favor.

(6) Don’t overtrade. Quit looking for your trades everyday and stop attempting to scan thousands of stocks for trades tomorrow. Methodically build your watch list like a spider builds its web - and let your trades come to you.

(7) Don’t over-diversify. This means don’t trade more than one or two stocks at a time. Diversification leads to excess stress, management headaches, increased trading commissions and mediocre results. It also makes it harder to liquidate your positions quickly and go to cash when necessary.

(8) Stop trying so hard to make money. Instead make your primary goal to get to a break-even position on each trade. As soon as you can, convert your protective stop-loss to a break-even stop-loss (Your Buy Price + the amount to cover your commissions) The market will do the rest for you.

(9) Always trade the correct side of the market. Simply put - Trade with the trend. If a stock is in an uptrend - trade Long. If a stock is in a downtrend - trade Short (or don’t trade). Avoid the bias of always thinking you can only make money if a stock goes up.

Always provide risk money before taking a trade based on your potential stop-loss exposure for a trade. If you start with $10,000 in your account you should have $10,000 in your account 6 months later, no matter how much you trade. If you don’t have risk money to send in to your account - stop trading until you do.

(10) Never lose any of your original capital from trading.

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Summary: Being a successful Short-Term Stock Trader requires adherence to a sensible regimented plan. Emotions, gut-feelings, wishful thinking or over-analysis have no part in attaining profitability in the markets. Protect your original capital at all costs and take your time… the stock market will be here tomorrow.

Click here to learn more about Swing Trading Software for NASDAQ, NYSE, and AMEX Stocks

Stock-Signal-Pro is the culmination of all my research and experience and is quite simply the most accurate and easy way to answer the question…

“When Should I Buy?”

J. Brewer

The Elliott Wave principle is a form of technical analysis that tries to foretell trends in financial markets. It is named after Ralph Nelson Elliott, an accountant who discovered the concept in the 1903s. He proposed that the prices of the market follow a specific pattern, which today they now all Elliott Waves. Elliott published his findings in the book The Wave Principle, it was published in 1938. He also had articles published in Financial World magazine in 1939 and his Flagship Nature’s Laws - The Secret of the Universe in 1946. Elliott stated that because we as a race are moving at a constant rhythm, our actions and decisions can be predicted in rhythms too.

Elliott’s model says that market prices alternate between five waves and three waves at any degree of a trend. As these waves arise, the bigger price patterns unravel in the form of a geometric shape. Inside the dominant trend, the waves 1-3-5 are the “motive” waves, and each of those has five big waves have five smaller waves beneath it. Waves 2-4 are called “corrective” waves, and they only have three sub-waves.

Each degree of a pattern in a financial market has a name, traders use symbols for each wave to show both function and degree. They use numbers for motive waves, letters for corrective waves. Degrees are somewhat relative, they are defined by form, not by size or duration.

The classification of a wave at any level can vary, traders usually agree on the standard order of levels:

- Grand Supercycle: Multi-decade to multi-century

- Supercycle: A few years to decades

- Cycle: 1 year to a few years

- Primary: A few months to a couple of years

- Intermetiate: Weeks to months

- Minor: Weeks

- Minute: Days

- Minuette: Hours

- Subminuette: Minutes

Elliott’s market model relies heavily on looking at price charts. Traders study price movies to be able to sort out the waves and waves structures, and tell what prices may arise next. The application of the wave principle is a form of pattern recognition. The structures Elliott mentioned also seem familiar to a fractal. A Fractal is similar patterns appearing at every level of the trend. Elliott Waves investors say that this is just something that happens naturally and they often get bigger and grow more complex as time goes on.

The model shows that we as a human race have a psychology that develops in patterns, like buying and selling because of reflected prices. As Elliott once said “It’s as though we are somehow programmed by mathematics. Seashell, galaxy, snowflake or human: we’re all bound by the same order.”

Author: Luis Aguirre

Elliott Waves Can Help You Invest Smarter, Visit Here For Some More Tips

As a trader, you must develop a Forex trading strategy that will allow you to quickly identify flaws and make adjustments while continuing to trade. A classic approach used to evaluate risks in the currency trading system is the inverted pyramid approach. All macroeconomic factors that affect a chosen currency pair are a function of the top of the inverted pyramid. All technical factors are considered as you move down to the bottom of the pyramid. Traders assign weight to different parts of the pyramid. Purely technical traders may apply more weight to the bottom of the inverted pyramid (upside down triangle) while fundamental traders may apply more weight at the top.

In order to make use of the inverted pyramid you will need to understand the macroeconomic factors that are a function of the top of the inverted pyramid. These include international issues that influence the global trading community. These types of issues may be gauged from news reports and news feeds with global coverage. News networks, such as CNN, provide up to date coverage of terrorism, oil prices and other such issues.

In order to account for the technical factors that apply to the pyramid, you will need to determine specifics and sediment in the particular market within which you are trading and also for any market that impacts the market within which you are trading. You must decide the typeof technical indicators that will be used in your Forex trading strategy. Some traders rely upon randomness and chance while others engage more complicated mathematical computations to calculate weighted moving averages. You must be able to develop and visualize a picture of the market, which identifies events that are of importance to affect the market. You also need to develop a general feel about the market. News reports and specific market reports will assist you in developing a picture of the market and also indicate of the direction in which the market is headed.

You will need to determine which currency pairs are volatile in relation to the macroeconomic environment and market conditions that have been identified. You will need to have knowledge of the market in order to identify and differentiate market indicators from events that bear no real significance. Your analysis of acquired data should indicate whether price movements represent a trend or volatility in the currency trading system. You will then be able to use this analysis to narrow your options to trades that offer the most potential.

You must be able to set floors and ceilings in your technical analysis to establish trading levels and then use those levels in your Forex trading strategy. Technical patterns that indicate the direction of trades in specific currency pairs should be developed. Once you have narrowed down to a specific currency pair for trade, you will then need to reexamine its market sediment as it applies to the technical analysis. You will have to identify entry and exit points for your chosen trades.

Andrew Daigle is the owner, creator and author of many successful websites including ForexBoost and Free Forex Educational Resource for the Novice and Advanced Forex trader.

I’ve noticed that many people new to trading are a bit confused about the mechanics of setting up and funding a trading account with a broker. You needn’t be, if you can manage internet banking, then establishing and operating a trading brokerage account is a snip.

The first step is to find your broker. As a trader, you are looking for an efficient electronic platform that lets you manage your account and trading activity interactively over the internet. A few things to look for include:

• Low cost of execution for the contracts you intend to trade. Prices are either quoted as a “round trip” or “per side”. As a future trade involves two separate transactions - Buy to open, Sell to close, or vice versa - a “round trip” price covers both sides. If you see an advertisement for $5 per side, you know that a trade will cost you $10.

• Fast execution of the orders you enter. By “fast” I mean virtually instant execution of market orders. The trading platform must provide a direct electronic interface to the market. Do not entertain any two stage system where orders are submitted to brokers who then submit them to the exchange.

• Support for all common order types. At the very least, you should be able to enter market, stop and limit orders. If you don’t want to be tied to the screen for the full session, you should have orders such as “one cancels other” or “one triggers other” available, so that your strategy can be automated.

• A chart is the trader’s basic tool for analysis and good brokers supply excellent packages as part of their offering. You should be able to display market information in multiple formats and time frames. The package must support the display of common indicators and studies on the charts.

• Real time data feeds are vital to the day trader. You should be able to watch your charts updating on your screen in real time. You should also be able to see “market depth” information. (This shows the number of orders resting in the market at various bid/ask levels.) In general, there is a monthly charge for this service, which is often waived if you make a certain number of transactions.

• Access to international markets. The move to electronic markets has enabled brokers to provide direct interfaces with exchanges around the world. As well as the US Markets, you want to be able to trade European and Asian markets. This is particularly important for non-US based investors.

• 24-hour support service is essential. Most of the time you will never need to contact your broker by phone, conducting all your normal trading activities via the internet. But if something does go amiss, you want to know that there is somebody available to fix your problem immediately. In fast moving markets, time can be of the essence.

• Last, but not least, it is useful if your trading platform allows you to trade futures options as well as pure futures contracts. As your trading develops, you may want to utilize option strategies and it is frustrating if that means you have to change your broker.

During my career I have used two futures brokers - Xpresstrade and Interactive Brokers. Both provided excellent service. Xpresstrade uses a browser based trading platform which means that you do not have to download any special software onto your computer. I found it simple to use, with powerful features, and the support was first class.

Interactive Brokers (IB) is my current broker and I am delighted with their offering. Everything is automated, and there are a multitude of different facilities available on their trading platform. For example, orders can be entered through a conventional order entry screen, directly from a “book trader” screen, or by using graphic tools directly on the charts.

IB has excellent support services. However, they cater for the knowledgable trader and are not into “hand holding” support. A beginner may find their interface more confusing than some others, like Xpresstrade.

As an indication of prices you can expect, Xpresstrade charges $5 per side for common electronic contracts; IB charges $2.40. Both offer discount structures for volume traders.

As I type this I am following the Corn market at the Chicago Board of Trade. Click here to see my simple trading screen.

I have two windows open. On the right is the charting window set to follow the session using 2 minute candlestick bars, with volume shown along the bottom. It is easy to display studies, or draw trend lines on the chart.

To the left is the “book trader” window which displays market depth at various price levels, and permits one click entry of all common order types. For example, left clicking a particular price level enters a Limit order, and a right click enters a stop order. Buy/Sell buttons at the top of the screen enter immediate Market orders.

This is a great setup for day trading. Screens are easy to customize; so each trader can have their own setup, according to personal preference and the tools they like to use.

I have noticed that new non-US traders sometimes feel reluctant to open accounts with US brokerage firms. Naturally they feel more comfortable and “connected” working with a brokerage based in their own country.

But I advise you to think internationally in this business. The US futures markets are big and the industry servicing them is well established and sophisticated. Look for the “best” brokerage, not necessarily a local one. Remember that your interaction will be totally web based, so it really doesn’t matter where their office is.

Another fear I have heard expressed by new offshore traders is that their money is not secure, or may be difficult to access. All that I can say is that in over ten years trading experience I have found depositing and withdrawing funds to be simplicity itself, and absolutely reliable. US futures brokers are strictly regulated, maybe better regulated than brokers in your own country.

The best brokers provide facilities on their website which completely automates the account application process. Be prepared to spend a bit of time on this because because there are several documents to be read and completed. It can be a bit intimidating the first time you do it; there is a lot of boilerplate ensuring that you understand the nature of various risks involved. You are also asked questions about your assets and prior trading experience. It is important to read this material carefully, but avoid becoming too discouraged by all the legal language - the brokerages need to advise you of all worst case scenarios and, naturally enough, ensure that they can not be held responsible for losses incurred during normal trading activities.

Quite soon after submitting your application form you will (hopefully) be advised by email of your account acceptance and provided with details including User Id and Password. Login and change the password as soon as possible.

An offshore trader using a US brokerage has a couple of extra steps to go through. You must fax (or email scanned copies of) your passport and a utility bill to comply with stricter security regulations since 9/11. You will also be asked to fill in a W-8 form for tax purposes. If you have no other business activity in the U.S. and live in a country which has reciprocal tax agreements, completion of this form means that the brokerage does not have to withhold a percentage of profits for taxation purposes. This simplifies matters, because you only need to declare income and pay taxes in your own country.

Once you have a user account and password, you can log into your account. At this point you need to fund it. This is normally done by a standard electronic funds transfer. Offshore traders may need to wire funds, but this is a simple thing to arrange from your bank branch. (In my case, Interactive Brokers provide the facility to deposit funds using the standard Australian funds transfer system which is easily done via internet banking.When the funds arrive in your account, it is activated and you can view your balance on the screen. When you trade, the balance is updated in real time.

Normally there is a facility on the secure web site to set up details of your bank account. Having done this once, you can withdraw funds whenever you wish with just a few clicks of your mouse.

That is all there is to it. Following these few simple steps sets you up with a brokerage account providing access to markets throughout the world, with software facilities which were once the exclusive province of large investment houses.

Now you are ready to start playing the trading game!

David Bennett is an independent Futures Trader. He lives on the Gold Coast of Australia, trading financial and grains futures contracts in Chicago.

Visit http://12oclocktrades.com for more articles.

Stock analysis, when done correctly, will change your life! It will help you to turn a small amount of personal savings into a quickly snowballing trading account. Analyzing stocks correctly has the potential to free you from work, debt and a feeling of “want” into one of the rare people who are truly independent, can live anywhere in the world they like and need only to work a few hours each week. It is for these reasons that many people seek to master the stock markets. Learning how to do stock analysis the right way is the first step on a liberating journey of self discovery and personal fulfillment.

Let me take you on a little voyage of discovery….jump into my time machine.

What is “the right way” to do stock analysis? Simple…the right way is the way which has produced the best returns over a long period of time. The feature I love most about the stock market is everything is recorded! We can literally jump back in time to great traders, high performing stocks and market conditions and learn from them. How do we do it? We look for patterns and common denominators. Once we have those, we try and incorporate them into our trading.

This is what Warren Buffet did. It’s what Peter Lynch did, Jim Slater did it too, and so did Marc Faber, George Soros, Jesse Livermore, William O Neill and Nicholas Darvas. The list could go on and on.

They researched why stocks behaved the way they did, cherry picked the winners and then went out and looked for them!

Their first step, to a man, was stock analysis…more precisely, fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis is about which type of stocks we choose. It revolved around the company that’s underneath the quarterly reports. Great fundamental analysts look at factors, like earnings, profit margins, operating profits, sales growth, product pipelines, management quality, the competitive position, debt to equity ratios, and many more. These fundamental factors tell us about the company as a business.

There is another type of analysis…technical analysis. It revolves around the strength of the industry group of the stock, who is buying it right now, and how much they are buying, technical analysis of the stock chart, its performance over a period of time against its peer group and the market in general. Now, most people who rely on fundamental analysis have dirty raincoats and big overdrafts in my experience. Many people, though not all, who rely on fundamental analysis suffer from ever increasing market swings.

Most highly successful sophisticated investors look at both types of analysis…it’s a kind of techno fundamental analysis. The balance in this method is heavily weighted to fundamental analysis….about 80% with technical analysis being about 20% of the weighting. It’s more important to buy good companies than it is to jump on great entry points in the stock charts of poor companies.

As investors, we all want to have the “margin of safety” which Benjamin Graham talked about. Buying stocks in outstanding enterprises goes a long way to providing this so that our downside is limited.

However, on its own, this isn’t enough protection. Great companies like Cisco have gone through stomach churning corrections of almost 90%. The missing part here was technical analysis…buying the best companies at exactly the right time instead of simply buying the best companies.

When you put both pieces of this stock analysis puzzle together, buying great companies and buying them at precisely the right time, your success in the stock markets is almost assured.
So when you think about investing in or trading stocks, use both technical and fundamental analysis. Keep your overdraft low and your rain coat clean by doing stock analysis the right way!

Barry Wallis has been teaching beginning and struggling traders to profit from stock market analysis for 4 years. Find out how more and more people are changing their lives fast with his new book on successful stock investing