Selling Options

While day trading is neither illegal nor is it unethical, it can be highly risky. As a trader you will probably fall into two main categories, traders who like to trade the breakout and traders who like to join the trend once established. Most day traders have their favorite markets.

You don’t need to know everything about day trading to succeed as a day trader. More important for the day-trader than others is to have the proper ‘team’ in place. Keep in mind a day-trader with a computer and access to the Internet already has access to a world of information.

Some day traders might buy and sell stocks in minutes, but might also hold some overnight or longer. During the day trading, a day trader will quickly buy a large number of stocks at a time and sell it once they see the stock gain within the day. Some of the more commonly day-traded financial instruments are stocks, stock options, currencies, and a host of futures contracts such as equity index futures, interest-rate futures, and commodity futures.

An investor needs to have a system that helps him to be prepared for all scenarios of a trade. Is Day Trading Right For You? Can day-trading be learned?

With the unlimited potential to earn of daytrading, comes the possibility of great financial loss. The Forex market is the largest financial market in the world with average daily trading of the currencies going over US$1.6 trillion. Day trading doesn’t mean trading every day. Day trading simply means not holding any position beyond the current trading day.

Many day traders make dozens of trades every market day hoping to capture profits that arise from small intraday price fluctuations. Before starting out in the Forex daytrading market we need to make sure we understand the basics of daytrading. Even if you`re starting out with a small day trading float, you should practice good money management.

By simply changing the amount of capital you risk in your day trading, you can turn a system from returning 10% to returning a 100% per annum. As the prices go up and down, the day trader must be alert as to when to sell his stock or wait for the moment to hold on it. Your best chance to make money trading is by following the path of the best traders.

Access to timely information and fast execution of trades is essential to day trade successfully. You must know how to daytrade if you want to be a sucessful daytrader. Some websites have sought to profit from day traders by offering them hot tips and stock picks for a fee.

The application of Fibonacci to trading can be very complex, and take much time and experience to perfect. Day traders go bankrupt because they lose money, not because they don’t make enough money. You’ll need to ascertain for yourself whether you are comfortable with the levels of risk inherent in daytrading..

Do you have the tolerance for the risk involved with day trading? Day traders typically hold stocks anywhere from only a few seconds to several hours but they never keep stocks overnight. Can day-trading be learned? Be aware that day trading does not offer the protection of an advisor who can tell you whether a particular investment is suitable to your financial goals.

Article Written By J. Foley

Forex trading has become one of the fastest growing areas of finance. It’s something that people will have as a hobby or a job as it offers a great way to make some money. If you have the right mindset, it can be a highly profitable market to invest in.
People who trade forex capitalize on the fluctuations in value of different currencies. In other words, they gain or lose value based on variety of different factors such as politics, the rates of bonds and commodity prices.
Consider this example, if the Euro is worth $1.50 when you buy it and you then sell it for $1.52 that means that you make $0.02 per unit on the transaction. This works out to only a small percentage of the overall transaction, but don’t think that this means there’s no money to be made!
This may not seem like much but doing this over a number of transactions adds up and can end up providing you with a significant source of income. Even if you are only getting between 3-5% in gains on your transactions you can still make a good living.
Successful traders play the fluctuations in the market and know which currencies to buy and sell at a given time.
How Traders Know What to Trade
There are things that a trader knows to use in order to determine what currencies to trade by watching what affects those currencies. For example, if you were looking at trading the Canadian currencies and understand it is tied to oil and wood – you can then know that when demand for wood changes the currency is going to adjust as well. The US dollar is tied to both treasury bills and the interest rates of the Federal Reserve so when these rates change the value of the dollar changes as well. These are just two examples of what people look out for.
There are unlimited resources to help provide you with the information that you need to make investments on the Forex market. The more you research the better your chances are of maximizaing your gains and avoiding any significant losses.
You will also see some traders zone in on just a few currencies so that they can become “experts” in certain currencies.
Many traders subscribe to research services that can help to provide you with information on the various aspects of the market. However, doing this can also leave you reliant on the judgment of other people.
The majority of individual who trade on the Forex market for a living make use of something called a “forex robot” or an automated program. These programs analyze data in real time to provide you with the signals and cues you need to know when possible profit turning trades are available.
For those considering the options that Forex gives when it comes to creating additional income, looking into these types of programs can be a great asset especially when just starting out in the market.
If you’re going to use a program like this to help you make money, you’ll want to look for a couple of things.
The first step is to make sure that there is a demo program or option available to allow you the chance to check out the program out prior to placing an actual cash investment. Usually this should run a week or two weeks in order to get a good view of how the program operates.
The second thing to look for is a money back guarantee. Naturally you want to see that the software works and is easy for you to use. Companies that know their product works will have no problem giving a guarantee.
Purchase the program, test it and then make your decision. If the program isn’t meeting your expectations – get your money back.

We are going to give you a simple fact here which many traders don’t understand why it’s so significant and never use it to their advantage.

If you do, then it could make you huge profits in online forex trading and ensure you never miss a major move again.

So here it is:

Most major trends start from new market highs NOT market lows.

Why is this so significant?

A major failure of many traders especially novice traders, is they always want to “buy low and sell high” or buy dips.

Of course, if they do this they will never catch major moves.

If most major trends start at new market highs then the way to make money is to “buy high and sell higher”

Most traders cannot do this:

They see a breakout from new market highs and think prices are now to high so they think “let’s wait for the pullback to get in”.

The problem is most of the time prices don’t pullback, the trader never gets on board and sees a trade make $10,000 or more and their not in!

Breakouts are simply one of the best ways to trade and on breaks of significant support or resistance the odds of the trend continuing are good.

You can therefore get in with the odds on your side, with clearly defined stops below the breakout.

Breakouts allow you to trade on confirmation and that’s why it’s such a great way to trade.

Yes, it can be uncomfortable as you won’t be in at the bottom or sell at the top, but you can’t do that anyway and you know the odds are on your side.

How to trade breakouts.

1. Look only for significant support and resistance that has been tested several times and preferably with months in between tests.

2. Trade only if prices close above resistance. Many times prices can spike through resistance in a day session and fall back, so wait for the close of US Trading.

3. Place your stop behind the breakout point, once the break is under way.

4. Do not trail up your stop to quickly.

5. If you are worried about short term volatility, buy at the money or in the money options to give you staying power.

6. Never predict a breakout. Only act on confirmation at the end of the day and before you take a position make sure momentum indicators point to further strength – An indicator such as the stochastic is useful here.

Breakouts are simple to understand, easy to trade, offer great risk to reward and will allow you to hit the major big moves that help yield the big profits.

If you think “buy low sell high can make you money” – Chances are it won’t.

However if you “buy high and sell higher” you could make some huge profits.

Forex is an abbreviated name for foreign exchange. The Forex market is a non-stop cash market where the currencies of nations are bought and sold, typically via brokers. For example, you buy Euros, paying with U.S. Dollars, or you sell Euros for Japanese Yen. The value of your Forex investment increases or decreases because of changes in the currency exchange rate or Forex rate. These changes can occur at any time, and often result from economic and political factors, such as the price of oil or political unrest. This article discusses the various steps in making a Forex trade.
Before we proceed, let us review the basics of Forex analysis. Currency market players typically use Forex analysis as a means of predicting currency price movements. Forex analysis is divided into two types: fundamental and technical. A fundamental analysis uses economic and political factors as a means of predicting currency movements. A technical analysis uses reliable historical data as a means of forecasting these movements. The technical analyst believes that history repeats itself over and over again. Some Forex traders depend on fundamental analysis while others depend on technical analysis. However, many successful Forex traders use a combination of both strategies. The important point to remember here is that no one strategy or combination of strategies is ever 100% certain.
Now we can proceed to discussing the various steps in making a Forex trade.
Through a combination of fundamental and technical analysis, you believe that the Euro will go up against the U.S. Dollar because of economic events. To activate the Forex deal, you need to buy Euros with U.S. Dollars. Therefore, your pair of currencies in this Forex transaction are the Euro and the U.S. Dollar.
Next, you determine the volume or the amount of the Forex deal you wish to make. You decide to buy 1 lot of Euros with U.S. Dollars. 1 lot is equal to 100,000 units of the base. Likewise, 2 lots are equal to 200,000 units of the base, 3 lots are equal to 300,000 units of the base, and so on.
You then check the bid price and ask price of EUR/USD. Like the stock market, the Forex market has a bid price and ask price. The bid is the price you can sell at. The ask is the price you can buy at. The bid/ask spread or simply spread is the distance between the bid and ask prices. In Forex trading, this spread is usually expressed in pips.
For this Forex trade, let’s suppose that the bid price is 1.2362 and that the ask price is 1.2365. This means that you can you can sell 1 lot (100,000 units) of Euros for $123,620 or you can buy 1 lot of Euros for $123,650. In this example, the spread between the bid and ask prices is 3 pips wide (1.2365 – 1.2362 = 3 pips).
As stated above, you have decided to buy 1 lot of Euros for $123,650. However, you don’t have to come up with $123,650 in order to buy 100,000 Euros. You can buy 1 lot of Euros with a 1% margin at the price of 1.2365 and wait for the price to increase.
Margin is referred to as the collateral needed to facilitate the Forex deal. Usually, this is a very small portion of the entire deal, say 1% or 1:100. For this example, your margin would be $1,236.50. Please note that margin is a double-edged sword. Without the proper use of risk management tools that are discussed below, you can experience substantial losses as well as gains.
You determine stop-loss and take-profit rates. A stop-loss order is a market order to close a Forex position if or when losses reach a pre-set threshold. A take-profit order is a market order to close a Forex position if or when profits reach a pre-set threshold. We strongly suggest that you take advantage of stop-loss and take-profit options in your Forex trading. By using the take-profit and stop-loss options, your deal closes automatically, when and if such rates occur in the market.
Let’s suppose that you have a pre-set take-profit rate of 1.3575. Three days later, the Euro rises in relation to the U.S. Dollar. Your deal closes automatically when profits reach your pre-set threshold. You now have $135,750, which is $12,100 more than what you started out with three days earlier.
Let’s look at another scenario as well. Suppose that you have a pre-set stop-loss rate of 1.2165. Two days later, the Euro falls in relation to the U.S. Dollar. Your deal closes automatically when losses reach your pre-set threshold. In this example, you now have $121,650, which is $2,000 less than what you started out with two days earlier.
Trading Forex on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to invest in foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose.

Day trading is the practice of buying and then selling a stock all within a single day of market activity. Day traders dabble in a number of different financial instruments, such as stocks, currencies, stock options, and futures contracts such as interest rate futures, equity index futures, and commodities futures.
It is not uncommon for a day trader to execute hundreds of trades in a single day, whereas others might only make a few trades. Some look for swings in prices that may last a few seconds or a few minutes. Such a trader literally will buy a stock and then sell it within a few minutes, or sometimes within 30 seconds or less.
Others look for changes in momentum and will hop in at the beginning of an upswing and then ride it out until the upswing is over. This is known as momentum trading. Another strategy that day traders often employ is called position trading, where they look for a stock that is likely to experience a significant increase in price over a period of a few days or even a few months. They hold their position until the price plateaus, and then they dump it.
Most average day traders look at the resistance and support levels for the price of a given stock. When a stock has reached its historical maximum, it is said to have reached its normal resistance level, meaning it probably will not go up much more. When the stock has reached its historical minimum, it is said to have reached its support level, meaning it will probably not go down much further. However, new resistance and support levels are established all the time, so it is not always smart to rely on historical price levels to gauge future price movements.
Most traders look at websites like MarketWire for the latest breaking news developments to make their investment decisions. If a company has just put out a favorable press release, the price of the stock will likely go up in the short-term, so it is smart to buy some stock as soon as the story is released, and then sell it when the buying frenzy starts to lose its momentum.
One of the most common practices utilized by day traders is known as buying on margin. When you buy a stock on margin, you are basically borrowing money in order to buy stock, and of course the money that you borrow has to be paid back at a certain time. Most brokerages usually require that you have a certain minimum amount in your account in order to borrow.
Some financial institutions require that you have an account balance equal to 25% of the amount you are going to trade on margin, and some require 50% of the amount borrowed. And usually, the trader is required to exit a certain percentage of the positions they have in various stocks by the close of business on the day when the trades were initially executed. Buying on margin is extremely risky, because the money you lose on trades is still owed the lender. Margin orders are not recommended for inexperienced investors.
Another popular trading strategy is called short selling. This is where the trader borrows a stock from a financial institution and then sells it, hoping that the price will go down in the near future so that the trader can buy the stock back at a lower price when it comes time to return the stock to the lender. The difference between the price it was initially sold at and the cost to buy it back in order to return it to the lender represents the profit for that trader. Short selling requires advanced knowledge of market trends.
After a stock is bought and subsequently sold, there is a settlement period that must elapse before the money earned from the sale can be used again to place another trade. The settlement period is usually 3 full business days. This can be especially frustrating for neophyte day traders who have opened up their first brokerage account and then put all of their money into one stock, and then sell it the same day when it goes up, only to discover that they have to wait until the transaction is settled in 3 business days before they can place another order.
So, if you are new to trading, do not use all of your money to place a single trade; set aside some money so that you always have some money in your account that is not tied up in settlement, so that you can continuously trade without interruption.
I hope this information has helped you get started with day trading. Try to set aside some money for investing and start while you are still young. The earlier you begin, the more money you can potentially make down the road. Some day traders make millions, others lose everything, so you should carefully research the companies you are going to invest in beforehand and you will do fine.

With the onset of technology and its augmentation, everything today has become ‘online’ and this includes trading! All non-residents today trade online. Almost all the registered brokers today offer Online Trading facility in Equities for non-residents.But of course, there are certain prerequisites for being able to trade online. The non-resident must have/open: 1. Bank account with a Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) Designated Bank (DB) 2. Demat account with broker 3. Broking account with broker.Before proceeding further, let us tell you what exactly all these accounts are.PIS Account: Portfolio Investment Scheme, better known as PIS, account is mandatory for all Indians living abroad, and enables non-residents to invest in the shares of Indian companies based on repatriation or non-repatriation, in respect of shares or convertible debentures sold or purchased through a registered stock broker on a recognized stock exchange. Please note that other means of acquiring shares (like bonus shares, shares purchased through IPO etc.) is not covered under this scheme.Demat/DMAT Account: Dematerialised or DMAT account is similar to any conventional bank account, the only difference being that the latter deals with money, while the former deals with sale and purchase of stocks. Maintained with a Depository and opened through a Depository Participant (DP), we at nriinvestindia.com help our clients to open such an account in India.Broking/Trading Account: The name might sound complex, but trading account is nothing but an account opened with a stock brokers, enabling you to buy and sell shares or any other financial instruments through them.Now that you know what these accounts mean, we now proceed to tell you how to open these accounts, and the various documents you will need, if any, for the same.Opening a Bank Account with a PIS DB: To invest in the secondary market, non-residents require the permission of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and for this you need to open a bank account with a DB under the PIS. The fund for investment in the market has to be routed through the PIS Bank account. The brokers can have a tie-up with UTI Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank etc for this purpose since these are the DB of the RBI, and can hence issue RBI approval to non-residents. The account can be opened based on whether you want benefits of repatriation upon investing (NRE Account) or do not wants benefits on repatriation upon investing (NRO Account). Brokers will send you a trading account opening kit enclosed with the application forms for opening Bank account as well with any one of the above-referred DB under the Portfolio Investment Scheme. This will facilitate online trading for non-residents around the world.Upon receiving these forms, the DB will open two bank accounts – a PIS account and non-PIS account. All investments and sale proceeds will be done through the PIS account. Please remember that the PIS account needs to be funded before the broker can make investments. The non-PIS account functions like any usual Savings Bank non-resident account, and transactions other than those under the PIS account will be routed through the non-PIS account. In case of NRO accounts, the non-PIS transaction would include payment to IPO and ESOP, dividend payment, amongst others.You need to produce the following documents while opening a PIS account: * Attested copy of Passport. * Attested copy of Valid VISA copy /Work permit (Iqqama for middle east countries). * Details of existing shares holding both in NRI status & resident status duly signed. * 3 Passport size Photographs.The DB shall send the A/c opening intimation directly to the clients & a copy of the RBI approval is delivered to the broker. On receipt of the RBI approval from the DB, the broker proceeds to the next step – opening a Demat and Broking account.Opening a DMAT account with a broker: Based on RBI’s approval, the broker will open the DMAT account in the same status (NRE or NRO) and pattern (Joint or Single) as is the account with the bank. Shares are held here in an electronic form and shares bought by the client get credited on the second working day from the day of purchase. Example: Shares bought on Monday will be credited on Wednesday; those bought on Tuesday will be credited on Thursday, and so on.Opening a Broking/Trading account with a broker: Broking account is a trading account with the help of which the client does the transactions of ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ in the Secondary Market. The broking account is opened after the DMAT account gets opened, and the former is linked with the latter.Now that you know the process of opening the various accounts, we will now inform you, in detail, about the trading process and the transactions of ‘buy’ and ‘sell’.Trading process: To enable the client to trade, the client is given, generally, a Trade Login User ID and a password. All the client has to do is place the “Buy” and “Sell” Orders on the Broker’s Trade Page. Most of the Brokers have user-friendly Trading System thus ensuring that the client has a pleasant trading experience.Buy: By moving funds in her/his PIS account to the broker, the client can initiate a ‘buy’ transaction. The movement of the fund is done in less than a minute and accordingly the Trading Limit is updated facilitating the client to buy shares. Once the NRI has bought and/or sold the balance money, if any, the same has to be transferred by the client from her/his PIS account on receipt of the trade confirmation, and the Broker then sends it after the Market closes for the day. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) settles the delivery for shares bought on the second working day (example: if you bought a share on Monday it will be credited to your account on Wednesday and so on) from the Date of Purchase.Sell: You need to have shares in your DMAT account to initiate a ‘sell’ transaction. The trading system would reject your order otherwise. The shares bought are, as mentioned above, credited to your account on the second working day and available for trade on the third day. The NSE settles the sale proceeds on the second day from the date of sale and the broker wires the money to the client’s PIS account, on the second day itself. The DB credits the proceeds into the client’s PIS account after Calculation Gains and deducting tax if any.The client can get an update on the Broking account by looking at the ‘Accounts Statement’ on the broker’s trading website. The Daily Account Statement gives details of Funds Transfers – both for transfers done by the client to Broker & by Broker to the client’s PIS A/c and the date-wise break-up of shares bought or sold by the client.VALUE ADDED SERVICES RENDERED BY THE BROKER FOR ONLINE NRI CLIENTSA broker will not ONLY take care of your transactions. She/he provides a lot of innumerable services. These include:One-stop shop: Most of the brokers will open all the three accounts for you by coordinating for the same with the DB. So all the applicant has to do is fill up the relevant forms and give it to the broker.Trade confirmations: Brokers will email you the details of the trade done for the day which will include confirmation for the trade done and the brokerage fee charged for the same.Report transaction: Brokers will report every transaction done by a client to RBI by the DB.Contract notes: In addition to the emails, the client can view their Digital Contract notes on the website.PIS account queries/reconciliation: In order to ensure that the PIS account is regular, the broker shall coordinate with the DB and clarify all queries related to PIS transactions. Please note that every transaction done in the Trading account has to be reported through the DB.Offline orders: Some brokers accept offline orders through emails, fax, and even over the phone, after confirming the identity of the client, thus permitting even those who do not have access to Internet/Computer. The brokers may also offer opening an account for liquidating the shares bought in Primary Market. They will also obtain the Auditor’s Certificate for such sales and the proceeds will be credited to your NRE/NRO Account after the tax has been deducted.Processing of IPO Applications: The broker, on behalf of NRI clients, can apply for IPO relieving the client off the paper work. All the client has to do is indicate the number of shares to be applied for, either through an email or by filling the online application available on the broker’s website (most of the brokers provide such services).TIP – Recommendation/Call of Stocks: Thanks to technology, brokers, today, send SMS and/or email alerts keeping their clients updated about the market. Clients having considerable holding in a particular stock also receive price alerts in addition to the latest market news.Online helpdesk: Due to the boom in technology, brokers today are able to assist their clients through an ‘online helpdesk’, hence certifying that suggestions/solutions are provided to the clients immediately.TRADING PROCESSNon-residents require the following documents depending on whether they are NRI, PIO or OCI:Non-Resident Indian (NRI) requires PAN Card and a copy of the Indian Passport.Person of Indian Origin (PIO) requires PIO Card, copy of Foreign Passport showing Indian birthplace and PAN Card.Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) requires copy of OCI Card and PAN Card.For further details please contact us at: contact@nriinvestindia.com or you may checkout the website: www.nriinvestindia.comNon-residents can invest in both Primary and Secondary Markets with the help of a registered broker. These brokers offer a wide range of services warranting that the clients feel at home while making investment decisions.THINGS NON-RESIDENTS CAN DOVis-à-vis trading, non-residents today can do various kinds of trading as per their convenience. Some of them include:Online Trading (stocks and derivatives)Various brokers give you tools used by institutions and professionals for trading in the Capital Market. Many of them provide an Online Trading Platform certifying non-residents to transact paper-free trading in ‘Equities and Derivatives’ segments. Such Online Trading System provides the most distinct services like Streaming Market Watch, Technical Analysis, AMO (After Market Order), Online Funds Transfer and NRI Online Helpdesk facilitating you to have a pleasant trading experience.Offline TradingAs said earlier, brokers, today, allow clients to place orders for trade through phone, email and/or fax.Mutual Fund InvestmentsNon-resident can invest in Indian Mutual Funds with the help of registered distributors or brokers. Some of them also offer simplified process that is free of all paperwork. These distributors also provide updates on the latest top funds, NAV, and new fund offer. They also provide performance report of various funds to ensure smart investments are made in the Mutual Fund segment.Investment in Initial Public Offer (IPO)Investors can make paper-free investments through select brokers in the Primary Market – Initial Public Offer (IPO). Various details such as current and upcoming IPOs, performance of past IPOs, basis of allotment etc are provided by them making possible for their clients to make hassle free IPO investments.ESOP TradingBy offering value added service in the form of ESOP Trading, few good brokerage houses enable clients to liquidate the Stock Option given by their Employers and remit abroad the sale proceeds or reinvest the same in the Secondary Market.Dematerialisation of Shares bought in Primary MarketUsually brokers assist clients to convert their physical share certificates to electronic form (DMAT Form). All that the client has to do is open a NRI account and submit the DMAT Request along with the necessary certificates, and your broker will take care of everything else.Important: The content above provides general information regarding how brokers help non-residents to open a trading account and let them trade. However, services and regulations may differ from broker to broker. Please check with your chosen broker for the same.

Would you like to make money from trading but don’t know how to trade?
Have you heard of others making a killing on the markets and wished yourself in their position?
Trading covers a multitude of sins, or at least a multitude of markets. Mention “trading” to a non-trader and they’ll probably think of stock and shares but there are many other markets you can trade in. These include commodities, futures, indices, CFDs and options. They all have their pros and cons and some require specialized knowledge.
The most popular markets used by traders are stocks, commodities, futures, indices and forex. Some traders switch between markets, others stick to just one. Let’s highlight some of the similarities and differences between them.
Shares
In the USA there are over 40,000 shares so you have a lot of markets to choose from. You can’t deal in all of them so you need to home in on those that offer good trading opportunities using whatever trading methods you decide to use.
When buying shares you usually have to put up all the money at the time of sale. That might seem obvious but it’s not so with all markets. Some brokers offer a 50% margin with shares which means you can trade to the value of twice the amount in your account. This seems like a good deal but if your shares start to go down you’ll get a “margin call” and will either have to put more money in your account or sell the shares at a loss.
Shares are normally traded in lots of 100. If you want to trade an expensive share – and some shares are very expensive, particularly in the US markets – you need a considerable amount of money in your account.
It’s not easy to sell shares short. Selling short is a strange concept to many people who think of buying shares at a low price and selling then at a higher price. But it’s often easier to predict that a share will fall rather than rise so what you’d like to do is to sell it at a high price and then buy it back later at a low price. The net result is the same whatever the order of the deals – buy low, sell high.
However, you can’t sell something you don’t own so in order to sell shares short you must “borrow” them from your broker. This is not quite as straightforward as buying and not all shares are available for selling short.
Finally, share dealing takes place during market hours so if you don’t live in the country where they are being traded you must adjust your trading hours to suit.
Futures, commodities and indices
Commodities are goods such as corn, copper, crude oil, orange juice, oats, gold and wheat.
Technically, a futures contract is an agreement to make or accept delivery of a commodity on a certain day at a certain price. In practice this rarely happens unless you’re a manufacturer who actually wants the goods. The vast majority of futures traders are simply speculating on whether the price will go up or down and never take delivery of an item.
Futures contacts include commodities and also stock market indices such as the S&P 500, Dow Jones and the Russell. Indices are simply a composite of securities that provide an overall reading of the market or some section of it.
The S&P 500 (Standard & Poor’s 500) tracks 500 of the largest companies in the US market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks only 30 of the largest and longest-established companies while the Russell 2000 is an index of smaller stocks.
Essentially, commodities and indices are futures and traded in much the same way although traders may use the terms interchangeably.
Unlike shares, futures can be sold short just as easily as they can be bought. Each futures contract has its own fluctuating price and many traders deal in just one lot contracts.
Brokers usually charge a flat fee commission per contract, often expressed as a “round turn” which is one buy and one sell transaction. This may be a few dollars, often less than the value of a point or two on the contract. If you’re trading a long time frame the commission is negligible but if you’re day trading and scalping for a few points here and there it becomes a considerable part of the cost.
Futures brokers usually offer a margin of around 20% of the value of the underlying instrument so you can control $10,000’s worth of a contract for maybe $2,000. However, the same rules apply – if you over-leverage your account you’ll receive a margin call or your positions will be closed at a loss. Margin and leverage are a two-edged sword.
Many brokers offer a demo account so you can get used to the trading platform and test your trading strategies before you put real money on the line.
Forex Currency Trading
Currency trading, foreign exchange or forex as it’s more commonly known, has fast become one of the most popular markets for private traders in recent years.
As its name suggests, it involves buying and selling foreign currency. The most commonly traded currencies are referenced against the US Dollar and are sometimes referred to as a “currency pair” even though you are only trading one instrument. For example, the GBPUSD is the UK Pound/US Dollar pair. A value of 1.7625 would mean that the one Pound is worth 1.7625 Dollars. Other popular pairs include the Euro (EURUSD), the Swiss Franc (USDCHF) and the Japanese Yen (USDJPY) although there are others.
So unlike shares and futures, you don’t have a mass of markets to choose from, but there is variety within forex currency trading to give you a range of markets to trade.
The value of each pair differs slightly but the minimum movement – called a “pip” – is worth approximately $10. The GBPUSD has been averaging 100-150 pips per day which would be $1000-1500. Many brokers let you trade half or even quarter-size lots which are useful when you’re starting out. Also, many brokers offer a demo account so you can practice before risking real money.
The total value of the forex market is worth trillions of dollars per day, far larger than shares or futures. It is also a truly international market with dealing taking place all around the globe 24 hours per day from Monday to Friday. You can, therefore, trade at any time of the day or night at times to suit you. It’s worth noting, however, that the bigger moves generally occur during the US and European trading sessions.
You can sell short forex just as easily as you can buy and brokers offer highly-leveraged accounts too – but the same warning regarding margins apply here as well.
Brokers tend not to charge a commission for trading forex and you will often see adverts for “commission free” trading. However, they make their money on the spread which is the difference between the buying price and the selling price. The spread is usually between 3 and 5 pips although some brokers may offer a 2 pip spread on some pairs, and some less-popular pairs may have a larger spread.
Paying on the spread is particularly useful when trading mini lots. A 3-pip spread on a quarter lot will be about $7.50 whereas on a full-size lot it would be $30. Again, the spread is more important when trading short time frames where you’re only aiming to make a few pips per trade. You need to build the spread into your trading system so you don’t overestimate the amount you might make per trade.
One interesting aspect of forex currency trading is that there is no central clearing house where absolute prices are quoted, unlike shares and futures. So it’s quite possible to see different brokers quoting slightly different prices for the same pair. As the market has become more efficient, this difference has reduced, in most cases, to a few pips but it highlights the importance of checking that the data you are using for analysis is the same – or close to – that used by your broker for placing your orders.
The market you decide to trade will depend on many things, not least of all, your budget, but also how many markets you want to look at and what hours you want to trade. There are trading vehicles to suit all preferences and pockets.

Known as the single biggest market in the world today, forex o foreign exchange market is the most sought after business venture nowadays. With a market that opens 24-hours, its process entails a link between the values of currency of one country in connection to the other. Considering this basic concept of forex trading, it will require to utilize all the financial tools to guarantee successful investment.
One of the financial tools that can be used to identify opportunity in forex trading is the free forex buy and sell indicator. This is high recommended for active forex traders as it illustrates the fluctuation of prices in the forex market which will help you track the rise and fall patterns.
A free forex buy and sell indicator will eliminate most commonly used speculation approach when trading in forex. It offers you concrete facts to use as basis of your analysis in trading. It provides also with historical data on the various currency trends that you wish to trade.
You can scour the internet and you can available many free forex buy and sell indicator. These sources in the internet will provide you the customer software as an indicator tool whether it is advisable to sell or to hold on the currencies you are currently trading. Whereas, there are also some websites that offer free forex buy and sell indicator such as business4profitsystems and swing currency. Just make sure to evaluate thorough these sites and look for the streamline that is best suited to your needs.
Aside from this mentioned free forex buy and sell indicators, there are also indicators that requires a minimum fee. Of course, it is a fact of life that freebies are always inferior in terms of quality and package compared to paid forex indicators. It is expected that paid indicators have wider options and better functionalities. One of the recently launch application that is gaining popularity is Forex Auto Pilot. Like the name itself, it is auto pilot hence it is automated trading application that will allow the system to trade any time as long as your computer is open. Your only part in this auto pilot application is providing the range of details wherein you wish to trade.
A free forex buy and sell indicator can be of great help if you able to include this application in your trading activities. The most important job of the buy and sell indicator is to identify the right time to buy or to sell in forex trading.
There are indeed a lot of options to look for free forex buy and sell indicator. This is recommendable especially for novice in the field of forex. Downloading these free forex buy and sell indicator can be used as a tool to study the price trend until you are thoroughly familiar with the ins and outs of the forex trading.
The options for free forex buy and sell indicator is unlimited. However it is worth remembering the features, package and services of a freebie items will never be the same with paid forex indicators.

If penny stocks were determined strictly by price, some of the largest companies in the world almost became “penny shares” during the first part of 2009. The Securities Exchange Commission is supposed to consider all stocks with a price per share of less than five dollars a penny stock. But in the realm of financial services there are many shades of gray, or in this instance pink. Pink Sheets, is an electronic quotation system operated by Pink OTC Markets, and displays quotes from broker-dealers for many over-the-counter securities. Companies do not need to fulfill any requirements (e.g., filing financial statements with the SEC) thus making them a risky investment. Because of their lax accounting and reporting guidelines, many feel “penny shares” are vulnerable to manipulation. I’m referring to the famous scam “pump and dump.” Where at times influential investors can pump up a stock, sell it for huge profits, then D-list the stock. So in simplest of terms, penny stocks are usually determined by three basic factors. They are, the price per share, the market that the stock trades upon and the market capitalization of the company from which the stock derives. If you are considering trading penny stocks, you should know that even these factors are up for debate, depending on which broker you use. Some brokerage firms will treat all stock from companies under a certain market cap as penny stock. Penny stocks are high risk, but can yield high rewards if you carefully research these investments. Make sure that you understand that it is easy to lose all of the money you have invested, but it is equally easy to make fast money with some smart planning and detailed technical charting. A substantial look into this market  will show that a lot  of  these small companies are honest and have tremendous potential. So let’s say you found a way to insure you that penny stocks are the way to go. I think you can start to see the potential for large gains. I am going to provide you with a couple of penny sectors to get you started.The first is an actual example that I made an astounding killing on. The “Nano Technology” sector is a great place to start. There are many Nano companies that already have financial backing and poised for tremendous growth. I’m not going to tell you which stock, because that would take all the fun out of researching for you. The other sector I would strongly suggest is “Clean Energy.” With all the attention clean energy is getting, the new commitment by our new administration, I’m sure there are small companies that are diamonds in the rough. A small market cap usually relates to a small business, which unfortunately in this economic crisis period has a higher rate of total business failure. The fastest way to become a millionaire, short of discovering or inventing something, or hitting the lottery, is to make the right penny stock investment. Because they are usually from smaller and largely unproven companies, they can be purchased at bargain prices, literally for pennies. Again I must emphasize that you have to have an excellent technical platform, one that has candlestick charting, preferably, in order track the trends of these stocks.  I don’t profess to being an expert, but I do know of some. I obviously don’t have the time to go into all the details now, but at my site  Market Mentalist you will find all you need to know about investing online. There is access to some of the top trading systems available including software, books, newsletters, and Forums. I have a special section devoted to Penny stocks. Whether you are an inquisitive novice or a seasoned pro Market Mentalist offers the online investment resource you just might be seeking.

In the stock trading industry, many people have garnered a lot of money from futures markets. It is only in this arena where people who have limited capitals can actually make substantial profits even in a short period of time. But because like any other market, this involves a lot of risks and may cost you significant losses, people may often fear to get involved.

Despite its bad reputation however, many experts would claim that futures trading could only be as risky as you want to make it. And if you take on good strategies and give yourself the proper exposure, then this can make you very rich.

What Are Futures?

Futures are standardized and transferable contracts that require a buyer to purchase a stock at a specific sum and within a certain time period in the future. This contract gives the buyer the obligation of purchase, and the seller the obligation to deliver the specific asset traded.

Unlike options, futures contracts obligate the traders to buy and sell instead of just merely giving them the right.

People basically profit from futures by performing speculations in order to provide liquidity and to assume risks for price fluctuations in the market. These valuable functions provide them with substantial returns and potentially large gains. But take note that along with these, substantial risks are involved as well.

How And Why Are Futures Traded?

Trading futures has become quite popular in many markets, especially in day trading. These kinds of trades offer a wide variety of markets and it can be traded at a low cost.

Futures can be traded in both up and down markets. If a particular trader expects the market to go up, a long trade is usually done wherein the trader buys a contract and then sells it. On the contrary, if a trader believes that the market will go down, and then he will most probably make a short trade by entering a trade through selling a contract and then exiting by buying another contract.

With this system, traders are able to profit regardless of what direction the market trends are going. This is the main reason why most traders are only concerned if the market is moving at all, instead of which direction it is actually going.

In futures trading, instead of taking or making deliveries, a trader merely speculates his position in the market’s volatility by predicting directions of trends. If prices move in the right direction, then the trader would be able to profit. If this does not happen, then a trader would experience some losses.

This particular arena in trading can be very promising, but it involves so many risks as well. But if you are well experienced in trading stocks and have adopted quite an understanding in the different trends, behaviors and strategies that the industry has to offer, then chances are, you may probably do well in this particular playing field.

All of this may sound pretty easy at the moment, but if you are planning to engage in futures trading, make sure that you do your research and prepare yourself with the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully execute transactions.

Along with huge profits possible, there are a lot of risks involved and trading futures without the right background can be very detrimental.

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