In the last decade, retail forex has become highly popular with the small investors and general public. The major reason for the growing popularity of retail forex is the round the clock possibility of trading in the retail forex market. Retail forex market is open 24/5 meaning from Monday to Friday round the clock except on Saturday and Sunday. This round the clock action means that investors and traders can choose a time for trading that suits them. Something impossible in the stock market. This shift from stocks to forex has been accelerated by the recent stock market crash that took place in 2008.
As a trader, you need to master the two technical indicators that are very simple to use but most effective. These are the trendlines and the moving averages. These two technical indicators can be used with a naked eye by just eyeballing the chart. They work for all markets. While calculating the moving averages, the time period used to calculate the average is very important. The shorter the time period, more fluctuations and whipsaw. What this means is the chances of getting wrong trading signals increase with shorted time periods.
Technical analysis is based purely on the price action. It does not take into account the fundamentals behind the price action. It only follows the swings on the charts. Many traders use technical analysis in making their trading decisions. There is no doubt that technical analysis is a powerful tool but ignoring the fundamentals altogether is not a good thing. As a good trader, you should always keep an eye on the changing fundamentals in the market.
Now we all know that gold prices are breaking historical barriers. But how about Silver? Silver as an investment has ten times more potential to skyrocket in the next few months as compared to gold. In this article, I will show you how silver can exceed $400/oz in the coming few months, so read on.
How do you know this is the market top or the market bottom when you look at the chart? The most reliable chart patterns that tell about a market top and the market bottom is the M and W patterns. Sometimes these look like the Double Top or the Double Bottom or what many chartists call the Head and Shoulder Pattern.
Most of the people who invest in stocks, only know about the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the NASDAQ over the counter market. Futures trading is one of the ways to grow your wealth. There are many dozens of futures contracts that you can trade ranging from crude oil, gold, ethanol, heating, gasoline, silver, copper, wheat, corn, coffee, soybeans, pork bellies, cattle, interest rates, currencies and others.
Bulls and bears are always fighting for the control of the market. Candlestick charts are the best way to know who is controlling the market. With one glance on the candlestick chart, you can find out whether the bulls were in control or the bears. There are many candlestick patterns. The most basic and the most powerful candlestick pattern is the the long white candle. When this candle is formed, it means that bulls have been controlling the market throughout the day pushing the currency prices or the security prices higher throughout the trading day. This is one of the most bullish candlestick pattern to form on the chart!
Trend is your friend. You will keep on hearing this from the trading gurus. Trend trading is indeed one of the most profitable trading strategies. So when you are trading a trend, you want to know how fast the trend is moving so that you can get ahead of the trend. When the rate of change of a trend goes up, it means that the prices are also going to follow and rise soon!
Interest rates are the most important financial variable for the market and the economy. No matter what market you trade, you need to keep close watch on interest rate changes. Whether you trade currencies, stocks, futures, options, commodities, ETFs, bonds or invest in mutual funds or if you are real rich in a hedge fund, the return can be seriously affected by the interest rate changes. A Yield Curve is very important in finance. It gives you the picture of different interest rates in the economy. A Yield Curve is infact a relationship between the different interest rates and the time to maturity of different treasury bills, notes, bonds in the economy. When you trade the interest rates, you need to keep an eye on the yield curve!
Candlestick Charting is one of the most powerful tools in the trading arsenal of any trader. Candlestick Charts apply to any market no matter what you trade-stocks, forex, futures, options, ETFs, commodities, bonds and others. With one simple glance on the chart, you can figure out the sentiment of the buyers and sellers in the market. There are many candlestick patterns that are used as trading signals. Some are simple while others are complex. Doji Candlestick Pattern is a simple pattern that is very easy to spot. It has no body. It is formed when the opening and the closing prices are the same. So, this pattern is all wicks with no stick. It literally looks like a Cross on the chart. So you can easily spot it. But it is very rare as the security opening and closing prices are seldom equal! Doji has some variations. We will discuss these variations in this article!


