What Is Forex Trading?

[BrynnFraley]

I want to get started with forex trading, but I do not know how to get started. I would greatly appreciate any input on this topic.

[wolf63]

Selling Aussie beer?

[Old_Geezer]

It's buying and selling Australian lager isn't it ?

http://www.cityindex.co.uk/forex-trading/what-is-forex-trading.aspx

[Old_Geezer]

Dash, I ought not have looked for the link ;-)

[Tilly2]

If you don't know what it is, why do you want to start trading? Your question does not make sense.

[Captain2]

http://www.cityindex.co.uk/learn-to-trade/

[fiction-factory]

The question pops up from time to time Tilly but the threads usually disappear for some reason

[Captain2]

My thoughts exactly Tilly; and I wouldn't go near it until well after 'The Vote' - things could get very turbulent for a while.

[Tilly2]

Hummmm. :-)

[jno]

well, I've changed several hundred pounds into euros in the last few days, which I suppose is forex trading. A year ago it was 1.40 euros to the pound, yesterday it was 1.25, today it's 1.24. I suspect it's going to get lower for a while yet, which is why I changed more than I immediately need.

I will spend some on my European hols but the rest can go under the mattress.

[jno]

Captain2, turbulence is what it's all about, the best time to make a packet (like George Soros). But you've got to guess right about which currency will be where tomorrow.

[Tilly2]

It all sounds very complicated.

[jno]

it is, Tilly, the streets of the City are littered with the bodies of those who got it wrong.

[Captain2]

I know what you are saying jno, but I just think it is a mighty big gamble, at the moment, for an out-and-out beginner to even think about investing.

[Tilly2]

I'll give it a miss then, Jno. Thanks.

[jno]

couldn't agree more, Captain2. Leave it to the, er, experienced professionals like me.

[Captain2]

jno, I think your post at 20.23 sums it up nicely. Caveat emptor. :))

[Buenchico]

A post from a new user, in B&F, often has a nasty habit of being followed by a post from another new user who just happens to know of a useful link. (i.e. it's poorly disguised spam). That's particularly true when the post comes from someone who has chosen a 'forename+surname' pattern for his username. (All we'd need for the full set of suspicious circumstances would be the use of 'Asian English'; at least we've not got that here!).

So I might well be wasting my time by posting here but, just in case this is a genuine question, what you really need to know is:
(a) Forex trading is really nothing more than a form of gambling ;
(b) like all forms of gambling, punters usually lose ;
(c) you can lose vast sums of money very quickly via Forex trading, as it allows you to bet more than you actually own, pushing you deep into debt ;
(d) if you really want to give it a go, ensure that you find a broker who allows you to use 'virtual trading' (with 'pretend money') initially, so that you can learn how things work. (See here: http://www.money.co.uk/forex-trading/how-to-start-forex-trading.htm ) ; and
(e) you can find a list of brokers here:
http://www.money.co.uk/forex-trading.htm

[Orderlimit]

I think it is important you understand the realities of trading live on volatile financial markets such as FX. Very briefly, it is accepted that some 90-95% of amateur/novice traders (retail traders) consistently lose money and often much more than their original investment if their broker does not have negative account balance protection.

Retail traders share several character-traits to gamblers and consistently make the same few mistakes day-in day-out and therefore are targeted by professional syndicates/large financial institutions who have the clout to move and manipulate markets in order to trap retail traders into entering losing positions.

In my opinion the journey for a retail trader will take at least 5 years of hard work to get a basic understanding of how markets flow and how to find an edge to extract consistent money, although most will never make it as you would be up against some of the smartest minds around.

[jno]

Chris, there's gambling and there's gambling. Lotto is pure gambling because you're just guessing about random events outside your control. Forex trading is more like betting on the horses: it's a massively complex business but it is possible to develop knowledge of what can happen when. (Brexit vote > £ slide was pretty predictable, for instance).

Or of course you can just guess at those too, and cross your fingers, which might be fun fluttering a fiver on the Grand National but is more likely to be disastrous if you try to guess how much the yen will move.

[Orderlimit]

I would say (in my opinion) that financial markets are not as random as people believe but it is complex and takes some serious serious education, experience. One major problem with making money safely is you normally have to enter positions that go against natural human emotions and again that could take you years, if at all.

Just another warning, there is a whole industry of people / businesses selling courses, signal services mentoring and so on which it is accepted that 99% are utter crap and don't work.

Be careful