Forex traders have 24-hour access to a market with superior liquidity to all the equity markets in the world combined, providing the flexibility to trade the Asian Pacific, European and/or U.S. trading sessions. Plus you can trade from home, your office or virtually anywhere in the world and receive rapid, accurate trade execution (under normal market conditions). FX dealers offer commission free trading (cost of the spread only) and substantially exceed the common 2:1 margin offered by equity brokers or 15:1 margin of the futures market, with most offering up to 100:1 leverage.

Leverage is a powerful tool, and without proper risk management a high degree of leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains. In forex you can familiarize yourself with a few currencies or many and trade on short term volatility or the longer term trends. Plus trading the major currencies provides more security then any company or commodity can offer. Once you experience the freedom of trading forex it is hard to accept the restrictions placed on all the other tradable markets.

You should have begun yesterday!

This depends on the Broker you decide to open your account with. Typically, a micro account can be opened with as little as $100.00. Obviously, you can open your account with any size balance and trade much more if you would like.

First off, please check that all of your brain connections are working just fine…

Secondly, although it is possible to successfully trade and monitor your charts using a regular phone line connection, a high-speed connection will allow you to search through your charts for trade signals much more quickly & easily. Three recommended high-speed Internet connection services are Cable, DSL, and ISDN (where available). Call your local TV Cable or Telephone Service Provider for pricing and availability in your area.

In FOREX trading, you can leverage your trades up to 200-400 times the equity in your account. Due to this potentially high leverage, FOREX trading can be a high-risk/high-return investment strategy. Please read all of my risk disclosures so that you are fully aware of all risks.

In general, forex trading is usually a short-term investment strategy in relation to other investment vehicles. Trades may last a few minutes to several days with a short-term strategy or several months to several years with our long-term strategies. With a short-term strategy, the goal is to predict relatively small short-term moves in the market, compared to long-term growth investments like stocks, mutual funds, bonds, or long-term notes that may be redeemed at a future date.

When comparing to other markets the biggest difference is that in forex trading, you can earn daily interest on your open positions based on your leveraged trade volume. Most other markets don’t pay you any interest at all on your open trades. Over the course of a few years this interest can accumulate to hundreds of percents depending on the interest rates and how much you are leveraged. For example, if you have $10,000, you could open 10 trades of $100,000 each ($1 million total trade volume) and earn daily interest on each of these open trades for as long as your trades are open. It’s not much different than if you had borrowed $1 million (interest free on your end) and deposited the money into foreign banks around the world to collect interest.

Your risk is the exchange rate between the currencies you bought and sold but the interest is 100% predictable and guaranteed. If the average interest rollover rate per trade is 4% per year on $100,000, then your return in interest alone would be $4,000 or 40% on your $10,000. This is before any profit or loss is taken from your trade positions as a result of currency appreciation or depreciation. In addition, holding your money in multiple currencies is a great way to diversify your wealth.

Yes, this is highly recommended before committing to full time trading. I do not recommend quitting your job.

No, but any experience in the market would be advantageous. Familiarity with any kind of trading is helpful. The better your background the easier it will be to get started. Please see my risk disclosure as well.

The typical timing from the time you sign up to the time you actually take your first real trade varies from individual to individual. You can begin trading on a demo account the same day. However if you are a novice trader you should not begin trading real money until you have completed at least 2 to 4 weeks of profitable trading on a demo account. By then you will have become comfortable with the software and developed a « feel » for the market so you will have the confidence to enter your trades without second guessing.

A PC with an internet connection is required unless you are using a VPS. Right now the charting software does not support Apple or Linux. You will also require a connection to the Internet, preferably high-speed such as Cable, DSL, or ISDN, however dial up will work. MetaTrader 4 is offered free by most brokers.

A demo account looks and acts just like a real trading account except it does not contain any real money. It is set up with « play » money for the purpose of practicing & sharpening your trading skills within real market conditions without risking any of your own real money. If you are a novice trader I recommend that you trade on a demo account until you have had at least 1 or 2 consecutive profitable months in a row. This is my way of being responsible to you and it’s a vital and essential part of the learning process. Most brokers offer demo accounts for free.