| |
| |
|
|
Currency Trading Information |
|
Online Futures Trading - Advantages and Disadvantages
What Is Online Futures Trading? A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a commodity at a date in the future. Everything about a futures contract is standardized except its price. All of the terms under which the commodity or financial instrument is to be transferred are established before active trading begins, so neither side is hampered by ambiguity. The price for a futures contract is determined in the trading pit or on the electronic trading system of a futures exchange. The internet now allows access to those electronic trading systems from anywhere in the world. This increases liquidity in those markets and makes them even more attractive to traders. Trading on all futures exchanges takes place against a backdrop of statutory regulation and rules as laid down by each exchange and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Regardless of whether your trading is executed within the trading pit or electronically, it is subject to the same rules, regulations and safeguards. Advantages of online futures trading Leverage. Futures operate on margin, meaning that to take a position only a fraction of the total value needs to be available in cash in the trading account. Commission Costs. Electronically traded futures contracts require no human intervention to match buys and sells unlike a traditional futures pit. This means that commission costs can be cut dramatically, leading to significant savings for the frequent trader. Liquidity. The involvement of speculators means that futures contracts are reasonably liquid. However, how liquid depends on the actual contract being traded. Electronically traded contracts, such as the e-mini's tend to be the most liquid whereas the pit traded commodities like corn, orange juice etc are not so readily available to the retail trader and are more expensive to trade in terms of commission and spread. Ability to go short. Futures contracts can be sold as easily as they are bought enabling a trader to profit from falling markets as well as rising ones. There is no 'uptick rule' for example like there is with stocks. No 'Time Decay'. Options suffer from time decay because the closer they come to expiry the less time there is for the option to come into the money. Futures contracts do not suffer from this as they are not anticipating a particular strike price at expiry. Automated trading. Electronic futures brokers offer the facility to programmers to interface directly with their trading software. This means that custom written trading software can automatically trade a strategy without any human intervention at all. A system can make buy/sell signals which are automatically routed to the exchange along with any stops and targets. Almost instant fills. With electronically traded futures there is no need to call up a broker and wait for a fill from the trading floor. Orders are instantly placed on the electronic order book and filled as soon as a match is found - for liquid contracts such as the emini S&P500 this will be within a second. Level playing field. With traditional pit traded futures the professional in the pit has a major advantage over the retail trader in terms of speed of execution and costs. Electronic futures trading offers all participants exactly the same advantages. Disadvantages of online futures trading Leverage. Can be a disadvantage if it encourages trading with too high a risk for a particular strategy. A carefully devised money management plan is essential. Overtrading. The instant nature of electronic futures trading coupled with low commission costs and tight spreads can encourage a trader to take additional trades to those determined by their trading plan. Online futures trading offers significant benefits to the retail trader. However, a carefully developed trading plan must be formulated before attempting to enter this extremely competitive business. Tim Wreford operates Online Futures Trading, a website that provides information and resources for traders. Tim also provides an article detailing the development of a day trading system, the results of which are updated daily on the site.
MORE RESOURCES:
Currency-Trading - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Trading Tips No 1: Learn How to Trade The Moment of Truth So you have learned how to trade the markets by mastering a few trading tools like Moving Averages, Channels, Stochastics, MACD, or RSI - that is a great accomplishment achieved by only a few. However, having the tools and rules to trade markets successfully, year in and year out, is only half of the challenge. How Do Other Countries Devalue Their Currencies? Countries devalue their currencies only when they have no other way to correct past economic mistakes - whether their own or mistakes committed by their predecessors.The ills of a devaluation are still at least equal to its advantages. Online Forex Trading Foreign exchange currency trading is also known as Forex trading, or FX, and has no single physical marketplace like the New York Stock Exchange does on Wall Street in New York or the Tokyo Stock Exchange does in Japan. The New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange online traders are limited to making purchases during the actual trading hours governed by New York Stock Exchange hours or the Japanese Stock Exchange's Tokyo hours. Risk and Stock Trading Fees: The Two Barriers To Overcome If You Want A Successful Trading Career. You know the old joke:"How do you make a million in the stock market? Start with two million?"There is no way around it, risk and stock market fees are a part of trading that you can`t avoid. But, you can manage your risk. Money Management, Part 1 There are some common mistakes I've seen traders make in the area of money management. First, let's understand what money management is all about. Trade Exit - How To Cut Losses And Let Profits Run Cut your losses short and let your profits run. This is the essence of your trade exit rules. Day Trading the Index Futures - How to Judge Good Entries QUESTION: If the SP futures fall through support and go straight down for another two points, and I want to get short, should I a.)enter immediately, b. Choosing A Forex Broker With currency trading becoming ever more popular, the number of brokers is growing at a rapid rate. What should one look at when deciding which broker to open an account with? These are the important points to consider. How to Trade Currency We all know when you go on a trip to another country; you need to take some travelers checks and some cash in the currency of that country. This can be advantageous because one country's currency is usually worth more or less than the other. Forex Training: Follow Your Gut or Your Broker Which way will the forex market move? Do you just follow your gut feeling? Or do you have Neo's sixth sense that would let you be one with the market and feel the underlying currents.Trading forex is a non stop action movie but a good one, where you really don't know who will win at the end. Forex Currency Trading It is possible to buy and sell money from different countries on the foreign exchange market called Forex. Forex currency traders can profit by taking advantage of the dips and swells in the foreign currency market. Trading Profitably on the Foreign Exchange Market You may be asking yourself "how does one begin to trade profitably as a currency trader?".First, it is important to closely monitor foreign equity markets to attempt to predict or model how their respective currencies will perform against other currencies, ideally, currencies that are not very closely related, nor proportional, to the former currency. FOREX Trading Philosophy Keen on starting FOREX trading? Why would you not be? Many beginning FOREX traders are captivated by the allure of easy money. FOREX websites offer 'risk-free' trading, 'high returns' and 'low investment' - these claims have a grain of truth in them, but the reality of FOREX is a bit more complex. Momentum Trading: A Practical Day Trading Strategy to Get Profits from Hot Stocks Momentum day trading can be extremely profitable when done correctly.. Learn Forex Trading - a Guide for Beginners One can learn forex trading as easily as one would like to learn other subjects or train in other professions. The criteria for learning forex trading is an analytical / logical bent of mind and some number crunching abilities. Internet and Computer Systems in the FOREX Business With every passing year the interest in electronic trading is bigger, more especially trading shares and currency through Internet. A new profession came forward - this of the currency dealer. Business and the Forex The business world is a complex web of supply and demand. Money and goods, physical or otherwise, pass through the global market every single day. The Yin and the Yang of Markets I am reading a fantastic book on trading, first published in 1924, by Richard D. Wyckoff, titled "How I Trade and Invest in Stocks & Bonds". How Currencies are Traded in the FOREX Market Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called "lots". At 100:1 leverage, one lot is equal to $1000 which controls $100,000 of a given currency. What are Your Options Regarding Forex Options Brokers? Forex option brokers can generally be divided into two separate categories: forex brokers who offer online forex option trading platforms and forex brokers who only broker forex option trading via telephone trades placed through a dealing/brokerage desk. A few forex option brokers offer both online forex option trading as well a dealing/brokerage desk for investors who prefer to place orders through a live forex option broker.
|
|||||||||||||||
