Personal Budget Programs

Do you have financial problems? Then a budget is the answer if you are tired of wondering where your income went. A budget is the answer, if you don't have savings. A budget is also the only solution to getting out of credit card debt.

You can purchase a 6-column ledger or use an electronic ledger in recording your expenses and income. Or purchase budget software. While an electronic ledger (like Excel) functions by keeping your financial records and doing your computations, budget software programs will do much more.

Here are several features your budget software should have, to effectively help you keep track of expenditures and record your savings.

1. The budget software should with a worksheet, show you where your funds go, and provide you with the exact amount of your current financial situation.

2. The budget software should have in addition to the more common ledger title columns, make available the option for you to create your own personalized account titles. This makes it more accurate, and enables you to keep track of daily expenses, of your saving accounts, payments for insurance, auto, utilities payments and even entertainment expenses.

3. The budget software should allow you to compare the financial differences between the budget you set against actual expenditures. It would be great if this feature were accompanied by a reminder feature that tells you, you're overspending.

4. The budget software should provide you the option of creating and tracking individual accounts, should you wish to set one for you and your spouse, or your children. You can use this to monitor each child's expenses.

5. The worksheet visuals of the budget software should be easy to understand.

6. Usage of the budget software must be user friendly and have help menus that are built in the program.

After you've read the company brochures, and spoken to the sales staff, request for a demonstration. Personally test the budget software, to make certain you have ease of use. Ask the company they provide product updates at discounted prices.

Make sure that the budget software vendor have an efficient customer support and after sales services. Request for list of their clients and talk with these people. Ask to be sure that you can reach them on the net, by phone and email. List their physical address, should you need to drive by their shop.

You need to be honest, committed and disciplined in making and keeping a budget. If you do, you'll be able to get the most out of your income in spending along with saving wisely.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/24984

Forex Market Overview

"FX" is an abbreviation of "forex" or "foreign exchange." Foreign exchange is the largest and most liquid market in the world trading approximately $2 trillion every day (that's over 30 times the daily volume of NASDAQ and NYSE combined). The forex market is a cash interbank/interdealer market. In simplest terms, this means the foreign currencies traded in the forex market are traded directly between banks, foreign currency dealers and forex investors wishing either to diversify, speculate or to hedge foreign currency risk. The forex market is not a "market" in the traditional sense due to the fact that there is no centralized location for fx trading activity and, therefore, trades placed in the forex market are considered over-the-counter (OTC). Forex trading between parties occurs through computer terminals, exchanges and over telephones at thousands of locations worldwide. CFOS/FX clients can trade through online forex trading platforms and/or over the telephone directly with a forex broker on our trading desk.

Until recently the forex market has not been available to the small speculator. The large minimum foreign currency transaction sizes and financial requirements left this market in the hands of banks, major foreign currency dealers and the occasional large fx speculator. Now, with the ability to leverage large positions with a relatively small amount of capital (margin), the forex market is now more liquid than ever and available to most investors.

Five major currencies dominate trading in the foreign exchange markets: the U.S. Dollar, Eurocurrency, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc and British Pound. The foreign currencies are traded in pairs, also known as crosses, in the forex spot market. For example, purchasing the EUR/USD in the forex spot market simply means the purchaser is buying the Eurocurrency and selling the U.S. Dollar in anticipation of the Eurocurrency gaining value in relation to the U.S. Dollar. Similarly, the seller of a EUR/USD contract would be selling the Eurocurrency against the U.S. Dollar. Official figures show the U.S. Dollar is on one side of 83% of all spot foreign exchange transactions. The "spot" market simply refers to a currency contract with a prompt valuation date requiring settlement within two business days.

Over the past several decades, an increase in international trade and foreign investment has made the economies of the world more interrelated. New opportunities for investors have also been created with the fall of communism and the dramatic growth of the Asian and Latin American economies. Today, supply and demand for a particular currency is the driving factor in determining exchange rates. Many factors such as regularly reported economic figures and unexpected news reports, such as disasters or political instabilities, could also alter the desirability of holding a particular currency, thus influencing international supply and demand for that currency. It should come as no surprise that many shrewd investors have already taken advantage of the fluctuation in exchange rates to profit handsomely.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/33227

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.

The trading account minimums required by different forex option brokers vary from a few thousand dollars to over fifty thousand dollars. Also, forex option brokers may require investors to trade forex options contracts having minimum notional values (contract sizes) up to $500,000. Last, but not least, certain types of forex option contracts can be entered into and exited at any time while other types of forex option contracts lock you in until expiration or settlement. Depending on the type of forex option contract you enter into, you might get stuck the wrong way with an option contract that you can not trade out of. Before trading, investors should inquire with their forex option brokers about initial trading account minimums, required contract size minimums and contract liquidity.

There are a number of different forex option trading products offered to investors by forex option brokers. We believe it is extremely important for investors to understand the distinctly different risk characteristics of each of the forex option trading products mentioned below that are offered by firms that broker forex options.

Plain Vanilla Forex Options Broker - Plain vanilla options generally refer to standard put and call option contracts traded through an exchange (however, in the case of forex option trading, plain vanilla options would refer to the standard, generic option contracts that are traded through an over-the-counter (OTC) forex dealer or clearinghouse). In simplest terms, vanilla forex options would be defined as the buying or selling of a standard forex call option contract or forex put option contract.

There are only a few forex option broker/dealers who offer plain vanilla forex options online with real-time streaming quotes 24 hours a day. Most forex option brokers and banks only broker forex options via telephone. Vanilla forex options for major currencies have good liquidity and you can easily enter the market long or short, or exit the market any time day or night.

Vanilla forex option contracts can be used in combination with each other and/or with spot forex contracts to form a basic strategy such as writing a covered call, or much more complex forex trading strategies such as butterflies, strangles, ratio spreads, synthetics, etc. Also, plain vanilla options are often the basis of forex option trading strategies known as exotic options.

Exotic Forex Options Broker - First, it is important to note that there a couple of different forex definitions for "exotic" and we don't want anyone getting confused. The first definition of a forex "exotic" refers to any individual currency that is less broadly traded than the major currencies. The second forex definition for "exotic" is the one we refer to on this website - a forex option contract (trading strategy) that is a derivative of a standard vanilla forex option contract.

To understand what makes an exotic forex option "exotic," you must first understand what makes a forex option "non-vanilla." Plain vanilla forex options have a definitive expiration structure, payout structure and payout amount. Exotic forex option contracts may have a change in one or all of the above features of a vanilla forex option. It is important to note that exotic options, since they are often tailored to a specific's investor's needs by an exotic forex options broker, are generally not very liquid, if at all.

Exotic forex options are generally traded by commercial and institutional investors rather than retail forex traders, so we won't spend too much time covering exotic forex options brokers. Examples of exotic forex options would include Asian options (average price options or "APO's"), barrier options (payout depends on whether or not the underlying reaches a certain price level or not), baskets (payout depends on more than one currency or a "basket" of currencies), binary options (the payout is cash-or-nothing if underlying does not reach strike price), lookback options (payout is based on maximum or minimum price reached during life of the contract), compound options (options on options with multiple strikes and exercise dates), spread options, chooser options, packages and so on. Exotic options can be tailored to a specific trader's needs, therefore, exotic options contract types change and evolve over time to suit those ever-changing needs.

Since exotic forex options contracts are usually specifically tailored to an individual investor, most of the exotic options business in transacted over the telephone through forex option brokers. There are, however, a handful of forex option brokers who offer "if touched" forex options or "single payment" forex options contracts online whereby an investor can specify an amount he or she is willing to risk in exchange for a specified payout amount if the underlying price reaches a certain strike price (price level). These transactions offered by legitimate online forex brokers can be considered a type of "exotic" option. However, we have noticed that the premiums charged for these types of contracts can be higher than plain vanilla option contracts with similar strike prices and you can not sell out of the option position once you have purchased this type of option - you can only attempt to offset the position with a separate risk management strategy. As a trade-off for getting to choose the dollar amount you want to risk and the payout you wish to receive, you pay a premium and sacrifice liquidity. We would encourage investors to compare premiums before investing in these kinds of options and also make sure the brokerage firm is reputable.

Again, it is fairly easy and liquid to enter into an exotic forex option contract but it is important to note that depending on the type of exotic option contract, there may be little to no liquidity at all if you wanted to exit the position.

Firms Offering Forex Option "Betting" - A number of new firms have popped up over the last year offering forex "betting." Though some may be legitimate, a number of these firms are either off-shore entities or located in some other remote location. We generally do not consider these to be forex brokerage firms. Many do not appear to be regulated by any government agency and we strongly suggest investors perform due diligence before investing with any forex betting firms. Invest at your own risk with these firms.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/33230

Advantages of Trading FOREX Over Stocks and Commodities

There are many advantages to Trading FOREX as your main income generator. Let’s start by something that may be worrying you already.

“Do I need a Diploma or some kind of Certification to trade FOREX?” The answer is this:

When attempting to make more profit than losses on the fluctuation of exchange rates between major currencies
(i.e., Trading the FOREX), nobody is going to ask you for a diploma, a formal license or verify the amount of hours
you've spent studying the Foreign exchange market and banking industry. All you need is the proper training.

But this is not the only advantage you get when trading FOREX, compared to other ways of investment and speculation; i.e. Stocks and Commodities. You have a whole bunch of advantages over these other options that will be enumerated in the following paragraphs.

The Main Benefits of Trading the FX Spot Market:

1): FOREX is the largest financial market in the world.

With a daily trading volume of over $1.5 trillion, the spot FOREX market can absorb trading sizes that dwarf the
capacity of any other market. In fact, when compared with the $50 billion daily market for equities or the $30 billion
futures market, it becomes quickly apparent this gives you, and millions of other FOREX traders, almost infinite trading
liquidity and flexibility.

2): FOREX is a TRUE 24-hour market.

The FOREX Market never sleeps. Trading positions can be entered and exited at any moment - around the globe, around
the clock, six days a week. There is no waiting for an opening bell as in the case of trading stocks. It is a 24-
hour, continuous electronic (ONLINE) currency exchange that never closes. This is very desirable for you if you want to
trade on a part-time basis, because you can choose when you want to trade: morning, noon or night.

3): There is never a Bear Market in FOREX.

You can have access to a seamless, mutually-inclusive (two- way) exchange of currencies. Meaning, because currencies
trade in "pairs" (for example, US dollar vs. yen or US dollar vs. Swiss franc), one side of every currency pair
(for example, USD/JPY - JPY = YEN) is constantly moving in relation to the other. Thus, when you buy a particular
currency, you are actually simultaneously selling the other currency in that particular pair. As the market moves, one
of the currencies will increase in value versus the other. Of course, it is up to you to choose the correct currency to
be long or short. Since currency trading always involves buying one currency and selling another, there is no
structural bias to the market. This means you have equal potential to profit in both a rising or falling market.

4): High Leverage - up to 200:1 Leverage.

You are permitted to trade foreign currencies on a highly leveraged basis - up to 200 times your investment with some
brokers. This is primarily attributed to the higher levels of liquidity within the currency markets. Standard 100,000-
unit currency lots can be traded with as little as 1% margin, or $1,000. Mini FX accounts are permitted to trade
with just 0.5% margin -- in other words, just $50 allows you to control a 10,000-unit currency position. Futures traders,
who are accustomed to margin requirements generally equal to 5%-8% of the contract value, will immediately recognize that the FOREX market provides much greater leverage, and for stock traders, who must post at least 50% margin, there’s no comparison. If you are looking for an efficient use of trading capital, this is it!

5): Price Movements Are Highly Predictable.

Although currency prices in the FX market may be volatile, they generally repeat themselves in relatively predictable
cycles, creating trends. The strong trends that foreign currencies develop are a significant advantage for traders
who use the correct "technical" methods.

Unlike stocks, currencies rarely spend much time in tight trading ranges and have the tendency to develop strong
trends. Over 80% of volume is speculative in nature and, as a result, the market frequently overshoots and then corrects
itself. As a technically-trained trader, you can easily identify new trends and breakouts, which provide for
multiple opportunities to enter and exit positions.

6:) Commission-free Trading and Low Transaction Cost

When you trade FOREX, through one of our recommended brokers (this info is in our private resources section), you'll do
it totally commission-free! These brokers don't charge commissions to trade or to maintain an account, and that
goes for all clients trading the FOREX through them, regardless of your account balance or trading volume. Even
Mini FX traders can buy and sell currencies online, commission-free.

What about trading fees? There are none of the usual fees to which futures and equity traders are accustomed -- no
exchange or clearing fees, no N_F_A or S_E_C fees. Because currencies trade over-the-counter (OTC), via a global
electronic network -- in FOREX, what you see is what you get, allowing you to make quick decisions on your trades
without having to worry or account for fees that may affect your profit/loss or slippage.

In the equities markets, you must pay both a commission and exchange fees. The over-the-counter structure of the FX
market eliminates exchange and clearing fees, which in turn lowers transaction costs.

So, if FOREX broker don't charge commissions, how do they make money? Like all traded financial products, over-the-
counter currency trading involves a bid/ask spread, which represents the prices at which your counterparty is willing
to trade. Because the currency market offers round-the-clock liquidity, you receive tight, competitive spreads both
intra-day and night. Stock traders can be more vulnerable to liquidity risk and typically receive wider trading spreads,
especially during after-hours trading.

7): Instantaneous Order Execution and Market Transparency.

Market transparency is highly desired in any trading environment. The greater the market transparency, the more
efficient the market becomes. Unlike other markets where transparency is compromised (like in the Enron scandal),
FOREX markets are highly transparent (i.e., analyzing countries, and having access to real-time research / news,
is easier than companies).

Because of this transparency, as an FX trader, you will be able to exercise risk management strategies in accordance to
the fundamental and technical indicators we teach at RapidForex.com

The FX market offers the highest level of market transparency out of all the financial markets. Because of
this, order execution and fill confirmation usually occur in just 1-2 seconds. Markets that do not offer executable
prices and force traders to absorb slippage obviously compromise the trader's profit potential considerably.

In the forex world, order execution is all-electronic and because you'll be trading via an Internet-based platform,
instantaneous execution is routine. There are no exchanges, no traditional open-outcry pits, no floor brokers, and
consequently, no delays.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/32868

5 Questions You Need To Have Answered Before You Back-Test Your Forex System

As 90-95% of new forex traders lose money within the first 3-6 months this article helps to guide new forex traders by asking 5 questions that the forex trader needs to know prior to back-testing their forex system.

Let us jump right in...

1. What data type are you using (or going to use)?

I know this sounds strange, especially if you have experience from another market such as stocks as their generally is only one type of data source available. However, in the forex market you can have up to 4 different data types: bid, ask, mid and indicative. Each have their own little nuances.

If you would like to know more about the data types then visit the article written about the perils of indicative prices. As this will save me from having to repeat the information again and boring those who've already read it.

So, if you know you have indicative prices then you know you're in for some good results! However, if you have any of the other three you need to be careful on how stop and limit orders are placed.

As an example: If we had bid price history and we were looking to place a buy entry stop at 0830 EST according to the day's high, then we know that the bid price will not accurately reflect what the actual price of our order should be. You would have noticed that if you placed a buy entry stop at the exact same price as that of the day's high you would have entered prematurely - you would have entered 4 or 5 pips before the high or the low of the day was touched (the exact same amount as the spread your broker offers!).

This leads me into the next most important question...

2. What spread is your broker offering on the currencies you are bask-testing?

You need to know this as this can help you set your slippage settings on each currency.

As our example in question 1 pointed out. We found that our buy at the day's high method did not exactly work because we bought at the BID PRICE high, not the ASK PRICE high - the price that we need when we place our order TO BUY.

Therefore, we enter in a slippage setting representing the spread that would be exhibited by this trade on this currency.

But knowing at what price to buy is only half the problem... how do we know what quantity to buy?

3. What margin does your broker offer?

If we know at what price to buy our currency at we need to inform our broker on what quantity to buy to fulfill the order. We only know what quantity to buy by the margin that the brokerage firm offers.

Most brokerage firms offer 100:1 leverage, however, some firms offer mini accounts with 200:1 leverage, others only 50:1 leverage.

Find out the margin required.

4. What restrictions does your broker impose?

Now, I don't just mean margin and spread restrictions as I have mentioned above. These are important in their own right, what you need to find out are the details.

This is probably the most important question of all as the fine line between success and failure can be found in the details. Now you can have this questioned by one of two ways:
1. You can find out through experience (generally the most expensive way unless done through the demo account!); or
2. You ask your broker (the cheapest and best way).

Why is this so important? I hear you ask. Well let's say you have a system that trades any gaps that might form on Sunday at 1700 EST, but your broker does not open until 1730 EST. You either need to factor this restriction in to your system, or move onto another system completely. Or, you may have a system that has 10 pip stops, but you find out that your broker will only let you place 15 pip stops from your initial entry price. Once again you will need to change your system to see whether it still performs well, or throw out your system (or change your broker)!

In fact one of the most devastating restrictions imposed by FXCM is that they do not accept stop entry orders if price never happens to trade at your entry stop price! FXCM will honor and "take the loss" of your OPEN stop positions, but if the liquidity is not there and price has shot straight through your stop price then you will miss out. This can have disastrous effects on your system results as you are left wondering on trades where you made good returns - "Would FXCM have got me in?". You may want to read [http://www.currencysecrets.com/articles/fxcm.php] of some of the quirks I use when placing entry stop orders on FXCM that could be of huge benefit to you to help you possibly get around this problem.

The restrictions by your broker are only half your systems' success, you also need to find out about another more important restriction... yourself. This leads me to the final point...

5. What restrictions do you have?

This is a vitally important question. Most people test their systems and fall in love with the results but find when they trade their system they have lost their account and that most of the best signals occurred while they were sound asleep!

As the forex market is a 24 hour market, you need to put into place restrictions in your system that will be realisticly conducted by you during the course of a normal trading day. There is no use operating a trailing stop method that changes your stop points during times when you are asleep and cannot possibly do so.

I hope this article has made you aware of some of the important things that need to be known prior to testing your system.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1290

The Secrets of the Super-Traders

The first and perhaps most important "secret" is to realize that your methodology or approach (no matter how good) is only part of being a highly successful trader. This applies to any trading style including, day trading, swing trading or position trading.

The simple fact is that a bad trader can screw up a fantastic trading system. Conversely a talented trader can take a mediocre strategy and make money with it.

Why? Please read on and I will explain.

Many traders/investors that I have talked with think that to be a "Super-Trader" that they must possess some type of highly advanced trading techniques or software along with nerves of steel and a highly developed intuitive feel for the markets. In addition they think that these elite group, have some "inside information" that they don't.

You will be relieved to know that the above is not necessary. There are actually only a few things that separate traders who consistently make money and those who don't.

And here they are...

* Skilled traders find a strategy or market pattern that offers a high probability for success. They make money by exploiting this edge over and over again.

* Skilled traders never deviate from their methodology or "wing it".

* Skilled traders never enter a trade without a entry and exit strategy. They know exactly when and where to cut their losses as well as taking profits.

* Skilled traders never ever let a winning trade turn into a losing one. The easiest way to ensure that this doesn't happen is to place a protective stop at or a few ticks in the money once your position is up several points.

* Skilled traders never hope, pray or wish that their stock would go up. They understand that when they are wrong they are wrong and the best thing to do is cut their losses short.

* Skilled traders never trade with their emotions. They don't allow themselves to get caught up in the latest and greatest investment hype.

* Skilled traders always have one goal in mind: To preserve their capital at all costs. They do this by never taking on too large of a position. A good rule of thumb to adhere to is never use more than 5% of your funds on any one trade. This way in the worst-case scenario the stock could drop to zero and your account would not be severely affected.

* Skilled traders never get too greedy. There is an old saying that "Pigs gets fed and hogs get slaughtered". These traders don't try to make one big trade that will turn them into instant millionaires. They don't try to hit home runs, instead they understand that it is better to keep hitting singles and making smaller consistent profits.

* Skilled traders enter and exit trades swiftly and decisively.

* Skilled traders listen to no one else's opinion concerning the market or particular trade they are in.

* Skilled traders are often contrarians. They will be buying when others are too scared to and sell when the crowd starts buying.

That's it, the secrets to making big money in the markets. Perhaps that is a bit of a let down as you were hoping for something a bit more esoteric and complicated.

Let me assure you that if you follow the above principles that you will take your trading skills and profits to a level that you never thought possible!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6503

9 Tips For Becoming a Profitable Forex Trader

Regardless of your trading style; day trading, swing trading, or position trading there is a simple step by step plan you can use to improve your odds for success.

1. Start by paper trading until you can be consistently profitable on paper. I would also recommend doing a lot of practice trading with a real-time demo account. This is the next best thing to real trading without risking money.

2. Regardless of how much money you have, start trading with a small amount of money and work up over time. You need to make all your mistakes with the smallest amount of money. Trust me, it will be a lot less painful!

3. If you are a day trader, avoid the very small time-frames like 1 or 2 minute as you get a lot of signals which can lead to over trading. These fast time-frames are full of market noise and insignificant price activity.

4. Make sure that all your entry criteria are met for the trade setup. Don't jump the gun until everything is in place.

5. If there are no clear signals in the market, then do nothing. Forcing trades almost always ends up with losses.

6. Always place your protective stop immediately after entering the trade!

7. In your studies you will be exposed to many techniques. You will improve your results by concentrating on only one or two strategies. Get real good and consistently profitable with them first.

8. Don't watch too many currencies at one time. This leads to too much confusion and indecision about which trade to take. I wouls stick to two or three of the major currency pairs.

9. Win, lose or draw don't deviate from your strategies or change things.

These 9 points may seem very simple, but they are actually very hard to carry out as they require a lot of focus and discipline. Stick to them and you will trade better than the majority of forex traders out there.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6494