Why There is a Need to Keep a Forex Trading Log

By Mark Thomas

Most traders will agree on the statement that keeping a forex trading log is important. Many people view log as something that is similar to a diary. On the other hand, a "trade log" is considered as something that one trader does when he or she wants to keep track of the details in trading. This refers to the activity wherein one will have a piece of paper and a pen or even a pencil and then it is time to write down the trade logs that they have been keeping up with for some days already. Actually, this is one of the methods that some of the traders presently use. However, this is not really advised because there is a great risk involved that one will lose the information that they have taken into account or in some instances, there might be another individual who will get through the data.

Keeping a trade log is as easy as writing an entry on your diary if one knows how to properly do it. Obviously, there are also other ways on how to keep a forex trade log and that is through the use of computers. This is one of the best since you are sure that what you have saved in a document will not be lost unless you have completely deleted it. Additionally, you will be able to access the information even if you are not using your own computer. Also, you can bring it with you every time you think there is a need through the use of flash drives and other means. You do not have to worry that you will lose the data because you know that you have saved it in a secure hardware. You can either save it in a word document form or you can utilize Excel and other programs.

A document in word format enables people to easily write down paragraphs or notes if they have some comments on a rate or exchange movements, which is useful if there is a need to be reminded of something important.

For Excel users, this is very appropriate if there are lots of data entries since it will look very organized but this is not really suitable when it comes to writing down remarks and other related things. You should be able to decide which one of them is the one that suits you but make sure that you are comfortable with the program that you have chosen.

If you prefer the easy way, this one is just right for you but you have to remember that listening through your records is a tedious job. You can go for manual forex trading log, using the computer or a tape recorder. The important rule here is that you should be consistent with the method you are using. - 23217

About the Author:

Mark Thomas, a Professional Software Developer have been in Trading for several years and have developed a Forex Trading Software Tool which helps the Traders to keep track of all their Trades in a Disciplined Manner. Get complete details about Trade from Mark Thomas . Visit his website http://www.tradeontrack.com

Know Carry Trading

By Hass67

In currency markets, carry trading is done by many investors to take benefit of the basic economic principle that money flows where the returns are high. This constant flowing in and out of capital between the different markets is what makes carry trading profitable.

Carry trading is quite popular among professional forex traders. Hedge funds and investment banks also do leveraged carry trading to make profits. You as a retail forex trader can also benefit from carry trading.

What is a carry trade? In nutshell, carry trading means taking advantage of interest rate difference between two currencies in a currency pair. Investors take benefit of the interest rate differential between two currencies by going long/buying the high interest rate currency and going short/selling the low interest rate currency.

Lets use a simple example to make it clearer: lets assume, New Zealand dollar is offering an interest rate of 4.75% whereas the Japanese yen is offering an interest rate of 0.25%.

An investor will want to benefit from this interest rate differential. He/she will buy New Zealand dollars (NZD) and sells Japanese Yens (JPY). He/she can earn a profit of 4.75-0.25=4.5% so long NZD/JPY exchange rate does not change. If the investor can handle leverage and uses a leverage of 20:1, this 4.5% return will be magnified into 90%.

Another thing that can go in favor of the investor is if the currency pair NZD/JPY appreciates, he/she can get capital appreciation as well as a yield. Many times, appreciation will also happen as many other investors also jump on the bandwagon when they see a good carry trading opportunity.

However, carry trading depends a lot on the mood of the investors as a group. When investors have low risk aversion, carry trades will be profitable. But suppose the investors as a group suddenly develop high risk aversion and run to take refuge in safe haven currencies. In this scenario, carry trading will become unprofitable.

By entering into a carry trade, an investor expects to profit from an interest rate differential between the two currencies. But if the low interest rate currency appreciates considerably for some reason or another, carry trade will become unprofitable.

How do you check the mood of the investors? By knowing whether the currency is overbought or oversold. For this you need to identify the current trend of the currency pair and see whether it is moving in the right direction!

You can use the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) indicator to identify the trend. - 23217

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading; stocks and forex. Read about Trend Forex System. Best Forex Signal Service. Learn Forex Trading.

Forex Hedge Trading - HOG2 EURUSD-USDCHF Custom Indicator

By Sonja Schuyler

We will review in this article the latest entrant into the popular world of Forex Hedge trading methods. We will examine a manual system designed to trade the EURUSD-USDCHF Hedge. This Hedge is one of the most popular Hedges in the world of Forex in large part because of its high degree of negative correlation. In other words, most of the time, when the EURUSD trends in one direction - the USDCHF heads the opposite way.

The advantage of trading a Hedge is that it tends to reduce your risk. The challenge is that trading more than one currency pair at a time is difficult to track. Without the ability to track multiple pairs, you are at a definite disadvantage.

What Gary at 4x-rox.com did is create a set of custom indicators that track the total value of the EURUSD-USDCHF Hedge. This will enable you to trade these two currency pairs as if they were one pair. His indicators also track five market parameters outside the Forex market that gauge the value of the EURUSD-USDCHF Hedge and plot the predicted value relative to the current market value. This arrangement shows you the push or pull pressure on the Hedge and gives you an early warning when large reversals are likely to occur.

This Hedge trading system is The HOG2 Custom EURUSD-USDCHF Hedge Indicator or HOG2 for short. The HOG2 runs inside the Metatrader 4 trading platform. It is composed of four indicators in three indicator windows.

The HOG2 tracks the EURUSD-USDCHF Hedge in real time. Before you place your trades, it will show you exactly what this Hedge is doing. The HOG2 features a color-coded custom histogram that gives you the buy or sell strength of this Hedge and indicates good entry and exit points. This arrangement shows you when this Hedge as a whole is over sold or overbought at a glance.

If you are accustomed to reading indicators, then learning to trading with the HOG2 will be very straightforward. If you have never traded Forex before, or never manually traded Forex, then you will want to go slowly. Do not live trade until you are completely comfortable. The HOG2 comes with good instructions and the company offers excellent support.

The HOG2 is not a robot. If you are looking for a Forex robot, then the HOG2 is not for you. However, if what you're looking for is a solid, effective manual trading system for trading the EURUSD-USDCHF Hedge then you won't find an easier or more workable system than the HOG2.

The HOG2' combination of formulas for inter-market analysis with a very unique compound indicator. The result is a highly effective manual trading system for this Hedge. The unique combination of the HOG2's one of a kind trend lines and Custom Histogram provides that all-important 'bird's eye view' of your Hedge trade.

Now that you are armed with this information about the HOG2, why not try it out for yourself? When it comes to trading the EURUSD-USDCHF Hedge, the HOG2 combines formulas for inter-market analysis with a unique compound indicator and the result is a highly effective manual trading system for this Hedge. The unique combination of the HOG2's one of a kind trend lines and Custom Histogram provides that all-important 'bird's eye view' of your Hedge trade. - 23217

About the Author:

Sonja Schuyler and the team at www.4x-rox.com make it simple and easy for you to flatten the learning curve and get you on to the Forex trading Profit curve. To receive your copy of the FREE eBook Successful Forex Trading Secrets Revealed, head on over to Forex Trading Today

Foreclosures - The Banks Misfortune can become Your Fortune

By Joyce Brothers

The real estate and economic crisis in the United States only continues to get worse. Both homeowners and banks all across the country are suffering due to foreclosures. Bank foreclosures and pre-foreclosures haven't been this high since the Great Depression. It's such a tragedy that so many hard working Americans will lose their homes.

As strange as it may sound, there is still positivity that results from the foreclosed home crisis. That is that the homes are sold at government auctions after they're foreclosed and depending on the individual situation prices are often much lower then the market value. This ensures that the bank will regain at least some money back, and it's a way for the bank to get rid a home that it doesn't want to continue losing money on. This provides opportunities for real estate investors and for families with good credit to get a great deal on a home that they may not have been able to afford otherwise.

Sometimes homeowners will go ahead and sell their homes before being foreclosed; this is simply called 'pre-foreclosure'. Homeowners have a period of time to sell the house themselves before it is officially foreclosed. The public will be notified through government auction sites of a home facing foreclosure, which will give potential buyers time to make a deal with the bank or current owners.

There are many who are profiting from buying pre-foreclosed and bank foreclosed homes and reselling them. They're finding that homes facing foreclosure can sometimes be sold for as low as 25% of their market value worth and reselling for some surprisingly healthy profits. Even those who have never been interested in real estate before are now joining in on the opportunities that the real estate crisis is providing. But how are they finding out about these great deals and opportunities?

Details about pre-foreclosed homes and foreclosed homes can be found on the Internet. There are a lot of government auction sites that provide information on homes facing foreclosures in every state. Unfortunately, there are some sites that are misleading the public, so you need to be informed when you sign up for a membership. Thankfully, there are legitimate government auction sites that provide detailed information about home foreclosures. So how can we know which sites are worth the membership and which ones are not.

The research is actually very easy to do if you read information on government auction 'review' sites. These reviews are very informative and they will keep visitors updated on the top, most trustworthy government auction membership sites. The government auction reviews test through specific criteria, and are scored according to the results. Obviously, the higher the score, the better and up-to-date the site's foreclosure details are.

With the top membership sites you will find in-depth information and deals on foreclosed homes, pre-foreclosures, and more. So if you can follow these steps then you can find your dream home for only a fraction of its worth:

- Read free reviews at a government auction reviews

- Go to to one of the top recommended government sites and become a member

- Check out all the detailed foreclosure listings until you discover a selection of homes that you like in your price range

- If possible visit the properties of interest a then attend a government auction in your area - 23217

About the Author:

For free reviews on the top foreclosure auction sites and which ones to avoid visit government auctions review or go direct to foreclosures and preforeclosures

The Truth About Forex Scams

By Jack Sawyer

What makes for Forex scams? A lot of people think that any Forex trading system, informational product or service which fails to make them rich beyond their wildest dreams overnight must necessarily be a scam. These are generally the same people who flee from get-rich-quick scheme to get rich quick scheme, constantly disappointed because they fail to get rich. These people are unwilling to spend ay kind of time or effort learning how to make a product or service work for them and they just accuse them of being Forex scams. There is no such thing as a system which will make you rich overnight. Think about it for a minute ? if there was such a thing, wouldn?t we all be using it already? This system would also not continue to work so well for long ? it?s a matter of elementary economics.

The fact is that the money you make has to come from somewhere. Technology can improve our methods of producing goods so that everybody's standard of living improves and everybody becomes richer in real terms. However, when you are trading, gambling or doing anything else that involves 'pure money' without any goods or services being produced, then for one person to gain, another person or institution has to lose.

It is true that in currency exchange, some of the bad prices are taken by people or institutions who either do not know or do not care. Businesses who import or export goods rarely bother to try to schedule their payments for a moment when the currency rates are favorable. People taking a vacation overseas are the same. Nevertheless, there are so many people and institutions in the 'pure' forex market these days that it is simply not possible for everybody to make money from forex trading.

So when you are in an internet forum and you are trying to decide whether negative comments that you read about a product are really a sign of a scam, it is useful to picture the situation happening in the real world, i.e. offline.

Imagine you bought a book about forex from a bookstore, but the system described in it did not work for you. It might be that the methods in the book were out of date, or they might not be suitable for you for some reason. You would probably have learnt something, and you would just shrug and accept that wasn't the right system for you. You wouldn't go back into town and call the bookstore owner a scammer.

But if the bookstore was inviting everybody to pre-order a great new book on forex that was about to be published, and you and 1000 other people all handed over your cash, and the next day the store was closed and the owner had left town ... that is a scam.

A scam is a completely fraudulent business activity which is created with the intention of swindling people. A scam is by definition illegal ? if a product or service is offered in good faith, it is not a scam.

People are naturally a little resistant to buy anything online, especially with the word scam being used so lightly. In many cases, it?s simply a customer who didn?t get the results they wanted trying to shift the blame to the product. While you may not want to buy these products, it would not be accurate to call them Forex scams. - 23217

About the Author:

About the author: Jack Sawyer has some great advice on finding the best Forex Software. To learn Forex Trading Online go to http://www.forex-product-review.com.