What Is Forex Trading?
Forex trading is exciting. It is also a money-spinner. FX trading has to do with changing one currency to another for various reasons, which can include the following:
- Tourism
- Trading
- Commerce
Studies show that the Forex market pulls an average of $5.1 trillion per day in trade volume. This makes the Forex market the largest and most liquid in the world. The large size of the Forex market is due to the global reach of finance, commerce, and trade.
The Best Forex trading platforms in Australia
Forex market participants
The forex market is the place where organizations and individuals exchange and speculate on currencies. Examples of participants in the Forex market are:
- Traders
- Investors
- Governments
- Businesses
- Banks
You can also call the Forex market FX market or currency market. You can as well call it the foreign exchange currency market. The Forex market is open 5 days of the week. It will open for 24 hours of the day in those 5 days. Forex trading takes place across the globe. However, the most important trading centers around the world are:
- Sydney
- Paris
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- Frankfurt
- Zurich
- Tokyo
- New York
- London
There is no central marketplace for the Forex market. So trading activities take place over the counter (OTC). This is one of the factors that differentiate it from the stock market. There is a central marketplace for the stock market. One of such central market-places is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Major banks have the responsibility of quoting Forex pairs. Bear in mind that not all banks have the same prices. The broker is the market maker since it transacts trades for the trader and trades the other side of it. A market maker broker will sell a currency pair when its trader buys the pair.
Why is Forex trading very popular?
As a Forex trader, you will have the complete freedom to make money for yourself. Becoming a professional Forex trader is never easy, but it is possible. You will require a lot of discipline. Once you attain the necessary level of knowledge, you can start enjoying the benefits. You can venture into Forex trading from the comfort of your home. You will also not need any formal education to learn how to trade Forex. The tools are very easy to obtain; you only need a computer or mobile device that is internet enabled. Aside from the above, you also need time.
Once you can commit some time to carry out market analysis, trading Forex will be very easy for you. However, you will need to get a reliable Forex trading platform also. This is not so difficult at all to get; there are so many Forex trading platforms that you can choose from in Australia. Additionally, you will not have to travel to a brick-and-mortar office before you can trade Forex; you can trade everywhere you go, including at home.
How to trade Forex
Forex trading is not so difficult provided you have the required knowledge. Knowledge is power and the case is not different in Forex trading at all. Before we go further, we will show you some of the skills you need before you can trade Forex effectively. In fact, you should not venture into Forex trading until you have the skills highlighted below:
- You should have the ability to take a loss without getting emotional about it.
- You should build your confidence also before venturing into Forex trading. Before you can venture into Forex trading, you need to believe in yourself and also believe in your strategy. You should equally not be controlled by fear at all if you want to be successful in Forex trading.
- You need all the dedication that you can get if you want to be successful in Forex
- Discipline is a very important ingredient for anyone that wants to be successful in Forex trading. You need to be calm irrespective of what the market says. You must not be controlled by emotion when trading and this is a sign of discipline. You should only follow what your strategy has to say and not what your emotion is saying.
- Make sure that your trading strategy is flexible so that you can adapt as the Forex market changes. Bear in mind that the Forex market is highly dynamic. So, a strategy that worked yesterday may fail to work today. Flexibility ensures that you can modify the strategy to fit the current state of the market.
- You must always be focused on your trading strategy and plan at all times and avoid straying off course.
- Your trading decisions should only be based on logic. Make sure that you read the market from a logical perspective.
- Patience is a virtue that every Forex trader must have. In fact, Forex trading can be summarized as 90% waiting and 10% trading. Only the patient can wait it out. You must be ready to wait for the right moment to trade so that you do not make wrong trading decisions.
- As a Forex trader, you must always seek knowledge. Learning is a constant thing in Forex trading. You can even register for a Forex trading course to help you better understand how the Forex market works. You must never relent in your search for knowledge in Forex trading if you want to be useful in it.
How to get started
The tips below will enlighten you on how to get started in Forex trading:
- Get a good Forex broker: You can only trade Forex via a trading platform or Forex.
- Develop a good trading strategy: You will need a lot of knowledge to develop a strategy.
- Practice consistently on a demo account: The demo account will allow you to see how your strategy will perform in a real-life situation.
- Fund your trading account: You should consider funding your trading account after perfecting your trading strategy and plan.
- Start trading: It is now time to start making money from Forex trading. Be that as it may, you must understand that there is no 100%-correct strategy anywhere. So, only risk an amount that you can afford to lose.
Is Forex trading legal in Australia?
Yes, Forex trading is legal in Australia. In fact, Australia boasts of one of the best controlled financial sectors in the world today. So, the county is a hub for foreign exchange. Many Australian residents are involved in Forex trading. There are also many Australia-based brokers ready to meet the needs of the traders in the country.
Aside from the Australian-based Forex brokers, many of the other brokers across the world also have bases in Australia and accept Australian traders. These days, it is a lot safer and easier to trade Forex in Australia compared to what obtains in times past. Check below for more of the many facts you must bear in mind about online Forex trading in Australia.
Forex market regulators
The activities of the Forex regulatory agency in Australia make Forex trading safe in the country. Each of the Forex brokers operating in the country is required to be regulated by the agency. The name of the agency is Australia Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). If a Forex broker is not regulated by ASIC, that Forex broker will not be able to operate in Australia.
The website of such a broker will be blocked automatically by the local ISPs. The Australian government further insists that all Forex brokers in the country must have offices in Australia from where they operate. This way, it will be easy to audit the brokers. Regular auditing helps to promote transparency in the Australian Forex market.
The Australian regulatory agency also insists that brokers must not hold customers’ funds in their personal bank accounts, but in a separate account. As a result of this, the funds of the customers will not disappear in case the broker goes bankrupt.
The Australian regulatory agency demands a working capital of AUD 1 million from any broker that wants to operate in Australia. Such capital gives assurance that the broker can withstand harsh market volatility conditions. ASIC imposes a zero leverage limit on brokers. Be that as it may, many of the brokers in Australia offer a maximum leverage of 500:1. This enables them to minimize losses incurable by traders.
Choose wisely
While Forex trading is legal in Australia, you need to choose a broker carefully when venturing into the Forex trading market. Make sure that the broker you choose is regulated by the ASIC. Additionally, find out about other important features, like educational materials offered on the site. Check if the broker offers both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms.
Additionally, find out what the broker demands as a minimum deposit. If you are new to Forex trading, you need a broker that permits a small amount as a minimum deposit. This will enable you to test the water first without risking much money. Check also the available deposit and withdrawal methods. Do not forget to check if the website is easy to navigate before you register there.
How does Forex trading work?
In the Forex trading world, the value of a currency is measured by the quantity of another currency that it can buy. The value of this is referred to as a price quote. Price quotes are two in number. They are:
- The bid-price and
- The ask-price.
The ask-price is important when you want to buy a currency. The bid price, on the other hand, is important when you want to sell the currency. The ask price is always higher than the bid price in any currency. So, banks will buy currencies from their customers at a cheaper price and sell them back to the customers at a higher price. When you subtract the bid price from the ask-price, what you have is the pip spread or simply the spread.
The Forex trader will get quotes via the trading platform of the broker. The broker, on the other hand, gets price quotes from banks or other liquidity providers. The spread tends to lower or become tighter as the liquidity increases.
Buying and selling in Forex trading
Before you can trade Forex, you need to register with a Forex broker. Make sure you register with the best Forex trading platform so that you can get the best value from Forex trading Australia. The broker offers you everything you need for trading Forex. The trading platforms are even simplified in such a way that you can trade Forex with just a click of the mouse.
When you buy or sell in Forex trading, you are buying or selling a currency pair. The first of the par is the base currency and the second one is the quote currency. When you place a buy order, for example, a particular percentage of the fund in your account will be used for buying the pair.
Buying and selling take place simultaneously in Forex trading. When you buy a pair, it means that you are buying the base currency and selling the quote currency. An example of a currency pair is EUR/AUD. When you buy EUR/AUD, you are buying the Euro and selling the Australian Dollars. The reverse is the case when you place a sell order on the currency pair.
There are two types of Forex brokers:
- The market maker
- The ECN brokers
The market makers will open a trading position as opposed to that of the trader. An ECN broker does not do this. The ECN broker connects the trader directly to the Forex interbank market. Bear in mind that Forex trading occurs via CFD; CFD stands for Contract for Difference. As a result of this, the trader will not have to own the asset he is buying or selling.
CFD enables the trader to make a profit when he buys or sells a currency pair. CFD trading equally allows the use of leverage. Leverage enables the trader to hold a large position with a very small amount of money.