Dollar Moves Up

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - The dollar edged up against the yen in quiet trade on Monday with many overseas players still away for the Easter holiday and others waiting until the U.S. corporate earnings season gets into full swing.

U.S. banks including Goldman Sachs (GS.N) JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Citigroup (C.N) are set to report Q1 results this week, and traders are keen to see how stock markets react to these earnings reports.

Last week, the dollar rose against the yen, buoyed by a rally in U.S. stocks after positive earnings guidance from U.S. bank Wells Fargo (WFC.N).

"If U.S. earnings results show signs that the U.S. is pulling away from the worst of the economic downturn, risk appetite is expected to grow, putting pressure on the yen," said Yoshihisa Kanzaki, currency dealer at Shinkin Central Bank.

Market watchers said the currency market has priced in positive U.S. earnings figures, so the market is more likely to react to any negative surprises.

The dollar was trading around 100.33 yen , compared with 100.22 yen in late Tokyo trading on Friday. The U.S. currency touched 101.45 yen last week, its highest in six months.

The euro was quoted at $1.3144 , down from $1.3186 on Friday when it also slipped to $1.3090, a level not seen since mid-March.

Against the yen, the euro was at 131.85 yen , down from 132.24 yen. It climbed to 137.42 yen last week, its highest point in six months.

The Australian dollar rose above 73.00 yen , the highest since October, before falling back to 72.33 yen.

Retail investors seemed to be picking up the higher yielding Aussie, with thin trade exaggerating its price swings, market watchers said.

Australia last week slashed its key cash rate by just 0.25 basis points to 3.0 percent, less than some had expected. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Euro Gains Ground

The Euro gained some ground after European Central Bank lowered the interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.25 percent, most analysts expect less than the 1/2 a percentage point drop.


Interest rates in the Eurozone are three full percentage points lower than they were in October.

The pound, meanwhile, gained on the US dollar after a report from Nationwide Building Society that said the average price of a house in the UK was up 0.9 percent in March from February, the first increase in nearly a year and a half.

The average price of a house rose to £150,946 against an expected continuation of price declines.

In late morning trade, the pound traded at 91.3p to the euro while it took .4664 to buy a pound.

The higher house prices and a gain in equities markets made it look as if contractions in the UK economy could be slowing down..

The Swiss franc weakened after the Swiss National Bank said it will continue to intervene to keep the currency from gaining value and on the ECB’s smaller-than-expected rate cut.

At late morning in New York, the Swiss currency traded at SFr1.5248 to the euro while it was at SFr1.1337 to the greenback.

The yen was also weaker as risk appetite returned as equities markets saw gains, with the Japanese currency trading at ¥99.545 to the US dollar shortly before noon in New York.

This morning the dollar was gaining ground on the euro and then came to a halt
hovering around the 1.3270,which in the last 24 hours was almost 300 pip gain
against the Euro. This Euro/USD market moves on a whim and I am sure it is going to
go back the other way in just a short time. But as of 5.00 this morning the dollar is still moving up.

Language of Forex Traders

By: Jason Fielder


There's far more Forex jargon than can be covered in just one article, but this article will also help to fill in more of the most common Forex jargon for beginners. No matter what the group (doctors, astronomers, basketball players, poker players, etc.) each group has its own distinctive lingo. The Forex is no exception, and the sooner you learn some of the lingo, the easier it will be to follow tutorials, learn how to trade, and start holding your own in conversations with other professional traders. So without any further delay:

"Lots." This is more than lingo, and not a word referring to a lot of something. Lots are specifically the bulk amounts of currency required for trading in the Forex market, most currencies are priced in lots of $100,000.

"Margin." This is the minimum amount of money needed to put up to place a trade with a broker. As long as you have this minimum amount in your account you can trade. When your account falls below that margin amount, all your open positions in the Forex market are closed out.

"Margin Call." A margin call is made when, due to losses, your account falls below the allowed minimum for a broker account. When this happens the broker makes a margin call, which will close out all your open positions in the Forex market.

"Limit Order." This is an order to execute a trade only if it hits a specific price or better.

"Carry Trade." Depending on what Forex traders you hang around with, you could hear this one a lot. A carry trade is a trade where you choose a currency pair in which you go interest positive, meaning that you are earning daily interest on your trade because of the difference in interest rates between the two nations.

"Counter-Trend." Many people think this means trending downward, but that is NOT correct. A counter trend market is a market that is not trending either way, meaning all movements are basically staying within the same channeled area.

"GTC Order." Good Till Cancelled Order. This is an order placed for a currency pair that will remain in play until the trader shuts that position down.

"OCO Order." One Cancel Other. A type of trade using two orders that are set up by trigger values. When a currency pair hits a trigger, that trade goes into effect while the other is automatically cancelled.

Article Source: http://www.tradeforex2000.info/forexarticledirectory


And now I would like to offer you free access to a Forex trading system that is 89.1% accurate, so you can literally start trading the Forex today. You can access it now by going to: www.foreximpact.com/reports/89percent/ From Jason Fielder: Founder, ForexImpact.com

Have Checks in Place

Forex trading can change very quickly in either direction. Always have a stop
loss activated on your platform to avoid losing alot of money in a hurry.
There is so much going on with the US dolar right now it is hard to predict
what is going to happen next. The forex trade is human driven and all that
means is you had better listen to the rumors and the news.
With the bailout of the top 3 car makers the US dollar will probably
lose a little ground but not for long. From what i have been seeing
is a drop with a good potential to come back at any time.
Watch the euro/Usd.

How to begin Forex Trading

Forex trading is both exciting and lucrative and, since rules were changed to allow small investors to participate in the market by trading on margin accounts, it has attracted a huge number of very happy small investors who today trade at a time suit themselves from the comfort of their own homes. But Forex trading is not quite as simple as many people think and you will need to invest quite a lot of time and a little bit of money in some good training before you embark on any sort of live trading.

One of the first things that you will need, once you have acquired some basic knowledge, is a broker who will handle your transactions for you. The vast majority of brokers are reputable individuals who are associated with a major financial institution, such as a bank, and are registered, in the United States for example, as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Having found a broker you can then open a Forex trading account by simply filling in a form and producing proof of your identity and then fund your account and start trading. When you open your account the terms under which you can trade on your account will be clearly specified and one point to note is that you will be subject to a margin agreement which will allow the broker to intervene in any trade which he considers to carry too high a risk. This is reasonable enough since when you are trading on margin you are essentially trading with the broker's money and not your own money.

You will find that most brokers will offer a range of accounts to suit individual investors and one of these accounts is commonly referred to as a mini account which normally allows you trade with as little as $250, as opposed to the $1,000 to $2,500 usually required for a standard trading account. You will also find that leverage varies from one account to the next and from one broker to the next. Leverage simply allows you to trade with more money than you have in your account and the higher the leverage the larger the trading lots you can participate in.

Perhaps the most important thing to look for though as a novice trader is the ability to start by simply trading on paper. This means finding a broker who offers you the ability to practice trading through a simulated account until you have found your feet. Simulated accounts allow you to run trades just as if they were real and to use all of the supporting predictive, charting and trading software, but without actually placing any money at risk. You will find that many brokers will have a demo account which they will let you cut your teeth on for your first month.

Finally, make sure that your broker has all of the software tools that you need including such things as news feeds, real time quotes, charting and profit and loss calculators and that he has a reliable website which is easy to navigate, fast and has excellent backup facilities.

Many people will tell you that, after the right training, a good broker is key to the key to the success of any novice trader and a broker who will provide you with a Forex demo account and help you to get up to speed is worth his weight in gold.

Good Habits of a forex Trader

Profitable forex traders develop good trading habits and live by them on the market.
These trading habits are learned and practiced daily.
Studying the markets constantly to keep up with the trends, and
having the discipline to trade without their emotions getting in the way
of a profitable trade.
They have learned that Panic or Greed will only cost them profits
if they follow them.
Buy studying the market and learning the ins and outs and then knowing
when to get in or out is the result of their labor.
Practice,practice, practice on a demo account and learn these
habits before you jump in.

Currency Trading Strategy

Developing your own strategy for a successful online currency trading is as important as your investment decisions. Online currency trading without a strategy is to rely entirely on chances for your success or failure. Making the right trading decisions and developing a sound and effective trading strategy is therefore the most important foundation of forex trading.
For developing an online forex trading strategy, you should have a working knowledge of forex, how the market works, different methods of technical analysis, and knowledge of some of the popular technical studies. A successful trading involves strict guidelines for return on investment as well as an optimized risk management. With the rise of the internet, forex trading is almost instantly. Your online currency trading strategy therefore should be full proof to handle instantaneous decisions.

It is advisable to form the online trading strategy based on some technical analysis, such as, Simple Moving Average (SMA). With huge online and conventional resources, with some research you can understand the theory of many such technical analyses. For example, you can formulate a set of discipline like: if the price of the currency crosses above a 12-period SMA, you will treat it as a signal to buy at the market; when the currency price crosses below the 12-period SMA, you will 'stop and reverse'. So you will always have either a long or short position after the first signal.

Many seasoned traders combine more than one strategy for their online forex trading. For example, they use SMA and apply other indicators to support their assumptions. These indicators work as a filter for them. You may formulate your online forex trading strategy based on technical analysis to find out support and resistance levels of the market. The market tends to trade above the support levels and below the resistance levels. If you find that a support or resistance level is broken, the market will then follow through in that direction. Therefore, if your online forex trading strategy helps you in finding out these breaks you can invest in the direction of the market.

The best way to be a successful forex trader is to study and get experience. There are many web sites with free articles, seminars, forums, which can help you in developing your own forex trading strategy. Simple logic and rational thought process will strengthen your strategy and earn huge profit from the trading. Few tips for preparing your strategy will be:

· Always trade with the trend. · Never risk all your trading capital in a single trade. · Follow strict discipline to limit your loss. · Whenever you are in doubt, get out of the trade.

In this highly volatile and liquidated forex trading market, a strong strategy, which is free from any emotions, will ensure high profits for you.

To learn more about developing your own Forex strategy please visit Online Currency Trading Strategy