Forex Trader
A Forex Trader uses currency exchange rates to try to profit from foreign currency transactions. As the value of currencies relative to each other rises or falls, traders try to anticipate these changes and buy or sell accordingly.
Here’s a break down of the most common things you need to know.
What is a Forex Trader?
Forex Traders buy and sell currencies in the global Foreign Exchange Market (Forex Market). Forex traders can be professional traders that make a full time living trading forex or they can be part time traders (or forex retail traders) making an additional income.
Using Currency Exchange Rates a forex trader can profit from trading foreign currencies successfully. As currencies value rise and fall in relation to each other, traders attempt to predict the shifting values to buy and sell.
The forex market is open 24 hours per day, Monday to Friday. Each currency has a three-letter code. For example, the U.S. dollar is USD.
How does Forex trading work?
Foreign Exchange Trading takes place in a decentralised global market. It is the largest and is the most liquid financial market in the world. Forex trading involves the simultaneous speculative buying and selling of currencies in an aim for the forex trader to take profit from the price changes.
A portion of foreign exchange is done for practical purposes, however the majority of currency exchange is undertaken by forex traders to earn a profit. The amount of currency converted every day can make price movements of some currencies extremely volatile – which is something to be aware of before you become a forex trader.
Who runs the forex market?
If you want to learn how to trade, you need to understand that banks control the foreign exchange market.
The bottom line is if you fight the direction the banks are going, you will lose.
What qualifications do you need to be a forex trader?
The typical forex trader job description emphasizes certain required skills. You will soon realize how the time and energy you invest in learning or improving the following skills will be rewarded in better trading.
Strong analytical skills.
One skill every trader needs is the ability to analyze data quickly. Currency trading involves a lot of mathematics, but it is represented by charts with technical analysis indicators and patterns. For the inexperienced, data is worthless. Therefore, traders need to develop their analytical skills so that they can first understand the charts and develop their own techniques to study the trends and patterns presented by the charts. This is the stage of technical analysis.
The more thoroughly you understand the data provided, the more effective decisions you can make, whether it is worthwhile to trade or transfer to another currency pair and analyze it. Most successful foreign exchange traders are proficient in their technical analysis and then combine it with certain indicators to predict profitable trades based on the system they use.
Good Numeracy and Mathematics Abilities.
If you use short-term spreads for trading, you will need good mental arithmetic skills to calculate your potential profits and losses. Currency is displayed in pairs, which can cause confusion when two numbers are displayed side by side. Good mathematical skills can allow you to calculate potential profits and losses faster, and can also help you calculate the amount of money you can invest according to your budget. This should be based on a percentage of your overall account balance and consistent with your money management skills.
Interest in finance and the financial markets to research
Traders need to have a healthy desire for information and hope to find all relevant data that affect the instruments they trade. Many traders create economic release calendars and publish announcements that have a measurable impact on financial markets. By mastering these sources of information, traders can react to new information while the market is still digesting it.
Focus.
Concentration is a skill, and the more forex traders practice it, the better it will be. Because there is so much financial information, traders need to be able to gain insight into the important and actionable data that will affect their transactions. Some traders also focus on the types of instruments they trade so that they can deepen their understanding of a particular sector, industry or currency, making it a competitive advantage over non-professional traders.
Physical and mental stamina.
Traders need to remain alert and decisive under pressure, to control their emotions and adhere to trading plans and strategies. This is especially important for managing risk by using stop losses or taking profits at set points. Many strategies are designed to allow traders to lose a little in bad trades and gain more systematically in good trades. When traders start to feel emotional about their trading (good or bad), their strategy is likely to fail.
Record Keeping.
One of the most important keys to transactions is record keeping. If a trader diligently records his or her trading results, then improvement is only a matter of testing and adjusting strategies to find a successful strategy. If you do not keep accurate records, it will be difficult to monitor real progress.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with teamworking ability.
Strong interpersonal skills such as negotiation, problem solving and knowledge sharing are the main requirements of many jobs. Other skills are considered basic qualifications for all employees, including: Teamwork. Oral and written communication.
Where can I find a forex mentor?
Just like any other skill, learning to trade in the foreign exchange market can sometimes be a daunting task.
If you do not grasp the correct market fundamentals at the beginning, it may be difficult for you to grasp advanced trading concepts in the future. Many beginners in the market exit from trading in the first year, either because they broke their positions multiple times, or because they didn’t enter the market in the right way.
This is why seeking the help of a foreign exchange trading mentor can help you develop your trading career.
The forex trading tutor should be an experienced trader with the knowledge and know-how needed to successfully trade the market. A trading mentor can significantly improve your trading performance and get you set for a bright future.
Frequently Asked Questions About a Forex Trader
An ask (or offer) is the lowest price at which you are willing to buy a currency. For example, if you place an ask price of $1.3423 for GBP, then the figure mentioned is the lowest that you are willing to pay for a pound in USD. The ask price is generally greater than the bid price.
The bid is the price at which you are willing to sell the currency. The market maker of a given currency is responsible for constantly bidding in response to buyer inquiries. Although they are usually lower than the asking price, in high demand, the buying price may be higher than the asking price.
A bear market is a market in which currency prices fall. A bear market indicates a downward trend in the market, which is the result of a downturn in economic fundamentals or a catastrophic event (such as a financial crisis or natural disaster).
A bull market is a market where all currency prices rise. The bull market marks an upward trend in the market and is the result of optimistic news about the global economy.
A CFD (contract for difference) is a derivative that allows traders to speculate on the price trend of a currency without actually owning the underlying asset. Traders who bet that the price of a currency pair will rise will buy the CFD on that currency pair, and those who believe that the price will fall will sell the CFD related to that currency pair.
Leverage is using borrowed capital to multiply a traders returns. In the forex market traders often use these leverages to boost their positions.
For example: a trader may only take out $1k USD of their own capital and borrow $9k USD from a broker then trade on the EUR (Euro) against the JPY (Japanese Yen). Since the forex trader has used very little of their own funds, if the trade wins the trader will make good profit.
The basic contract unit of the Retail Foreign Exchange is the lot.
The standard lot size is 100,000 units of the base currency, known as a Standard Lot (1st currency in the currency pair), however you can also trade either multiples of, or fractions of, lots. The minimum at T4TCapital is 0.01 lot.
Example: Buying 1 lot on the GBP/USD market is the equivalent to buying ￡100,000 and selling the equivalent amount of USD at the current rate.
Lot Size Units of base currency (First currency)
1 100,000
0.1 10,000
0.01 1,000
The spread is the difference between the ASK price and the BID price. The BID price is the rate at which you can sell a currency pair, and the ASK price the rate at which you can buy a currency pair.
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