Though there are many forex traders out there that rely on advanced market predicting (or prediction-attempting) tools such as algorithms, neural nets, or even just a Metatrader Expert Advisor, one of the oldest forms of market analysis called support and resistance lines still holds its ground amongst more complicated forms.

Plainly put, a support or resistance line is a specific price level or exchange rate level where the market has approached this level and then retraced in the opposite direction. A support line will be on the bottom, and a resistance line will be on the top.

But in order to understand why this old-school analysis method is still so effective, you must understand what causes the forex market to move in the first place. People cause the market to move. The market itself consists of nothing more than all of those people, sitting at their communications-enabled computers and logging on to centrally-located servers in order to access their online trading accounts.

People of all sizes make up this market. At the largest end of the spectrum you have Central Banks, multi-national banks, and large investment and hedge funds. In the middle there are intermediate-size banks and investment funds, as well as international corporations and companies that either make currency exchanges in order to deal with the native currency of a country they are operating in, or they want to hedge against the risks posed by exchange rate fluctuation. Note that the activities by the companies and corporations are not speculative in nature, but are rather a side effect of doing business across different countries.

When it comes to forex trading platforms, the two main types are software-based and web-based. More and more, web-based forex platforms are gaining popularity and more brokers are implementing them (GFT Forex and Forex.com are notable examples), though many traders still prefer software-based trading platforms.

There are a handful of popular software-based forex platforms that are used most often, such as Dealbook FX, Global Trading System, Metatrader, and Tradestation. There are a few good reasons why many traders prefer to trade using this type of setup, and there are many benefits as well as a few downfalls to using this type of software.

Technical analysis is probably the most popular form of financial market analysis, since it can be applied to literally any market from currencies to stocks to commodities. It has to do with examining charts, price data, and using different mathematical indicators to try and come up with accurate trading signals.

The different technical methods that this article will cover are support and resistance, fibonacci retracements and profit targets, momentum oscillators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI), and moving averages. While this is by no means a comprehensive guide to forex technical analysis, it will introduce you to some of the most popular trading tools and allow you to acquaint yourself with the notion of analyzing price charts.

In a sentence, technical analysis is the study of historical price movements to try and predict future results. While this is not always 100% accurate, it is based on the simple premise that all market movements are caused by real people, and human psychology and investment behavior tend to remain consistent. And because technical analysis is widely practiced by so many traders, with many of them even following the exact same indicators such as support and resistance lines, there is an element of self-fulfillment involved.

In every financial market, the forex market included, there are certain gaps that can lead to decreased profits and decreased opportunities for profitable trading. Investing and trading in mutual funds can be a good way to earn money from both a short-term and a long-term perspective, but there are still certain gaps in this market where the inadequacies of trading opportunities become apparent.

While investing and trading in mutual funds can be an excellent way to profit from the stock market, one of the biggest problems with trading in mutual funds is that you typically cannot open or close positions until the market closes for the day and reopens.

In our global financial system all of the major world financial markets are interconnected, yet the most popular form of forex market analysis, technical analysis, concentrates only on one market at a time. Most traders that implement technical analysis-based trading strategies may use tools such as candlestick formations or moving averages, but they will only focus on one chart or one market at a time.

Technical analysis can still be very useful to a forex trader. After all, the vast majority of all daily forex trading volume is speculative in nature, and all of those masses of traders working at their computers are likely following the same handful of indicators and oscillators, as well as focusing on the same levels of support and resistance. If enough traders are following a 14-day Relative Strength Index indicatorthen making successful trades based on that indicator becomes self-fulfilling in nature.

In fact, it is possible for you to completely ignore all other financial markets and only focus on one currency pair's chart, and you could still have a profitable trading strategy. However, the stock and commodity markets (with oil and precious metals playing a large role) of a given country will inevitably affect the value of that country's currency, so it would be wise for any astute currency trader to stay aware of the goings-on of other related financial markets.

An interesting development that comes with the widespread proliferation of forex trading is that there is a relative lack of intermarket analysis compared to most stock or equity markets. If you have even a brief knowledge of stock-picking strategies, then you should be familiar with the concept of diversification (spreading your stock picks across different sectors) as well as using a general index of stocks to rank a specific sector's performance.

Many beginning FOREX traders are captivated by the allure of easy money. FOREX websites offer 'risk-free' trading, 'high returns' 'low investment' – these claims have a grain of truth in them, but the reality of FOREX is a bit more complex.

There are two common mistakes that many beginner traders make – trading without a strategy and letting emotions rule their decisions. After opening a FOREX account it may be tempting to dive right in and start trading. Watching the movements of EUR/USD for example, you may feel that you are letting an opportunity pass you by if you don't enter the market immediately. You buy and watch the market move against you. You panic and sell, only to see the market recover.

This kind of undisciplined approach to FOREX is guaranteed to lose you money. FOREX traders need to have a rational trading strategy and not allow emotions to rule their trading decisions.

To make rational trading decisions the FOREX trader must be well-educated in market movements. He must be able to apply technical studies to charts and plot out entry and exit points. He must take advantage of the various types of orders to minimize his risk and maximize his profit.

The first step in becoming a successful FOREX trader is to understand the market and the forces behind it. Who trades FOREX and why? Who is successful and why are they successful? This knowledge will allow you to identify successful trading strategies and use them as models for your own.

There are 5 major groups of investors who participate in FOREX – Governments, Banks, Corporations, Investment Funds, and traders. Each group has varying objectives, but the one thing that all the groups (except traders) have in common is external control. Every organization has rules and guidelines for trading currencies and can be held accountable for their trading decisions. Individual traders, on the other hand, are accountable only to themselves.

This means that the trader who lacks rules and guidelines is playing a losing game. Large organizations and educated traders approach the FOREX with strategies, and if you hope to succeed as a FOREX trader you must play by the same rules.

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