Intro: Why Forex?

If you are reading this guide, you have most likely taken some sort of interest in
the Forex market. But what does the Forex market have to offer you?
Accessibility – It’s no wonder that the Forex market has the trading
volume of 3 trillion a day ‐ all anyone needs to take part in the action is a
computer with an internet connection.
24 Hour Market ‐ The Forex market is open 24 hours a day, so that you can
be right there trading whenever you hear a financial scoop. No need to
bite your fingernails waiting for the opening bell.
Narrow Focus – Unlike the stock market, a smaller market with tens of
thousands of stocks to choose from, the Forex market revolves around
more or less eight major currencies. A narrow choice means no rooms for
confusion, so even though the market is huge, it’s quite easy to get a clear
picture of what’s happening.
Liquidity ‐ The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in
the world with a daily turnover of just over $3 trillion! Now apart from
being a really cool statistic, the sheer massive scope of the Forex market is
also one of its biggest advantages. The enormous volume of daily trades
makes it the most liquid market in the world, which basically means that
under normal market conditions you can buy and sell currency as you
please. You can never be in a jam for currency to buy or stuck with
currency that you can’t unload.
The Market Can’t Be Cornered ‐ The colossal size of the Forex market also
makes sure that no one can corner the market. Even banks don’t have
enough pull to really control the market for a long period of time, which
makes it a great place for the little guy to make a move.

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Money Management

Is there a secret to becoming a successful trader?
There is a method that all successful traders use, and it’s no secret. It’s called
money management.
Money management is not some vague industry lingo – it simply means the
knowledge and skill of managing your Forex trading account. As simple as that
may seem, it’s the key to a long and successful trading career. And yet it is often
forgotten or neglected in the thrill of the trade. We’d like to take this opportunity
to lay out some ground rules by which you can effectively manage your account.
Don’t go looking for the Big Win; it will most likely result in a big loss. Successful
trading means consistent trading, where small wins amount to large long term
profits. Never assume that all your trades will be profitable, and plan on losses.
You should only risk a small percentage of your total account balance on each
trade. This simply minimizes your risk, so that even if you end up losing your
entire investment on a trade, it doesn’t have a critical effect on your account
balance. The recommended amount is 2% of your account balance per trade.
More aggressive traders go as high as 5%, but never higher than that. It is a very
important rule to keep, since the lower your account balance drops, the harder it
is to rebuild it.
Using Limit Orders
Learn to use the Stop Loss and Take Profit orders effectively. These orders protect
your investment and realize your profits. They are very simple tools that can make
all the difference to your account balance.
Size of Trades
You are suggested to open small trades, because in the case of a losing trade, you
can then open the opposite trade with a bigger investment or higher leverage,
thus compensating for losses.
Practice with Virtual Money
Use virtual money mode for practice. One of the unique features of eToro is that
our platform provides you with a practice environment. Virtual money mode
works exactly the same as real trading mode and uses the same real time rates,
with the small difference of no risk involved. We recommend using the practice
mode to get to know the platform and gain Forex trading experience.
And even after you’ve begun trading with real money, it is the perfect place to try
out your trading strategies. There is no point in risking your money to test out a
possible theory, when you can do so with the same success minus the risk. After

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The Quest for Volatility

The Forex market is open 24 hours a day, but what are the best times to make a
profit?
Even though the Forex market is open 24 hours a day with the exception of
weekends, not all hours are as equally good for trading. The reason that the Forex
market is open 24 hours a day is that it is made up of different sessions around
the globe that between them cover 24 hours.
The more markets are active at the same time, the more trades are being
executed, and the more action for you to cash in on.

Since the London session is the busiest out of the four, the best times for trading
are 8am‐9am (GMT) and 13pm‐17pm (GMT), because that’s when the London
session overlaps with other sessions.
Abuse the news.
As for news reports, these are times to be careful. Many profitable trades are
made moments prior to or shortly after major economical announcements. You
can gain a fortune as well as lose one if you’re not sure of what you’re doing. This
is why it’s important to stay on top of what’s happening in the international
finance arena. Market sentiment becomes crucial at these times, since traders
basically stampede to the market around the time of the report. eToro makes sure
to give you a heads up whenever anything major is going down.

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Hedging Risks and Rewards

Forex trading is a risky business. This chapter will explain the usage of Stop Loss
(SL) and Take Profit (TP) orders. These are used for hedging your risks and
rewards, realizing your profits and minimizing your losses.


eToro places an automatic Stop Loss order on all your trades to prevent you from
losing more than you’ve invested. If the rate of your open trade drops below
what’s covered by your investment, the trade is closed by the automatic Stop
Loss. This means the maximum amount you can lose on a trade is almost always
limited to the initial investment of the trade.


Still, there is no reason why you should wait until you lose your entire investment
to close the trade. By setting a Stop Loss order you make sure that the value of
your trade doesn’t drop below a certain level. This way you control the maximum
amount that you are willing to lose on a trade, without having to monitor each
trade around the clock.

Take Profit orders are similar to stop loss orders, only referring to profits. Take
Profit orders make sure that once your trade reaches a certain level of profit it will
be closed.

For instance, imagine that you’ve opened a Long EUR/USD trade for at the rate of
1.5400. After a few hours the rate rises to 1.5500, but an hour later drops to
1.5300. Without a Take Profit order, you might miss the rise in the rate, and end
up with a loss on your hands.

If you had set a Take Profit order, the potential profit of the trade would have
been realized, without you having to monitor the trade around the clock.

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Tactical usage of Leverage

If you’ve been at all exposed to the world of Forex you’ve probably heard the word “Leverage” being tossed around. But what exactly is “Leverage”?

Leverage is a very important part of Forex trading, and it’s critical that you know exactly how it works and how to use it. It is the term Forex traders use to refer to the ratio of invested amount related to the trade's actual value.

Forex brokers usually provide their customers with the option to trade on borrowed capital, so that traders don’t have to invest tens of thousands of dollars for the chance to make any real profit. When you trade at a leverage of 1:100, or X100, it means that for every $1 that you invest in the market, the broker invests $100. As a result, you can control an amount of $10,000 by investing $100. eToro provides traders with the opportunity of trading at up to 1:400 leverage.

It probably won’t surprise you when we say that with greater opportunity for profit comes greater risk. Just like slight fluctuations in currency rates can make you significant amounts of money, it can also cause you to lose your money very quickly. The higher the leverage, the larger the profit that you stand to make and the quicker you might lose your investment. A leverage of 1:400 can make you more money than a leverage of 1:100, but it also puts your initial investment at more risk.

If you trade with a leverage of 1:100 the market would have to move 100 pips against you for your position to be wiped out. On the other hand, if you trade with a leverage of 1:400 the market would only have to move 25 points against you for your position to be wiped out.

We recommend first opening a position with a low 1:100 Leverage, and only once you see that you’ve hit a strong trend, consider opening one with a 1:400 leverage.

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