Forex Money Making Serenade

FOREX 101: Make Money with Currency Trading

For those unfamiliar with the term, FOREX (FOReign EXchange market), refers to an international exchange market where currencies are bought and sold. The Foreign Exchange Market that we see today began in the 1970's, when free exchange rates and floating currencies were introduced. In such an environment only participants in the market determine the price of one currency against another, based upon supply and demand for that currency.

FOREX is a somewhat unique market for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is one of the few markets in which it can be said with very few qualifications that it is free of external controls and that it cannot be manipulated. It is also the largest liquid financial market, with trade reaching between 1 and 1.5 trillion US dollars a day. With this much money moving this fast, it is clear why a single investor would find it near impossible to significantly affect the price of a major currency. Furthermore, the liquidity of the market means that unlike some rarely traded stock, traders are able to open and close positions within a few seconds as there are always willing buyers and sellers.

Another somewhat unique characteristic of the FOREX money market is the variance of its participants. Investors find a number of reasons for entering the market, some as longer term hedge investors, while others utilize massive credit lines to seek large short term gains. Interestingly, unlike blue-chip stocks, which are usually most attractive only to the long term investor, the combination of rather constant but small daily fluctuations in currency prices, create an environment which attracts investors with a broad range of strategies.

How FOREX Works

Transactions in foreign currencies are not centralized on an exchange, unlike say the NYSE, and thus take place all over the world via telecommunications. Trade is open 24 hours a day from Sunday afternoon until Friday afternoon (00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday). In almost every time zone around the world, there are dealers who will quote all major currencies. After deciding what currency the investor would like to purchase, he or she does so via one of these dealers (some of which can be found online). It is quite common practice for investors to speculate on currency prices by getting a credit line (which are available to those with capital as small as $500), and vastly increase their potential gains and losses. This is called marginal trading.

Marginal Trading

Marginal trading is simply the term used for trading with borrowed capital. It is appealing because of the fact that in FOREX investments can be made without a real money supply. This allows investors to invest much more money with fewer money transfer costs, and open bigger positions with a much smaller amount of actual capital. Thus, one can conduct relatively large transactions, very quickly and cheaply, with a small amount of initial capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market is quantified in lots. The term "lot" refers to approximately $100,000, an amount which can be obtained by putting up as little as 0.5% or $500.

EXAMPLE: You believe that signals in the market are indicating that the British Pound will go up against the US Dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the Pound with a 1% margin at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to climb. At some point in the future, your predictions come true and you decide to sell. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips or about $405. Thus, on an initial capital investment of $1,000, you have made over 40% in profits. (Just as an example of how exchange rates change in the course of a day, an average daily change of the Euro (in Dollars) is about 70 to 100 pips.)

When you decide to close a position, the deposit sum that you originally made is returned to you and a calculation of your profits or losses is done. This profit or loss is then credited to your account.

Investment Strategies: Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis

The two fundamental strategies in investing in FOREX are Technical Analysis or Fundamental Analysis. Most small and medium sized investors in financial markets use Technical Analysis. This technique stems from the assumption that all information about the market and a particular currency's future fluctuations is found in the price chain. That is to say, that all factors which have an effect on the price have already been considered by the market and are thus reflected in the price. Essentially then, what this type of investor does is base his/her investments upon three fundamental suppositions. These are: that the movement of the market considers all factors, that the movement of prices is purposeful and directly tied to these events, and that history repeats itself. Someone utilizing technical analysis looks at the highest and lowest prices of a currency, the prices of opening and closing, and the volume of transactions. This investor does not try to outsmart the market, or even predict major long term trends, but simply looks at what has happened to that currency in the recent past, and predicts that the small fluctuations will generally continue just as they have before.

A Fundamental Analysis is one which analyzes the current situations in the country of the currency, including such things as its economy, its political situation, and other related rumors. By the numbers, a country's economy depends on a number of quantifiable measurements such as its Central Bank's interest rate, the national unemployment level, tax policy and the rate of inflation. An investor can also anticipate that less quantifiable occurrences, such as political unrest or transition will also have an effect on the market. Before basing all predictions on the factors alone, however, it is important to remember that investors must also keep in mind the expectations and anticipations of market participants. For just as in any stock market, the value of a currency is also based in large part on perceptions of and anticipations about that currency, not solely on its reality.

Make Money with Currency Trading on FOREX

FOREX investing is one of the most potentially rewarding types of investments available. While certainly the risk is great, the ability to conduct marginal trading on FOREX means that potential profits are enormous relative to initial capital investments. Another benefit of FOREX is that its size prevents almost all attempts by others to influence the market for their own gain. So that when investing in foreign currency markets one can feel quite confident that the investment he or she is making has the same opportunity for profit as other investors throughout the world. While investing in FOREX short term requires a certain degree of diligence, investors who utilize a technical analysis can feel relatively confident that their own ability to read the daily fluctuations of the currency market are sufficiently adequate to give them the knowledge necessary to make informed investments.

Rich McIver is a contributing writer for The Forex Blog: Currency Trading News http://www.forexblog.org.


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Hollywood Flights Opus

Tales Of Hollywood And Politics

Arnold Schwarzenegger's surprise announcement that he was seeking the California Governorship brought to mind the many times Hollywood figures have been involved in politics. Here are some related anecdotes:

When actors first came to Hollywood there were signs put up in front of hotels and apartments that said no dogs or actors allowed, with the performers ruefully complaining about not getting top billing. The insecurity of the profession has come through in political campaigns. When Ronald Reagan successfully ran for Governor of California in 1966 one of the fruitless tactics used by his opposition was a television commercial featuring Gene Kelley stating," In films I played a gambler, a baseball player and I could play a Governor but you wouldn't really want an actor to really be a Governor would you?"

Ronald Reagan at one time was such a Liberal Democrat he drove friends to distraction with his views. One day in the thirties he was driving a friend home from work, yammering on about President Roosevelt's New Deal policies. Reagan who was near sighted and an erratic driver at best, seemed oblivious to road conditions. "Ronnie, watch out for that truck!" the friend yelled. Missing an accident by a hair, Reagan continued," Truck drivers, that's who the New Deal will help!"

Like former President Reagan, Walt Disney claimed to be a Roosevelt New Dealer until a nasty worker's strike at his studio made him take a right turn. Although he campaigned heavily for Republican candidates the cartoon maker kept friendly relations with the other side. Walt loved giving personal tours of Disneyland, and enjoyed having former president Harry Truman as his guest, even when his fellow Missourian turned down a ride on Dumbo: Too much Republican symbolism.

Another mogul, Louis B. Mayer the founder of MGM was a staunch Republican his entire life. Mayer never quite got over Franklin Roosevelt beating his good friend Herbert Hoover but accepted an invitation to meet the Democratic President at the White House in 1933. Immediately upon arriving in the Oval Office Mayer surprised Roosevelt by pulling a clock from underneath his coat and placing it on the President's desk. "What's that for, Mr. Mayer?" "Pardon me Mr. President. I heard you have the ability to have a man in your hip pocket after 18 minutes." Brandishing his long cigarette holder Roosevelt threw his head back and laughed, then began chatting with the film executive . He was startled when after seventeen minutes the mogul got up, grabbed the clock and left the room.

Another difficult encounter for the Roosevelt administration was with Shirley Temple. Hoping to get people's mind off the Great Depression the President was nonstop in praise of the moppet's movies saying that Americans should forget about their problems by paying fifteen cents to see "the smile of a little girl". Both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were so enamored they invited little Shirley and her parents to visit them at their private estate in Hyde Park, New York. In the limo Shirley received mixed messages from her Conservative parents. On the one hand they were thrilled to meet the President and his wife, but they also hated their Big Government policies. Upon their arrival Mrs. Roosevelt graciously asked Shirley if she would like something fixed on the barbecue. "Oh that would be wonderful," replied the child star. As Eleanor walked out back, the mischievous Shirley took out a slingshot, checked to make sure nobody was looking at what she was doing, and nailed the First Lady in the rear. The Secret Service came running at the sound of her shout, looked around the property for possible intruders but never thought about searching the angelic little movie star, who had skillfully hidden her weapon. Dinner passed pleasantly and the Temples returned to their hotel. Only then did Gertrude Temple tell her daughter that she had seen her naughtiness, and Shirley got walloped.

Many Hollywood figures prefer to have others speak for them. When Marlon Brando won the Academy Award for The Godfather (1972) he shocked the nation by sending a Native American named Sacheen Littlefeather in his place, She used the international platform of winning the Oscar to blast the USA's treatment of her people( it turned out she was actually an imposter, she was actually a professional actress named Maria Cruz). There were many calls from the media for Brando to come out and state his views himself, but the reclusive star refused. One rumor had Brando sitting alone in his hilltop house watching John Wayne movies backwards so the Indians would win.

Stephen Schochet is the author and narrator of the audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says," these two elaborate productions are exceptionally entertaining." Hear realaudio samples of these great, unique gifts at http://www.hollywoodstories.com.

Hollywood Tour Verse

Tales Of A Hollywood Tour Guide

Author/Narrator Stephen Schochet researched Hollywood and Disney stories and lore for 10 years while giving tours of Hollywood. He had the unique idea the stories could be told anywhere and that's what led him to create the critically acclaimed audiobooks "Fascinating Walt Disney" and "Tales Of Hollywood". Here he shares some stories that happened while he was actually giving tours:

On one tour I pointed out the Fox Plaza, the building that was blown up in the movie Die Hard. A tourist asked me "How did they put that building back together so fast?" * On the tour we stop at Rodeo Drive. The people were returning to the bus after their visit and Steve Garvey came walking by. A life long Dodger fan I said," Hi Steve." Happy for the recognition, he came over to meet the people on the bus. Unfortunately, the entire group was from England and Germany and not a single person knew who he was. * The day after OJ Simpson was arrested, I was doing a tour where we stopped in front of the Chinese Theater. My customers were looking at the handprints and footprints, while I stretched my legs near a row of parked tour buses. Two men, one with a filming camera approached me. "Hi We're from CNN. Are you a tour guide? We would like to interview you about OJ." "Sure." "Great. Roll the camera. We're talking to a Hollywood tour guide. So did your customers ask you today about OJ's house." "Well today my people are from Romania. They are here for the World Cup. I don't think they care about OJ." "Well will you be adding OJ's house to the tour?" "Probably not because he lives west of the 405. We go east of the 405 and we are so pressed for time. I wouldn't be surprised if we have some guys who point at any old house and claim that it's OJ's!" I was kidding but the reporter took me quite seriously. "So tour guides do that do they? What tour company do you work for?" I thought, who does this guy think he is, Mike Wallace? I pointed at one of the buses owned by a rival tour company. * When I first started training as a tour bus driver I rode with other guides to see how they did it. One guy, unfortunately did not endear himself to the customers with a patter of stale and sometimes sexist jokes. At one point he showed the Hollywood Sign, and told the tragic story of actress Peg Entwistle, who unable to succeed in the transition from stage to screen, jumped fifty feet to her death from the top of the letter H. He finished the tale with the tagline,"Of course the last person to jump was a tour guide who didn't get tipped." There was a pause and then an Australian customer from the back of the bus shouted out," Oh yeah? Well there'll be another one tomorrow!"

Stephen Schochet is the author and narrator of the audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says," these two elaborate productions are exceptionally entertaining." Hear realaudio samples of these great, unique gifts at http://www.hollywoodstories.com.


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