Before you kickoff into forex trading here are 26 resources and tools you must look at to give yourself a fighting chance and become a badass trader.
The Basics and Courses to Learn Forex
- School of Pipsology - Baby Pips breaks down the complexities of the Forex market to give first-time traders a solid grounding in the fundamentals of forex trading. The Baby Pips "School of Pipsology" is a unique educational tool offering easy-to-understand tutorials covering all the different areas of forex trading so that by the time you reach "graduation" you will have the necessary skills to become a successful trader. With blogs, forums and a chat room, registered users can communicate with other traders new to the forex market and gain key insights with their baby steps path to becoming a trader.
- Forex Tutorial: Introduction to Currency Trading - Since 1999 Investopedia has grown to become one of the most comprehensive investment resources offering up-to-date content and tools to assist both first time and experienced investors. Visitors are given access to a variety of content to expand their knowledge of the Forex market including quality articles, tutorials and videos and free weekly newsletters. The site also offers a state-of-the art Forex trading simulator, allowing users to develop their trading strategy and interact with other traders free of charge.
- A Quick Forex Trading Basics Guide - This short but sweet article on the Personal Dividends Finance blog uncovers the basics of Forex trading, discussing what separates Forex from other financial markets and how currencies are actually traded. Simple concepts are explained like: how currencies are traded in pairs and how leverage can escalate ones trading profits and losses.
- Basics of Trading Course - This Free in-depth course from Informed Trades provides easy-to-understand tutorials outlining the fundamental concepts of Forex trading. With articles featuring tutorial videos and visual aids, this guide dissects the complex principles of Forex trading to provide valuable learning to both rookie and intermediate traders.
- 37 Tutorials, Tools & Resources to get started in Forex - Compiled with the novice trader in mind, this list is broken into different sections of resources for getting started, learning about currencies themselves, Forex news, forums to participate in, trading strategy guides, charts and other Forex tools. Whether you are just starting out in the Forex market or have been trading for some time, this comprehensive list shows where to find some of the most valuable resources and tools.
- Forex Glossary of Terms - This comprehenisve guide offers descriptions for over 1200 terms related to foreign currency trading. Regularly updated and with detailed descriptions cross-referencing other related terms, this glossary is a valuable resource for any trader looking to develop their trading strategy and knowledge of the forex market.
- My Adventures as a Forex Trader: Case Study - This series of posts on the Happiness Is Better blog follows one amateur traders experiences as he learns how to trade in the Forex market. From utilising educational resources to trading with demo accounts to trading with real money, the posts offer a great source for discovering more about Forex trading and how to get started as a trader. Most importantly, these posts reveal the realities of this volatile market where it literally pays to have a strong understanding of the key concepts before beginning to trade.
- 50 Free Open Courseware Classes for Investors and Day Traders - Like it says on the tin there are loads of free courses here and suggestions on communities to join afterwards to continue your learning adventure. Course suggestions include: Basic, Advanced, Commodities & Currencies and day traders.
Trading Strategies
- Forex Strategies Classified - Forex Trading Strategies provides an excellent source of discussion on trading strategies, interactive guides and tools to assist both novice and experienced traders. Maintained by a dedicated team of experienced Forex traders the site not only provides high-quality resources but invites visitors to participate in an open forum to discuss and test cutting-edge trading techniques.
- How to Recover from a Bad Trade - No matter how experienced a trader you might be, the reality of the Forex market is that anyone can suffer a loss. Strategies fail and a single bad trade can result in instantaneous losses. The Geared Investor offers valuable tips on how to deal emotionally with losses and how to turn that around and start making profits again.
- The anatomy of a forex trader - This awesome info-graphic from Abigail DeGraff offers a creative and detailed depiction of the Forex market and the characteristics of the traders that make it. Drawing on an impressive collection of statistics, DeGraff shows what it takes to be a Forex trader and why this financial market isn't suited to everyone.
- Basics of Candlestick Patterns - This article from Forex Realm provides an in-depth explanation of how candlestick charts are used by Forex traders to plan profitable trades by indicating the strength of the market and showing trends in the currencies traded. The article explores the early beginnings of candlestick patterns in the Japanese Rice Exchange and offers a clear explanation of how they are used by Forex traders today to forecast prices.
- Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section - The is a very theory orientated post that will give you the background the fibonacci numbers so that you can leverage the next guide on how to use fibonacci numbers in forex trading more.
- Fibonacci Forex Indicators: - This is quite an advanced ariticle on how to use Fibonacci numbers to trade forex. Warning: Math is required!
News, Economics and Influences on the Markets
- 50 Factors that Affect the Value of the US Dollar - This comprehensive list from Forex Blog provides an invaluable resource for understanding the many intricate factors that determine fluctuations to the value of the U.S dollar. From dropping prices on foreign goods to turmoil in other countries to natural disasters this list, offers clear explanations on how these different influences can cause the dollar to both drop and rise.
- Economic Calendar - Learn what daily events will influence your currency pairs with this economic calendar from Today FX. Covering the 8 major global currencies, this list shows the key economic indicators and global events driving the Forex Market.
- Top 100 Forex Resources - Despite being compiled in 2007, this article from the team at Forex Blog still remains an extremely useful starting point for finding the best Forex resources available online. Organised into appropriate category's, this article is beneficial to Forex traders at various levels of experience. Whether a newbie looking to get their head around candlestick patterns or a veteran trader looking for market reports, this list will point you in the right direction to have your questions answered.
- Consumer Price Index (CPI): - The US Department of Labor offers an excellent resource for finding out global market activity and changing values in the economy. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) offers comprehensive monthly data on changing prices paid by consumers, allowing individual investors to understand fluctuations in currency values and help determine their trading decisions. In addition to the CPI, the site contains a wealth of other accurate and timely data reporting on different aspects of the global economy to assist the individual trader's decision-making.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): - Another exhaustive resource for understanding changes in the U.S economy compiled by the US Department of Commerce. Access a variety of news reports and publications on the regional, national, international economy from a trusted source used by the countries leading private and public decision-makers.
- Preservation of Capital - SafeHaven has grown to become one of the most respected financial markets blogs, offering high-quality articles commenting on developing trends in the different financial markets before they actually occur, the stuff you won't find in most mainstream news sources. The focus at SafeHaven is on quality not quantity, exploring topics like: current market trends and causes for changes to currency values.
Forex Trading Tools and Software
- Free Real-time exchange rates - Oanda provides cutting-edge online Forex trading software to assist both the individual and large corporate traders. In addition they provide an easy to use and low-cost trading platform accessible to traders and financial managers. Oanda also provides an abundance of currency reports and tools to help you determine trading strategies and understand market trends.
- Free Trading Video Course - Daily FX offers users one of the most comprehensive online trading courses available. With 60 high-quality video tutorials and more than 15 hours of live instructor webinars each week, this interactive course covers the many complex concepts of Forex trading in a clear and effective manner. Learn how to read Forex charts to plan your trades and understand the impacts of important global economic and political events on the Forex market. Daily FX also hosts online community forums to allow users to interact with other traders and get feedback on what you are learning throughout the course. The Trading Course is FREE to all live clients of FXCM and ODL
- Trading Stocks and Financial/Commodity Futures with Mechanical Trading Systems. - Thomas is quite the researcher and has put together a mechanical trading system called B.R.A.I.N which stands for Bi-Directional Regression Analysis Investment Network. Essentially he uses regression analysis as the main indicator when a price movement should be considered a trend or not. He does this with the British Pound, German Mark, Swiss Franc, and the Japanese Yen against the US-Dollar. You can download his software from here http://members.aon.at/tips/download.htm and it seems you only need excel to run it!
- Forex Trading Alerts - Stay connected with the volatile Forex market with FX alerts allowing investors to make real-time trading decisions based on economic and political market indicators. Each user is able to customize their account based on the sites currency pairs and is notified when their alerts criteria is met. No matter where you are you can always remain close to the dynamic FX market with notifications delivered via email, mobile, instant messenger or RSS feed.
- 25 Forex-Related Twitter Accounts Worth Following - This awesome post from forex.edu lists the 25 most valuable forex twitter accounts for traders to follow. Stay close to the dynamic forex market by using this social medium to discover current forex guides, maket news, trade analysis and other experienced traders insights. The list not only provides details of the users twitter account but also their associated website.
- MQL4 Tutorial: Programming in Algorithmic Language MQL4 - With financial market trading previously only available to banks, MQL4 programming now allows for individual traders to experience auto-trading, giving users the power to customise various economic indicators so they can be notified by an Expert Advisor as the market changes. MQL4 allows for applications to carry out trades based on algorithms set by the trader. This MQL4 textbook offers clear instruction on how to develop advisors, indicators and scripts based on your own trading strategy. The book has been written to be accessible to users with little or no knowledge of software programming so that they can begin auto-trading in the most convenient and secure way possible.
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