The 3 Most Profitable FOREX Charts

The 3 Most Profitable FOREX Charts

by Yusoff Allian

A basic understanding of technical analysis can propel the novice FOREX trader from a micro account to the big leagues in record time, and it really isn't that difficult to master once you comprehend the basics. At first glance all these charts and acronyms can seem daunting and can quickly scare the average novice trader away, but it's really not as complicated as it looks. Let's take a look at the three most popular FOREX charts out there right now.

The Line Chart.

This is the kind of chart that even non-traders are familiar with. It plots closing prices from one day to the next and connects the two points with a line, forming a jagged line with peaks and valleys from left to right. The general trend of a currency pair is very easy to identify as the price will either trend up, down, or remain relatively stagnant.

The Bar Chart.

The bar chart is a glorified line chart that not only shows the closing price, but also shows the opening price that day and also the high and low that the currency pair reached that day. Picture a vertical line, with the top point of the line representing the high price traded that day, and the bottom of the line indicating the low price traded that day. Each vertical line also has a horizontal line on the left side that indicates the opening price that day, and a horizontal line on the right side that represents the closing price that day. This FOREX chart is particularly useful as it's easy to identify the long term trend of a currency pair while also seeing what kind of daily variation it typically experiences.

You'll often see bar charts referred to as "OHLC" charts - Open, High, Low, and Close, for the reasons explained above.

The Candlestick Chart.

Candlestick charts are probably the most popular type of FOREX chart used by professional FOREX traders. It combines the best elements of the line chart and bar chart and adds its own unique twist. A candlestick has a vertical line, just like the bar chart, but instead of having horizontal lines on either side that represent the open and close prices it has a rectangular box in the middle of the vertical line. The inside of this box is typically white if the price closed higher than it opened, and black if the price closed lower than it opened, although you'll see various color schemes used from site to site.

Candlestick charts don't contain any extra information than a bar chart, but visually they're much easier to understand at a quick glance. You'll find that you'll be able to identify trends much quicker and recognize market reversals much easier than if you were using a bar chart.

As candlestick charts tend to be the most popular of the FOREX charts you'll find that there tends to be a lot more information available online about them, including information on candlestick patterns. These patterns have been tweaked many times over and are very handy in identifying emerging trends in a currency or stock, and it's highly recommended that you familiarize yourself with some of the more well known candlestick patterns if you want to realize some serious profits in FOREX trading.

All About A Forex Quote

All About A Forex Quote

by Joon Trader

Forex Trading - All about a Forex Quote. The word FOREX is derived from the words "FOReign EXchange. Unlike other financial market in the world, Forex is open 24 hours every day where there is always a major financial center open where banks, dealers, hedge funds, corporations, individual investors and speculators are trading currencies.

The cumulative buy and sell of a currency causes the value of your Forex investment to move either up or down. There are numerous factors that cause the fluctuation of exchange rate. A country's political, social and fundamental economic environment and their central banks fiscal policy, interest rate adjustment are some of the common factors. To have a better understanding how the currency exchange rate can affect the value of your Forex investment, this article will concentrate on the topic of Forex Quote.

Currencies are traded in pairs and each currency has its own symbol. For the Euro dollar- it is EUR, Japanese Yen - it is JPY, for the Pounds Sterling - it is GBP, and for the Swiss Franc - it is CHF. Hence, EUR/USD would be Euro-Dollar pair. GBP/USD would be pounds Sterling-Dollar pair and USD/CHF would be Dollar-Swiss Franc pair and so on and so forth.

You will always see the USD quoted first with few exceptions such as Pounds Sterling, Euro Dollar, Australia Dollar (AUD) and New Zealand Dollar (NZD. The first currency quoted is called the base currency. This is not surprising as the U.S. dollar is regarded as the central currency of the Forex market and is involved in nearly 90% of all Forex transactions.

So how are these currency pairs quoted on the Forex market? You will see two numbers on all Forex quotes. The first number is called the bid and the second is known as the offer (or the ASK) price. Take for instance EURUSD, you will see 1.4625/1.4630. The first quote of 1.4625 is the bid price, the price where traders are prepared to buy Euro against the USD Dollar. The second number 1.4630 is the offer or ask price and it is the price traders are prepared to sell the Euro against the US Dollar. You will notice that there is a difference between the bid and the offer price. This difference is known as the spread. Based on the previous EUR/USD quote, you know that 1 Euro is equal 1.4625 US dollar.

The way profit is measured of a currency is by "pips" or point. PIP is the acronym for price interest point. If the EUR/USD moves from 1.4625 to 1.4655 that is 50 pips. A pip or 0.001 is the last decimal place of a currency quotation with the exception of the Japanese Yen and Yen cross rates. A price movement for the USD/JPY from 111.10 to 111.60 will be 50 pips.

The objective and goal for all Forex Traders are to profit from foreign currency movements. The rewards of trading Forex are immense and the amount of money you can earn can be life changing and ultimately leads you to achieve financial freedom. This requires continuous and adequate understanding and training in Forex education. This education may include understanding technical analysis, chart pattern and formation, trade management such as stop loss and profit target and money management. And if you invest and get the right Forex Trading knowledge, you can enjoy long term currency trading success.