What to Look for in a Forex Broker
ugg boots outletThe forex market is a great place for individual investors, large
and small, to engage in thrilling, fast-paced and potentially
profitable trades. But you can't participate in forex currency
trading if you don't first have a forex brokerage account. While
most stock-market brokerages allow you to also trade bonds, mutual
funds, and other financial instruments, forex brokerage accounts
are typically standalone entities. Here is what you need to know
about opening a brokerage account.
Leverage
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chaussuresOne of the major benefits of trading currencies is the tremendous
amount of leverage even small-time traders are allowed. Typical
leverage is 100:1, meaning for every $1 in your brokerage account,
you can control up to $100 in currencies. A thousand dollars would
thus allow you to control $100,000 worth of currency, so if the
currency went up by 1% -- $1,000 -- you would actually double your
money! But if the currency went down by just 1%, you would lose
all $1,000 of your investment. What would happen if the currency
went down by 2%? Well, theoretically, you would lose $1,000 above
and beyond your initial investment, but in reality, a brokerage
firm will usually step in and prevent this kind of loss.
Your main decision is what level of leverage to apply for.
Leverage is given based on credit-worthiness, so if your credit
report is pretty poor, you might want to pursue just 50:1 leverage
-- which still gives you a lot of room to profit but limits your
risk. Alternatively, if you have true nerves of steel and a real
knack for forex trading, you may be able to apply for as great as
250:1 leverage!
ugg boots menSpreads
The good news is that there are no commissions charged on forex
trades. The bad news is that, like stocks, forex currency pairs do
have a bid/ask spread -- meaning a market maker will pay less for
a currency than he is willing to sell it for. These spreads are
extremely small, usually less than 0.05 cents, but the wider the
spread, the more costly trading will be over the long run.
Not every brokerage has the same spreads, so it is important to
review the typical distance between the bid and ask prices before
selecting a broker.
Other Considerations
First and foremost among all other considerations are the currency
pairs that a given brokerage deals in. For example, if you want to
perform a Japanese yen for Swiss franc trade, you will need to
find a brokerage that offers that currency pair. Virtually every
forex brokerage deals in the main currency pairs -- the U.S.
dollar vs. each of the following currencies: The Euro, the British
pound, the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Canadian
dollar, the Swiss franc, and the Japanese yen -- but not all
brokers deal in every possible "cross currency" pair (i.e.
currency pairs that do not involve the U.S. dollar).
pas cher air maxFinally, it's important to deal with a reputable broker. Currency
trading is far less regulated than most other financial markets,
and there are a lot of fly-by-night companies in the business. Be
sure to investigate the company before sending them a check for a
few thousand dollars -- it will be time well spent.
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