How to trade Forex? Trading Forex is a piece of cake. It is really not as hard as it seems to be. Forex trades involve entering the trade at the right time, as well as exiting also at the right time. All you have to do is select a currency pair, select the desired amount of the base currency that you wish to trade and choose whether you would like to sell or to buy. Next you will have to wait for a profitable time to exit your transaction, and there you are. In order to learn how to trade Forex and to start consistently choosing the winning transactions, you will have to practice on a demo account for several months.

Trading with a Demo Account

Demo account trading is the safest way to learn how to trade Forex. Making mistakes is inevitable, especially in the beginning of your trading career. However, if you make mistakes, while trading on a demo account, you will not have to pay for your mistakes. Most common mistakes will be choosing the wrong time of entering and exiting the trades. Being unfamiliar with the system may also result in mistakes. That’s what demo accounts are for – to teach you without incurring losses. 90% of the traders fail in the very beginning of their trading career. Demo account trading will safeguard you from becoming one of them.

Understanding Currency Pairs

There are lots of different currency pairs, and you should choose the right one. It is a good idea to choose the most traded currency pair, when you are just starting to learn how to trade Forex. This currency pair is USD/EUR. No matter what currency pair you select, you should try to learn its distinctive features well, before proceeding to trading other currency pairs. This is very important because every currency pair will have its own distinctive features as well as the reasons behind the fluctuations of this currency pair, such as various fundamental factors.

Currency Quotes in Forex trades

Forex trades are always based on currency quotes. Currency quotes are two-sided, consisting of the bid price from one side and the ask price from the other side. Bid represents the selling price of the base currency, when concurrently buying the counter one. Ask represents the purchasing price of the base currency, when concurrently selling the counter one. Good grasp of currency quotes is essential for learning how to trade Forex.

First currency in the quote is the base currency, and second currency is the counter currency (also called quote currency or terms currency). In the example of the USD/EUR currency pair, USD is the base currency and EUR is the counter currency. The value of the base currency is always 1. The value of the counter currency is calculated against the base currency, i.e., 1 USD = 0.7422 EUR. Prices in the terms of quotes are expressed through pips, which are usually the 4th decimal point. Once you understand the currency pairs, you will be well on your way in the process of learning how to trade Forex.

Margins and Leverage in Forex trades

Leverage allows you to trade with not much of your own money. It’s very pleasant to realize that you can trade with a lot more money than what you really have. Imagine the possible profits? It’s breath-taking, isn’t it? Well, now turn your imagination on and try to imagine the possible losses. It’s spine-chilling, isn’t it? Many dealers advertise margins with up to 100:1 leverage. What does it mean? It means that if you are trading with many lots and the market goes against you in most of the lots, your losses will be horrific. Do not just learn how to trade Forex, do so without incurring losses.

Dealers often act like banks – even if you lose, all they want to do is to give you more money, so you can return more to them. If you lose more, they will give you even more. Until they stop giving you anything, and now you are the one who has to give everything back to them. The result will be a disaster. As well as more money to trade with will not help you learn faster how to trade Forex. Do not fall for the leverage bait. Trade with your own money and do not go in debt.

How to trade Forex? Well, if you understand the above terms and concepts learning how to trade will be a snap. More important is: How to trade Forex successfully? Simply practice on a demo account until you start deriving profits regularly.

The author: Steve Maenshel can you help you understand how to trade the forex markets. For more information, visit his forex resource center.