Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Online Trading Guide - Everything You Need to Know

Online trading offers great benefits to financial investors. The buying and selling processes are very convenient and time-saving. The development of online tools has created an enormous possibility for simplified and effortless business trading online. Transactions are becoming effortlessly available at the very doorstep of an online trader. With an online demat account, all dealings are made possible without the help of any stock broker or intermediary. Updates on derivatives, trading of stocks, currencies and other relevant information have become available with just the click of the mouse.

To start up an online trading business, one should first create an account. Online trading guides always suggest novice traders to first get hold of accounts from reliable and official trading portals. Such portals would then require the trader some the authorization contract on doing trading. Upon accomplishing this contract, certain conditions would be required from the prospective trader. These conditions include sets of rules and propositions that should be agreed upon by both the trading portal and the trader. After all the formalities, the person is then allowed to start trading.

Online trading portals have servers that track relevant trading exchanges. Such tracking makes trading guides updated even to the specific timing of the exchange. This then enables the user to easily gather information regarding market movements. Business then becomes easier to deal. Simultaneous information gets handier for reference of the traders.

More so, the person gets updated with numerous facets of the trading business. Minute by minute updates on the changes of the sectors also adds to an advantage. Thus, in-depth analysis of specific formats and necessary techniques by trade experts becomes more efficient; wherein crucial decisions become less risky for various transactions. The trading process then becomes more smooth and profitable.

Confirmation emails of all transactions and deals are often sent in real time. Such information is sent round the clock to ensure that updates reach the trader just on time for critical changes or decision making.

There are various services that trading guides provide. Most of them include assistance in derivatives and equity trading, stock trading, mutual fund trading, loan schemes, portfolio management, transactions for commodities and insurance schemes. These are pertinent services in the trading that helps investors be at pace in the business. Trading plans and designs provided are also tailored according to the needs, preferences, and even lifestyle of the online trader.

With a dependable online trading guide, one is never lost in his online trading venture. Profitability of the business is readily realized as the resources show concrete possibilities of financial gain. Needless to say, in the online trading business, what an investor would know depends on his or her aid. The guide should always be like an open book that gets updated every time changes occur. It should be like a trading portal that offers more than just a bank of resources for tools and online information. The guide should continue to keep the business' progress as changes happen.

By Jeff C Daniels


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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Brokers and Online Trading: What Does A Broker Do?

Forex broking is invariably an online business in the same manner as trading is much unlike the very early years. Different countries have norms that require forex brokers to register with some governmental agency to begin their broking business upon meeting certain educational and business qualification.

In the United States of America a forex trader must be registered with the Commodity Trading Commission as a Futures Commission Merchant. Futures Commission Merchant, FCM, can be an organization or an individual that accepts and handles futures orders on behalf of clients.

There are over 5000 forex broking institutions which include banks, financial institutions and certain other broking houses which all provide internet based trading facility. The forex brokers do not operate on the commission basis but on what is known as the spread in the community parlance. Spread means the difference amount between the buying and selling price of any currency.

A forex broker, like a stock broker advises the clients on different strategies of trading in foreign currencies along side giving out tips on the hot currencies based on technical analyses and fundamental researches aimed at maximizing the clients’ trading performances. The more seasoned and reputable forex broking houses offer to manage small investors’ trades to reduce exposure to risks with their extensive knowledge and years of experience, of course for an additional fee.

Usually forex brokers facilitate a practice account for no upfront fee payment so that a new trader can gain insights of the market and the features of such trading softwares. Retail investors may, in order that they evaluate different supports and software features, try out practice accounts with a few brokers before they open a final trading account.

Most of the forex broking houses, including the individual brokers, provide what is known as leveraged account facility. The leveraged account means if you paid a deposit amount of, say, US$100 you will get to trade upto an exposure of US$100,000. You may also try out a mini-account which lets you to open and operate forex trading for as low as US$100.

Forex brokers are classified as
1. Market Operators -Large banks, minimum lot size is $1,000,000
2. Small Brokers - Cater mainly to individual traders and settle deals with market makers.
3. Market Makers - Let small brokers and individuals trade with thereabouts of $50,000
4. Kitchens - Scrupulous operators who thrive on the belief that most of the clients lose money and that the revenue of kitchen is the clients’ losses.

Keep in mind, choosing forex brokers is to pay highest importance to your needs than theirs.

By: Jason Uvios

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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Online Trading - Day Trading Rules

So you are performing online trading and trade stocks and/or options and call yourself a day trader. Do you know the requirements of day trading? In our user's group, many times this question comes up and what happens if I accidentally (or on purpose) violate one of these rules? There are several variations of actions that can occur that may trigger day trading and I will try to answer most of them. As each situation is different, I will list the most common.

What Is Day Trading?

In this article we are only discussing day trading as it pertains to stocks and options. Commodities and Forex do not have the same day trading rules. I do not know about other trading disciplines.

If you buy and sell a stock or option on the same day, that is day trading. For instance, if you buy 1000 shares of stock ABC (fictitious symbol) at 9:30 am and sell the 1000 shares of stock at 12:15 pm, you have just entered into a day trade.

What Is a Pattern Day Trader?

A pattern day trader is defined in Exchange Rule 431 (Margin Requirement) as any customer who executes 4 or more same day trades within any 5 successive business days and your day trading activities are greater than 6 percent of your total trading activity for that same 5 day period (from FINRA web site).

What Are The Rules?

1. Account over $25k. -- To trade and not encounter any problems the equity in your trading account must be maintained over $25,000.

2. Buying/Selling same day -- For accounts under $25k, if you buy and sell the same stock in the same day, any proceeds from that stock's sale cannot be used in another trade on that same day. (May depend on brokerage account. My brokerage allows it but warns you about it.))

3. 3 times in a week -- You are allowed only 3 trades within 1 week (5 trading days). The 4th day trade may subject you to a 90 day suspension of all day trading activities.

What Are The Penalties?

1. You may get a 90-day suspension of all day trading activities.

2. Your account can be suspended for 90 days and no trading will be allowed in that account.

How to Avoid Problems?

1. Maintain a minimum of $25,000 equity in your trading account.

2. For accounts under $25,000 do NOT buy and sell a position in the same day, hold your position overnight.

3. If you buy and sell the same stock/option in the same day, do not enter into a new trade where the monies from the sale of the stock just sold will be used in the purchase of the new position.

4. If you have purchased a position from monies from a prior same day sell, it is best to hold that position overnight.

5. Do not perform a day trade activity more than 3 times a week.

I have attempted to outline the day trading rules as I have encountered them over my years of trading. You can get much more detailed information by searching the internet for day trading and pattern day trader. A good source is Wikipedia.

I have traded several years in accounts under $25k and have never had a 90-day suspension rule applied, but have had several warnings about a trade that may trigger the 90-suspension rule. When this happens I just do not perform the trade and will wait till the next day. Happy trading..

By Chuck Ainsworth

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