Forex trading may make you rich if you are a hedge fund with deep pockets or an unusually skilled currency trader. But for the average retail trader, rather than being an easy road to riches, forex trading can be a rocky highway to enormous losses and potential penury. Forex margin trading is banned in China, meaning no one can offer such leveraged services to traders. But there is a massive demand for this market among Chinese retail investors, resulting in such illegal operations. Over 80,000 traders were involved in these illegal FX trading activities.
Forex trading is quickly becoming one of the staples of the investment market. It involves trading currencies in a market with the intention of earning money. The earnings in this platform would involve value differences across different currencies for traders, and value appreciation for holders. Since currency values do not behave like stocks which generally rises over time, most forex investors are inclined to participate in forex trading to earn more profits.
While people often think that forex trading requires professional knowledge to be able to earn money, you would only need very basic knowledge in trading and a couple of things on your checklist to succeed. Here are simple steps to jumpstart your investment activities and start earning.
• Learn Basic Economic Concepts
This is often skipped when diving into investment activities. You don’t need expert-level knowledge in economics to earn money in forex trading, but having a simple grasp of the subject would give you a large advantage. Most forex trading websites provide trainings to succeed in this business, which are highly effective. However, these trainings do not often involve a deep understanding of how the market behaves. It mostly involves steps to take if the graph or the numbers turn out to be the same as a simulated scenario in the training. If you learn basic economic concepts on your own, you can expand the use of the trainings given by trading platforms and analyze current news items to make better trading moves.
• Find a Good Forex Trading Platform
Each trading platform has their own features, thus having pros and cons compared to others. Having a good trading platform is like having the top-quality sword for swordsmen or the best racket for tennis players. When choosing a platform, you should know the type of trading you want to do. If you want to be a quick trader or one who trades every hour for every change in value, you would want a high-spec trading platform capable of accommodating this type of transaction quantity. If you want to be a trader who trades based on closing prices, choosing a platform with a lower rate may save you some money. As a beginner, you may want to choose trading platforms which offer simulated currencies and simulated trading activities. Sites like eToro, Oanda, and Pepperstone offer this kind of service. This way, you would have a grasp of how the platform works first, then you can make your decision based on your experience there.
• Invest in Trading Tools
After training yourself and finding a good platform, you now have to equip yourself with the hardware necessary for trading. This may include mobile phones, computers, a stable internet connection, and a logbook or an accounting program (optional) for your earnings. This would enable you to work more effectively and efficiently. Having these tools would help speed up your work and help you monitor your earnings over time.
• Account for Your Transactions
There are a lot of ways you can choose from when accounting for your transactions. You can either go manual or automated. If you choose to go automated, you can explore ERP Cloud-based accounting systems like SAP or Xero which would help automate the consolidation of your figures. You can also choose to account for your transactions on your own by using staple computer programs like Microsoft Office. It all depends on your preference as a trader. Accounting for your transactions would not only help with government requirements like tax filings, but would also help in monitoring your progress. Based on the figures, you can identify which lines of your investment are not earning enough. It would also help assess if investing in other currencies or commodities in the market would be more lucrative. This way, both the turnover and the capital would be monitored with ease.
Forex trading may sound complicated at first, but it becomes easier as you gather information along the way. It may not be that easy to succeed in forex trading, but the same could be said for being a lawyer, a successful businessman, or a doctor. Nothing great comes easy in life. With a little perseverance and some knowledge, you can acquire what it takes to succeed in this business.