Forex

Fundamental analysis is a method of forecasting the future price movements of a financial instrument based on economic, political, environmental and other relevant factors and statistics that will affect the basic supply and demand of whatever underlies the financial instrument. In practice, many market players use technical analysis in conjunction with fundamental analysis to determine their trading strategy. Fundamental analysis focuses on what ought to happen in a market. Factors involved in price analysis: Supply and demand, seasonal cycles, weather and government policy.

Four factors are identified as fundamental determinants of the real euro to dollar exchange rate: The international real interest rate differential; Relative prices in the traded and non-traded goods sectors; The real oil price; The relative fiscal position.

The basic theories underlying the dollar to euro exchange rate:

Law of One Price

In competitive markets free of transportation cost barriers to trade, identical products sold in different countries must sell at the same price when the prices are stated in terms of the same currency.

In financial terms, a basis point is one percent or one hundred pips. For example, having a quote of 1.3493 EUR/USD - to move one basis point the currency would need to increase by 100 pips. So a move from 1.3493 to 1.3593 would be a move by one basis point.

In forex trading, a PIP is the abbreviation of "Price Interest Points." Most traders measure their forex trading profits by counting pips. One pip is one-hundredth (1/100) of one percent (1%) of a currency contract price. For example, if the AUD/USD currency pair was to move by one pip the price movement could be from 0.7483 to 0.7484.

The Australian dollar has been particularly active against the US dollar as of late. So what are the main forces behind the volatility in the Aussie dollar?

To be honest I haven't been trading the stock markets for a while now. It's not because the markets are in a downturn at the moment it was simply a conscious decision to give the forex markets a go using the same technical indicators I use in the stock markets in an attempt to make similar returns or more. And after a few months of currency trading I’ve concluded that the forex markets are simply like the stock markets on steroids from a traders' perspective.

This is my second free trading ebook. Its about trading forex (again), but the same technical analysis prinicples are used in trading stocks - such as basic usage of support and resistance as well as trading channels are explored. In this eBook I look at a "trading hypothetical" - basically a trade that I didn't participate in, but I observed the characterstics of the trade. You can download your copy of the eBook here.

I trade both stocks and forex. I trade forex for profit, more more importantly to execrise my risk management discipline and keep my and technical analysis skills sharp - as the forex markets are mostly traded on a technical (besides the economic fundamentals that do affect these markets). So, when I was bored last night, I went to try out some forex trading using the CMC Marketmaker platform that CMC markets uses.