THE TRADE DECISION
1. Never add to a losing position.
2. Always determine a stop and a profit objective before entering a trade. Place stops based on market information, not your account balance. If a "proper" stop is too expensive, don't do the trade.
3. Remember the "power of a position." Never make a market judgment when you have a position.
4. Your decision to exit a trade means you perceive changing circumstances. Don't suddenly think you can pick a price, exit at the market.
THE MARKET HAS CHARACTER
5. In a Bull market, never sell a dull market, in Bear market, never buy a dull market.
6. There are times, because of lack of liquidity, or excessive volatility, when you should not trade.
7. Trading systems that work in an up market may not work in a down market.
8. There are at least three types of markets: up trending, range bound, and down. Have different trading strategies for each.
9. Up market and down market patterns are ALWAYS present, merely one is more dominant. In an up market, for example, it is very easy to take sell signal after sell signal, only to be stopped out time and again. Select trades with the trend.
10. A buy signal that fails is a sell signal. A sell signal that fails is a buy signal.
11. It's always easier to enter a losing trade.
12. In the "blowout" stage of the market, up or down, risk managers are issuing margin call position liquidation orders. They don't check the screen for overbought or oversold, they just keep issuing liquidation orders. Don't stand in front of a runaway freight train.
13. You are superstitious; don't trade if something bothers you.
NEWS
14. Buy the rumor, sell the news.
15. News is only important when the market doesn't react in the direction of the news.
16. Read today's paper tomorrow. When you read yesterday's paper each day with the knowledge of what the market already did, you will affirm that this mornings paper with yesterday's news has nothing to dowith today's market.
A TIME TO TRADE
17. On the open, never enter a new trade in the direction of a gap. Never let the market make you make a trade. (Closing an existing position is obviously ok.)
18. The first and last tick are the most expensive. Get in late and out early.
19. When everyone is in, it's time to get out.
20. Never trade when you are sick.
TRACKING YOUR TRADES
21. Size kills. Only change your unit of trading under a plan of attained goals. Also, have a plan for reducing size when your trading is cold or market volume is down.
22. Confidence kills. Remember, you really don't know anything. Respect the market every second of every day. Expect the unexpected. Always know your position and exit your trade immediately whenever you feel uneasy.
23. Measure yourself by profitable "days in a row," not by individual trades.
24. The best way to break a streak of "losing days in a row" is to not trade for a day.
25. Don't stop trading when your on a winning streak. "When your hot, your hot."
26. Three strikes and your out! Don't turn three losing trades in a row into six in a row. When you’re off, turn off the screen, do something else. "When you’re not, you’re not."
27. Scalpers reduce the number of variables effecting market risk by being in a position only for seconds. Day traders reduce market risk by being in trades for a matter of minutes.
28. If you convert a scalp or day trade into a position trade, by definition you did not consider the risks of the trade.
29. Don't ever fret about a missed opportunity. There is always another one just around the corner. Besides, several just happened that you didn't even know about.
MARKET OPINIONS
30. If you look for market secrets you will only find things that no one cares about. Use the conventional tools.
31. Never ask for someone else's opinion, they probably did not do as much homework as you.
32. When the market is going up, say "the market is going up." When the market is going down, say "the market is going down." Say it without qualifications, no "buts" attached. This is a reality check, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to say what is literally going on in front of you when your mind is full of preconceived opinions.
33. THE DAILY MARKET COMMENTARY: I've never had an opinion I didn't like, however, successful day trading requires flexibility. Do your homework not to develop a market opinion, but rather to understand the potential for both sides of the market. This will allow you to make your trades based on what the market is doing at the time of the trade.
34. Here is a quote to remember: "When you wake up, your instincts are wrong."
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
35. When you make a mistake of discipline, whine like a fool to anyone that will listen. Errors in discipline are mistakes you will keep on making for many years. Wearing ashes and sack cloth may help extend the time before you do it again.
36. If you squirmed and moaned while you read this list, then you share two obvious characteristics with many of us:
A. You have traded long enough to recognize that you (not the market) make mistakes, and you try to overcome them.
B. Now this is ugly, you have become part of the market and you can never leave.
No matter where life takes you, you will always check the market and always want to continue being a part of it. It's like that first true love, it will always be there no matter what the distance, no matter whether they are alive or dead.

Spreads

The lowest and average spreads are detailed below. For the majority of our currency pairs, the lowest spreads are most commonly found during US & European trading sessions.
Spreads
Currency Pair
As Low As
Typical Spread

EUR/CHF
1 pip
2 pips

EUR/GBP
1 pip
2 pips

EUR/USD
2 pip
3 pips

USD/JPY
2 pip
3 pips

GBP/USD
2 pips
3 pips

USD/CHF
2 pips
3 pips

AUD/USD
2 pips
3 pips

USD/CAD
3 pips
4 pips

EUR/JPY
3 pips
4 pips

CHF/JPY
3 pips
4 pips

AUD/JPY
4 pips
5 pips

NZD/USD
3 pips
4 pips

GBP/CHF
5 pips
6 pips

EUR/CAD
4 pips
5 pips

AUD/CAD
5 pips
6 pips

CAD/JPY
4 pips
5 pips

GBP/JPY
6 pips
7 pips

NZD/JPY
5 pips
6 pips

EUR/AUD
6 pips
7 pips

EUR/NZD
6 pips
7 pips

AUD/NZD
6 pips
7 pips

GBP/AUD
9 pips
11 pips

USD/DKK
6 pips
7 pips

AUD/CHF
4 pips
5 pips

USD/SGD
Variable
Variable

USD/HKD
Variable
Variable

GBP/CAD
8 pips
10 pips

GBP/NZD
15 pips
17 pips

USD/MXN
Variable
Variable

Trading Tips by -- Joe Ross

THE TRADE DECISION

1. Never add to a losing position.

2. Always determine a stop and a profit objective before entering a trade. Place stops based on market information, not your account balance. If a "proper" stop is too expensive, don't do the trade.

3. Remember the "power of a position." Never make a market judgment when you have a position.

4. Your decision to exit a trade means you perceive changing circumstances. Don't suddenly think you can pick a price, exit at the market.

THE MARKET HAS CHARACTER

5. In a Bull market, never sell a dull market, in Bear market, never buy a dull market.

6. There are times, because of lack of liquidity, or excessive volatility, when you should not trade.

7. Trading systems that work in an up market may not work in a down market.

8. There are at least three types of markets: up trending, range bound, and down. Have different trading strategies for each.

9. Up market and down market patterns are ALWAYS present, merely one is more dominant. In an up market, for example, it is very easy to take sell signal after sell signal, only to be stopped out time and again. Select trades with the trend.

10. A buy signal that fails is a sell signal. A sell signal that fails is a buy signal.

11. It's always easier to enter a losing trade.

12. In the "blowout" stage of the market, up or down, risk managers are issuing margin call position liquidation orders. They don't check the screen for overbought or oversold, they just keep issuing liquidation orders. Don't stand in front of a runaway freight train.

13. You are superstitious; don't trade if something bothers you.

NEWS
14. Buy the rumor, sell the news.

15. News is only important when the market doesn't react in the direction of the news.

16. Read today's paper tomorrow. When you read yesterday's paper each day with the knowledge of what the market already did, you will affirm that this mornings paper with yesterday's news has nothing to dowith today's market.

A TIME TO TRADE

17. On the open, never enter a new trade in the direction of a gap. Never let the market make you make a trade. (Closing an existing position is obviously ok.)

18. The first and last tick are the most expensive. Get in late and out early.

19. When everyone is in, it's time to get out.

20. Never trade when you are sick.

TRACKING YOUR TRADES
21. Size kills. Only change your unit of trading under a plan of attained goals. Also, have a plan for reducing size when your trading is cold or market volume is down.

22. Confidence kills. Remember, you really don't know anything. Respect the market every second of every day. Expect the unexpected. Always know your position and exit your trade immediately whenever you feel uneasy.

23. Measure yourself by profitable "days in a row," not by individual trades.

24. The best way to break a streak of "losing days in a row" is to not trade for a day.

25. Don't stop trading when your on a winning streak. "When your hot, your hot."

26. Three strikes and your out! Don't turn three losing trades in a row into six in a row. When
you’re off, turn off the screen, do something else. "When you’re not, you’re not."

27. Scalpers reduce the number of variables effecting market risk by being in a position only for seconds. Day traders reduce market risk by being in trades for a matter of minutes.

28. If you convert a scalp or day trade into a position trade, by definition you did not consider the risks of the trade.

29. Don't ever fret about a missed opportunity. There is always another one just around the corner. Besides, several just happened that you didn't even know about.

MARKET OPINIONS
30. If you look for market secrets you will only find things that no one cares about. Use the conventional tools.

31. Never ask for someone else's opinion, they probably did not do as much homework as you.

32. When the market is going up, say "the market is going up." When the market is going down, say "the market is going down." Say it without qualifications, no "buts" attached. This is a reality check, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to say what is literally going on in front of you when your mind is full of preconceived opinions.

33. THE DAILY MARKET COMMENTARY: I've never had an opinion I didn't like, however, successful day trading requires flexibility. Do your homework not to develop a market opinion, but rather to understand the potential for both sides of the market. This will allow you to make your trades based on what the market is doing at the time of the trade.
34. Here is a quote to remember: "When you wake up, your instincts are wrong."

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
35. When you make a mistake of discipline, whine like a fool to anyone that will listen. Errors in discipline are mistakes you will keep on making for many years. Wearing ashes and sack cloth may help extend the time before you do it again.

36. If you squirmed and moaned while you read this list, then you share two obvious characteristics with many of us:
A. You have traded long enough to recognize that you (not the market) make mistakes, and you try to overcome them.
B. Now this is ugly, you have become part of the market and you can never leave.
No matter where life takes you, you will always check the market and always want to continue being a part of it. It's like that first true love, it will always be there no matter what the distance, no matter whether they are alive or dead.

The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex markets currently exceeds US$ 2 trillion. Retail traders (individuals) are a small fraction of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks.Market size and liquidityThe foreign exchange market is unique because of:its trading volume,the extreme liquidity of the market,the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,its geographical dispersion,its long trading hours - 24 hours a day (except on weekends).the variety of factors that affect exchange rates,According to the BIS,average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets was estimated at $1,880 billion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:This $1.88 trillion in global foreign exchange market "traditional" turnover was broken down as follows:$621 billion in spot transactions$208 billion in outright forwards$944 billion in forex swaps$107 billion estimated gaps in reportingIn addition to "traditional" turnover, $1.26 trillion was traded in derivatives.Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, but only accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).Average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totaled $2.7 trillion in April 2006 according to IFSL estimates based on semi-annual London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore Foreign Exchange Committee data. Overall turnover, including non-traditional foreign exchange derivatives and products traded on exchanges, averaged around $2.9 trillion a day. This was more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world’s equity markets. Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006.The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually only 0-3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $100,000.These spreads might not apply to retail customers at banks, which will routinely mark up the difference to say 1.2100 / 1.2300 for transfers, or say 1.2000 / 1.2400 for banknotes or travelers' checks. Spot prices at market makers vary, but on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (i.e. 0.0003). Competition has greatly increased with pip spreads shrinking on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips