MENGENAL FOREX ONLINE TRADING

By ARYA
Forex Online Trading adalah suatu sistem perdagangan secara Online yaitu lewat perangkat teknologi internet, dimana dengan sistem ini investor tidak perlu lagi datang atau repot menelepon kantor pialang (broker), karena cukup dengan akses internet yang sekarang bisa dengan mudah anda dapat, anda bisa duduk dirumah sambil menikmati hidangan kopi dan bermain dengan keluarga, nongkrong diwarnet atau kafe – kafe yang memiliki layanan internet Hotspot dan lain – lain. Semua informasi harga dan eksekusi investasi bisa dilakukan, dimana saja dan kapan saja selagi anda bisa berhubungan dengan si dunia maya ini. Dengan demikian Forex Online Trading ini telah menjadi tren alternatif investasi yang mudah dan murah diabad teknologi informasi ini. Sangat mudah bukan di jaman sekarang ?.

Kelebihan lain dari Forex Online Trading ini yaitu Leverage dan Two Ways Opportunity , dimana dengan adanya Leverage investor hanya perlu menyetor modal sebesar 4 – 10 % saja dari total investasi yang diperlukan, dan Two Ways Opportunity yaitu kemungkinan bisa mendapatkan keuntungan saat nilai tukar mata uang menguat ataupun melemah, selain itu investor juga dapat secara aktif mengendalikan sendiri resiko investasinya menjadi seminimal mungkin.

Berikut uraian kelebihan dari FOREX ONLINE TRADING :

1. Small Capital Laverage;
Dengan adanya sistem margin memungkinkan para investor untuk melakukan dalam volume besar dengan modal yang relatif kecil.

2. Two Ways Opportunity ;

Transaksi dapat dilakukan dengan dua arah, beli atau jual terlebih dahulu berdasarkan prediksi krus akan naik atau turun (Tren).

Misalkan saat itu anda mengambil posisi beli ( Buy ) dan ternyata pergerakan harga mata uang tesebut menunjukkan trend naik yang signifikan, maka anda dapat mengambil keuntungan dari selisih harga beli tersebut dengan menutup posisi beli anda dengan menjualnya ( Take Profit ), begitu pula sebaliknya apabila anda mengambil posisi jual ( Sell ) dulu dan kemudian pergerakan harga mata uang tersebut mengalami trend penurunan, maka anda juga dapat mengambil keuntungan dengan menutup posisi jual anda dengan tersebut ( Take Profit ).
BELI diharga rendah, JUAL diharga tinggi = profit
JUAL diharga tinggi, BELI diharga rendah = profit

3. High Liquidity;
Modal yang ditanam sewaktu – waktu dapat dengan mudah dicairkan kembali, banyak sekali metode pencairan dana dan penambahan dana tergantung dari perusahaan forex.

4. Flexible and no Time Management Constribution Necessary;
24 jam sehari mulai dari senin sampai jumat, dimana saja dan kapan saja anda bisa melakukan transaksi asalkan anda terkoneksi dengan internet.

• 04.30 WIB : New Zealant Exchange
• 05.30 WIB : Sydney Stock Exchange
• 07.00 WIB : Tokyo Stock Exchange (Market Open)
• 08.45 WIB : Hong Kong Stock Exchange
• 09.00 WIB : Singapore Stock Exchange
• 09.30 WIB : Jakarta Stock Exchange
• 14.30 WIB : European Exchange dan London Exchange
• 19.30 WIB : New York Stock Exchange
• 04.00 WIB : New York Stock Exchange (Market Close)

Investasi ini tidak banyak menyita waktu untuk manajemennya dibandingkan dengan usaha yang lain.
Info lengkap ada di sini

Introduction to Trading Forex

Foreign Exchange

by ARYA

This short introduction explains the basics of trading Forex online, a brief explanation of the markets and the major benefits of trading Forex online. There are also two scenarios describing the implications of trading in a bear as well as a bull market to better acquaint you with some of the risks and opportunities of the largest and most liquid market in the world.

As an additional aid for those who are new to Forex, there is also a glossary at the bottom of this text which explains some of the terms used in connection with currency trading.

Overview

Foreign exchange, Forex or just FX are all terms used to describe the trading of the world's many currencies. The Forex market is the largest market in the world, with trades amounting to more than USD 3 trillion every day. Most Forex trading is speculative, with only a low percentage of market activity representing governments' and companies' fundamental currency conversion needs.

Unlike trading on the stock market, the Forex market is not conducted by a central exchange, but on the “interbank” market, which is thought of as an OTC (over the counter) market. Trading takes place directly between the two counterparts necessary to make a trade, whether over the telephone or on electronic networks all over the world. The main centres for trading are Sydney, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt and New York. This worldwide distribution of trading centres means that the Forex market is a 24-hour market.

Trading Forex

A currency trade is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another one. The currency combination used in the trade is called a cross (for example, the euro/US dollar, or the GB pound/Japanese yen.). The most commonly traded currencies are the so-called “majors” – EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF and GBPUSD.

The most important Forex market is the spot market as it has the largest volume. The market is called the spot market because trades are settled immediately, or “on the spot”. In practice this means two banking days.

Forward Outrights

For forward outrights, settlement on the value date selected in the trade means that even though the trade itself is carried out immediately, there is a small interest rate calculation left. The interest rate differential doesn't usually affect trade considerations unless you plan on holding a position with a large differential for a long period of time. The interest rate differential varies according to the cross you are trading. On the USDCHF, for example, the interest rate differential is quite small, whereas the differential on NOKJPY is large. This is because if you trade e.g. NOKJPY, you get almost 7% (annual) interest in Norway and close to 0% in Japan. So, if you borrow money in Japan, to finance the trade and buying NOK, you have a positive interest rate differential. This differential has to be calculated and added to your account. You can have both a positive and a negative interest rate differential, so it may work for or against you when you make a trade.


Trading on Margin

Trading on margin means that you can buy and sell assets that represent more value than the capital in your account. Forex trading is usually conducted with relatively small margin deposits. This is useful since it permits investors to exploit currency exchange rate fluctuations which tend to be very small. A margin of 1.0% means you can trade up to USD 1,000,000 even though you only have USD 10,000 in your account. A margin of 1% corresponds to a 100:1 leverage (or “gearing”). (Because USD 10,000 is 1% of USD 1,000,000.) Using this much leverage enables you to make profits very quickly, but there is also a greater risk of incurring large losses and even being completely wiped out. Therefore, it is inadvisable to maximise your leveraging as the risks can be very high. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.

Why Trade Forex?

• 24 hour trading

  One of the major advantages of trading Forex is the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day from Sunday evening (20:00 GMT) to Friday evening (22:00 GMT). This gives you a unique opportunity to react instantly to breaking news that is affecting the markets.

• Superior liquidity

  The Forex market is so liquid that there are always buyers and sellers to trade with. The liquidity of this market, especially that of the major currencies, helps ensure price stability and narrow spreads. The liquidity comes mainly from banks that provide liquidity to investors, companies, institutions and other currency market players.

• No commissions

  The fact that Forex is often traded without commissions makes it very attractive as an investment opportunity for investors who want to deal on a frequent basis.
  Trading the “majors” is also cheaper than trading other cross because of the high level of liquidity. For more information on the trading conditions of Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your SaxoTrader and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.

• 100:1 Leverage

  Leverage (gearing) enables you to hold a position worth up to 100 times more than your margin deposit. For example, a USD 10,000 deposit can command positions of up to USD 1,000,000 through leverage. You can leverage the first USD 25,000 of your investment up to 100 times and additional collateral up to 50 times.

• Profit potential in falling markets

  Since the market is constantly moving, there are always trading opportunities, whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relation to another currency. When you trade currencies, they literally work against each other. If the EURUSD declines, for example, it is because the US dollar gets stronger against the euro and vice versa. So, if you think the EURUSD will decline (that is, that the euro will weaken versus the dollar), you would sell EUR now and then later you buy euro back at a lower price. In case that the EURUSD indeed declines, then you can take your profit. The opposite trading scenario would occur if the EURUSD appreciates.

Important Forex Trading Terms

• Spread

  The spread is the difference between the price that you can sell currency at (Bid) and the price you can buy currency at (Ask). The spread on majors is usually 3 pips under normal market conditions. For more information on the trading conditions at Saxo Bank, go to the Account Summary on your Client Station and open the section entitled “Trading Conditions” found in the top right-hand corner of the Account Summary.

• Pips

  A pip is the smallest unit by which a cross price quote changes. When trading Forex you will often hear that there is a 3-pip spread when you trade the majors. This spread is revealed when you compare the bid and the ask price, for example EURUSD is quoted at a bid price of 0.9875 and an ask price of 0.9878. The difference is USD 0.0003, which is equal to 3 “pips”.
  
  On a contract or position, the value of a pip can easily be calculated. You know that the EURUSD is quoted with four decimals, so all you have to do is cancel out the four zeros on the amount you trade and you will have the value of one pip. Thus, on a EURUSD 100,000 contract, one pip is USD 10. On a USDJPY 100,000 contract, one pip is equal to 1000 yen, because USDJPY is quoted with only two decimals.

How to Trade Forex

Trading foreign exchange is exciting and potentially very profitable, but there are also significant risk factors. It is crucially important that you fully understand the implications of margin trading and the particular pitfalls and opportunities that foreign exchange trading offers. On these pages, we offer you a brief introduction to the Forex markets as well as their participants and some strategies that you can apply. However, if you are ever in doubt about any aspect of a trade, you can always discuss the matter in-depth with one of our dealers. They are available 24 hours a day on the Saxo Bank online trading system, SaxoTrader.

The benchmark of its service is efficient execution, concise analysis and expertise – all achieved whilst maintaining an attractive and competitive cost structure. Today, Saxo Bank offers one of Europe's premier all-round services for trading in derivative products and foreign exchange. We count amongst our employees numerous dealers and analysts, each of whom has many years experience and a wide and varied knowledge of the markets – gained both in our home countries and in international financial centres. When trading foreign exchange, futures and other derivative products, we offer 24-hour service, extensive daily analysis, individual access to our Research & Analysis department for specific queries, and immediate execution of trades through our international network of banks and brokers. All at a price considerably lower than that which most companies and private investors normally have access to.

The combination of our strong emphasis on customer service, our strategy and trading recommendations, our strategic and individual hedging programmes, along with the availability to our clients of the latest news and information builds a strong case for trading an individual account through Saxo Bank.

Terms of trading are agreed individually depending on the volume of your transactions, but are generally much lower in cost when compared to banks and brokers. Your margin deposit can be cash or government securities, bank guarantees etc. Large corporate or institutional clients may be offered trading facilities on the strength of their balance sheet. The minimum deposit accepted for an individual trading account depends on the account type. Trade confirmations and real-time account overview are built into SaxoTrader, while further account information can be produced in accordance with your specific requirements.

ARYA

EDUCATED PEOPLE CAN BE FINANCIALLY ILLITERATE

Most people spend 12 years at school, another few years in tertiary education and 30 to 40 years working in order to generate an income. But they spend precious little time learning how to plan their finances.

This truth was brought home to Paul Leonard, an independent financial planner from Port Elizabeth, soon after he left university at the end of 1990.

Leonard was born and educated in Port Elizabeth and grew up in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in construction and property development, and was one subject short of obtaining a second degree in quantity surveying from the University of Port Elizabeth.

Now a Certified Financial Planner, Leonard's pet peeve is being referred to as an insurance broker or a salesman. Financial planning involves much more than life assurance. It is but one component of a much bigger picture, he says.

After five years at university, Leonard knew he did not want to be in the property business, but completed his course because he did not want to drop out.

After completing his military training, Leonard went to an interview at a life assurance company to humour a friend and landed a job selling life assurance.

"I was fascinated by the fact that, although I was educated, I really knew nothing about personal finances," he says.

However, Leonard quickly became disillusioned with the life assurance industry, because he realised it was set up to sell policies and not to help people.

In fact, after a year, the life company that Leonard worked for asked him to consider resigning because he had not reached his sales targets, but he stayed on for another two years before leaving the company. During that time, Leonard proposed to a local radio station that it broadcast an educational insert. The station agreed to try it out for a month. The programme worked so well that Leonard's slot on Algoa FM has been running for almost 10 years now.

But for all the financial advice that he dispensed, Leonard found it difficult to earn a living. Clients were resistant to paying for advice because they were used to getting advice for free from insurance salespeople.

Eventually he found a way of getting paid for teaching people how to manage their money by running courses for a financial educational company.

Leonard has been a financial planner for 12 years and has been an independent planner for seven years.

He is married to Carol, a music teacher who is now a full-time mother of the couple's three children aged eight, four and two.

When he is not busy helping people plan and attain their financial goals, Leonard is involved in amateur theatre and singing. As a boy he was a member of the renowned Drakensberg Boys' Choir School for six years, and was the top soloist for two years.

His latest theatrical milestone is to be chosen for the lead male role in the Sound of Music, which will be staged at the Opera House in Port Elizabeth in September.


Approach to financial planning
Leonard says he has a values-based approach to financial planning. The starting point of a financial plan is to understand the values of his clients, whether these values are to spend quality time with their families or to travel the world. Your goals follow on from your values.

"We not only ask what goals clients want to attain, but why these goals are important to them," he says.

He charges R1 700 to draw up a financial plan, although he says this barely covers the costs of obtaining legal and tax advice from experts.

Leonard's company is called Money Talk Financial Planning and he has a staff of eight including one other certified financial planner.

Leonard also helps his clients to identify their "financial personality profile", and this helps him to understand his clients' goals and the way in which they are likely to work towards those goals.

He lists the essential elements of a financial plan as:

• Identifying your values and your purpose in life;

• Setting goals in line with your purpose and values;

• Putting a price tag and a time frame to your goals;

• Assessing where you are today in terms of your finances;

• Working out how to get from your present situation to attain your goals in the time frame that is available to you and understanding that it is likely to involve trade-offs;

• Selecting the appropriate asset allocation required to get you the returns you need to achieve your lifestyle goals and then selecting the most tax-efficient structure from an investment product perspective;

• Assessing your risks (which include death, disability, medical and short-term insurance) and catering for these risks is a key ingredient to the plan;

• Implementing your financial plan; and

• Regularly monitoring your progress.

Common mistake
The most common mistake that clients make is that they don't plan their finances and they don't do so simply because they are "too busy" to get around to it, Leonard says.

He adds that the best advice that he can give to clients is to start investing early. A lot of this is common sense and people often know what they should be doing, but there is a difference between knowing what you should do and actually doing it!

He aspires to honesty and integrity in his profession and believes that these qualities are what separates good financial planners from poor financial planners.

He believes that the biggest problem in the financial services industry is a lack of skill and greed.

It takes knowledge and continuous learning to be a professional financial planner, Leonard says.

Many aspiring advisers are greedy and impatient. In the past, you could earn a lot of money quite quickly by selling a lot of products. But to do things properly, you have to be patient and earn your stripes, he says.

The risk levels

For those who are confused over the potential risk levels of
different asset classes, here is a general guide, from the safest to
the riskiest sort of investments available.

1. Cash --- The most liquid form of financial asset
2. Bank deposits
3. Money market funds
4. Bonds
5. Unit trusts
6. Equities/Shares
7. Complex structured products
8. Future (commodities, metals, golds, foreign currencies)
9. Forex trading
10.Hedge funds

A SECRET OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

A huge earning is usually considered for measuring the wealth of someone. However, why do so many people with huge income frequently end up running out of money in the middle or at the end of the month? What is the problem?

If you have a job now, do you remember the first one you ever had? Usually, the first experience on work is the most unforgettable experience.

Let's take an example. Anto was still living with his family until he got a job at the age of 23, as a clerk in a trading company. At that time, he had just graduated. Although he had to go through a probationary period, Anto was so excited when he knew that he would get his first salary. His salary was Rp 600,000, which he would receive on the 27th.

We can guess what he would want to do: he wanted to treat his family. He wanted to express his gratitude for getting a salary for the first time in his life, and he also wanted to show them that he was independent now.

Let's see: he received the salary on the 27th. On the 29th he took his family out for a meal in an all-you-can-eat restaurant, so each of them could satisfy their appetite. The pre-tax cost for one person was Rp 22,000, and after tax was Rp 24,200 per person. All of his family members were 7, consisting of his father, mother, one big brother and 3 annoying younger brothers. All was 6, plus Anto made it 7. It means that he had to pay the dinner bill of Rp 169,400. Which means, only 2 days after he received his salary, he had already spent 28% out of his salary for that month. So, he had only Rp 430,600 left for the rest of the month.

"No problem", thought Anto. "It's my own family that I treated, not other people. Besides, it's not every day I do that. Once a month is enough." Days went by. One week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks. "Hmm�that stuff in the mall looks pretty good. There is a very interesting looking shirt. Okay, it costs Rp 28,000. There's also this nice pair of trousers to wear for work. Very cheap, costs only Rp 65,000. It won't hurt to look stylish at the office". He then started buying things. "Okay", Anto thought, "one shirt and a pair of pants for this month. The rest of my salary would be used for transportation and food until the end of the month" .

What happened? On the 24th of the next month, just three days before his second-month payday, he had only Rp 50,000 left.

Anto started thinking. Okay...., such was because he spent most of his money to treat his family. Also this was his first time working. Within the coming months, his finance would be better.

The second month, he got his salary again. Still in the same amount. No raise yet. The difference was no more treating the family. Days and weeks went by. A few days before his third salary, he only had Rp 75,000 left.

Three months passed by, he was finally accepted as permanent employee. He got a Rp 150,000 raise to Rp 750,000. "Not bad", Anto thought. This meant that I would be able to "breath" and save a little. But strangely, a few days before even one month period ended, his still had only little money left. The sixth month, the seventh month, the eight month, although he got a raise, but he still ran out of money and could not put any into savings.

As a matter of fact, Anto is not the only one, whose income is under Rp 1m, with this problem. Even people with millions per month income still have trouble saving money.

What is really happening? Many people think that by getting a raise, they will not run out of money in the middle of the month and they can save for sure. Every month they hope that they will get a raise the next months. But after they really get a raise, they still run out of money.

It is clear that the solution here lies not on how big your income is. The amount of your income does not guarantee that you will not run out of money in the middle of the month. The size of your income does not guarantee that you will be able to save. The key here is not how much money you make, but how you manage your income so that it can be stretched in a one-month period.

There is no fixed way on the right method to manage your finance. However, based from experiences, there are several things that can help you manage your finance well each month:

Plan your income and outcome every month.

Carry out the plan strictly.

Have reserved fund.

Join insurance plan.

PLANNING INCOME AND EXPENSE

In my previous article, I said that there are several things to help your finance every month :

1. Plan your income and expense every month
   
2. Do the plan strictly
   
3. Have reserves fund
   
4. Take some insurances

This article will discuss point 1 and 2.

1. Plan your income and expense every month

   Starting right now, plan when you will get your salary, how much its amount, and when you will spend your money, what the posts and how much the amount of expenses. The plan called Budget.

   In example, you will receive this much on your salary on 27th, then from that amount you will use this much for this expense, that amount for that expense, and so on. So, if you make a budget first, you will detect on the first place whether there will be deficit or not in the middle of the month. If yes, you can revise the budget to avoid deficit.

   Composing budget is very easy. If you have already known the amount of average income and expense every month, you could also predict how much income and expense for the next coming months.
   
   
   Budget function

   Many people feels uncomfortable to draw up and have budget. They think budget is the same with restrain their shopping desire.

   NO. The function of a budget is to inform if your expense surpass your income or not. If yes, you ocan revise the budget so deficit can be avoided.

   But, if you do not have budget, you will be difficult to know if your family expense has surpassed the income. So, if there is deficit at the end of the month, you just realize it at that time, after all has happened.
   
   
   IMPORTANT

   Include saving in your budget. Usually people save their money later, after their money was spent. So, sometimes they cannot save their money because all of their money was spent for shopping.

   Thereby, it would be better if saving is not included later but earlier. Therefore, when you draw up a budget, insert saving as one of the posts that you must do earlier, at least after you repay your loan.
   
   
   

2. Do the plan strictly.

   A plan is useless if it is not done. In here, plan of income and expense as much as Rp250,000, if you strictly obey and want to do according the budget, at the end of the month the discrepancy between income and expense of your family will be certainly figured out, namely Rp250,000.

   Thereby, it would be easier to make another plan froward, because you have already known that every end of the month you surely have discrepancy of Rp250,000, which can be used for another purpose.

   However, sometimes people, although have already made up a simple budget, is still unable to meet their budget. If he, i.e. allocated Rp500,000 per month for shopping, the figure could expand to Rp750,000.

   This can be prevented with a harder system, namely 'envelope system'. If you have already drawn up a budget, you should allocate the amount right away according to each post. Each post is represented by one envelope. If the money in the envelope is empty, you don't have to try opening the other envelopes, because you have already known that budget for the related post has touched its limit. Envelope system is a little complicated, but perhaps it is the sacrifice that you should doso that you will not experience deficit. The most important, your expense now is more controllable.