Trading Software

GFX GlobalTrader software is a powerful yet easy-to-use online trading system, setting new standards in online Forex trading.

Advantages include:

Instant order execution. Orders placed on the GFX software are executed immediately online. Traders can also place stops or limits on open positions or have them pre-set on market orders.

Optimum Compatibility and performance. GlobalTrader takes only seconds to download and install and will perform flawlessly on Windows operating systems. GlobalTrader's advanced programming design minimizes the use of your system resources.

Customizable Trading Window. Add only the currencies and metals you wish to trade and view live prices for. Select from an extensive list of currency pairs and spot metals.

Fractional lot sizes. Trading on GFX's software is not confined to only 1 lot increments. Clients can also trade .5 of a lot, 1.2 lot, or any other amount.

Breadth of products. Trade currencies or metals - all from the same window and with the same outstanding trading conditions.

Real-time account and margin information. Your account balance, usable margin, and value of open positions are displayed in the trading software in real-time.

Real-time Charts, News and Quotes. GFX GlobalTrader software includes charts, news, and quotes easily accessible from the menus.

Real-time account statements available online with one click. Historical trading results and account statements are easy to understand and can be generated instantly by the client from the trading software menus.

Multiple Account Trading. Trading managers and funds can trade multiple accounts from a single window. The GlobalTrader software allows a block order to be automatically split up among multiple customer accounts as specified by the trader.

Multiple order types supported. Traders can initiate a position with a Market order, a Limit order, or a Stop order. Positions can be closed with a Stop, Limit, At-the-market, or Trailing stop order.

Hedging capability. Clients can open positions in the same currency in opposite directions, without the positions offsetting and without using additional margin.

Service and Support. GFX clients have access to 24 hour technical support, as well as 24 hour trading by telephone or chat.

Recommended Brokers

* GCI Financial
* Goldman Sachs FX
* Man Financial
* Swizz Financial Corp
* GFX Group SA
*fxcm
*LiteForex

common FAQ's in Forex

How can I start trading Forex?
You'll need to register a trading account with a Forex broker, such as Marketiva. Then you can begin using their Forex client program to buy and sell currencies. This will take less than 5 minutes of your time!

Who owns Forex and where is it located?
It's not owned by anyone in particular. Forex is an Interbank market, meaning that it's transactions are conducted only between two participants - seller and the buyer. So as long as existing banking system will exist, Forex will be here. It's not connected to any specific country or government organization.

What the working hours of Forex market?
Forex market is open from 22:00 GMT Sunday (opening of Australia trading session) till 22:00 GMT Friday (closing of USA trading session).

What is margin?
Margin is money you need to have in your broker account to secure your open position. Different brokers require different amount of margin money to keep your positions open.

What are the "long" and "short" positions?
Long position is a "buy" position, meaning that this position will be in profit if price goes up.
Short position is a "sell" position, meaning that this position will be in profit if price goes down.

What is the best Forex trading strategy?
There is none. You should constantly develop your own strategies for every possible market situation, if you want to be in profit. Specific strategies can only be good for a certain period of time and for certain currency pairs.

How much money I need to start trading Forex?
With Marketiva you can start trading Forex with as little as $1. Usually, the minimum amount varies from $100 to $10,000 ($100,000 and more for Interbank trading).

I can't (or don't want to) install any Forex trading software on my computer. Can I still trade Forex?
If you don't want (or it is not possible) to install new software to start trading Forex then a good option for you would be using web based trading platform. You can browse our Forex Brokers List to find those which support this platform. Here are those brokers which have web based trading options: Easy Forex, Forex yard, Oanda, Saxo Bank, ACM, Interactive Brokers.

I've downloaded the expert advisor for MetaTrader platform but I don't know how to install it. What should I do?
You can read the Metatrader Advisor user's tutorials to find out how to intstall those expert advisors.

I've downloaded a custom indicator for MetaTrader platform but I don't know how to install it. What should I do?
You can read the Metatrader indicators user's tutorials to find out how to intstall those indicators.

Forex Trading Psychology

While learning a lot about market analysis and money management is an obvious and necessary step to be a successful Forex traders, you also need to master your emotions to keep your trading performance under strict control of mind and intuition. Controlling your emotions in Forex trading is often a balancing between greed and cautiousness. Almost any known psychology practices and techniques can work for Forex traders to help them keep to their trading strategies rather to their spontaneous emotions. Problems you'll have to deal while being a professional Forex trader:

• Your greed
• Overtrading
• Lack of discipline
• Lack of confidence
• Blind following others' forecasts

Unique Basis of Forex

The foreign exchange market is unique because of

· its trading volumes,

· 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 (from 5pm EST on Sunday until 4pm EST Friday),

· the variety of factors that affect

· the low margins of profit compared with other markets of fixed income (but profits can be high due to very large trading volumes)

· the use of leverage.

Main foreign exchange market turnover, 1988 - 2007, measured in billions of USD.

As such, it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal perfect competition. notwithstanding market manipulation by central banks. According to the bank of international settlements, average daily turnover in global foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3.98 trillion. Trading in the world's main financial markets accounted for $3.21 trillion of this. This approximately $3.21 trillion in main foreign exchange market turnover was broken down as follows:

· $1.005 trillion in spot transactions

· $362 billion in outright forwards

· $1.714 trillion in forex swaps

· $129 billion estimated gaps in reporting

Of the $3.98 trillion daily global turnover, trading in London accounted for around $1.36 trillion, or 34.1% of the total, making London by far the global center for foreign exchange. In second and third places respectively, trading in New York accounted for 16.6%, and Tokyo accounted for 6.0%. In addition to "traditional" turnover, $2.1 trillion was traded in derivatives. Exchange-traded forex future 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, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall street journal Europe(5/5/06, p. 20).

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 offered by companies such as First Prudential Markets and Saxo Bank have 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 34.1% in April 2007. RPP The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall street journal Enrope, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The Bid/ash 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 0–3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203 on a retail broker. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually 100,000 units of currency, which is a standard "lot". 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 is greatly increased with larger transactions, and pip spreads shrink on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips.