How to Trade Forex Online

Before you can trade Forex online, you have to complete a few steps first. This quick-start guide shows you the basic steps to take to get started trading. It is not a comprehensive guide that covers learning about Forex trading or choosing software to trade your account. It simply shows you how to get from point A (not trading) to point B (trading).

Open Account With Forex Broker

The first thing that you have to do is open an account with a Forex broker. You really can't get involved with currency trading unless you have an account.

To open an account with a broker, you need to go to their website and complete their specific process. Some brokers use an online form that you have to fill out. Others require you to download a form, print it out and then send it back to them. You typically also have to show some type of identification when signing up for your account. Once you get the necessary paperwork back to the broker, your account could be opened the same day or could take up to a week, depending on the broker and the number of people opening accounts.

Fund the Account

After you open the account, you have to get some money in it before you can start trading. Each broker is a little different when it comes to funding an account. Some brokers allow you to simply use your credit or debit card to fund the account. If this is the case, you can usually enter your card information on their website and process the transaction. Other brokers only allow bank wires or payments made from third-party processors like PayPal or Moneybookers.

You can read the rules from your broker to find out what the available options are. Make sure that you send the minimum amount of money as most brokers have some kind of minimum deposit when you open your account. After you send the money, it can take some time before it hits your account. Some brokers get the money and within a few minutes while others take several days.

Download Software

If you plan on using a broker that has a web trading application, you can skip this step. Many other brokers require you to download trading software to your computer before you can start trading. If this is the case, click on the appropriate link on your broker's website. It typically comes with a nice, neat installer that does all the work for you. You just have to pick the location that you want the software to be on your computer. It will install it and then you can open it up.

Start Trading

Now that you have money in your account and a trading platform on your computer, you are ready to trade Forex online. Most trading platforms are similar, but they all have a few differences between them. For example, if you have the Metatrader platform, you can place a trade in a few different ways.

You can begin to trade Forex online by opening a chart in the top left corner of the screen. Right click on the currency pair that you want to look at and then select new chart. When you are on the chart, you can right click on it and select new order.

Another way that you can open a new order is to simply click on the "New Order" button on the top of the screen on the toolbar.

If you need a third way to go about it, you can also click on "Tools" and then go down to "New Order." If you can't place a trade with one of those three options...well...let's just say you probably don't need to be around a computer, much less the big, bad Forex market.

Caution

Just a word of caution before you go off and start trading Forex online. Even though this is the cut and dry steps that you need to get started trading, this does not necessarily mean that you need to do this immediately.

Before getting involved in the market, you need to make sure that you have a winning strategy that can make money consistently. This may come from you developing your own trading strategy or getting one from someone else. You can read all about various trading strategies right here on the site if you are looking for a way to trade. You could also buy an expert advisor which is basically a software program to trade the market for you.

You should not simply go from hearing about the Forex market for the first time at 9:30 this morning and then using this quick-start guide to get up and running this afternoon. You can lose a lot of money by doing this and you should do your homework first make sure that you have a good strategy. Try it out on a demo account (play money) before you ever get started trading for real. Or you could just forget about this last section and jump right in, trade Forex online, and see if you can beat the odds. It's your money.


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