• Market Analysis Guide
  • Intro
  • Technical Analysis Guide
  • Bill William’s Chaos Theory
  • Japanese Candlesticks Theory
• Video Tutorials
  • Intro
  • Alpari Research: Technical Reports
  • What is Forex and How Does It Work?
  • Introduction to Charting
  • Introduction to Technical Analysis
  • Risks
  • Using Technical Indicators
  • Introduction to Fundamental Analysis
  • Gold and Silver
  • Money Management
  • Position Sizing
  • Understanding and Trading the News
  • Earning Interest in Forex
  • Introduction to Fibonacci Analysis
  • Economic Indicators
• Autochartist
  • Intro
  • Download Autochartist
  • Autochartist Tutorials
• Glossary

Why Trade Forex?

Unlike other financial markets Forex has no physical location, like stock exchanges, for example. It operates through the electronic network of banks, computer terminals or via telephone. The lack of a physical exchange enables Forex to operate on a 24-hour basis, spanning from one time zone to another across the major financial centres (Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London, New York etc).

In every financial centre there are many dealers, who buy and sell currencies 24 hours a day during the whole business week. Trading begins in the Far East, New Zealand (Wellington), then Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Moscow, Frankfurt-on-Maine, London and ends in New York and Los Angeles. Below there are approximate trading hours for regional markets (London time):

Forex has some advantages which make it very popular among investors:

• Liquidity. Forex is the largest financial market in the world, with the equivalent of over $3-4 trillion changing hands daily whereas traded volume on the stock markets equates to only 500 billion US dollars.

• Flexibility. Forex is a 24-hour market, which offers a major advantage over other markets, for example, stock exchanges which are only open during regional business hours. You can respond to breaking news immediately if the situation requires it and customise your trading schedule.

• Lower transaction costs. Traditionally there are no commissions or charges on Forex, except for the spread.

• Margin. Our 1:100 leverage (only for deposits below $ 100,000) is a powerful tool. You need to support a deposit of 1,000 US dollars to make a deal with $100,000. Such high leverage combined with rapid rate fluctuations can make this market profitable but at the same time risky: please see Risk Warning below.

Internet trading on Forex

Alpari  offers Internet trading on Forex via the MetaTrader 4 dealing software. We recommend that you read MetaTrader 4 user guide carefully and open a Free Demo Account  before you start trading with us on a Live Account.

Read more:

• Spreads & Margins
• Rollover / Interest Policy

Risk Warning

Under margin trading conditions even small market movements may have a great impact on the customer's trading account. You must consider that if the market moves against you, you may sustain a total loss greater than the funds deposited. You are responsible for all the risks, financial resources you use and for the chosen trading strategy. More about risks.

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