[Image]Foreign Currency Exchange (Forex) Trading allows an investor to participate in profitable fluctuations of world currencies. Forex trading works by selecting pairs of currencies and then measuring profit or loss by the fluctuations of one  currency's market activity compared to the other. For example, fluctuations in the value of the U.S. Dollar are measured against another world currency such as the British Pound, Euro, Japanese Yen etc. Being able to discern price trends in forex market activity is the essence of all profitable forex trading and this is what makes foreign currencies so exciting, currencies are the world's 'best trending' market. This gives Forex investors a profit making edge that is unavailable in most other markets.

Forex trading is being called 'today's exciting new investment opportunity for the savvy investor'. The reason is that the Forex Trading Market only began to emerge in 1978, when worldwide currencies were allowed to 'float' according to supply and demand, 7 years after the Gold Standard was abandoned. Up until 1995 Forex Trading was only available to banks and large multinational corporations but today, thanks to the proliferation of the computer and a new era of internet-based communication technologies, this highly profitable market is open to everyone. The Forex Trading Market's growth has been unprecedented, explosive, and continues to be unequaled by any other trading market.

Unlike traditional trading which brings buyers and sellers together in a central location (trading floors) in Forex Trading there is no need for a centralized location. Forex is a market where worldwide traders conduct business by high-speed Internet connections with the Interbank Foreign Currency Exchange via Forex Clearinghouses (also called Forex Brokerage Firms). Forex has not only become the fastest growing trading market, but also the most profitable trading marketplace in the world.

Simply stated, Forex is the most profitable because it is the world's largest marketplace. The Foreign Currency market as a whole accounts for over 1.2 trillion dollars of trading per day (as determined by the fourth Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity, 1998. This figure is understood to be significantly higher today). To put this into perspective, on any given day the Foreign Currency Exchange Market activity is vastly greater than the Stock Market. It is 75 times greater than the New York Stock Exchange where the average total daily value (using 1998 figures) of both foreign and domestic stocks is $16 billion, and much greater than the daily activity on the London Stock Exchange, with $11 billion.

Furthermore, in addition to being the world's largest and most profitable market, The Foreign Currency Exchange Market (forex) is the world's most powerful and persistent trading market regardless of negative economic indicators. This is because currencies 'trend' better than every other market due to their macro-economic nature. Unlike many commodities whose supply and demand fundamentals can literally change overnight (as we found in the sudden dot com 'market adjustment' and even more abruptly on September 11, 2001), currency fundamentals are much less random, and far more predictable. This is well illustrated in the way interest rates are changed gradually and only in small increments.

Other examples of fundamental predictability are illustrated by the following statistics. Of the $1.2 trillion day trading in Foreign Currency Exchange, 83% of spot foreign exchange activity and 95% of swap activity involves US Dollars. The Euro is the second most active currency at 37%. The Japanese Yen (24%) and the British Pound Sterling (10%) are ranked third and fourth. The Swiss Franc is 7%, and the Canadian and Australian Dollars account for 3%.

Spot Forex is the type of forex trade in which self-traders concentrate most of their investment activity for reasons that are self-explanatory. By definition, a Spot Forex transaction is a currency trade transaction that has a settlement (liquidation) within a maximum of 2 working days following the closing of the trade. Therefore Spot Forex allows the self-trader high liquidity. Another popular feature for well-advised Spot Forex self-traders is the strong profit potential from continual market fluctuations by buying a specific currency when it is weaker and selling it when it is stronger, and the continual pairing of strong currencies against weak ones. This potential for profit or loss is amplified by the effect of leverage. Leverage is a term that describes what can be achieved when a smaller amount of money controls a much larger amount of money. With regards to Forex Trading for example, a leverage-factor of 100 can allow the trader to hold a 100,000 US Dollar position with a modest 1,000 US Dollar margin deposit. Online Forex day trading focuses its investment activity largely on Spot Forex because of the 'risk manageability' of in-and-out trading plus the potential to generate excellent and highly liquid profits.

"Few financial industries generate as much excitement and profit as currency exchange. Traders around the world enter trades for weeks, days or split seconds, generating explosive moves or steady flows, and money changes hands quickly at a staggering daily average of a trillion US dollars. Forex profitability is legendary. George Soros of Quantum Fund realized a profit in excess of 1 billion dollars for a couple of days work in September 1992. Hans Hufschmid of Soloman Brothers, Inc. netted $28 million for 1993. Even by Wall Street standards, these numbers are heartstoppers".*

Despite its high trading volume and its fundamental role in the world, the Forex Market is rarely in the media limelight because its method of trading transaction is less visible than the Floor of a Stock Exchange. However, trading on the Foreign Currency Exchange Market is today surging into the public awareness, as flocks of internet traders are attracted by the market's inherent profitability and risk manageability. Add to this the absence of geographic or temporal boundaries and vibrantly active Forex market is open to all players.
The first step to successful Forex trading lies in understanding the Forex market structure with its advantages and disadvantages, appreciating its reefs, studying analysis methods, market predicting and trading principles and creating personal Forex trading strategies. 

A brief excursus into the Foreign Exchange market - Forex, as well as a description of trading principles, analysis and predicting methods can be found on our site, in the pages: Introduction to Forex, Understanding Forex, Forex Techniques, Forex Glossary, Forex Trading FAQ. Unfortunately, the information you find on our site is only a small portion of the vast volume of information available nowadays. But this information will help you get started.

The second step is implementing the acquired knowledge in practice - studying and using the Forex trading platform, placing, deleting and modifying orders, opening and closing positions and so on.

At this stage you need to practice on a Forex Demo Account. A demo account lets you develop your skills without financial risk as you do not need to invest. Demo accounts are free. Instructions for opening Forex demo accounts can be found on the page "Open Demo Account".

After the first positive results, many forex traders enter the real Forex trading market and do not succeed. That's why you need to get positive results that are stable first. The knowledge you gain, through correct trading with your own system, following your rules, developing steel logic and psychological stability, in absence of greed and following a money management system will all be determinant at this stage.

To assist traders in accomplishing this difficult task, our company has prepared two special types of accounts - LITEForex and REALForex.

LITEForex accounts offer Forex beginners the possibility of starting real trading on Forex with real deposits. But keep in mind that profits and losses on this account will be minimal. Even stable profits cannot cover your Internet expenses.

A small starting deposit, which any Forex trader could lose absolutely painlessly, will help you overcome the very complex transitional stage of going from a demo account to a live account.
Since all LITEForex group accounts are in cents, Forex traders will practice working with amounts that have more and more zeros, like in US dollars. This helps prepare traders for the future and escape psychological pressure when trading on professional accounts.
Moreover, the LITEForex Forex account can be used by skilled Forex traders for testing different mechanical trading systems.
REALForex type accounts belong to the "professional" category and are aimed for skilled forex traders, working with big amounts of money. All operations on this account type are made in US dollars; maximal deposit is unlimited.