FXCM Classic FX Powercourse Lesson 1 Introduction to the FX Market

Transcription

1 FXCM Classic FX Powercourse Lesson 1 Introduction to the FX Market A) Message from the Instructor Message From the Instructor Hello, and welcome to the FX Power Course. This course is designed to teach individuals the concepts of Technical and Fundamental analysis, and demonstrate how to apply these methodologies to your trading account. As the instructors, our role is to ensure that the class runs in a consistent and orderly manner, and that the experience is as rewarding as possible for all of the students enrolled in the course. In particular, this will involve moderating and initiating class discussions; reviewing and analyzing homework assignments; and offering additional insight into the topics presented in the forum. Our duties are aimed towards helping you to start thinking and acting like a trader, and to give you the proper tools and mind set to trade with confidence in the FX markets. Students of the FX Power Course are encouraged to review and complete all lessons, quizzes and assignments in the course. Students are also responsible for opening a Demo Account and practice with each Technical Indicator that is covered in the course. This would entail applying each indicator to a trade. We recommend that students keep a trading log and practice each indicator, with at least 10-trades per indicator. These suggestions are to ensure that students properly understand and apply the trading methodologies covered in the course. Over the next 30-days, we will provide you with information that we have found, when used properly, to be of great benefit to trading the foreign exchange market. Every person is different and naturally every person will trade differently, thus it is imperative that each and every one of you makes a concentrated effort to develop your own strategy. We will help you along the ways as much as we can (24 hours a day), but ultimately, your trading performance will be indicative of the plan that you put in place. If you have any issues pertaining to the course or how it is running, please feel free to contact us via at instructor@fxpowercourse.com. In conclusion, I d like to welcome you once again to the FX Power Course. I m looking forward to getting started and interacting personally with each of you. Alumni forum: Dear Power Course student, Congratulations on your enrollment to the FX-Power Course. Once you have completed the online power course, we are pleased to introduce your very own forum, designed exclusively for every Power Course student, past and present. This discussion forum is intended to provide a place where all FX traders can join one another 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. In addition, the course department will jump on from time to time, with additional lessons, interesting chart patterns, as well as general market analysis. Your username and password will be activated the Monday following the last lesson. Although the course instructors will not be able to respond to your comments on this forum, you will be able to join 1000 s of other FX -Power Course graduates from around the world, and keeps in touch with your fellow classmates.

2 The best part is you will have access to this forum forever! So please feel free to log in with the same username and password that you used during the 30-day Power Course, once the 30-day course is complete. We wish all of you the best of luck, and happy trading! Sincerely, FX-Power Course Staff. B) Online Class Rules FX Power Course Class Rules In order to ensure that everyone has the best possible experience, there are certain rules in place that students should adhere to when participating in the course. These rules are as follows: Show respect to your classmates and instructors. While it's okay and even healthy to debate and disagree, please make sure your comments are respectful. The Power Course is meant to be a friendly environment where students can explore new ideas and continue to develop as a trader. Refrain from vulgar language. Consistent with the notion of respect, profanity of any kind should not be used in postings. All language should be professional and courteous. Post in the correct area. There are twenty-two lessons in the forum, and each lesson has multiple topics. In light of all the information that the course presents to you, it can be quite easy to get lost in all that is going on. In order to prevent this from happening, students should be sure to post their questions and comments in the right section of the forum. For example, if you have a question about trading using the Fibonacci indicator, you should post that under a Fibonacci thread -- not elsewhere in the course where it may increase confusion for everyone involved. Ask questions. Remember, asking questions is a key part of learning. As a result, students are encouraged to ask questions and explore the concepts discussed in the course. There's no such thing as a stupid question, so don't be afraid to speak up and ask! Be a part of the class. In addition to asking questions, it is vital that you reply to others' inquiries, to open questions presented by the instructor, and to the homework assignments that are involved in each lesson. The course provides you with many opportunities to share your trading ideas, upload charts or a trade log, and participate in educational group discussions. This is YOUR class -- so it's up to you to be a part of it! C) How the Online Classroom Works How the Online Classroom Works Just to make sure we're all on the same page, below is a brief explanation of how the online course works. If you have any questions about this matter, simply reply to this thread and ask your question. One of the instructors will answer your question promptly. The Daily Lesson. Every day by 8:00 AM EST (1:00 PM GMT) a new lesson will be posted in the Online Classroom. All the previous lessons will remain in the classroom as well. For example, if you login

3 tomorrow, you should see lessons 1 and 2. Within each lesson are a number of articles for you to read, discussions for you to participate in, quizzes to test your knowledge, and homework assignments designed to help you apply your knowledge to trading. Daily Articles. Within each lesson are educational articles that serve as the foundation for the lesson. After reading each article, you should feel free to post any questions you have on the forum, and should actively participate in the group discussions that are occurring. Most of the educational articles in each lesson contain discussion topics at the end; these discussions will help to get you thinking practically about the concepts presented in the material, and thus students are encouraged to be an active part of it. Homework Assignments. Within every lesson is a homework assignment involving placing a trade on your demo account (you should have received a demo account when you registered for the course; if you did not, or are having any trouble with the demo, please contact us directly at instructor@fxpowercourse.com. Question of the Day. Inside every lesson is a Question of the Day. We have posted daily questions here, and we would like your response in order to stimulate a group discussion. The questions will in some way be related to the topic the lesson addresses. As we've said before and we'll inevitably say again, the course is YOUR course -- what you get out of it is largely determined by what you put into it. In order to make the course the best it can be for yourself and your fellow classmates, please be sure to actively participate, ask questions, and complete homework assignments and quizzes so that you can fully immerse yourself in the course. 24 Hour Access You will notice that you have multiple instructors for this course, and your questions may be answered by someone other than the instructor to whom you addressed them. In order to provide 24 hour coverage to the course, we have several instructors assigned to your class. Although we will not be available on the weekends, you will be able to access the course pages at any time before the end of the class. Please feel free to one of us individually or all of us as a group at instructor@fxpowercourse.com at any time. Saving the Course There will be posted MS Word Documents containing the original text and charts of the threads available for download. If you wish to save the questions and responses to them that appear after the original text, you can copy and paste into these MS Word.doc files after you have saved them. Course Certificate. At the conclusion of the course, online certificates will be available for all participants in the course. D) Key Features of the Online Classroom Key Technical Features of the Online Classroom The Power Course Online offers certain key features that will enhance the learning experience for all students. Below is a summary of those features: Printable Version -- Click on this button at the bottom of each thread to see a version of the thread that is printer-friendly. Upload Attachment -- Students have the ability to upload attachments to their posts. This allows you to upload your trading log or a chart for the whole class to see and discuss. For more information on using all of these features, as well as other aspects of the course, please click on the USER GUIDE button at the top. Please reply to this thread if you have any questions regarding technical aspects of the Online Classroom.

4 E) FX PowerCourse Syllabus PowerCourse Syllabus F) Tools of the Trade Tools of the Trade In addition to the Online Classroom, students will need a few other tools to get through the course. All the tools involved in the Power Course Online are aimed at helping you become a better trader -- so it is to your advantage to use all the tools outlined below to your fullest advantage. Demo Account. A demo trading account -- or a virtual trading account that provides you with virtual cash to practice trading in the FX market -- is the best tool any aspiring currency trader can use to improve his/her skill in the market. To download the FX Trading Station -- the software you will need to trade your demo account -- simply click here. You can login to your demo account by entering the user name and password you received in the

5 introductory . The demo account is an integral part of this course, as instructors will be assigning homework assignments involving placing trades on your demo on a regular basis. Towards the end of the course, instructors will review the statements of various students and highlight noteworthy points to the class. News Plug-in. Another tool traders can use to stay abreast of the FX market is the FXCM news plug-in. The plug-in, a downloadable component that works in conjunction with the FX Trading Station, provides traders with real-time market news, technical analysis, and rumors about what is happening in the FX market. To ensure that you have an understanding of all the fundamental factors involved in trading, be sure to download the FXCM News Plug-in by clicking here. Supplemental Web Site. In addition to the material presented in the Online Classroom, the Power Course Online also includes a supplemental Power Course Student Site filled with additional trading strategies and advanced market topics. This material, while supplemental to the course, is invaluable to the student looking for more advanced material that will help them refine their trading strategy. To access the supplemental Power Course Student Site, click here. FXTrek Desktop Charts FXTrek is offering a free month long subscription to their desktop charts for all students in the course. These are excellent charts, and you will find that most of the examples that the instructors post are from these charts. Your login ID and password for the course will work for these charts as well during this trial month. You can download the actual software from the following link. For any technical problems with these charts, you can log onto and select the FXTrek link under the Charting & Trading Services Experts link at the bottom. The forum on that page functions in the same manner as the forum for this course, and a response to your inquiry will be answered by FXTrek's technical support staff. You can also contact FXTrek directly at support@fxtrek.com. G) Trading Journal Trading Journal Before you can improve on how to trade, you must first learn how YOU trade. The best way to do this is keeping a trading journal. It is a log of all your trades, but what separates it from your account summary statement is that you must provide a reason for each and every transaction. Explain why you made every trade, whether it was because employment numbers came out positive, support levels were breached, or if your gut instincts told you so (which we will try to avoid). With it, you can keep track of your progress and improvements. Most importantly, it is a very effective tool to learn about your habits, emotions, and tendencies. Don t hesitate to jot down any uncertainties you may have before entering the trade. Also, feel free to upload your trading journal to the Online Classroom at any time. It is a great way for you and your classmates to share trading ideas -- and to learn about trading by doing so. As you can see, the sample trading journal documents the trader's rationale for placing the trade. Getting into the habit of using a trading journal is one of the best ways you can cultivate discipline -- and thus can help to prevent reckless trading as a result. Below is a sample screen shot showing how a trading journal can effectively be used.

6 Attached below is a blank trade journal for you to fill and keep. Please be sure to use it on a daily basis when completing homework assignments involving placing trades. A journal like this lends itself better to a spreadsheet format. The course page does not support spreadsheet attachments, but if you download this.doc file, you can copy and paste it into an Excel spreadsheet and save it there. This will allow you to input formulas as well. H) Class Introductions Class Introductions As you know by now, this is an online course where you have the opportunity to participate in a virtual classroom setting. Along with your own efforts, the classroom is full of other students and two instructors who will help you become a better FX trader. In order to fully take advantage of this course structure it is vital that you interact with the other students as well as the instructors. Member participation is a key element of the course that will add significant value to your learning experience. Accordingly, it is important that you get to know your classmates so that you feel comfortable interacting with them and participating in the Power Course Online. This is YOUR course -- so it is essential that you take an active role by asking questions, offering your ideas, and interacting with other students for the duration of the course. In the spirit of building a fun and educational classroom environment, the first assignment will be to introduce yourself to the rest of the class. Simply reply to this thread telling the rest of the class about yourself, your trading experience, and what you hope to gain out of this course.

7 I) Question of the Day Question of the Day The Question of the Day is a place where the Power Course Instructors will post daily questions pertaining to the lessons. You are encouraged to post your feedback to the question, and to actively engage in course discussions by doing so. From here on out be sure to actively reply to each Question of the day. Because today is an introductory day, there is no Question of the Day. J) Technical Problems Technical Problems For any technical problems pertaining to the online classroom --including printer, login, and chart problems -- please instructor@fxpowercourse.com. For any technical problems with the FX Trek Desktop Charts, which can be downloaded at and accessed using the same username and password as you do for the course, you can log onto and select the FXTrek link under the Charting & Trading Services Experts link at the bottom. The forum on that page functions in the same manner as the forum for this course, and a response to your inquiry will be answered by FXTrek's technical support staff.