Betting Forex

Summary: For the financial traders that are spread betting forex markets, there are countless opportunities. This page looks at some of them. Most readers will be aware that the currency markets are big. Really big! There are literally trillions traded every day. Liquidity is everywhere. Obviously, some parts of the forex market are more liquid than others, but the reality is that there is a lot of money on the move every second. Major currencies are traded in 'pairs' - for example the US$ and the British £. This particular pair is known as 'Cable' (sorry, no idea why...). It goes without saying, that the $/£ is much more liquid to trade than (for example) the British pound and the South African Rand. It is also worth remembering that foreign exchange markets are open nearly all week! There is a currency market open somewhere in the world almost all the time. This has its hazards - prices can move for or against you while you sleep! Years ago, your author read 'The Alchemy of Finance' by George Soros. While the book was a very tough read in places (probably not one for a relaxing beach vacation!) it did explain a lot about the way currency markets work and how they trend. The book is many years old now and forex markets have changed and are much more volatile - something the Mr Soros may like - but much of the basic analytical processes and ideas remain relevant.

George Soros has made hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions of them) through his ability to trade currencies. One of his central theories is that a currency will trend on one direction for many months or perhaps even years. A national economy is a slow moving thing and once in place a trend will not change for some time. However, when that trend does change, there will be huge shifts in rates and sentiment and lots of money to be made. Soros specialised in finding those moments. Since then the banking crisis of 2008 has piled debts onto national governments making their balance sheets much less stable. World markets have plunged into recession and one of the results has been very unstable currency markets. This volatility offers opportunities for technical traders, momentum followers and swing traders to spread bet forex markets and make regular profits. There are almost certainly many 'systems' in the marketplace to provide trading advice to newcomers. However, it would seem more obvious for a potential trader to learn the skills required to make reasonably competent judgements using technical analysis. For those that master the skills, there is a lot of money in the currency markets. Of course, there are risks involved - spread betting is possibly the most high-risk financial trade there is.