Choo Koon Lip

Recently, I was talking about price execution with some friends and I thought it will be great to share with all of you on MARKET Execution and INSTANT Execution.

Market Execution is only for ECN accounts typically.

You enter a price at 1.4199

Say the price now is at 1.4200, then it will be executed and entered at 1.4200.

If the price now is at 1.4198, then it will be executed and entered at 1.4198.So your price is secondary; market executed the actual price.

Instant Execution is what most brokers are offering.

You enter a price at 1.4199If the price now is at 1.4198, then it will be executed and entered at 1.4199 (your price, since you will need to pay more to broker – then broker earn more).

Say the price now is at 1.4200, then broker will requote you at 1.4200.

So your price is better for broker, they keep quiet. If price is not as good, they requote you.

These are my takes below:

1. Pro for MarketEx: NO requote

2. Con for Market Ex: You enter the price based on market.. sometime better price, sometime lousier price, depend what the market give you

3. Pro for InstantEx: You will get in at the price you want

4. Con for Instant Ex: Sometime the market give broker better price, you will get the price you want and broker keep excess pips. Sometime the market give broker lousier price, you will get a requote from the market.

X-Men: First Class – 2 June, 9.45pm @ GV Max

Kungfu Panda 2 − 3 June, 7.15pm @ MBO Melaka Mall (Malacca)

The Hangover 2 − 5 June, 6.50pm @ WE Suntec

X-Men: First Class – 10 June, 6.35pm @ The Curve (Selangor)

Super 8 − 12 June, 12.00am @ GSC Maxx, Times Square (KL)

The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to reveal its second rate hike given that April 2011 on Thursday and may well then pause for any although to find out the euro zone’s financial prospects as Greece confronts with its financial debt crisis.

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of ECB, reiterated on last week the ECB governing council was “in a state of powerful vigilance” about inflation, which represents a code phrase for an announcement for that enhancement of rates. Jennifer McKeown mentioned that “A 25 basis point hike to 1.5% looks like a completed deal.” It is a common impression which can be shared by a lot of other individuals.

Jean-Claude Trichet: To lessen euro-zone inflation

The ECB’s intention is usually to reduce the euro-zone inflation, which can be at present at 2.7%, for the target of just under 2%. ECB will also look in to the broader macro-economic perspective, whereby among the goods consists of unemployment which hovered at 9.9% for that 3rd month consecutively inside the month of May, indicating which the euro-zone economic climate is cooling down. Investigation group, Market, printed the latest purchasing managers’ index, demonstrates a widening gap among the core euro-zone members and a number of other members.

Meanwhile, in London, the Bank of England is expected to take care of its main rate of 0.5%, that’s with the record-low level, on Thursday. Market interest is centered on no matter whether Jean-Claude Trichet will signal an extra rate increase within the afterwards part of this yr, or regardless of whether is Jean-Claude Trichet suggesting the bank will settle right into a wait-and-see mode as being the leaders in the European Union (EU) deal with Greece’s challenges. Commerzbank economist Michael Schubert mentioned that Jean-Claude Trichet “will possibly give little away on what takes place thereafter”.

A telephone meeting was held by euro-zone finance ministers on the very last Saturday, 2nd July 2011, to approve the EU’s share of fund payments together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that’s worth a whole of EUR 12 billion, to aid Greece to prevent a debt default. This move arrived about following the Greece lawmakers passed new prudence actions which was ordered by the creditors to create way for continued emergency funding from Europe, along with the IMF.

In accordance to Deutsche Bank Global Markets Research, the central bank could be the single greatest holder in the Greek public financial debt, whom had acquired about EUR 47 billion worth of sovereign bonds on secondary markets.

Jean-Claude Trichet: Debt-laden nations ought to change past practices

Jean-Claude Trichet ordered the EU lawmakers that Greece as well as other debt-laden countries should adjust earlier practices “that weren’t sensible, and should happen to be prevented”. He also pointed out which the soaring salaries provided to public personnel in a number of nations which were threatened from the financial debt crisis and mentioned that presently, there is a correction. Also, one essential crucial problem for the markets and economists is whether will the ECB voluntarily renew bonds issued by Athens after they turn into because of, to bring up private investors to join Greece rescue efforts. By ploughing a number of the maturing bonds again into your new bonds with terms of up to 30 a long time would mean giving Greece some buffer. Nevertheless, this can not address the root with the problem, that’s the country’s inefficient economic system. Other global ratings businesses may even now believe that this kind of rollovers will contribute to a de-facto default and Jean-Claude Trichet emphasised in the course of last week that ECB won’t participate.

Today July 4th as a trader you may be wondering whether it would be a good idea to trade the market…read on to find out why it’s not.

Market Open
You will generally find the markets open even on the major holidays like Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, as well as on the U.S. Thanksgiving. Throughout the trading year, the U.S. or New York Session is one of the largest in the Forex. However, you must also remember that U.S. banks are very liberal with taking holidays off. Therefore, just because the Forex market itself is considered open, that does not mean that the banks are all open and rendering full service.

Brokers’ Platforms
Many brokers have facilities available for trading on these major holidays. But the reality is that the volume becomes very thin. Let’s face it-even traders like to take time off to spend with their families and friends and spend money at the mall. The effect of the decreased volume in the market is decreased liquidity. When a market does not have liquidity, it is difficult, at best, to get in and out of positions profitably. On the other hand, when there are lots of traders participating, fun can be had and money made. The U.S. Thanksgiving is not going to be as quiet as Christmas in the market, since it will perhaps affect only the U.S. Dollar-based currency pairs for the most part. Apparently, other countries and their traders are not as excited about our national holidays as we are. Surprise, surprise.

Risks
One of the consequences of a market that is not so liquid is the increase in the spread charged by the broker. You will notice a similar effect during any given weekend of the year, by virtue of the same reason of lack of liquidity. Naturally, as a trader, you prefer the smaller spreads, since you get to keep more of the profits in your pockets as a result.

Conclusion
So then should you or should you not engage in Forex trading on these holidays? If you like boring and expensive trades, then go for it. Otherwise, look your loved ones in the eye and tell them that you are so thrilled to spend some quality, uninterrupted time with them. Then prove it by spending some of that quality cash you earned during the previous months. Happy spending!

Sandy Robinson, J.D., Copyright 2007

I was emailing with my graduates on how to handle loss in trading and just decided to post it here too.

Here are 7 steps you can take to survive and even thrive when suffering a loss:

1. Write down the trade as it occurred: Don’t sweep the loss under the rug! You need to learn from the loss (that is its value), so write it down on your trading diary. Include how you percieved the market at the time and how the market action and your indicators appeared to meet the criteria for a trade entry confirmation.

2. Evaluate the trade: Once the trade is over, go back to what you wrote and see what can be learnt. Did you misinterpret the market? Was there something you failed to check? Did you undertake the trade even though it didn’t meet your trade criteria? Or, was the trade setup valid; it just didn’t work out?

3. Use the loss as a learning opportunity: Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this trade?” Is there an insight about market action that can be gained? Is there something about your trading behavior that needs to be addressed? Whatever it is, you have an occasion to grasp something new, and that is valuable!

4. Take immediate corrective action: Do you need to modify your trade setup? Is there a rule for personal discipline needed? Whatever you have learnt, take immediate action.

5. Keep your head and attitude right: You always have a choice about attitude. You can accept the loss as an inevitable part of trading and be grateful that you can learn from it, or you can enter a negative, downward spiral of feeling bad, getting down on yourself, and making yourself feel even more miserable. Follow the constructive steps outlined here and stay above all of this.

6. Remember, trading is ALWAYS based on probabilities: Every trade setup has a probability of winning and a probability for loss. Over a large number of trades, a setup with an edge will be profitable. Any given trade is always uncertain (and here we define our risk). This is the law of trading probability.

7. Turn to others: We all need support. Talk to your trading buddy, mentor, partner or spouse. It helps to unload a bit and you may gain a different perspective.

Put these 7 steps into place and you will easily be on the road to surviving and even thriving from losses.

I’m doing my thorough research on the financial crash in anticipation of the upcoming one. Went through a couple of papers and videos and wanted to share the best part (and often omited, in my opinion) of the documentary “What caused the financial crash”…

Interesting video on how some of the best traders and academics joined forces…and got it wrong…

Dear everyone who know Forex Asia Academy,

Celebrating our 3rd Anniversary and entering into the 4th year gives me great pleasure to share with you the excitement of leaving the old year behind and entering the new.

For Forex Asia Academy (FAA), 2010 was really tough year in which the growth of the Academy has been building on harsh market conditions and tough decision-makings. Through the feedbacks we have received, we have consolidated our position in the field of forex education and continued to lay a strong foundation for the future.

We kickstarted 2010 with an innovative auto-trading platform called ‘Performance Selector / Mirror Trader‘ which has been extremely well-received by the graduates base of FAA. The year 2010 will be a memorable one, albeit a challenging one.

Despite of stringent compliance and guidelines, our education programme was hand-picked by Phillip Capital CyberQuote to educate newbies and experienced traders on trading forex the right way. And despite of the tightening measure by Bank Negara Malaysia (January 2010), we were invited to speak at Securities Commission Kuala Lumpur in March 2010. Various major medias had featured me and FAA, like Straits Times (Singapore), New Straits Times (Malaysia), just to name a few.

At the end of 2010, we leapt forward and expand our offering to Brokerage Consultancy. Now providing consultancy to 4 brokers (in London, Dubai, Istanbul and Wellington), we are able to share more in-depth trading experiences and behind-the-scene insights no other educational provider can offer.

Education is an endless journey, and this is especially so for forex trading. In awareness of this, we took major steps to increase the quality of industry understanding. Knowing this, I personally visited major financial centres around the world – New York, Boston, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv and Dubai to further nourish my financial knowledge.

Time flies…

and it’s been over three years now since the establishment of my Forex Asia Academy. We press on and I’m glad to announce my Forex Asia Academy celebrated the 3rd Anniversary on 4th June 2011. FAA continues to move on to the 4th year of Inspiring, Informing and Improving and the Forex Education in Asia.

For those who believe in me, thank you so much. I will continue to bring values to people around me.

A heartfelt big thank you. Like what I always said to my graduates, Today is still the beginning.

Choo Koon Lip
Director, Forex Asia Academy

The Lost Bladesman – 1 May, 12.00am @ GSC Ipoh

Rio – 2 May, 8.40pm @ GV Yishun

Fast 5 – 5 May, 9.30pm @ Shaw Lido

Fast 5 – 9 May, 9.00pm @ GV Vivocity

Punished – 12 May, 11.15pm @ GSC Tropicana

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – 19 May, 9.50pm @ GV Max

Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom Of Doom (Cantonese) – 28 May, 3.30pm @ GSC Midvalley

Something Borrowed – 29 May, 12.20pm @ GSC Signature (KL)

3. Successful forex traders do not trade all the time. A good trader will understand that the forex market does not move in a straight line, it moves in waves. For example, the trend may be an uptrend, but there will certainly be retracements, so conservative traders may only want to wait for forex trading signals to buy and will refrain from selling during retracements.

Having said that, it all depends on the market conditions and if it allows for trading during big retracements, so be it. You have to learn how to judge the market condition on whether it is trendy or choppy. For me, I’ll always avoid trading when the market is choppy because it’s too unpredictable. Furthermore, the current strategy I frequently used trade average once in every 2 days.

That’s all for the 3 short episodes of the book. There are more in-depth trading examples and analogies in the book!

2. Make sure you follow the trading rules. A forex trading system is meant to help you make accurate trading decisions, so please be sure that all the conditions are met before you even place a trade.

Sounds easy? Indeed it seems real easy for anyone to follow a rule right? But there are many traders who can’t control their temptation to trade when not all the rules are met, they often trade earlier even before the forex signals are generated. This is also an important part of forex trading psychology, you must not let excitement, fear or other people’s influence ruin your trading system that works.