Updated: Jul 5, 2021
Forex Trading, also known as Foreign Exchange Trading, is the conversion of one currency
into another. Forex is one of the most actively traded markets in the world, with an average
trading volume of $5 billion per day. Trading is all about BUYERS vs SELLERS.
At Lucrative Associates we mostly trade Nasdaq 100 and a few currencies. Nasdaq can be
defined as the value/average stock price of +/-100 of the largest and most traded
companies on the U.S stock exchange. Currencies are usually traded in pairs for example
USD/ZAR(Dollar value against Rand value) or EUR/USD(Euro value against the Dollar
value). The first currency is the base currency and the second currency is the quote
currency. E.g. USD/ZAR : USD would be the Base Currency and ZAR would be the Quote
currency. When looking at the financial markets on Metatrader(App used to trade) you would
see USD/ZAR: 17.50251 or EUR/USD: 1.17684 and the numbers would constantly be
changing. Those are the exchange rates. If you see USD/ZAR 17.50251 that means that 1
USD(Dollar) equals 17.50251 Rands. If you see EUR/USD: 1.17684 that means 1 EURO
equals to 1.17684 Dollars. So if you were to exchange 1 euro into dollars you would get
1.17684 Dollars for that one Euro. These exchange rates you will later see on MetaTrader.
Think of trading as investing. If you were to look at USD/ZAR and you heard that South
Africa has the least Covid-19 recoveries and more and more people are dying because of
the Virus and in America they just found a vaccine for COVID-19 and their unemployment
rate is low. Based on the information given would you rather invest your money? Into
ZAR(Rand) or USD(Dollar)? The reasonable answer would be that you would invest in the
Dollar because South Africa’s conditions are not favourable and that would result in the
Rand depreciating.
Let’s say for example you received the above information and you decided to buy 100
Dollars. The exchange rate is 17.50. That means for 100 Dollars you would pay R1750(1
Dollar = R17.50, 100 Dollars = R1750). Two days go by and because of more and more
people dying of the corona virus and confidence is lost in the South African economy, the
exchange rate increases from USD/ZAR 17.50 to USD/ZAR 19.50. If you were to trade that
100 Dollars back to Rand with the Exchange Rate at 19.50. (100$ x 19.50 = R1950). This
would mean that you would have made R200 profit from just exchanging money from one
currency to another. That is what forex trading is, but just remember the value of the dollar
could have depreciated and that means you would have lost money. Therefore, you have to
look at multiple reasons/confluences for you to enter a trade.
You will not physically have to go to the bank and exchange money there. It is all
automated, you can do it from the comfort of your phone or laptop. When trading Nasdaq,
Gold or any stock/currency you will be able to BUY and SELL the market. When you think
the currency pair or stock will appreciate/rise in value you will BUY and if you think the
currency pair or stock will depreciate/fall in value you will SELL.
Advantages of forex trading:
Forex trading gives you the opportunity to deal on thousands of financial marketswithout the need for large amounts of money to get started.
Trade anywhere in the world with Internet connection.
Take advantage of rising and falling markets
Please be aware that Trading is not suitable for everyone as it can result in
losses which exceed your deposits.