The forex market isn’t exclusive to big company and hedge fund traders anymore.

These days, anyone can get into the foreign exchange markets, so long as they have the capital to get started and the access to a computer to trade on. However, just because you can rush into something doesn’t mean you should—after you register Valutrades and make a deposit, you shouldn’t be in a hurry to put your money where your mouth is. Smart traders, new and old alike, can understand the value that comes with a forex demo account.

While it’s referred to as an indicator in its own right, the Ichimoku Cloud is actually a combination of indicators based on five formulas that combine to form an equilibrium chart. 

These five formulas provide a data-rich indicator that displays lines of support and resistance, trend direction, and momentum of that trend through the charting of several different moving averages on the same chart. Here’s a quick guide to understanding the Ichimoku Cloud and tips to get started using this indicator as part of your trading process.

To those unfamiliar with financial markets, the words “pips,” “points,” and “ticks” may sound like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. But there’s a reason why these units of measurement exist in the trading lexicon. In order to assess risk and reward and understand profits and losses, it’s important to know what these terms mean in different contexts.

When it comes to trading, it is widely accepted that there are two main approaches to your analysis of potential trades.  They are fundamental analysis and technical analysis.

Technical analysis is widely used by private traders and is becoming more and more popular.  It involves the study of a financial product’s actual price, to form an opinion on the likely future direction in which the price will move.

There is serious earning potential at hand when you choose to trade currency, something that every investor should be trying to unlock. Looking at the scale of forex trading, it’s certainly worth knowing not only what the top traders are making, but also how they are making it along with how top traders differ from the rest.

While most forex traders leverage their free margin to maximize trading power—and, thus, their earnings potential—margin trading is only one aspect of their success. What is free margin in forex? Basically, it’s the amount of available equity you have in your account to open a position using the borrowed margin offered by your online broker.

Again, this is just one characteristic of high-earning forex traders. Here’s a look at some of the other traits that are common among the world’s top forex trading professionals.

Forex traders should keep an eye out for quite a few things if they want to limit the risks associated with active trading. We’ve all seen it; many traders will follow fads instead of paying attention to the proper management of their money, and as a result, they will lose money unnecessarily.

Technical analysis is the study of actual movements in the price of a financial product.  However, in my opinion, technical analysis is less about trading and more about the study of mass psychology. We study the way people react in certain situations in the market, which is quite prevalent when identifying and trading using chart patterns.

Each month, investors and economic analysts cast an eye over a number of key reports. Since 1951, the Retail Sales Index (RSI) report has solidified its status as one of the most important of these, largely due to its overview of the value of merchandise sold within the retail trade sector. Calculated by reviewing a selection of companies engaged in the business of selling end products to consumers, the report has always been a true testament to how companies of all sizes—from Walmart down to small-town stores—are collectively impacting the U.S. economy.

To help you understand its consistent relevance, the following breaks down the RSI report, explaining why it’s important and how you should approach it from a forex trading perspective.

Forex traders bring all kinds of strategies and trading timelines to the table when they analyze forex charts. Both chart patterns and forex indicators can be used to evaluate trade opportunities depending on both your personal trading preferences and the price activity taking place on the forex charts.

When it comes to identifying a price breakout, though, technical indicators can help you determine not only the start of a breakout event, but also the kind of momentum it might carry for traders who open a position at the start of this movement.

Before we discuss the top technical indicators for confirming forex breakouts, though, let’s make sure we understand how breakouts start.

If you’re involved in forex trading, you probably have at least some familiarity with the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms. These software solutions rank among the most popular trading platforms for a wide range of traders and advisors, thanks in large part to the value of their tools and resources when it comes to evaluating positions and taking action.

Although their names might suggest that MT5 is just an updated version of MT4, the reality is that these two solutions offer different functions and features that serve distinct trading audiences. Choosing whether to use MT4 versus MT5 can depend on your background and your trading goals, among other factors.

Here’s a look at how these platforms differ, and how to choose the right one for you.