Emini Trading - Margin in Emini Futures

If you are familiar with the margin for stock trading, you know that this is the amount the broker allows you to borrow using your funds as a collateral. Usually, this is 100%, meaning if you hold $10,000 in your account, you can control $20,000 of stock. In some situations, that only pros or semi-pros are allowed to take advantage of, your margin can be greater.

While the margin for trading in stocks is simply your borrowing power for stocks, the margin on futures can be defined as a minimum cash requirement for your futures position. Similar to a performance bond or a good faith deposit, the margin on futures is set by the exchanges based on the corresponding market volatility and can be changed at anytime if this volatility changes. Generally, the margin rates range between 2-15 percent of the value of the futures contract, with most contracts having their margin set around the 5 percent.

Individual brokers can reduce the value of this margin for intraday positions, that is for positions open and close on the same day. Because of this, the margin varies, even widely, from one broker to another, being never higher than the value established by the exchanges that takes into account all kinds of positions, including those held overnight, for which the margin is bound to be higher to compensate for the higher volatility during the times when the trading is not very active.

There are two types of margins in futures: the initial margin and the maintenance margin. The former is the required amount of funds that must be deposited by you before your positions are initiated. The latter is the minimum amount of cash/buying power required in order to keep your position open.

While the initial margin requirements must be met at the time of the trade, the maintenance margin will only become a factor if the account value is decreasing. In the event that the account value falls below the maintenance margin requirement, you will receive a margin call for funds. In this case, you will need to add enough cash to satisfy the initial margin requirement of the position.

In order to illustrate the difference between the initial and the maintenance margin, let us consider the following example.

Suppose you had $5,000 in your futures trading account. You wish to open an intraday position in the E-mini S&P. In order to place this trade, you would need at least $2,250.00 in the account (if you were a customer with the Interactive Brokers, to keep this example realistic), which is the initial margin of one E-mini S&P futures contract set by this broker. Because your account balance exceeds the amount of the initial margin, you would be able to open your position and you would be able to purchase not just one, but even two futures contracts. Suppose though that you purchased only one, to keep this example simple.

Suppose now that after this purchase, the market moved against you causing the account value to fall to $1,700, however unlikely this may be. Since the account value is now less than the maintenance margin of $1,800, you would receive a margin call for $100, the difference between the initial margin and the account value.

You can find more articles of this nature in a section dedicated to the basics of emini futures at this author's site: http://www.eminimethods.com/emini_basics.html

Waldemar Puszkarz, Ph.D., is a web veteran with 15 years of web surfing under his belt. By training, he is a theoretical physicist, but his interests are much broader than science and include trading financial markets, sports betting, poker, and researching online business opportunities. He is also an avid book reader and sports afficionado. Currently he is making his living mostly as a day trader. He has been in the trading trenches for almost a decade during which he has traded a variety of financial instruments. He is the owner and webmaster of Eminimethods.com (http://www.eminimethods.com) which provides free common sense trading education and simple trading systems for e-mini and stock markets as well as reviews of honest online business opportunities in Meet HOBO section of his site.

AFP - Troubled US mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae said Thursday it lost almost 60 billion dollars last year and expected to suffer more losses in 2009, and asked for a further 15.2 billion dollars in government aid.

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Automated Currency Trading Ideas

I wanted to share with you some automated currency trading ideas. This is a great market to get into, with a lot of money to be made. There is over three trillion dollars a day moving around, making this the largest market in the world. A lot of people come to make a quick buck, but end up losing all their money. Knowing how to properly trade in this market is important. It is also important to know how to treat this like a business, that can be automated and that you can get away from.

Robert Kiyosaki really introduced me to the idea of "the exit". We don't start in this adventure into the forex market to add another 20hrs a week to our already busy schedule. The idea of making big money than cashing out is a fallacy. First, it might never come. The second reason, you'll probably tell yourself that it isn't enough and if you just stick around a little longer it will be the "perfect time". This isn't a solution because it's just not practical. What you need is to develop an automated currency trading system that allows you earn "cash flow". Think about it. You don't need a million dollars. You can automate an income of $5000/mth, that means you can comfortably travel the world for the rest of your life. You can start retirement right away.

The perfect automation tool is software. In this market, we trade an detailed analysis, which is just a fancy word for math. Computers exist to do tedious math work, so obviously having software to look at currency data is in our best interest.

I use the 10 Minute Forex Wealth Builder. I like it because it is automated and only takes around 10 minutes to actually setup. This tool works for both beginners and experts.

Learn more at the 10 Minute Forex Wealth Builder Review.

Reuters - There was a time when a tumble below $10 in the share price of a company in the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) meant ignominy.

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Currency Trading Expert Tips

I'm here to give you currency trading expert tips that should help become a better trader. This business isn't all that hard, you just need apply simple principles on a daily basis. When you start doing that, you'll start to have consistent profits.

• Your Profit Margin: It seems obvious, but most people really aren't concerned about profit margins. They more concerned about "winning" with a trade. I suppose winning shows that you are doing good, but unfortunately, you can be a profitable trader even if you make 2 trades that lose for every 1 trade that is profitable. It's all about the margins. You need to look at the risk, reward and how much your broker gets. If you have a really tiny margin, like 2% increase in the currency on a $500 trade. That's only $10 profit. You have to also take into consideration that your broker will probably take a 1% cute, meaning your real profit is only 1% or $5. You "won" this trade, but was it even worth the time and the risk? No! You need to have better margins. These margins are a waste of time, so you get more profit, less of that profit goes to your broker and you're actually getting paid for your time.

• The Morning News: This is about the easiest task a trader has. It requires no thinking, no analysis, just sit down in front of the television and watch the morning news. There is important news that comes out that you need to watch. Economic news, especially about the Federal Reserve, will greatly effect the direction of a currency. Pay attention to this.

• Automated Software: You're going to need an automated piece of software like Forex Killer for a few reasons. It allows you to automate trading. For me, I can't sit around the computer 24hrs a day, I have things that need to be done. But I can rest easy knowing that I have software that will automatically act on behalf making a profitable trade or preventing a huge loss. It also has the ability to look through currency data and determine if there are any profitable trends for me to exploit. It is an excellent tool to have.

For more information on the Forex Killer software, check out Forex Charting Software.

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Trading Forex and the Theory of Relativity!

Albert Einstein would have loved the forex market. It's the one market where you are trading on relativity!

When you "buy" a currency on the foreign exchange you aren't really "buying" anything. What you are doing is opening a contract in one currencies value relative to another.

The contracts on the forex are quoted in the value of one currency (the "quote") relative to another (the "base").
For example, the most actively traded currency pair is the Euro relative to the U.S. Dollar. The pair is listed as EUR/USD. In this case, the Euro is the quote currency. The U.S. Dollar is the base. So, you could look at EUR/USD quoted at 1.5929 as the Euro trading at 1.5929 US Dollars or it takes 1.5929 USD dollars to buy one Euro.

Most traders watch the economic fundamentals of the country underpinning each currency. They then look for the relative strengthening or weakening of one economy versus another. When they see one countries economy becoming stronger while another's becoming weaker, they see the trade develop in favor of the stronger countries currency.

Here's an example. The Australian economy has been very strong, recently because it's economy is very much linked to the price of commodities - it is the largest exporter of gold. The demand for gold has been, and continues to be, on the increase by Chinese industry. India, too, is demanding more of the precious metal as their rising middle class is better able to afford the gold jewelry that Indian women have always desired. This has been a boon well for the Australian dollar for many reasons but one is that the Royal Bank of Australia - the Aussie equivalent of our Federal Reserve - has had to raise interest rates to keep the Australian economy from overheating and kicking off inflation.

At the same time that Australia has been raising their overnight rate, our Federal Reserve has been lowering ours. Therefore, you would expect to see a relatively stronger Australian Dollar with respect to the U.S. Dollar.

So, this is the trade. If you open a contract on the AUD/USD, you would do so in favor of the AUD. The other advantage of taking this position and another reason to expect increasing strength in favor of it is that you are paid interest every day that you hold the position. Yes, the interest differential between the two currencies gets deposited into your account every day that the market is opened!

A glance at the 5-year chart of the AUD/USD shows the trend.

This is the theory of relativity at work!

Learn Forex Direct - Generating cash flow by trading or investing in the forex market can guarantee a wealthy retirement!

Kevin Mastaw is a business owner and entrepreneur living in Nashville. He left the corporate world, where he was a chemical engineer, in 2005 and now studies online marketing, full time and helps people develop INCOME SECURITY.

You can contact Kevin at 414-378-0950 or visit his site at http://www.kjmastaw.com .

AP - Keeping the economy front and center, President Barack Obama heads west this week to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill and tackle the home mortgage foreclosure crisis. The direct appeals for public support follow scant GOP backing in Congress for his agenda and increasing partisan bickering.

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A Good Forex Trading Course is a Must For All Beginners

It is no surprise to find that a growing number of people these days are keen to participate in the world's largest and most liquid financial market and a market which is essentially open for trading twenty-four hours a day. Many people have become very rich through trading in the forex market and it has allowed a lot of individuals to replace their day jobs and enjoy the comfort of working from home a few hours a week. It has also made quite a few millionaires!

Of course there are two sides to every coin and just as some people have found a very comfortable living with forex trading, there are also many people who have lost the shirt off their back. So, what separates the two? Well, there are many answers to this question but without doubt top of the list is good forex training.

If you enter the world of live forex trading without the necessary knowledge and skill then you are almost guaranteed to lose money. However, if you take the time to learn what you are doing before you start trading with your own hard earned money then you will go a very long way towards minimizing your risks and maximizing your earnings potential.

A good forex trading course will teach you everything you need to know about the various different tools available to you in trading, including the trading platforms available in the forex market and analysis and charting software. Most importantly, it will also tell you when to enter the market and when to exit it. In other words, when to buy and when to sell.

There are many different forex trading courses available today and you will need to pick the course which best suits you and your learning style. You could for example choose a crash course which will cover the basics in a very short space of time at one end of the scale or a full-time offline training course where you can learn first-hand from an experienced trader who will not only take you through all the basics, but will also cover many advanced aspects of trading and even sit down with you and take you by the hand through a series of paper trades.

For most people though a popular choice is an online training course which allows you to learn at your own pace using the medium which you will also be using for trading. Online trading courses vary widely from short introductory courses to extended in-depth training and again you can choose whichever suits you.

Yet another excellent, but under utilized, form of training is to apprentice yourself to a seasoned trader and mentor. For many people this represents the ultimate in training and, as with most things in life, there is no better way to learn than by looking over the shoulder of an expert and have that expert monitor and advise you as you practice the skills he is teaching. Of course it is not always easy to find the right mentor, but the time spent tracking down a suitable teacher will be well worth it.

Whatever form of training you choose the secret is take at least some training before you start trading and then to trade slowly and with relatively small sums of money until you have built up sufficient knowledge and developed your skills to a reasonably high level.

LearningForexTradingOnline.com is designed to assist beginners to learn forex and includes a growing base of information including a large number of current forex articles

Reuters - The Obama administration is hammering out a program to subsidize mortgages in a new front to fight the credit crisis, sources familiar with the plan told Reuters on Thursday, firing financial markets.

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5 Forex Trading Myths

1 - If I trade stocks successfully, I will make money in Forex

Despite the fact you are successful in the stock market, this does not imply that you'll be successful in the Forex market. There are a lot of differences between the stock market and the Forex market. First of all, the Forex market is open 24 hours a day. This requires a lot more complexity and work. As you know, you cannot be in front of your computer 24 hours a day. You'll have to figure out the best time periods to trade so that you can be successful.

Also, you need volatility. And here's another problem with the Forex market. There are periods of very high volatility and very low volatility. This difference is much higher in this market than on stocks.

You may think that as the Forex market is open 24 hours a day, you can day trade whenever you want. You just need to turn on your computer and there it is... a trade just for you. Well, that's not even close to the reality. This may happen from time to time but it's not frequent. You need to develop a good strategy.

The last point I need to focus is a real important one. If you want to trade Forex you need to find a good broker. Well, this isn't a simple task as in the stock market because this market is not regulated. This means that there are a lot of brokers that don't act in the best interest of their clients. Be ready to spend quite some time finding a solid broker that fits your needs.

2 - If the Forex market is open 24 hours a day, I can make a profit whenever I want

Well, not quite... As you know, to make a trade, a trader needs volatility. The volatility can appear anywhere within the 24 hours. As you cannot be in front of your computer all the time, this makes your work harder.

First of all, you need to figure out the best time to trade (where volatility usually appears) and you also need to adjust your strategy to this period.

3 - I don't have to pay commissions in the Forex market

You don't have to pay commissions but you have to pay the spread. The spread is the difference between the bid and the ask of the currency pair you want to trade.

Sometimes, these fees are not so cheap. If you plan to be day trading, you'll see a major part of your profits to be left for the broker.

4 - In order to be profitable in the Forex market, I need to predict what will happen

As Forex is a complex market, you need to constantly learn and evolve as a trader. This does not mean you have to predict; this means you have to react and react fast.

As a trader, you need to access charts but also need to access to all the information you can. The more information you have, the better your response will be when something, good or bad, happens in the market.

5 - I'll be more successful if I use a more complex strategy

This is clearly a myth. Simple things work better in life as well in Forex. If when you're defining your strategy you use 3 indicators, I bet most of the times there will be one that goes against the others.

Try do define a good but also a simple strategy.

John Baker is an editor at http://www.ForexTopTen.com By visiting the website http://www.forextopten.com you can read forex traders reviews about forex trading systems, trading courses, ebooks, softwares and brokers.

Reuters - General Motors Corp's product chief and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz will retire at the end of the year, bringing to a close a legendary automotive career that spanned 46 years and included top jobs at all three Detroit automakers.

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The Number One Forex Trading Strategy

The Number One Forex Trading Strategy is .. actually a combination of strategies. The truth is that there a number of ways to really do well on a consistent basis in the Forex market. instead of loading you up with some non-existent "holy grail," I would rather provide you with real, proven and reliable Forex trading strategy. Here is the plan:

First, get your trading head on straight. You would be shocked at how many traders come to the currency market with all sorts of distractions and issues in their heads. How on earth can you make a wise decision in this frame of mind. It is actually, a good idea to review some monetary current events and data along with some basic trading principles about a half-hour prior to actually trading. I know this sounds monotonous but trust me, it is what the winners do.

Second, use your technical analysis tools properly. Trade on the Forex market with proven technical indicators. I like to start off with the 200 day moving average. This is the standard by which the "big money" judges the worthiness or timeliness of currencies for trading against another. It is obviously not the end- all- be- all but it is a great place to start. I then move on to the indicators that show me if a currency is severely over bought or over sold. If this is the case and the currency lines up with the 200 day moving average then I start to become very interested. Here is an example: The dollar is trading above the 200 day moving average. It is severely over sold. Now I am very interested in confirming this. How?

Third, use a reliable Forex trading software program with proven results and a positive reputation. I need clear and reliable signals from my software program and if these line up with the aforementioned indicators than I am feeling confident and ready to gain some significant pips. By the way, I have provided a link below for an objective review of the three leading software programs, I think it will help.

This method I just laid out is not pie-in-the-sky but it is proven and will more than likely make a winner out of you on the Forex market.

Get an Objective Review of the Most Popular Forex Trading Software Programs. Number One Forex Trading Strategy is the place to visit.

See What Forex Trading Software REALLY Works! forex-trading-system-review.com is the place to visit.

Reuters - General Electric Co will evaluate its planned second-half dividend in light of the slumping global economy, the U.S. conglomerate said on Friday, leaving open the possibility of a cut in the payout.

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Pivot Point Trading- 7 Guidelines For Success

What do we mean by pivot point trading? It simply means that Forex traders take into account pivot points calculated from the previous day's trading range and use them as reference points to identify support and resistance levels.

Taking the high, low, close and open values of the previous day's price action, strategic levels can be identified which may or may not have an influence on price action. Pivot point trading puts emphasis on these levels, and uses them to guide entry and exit points for trades.

However, as with any technical indicator, there are limitations and pivot point trading, to be high probability, needs to stay within certain parameters. The following 7 guidelines can help pivot point trading be more profitable:

No. 1

Pivot points should not be used as a standalone indicator. Do not enter or exit trades purely on the basis of pivot points. Use them in conjunction with other indicators such as candle patterns, Fibonacci levels, MACD, and moving averages to identify and confirm key levels of support and resistance which may provide trading opportunities.

No. 2

While some traders living in various parts of the world may calculate their pivot points according to the time zone in which they live, a fairly safe standard for calculating the levels of pivot point trading is to use GMT (Greenwich Meantime).

Midnight GMT is a very quiet time in the market with very little volatility and provides a good opportunity to calculate more accurate pivot levels going from midnight GMT to midnight GMT the following day.

No. 3

It is good to understand what is going on behind the scenes when it comes to pivot point trading. Rather than just staring at candles on a chart, understand what they actually represent.

Thousands of traders around the world, some working for large institutions and handling millions or even billions of dollars worth of currency, are taking positions according to previously established highs and lows in the market.

Pivot points draw attention to these key levels which will often be strongly defended by traders who have a lot at stake. This is the reason pivot point trading can be so successful, once a trader understands underlying reasons for price action.

No. 4

It is good to calculate mid levels in addition to the S1, S2, R1, and R2 pivot levels. Sometimes there is a significant gap between these levels and calculating a mid point gives another point of reference. Price will often be seen respecting M1, M2, M3, or M4.

To calculate mid levels, simply subtract the level below from the level above and divide by 2. (see the resource box for a free pivot point calculator)

No. 5

Pivot point trading can be a useful strategy for entering and exiting trades at the right time. A pivot point can provide a key level of support or resistance where price is likely to bounce for a 10-20 pip profit.

Or in the case of a trend, price may retrace to a pivot level before continuing its run. The retracement point at the pivot level would be a good place to put an entry order to be taken in when price comes back to retest at the pivot level.

No. 6

The Euro - US dollar pair often puts in a daily average of between 75 and 100 pips. Watch for specific behavior around the time of the London market open. Price will often come back to test a level which is a pivot point and form a distinctive candle pattern such as tweezers, or a hanging man, and then reverse and go on its 75-100 pip run for the day.

If price comes back to the M1 level check your other indicators to see if they confirm this would be a good level to go long. Likewise, if price, just around London open, tests the M4 level, check your other indicators to see if this would be a good place to go short. You may be able to get a slice of the 75-100 pip run for the day.

No. 7

Pivot point trading helps mentally in establishing the buy zone and the sell zone. Traditionally, anything above the Central Pivot Point is a Sell area, and everything below the Central Pivot Point is a Buy area.

If you go contrary to that, make sure you double check your analysis and have very good reasons for doing otherwise.

Pivot point trading is just one of an arsenal of weapons available to Forex market participants. However, it must be stated that many successful traders use just a handful of tools that become their favorites. After all, too many indicators can lead to decision paralysis.

For many traders, pivot points are a key element in their overall trading strategy. Use the 7 guidelines above to use them safely and responsibly.

For a free pivot point calculator, Fibonacci calculator and the best free economic calendars click here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/tools.html

Click here to learn how to use another indicator, the 200 EMA, in a simple yet powerful way:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/200EMA-forex-strategy.htm

Do you know the important lesson Mohammed Ali teaches us about Forex trading? Read it here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/forex-online-trading-mohammed-ali.htm

Reuters - It might be possible to modify mark-to-market accounting rules for U.S. banks facing steep writedowns of troubled assets without abandoning the underlying accounting standard, a senior Senate Democrat said.

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Where Can I Find Good Penny Stocks to Invest In?

I had always been impressed with the tales I had heard about amateur investors somehow being able to pick the right stocks to invest in and grow their portfolios. In fact I was sick of hearing about friends picking killer stocks that rose 20% or 30% overnight making them huge amounts of profit.

This was a real problem for me until I discovered that their success was not really about their due diligence, any special research techniques or even the newspapers they were reading. What I did to turn my investing around was to use an automated stock picking software service to do the hard work for me.

I want to reveal this invaluable service to you right now. If you are looking to make some healthy returns from stocks then this could be the most informative article you read because the information I am about to disclose has the power to dramatically improve you wealth.

I used to spend hours and hours each week pouring over the financial press and the Internet researching potential stocks to invest in. I was using a combination of fundamental analysis (looking at the companys profits and balance sheet) and technical analysis (looking at price movement trends) and felt I was fairly competent with both despite my lack of results. Occasionally I would pick a winning stock however I would also pick bad ones and I never managed to significantly grow my portfolio of stocks.

What I found really difficult was when I did buy in to a good stock I did not know when to sell. I often found myself sitting on a 10% gain only to see it eroded away over the next few weeks. In a similar vain I was unsure when to buy in to a stock I thought offered value. All too often I would 'miss the boat' and spend my time working out how much money I would have made had I bought the stock.

I was introduced to the service by a close friend that worked in one of the large investment banks. He told me that for some years now the big banks have been using computers to select their trades. The benefit being the huge computational power they offer. He showed me the service and more importantly the profit and loss on his trading account. My trading has gone from strength to strength since that moment.

Now I use a automated stock picking service all of the hard work is done for me. I receive a weekly newsletter with my picks in. I then do some high level research to get some more background on the companies then simply invest when the suggested buy price is reached and sell at the proposed sell price. By doing this and spending just 2 hours per week on my trading I make roughly $5,000 per month more than I did when I was spending 15 hours per week researching the market by myself.

You too can use this stock picking system to your advantage. The service that I use to direct my stock investments can be found at this website: http://www.frogfinance.com/investing/investing_tools.php

This service has helped earn me thousands of dollars and has helped to change my life by helping me plan for my retirement as well as indulging in some luxuries now!

AP - Homebuyers could see lower mortgage rates and get tax credits as part of a sweeping economic stimulus package being considered on Capitol Hill.

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