Are you interested in trading currencies but don’t know the basics of Forex trading? This article is a great place to start for beginners. The focus is on the basic concepts of Forex and its many advantages. One of the best benefits of Forex is that it can be traded from anywhere in the world.
Most people don’t know the basics of Forex trading, and they always ask questions related to Forex trading. Basic concepts of Forex trading will help you to understand the basics of the Forex market and how the Forex market works.
What is algorithmic trading in the Forex market?
Algorithmic trading, also known as automated trading, algo-trading, or black-box trading, includes placing a deal using a computer program that adheres to a predetermined set of procedures (an algorithm). Theoretically, the deal can produce profits at a pace and frequency that are beyond the capabilities of a human trader.
It involves using algorithms to automatically enter and exit positions, balancing the book and optimizing portfolio risk. In the market, algo-trading refers primarily to high-frequency trading (HFT), one of the most popular branches of algorithmic trading in Forex traders.
What is high-frequency trading (HFT)?
HFT is a type of algorithmic trading that uses powerful computers to trade thousands of stocks and other financial instruments within seconds. The goal is to exploit small price moves in these assets before they’re reflected in the wider market, anticipating price movements with high accuracy.
The high accuracy and comparatively low transaction costs can make HFT trading financial giants such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup very profitable.
HFT was initially introduced as a way of making markets more efficient. However, it became a new way to generate profits in the commodity market. Due to the increasing profitability of HFT, it has become a major attraction for traders in the market.
What is the future of the Forex market?
Retail Forex trading has become a big business that will continue to grow and prosper. The growing number of Forex traders through the years shows great potential in the market. With that, more traders will start trading currencies all day long, either for investment or pleasure, which then generates huge amounts of money for the retail Forex companies, who are now beginning to do business worldwide.
With the current growth rate, it’s estimated that retail Forex trading will continue to grow rapidly in the upcoming years. Retail Forex trading has been a major player in the market for several decades now, and as such, it’s depended on other forms of retail for its growth and potential.
Forex brokers keep their eyes on the retail Forex market because they want to increase their share of this growing market. In Australia, retail Forex trading has more than doubled in the last decade. In the USA, this figure is even more spectacular. Many Australian forex brokers, as well as brokers from other countries, have now realized the potential of this market and are pumping millions of dollars into their marketing budgets to get in on the action.
Important takeaways about algorithmic trading:
– In this method, computer programming and financial markets are used to put trade precisely.
– This trading aims to remove emotions from transactions, provides the best possible deal execution, and instantly places orders to result in lower trading commissions.
– In common trading, people follow trends-based strategies, arbitrage strategies, mean reversion strategies and technical analysis.
– But algorithmic trading is carried out by trading volume (volume-weighted average price) or time (time-weighted average price).
– To start this type of trading, you must have a computer with a high-speed internet connection, computer programming knowledge and some currency trading knowledge.
Algorithmic trading in practice
For example, if a trader follows the tactics given below:
– When a stock’s 50-day moving average surpasses its 200-day moving average, buy 50 shares of the company.
– A moving average is a calculation that takes the average of previous data points to smooth out daily price volatility and identify trends.
– When the stock’s 50-day moving average drops below the 200-day moving average, sell any shares you still have.
– The strategy requires the trader to be in the market frequently and to sell or buy shares based on short-term stock trends.
Using the above two simple instructions, the computer software will automatically monitor the stock price (as well as the moving average indicators) and buy and sell when conditions meet. You don’t need to monitor or put orders manually as a trader.
Traders should use these trades as a toolbox since they can be tailored to fit their objectives and risk tolerance.
What are the benefits of algorithmic trading?
This kind of trading consists of the following benefits:
– Trades can be followed at the best possible prices.
– Easy to follow and implement, and it saves much time.
– Placing trade orders is quick and precise (there is a high chance of execution at the desired levels).
– To prevent material price movements, trades are executed immediately and at the proper time.
– It lowers transactional expenses.
– There is less possibility of human error when placing trades.
– To determine whether algorithmic trading is feasible, available historical and real-time data can be used for backtesting.
As we know, most Algo trading follows high-frequency trading (HFT), a means of sending and receiving orders quickly. This kind of trading has recently been very common because of its effectiveness as a trading technique.
The reason why traders apply this method is that, in most cases, it gives an upper hand to the trader who uses it. Compared to other methods, HFT is quicker, produces more profits, and saves the trader more time than manual trading.
The use of algorithms in trading and investing takes many different forms, including:
Mid to long-term investors or buy-side firms:
These traders utilize algorithmic trading to reduce the noise from their daily trading activities. Identifying the future market direction and potential capture points for a bigger swing enables the trader to allocate large amounts of capital to specific investments.
Short-term traders and sell-side participants:
These traders utilize algorithmic trading to leverage the size of their trades by buying and selling quickly. This is especially beneficial for the trader carrying out a high transaction volume.
Systemic traders:
They are also known as trend followers. These traders implement their proprietary algorithms. Because algorithmic trading is very powerful, it can be used by many companies and governments in their proprietary programs.
What is margin trading in Forex?
Margin trading is borrowing money from a broker to trade financial instruments. Let us assume that you need to trade with a currency pair but do not have enough capital to do it; you can ask your broker for a margin loan.
The broker will provide you with a loan, which you can use to trade and make profits. You can also use margin trading to increase your position size or to maintain a portfolio’s leverage.
Conclusion
Algorithmic trading plays an important role in placing trades, while a fundamental trader focuses on the overall market trends. There are so many ways to choose an algorithm, and it depends on the goals of a trader.
One factor that should be considered when choosing an algorithm is the speed at which it performs its tasks, which means that there are stronger algorithms for trades with shorter timescales.
