There is a very big difference between trading and investing. Currency trading is not investing. It is considered speculation (like day trading stocks). Every portfolio requires a certain portion of speculation and investments. With the low minimum required ($2,500 for a standard account / $250 for a mini account) required to start trading currencies, online currency trading can be the perfect tool to deal with the speculative portion of any portfolio.

The approach that should be taken when investing and trading should be different. Investing requires the thorough fundamental analysis of a security to determine if it is attractive or not. For example, to increase the probability of making a good stock investment, an individual should try to buy that stock at a good price. In order to do that, the investor needs to determine if the current price of the stock in the market is attractive relative to the stocks intrinsic (real) value by studying the company’s financial statements, earnings trends, current and future business environment, quality of management, and many, many other factors. In making the investment, the investor is not concerned with what is going to happen to the price of the stock the next day, because investments are long-term in nature.

Speculation (like currency trading) is short-term in nature. An day trader buying euros versus the dollar is not trying to predict what is going to happen to the euro in the next 10 years. He is concerned with the price fluctuations after he enters a position. His goal is for the euro to appreciate in value as soon as possible after his purchase. In order increase his chances of trading successfully, a currency trader will study the past price history of the currency pair he is trading and compare it to the current prices to determine what the price is PROBABLY going to do next. This study of prices is called “technical analysis.” To learn more about technical analysis, read “Technical vs fundamental analysis in the currency market.” [In our free currency trading training, we teach our customers how to use technical analysis to trader currencies]. For speculation, trading currencies is a lot more advantageous than trading stocks because a lot less money is required to trader currencies and currency trading offers lower margin requirements and flexible trading hours (increasing leverage increases risk) [to see more advantages of currency trading, click here].

Although some claim that no speculation is profitable, this is far from the truth. The reason why many disagree with speculation is because of a misunderstanding of what speculation can be. Pure speculation is equivalent to going to Las Vegas and betting everything on the roulette table. This type of speculation will always lead to financial ruin. Most people think that all speculation is like this. Currency trading, on the other hand should not be approached as careless speculation. Traders should treats it as a business and dedicate the time to learn about it and get a lot of practice on a demo (simulator) before they even consider risking any of their real capital. Before a currency trader starts trading, he also needs to understand how the currency market works and how to operate his trading software. This is taught in our currency trading training.