Using the Crosses
It is of utmost importance for individual/retail traders to find the best currency pair to trade. As a retail trader, you will only have $1,000 to $10,000 in your trading account. For you, opportunity cost is a real cost as an individual trader. If you commit your funds to anyone currency pair, those funds cannot be used in other possibly more profitable trades in other currency pairs.
In forex trading, almost every currency pair is linked to another, one way or the other. As an individual/retail trader, if you only trade USD, you risk missing promising trades and opportunities offered by other currency pairs especially the crosses.
Most of the trading is done through the direct buying/selling of US dollar. You should always keep an eye on the crosses in order to gauge the strength/weaknesses of a currency. This will tell you which currency pair is the best to trade.
What are the crosses, you may ask? Currency pairs that do not involve the dollar are known as Crosses such as EUR/AUD, CHF/GBP, EUR/JPY, EUR/GBP etc. Almost 90% of the currency pairs that are actively traded in the forex markets involve the US dollar. In simple terms, over 90% of the all the currency trades have US Dollar on one side of the trade. So what is so special about a cross?
Lets make it clear with a simple example. A good method to trade stocks is from big to small. Suppose, you think that the stock market is rebounding and is expected to rise in the near future. You have limited funds at your disposal as an individual/retail investor; so you should choose the best stocks that can give you good ROI.
It would be advisable to look at the sector specific indices and find the most promising sector. From there, you would look within the index and find the most promising companies that are expected to perform well over the coming months. This big to small thinking is very solid and you need to think in the same fashion while trading forex.
Cross movements should never be overlooked as they can often hide the footsteps of large players. For example, a major investor may be bullish on Euro due to some fundamental reasons. He may try to fly under the radar and buy Euros against Pound Sterling, Swiss Francs, and Yen etc.
Crosses are extremely important to swing or momentum traders! They are used as forecasting tools to predict which currencies lead the pack. Ignore the crosses and you will be often stuck with currency pairs that do not move much.
Limited funds in your account means you should always try to choose the currency pair that is expected to move the most. But, how exactly can you come to a reasonable conclusion? By taking a look at the crosses!
Cross movements sometimes work to amplify the move of a major currency pair or sometimes these movements minimize the effects. For example, in EUR/USD currency pair, if Euro is dropping against USD but rising against the GBP also called Cable, the net effect would be to limit the size of the EUR/USD fall. If ERU/GBP is rising, it is an indication that the Euro is outperforming the British Pound.
Limited funds means you need to choose the best currency pair? Any EUR/USD selling pressure is likely to be offset by the buying pressure of EUR/GBP. GBP/USD sales are likely to be amplified by the cross sales EUR/GBP.
Since, EUR/GBP is rising; it is a better bet to short Pound instead of Euro. This means you should choose the pair GBP/USD. If we had randomly picked one of the two currency pairs for shorting, we may have missed a great trade. - 23200
In forex trading, almost every currency pair is linked to another, one way or the other. As an individual/retail trader, if you only trade USD, you risk missing promising trades and opportunities offered by other currency pairs especially the crosses.
Most of the trading is done through the direct buying/selling of US dollar. You should always keep an eye on the crosses in order to gauge the strength/weaknesses of a currency. This will tell you which currency pair is the best to trade.
What are the crosses, you may ask? Currency pairs that do not involve the dollar are known as Crosses such as EUR/AUD, CHF/GBP, EUR/JPY, EUR/GBP etc. Almost 90% of the currency pairs that are actively traded in the forex markets involve the US dollar. In simple terms, over 90% of the all the currency trades have US Dollar on one side of the trade. So what is so special about a cross?
Lets make it clear with a simple example. A good method to trade stocks is from big to small. Suppose, you think that the stock market is rebounding and is expected to rise in the near future. You have limited funds at your disposal as an individual/retail investor; so you should choose the best stocks that can give you good ROI.
It would be advisable to look at the sector specific indices and find the most promising sector. From there, you would look within the index and find the most promising companies that are expected to perform well over the coming months. This big to small thinking is very solid and you need to think in the same fashion while trading forex.
Cross movements should never be overlooked as they can often hide the footsteps of large players. For example, a major investor may be bullish on Euro due to some fundamental reasons. He may try to fly under the radar and buy Euros against Pound Sterling, Swiss Francs, and Yen etc.
Crosses are extremely important to swing or momentum traders! They are used as forecasting tools to predict which currencies lead the pack. Ignore the crosses and you will be often stuck with currency pairs that do not move much.
Limited funds in your account means you should always try to choose the currency pair that is expected to move the most. But, how exactly can you come to a reasonable conclusion? By taking a look at the crosses!
Cross movements sometimes work to amplify the move of a major currency pair or sometimes these movements minimize the effects. For example, in EUR/USD currency pair, if Euro is dropping against USD but rising against the GBP also called Cable, the net effect would be to limit the size of the EUR/USD fall. If ERU/GBP is rising, it is an indication that the Euro is outperforming the British Pound.
Limited funds means you need to choose the best currency pair? Any EUR/USD selling pressure is likely to be offset by the buying pressure of EUR/GBP. GBP/USD sales are likely to be amplified by the cross sales EUR/GBP.
Since, EUR/GBP is rising; it is a better bet to short Pound instead of Euro. This means you should choose the pair GBP/USD. If we had randomly picked one of the two currency pairs for shorting, we may have missed a great trade. - 23200
About the Author:
Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading and swing trading stocks and currencies. Learn Forex Nitty Gritty. Read about Trend Forex System. Try Netpicks Forex Signal Service.
posted by X - Men @ 5:17 AM
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