Market size and liquidity

The foreign exchange market is unique because ofits trading volume,the extreme liquidity of the market,the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,its geographical dispersion,its long trading hours: 24 hours a day (except on weekends),the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.According to the BIS,[1] average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets is estimated at $1,880 billion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:This $1.88 trillion in global foreign exchange market "traditional" turnover was broken down as follows:$621 billion in spot transactions$208 billion in outright forwards$944 billion in forex swaps$107 billion estimated gaps in reportingIn addition to "traditional" turnover, $1.26 trillion was traded in derivatives.Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).Average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totaled $2.7 trillion in April 2006 according to IFSL estimates based on semi-annual London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore Foreign Exchange Committee data. Overall turnover, including non-traditional foreign exchange derivatives and products traded on exchanges, averaged around $2.9 trillion a day. This was more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world’s equity markets. Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. [2]Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006. RPPThe ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually 0–3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $100,000.These spreads might not apply to retail customers at banks, which will routinely mark up the difference to say 1.2100 / 1.2300 for transfers, or say 1.2000 / 1.2400 for banknotes or travelers' checks. Spot prices at market makers vary, but on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (i.e. 0.0003). Competition has greatly increased with pip spreads shrinking on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips

The foreign exchange

(currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex and related markets currently is over US$ 3 trillion.[1] Retail traders (individuals) are a small fraction of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks, and are subject to forex scams.

IRA Managed Forex Trading and Currency Trading No Load Fund Roth IRA qualified Forex Currency Trading

Investing a percentage of an IRA in managed Forex trading and this foreign currency trading fund is a great opportunity to diversify and benefit from the superior liquidity that managed currency trading provides. Because we also offer advanced technological features, managed IRA Forex trading holders can invest in currency trading without the worry of a debit balance. To clarify, the trade station has a built-in protection feature that calculates margin in real-time and safeguards the client from ever owing money.

This IRA managed currency trading Forex trading fund invests in the simultaneous buying of one currency such as the Euro dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen, while selling for another. This market of exchange has more buyers and sellers and daily volume ($1.5 trillion) than any other in the world. Taking place in the major financial institutions and IRA qualified currency trading funds across the globe, foreign currency trading is open 24-hours a day. Foreign currency trading is quoted in pairs. In this managed IRA qualified currency trading fund the first listed currency is known as the base currency, while the second is called the counter or quote currency. Foreign currencies are quoted using five significant numbers, with the last placeholder called a point or a pip. The major foreign currency pairs traded by this IRA qualified currency trading managed program are the Euro dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen.


Margin deposit including Roth IRA managed Forex trading accounts are not a down payment on a purchase of equity as many perceive margins to be in the stock markets. Rather, the margin is a performance bond, or good faith deposit, to ensure against trading losses. The margin requirement allows managed IRA foreign currency traders to hold a position much larger than the account value.


In the event that your managed currency trading funds fall below margin requirements, the Dealing Desk will close all open positions. This prevents clients' managed IRA currency trading account from falling into a negative balance, even in a highly volatile, fast moving market, making Managed IRA currency trading is one of the most popular markets for speculation due to its enormous size, and liquidity. One aspect of managed IRA currency trading and Forex trading is the high degree of leverage available up to 100:1. Knowing that even seasoned traders suffer losses, speculation in Roth IRA currency trading and IRA managed Forex trading should only be conducted with risk capital funds that if lost will not significantly affect one's personal financial well being.

Managed IRA currency trading is not for everyone. This IRA managed foreign currency fund trades all major foreign currencies such as the Euro dollar, British pound, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar. IRA Managed Forex trading and IRA foreign currency trading is a challenging and potentially profitable opportunity for educated and experienced investors. However, before deciding to participate in this managed IRA Forex program's currency fund, the Forex market, managed Forex trading fund programs or any foreign currency managed fund, you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite for Forex trading. Most importantly, do not invest money in a managed IRA Forex fund you cannot afford to lose. More over, the leveraged nature of Managed IRA Forex trading and currency trading means that any market movement will have an equally proportional effect on your deposited funds. This may work against you as well as for you. The possibility exists that you could sustain a total loss of initial margin funds in your no load IRA Managed Forex trading and currency trading account. You should carefully consider the experience and background of the trading manager as well as the manner which you are charged commissions before you invest.

We provide free Forex quotes and free Forex charts are live and provided to all as a service of 4XDirect. Click any of the live Forex quotes for detailed fully customizable free Forex charts and technical studies. Due to the large amount of live free Forex quotes presented this page may take a up to a minuet to fully load. To create a chart click on the desired symbol and you will be redirected to the charting module. To use the free Forex charts click on any of the free Forex quotes. You can ad technical studies and change the time span of the free Forex charts. These are live Forex quotes and free Forex quotes.

This Managed Forex trading and currency trading program is both Roth and IRA qualified and there are no front or back loads in this program. The fund manager is compensated primarily on a percentage of profits from the prior highest end on month account value after adjusting for additions and withdrawals .

Facebook: $750 Mil in Hand Worth More than $2Bil in Sky" by Rad Dest Tug

It came up conversationally, but I believe I'm the only person at my company to have firsthand experience as a user of Facebook.com. It was kind of funny to have all these online advertising professionals asking me all about the website everybody used in college. Didn't they get the memo? I'm new. I should be asking the questions around here. The subject of Facebook.com is an interesting one that's worth a closer look.
Without question 2005 was the year of MySpace. Before Rupert Murdoch's $580 million social networking venture took the interactive world by storm, it's difficult to believe that even the most optimistic of the billionaire's lackeys would have predicted that new acquisition would more than quadruple its reach within a matter of months. With 23.5 billion page views by February, MySpace became the second most trafficked site on the Internet.
Murdoch's success naturally generated buying interest in anything deemed online social networking. One proposed deal in March 2006, was Viacom's unsuccessful $750 million bid for Facebook.com, the phenomenon started by wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg. After Facebook.com declined the offer, its founders pegged Facebook.com's worth at two billion dollars. Perhaps the brilliant sparks from MySpace's success has blinded Facebook.com to the flipside reality of Friendster's paradise lost. There's a real chance Facebook won't see an offer this generous again.
Facebook.com is essentially an online medium of communication for college students and high schoolers. For its valued reach Zuckerberg and his crew of Harvard dropouts (taking their cue from Bill Gates, no doubt) must be looking for Google-sized compensation, but the two billion dollar figure is arbitrary and difficult to justify. Perhaps Facebook is emboldened by their own wise decision in not selling to Yahoo for $15 million in 2004.
Zuckerberg was likely trying to establish a market value for his creation, not an unwise move on the face of things. However, Viacom's offer was not by any stretch of the imagination pocket change and the number of entities that can and will double the bid Facebook already got is finite.
Facebook's traffic numbers, as referenced on Alexa.com, during the last three months are not encouraging; that is, if the goal is to fish for more and greater buyout bids. The numbers actually have trended downward since March, anathema for enticing hyper bidding growth. These diminishing statistics can be at least partially attributed to the cyclical nature of the school year since Facebook, after all, is geared towards the college student. It doesn't matter how great the product is, it won't keep students from doing their own thing during summer vacation and this yearly dip is potentially damaging.
Seeing as how fast online fads can expand and contract in social networking as we've seen in its short time span, what if the numbers don't come back? What if something new pops up in two months that steals Facebook's thunder? (And, again, MySpace's success serves as good reason why this thunder is worth stealing.)
Facebook.com's success has also been marred with some controversy that could taint its popularity with students. At Syracuse University a flap over freedom of expression ensued when a Facebook.com group went overboard in critiquing a student teacher and ended up with expulsions from the class and social suspension before three students transferred. After Penn State's football team beat Ohio State this year students rushed the field and made a ruckus. Overwhelmed police made only two arrests that day, but later in the week they logged onto Facebook.com and, like Canadian Mounties who always get their man, got plenty of names and faces and photos from the info posted by students about their on-field shenanigans. Kids talk and these stories spread like wildfire, which may affect Facebook.com negatively - they can't control misuse of their product and the negative repercussions that come from it.
The future is promising for the social networking business space and I don't believe Facebook.com is doomed. Still, given the nature of short-lived and over-hyped dotcoms, Facebook may have reached their growth climax this school year, with possibility for expansion and success only contingent on acquisition. Time may not be on their side because as the pages of the calendar turn there will doubtlessly be new fads and trends that will threaten to make something else the "Next Big Thing" at Facebook.com's expense. The clock is ticking.