Automated Forex Trading: Clever yet Effective Technology

Why Forex trading?

This is probably one of the questions that you need a reasonable answer. There are hundreds of investments out there that you can prefer, but why go trading foreign currencies instead?

Forex investment is unique in various aspects.

Its trading volume is relatively huge compared to other market.
It has extreme liquidity or the capability of either buying or selling the currency without causing significant movement in the market price.
It has the largest number and variety of traders.
It is one of the markets that have long trading hours (24 hours each day, except during weekends.
Trading locations are almost everywhere, not just in the United States or major cities of Europe.
There are different factors that affect foreign exchange rate.

Another whooping fact that will make you excited to go on Forex trading: it has an average turnover in traditional foreign exchange market of around $1.88 trillion daily, according to the Triennial Central Bank Survey of the BIS (Bank for International Settlements). Here are the daily averages of turnover on the Forex market for the last 17 years:

$500 billion (April 1989)
$750 billion (April 1992)
$1.18 trillion (April 1995)
$1.48 trillion (April 1998)
$1.16 trillion (April 2001)
$1.88 trillion (April 2004)

From the figures alone, you will notice that the average trend of Forex turnover is increasing. It is estimated to reach as high as 2 to 3 trillion dollars within the next 8 to 10 years, if the number of traders around the world will continue to increase. As a matter of fact, everyone have the chance of getting a substantial slice of the Forex market wealth pie, especially that the Forex trading marketing is now on its automation process.

The concept of automation becomes the new trend to the foreign exchange trading market. The Interbank spot Forex market has also considered switching to the automated method as well.

There are several benefits that a Forex trader can derive from automated Forex trading. Here are some of such benefits and figure out why Forex trading as well as other investments (futures and commodities) prefer the automated process.

Through automated process, transactions can now be done in real time. Although manual systems have existed for quite some time now, it is difficult to achieve such benefit that the automated Forex system can offer to its traders. All of the trades can happen within a few milliseconds and can be a big plus for automated transactions against the manual system. In fact, there are problems that are addressed using automated Forex trading especially if the trader is losing a few times in a row that prevents him from making new trades. Such problem could be addressed using the automatic trading system.

With automated Forex trading, you will have a greater diversification. It means that you can trade in various markets in different time zones at a time. You can execute trades with traders from Singapore or London even it is already 12 midnight in the United States. This benefit allows you a multiple exchange model option. You can use varying trading models to evaluate short-term data. This means that you will be able to predict the trend for a shorter period of time, let us say from fifteen minutes to half an hour.

As previously mentioned, the Forex market is unique because of its extreme liquidity. This liquidity is increased when the market goes automated.

Risk management problems are solved through automated Forex trading. International checks, which are commonly used in making purchases on Forex market, are synchronized through automated technology. Since the transaction in an automated process is now on real time, there is a slim chance that the payments will be delayed, reducing the risk of non-payment by either parties. Although there are problems noted with the use of the automated system, it can be fixed through consistently-updated technologies.

With automated Forex trading market, the prediction of $2-3 trillion average daily turnover within the nest 8 to 10 years can be changed within the next 4 to 5 years. Given the quick yet efficient trades on varying time zones, automated Forex trading will now be among the existing lucrative business around the world.

The history of the Indian capital markets and the stock market, in particular can be traced back to 1861 when the American Civil War began. The opening of the Suez Canal during the 1860s led to a tremendous increase in exports to the United Kingdom and United States. Several companies were formed during this period and many banks came to the fore to handle the finances relating to these trades. With many of these registered under the British Companies Act, the Stock Exchange, Mumbai, came into existence in 1875.

It was an unincorporated body of stockbrokers, which started doing business in the city under a banyan tree. Business was essentially confined to company owners and brokers, with very little interest evinced by the general public. There had been much fluctuation in the stock market on account of the American war and the battles in Europe. Sir Premchand Roychand remained a kingpin for many years.

Sir Phiroze Jeejeebhoy was another who dominated the stock market scene from 1946 to 1980. His word was law and he had a great deal of influence over both brokers and the government. He was a good regulator and many crises were averted due to his wisdom and practicality. The BSE building, icon of the Indian capital markets, is called P.J. Tower in his memory.

The planning process started in India in 1951, with importance being given to the formation of institutions and markets. The Securities Contract Regulation Act 1956 became the parent regulation after the Indian Contract Act 1872, a basic law to be followed by security markets in India. To regulate the issue of share prices, the Controller of Capital Issues Act (CCI) was passed in 1947.

The stock markets have had many turbulent times in the last 140 years of their existence. The imposition of wealth and expenditure tax in 1957 by Mr. T.T. Krishnamachari, the then finance minister, led to a huge fall in the markets. The dividend freeze and tax on bonus issues in 1958-59 also had a negative impact. War with China in 1962 was another memorably bad year, with the resultant shortages increasing prices all round. This led to a ban on forward trading in commodity markets in 1966, which was again a very bad period, together with the introduction of the Gold Control Act in 1963.

The markets have witnessed several golden times too. Retail investors began participating in the stock markets in a small way with the dilution of the FERA in 1978. Multinational companies, with operations in India, were forced to reduce foreign share holding to below a certain percentage, which led to a compulsory sale of shares or issuance of fresh stock. Indian investors, who applied for these shares, encountered a real lottery because those were the days when the CCI decided the price at which the shares could be issued. There was no free pricing and their formula was very conservative.

The next big boom and mass participation by retail investors happened in 1980, with the entry of Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani. Dhirubhai can be said to be the father of modern capital markets. The Reliance public issue and subsequent issues on various Reliance companies generated huge interest. The general public was so unfamiliar with share certificates that Dhirubhai is rumoured to have distributed them to educate people.

Mr. V.P. Singhs fiscal budget in 1984 was path-breaking for it started the era of liberalization. The removal of estate duty and reduction of taxes led to a swell in the new issue market and there was a deluge of companies in 1985. Mr. Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister came with a reform agenda in 1991 and this led to a resurgence of interest in the capital markets, only to be punctured by the Harshad Mehta scam in 1992. The mid-1990s saw a rise in leasing company shares, and hundreds of companies, mainly listed in Gujarat, and got listed in the BSE. The end-1990s saw the emergence of Ketan Parekh and the information, communication and entertainment companies came into the limelight. This period also coincided with the dotcom bubble in the US, with software companies being the most favoured stocks. There was a melt down in software stock in early 2000. Mr. P Chidambaram continued the liberalization and reform process, opening up of the companies, lifting taxes on long-term gains and introducing short-term turnover tax. The markets have recovered since then and we have witnessed a sustained rally that has taken the index over 13000.

Several systemic changes have taken place during the short history of modern capital markets. The setting up of the Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) in 1992 was a landmark development. It got its act together, obtained the requisite powers and became effective in early 2000. The setting up of the National Stock Exchange in 1984, the introduction of online trading in 1995, the establishment of the depository in 1996, trade guarantee funds and derivatives trading in 2000, have made the markets safer. The introduction of the Fraudulent Trade Practices Act, Prevention of Insider Trading Act, Takeover Code and Corporate Governance Norms, are major developments in the capital markets over the last few years that has made the markets attractive to foreign institutional investors.

This history shows us that retail investors are yet to play a substantial role in the market as long-term investors. Retail participation in India is very limited considering the overall savings of households. Investors who hold shares in limited companies and mutual fund units are about 20-30 million. Those who participated in secondary markets are 2-3 million.

Capital markets will change completely if they grow beyond the cities and stock exchange centers reach the Indian villages. Both SEBI and retail participants should be active in spreading market wisdom and empowering investors in planning their finances and understanding the markets.