Forex online trading can be defined as currency speculation whereby one person trades one currency against another with the expectation of making a profit.
Profit is gained by buying a currency that gains value in a buying trade and selling a currency whose price falls in a sales business. Losses occur when the opposite occurs.
According to Silah Obegi - an expert in Forex automated trading and also a director at the Nairobi School of Forex, online Forex trading can serve as an investment vehicle to create a secondary income for most individuals. It can also be the main source to take it seriously as a full-time job.
"Forex can be compared to the stock/share market and you can equate a currency for a country to action for a company, the political situation of a country to the corporate governance of a company and the economic data of a country with financial statements for a company."
"Using this comparison, the Forex trading approach is partly identical to that of stock trading. A Forex trader can easily become a stock trader and vice versa, "says Silah."
Mr. Silah believes that there are different approaches to trading the Forex market that must be followed. They include:
Technical analysisThis is the most preferred approach by most traders. It consists of analyzing the past and recent behavior of the current price trend in order to predict where the price may evolve.
This trading approach encompasses various individual trading methods to detect trading opportunities.
Fundamental analysisThis type of approach involves the analysis of a country's inflows and outflows, which are generally influenced by the central bank's currency decisions, the geopolitical situation, and economic news and data.
When a country has strong monetary policies, a stable political situation, and positive economic news, its currency is likely to gain in value. The opposite is also true.
Automated tradingThis is also called algorithmic trading. This involves writing your trading ideas on a computer program called algorithm used to make trading decisions, in whole or in part, on your behalf.
A trader typically leases a cloud server with a hosting service provider, activates automated trading systems, and lets them trade on your behalf. When these systems detect a trading configuration, they execute a buy or sell transaction and manage it in accordance with established rules until it is closed with minimal to no human intervention.
Online Forex trades are regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers under the 2017 Rules on Capital Markets (online currency trading).
"Under the regulations,
foreign currency brokersmust maintain a minimum paid-up capital of between 30 and 50 million shillings, while portfolio managers are required to maintain a minimum paid-up capital of 10 million shillings, among other requirements."
Before embarking on Forex Trading, it is necessary to know Forex markets well, to know how to make analyzes using different approaches and to make profitable trading decisions.
The Nairobi School of Forex Trading, for example, offers value-added services for online currency trading in Kenya, including a comprehensive course for individual and institutional clients.
The Forex trading course provides beginners with the tools and skills needed to trade profitably, consistently and sustainably.
The directors have a combined experience of more than 20 years and they have trained more than 100 students in their offices and more than 1000 through seminars and hackathons in Nairobi.
Topics covered include introduction to Forex Trading, local and global Forex regulations, selecting a broker to meet your trading needs, navigating trading platforms, trading analysis (technical, fundamental and sentimental) ), automated trading, fund management, business plan among other topics.
"By the time our students graduate, they have already fully understood the Forex markets and know how to make informed and profitable trading decisions.
We have also developed more than 25 automated trading tools to complement the manual trading of our students, "explains Silah.
He adds that during the training period, students learn and practice demo accounts, which allows them to become familiar with real markets with virtual money.
However, there is usually a huge gap in the transition from demo trading to live to trade because of the emotional attachment associated with real money.
To bridge this gap, the school introduced learning and practice in real accounts of 50,000 shillings ($ 500) managed by Meta Capital Limited and EGM Securities.
Live practice accounts are opened with EGM Securities under Meta Capital and students receive login information to the accounts with which to practice.
"This will ensure that our training program becomes as efficient as possible and that our students know how to negotiate with real money at the end of the course," added Silah.
Kenya's capital markets regulator estimates that about 50,000 people, including brokers, brokers and fund managers, operate and primarily use offshore platforms that are not monitored by the Kenyan authorities.
Kenyans who have gained in-depth knowledge of technology are increasingly inclined to adopt new products, but this can expose Kenyan currency to volatility, money laundering or investor credibility.
In order to streamline online Forex in the country, capital market authorities stepped up their efforts last year to regulate the unlicensed broker sector.
Paul Muthaura, director of CMA, indicated that there are several natural and legal persons carrying on the business of foreign exchange broker or fund manager without the corresponding authorization of the Authority.
"The Authority will also take appropriate enforcement action against any person or entity illegally carrying out foreign exchange transactions online or collecting funds from customers in violation of the above regulatory provisions," Muthaura said.
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