Im a New Zealander based in Tokyo, Japan working at a large, reputable Forex Company. My question to you is ; what would be the best way to go about finding potential investers for the Forex Market. As I know, and im sure alot of you do, its a great market to invest in, especially with the right analysis. In your opinion what is holding people back from investing in Forex?
I would love to hear your opinions.

Hi


With regards to your previous discussion from my point of view it would be lack of understanding and how to go about it. Could you direct me to a site that may make this more understandable. I am looking for a investment idea.

Best regards

Jason

Sheer risk and volatility. Forex is closer to straight gambling than traditional investing.

I mean, let's face it, if it was such an easy market to play, you wouldn't even need to ask the question because you would be so busy making money for yourself, that you wouldn't even need to joins forums to bring in clients - to pay you to risk their money.

The big problem with forex is that it's a zero sum game - you only make money when other people lose theirs - plus leverage can really exaggerate those losses.

Makes even normal stocks and shares look safe, because at least when stocks go up, everybody wins (unless you've been shorting, but you're back to gambling again. ).

The biggest people that puts people off Forex, is people that have done it before.

Like Brian said, anyone with a standard income in the UK can go and get a £25,000 unsecured loan, over 10 years, play the market for a few years successfully with that, and you laughing.

The fact of the matter is people don't have the faith in Forex to go and do the above themselves.

I've tried trading on Demo, and made a bit, lost a bit, nothing big enough to make me want to risk my hard earned...

May I say some words
I have been trading forex from some time and Brian and Grant Draper have some good points there. In forex you have risk and volatility to deal with, in order to obtain profits. And some people said is a zero sum market, you make profit when some else loses money, but I want to put something on the table here. In the forex market is all about who is better broker than others, who can put the hand in the fire to pull out the stake and who cannot even think about take some risk, and most of all who can interpret the way the market is moving and act consciously and without hesitate toward that direction. Is all about that. I don't think that forex is gambling. You can really gamble if you think that forex is just buy and sell currencies and wait that some mighty force will move the market the way you expect. There is for example the case of George Soros, who broke out the bank of England, you think that's gambling? No one break a bank position with gambling, you need to know what are you doing, and put all your energy to succeed.
But many people try forex without knowing nothing about it, or just for "gambling" with some coins, and usually they lose the coins and more.
Regarding the stocks and shares, yes you can say that those are more secure because the movement is more slow and if you have a very diversified portfolio you will not suffer when some stocks or shares drops. But what is happening with the markets today, with the sub prime crisis, the oil prices going to records, and the macroeconomics indicators usually in red numbers? Of course if you have 10 million dollars you can afford to put some in the stock markets or in shares, but if you not, you should really think about it. On the contrary in the forex market you can always make profits whether the movement of the currency, appreciating or devaluating, because you can buy or sell accordingly to that movement.
It's true that in forex the leverage can exaggerate the loses, but it can also exaggerate the profits. No one likes to have loses, and that applies to every single investment. If you are a wheat producer and the weather is mean to you, you will suffer loses, you can control or know how the weather would be? No. In forex if you set yourself a trade plan and you set also the loses you will be capable to handle, then you'll have fullfilled one of the firsts steps of becoming a good trader. And you will have one when the profit trades are above the lose ones, and that's a fact. Anything else is gambling as Brian and Grant Draper said.
Thanks for the time

I've actually been a member on a Forex forum for around 2 years, i know how it works, i could probably trade tomorrow at a profit, but not enough to risk my money.

I'm just trying to say, i've looked at Forex, it's a good market to play, but not an easy one, and not one that i have enough knowledge of to trade.

I think if use a selected few technical and Fundemental analysis strategies, then you can be fairly successfull, but the main thing is knowing whether to stick to your original plan, cut your losses, take profit, etc.

That's what I am saying Grant Draper.
Of course forex is risky, but my point is that is not more risky than other investments or even stocks. With every single investment you make, you need to set yourself a risk management plan in order to ensure your goal. Is about make your plan and stick to it. Set your risk limits, cut loses and take profits. Much of the forex traders that have more loses than profits make the same old mistake, if they are having loses in a position they keep it in hold hoping that it will return to their profit goal, and they keep waiting and waiting until the loss is too big, and then panic is in the head and not cold mind. If you set yourself a plan, and you are having loses rethink your plan and if you confirm your analysis then its done, wait until your risk limit and if it reach it then cut and take the loss, no one likes loses, but then the only thing you should do is keep trading, because if you not trade then you don't have opportunities to cover your loss. if you trade you will have always opportunities to make profit, and every professional trader will tell the same.
A forex trader will always have loses, because we're not god, we cannot predict 100% for sure were the currency is going to move and no one can't, but remember, the best trader is the one whose profits trades are more or above than the loses trades.
Anyway thanks for your remarks

Indeed, the point about research rather than gambling for gambling sake is a good one to make - too often people new to investing focus on potential benefits, rather than potential risks, so they fail to develop an intelligent and researched strategy in the first place.

2c.

I think forex, like any market if played correctly, is based on analysis. Leverage, employed by all traders in that market is what makes it risky. If you were buying shares on a 100:1 leverage basis you have a similar risk.

I would respectfully disagree that share trading is a not a zero sum gain as someone had to sell, be it an investor, market maker or issuer to create liquidity for you to buy.

I do agree, however, that people with little experience of trading should be very, very wary of investing on leverage in forex, futures or whatever as a trade gone wrong can be crippling.

Brokers who 'advise' on forex trades can be easily sifted out. I don't trade forex, but if I did I would want to have back dated research to see what calls they have made... it would be fairly easy to tell who is good and who isn't.

There does seem to be a lot of private investors dipping their toes in the forex market.. as trader of 15 years I rarely put on a forex trade (unless it is some sort of hedge), why private investors believe they can beat the professionals is beyond me. Having said that, following good research is no crime.