Have you ever wondered why forex trading leverage gets talked about so much?
If you have ever considered trading the Foreign Exchange market as a way of making some cash, you will have probably seen the word 'leverage' used at some point. It is something that most online brokerages advertise as a feature of their trading accounts, but what exactly is it?
The word 'leverage' refers to the ability to gain an advantage at little or no cost, and this is no different when used by Forex traders and brokers. In simple terms, leverage in Forex is the ability to trade large volumes of currency with only a small amount of money invested in that trade.
In Forex trading, leverage is used every day in trades worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each, and yet the traders only have to risk a fraction of the amount traded. The reason this is possible is because the brokers make it possible:
The brokers 'lend' traders the bulk of the money used to trade, because statistically 95% of the time the trader loses!
It simply makes good business sense for the brokers to allow trades to go ahead with only 1% of the value put up by the trader, because if such a trade then devalues by 1% it is immediately closed and the broker has made a profit from you on the spread.
Leverage is usually expressed by two numbers like this - 100:1. In this example you would be able to leverage your initial stake to the power of 100, so if you wanted to take a trade worth $100,000 you would only put forward $1000. This is a fairly typical example, although some brokers do offer higher leverage and 400:1 is not that uncommon.
Given that forex trading leverage enables individuals the ability to trade alongside large banks and financial institutions, it is no wonder that they are so popular. And because there is no risk involved for the broker lending the bulk of the capital, it is likely to be a popular tool for traders for a long while.
Where is the best place to get more information?
Learn more about forex trading strategies and leverage, and know the pitfalls the brokers try to hide!
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