Advantages of Forex Trading over Stocks

Advantage	Forex Market	Stock Market
Trade Around the Clock	Yes	Limited
Pay No Commissions	Yes	Limited
Market Information Easily Available	Yes	Yes

Trade Around the Clock

The forex market is a near-seamless 24-hour market. Subject to available liquidity, FXCM offers forex trading from Sunday, starting after 5:15 p.m. ET, until Friday, 4:55 p.m., ET (FXCM Client Service is available 24/7). Orders placed prior may be filled until 5 PM (ET). With the ability to trade around the clock, currency traders have the advantage of customizing their own trading schedule; they can usually get in or out of the market at any time without waiting for an opening bell or encountering a market gap. While trading stocks after usual market hours is possible, very often that possibility is negated by a lack of order flow or a drastic widening of the bid-ask spread.

Pay No Commissions

In the forex market costs are generally confined to the bid-ask spread. FXCM charges no commission and is compensated through a mark-upwhich is added to the spread it receives from its liquidity providers§ via the FX Trading Station.

Forex Market Information Easily Accessible

Information about stocks is abundant, but so are the stocks. Finding a trade opportunity in the equities markets may mean sifting through data on thousands of stocks, while the forex trader has only six major currencies to research. Additionally, the vital information that moves equity markets, such as revenues and profits, is proprietary and private, and sometimes subject to fraud, deception and insider trading. In contrast, virtually all of the news that bears on the forex market is in publicly disseminated reports from governments or research institutions, and released to everybody at the same time.
We feel that the knowledge you've gained in analyzing stocks can easily be transferred to the forex market. Many of the economic indicators familiar to equity traders, such as payroll data and interest rates, affect the currency markets. And many technical traders have found the forex market to be particularly attractive, since currencies respond well to many of the common technical indicators, such as MACD, RSI, and Candlestick charting.

Forex Trading is a High Risk Investment

Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with foreign exchange trading, and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.