For the layman, the foreign exchange market (or forex) may be something relegated to stock brokers at the top of skyscrapers, but with an estimated average daily turnover of $3.98 billion, and a multitude of ways to invest your hard earned money, it will soon seem like an old friend.

The wise trader has a plan in place before he or she gets into the Forex market. Codifying expectations can help the trader determine whether or not they are getting what they want out of the Forex market. With a pre-set goal, a well-prepared trader can better determine if their efforts on Forex are effective or not.

When you begin to trade Forex, it is important that you have clear goals. You should understand your time frame for success and failure, as well as define what is success and failure in terms of financial gains and loses. If you understand your goals, your trading experience will be much cleaner and most likely more profitable.

When starting out in Forex, it’s best to stay close to home. The easiest culture to understand, and therefore the easiest currency to trade in, is Canadian. Since the Canadian dollar moves in similar trends to the American dollar but with fewer extremes, it makes a good low-risk investment currency.

If you don’t want to entrust your money to a managed forex account but also don’t have a lot of time to spend trading, try a computer program such as Trade Copier to help you. These types of programs allow you to program your strategy and then the computer takes over using the parameters you have set.

A great forex trading tip is to try using a demo account if you’re a beginner. Using a demo account can be great because it allows you to test the waters and you can familiarize yourself a little bit with the market. You also don’t have to risk your actual money.

Never trade when under the influence of drugs. Drug like alcohol can alter your mind set. In the short term, Forex trading is a high-risk, high-reward game, so loses can quickly spiral out of control if you are not fully alert when trading. The last then you want to do is wake up the next day and discover that you have just lost all the profit that you make last year.

To avoid making mistakes, you need to understand the difference between spot rates and forward rates. A spot rate represent the current value of a currency, and can go up or down several times within a couple of hours. Pay close attention to the general trends of a spot rate to predict a trend.

If you want to try forex to find out if it is for you or not, you should use internet-based deposits, such as, PayPal. Find a broker that lets you start with small amounts and offer an educational support. For instance, try out brokers such as Marketiva, Forexyard or Oanda.

While the foreign exchange market can be complicated sometimes, that complication holds untold rewards. There are fortunes to be made and broken on this massive exchange for global currency, and the one who can find the right investments can come out of it changed forever by new found financial security.