What can happen playing the HIGH RISK game of foreign currency futures....!

Dien, I don't know a lot about FX futures but I'd really like to learn more. My husband and I are day traders, but we trade LEAPS (long term equity anticipation securities). For those not used to trading stock options, "I" think of a Leap as an option that buys me time or my insurance policy because of the time decay factor in buying stock options.

I can identify 100% with your friend's story about losing the $100K and learning from one's mistakes. We went through a similar situation two years ago when we started buying options. We were real green, and experienced pure beginners' luck when we bought our first contract in a very volatile stock, and were naieve enough to believe we could continue indefinitely to make in excess of 50% gains flipping options every few days. We were in heaven.

Then of course, we had a bear market for several months this year and we're biting our nails. Fortunately, with LEAPS, many expire in 02 and 03 but we do have some 01 options that may never be profitable by Jan.01.

So, we've been through a real roller coaster of ups and downs and have learnt a lot. But, often when anything comes easy for us, we become greedy. Nothing like learning from one's mistakes.

I am serious about knowing more about the FX futures market. It opened today at something like 90+ points, one of the highest days on record. Have no idea how long this momentum will be sustainable.

Regards,

Elizabeth

Thanks Elizabeth for your encouragement!

I'll try to write a nice article explaining what I learned about how it works.... :)

It does seem quite exciting.... The main excitement comes from the very small margins you need (around 3%-5%)....

That means you can have a VERY high amount of leverage! I'll write more about it in the post I'm writing... :)

What that means in normal language is that with just $3,000, you could be buying and selling FX futures contracts worth up to $100,000....

It's this huge leverage which leads to the VERY large potential gains or losses....

Dien Rice