In the modern world of advanced technologies, stock brokers are becoming increasingly cheap. However, cheap doesn’t mean the same. Here are some of the more popular brokerages and what they charge.

The reason why many people are looking at OptionsHouse is due to its cheap stock trades. If you are looking for a trading platform that works and is cheap, look no further.

If you don’t mind the bad publicity and the fact that they might change the rules again, Zecco isn’t a bad choice. Currently, they still offer free stock trades for those that have $25,000 in assets or trade 25 times a month.

OptionsXpress must be making a lot of money off customers because their trading commissions are highest of the bunch. It’s $14.95 for most people and $12.95 for high volume traders. Pretty expensive right?

Wells Trade is one of the stock brokers I use because they provide 100 free trades. It’s easy to sign up for an account if you are already a Wells Fargo customer and I like the fact that you can transfer assets around easily.

One of the best discount broker is TradeKing, because of its amazing customer support. Their $4.95 a trade made headlines back in the days and continue to be one of the best options out there.

Etrade was once the best broker out there but with many cheaper alternative and its mortgage troubles, the company isn’t the powerhouse that it once was.

Scottrade offers seven dollar trades, which isn’t bad but not the cheapest. However, their customer support is second to none and they also have the most branches nationwide. In addition, they are the cheapest option that offers face to face interaction.

TradeMonster is new and worth a look because of their ties to OptionsMonster. The celebrity endorsement of the Najarian Boys is reason enough to take a look.

The highest end stock broker in this list is Charles Schwab. While stock trades are $12.99, they do offer a 2% cash back credit card which makes up for some of the stock commissions.

I don’t really like TD Ameritrade but it works fine. Their stock commissions are $9.99 a trade and they have no hidden fees to boot. This option is fine, but it’s not one I recommend.

Netflix coupon is not really a stock broker but with the money you will be saving with these discount brokers, you may want to use it for some great DVDs.

Suppose you have the data for the currency correlations of the major pairs. The correlation between GBP/USD and EUR/USD is 0.68. It means that both the pairs move in the same direction 68% of the time.

USD/CHF and EUR/USD have a correlation coefficient of -0.975. This is pretty close to (-1). It means both these pairs move in the opposite direction almost all the time. To be precise 97.5% of the time if USD/CHF moves up, the pair EUR/USD will move down!

You have this information. It tells you how much these pairs move in the same or opposite directions. Suppose you trade both the pairs USD/CHF and EUR/USD by going long at the same time. What you will be doing is in fact canceling both the positions.

If you win on USD/CHF pair, you will lose on EUR/USD pair. Due to the negative correlation between the two pairs, the two trades would effectively cancel each other. A savvy investor would go long on USD/CHF. At the same time he/she will go short on EUR/USD. So he/she will be shorting USD in both the trades and diversifying the USD bearish investment.

You can make trade entry and exit decisions based on currency correlations. Suppose GBP/USD starts showing volatility and approaches a resistance level. You anticipate going long on a breakout.

However, you notice that the other three pairs are not moving as much as the GBP/USD. EUR/USD is not moving up. USD/CHF is not moving down. USD/JPY is not moving down. This means that the move in GBP/USD is solely pound driven related to some news in the British economy.

You know now that the move in GBP/USD pair is GBP driven. The move is not US Dollar driven. You have isolated the cause of movement in GBP/USD pair and can take advantage of this information. Ignore the GBP driven move. Dont enter into any trade. Wait for a later opportunity. An opportunity that involves simultaneous correlated moves of all the major pairs!

Lets take another example. Suppose you have taken a short position on EUR/USD pair. You want to be sure whether the pair will proceed down towards your profit target. You also want to know can it go against you and cause you to exit the trade with a small loss.

Your EUR/USD is heading towards M1 level after having broken the S1 support pivot level. You should take a look at the pair EUR/GBP. You find that it has paused at its S1 support pivot level. It is showing signs of reversing to the upside.

In this type of a situation, knowledge of currency correlations can tell you if EUR/GBP breaks through the S1 level, you are poised for a profitable trade. However, if it reverses and heads back to the upside, you should watch the indicators and exit before taking a big loss. As you mature in forex trading, you might consider trading a basket of all the major currencies.

You should learn to day trade forex. But before you embark on your journey of forex trading, I want to make a few facts very clear. These facts should be the foundation of any forex trading system that you develop and use daily for trading.

The first most important fact that you need to understand is that forex is not a get rich quick scheme. Skilled traders can and in fact do make money in forex trading however like any other occupation or career, success just doesnt happen overnight. Use this great formula for success: Practice+Patience+Persistence=Profits.

You should know that there is no substitute for hard work and diligence. Practice trading on a demo account. Pretend that virtual money is your own real money when you trade on the demo account. Do not open a live trading account until you become profitable on your demo account. Double you account first demo trading. You can only be successful if you stick to a system and a plan.

When you start trading forex, just choose two major currency pairs that you will trade in the start. It will become very difficult to keep tab on the all major currency pairs in the beginning. You should start with a major currency pair. The spread on the major pairs is the best and they are the most liquid. EURUSD pair is the most commonly traded pair in the currency markets and usually has the best spread because of its liquidity.

The USD/CHF is the most volatile and moves the most during the trading week. The USD/JPY moves a lot on the news out of Japan. GBP/USD is the most stable of the above three pair.

You should follow and understand the daily forex news and analysis of the professional currency analyst on a daily basis. It is important for you to get a birds eye view of the currency markets. You should also know and understand what the key technical support and resistance levels are in the currency pair that you want to trade. You should know the news that affects the prices of the major pair that you want to trade.

Support is the price level when there are more buyers than sellers. It is at this point the currency pair price action moves up on the charts. You should buy at the support level. Resistance is the price level when sellers jump into the market and overcome the buying pressure. It is where the currency pair price action moves down on the charts. You should sell on the resistance level.

Fortunately for you, all the best forex news and analysis is available freely online. Most of the brokers provide this information on daily basis. You can also go to forexnews.com and get 24 hrs news and analysis on the spot forex market. When you read the technical news and analysis, write down on a piece of paper the direction the analyst are saying about the currency pair you are trading and the key support and resistance level for that pair.

Learn how to use technical indicators and always trade with stop losses. It is worth your time to be patient and learn how to use technical indicators on the charts that you will be reading shortly.

Learn to be disciplined when you are trading. Avoid emotions in trading! Stick to a good system and a plan. Depending on your risk appetite and strategy, set your stop losses accordingly when you trade. Try not to trade your gut feeling.