If you are going to day trade, then you are obviously going to be following the markets using one of the many brands of Forex trading software. During the week, when the markets run 24 hours a day, Forex trading software enables you to see how the Yen, Dollar, Rupee, and Ruble compare at your own time and leisure. It is important to have a computer with enough memory and a fast broadband internet connection to ensure a pleasurable and efficient Forex experience. Forex trading software is provided by the online Forex brokerage house. As a result your Forex trading software depends on your brokerage. With the software client can place orders, monitor their positions, and trade online. Obviously, the features provided in the Forex trading software depends on the different brokerage houses. Many investors however use additional software, sometimes referred to as front end. Front end is often more user friendly than the software provided by brokerage houses, with a different display and features like automatic target and stop loss orders. Here we have good opportunity to delve further into what we actually see on Forex. The market maker, aka, large international banks, provide the market with bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices for currencies. This where the bid/ask spread comes into play. It is the difference between the price at which the bank will sell and buy from a customer. The spread for most actively traded pairs of currencies is usually only 0-3 pips. And what's a pip?!? A pip is a very important term in Forex. It is a price move used in trading and stands for percentage in point. It is the smallest measure – regardless of the actual fractural value of the currency. So 1.5000 to 1.5010 is the same move in pips as 120.00 to 120.10.
