This is a guest post by Forex Traders. Before opening a forex account, make sure you understand the risks!

The foreign exchange market or forex market can be an interesting way to invest money. Forex Trading occurs when an investor trades currencies from two different countries in the hopes of profiting from this exchange. An example of a foreign exchange transaction occurs when a person sells the Euro and buys the US dollar. These types of trades are usually completed via a broker or market maker.

That said, it was not until quite recently that individuals could trade currency as this type of trading was generally the domain of large banks, financial institutions, hedge funds and the very wealthy. Thankfully, the advent of the internet allowed everyday investors to take part in forex trading through the use of internet-based brokerage accounts.

With respect to currency itself, on a day-to-day basis, currencies rarely fluctuate over one cent – and these currency changes are largely based on supply and demand factors. Currency trading does come with plenty of risk as due to the availability of leverage. Leverage is a loan that is given to an investor from the broker that is in charge of that person’s forex account. In forex trading, this leverage is one of the highest that is available to investors.

As the forex market is highly liquid, forex investors can also take part in very large trades. In fact, in many cases, an investor can control $250,000 by putting down $2500 and borrowing the remainder of the cash from her or his foreign exchange broker. While an investor can make a significant amount of money when there is only a small favorable change in currency rates within an extremely short period of time, a person can stand to lose a tremendous amount of money if the currency decreases in value in that same short period of time as well. In the example mentioned above, an investor can stand to lose $250,000 even though he or she only originally invested $2500. However, despite this significant risk, many people engage in forex trading as the availability of leverage in currency trading is extremely appealing.

Moreover, many people are drawn to currency trading as the forex market is the only market that is available to people twenty-four hours a day. For instance, when a market closes in the United States, other markets in different parts of the world will just be opening for the day. Thus, traders can trade currency at various times throughout the day and night. As many people work during daytime hours, these types of investment hours can appeal to this demographic.

Investors are also drawn to forex trading as there is little capital required to start engaging in trades. Other people are drawn to forex as the one-click trading is simple and instantaneous. This feature is beneficial as investors can make trades as soon as they see an opportunity. Many online forex trading sites also offer charting tools that help traders to determine when they should exit or enter a certain trade.

However, when the foreign exchange market are compared to the equity market s, the risks involved with forex trading are indeed higher. As mentioned previously, losses can have a tremendous negative effect and in some cases due to the leverage involved, these losses can decrease most of the money in your brokerage account in mere minutes. This information is important to keep in mind as when news that may affect the value of currencies are released, experienced traders will react quickly which in turn can have an effect on the value of the currency that you, the beginner investor, is currently holding. Thus, it is important to evaluate the risks that are involved with the amount of leverage you are willing to take on. Conversely, when one invests in the equities market, the majority of the investors do not use leverage and thus the loss would be much less if the value of your investment moved against you.

While you do not need much capital to start trading on the forex market, this fact does not necessarily mean that you should begin to trade on the forex market with little capital. Often many beginner forex market traders fail due to a lack of capital.

Still interested in trading on the forex market despite the risks? Well, then you should understand that you must be both knowledgeable and disciplined when it comes to trading forex markets.

In fact, many professionals recommend that you spend months on a forex demo account before you begin to invest real money. After you are profitable on a consistent basis for a long period of time, then you should then start to invest real money.

Other experts suggest that you also determine your profit goals and loss boundaries ahead of time – and stick to these figures. Along similar lines, experts suggest that you should also set your stop losses to risk no greater than three to five percent of your total capital per trade – in order to ensure that all of your capital will never decrease in mere minutes.

Thus, while forex market trading can prove to be a profitable venture, it is important to be an educated investor if you decide to partake in this type of trading.

Disclosure: I like money more than I dislike forex accounts.

This is the second part of my Credit Series, where I explain the most important aspects of credit, credit reports, and credit scores. Each installment focuses on one factor influencing credit, tools to monitor and improve credit, or an explanation of a specific credit concept.

The most significant factor in your credit score is your payment history, which accounts for 35% of your score. This information can be found on your credit report and includes each of your credit accounts and details about how you have paid.

The payment history section of your credit report contains the following information:

• The name of the institution reporting the information. This is often a bank or credit card company.

• The date opened as well as the date of reporting.

• The type of account (revolving account, educational loan, auto loan, mortgage loan, etc.)

• The credit limit or loan amount and the highest amount ever charged on the credit account.

• The balance as of reporting and the amount past due (if any).

• The account status (current, past due, charge-off, etc.) and the monthly status for previous months.

• The terms of repayment (for loans) or “revolving” (for credit accounts)

• The Account number, which may be shortened or scrambled.

• The Adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgement, suits, liens, etc.), collection accounts, and delinquency accounts.

While FICO keeps secret how they score exactly, we do have some information about factors on the payment history section that affect your credit score. The more recent your transgression, the more your score will suffer. Negative information can stay on your report for up to 7 years and could have a serious negative impact on your credit score.

In order to earn the maximum number of points in this category, you must make all payments on time and avoid collections or public information from appearing on your account.

Originally posted 2009-12-08 09:00:18.

As you may have guessed, I am crazy about negotiation stories. I like hearing people who helped themselves, I like knowing that people can get a better price without sacrificing anything and in the end of the day, it comes down to one thing:

I like helping people save money.

So, today I have a perfect example of how to negotiate.

I’m a regular person. I don’t have any secrets, I don’t think I’m naturally charming, and I’m not the kind of person who just runs into luck at every corner. I’m normal, just like you.

On Thursday, I went to sign a lease on a new apartment. Everything was pretty straightforward: $1,500 monthly rent (combined with my roommate), with all utilities included. I would move in August 1st, and I expected it to be a quick process of signing some papers.

We checked out the apartment to make sure there weren’t any surprises. Everything looked the way I wanted. THere were a few minor issues that needed to be taken care of, but there was a week left before the move in date, so I wasn’t worried.

The leasing agent wanted to go through the paperwork with me, which I thought was a waste of time, and for the most part, I just listened as he told me that we shouldn’t break down any walls, leave the place trashed, or start a retail business out of our apartment. Pretty basic.

Then he got to the utilities portion, which showed that all utilities were included – except for electricity. I told him that when I spoke to Stephanie, who showed us the apartment, she said that all utilities were included. Marc, the leasing agent, said that they don’t do that for any of their properties.

Then we had an awkward silence. I sat there, contemplating my next move. I was stuck in a corner. Paying for electricity wouldn’t be the best thing because I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I didn’t really have many options.

I stared at the piece of paper a bit longer. It had maybe been 15-20 seconds since either of us had said anything. And apparently that was enough for Marc to break the silence.

“I can’t pay that for you because the bill goes straight to you, but I can give you half off the 2nd month’s rent.”

Um, hell yah! Are you kidding me? $750 back? We know some other people who live in that building and their electricity bills average around $30 per month.

So $750 comes out to $62.50 a month, meaning we’ll actually be saving money on this miscommunication.

I didn’t even ask. I just sat there. And I saved nearly $400. That is pretty damn awesome.

So the next time you’re in a tight spot and aren’t sure where to take the negotiations, try waiting for the other person to make the first move. Just because I was in a tight spot doesn’t mean the other party wanted to sit in awkward silence any more.

Happy bargaining!