Here are just a few reasons why, so many are choosing this opportunity:

Forex is A 24-hour market. There is no waiting for the starting bell - from Sunday nightfall to Friday daylight EST, the Forex market never stops. This is great for those who want to trade on a part-time basis, because you can decide when you want to trade–morning, noon or night.

No Fees. No clearing fees, no exchange fees, no government fees, no brokerage fees, no withdrawal fees. Forex brokers are compensated for their services through something called the bid-ask spread, essentially a commission. This commission is several times less than stock exchange market commissions (read below)!

No fixed lot sizes. In the futures markets, for example the contracts are defined by the exchanges. A standard-size contract for silver futures is 5000 ounces. In spot Forex, you specify your own lot size.

This allows investors to join in on this opportunity with deposits as low as $250.

Low transaction costs. The retail transaction cost (the bid/ask spread) is typically less than 0.1% in natural market conditions. At superior dealers, the spread could be as low as .07% (percent). This depends on your account settings and all will be explained later.

No insider trading. It is impossible to corner the market. The global currency market (Forex) is so vast and has so many participants that no specific entity (not even a central bank) can command the market charge for a significant period of time.

Leverage. In Forex trading, a small margin position can command a much bigger interbank position. Leverage gives the seller the ability to make those substantial profits, and at the same time keep exposed wealth to the minimum. For example, Forex brokers recommend 200 to 1 weight, which means that a $50 cash margin deposit would allow a trader to buy or sell a $10,000 contract. Similarly, with $500 dollars, one could trade with $100,000 dollars and so on. However, this kind of power is a double-edged sword. Without proper risk management, this high gradation of leverage can result not only in large gains but large losses as well.

High Liquidity. Because the Forex Market is so vast, it is also extremely liquid. This means that under normal market conditions, with a click of a mouse you can instantaneously buy and sell at will. Similarly, you are never left in a situation when you are unable to close a trade.

Free Demo Accounts. Most online Forex brokers provide demo accounts for beginner traders to practice trading, along with streaming Forex news and charting and trading software. All free! These are very valuable resources for SMART traders who would like to hone their trading skills with free ‘play’ funds before opening a live trading account and starting trading with real money.

Free Trading Software. As mentioned earlier all brokers provide you with trading and charting software, usually free of charge. The software allows you to open and close trades in real time, with a click of a mouse! You can even configure your online trading platform automatically to close your position at your decided Take Profit level and/or close your trade if it is going against you (a stop loss order).

Mini and Micro Trading. You would think that starting out as a currency trader would require a lot of investment. The reality is, compared to trading stocks, options or futures, it does not. Online Forex provide “mini” and “micro” trading accounts, some with a minimum account deposit of $300 or less. This is not to say that you should open an account with the bare minimum but it does make Forex much more accessible to the average individual who does not have a lot of initial investment.

Despite all these advantages trading the Forex is not an easy task and should never be taken light-mindedly especially by new forex traders. The promise of great returns can quickly turn into a reality of frustration and losses if you enter this market unprepared.

In our next article we will show you the best way to prepare yourself and will also look at two of the best forex trading tools available on the market: the Forex Killer System and the Forex Tracer. Automated trading software becomes more and more popular, with certain analysts predicting over 50% of all trades to be executed by trading robots by 2010 and anyone intending to make money in Forex should seriously consider using these tools, which are becoming more and more intelligent, while at the same time dropping in price. Just a few years ago an automated trading system like the Forex-Killer or Forex Tracer could cost in the order of several thousand dollars! Compare this with under $100 for either system today and not taking advantage of an automated trading robot makes absolutely no sense.

Although best known for it’s powerful graphics computers and supercomputers, Silicon Graphics regularly produces related pieces of high technology. Back in 1998, Silicon Graphics gave the display industry a wake up call by launching the ground breaking 1600SW display.

The SGI 1600SW is a LCD display with a resolution of 1600×1024. It was, and remains, the only display to offer a full 16:10 aspect ratio, allowing exact work for computer effects artists, as well as being able to display two A4 pages of text side by side. The 1600SW won several awards for it’s innovative design, and the display’s brightness and high resolution still places it at the top end of display design, over 10 years later.

The display used the all digital OpenLDI interface, which required custom graphics cards. Several models of Silicon Graphics computer had the required connector either builtin, or available as an add-in card. Companies like 3D Labs also produced dedicated graphics cards with the special connector, allowing the 1600SW display to be used with standard PCs.

Since it’s introduction, several companies have also produced convertors, allowing modern video cards to be used with the OpenLDI interface. Over a decade after it’s introduction, the Silicon Graphics 1600SW remains a high quality display that is very desired after by graphics professionals.