Before jumping into the forex market, you need to arm yourself with some terminology that will be used in any course or software on this subject. The following set of terms were put together with the idea of providing the novice forex trader with the fundamental concepts of the forex trading business. While they sound technical, most are easy to understand and apply.

Let us begin with the instruments that are traded in the forex markets. Currencies are traded in pairs so the instrument will always be in this double denomination. The reason for this is simple; the basis of forex currency trading is to exchange one currency for another. So if the pair is the Euro and the US Dollar, and the forex trader is taking a long position or buying the Euro in hopes that it will appreciate, effectively the trader is also selling US Dollars to buy the Euros. The most widely traded pairs are the Great Britain Pound and the US Dollar (indicated as GBP/USD), the Euro and the US Dollar (the EUR/USD pair), the Aussie Dollar and the US Dollar (AUD/USD pair), the USD and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY pair), and the Canadian Dollar and the USD (USD/CAD pair). These pairs account for well over 80% of the total volume of the trading in the forex market. The advantage to trading in these currency pairs is that they are highly liquid and allow the investor to convert their portfolio to cash very quickly to realize a profit.

In every pair, the first currency is called the base currency, over which the second one is countered to imply the price of the pair, or commonly referred to as the "cross currency". The second is therefore called the quote currency and the pair price is recorded in terms of the units of the quote currency required to buy one unit of the base currency. Thus, assuming the price of the GBP/USD pair is 1.5, this implies that 1.5 USD will buy 1 GBP.

Every pair is quoted in terms of a bid ask spread. The bid price is the rate at which your forex broker bids to buy the currency at, while the ask price is the rate the forex broker is asking to sell the currency to the forex trader. The bid price will always be less than the ask price and the forex trader will buy at the ask price and sell at the bid price. The bid ask price will be quoted as: GBP/USD 1.532/5, meaning the bid price is 1.532 and the ask price is 1.535.

A pip price interest point), as it is commonly called, is the smallest incremental change a currency pair will experience, for instance, a change in the GBP/USD price from 1.532 to 1.542 is a change of 10 pips. A trading margin is a deposit which is a minimum amount or a small percentage of your traded amount that you have to put up. The remaining amount is supplied by your broker. This amount can vary from 1% to 0.25%, also referred to as 100:1 and 400:1. Most often, forex brokers will offer 100:1 or 200:1 to most clients. This is risky but enables the trader to leverage a large amount that he or she would not otherwise have access to.

Finally, a margin call can happen when the forex trader allows the balance in the trading account to go below the margin deposit percentage agreed upon with the forex broker. The broker will automatically sell your long positions or buy your short positions and clear the entire trading account, returning the margin amount to the trader to protect the trader from losing more money than they have.

Secondly, you should embrace a good forex currency trading system for the long term, and put in the appropriate amount of research and trial based on this idea. A solid system will tap in to long term patterns and the potential for sustained success of any system in the short term is negligible. Thirdly, be ready for a hit. Be financially prepared for a downturn and based on the assumption that at some point you will face this event, plan for your staying-afloat strategy. Emotionally and money-wise, be ready for the big one when it comes.

When you commit to a forex currency trading system, ensure that you give the system adequate time to start showing profitability. This may be not be months, but possibly years, since every system experiences a time when it produces losses or lowered returns. Give your selected system a fair trial and try to trade consistently and logically. Additionally, some systems will not offer real trading data, but will be simulations that are based on a particular logic and work with historical data. As long as the logic is solid, there is no reason to reject these systems outright.

The simplest forex trading systems tend to work most effectively in a rapidly shifting market place. Just because a system seems complicated, there is no reason to think that it will perform better. Pick something user friendly and intuitive that appeals to you. Identify the major trends that affect a currency and select a forex trading system that works in tandem with it. Finally, a cardinal rule of the trade: Always use on a trading system that is disciplined and rational. Do not be swayed by emotions. This has spelled the downfall of some of the most influential and successful forex traders, including the pros, and must be avoided at all costs. While it may seem unlikely to you now, once you are in the midst of your forex trading experience, you will find it easy to be moved by your emotions.

The biggest advantage of a forex trading system is that it works completely without emotions and if it can be followed mechanically, it will be the key towards a long term profitable career in forex trading.