Forex Trading is dominated by big banks and financial institutions to the extent of about 95 percent of FX trading of about $3 trillion. The rest is accounted for by individual traders.
There have been some valid reasons for the absence of individual players in forex market unlike stock market. Lack of education, proper trading facilities, a regulated forex market and lack of security are some of the main factors responsible for this.
An added reason for the absence of small traders in forex exchange market has been the relatively a larger amount of money to start with. The perception has been that one needs a considerable amount of money to start exchange trading.
The international fx trading atmosphere has undergone a tremendous change over some previous years. There is more and more free educational material available online; many websites provide free forex training; there has been some regulation in the US for the protection of small forex traders; more trading platforms and software have become available etc.
One considerable change has been the introduction of mini forex trading. Individual traders have got a big boost with this new tool. Small traders can now open so called mini accounts with as little as $50-$100 and start playing the forex market.
With mini forex trading, forex market is no longer a monopoly of major banks, multinational companies and financial institutions. The number of individual traders has steadily been increasing. It is expected that in future this number will only be going up.
Mini Forex trading offers so many benefits to small traders. Apart from very small amounts of capital, one can start quickly and with expert guidance. There are so many forex trading platforms available. One should always compare and choose the best one.
It should be understood that forex trading like any other form of trading is full of risks. One needs to practice for some time before starting real trading. Most of the trading platforms provide facilities for free demo or practice trading. One should take full advantage of this facility before starting actual trading.
Many people have had success after a lot of practice. Caution is the name of the game in any type of trading. One big advantage of forex trading is that because of the vastness of this market, there are few scams as compared to stock markets. Insider information so rampant in stock trading is negligible.
Given the risks in forex trading, one can start small. This will not only reduce the risks but also enable one to test the waters first before starting big. Starting small does not mean less scope for big profits. The leverage factor is equally available to big as well as small trading.