NFA, CME offer forex classes

As interest in foreign exchange trading continuesto climb, two organizations are trying to help existing and would-be traders understand the forex arena a little better.

The National Futures Association (NFA) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) are both offering free online classes. The NFA’s program focuses on spot forex, while the CME’s is geared toward currency futures.

The NFA’s class can be accessed through the Investor Learning Center section on the NFA’s Web site (www.nfa.futures.org). The course is interactive and selfdirected, so traders can set their own pace. There are six different sections that discuss how forex contracts are traded, the risks involved with forex trading, and the process an individual should go through before opening an account. There is a quiz after each section.

The NFA says the rise in forex trading has been accompanied by a rise in forex fraud, which it hopes the class will help curb by improving trader knowledge.

The NFA has also teamed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to produce brochures about forex fraud. “Trading in the Retail Off-Exchange Foreign Currency Market: What Investors Need to Know” can be downloaded at the NFA’s Web site, while “Foreign Currency Fraud” is available at www.cftc.gov.

Meanwhile, the CME is offering a free online class, Dynamics of Foreign Exchange. The eight-part class is geared toward the individual investor and discusses political, economic, and technical factors that affect foreign exchange.

Specifically, the class — which was developed in conjunction with finance professor Carl Luft of DePaul University in Chicago — covers topics such as the history of forex, currency pricing, hedging, technical analysis, and basic trading strategies. The course also covers trading forex futures at the CME.

Students can take the class at their own pace, e-mail questions to the CME, and talk about the class on discussion boards.

Traders looking for a less-intensive presentation can get a free copy of “Trading CME FX Futures,” a CD produced by the CME, by e-mailing info@cme.com.