A CFD, or Contract for Difference, is an agreement between two parties to exchange the difference between the opening price and closing price of a contract. CFDs are derivatives products that allow you to trade on live market price movements without actually owning the underlying instrument on which your contract is based. You can use CFDs to speculate on the future movement of market prices regardless of whether the underlying markets are rising or falling. You have the opportunity to sell and profit from falling prices, or buy and profit from rising prices. Moreover, with our vast variety of markets, you can gain exposure to markets you may not have had access to before. We offer CFDs on shares, indices, and commodities.

Forex is a shortened term used for 'Foreign Exchange'. It is the process of buying and selling currencies. The foreign exchange market is the biggest and most liquid financial market in the world. The market operates 24 hours around the clock from Sunday night through Friday and comprises central banks, currency speculators, organizations, governments, retail investors and international investors. Over the years, the size of the Forex market has been constantly increasing. According to the Bank for International Settlements' (BIS) 2013 Triennial Survey of global FX market volumes, the average daily volume in the global Forex markets was estimated at $5.345 trillion, 34% higher in than the $3.971 trillion in April 2010 ($3.21 trillion daily in April 2007 and $1.7 trillion in 1998).

Forex is traded in currency pairs while CFD's are commonly a financial instrument that is valued in a specific currency. Common currency pairs are the Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD), US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), Great British Pound/US Dollar (GBP/USD), Euro/Japanese Yen (EUR/JPY) and Australian Dollar/US Dollar (AUD/USD). You can buy and sell each currency or financial instrument.

Normally, during the European and North American winter time, weekly activity begins on Sunday at 22:05 GMT continuously until Friday 21:00 GMT. During the Day Light Saving times in these regions, the weekly market activity begins on Sunday at 21:05 GMT and ends on Friday at 20:00. Market activity hours may vary due to public holidays or due to unusual liquidity conditions which may arise from exceptional global events. Opening or Closing times may also be altered by Alain FX due to liquidity and risk management considerations. Please be advised that while most of the instruments are traded on a 24 hour basis without interruption, some instruments, mainly shares and indices, have special Trading Hours.

To be able to trade you only need a device with an internet connection and a funded trading account. In addition, we strongly recommend you to be equipped with Forex/CFD's or other financial education and trading tools to help you minimize the risks in the market.

You must be over the age of 18 to trade.

Leverage is used to significantly increase your purchasing power. No other market gives you so much liquidity and leverage at the same time. On some instruments, Alain FX provides a leverage of up to 400:1. This means that with a deposit of $100, you can trade with up to $40,000.

In financial markets, specifically in the Forex market, pip (percentage in point) is a unit of change in an exchange rate of a currency pair. Most major currency pairs are priced to four decimal places, and a pip is one unit of the fourth decimal point: for dollar currencies this is to 1/100th of a cent.

The spread is the difference between the BUY price and the SELL price of two instruments. For example, if the EUR/USD is trading at 1.3100 (buy) and 1.3098 (sell), then the spread is 2 pips.

Going "long" is when a trader buys an asset expecting its value to rise. This is also called opening a long position. Going "short" or opening a short position, is when a trader sells an asset, expecting its price to decline so it can be bought back in the future at a lower price

Unlike the equities market, the Forex market does not have a central location. Transactions take place over the internet or phone which is why the market is available 24 hours a day.

There are various ways prices can change. Economic and political conditions usually affect the value of an asset, along with interest rates, inflation, and supply and demand.

Yes. Even when the market is closed, it is possible to add, change and remove Limit Orders on all instruments

Alain FX does not charge any fee or commission for opening & closing deals on CFDs. The clients' costs are derived from the spread - this is the difference between the buy price and the sell price, which is always displayed on your trading screen. Overnight financing applies where applicable.

In the Forex and Precious Metals Spot markets, rollover is the process of extending the settlement date of an open position when it reaches its value date. In most currencies and other financial Spot trades, a position is open with validation for two business days after its execution date. By rolling over the position - the position's settlement period is extended by two additional business days. In similarity to the Forward mechanism, the rollover process involves a price adjustment due to interest rate differences between the 2 financial products, plus or minus a mark-up (interest spread), depending on the type of position you hold (Long\Short). Such adjustments may go both ways, meaning that you can be either credited or debited for such adjustments.