The basics of any investment platform is that certain key fundamentals must be maintained before you can effectively invest in them. Whether they be intangibles, commodities or equities, you have to understand the basics of investing before you can truly play the market to your advantage. Don't be fooled by the ease of market investments, its not just going in there, seeing a potential, splashing in your money and hoping for the best. No. You need to learn, you need to educate yourself and you need to reference. Learn about Forex currency trading is this is the market you want to expose yourself to and let me tell you, while there are advantages of investing in a market of world currency, there are some draw backs and pitfalls that you have to avoid.
First, familiarise yourself with the Forex market. It is a 24 hour a day, 6 days a week market - which means investing can happen anytime. It is also a highly liquid market, which makes investing easier. It is also a market that gives you greater field of play in a sense that broker accounts allow you to deposit a minimum and they give you up to 10 or even 100 times of the amount you gave them. This is common all over the Forex markets.
A word on brokers, choose the right one for you, one that can really guide you all over the market. There are some of the most nefarious brokers all over the world and you should be wary, because it deals with money and people will always want to cheat you of your life savings. My advice, go online and start trading online. Being the hugest and most liquid financial market in today's world, it sees the participation of banks, a large amount of commercial companies, hedge funds, investing firms, brokers, trading firms and even other smaller players. Multi national companies who have a lot to play with and the rest by smaller firms, brokers and individuals take up most of the action. This market sets itself apart from other markets because of its nature - being a true 24 hour market, accessible at any time, liquid beyond measure, nomadic in nature and how there are literally thousands of factors that affect exchange rates -and the way you can make or lose money.
A quick look at the top currency traders and you will notice that they are ALL banks - banks deal with money and it is only natural that they trade in it as well. What are the factors that affect the market? It could be anything political, economic and even policies laid down by governments and monetary authorities all over the world. Political climates and tensions, trade agreements and economic milestones all play a part in affecting the sensitive Forex market. All this is basically information on the side, and thus you need to go out and learn a lot more about Forex market. This article is just a starter for anyone wanting to go out and invest, but knowledge is power. Get books about Forex, learn, get advice. You wont trip up.