Any website which concentrates on the subject of financial or foreign exchange news runs the risk of looking a little heavy if it isn’t careful. The truth is that light colors aren’t often used on sites like this without rendering them to look unreliable and slightly fluffy.
But some sites manage to be somewhat lighter in color and get away with it, and a good example of a site that does just that is www.dailyfx.com.
The good part about this is that it is instantly welcoming as soon as you arrive on the home page, but once you start to look round the site you will notice that it is more than just a pretty face. There is plenty here to appeal to anyone who is at all interested in the foreign exchange market or what currencies are doing in general, and it doesn’t just provide a surface look at what is going on either; it goes into much more depth than you might at first think.
Starting with the home page
Bright and lively shades of blue and green typify this website and make it stand out from all of the others in its field, and the clickable links also appear in an appealing shade of blue, making them easy to see.
The main news story of the moment is featured right at the top of the home page, and you can click on the headline to go in and find out more, although a short précis of the story is included underneath for you to check out. There is also a section on the right hand side of the page for breaking news, which is easy to spot by its green box. An example of what may appear here are the actual figures for a country’s gross domestic product during one quarter, as held up against what was expected.
There are also links to sections on trading and reports on various related subjects, which are all listed in a common sense fashion underneath the main headline itself. But once again the most important topics are given a place high up above the fold on the home page (that is, they are visible without you having to scroll down to read them). The featured topics section in the top right hand corner gives you access to various sections including daily and special reports.
Also of interest will be the forum, which is accessible from the link near the very top of the page. This is discussed in more detail in the section below. There is also a link to a currency converter provided by an external website, and a search facility which makes it easier to navigate the site and find what it is you need.
All in all this is an impressive home page which allows you access to an impressive and highly usable site.
What sections are there to explore?
Let’s start with that forum. You’ll need to register to get yourself a screen name, but once you have signed up you will be able to post to all sections of the forum.
And there are plenty of them – some twenty five to be exact. No matter where you are in your use of and understanding of the Forex markets, you will find several sections and threads here that will interest you. There is a beginner’s area, and five sections which deal with specific currency exchange rates and what is going on there at the moment.
There is also a comprehensive section which covers various strategies in how to make a profit from trading on the foreign exchanges, and if you are a beginner you will find this to be very enlightening reading. Even those with some knowledge of how to trade on the Forex markets will probably get a lot of use out of this particular section.
But there are plenty of sections on this website quite apart from the forum itself. If you click on the daily reports section of the home page you will be taken into a complete list of all the reports that have been released by the website over the past few weeks. There tend to be several per day, and each one concentrates on some aspect of the currency markets as they are affected by events going on in the world at any one time.
This gives you a unique insight into how certain events influence the workings of the currency exchange rates, and each news story uses this angle in order to get the most information out of the story to help their readers make the best decisions for them when they are thinking about how they are going to proceed in the markets themselves. It is this in depth nature surrounding each and every breaking news story that distinguishes this website as one of the best ones that there is online today, especially if you are looking to increase your knowledge as a way of increasing your profits from the Forex markets.
The section on daily reports is very interesting, not least because it shines the spotlight on specific currencies and how they are performing, given other events that are affecting it at that present time. Each story also speculates on what could happen to that currency in the exchange rate tables in the near future, offering advice on how to handle your foreign exchange transactions as a result.
Most of these stories are peppered with charts and graphs to illustrate the points made in the articles, and that is the main advantage that these stories have over those featured on other websites. You don’t just get a news story; you also get an analysis which is really useful in helping you to decide how your own Forex strategy should progress.
The currency rooms are also worth a look because each one gives you a chart which indicates how each currency is doing. The seven main currencies each have a chart in this section of the website, and as you load each one to take a look at it you will notice that some relevant threads in that section of the forum will appear in the top right hand corner of the screen. You can then click on any one of these to go into that section and read what else has been said about how that currency is performing at present, as well as taking part in any of the discussions yourself if you have signed up to be a member.
One other section worth mentioning here is the economic calendar which is included on the website. This can be printed off if necessary, but while many websites include this sort of data for you to read and use, not many others provide all the user friendly functions with their calendars that this one does.
Each item listed is given a date on which it will occur, plus a label in green, orange or blue, depending on its perceived level of importance. You can also sort the results which appear in the calendar so they are listed in various orders of importance, which makes it rather more usable than simply having to scroll down through the dates in the order they appear.
You will also see that some of the events are written in blue type and are clickable. Clicking on one of these will provide you with a drop down box which contains more information and commentary about the event that helps you to understand what it is about and what it is thought may happen at that event. This makes the calendar far more than just that – it is truly interactive and highly usable. Instead of being a list of events, it gives you further insight into how the markets work and which world events are worth keeping an eye on. On occasion the section giving you further commentary may reveal why the situation has occurred in the first place.
In short though, what may seem to be a useful extra tool actually turns out to be an outstanding one which is indicative of how the website pays close attention to everything it uses to help its visitors.
How user friendly is the website?
The people behind this website go all out to make sure they provide everything you need to get ahead in the foreign exchange markets. The depth of information included is second to none, and there are a number of additional features which make your use of the website even more versatile.
A good example of this is the presence of a number of podcasts and videos that you can listen to and watch to help deepen your understanding of the markets. The podcasts in particular are very noteworthy since several of these are released every single week, making it easy to stay in touch with the key events in the world of currency.
There is also a good selection of live charts you can access, which illustrates the point that you aren’t just getting access to a whole array of written information and news reports when you use this site – you can get charts, data and much more besides as well. This gives the site a rounded appeal that makes it more user friendly than some others who provide the basics and no more.
It’s easy to see that the owners of the site are dedicated to anything and everything to do with foreign exchange trading, and they are willing to share everything they know with you the visitor.
What is the single best feature?
There are plenty to choose from, which alone is a good sign that the site is a worthwhile one to revisit, but perhaps the best is one that is instantly available on the home page.
If you glance down at the right hand side of the page as you arrive on the site, you will see a box filled with figures that are constantly changing. Up and down arrows will appear and disappear next to some of them on occasion, and they will sometimes be highlighted in a gray box.
These are the live currency rates as they are happening, which for obvious reasons is going to be of great interest to anyone dealing in the Forex markets. Even if you are merely curious and you want to find out more, simply looking at these figures as and when they change gives you a great lesson in how quickly money can be made and lost in this arena.
If you click on any one of the currency pairings which appear in this box, you will be taken into a separate screen which shows you a graph of how those two particular currencies have performed against each other. This can give you that extra edge when it comes to deciding when the right time is to buy or sell what you already have.
Seven of the most popular currency pairings are shown in this live update box, including the Euro and the Japanese yen, and the US dollar and the British pound, so if you are thinking of trading in these then you definitely need to bookmark the home page.
In conclusion
If you are looking for a site that goes into a lot of depth without confusing you in the process, then www.dailyfx.com is the one to choose. It manages to appeal to beginners and the more experienced traders among us without alienating either party in doing so.
The freshness of the site is a credit to the owners, because the subject matter is necessarily quite complex and involved, and if they didn’t work so hard to make everything as accessible as it is, the site would probably not be half as successful as it is. It ranks very highly in Google and it is clear to see why, since there is a lot to commend it for.
It is always pleasant to find a website that is as in depth and user friendly as this one is, and clearly www.dailyfx.com fits the bill. It should be around for a long time to come.