FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Equities or commodities are valued by their intrinsic strength on an absolute basis, while foreign exchange is valued by the relative strength of one currency with respect to another. Some of the economic indicators that fall into the realm of fundamental analysis are interest rates, employment reports, and inflation reports, among others.
WHAT IS FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS?
Trading on the fundamentals – also referred to as trading the news – is the study of news events and economic statistics to determine trading opportunities. Referred to as fundamentalists, these traders pay close attention to changes in economic indicators such as interest rates, employment rates, and inflation.

APPROACHES TO FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Forex and CFD prices are impacted by macro and micro-economic data, geo-political events and their linkages. These factors may include for example, GDP growth rates, potentially disruptive geopolitical events, employment statistics, interest rates, and balance of trade reports among others.
TOP DOWN ANALYSIS
Begins by analyzing broad brush macroeconomic factors and aggregates of data working downwards narrowing and refining the search to include only those currency pairs that present a profit potential.
BOTTOM-UP ANALYSIS
Conversely, this type of analysis starts with analyzing the currency pair working upwards to aggregate macroeconomic information.
BALANCE OF TRADE AND INTEREST RATES
These factors are key drivers for currencies. If a country has a trade surplus this implies there is a high demand for its goods and services, consequently a greater demand for its currency thus driving up relative value. Similarly, higher relative interest rates lead to cash inflows, thus driving up the value of a currency.
THE FORCES DRIVING DEMAND AND SUPPLY
These have a significant impact on the valuation of commodities. For example, a growth of international conflict may result in increased demand for nickel, which is used in armaments and ammunition manufacturing driving up prices.
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TRADING ON FUNDAMENTALS
Fundamental analysis examines key drivers such as macro and micro economic data, and geopolitical events.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Fundamental analysis tells you what to trade, and technical analysis tell you when to trade it and complements fundamental analysis.
LEARN MORETRADING NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Fundamental analysis can be fairly time consuming, and to this end, OANDA provides several high quality resources, including: blogs, analysis, news and market commentary.
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Common Economic Indicators
Traders pay close attention to economic indicators which can have a direct, and somewhat predictable, effect on the value of a nation's currency in the forex market.
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TECHNICAL AND FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
A trading strategy can offer benefits such as consistency of positive outcomes, and error minimization. An optimal trading strategy reflects the trader’s objective and personal approach.
Fundamental traders watch interest rates, employment reports, and other economic indicators trying to forecast market trends.
Technical analysts track historical prices, and traded volumes in an attempt to identify market trends. They rely on graphs and charts to plot this information and identify repeating patterns as a means to signal future buy and sell opportunities.
PROTECT YOUR CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Leveraged trading involves high risk since losses can exceed the original investment. A capital management plan is vital to the success and survival of traders with all levels of experience.
Learn risk management concepts to preserve your capital and minimize your risk exposure. Seek to understand how leveraged trading can generate larger profits or larger losses and how multiple open trades can increase your risk of an automatic margin closeout.
† Disclaimer:
This page is for general information purposes only: examples are not investment advice or an inducement to trade. Past history is not an indication of future performance.
Execution speed and numbers are based on the median round trip latency from receipt to response for all Market Order and Trade Close requests executed between January 1st and May 1st 2019 on the OANDA execution platform.
Contracts for Difference (CFDs) or Precious Metals are NOT available to residents of the United States.
MT4 hedging capabilities are NOT available to residents of the United States.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) limits leverage available to retail forex traders in the United States to 50:1 on major currency pairs and 20:1 for all others. OANDA Asia Pacific offers maximum leverage of 50:1 on FX products and limits to leverage offered on CFDs apply. Maximum leverage for OANDA Canada clients is determined by IIROC and is subject to change. For more information refer to our regulatory and financial compliance section.
This is for general information purposes only - Examples shown are for illustrative purposes and may not reflect current prices from OANDA. It is not investment advice or an inducement to trade. Past history is not an indication of future performance.