One of the biggest markets for investors to open up in recent years is forex trading. A lot of people use it as an alternative to the stock market, and after the bloodletting on Wall Street last fall, who can blame them? Doing forex trading requires a lot of soul searching, and a lot of time to do well. Asking if it’s right for you means knowing the following things.

In a nutshell, forex trading is about taking a pair of currencies and their exchange rate; and playing off how that exchange rate varies on a day by day (or month to month) basis. You’re not betting on the performance of a company, you’re betting on the fiscal reputations of countries. There’s less research involved, and you have the advantage that it’s very difficult for currency values to plummet as rapidly as stocks can and do (and have, recently).

That said, the opportunities in forex don’t allow quite as much growth potential as a stock program can, and forex trading is more vulnerable to inflation and currency devaluation moves by governments. Unlike a stockholder, you don’t get a vote (or proxy vote) in the operations of the nation whose currency you buy. Forex trading is a 24 hour a day opportunity to make trades, with a span running from the London open to the Hong Kong close, meaning it spans more than five working days if you let it.

There is endless opportunity for profit in this business. You can set up huge manual trades when you notice a trend starting that can net you 1000’s of pips in profit. This can amount to you making 1000’s of dollars in a matter of minutes or hours. Anytime there is that much potential in one place, people start to take notice.

A lot of traders try to automate the grind it out aspects of forex trading; these are automated trades that are programmed with ranges of acceptable values and buy and sell orders queued up if a condition is met. This is no experience for doing accurate research on your own, but can let you have the freedom of mind to, say, get out of your chair and use the bathroom without panicking that a market shift will wipe you out. There are some who take the (decidedly unwise) view of not even learning much about forex markets and letting the computer software do this for them.

Forex is a great way to make a lot of money from home; doing it on a day trading strategy requires constant attention. Don’t think that this is something that will rake in the bucks while you practice your golf swing. This is a job, and if you don’t treat it as such, it’s going to bite you in the ass, and hard. That said, it lets you work from home without anyone lurking over your shoulder. You are at the mercy of the trading desks schedules, so keep that in mind. Day trading forex is sometimes called a lifestyle choice.

You can make more than some doctors and lawyers without having to go to college for eight years. You can really make as much or as little as you want. If you just need enough to get by, there are a number of safe, conservative strategies that are available. If you want to ride the trends and rake in huge profits, there are also a lot of methods for that.

If you’re the sort of person who lives for being wired on coffee, staying inside for a 14 hour trading day, and staring at a computer screen, forex trading may be for you – even if only temporarily. The real secret of forex day traders is that the successful ones get out of it and retire, and retire early.