Quiz: What Kind of Currency Investor Are You?

1. How many hours do you work a week?
a. Zero (I’m retired!)
b. 15–30 (part-time)
c. 40 (full–time)
d. So many I’ve stopped counting.

2. How often do you take a vacation?
a. The standard – 2–4 weeks a year, plus holidays
b. You travel for pleasure once a month or more
c. Vacation: What’s that?

3. How long have you had your own investment portfolio?
a. Since birth
b. As long as I’ve been an adult
c. Since I started building my long-term nest egg
d. Not too long, just set it up within the last 3 years
e. Don’t have one yet

4. When you think of “investing,” what is the most important thing to you? (Please just pick one.)
a. long-term security
b. biggest profits as fast as possible
c. steady profits
d. not losing your shirt

5. Please put a check next to every investment you’ve ever bought or sold in the past.
__ stocks
__ bonds
__ commodities
__ CDs/money market accounts
__ options (any type)
__ ETFs/mutual funds
__ PPNs
__ hedge funds
__ futures
__ forex
__ reverse convertibles, strides

6. How long do you typically hold your investments?
a. Years preferably
b. A few months to a year tops
c. Anywhere from a few weeks to a few months
d. No more than a few weeks

7. How often do you review your investment portfolio?
a. Daily
b. Weekly
c. Monthly
d. Yearly

8. How would you feel if you lost what you consider an “obscene amount of money” on a single investment?
a. Angry/betrayed, and ready to give up investing in that market altogether.
b. Not exactly jumping for joy, but willing to invest in that same market again.
c. Cool as a cucumber: These things happen – you’ll soon make it back.

9. As of right now, how much of your portfolio includes international investments (including domestic investments that give you international exposure like ETFs or mutual funds)?
a. None
b. Less than 10%
c. 10% to 25%
d. 25% – 50%
e. 50% or more

10. Are you already a currency investor? If so, please put a check next to all the forms of currency trading you have tried.
__ Currency ETFs
__ Foreign bonds
__ Currency options
__ Currency futures
__ forex/spot
__ Currency sandwiches
__ Currency PPNs

Ready to find out what kind of currency investor you are? Scroll down to find out!

First, please tally your score below.
Question 1:
a. 1 point
b. 2 points
c. 3 points
d. 4 points

Question 2:
a. 2 points
b. 1 point
c. 3 points

Question 3:
a. 4 points
b. 3 points
c. 2 points
d. 1 point
e. 0 points

Question 4:
a. 1 point
b. 3 points
c. 2 points
d. 1 point

Question 5:
Stocks – 1 point
bonds – 1 point
commodities – 1 point
CDs/money market accounts – 1 point
options (any type) – 1 point ETFs/mutual funds – 1 point
PPNs – 1 point
hedge funds – 1 point
futures – 1 point
forex – 1 point
reverse convertibles, strides – 1 point

Question 6:
a. 1 point
b. 1 point
c. 2 points
d. 3 points

Question 7:
a. 3 points
b. 2 points
c. 1 point
d. 1 point

Question 8:
a. 1 point
b. 2 points
c. 3 points

Question 9:
a. 0 points
b. 1 point
c. 2 points
d. 3 points
e. 4 points

Question 10:
Currency ETFs – 1 point
Foreign bonds – 1 point
Currency options – 1 point
Currency futures – 1 point
Forex/spot – 1 point
Currency sandwiches – 1 point
Currency PPNs – 1 point

Which trading style suits you?

7 – 19 points: Long-Term: Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Whether you’re a first-time currency investor or not, you appreciate long-term, steady profits. You always opt for security and safety over the “get rich quick” investment ideas. Also, in your opinion, the best kind of investment portfolio is one you can invest in and then forget about (or perhaps just check occasionally when needed). If that’s the case, long-term currency CDs ETFs, foreign bonds or principle protected notes could work for you. However, on the other hand, you seem to have more time at your disposal than the average investor so you always could move onto more advanced trading strategies if you choose.

20 – 32 points: Intermediate: Looking for Bigger Profits AND Safety: Your risk level is right in the middle of the road. You appreciate safety and security as much as the next investor, but you also don’t mind putting some money on the line to grab a bigger gain. Perhaps you’ve already tried long-term currency investing with ETFs or CDs, and now are more interested in the bigger gains you could earn with more shorter-term currency strategies. If so, you’re more suited for currency options or sandwiches.

33 – 45: Advanced: Handover the Profits! For you, it’s all or nothing. You work hard, you play hard, and you invest the exact same way. You’re going for the real returns that only the professionals seem to master. Also, you already have some experience investing or even trading more complex markets. So with some guidance, you could be ready to jump right into the spot or futures market if that’s your goal. However, it looks like you have a hectic lifestyle already. So if you don’t have that much time to devote to your portfolio, be sure to check out the intermediate trading strategies like currency options.

Please keep in mind: This quiz may not apply to every situation. For instance, advanced traders may be just as interested in adding a long-term multi-currency CD to their overall portfolios. And beginning investors may want to try their hand at the spot market. So in the end it’s up to you. But this guide can get you started as you move through this course book.

So without further ado…welcome to the currency markets.