Beginner Forex Trading and Controlling Risk

There are many tempting reasons to learn beginner Forex trading. The primary reasons are that the price movements are generally less volatile, the leverage is virtually limitless, you can trade nearly 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and the last reason is you will be such a small fish in a giant pond that you won't influence the prices in any way. Let's look at these reasons more carefully and make sure that you are properly prepared.
Volatility
The scary part of stock market trading is that you could really understand your trading patterns, know the market direction, and yet the natural volatility could make your trade go really bad. This volatility is pure risk and makes trading more difficult. The Forex tends to be less volatile which is good for true traders and investors, but bad for gamblers.
Leverage
Leverage is the ability to purchase more currency than the money you actually have in your account because the broker knows that you likely won't lose it all in one fell swoop. Therefore as long as you have enough money and assets to cover your trade the broker will allow it. Fall short, and the broker will sell all of your currency and pay themselves back. In the stock market you have to have $25,000 to borrow up to 50% of your account level. In the Forex market you can start getting 100% leverage with just a few hundred dollars in a mini account. While powerful, this is generally bad for the beginner Forex trader because when their trades go bad they are more likely to go into gambling mode to make their money back.
Trading Hours
On almost all times of the day there are some markets that are open and trading the Forex. Since it's electronic you can trade on any of them from the same platform. The good part about this is you can learn to trade after work. The stock market pretty much demands that you quit your day job to trade. The bad part is that not all currencies are as active at all times of the day or night and you might try to force a situation that isn't going to happen.
Volume
The trade volume of the Forex is large because it is primarily made up of banks performing their daily functions. This volume is huge so your small trades won't impact the price of any currency, which is very possible in the stock market, especially penny stocks. The bad part is the volume can crush the direction of a trade if there is major economic news contradictory to the opinion moments before.
Volatility, leverage, trading hours, and volume are all good reasons to learn beginner forex trading. Just understand that you have weakness because you are new and you'll be fine.