Fundamental Analysis! HELP!

Hello all on Newbie Island! I am a freshman to Forex trading; it is thrilling to be apart of such an active community. There is so much to learn and each day I walk away with a wealth of knowledge. I know I am going pretty elementary with this question but I was wondering if anyone can help me out- everywhere I look I always see the term ‘Fundamental Analysis’; what is this referring to? I do not think I fully understand the ramifications of the term…
Thank you all for your help! Looking forward to learning!
Jonathan:cool:

Basically it refers the fundamental macro-economic factors that impact the movements of exchange rates e.g. interest rates, employment numbers, manufacturing numbers, GDP, inflation numbers, government debt, bond yields, etc. If you’re a short-term trader you can probably get away with just technical analysis and an appreciation of when certain big news reports are coming out. If you’re taking longer term positions you’ll want to look more into this side of things. Or just look into it if you find it interesting - it’s not wasted time.

Wow- what a great synopsis! Thank you PipBandit! I plan of being a life-long trader; where to you suggest I begin expanding my knowledge; are there any resources you can recommend?
Keep Trading
Jonathan

There’ll be plenty of opinions out there on the way to begin. If you have a read through the following three threads you won’t be steered far wrong in my opinion:

http://forums.babypips.com/free-forex-trading-systems/29902-technical-templates-continued.html

http://forums.babypips.com/free-forex-trading-systems/21453-1-500-pips-per-month-method-vsa-sr-fibb-etc.html

http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/36328-what-every-new-aspiring-forex-trader-still-wants-know.html

After that it’ll be up to you to find what works for you and what doesn’t.

Seems like a great place to start! Thanks
Keep Trading