Over the past few years, FX markets have exploded in popularity amongst retail traders. Hard to say if that was due to heavy promotional efforts from the industry itself, or whether the continual pumping of FX trading is a result of increased interest and demand. In any event, there are a lot of misconceptions and mistruths floating out there that need to be addressed. Most of the myths involve spot currency aka "FX" markets but some include currency futures, too.

Currency Markets Are Totally Random

Not at all... nothing could be further from the truth. An individual's stock price movement can be pushed up, down or sideways by an endless procession of factors. Part may be economic, part fundamentals to specific company, industry or sector. Another part of stock market action is pure emotion. Someone makes or sells a widget with perceived value higher than what turns out to be economic reality. Doesn't matter... stock prices can remain pumped on pure emotion longer than rational people can comprehend.

Currency markets aren't like that. They are purely supply and demand, a commodity if you will. Each currency is weighted on economic conditions for that specific denomination versus any or all others in the marketplace. Price value of currencies is nothing more than a reflection of where that denomination's economy ranks as weak or strong relative to others. There is no sentimental or emotional impact on a currency. No one buys the British Pound to unreasonable heights because they like the color scheme of those bills. No one sells the USD/CHF because that country has great skiing in the winter; therefore it's a "play" to profit from guesswork of increased tourism. If the Swiss economy is weak or strong, it'll be amply

After years of hard work, you've decided to call it quits and retire. But before waving goodbye to your colleagues, you'll want to plan an exit strategy. A smooth transition requires more than just figuring out how to survive without a steady paycheck. You'll also need to figure out how to cope with the emotional impact of forgoing a routine you've followed for most of your adult life. "One of the biggest challenges in retirement is really staying engaged," says Tom Nelson, chief operating officer of AARP in Washington. Here are some steps to pave the way to retirement:

Create a health-care fund. If you don't qualify for Medicare, set aside enough money to cover the cost of health insurance, even if your employer offers health plans to retirees, advises Drew Denning, vice president of the retiree-services division at Principal Financial Group Inc. "It's not a vested benefit like a company pension plan, meaning a company can retract that at any point in time," he says. Also, get a physical before your current health-insurance plan expires, says Mr. Denning. Since some providers deny coverage to high-risk individuals, you'll want to know if you fall into this category. If you do, consider staying on the job a little longer to "mitigate the significant risk of a huge health-insurance claim," he advises.

Develop a long-term budget. Determine how much money you'll need on a monthly basis for as long as 40 years from now, says Sandy Timmermann, director of Mature Market Institute, a research division at MetLife Inc. People "are focused on how much money we can accumulate, but not a great deal of