Make Money Trading Forex

Day Light Saving Time (DST) VS Eastern Standard Time (EST atau ET) VS WIB

2008-11-10T00:55:00.003+07:00

Penguasaan konversi waktu Day Light Saving Time (DST), Eastern Standard Time (EST atau ET) dan WIB adalah sangat penting. Sebab berkaitan dengan penentuan jadwal buka dan tutup pasar forex dunia. Apalagi jika dikaitkan dengan strategi trading anda.

Berikut tabel konversi DST, EST, GMT dan WIB

Interview with a forex champion

2008-10-13T12:32:00.003+07:00

Tony Marso from the USA participates in the Championship under the nickname of 'amelabs'. Before starting to trade forex, he was interested in equity and index options. His experience in the forex market started in 2004. In 2006 Tony learned about the automated trading. For Tony who by that time had been a software developer for over 24 years it was not so hard to start programming his own trading robots. Currently Tony is working on a forex strategy ebook.

You can be called our regular Participant. Last year your result was not a very good one. What lessons have you drawn from the ATC 2007?

I think if there's anything to learn from the previous contest it is that you can't predict what the market will be like when the contest starts. I designed my EA expecting the market to trend a certain way from the very beginning, but instead the trend reversed early on. My EA at the time was not designed to handle consolidation periods and failed terribly. Another thing I learned is that if you think your EA is aggressive and you enter a contest, you'll soon discover there are many people whose EA's are much more aggressive.

Can you call one or two names of last year Participants who had more aggressive EAs in your opinion?

Honestly, I thought I could win the contest with an ending equity over $30,000. So I designed my EA to try and capture steady profits that would cause it to end with a balance of just over $30,000. Clearly, anyone who ended with more equity than that was thinking much bigger than I was. Just about anyone who ended in the top 10 beat my projections for the contest. Most especially was "Better", who had over $100,000 at the end. I couldn't even imagine increasing my account ten-fold or more. In my mind it just wasn't possible without a tremendous amount of luck. By the end of the contest in 2007 I realized my thinking was faulty.

Please tell us a little about yourself, about your acquaintance with the Forex market.

I learned about forex one night while watching TV when I saw a commercial for a product that helps you trade forex. That was around 2004 I think. Before that I was trading equity options and index options. The idea of 24-hour trading was very appealing to me, so I attended some forex seminars, signed up for a demo account on FXCM and immediately started playing around with forex. After a few months I was convinced I could make it work, then proceeded to start trading live and drained my first 4 live accounts, each in a matter of days. However, that was not enough to stop me. I could see the potential and knew it was just a matter of trial-and-error until I could make it work for me.

Along the way, I came across some successful forex traders, but had no idea about automated trading. It wasn't until about 2006 that I learned about MetaTrader. At that point (being a software developer for over 24 years) I knew that I could make this work but it would take time. I tried several people's EAs with no success. I tried to write my own and had some success but they stopped working if the market conditions changed. It wasn't until a few months before the 2008 contest that I finally had an EA that I thought was worthy of trading a live account. After a few months of successful trading, I thought I'd enter the EA into the contest and see how long it would last.

What is your general trading strategy?

I do not like indicators. Most indicators just tell you what already happened. I use two moving averages to determine the overall trend and I use recent price action to determine when to enter and exit a trade. Although I consider myself somewhat of a scientist, I try never to apply a lot of complex math, indicators or oscillators to my strategy. In my mind I should be able to look at a naked chart: the 4 hr and the daily ones, with no indicators, and have an idea of where the market is going. I can look at the last complete bar on both charts and almost be able to decide if it's a good time to trade or not.

You are using the same Expert Advisor on a live account, though with lower risks. What results does it show now?

Actually, I'm not doing so well on my live account recently. Just today I took a big loss, even though the contest EA is doing very well. It will recover so I'm not worried. One thing I need to mention is that my EA (the Cross Trader) is not quite perfected. It cannot work for long term without human intervention. If left unattended for an extended time, it will die a horrible death unfortunately.

However, I did not design it for long term growth. Instead I designed it for what I call "explosive short term growth". If I use it and do not regularly make withdrawals from the account, then I will lose all of my money in a matter of months. But, for regular cashflow it is wonderful. As you can see, at the most aggressive settings it can quadruple your account in a matter of days. However, it can also drain your account just as quickly. My hope for the contest is that the downtrend on GBPJPY persists long enough for the Cross Trader to survive the entire contest.

How much do risks of your EA on a live account differ from those of a competing one?

In the contest I trade approximately 1 mini lot for every $500 equity I have in the account. In my live account I trade 1 mini-lot for every $2000 I have in my account. It is a factor of four increase in the contest.

As for now you haven't had any loss trade. Is result the same on a live account?

I have had losses on my live account. In fact, I drained the account one time right after making a withdrawal. Basically what I do is start out with a small amount of money, then let the EA double my account. Once the account is doubled, I take out my original deposit and now I'm trading with zero risk. I let the EA run until it looks like a reversal in the trend is coming, then I make a big withdrawal and let the EA continue. Recently, when I made the first withdrawal to eliminate my risk, the trend changed and the remainder of my account was drained. I lost nothing in actuality but I still consider it a loss.

You have written that your EA "places trades only when the probability of price reaching a specific target is very high". Could you please specify what targets you are talking about?

Unfortunately, I can't talk about it at this time because I am working on a forex strategy ebook that goes into that in detail. I can tell you, though, that I use a candlestick pattern to decide where to set my stop-loss and take-profit, and my take-profit is hit about 85% of the time under normal conditions. In times of extreme volatility such as this last week, my trades tend to hit the stop-loss with a profit instead of hitting my take-profit.

Why have you chosen trailing stops instead of fixed StopLoss and TakeProfit levels?

In my experience, setting a fixed stop-loss is a recipe for disaster. Instead, what I do is set an initial stop-loss so far out that it's not likely to ever be reached. Then I can withstand some very large drawdowns immediately after the trade is placed. Once the trade goes in my favor and I realize a specific candlestick pattern, I know it's time to start a trailing stop. As far as take-profit goes, I generally set that before stop-loss. The procession is this...

I place the trade at open of a new bar.
At the next open bar I set take-profit if I recognize a certain candlestick pattern.
If my trade is in profit at the 3rd bar but my take-profit isn't hit yet, then I start looking for opportunity to start a trailing stop. Again, this only happens if a specific candlestick pattern is recognized.
When is the "panic mode" activated? What conditions should be fulfilled for this? Has it ever triggered on your live account?

I have 2 panic modes that determine if it's time to close a trade. The first one says "close all trades if a bar closes inside of the two moving averages". The next one is riskier and says "close all trades if a bar is completely encapsulated within the two moving averages". This prevents what I call the suicide trade or trade-of-death from occurring, where I place a trade with a stop-loss of, say, 900 pips away and the price immediately goes against me all the way to hit that stop-loss or drain my account completely. As I mentioned before, if I don't intervene occasionally with my EA, that suicide trade will occur eventually.

Why were all your orders opened with the same initial StopLoss level equal to 197.42?

It is the price of the highest bar within a certain number of bars. I can't remember exactly what number of bars it is, but it is a fairly high number. Possibly over 100. This was just a function of the optimization to get the ideal parameters for trading live. Possibly if I ran the optimizer today it would produce a smaller number.

Why is it based on the Bid price, not Ask? Sell orders should be closed by Ask price, which is higher than Bid by the spread size.

Good question. This might have been an oversight on my part. I thought I was using Ask price for sell orders.

The TakeProfit level was not set at the moment of order opening. But then at a favorable price movement fixing levels were placed and 4 positions were closed by them. It is a rather rare method of order closing. How did it appear in the system? What do such TakeProfit levels mean and how are they calculated?

I believe that most traders know their exit point before they enter a trade. For an autotrader, this is not practical and definitely not necessary. The Cross Trader actually enters a trade at open of a new bar and sleeps for the duration of that bar, just to make sure I'm not setting take-profit prematurely. After at least one bar has completed, I can look at what happened and determine what is the most likely place to set my take-profit. Under ideal conditions, the Cross Trader will enter a trade at the beginning of a bar, set the take-profit at the start of the next bar, and be out of the trade before the third bar is completed. This is under ideal conditions.

Why have you chosen the GBPJPY pair?

I ran the optimizer with about 10 different pairs, mostly the majors and the most volatile. When all the results were available, GBPJPY stood out as the clear choice for the Cross Trader. There were other pairs such as GBPCHF and EURJPY that worked very well, but none came close to the results and consistency I had with GBPJPY.

Have you ever used multicurrency Expert Advisors?

I have not yet done so. However, I have been considering a version of Cross Trader that monitors several pairs at once. I might be working on that after the contest is over.

Thank you, Tony, wish you the best!
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SOURCE = http://championship.mql4.com/2008/news/401

Forex Broker Daily Chart Changeover Times

2008-10-13T12:28:00.001+07:00

You might find that your chart data does not match some other users. This is caused by each broker having their own personal time to start/end each DAILY time frame chart candle.

Alpari: GMT +2
CFGTrader: GMT +2
CoesFX: GMT +3
Fibo Group: GMT +2
Forex LTD: GMT +2
FXCM GMT -4
FXDD: GMT +3
IBFX: GMT
Marketiva GMT
MetaQuotes: GMT +2
MoneyTec: GMT +3
Netdania Charts GMT -8
North Finance: GMT +2
Oanda GMT -5
Orion: GMT +4
Real Trade: GMT +2

Avoiding Failure in the Forex Market

2008-09-15T23:05:00.000+07:00

Forex trading can be an incredibly profitable way to make a living. The combination of margin leverage and a low minimum amount required for trading make forex trading ideal for small investors.

However, despite the opportunities for profit, the majority of forex traders lose all of their money within a year.

Why? Well I have found six root causes that can explain why so many new forex traders fail:

1. Unrealistic Expectations. Too many novice traders read about how easy it is to make money trading forex and they just jump in and lose everything before they even know what hit them.

Forex trading is not a get rich quick scheme. It requires hard work and research to be successful. And even then, you cannot expect every trade to be a winner. Even the best traders lose on trades. The key is knowing when to cut your losses and focus on the winners.

2. Not doing enough research. Forex trading is easy to learn, but difficult to master. Experienced traders make it seem so easy, but predicting currency prices is a complex endeavor. And as a small investor you are at a disadvantage. Large financial institutions have resources that you don't. They may have an entire staff analyzing the most recent economic indicators while you just have yourself. You must be prepared to spend some solid time learning before you can expect to win big.

3. Gambling instead of investing. If you think you can beat the market without doing research and just picking currency trades based on a hunch, good luck. I've seen people do this and they usually pick a few winners and make some short-term profits, but in the end they just get slaughtered.

4. Lack of focus. Depending on which broker you use, there are likely dozens of currencies you can trade. But when you are just starting out, think small. Pick a few of the most popular currencies, such as the US Dollar, the Japanese Yen, and the Euro, and focus exclusively on them. The more currencies you trade, the more data you will have to analyze in order to spot trends. Better to know a few currencies really well than to know just a little about each.

5. Not having a trading system. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different trading systems available. Some you will have to pay for, but many are free. Choose a system that is right for you based on your capital, your goals, and your personality. Without a system, you might as well be throwing darts.

6. Not sticking to your system. Having a trading system is not enough, you have to follow it through good times and bad. This is easier said than done. Its easy to get greedy and go for the big score or get nervous and get out too soon. You must follow your system to determine both entry and exit points. If you ignore them you risk missing out on a big upswing or being stuck in a trade as it goes sour.

The best forex traders know that knowing when to get out of a trade is even more important than knowing when to get in.

A Successful Currency Trader

2008-08-31T04:08:00.001+07:00

Your success as a Forex trader is measured primarily by your commitment to studying the markets, learning trading signals, being patient, and waiting until good trades make themselves known. It is also important to manage your money by the amount of lots you trade and where you place the stop losses.

Avoid comparing yourself to other currency traders and measuring the outward results of your efforts against theirs. Remember that traders have different styles and will make money at different paces in different times. Your responsibility is to develop your trading skills so you can make correct trading decisions. As you are learning you will have losses. You should not, however, become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your trading ability and cloud your judgment. You want to keep your expectations high. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty making good trades.

You can know you have become a successful Forex trader when you:

Feel in tune with the market.
Love to trade and take the profits the market wants to give.
Obey trading rules with exactness.
Live so your body and mind are rested and healthy.
Trade effectively every day, do your best to seek knowledge, learn, and improve.
Help to build up other traders wherever you go.
Warn people of the consequences of poor trading and money management practices.
Teach and serve other traders.
Help other traders at every opportunity, whether or not you will be paid for helping.

Types of Exits

2008-08-31T04:03:00.001+07:00

When exiting a trade, you can do so under four different assumptions. In the best of worlds, exit technique number one is the profit target. Exit technique number two is the trailing stop, which comes into play when the market is starting to move against you after you have accumulated an open profit. Number three is the stop loss for the occurrences when the trade goes against you right off the bat. Finally, you also can exit with a time-based stop, possibly in combination with any of exit techniques one to three. The time based stop is setting a time like at end of the day or when you leave for work etc.

Just a note:

A “margin call” in not an exit strategy.

Always Use Correct Stop-Loss Orders

2008-08-31T04:01:00.000+07:00

Don’t ever let your losses run. Always use stop-loss orders! Nearly ALL traders make the mistake of allowing their losses to run, hoping that the market will return in their favor. Most often this will lead to an even bigger loss. Everyone needs to learn how to cut losses, and learn from their mistakes. A good suggestion is to make a habit of determining an acceptable profit target and risk tolerance level before entering any trade. Then simply place a stop-loss order at the appropriate price, but not so close to the market that it could remove you out of the position before the market has an opportunity to move in your favor.

Many people place their stop loss very close at the market open and just before a news announcement. This is setting up for a sure loss. When the market opens on Sunday it can gap causing you to be taken out of the market if you have a stop that is too close to the market. When a news announcement happens the spread can widen and take you out quickly. I have seen people straddle the market with tight stops and have both buy and sell orders taken out with in seconds. You need to learn where to place your stop-loss orders to minimize losses and maximize your profits.

Systems Will Make You a Better Trader

2008-08-31T03:59:00.001+07:00

If you are going to become a better trader you will need to use a system to trade with. You will need to follow a solid set of rules that work and you have back tested. How do you back test? Just by doing the simulated trading you are back testing the trading system.

If you are able to make the same good trades time after time then you have a chance of becoming a good trader and the system you are using is a good one. You need to know why you are making good or bad trades. Your trading system should help you figure this out like the trade tracker. If you do not have a trading system you will have a problem determining why you are losing and your trades are being made off the cuff.

Even if you are trading with a good system you will need to use some judgment and get out of a trade if it doesn’t feel right. If you do not cut your winners short on a consistent basis then losing once in a while is ok. If your system is working for you then you should try and take all you see because you never know which signal will be one of the big winners.

A system is not just getting in the market; it should give you signals to get out and use stop losses as well. What is good about knowing how and when to exit is you do not have to worry about getting out too soon or too late: you let the system tell you what to do.

To back test your trading system you just need to practice simulated trading. This will tell you if you can read signals and make good calls when trading. Successful traders who put the work into doing what it takes to learn to trade, will come out ahead. Trading plans, trade journals and simulated trading are all keys to becoming a winning trader.

How Long Do I Stay in a Trade?

2008-08-31T03:29:00.000+07:00

There are two things we all must learn. How long to stay in a trade when it is going against us and how long to stay in a trade when it is going in our favor.

We need a system and a set of rules that guide us on the beginning stop loss so it does not let us lose too much but also lets the market move enough so as not to take us out of the trade too soon or give us a “head fake”. This will help us control our fear. Then we also need to follow a system and a set of rules that let us know when to close a trade so greed does not take over and we lose all the money we have just made.

All we need to do is get some good signals and follow them.

The Secret of Building a Highly Profitable Trading Account

2008-08-31T03:27:00.000+07:00

Have you ever stopped to think why the trading techniques that work for the world’s best trading gurus aren’t working for you? Why can they achieve substantial gains while you’re left in the dust?

What do they know that you don’t?

In reality, they know a lot of things that you probably don’t. Let me let you in on a little secret—you don’t need to know everything they know. There is one characteristic that every highly successful trader in the world has, and if you learn to master this one detail and integrate it into your trading, it will be enough to create more profitable trades than 1,000 hours of looking and studying charts.

Are you ready for this? If you have failed to create a high-profit trading account until this point, I can all but guarantee that your trading is failing in one crucial area – you are not following a trading system you have learned, and trust. A good trading system would show you why you should be trading in the direction of the trend on the 4-hour chart, or that perhaps you are trading in time frames that are too small (1-5 min).

Trading with the trend puts the odds in your favor and makes it easier to read and follow your indicators and your entry and exit signals. If you fail to follow the trend you will never have a consistently high profitable trading account. You will waste hundreds of hours looking at charts and wonder why you never reach the profit levels you dream of.

Disagree? Consider these simple examples:

Example 1 – Johnny makes 50 trades on the one and five minute charts and never looks at the direction of the trend. He is trying to trade the news, listen to other traders, guess which way the market will move, and by how much. He lets a little move in the opposite direction grow into a big loss because he does not know which way the market is moving and does not set a stop loss because he thinks that it will come back. He closes a profitable trade when he has a little profit because he is not giving the market enough room to breath, and does not know which way the trend is going. He is hoping for the homerun, but he will never hit a homerun if he is always bunting (trading in the 1 and 5 minute time frames). He will have 25 wins and 25 losses and wonders why his account stays the same or dips a little.

Example 2 – Jane makes 20 trades on the thirty minute, one hour, and four hour charts only taking trades in the direction of the trend. She does not let the news and other traders influence her trading. If the market moves against her she has her stop loss places and knows how much she will lose on each trade. If she gets taken out at a loss it is always a small loss. She always lets the market breath and move freely without closing a profitable trade because of a little fluctuation in the market. She is not looking for a homerun. She is just looking for the market to tell her when it is time to close her trades. Jane is happy to take what the market is willing to give her at that time. She does hit a homerun now and then with little effort and emotion. Of the 20 trades, she will have 15-18 of them be successful, causing her account to grow steadily.

Why You Can Do Even Better Than Jane

The example of Jane assumes that she never increases the number of lots she trades or adds on to a winning trade as her account grows. If she is trading with 1% of her account at the beginning of a trade and then adds on to the trade as it goes in her direction, when she gets add on signals then she will multiply 3 – 5 times the profit on her account on a good trade.
Even if Johnny works twice as hard and places twice as many trades, he won’t be able to catch up. Jane will soon be getting more profits and compounding the growth each day. Why won’t Johnny be able to keep up or even catch up? Because Jane has been compounding her profits by trading with the trend and adding on to her profitable trades. When she loses, it is small; when she wins, it is big because she has been working the trade. Can Johnny realistically trade enough to keep up with Jane?

In order for you to become a consistently profitable trader you will need to trade with the trend, trade with the trend, trade with the trend.

5 Suggestions You Must Follow To Become a Profitable Trader

1. Trade in the direction of the trend

I had heard “trade in the direction of the trend” or “The trend is your friend” for years but didn’t quite get it. Then I read an article a few years ago, and it changed the way I look at charts and the market. In the article it stated that you should always trade in the direction of the trend of the four-hour chart. That seemed so long to wait for a trade. I was trying to make trades on the 1, 5, and sometimes 15-minute charts. Then I realized that I could still trade on the smaller time frames but only make trades in the direction of the four-hour chart. When I did this even if the trade went against me it seemed to always come back in my favor. This way I stopped hoping it would come back in my favor because I knew the odds were in my favor that it would come back for me.

I have also traded the 4-hour time frame successfully. This way I do not have to be in front of the computer as much and I have been making more money with less work. Try doing this on a demo account and see how it works for you.

2. Start small with each trade

When you place that first trade on a trend it can be scary. At this point in the trend you are not sure if this is a real trend or just a channel or retracement. Enter the market small, risking just a few lots until the trend confirms itself. Then you can add on to maximize the profitability of the trend.

Add to each trade when it starts to trend. We like to start out small with one lot when the trend is in question then add more lots as the trend proves itself. The add on positions are less risky than the first positions in a trend. The more the trend proves itself, the less risky it becomes. There are several add on signals in most trends, so why not add on multiple lots when the trade is headed in a direction, and then close all the positions when the trend comes to an end or when you have good exit signals? This way you can increase your profits on a trade by 3 to 5 times that of scaling out. Of the entry methods we have discussed you have two choices: start big and scale out or start small and add on.

I have heard many people say when you make a trade, you should scale out of the trade closing a portion of the trade as the trade starts to get more profitable. They usually start out with several lots. I thought this was strange to close a profitable trade when the trend was just starting to move. Also why put on several lots and expose yourself to more risk when you are not sure if this is a trend or not? I have come to the conclusion that the people who suggest a larger first position with scaling out of the trade is because they do not have any better exit signals than to just take a little profit as the trade progresses.

If you do not have a trading system that gives you exact exit signals and good add on signals then you could become a better trader if you found a system that would help you with this.

3. Trade with a stop loss

Trading with a stop loss is one of the most important parts of the trade. It falls under the category of money management. This is more important than the entry and exit points of a trade. The first loss is always the smallest and that is usually at the stop loss.

When you trade with stop losses, you have a much greater chance of being in the trading game longer than if you do not trade with a stop. On a trade system advertisement the instructor was saying he puts on his stop loss and his target take profit and goes and does something. He said he would have a profit or a loss. Most of the time he had a profit because he gave the market room to breathe. If he was stopped out, then the market usually was making a turn and changed direction. So he was stopped out at the smallest loss. Then, he would look to get back in the market the way the market wanted to go.

Successful traders have all lost money from time to time. They know this is part of the game. You just need to learn to manage the wins and losses.

4. Trust your indicators

One of the first things you should do as a trader is to become good at using some indicators of your choice, and then trust them. Your indicators will serve you well.

No indicator or even a set of indicators will be right all the time. But you need to trust them and use your stops for the complete trading program.

Most indicators have certain signals that are always right. If this is true, then why not wait for the ideal signals to present themselves and have more successful trades? You will make more money waiting for the signals to come to you rather than chasing trades and jumping in at every anticipated or hoped for signal. There will be a signal and a trigger entry point. Most mistakes are made when the trade is entered on the signal and not on the trigger entry point. DO NOT anticipate an entry signal; wait for it to come to you. The market will tell you when it is going to give you some money, usually through your indicators.

5. Follow your rules

Every trading strategy has some trading rules to follow. Every game has a set of instructions to follow to be able to win.

This is one time GUYS, that you should study the instructions and trading rules before you start to trade. There are a couple of reasons for this. One: you will not develop bad habits you have to break. Two: you will develop the habit of studying the markets, which is what you will have to do the rest of your trading career.

By learning the rules and following them you will then be able to develop a good trading plan. The trading plan is usually your way of trading the market, the way you will enter, exit, study and read the market. It will tell you the time you will trade and how much of your account you will trade. It will also show you how much of a draw down you will take and how you are going to handle your emotions.

The market does not care if you win or lose your money. The market does not have emotions. But the market will tell you what it is going to do if you will follow the rules of your trading system. Trading the Forex market is not a race with yourself or anyone else; it is an individual effort to develop your skills to be able to trade well.

LEARN THE RULES, TRADE THE MARKET, AND BE PROFITABLE.

My Overall Thoughts on Building a Highly-Profitable Trading Account
I think that quite a few of us want to be profitable traders without taking the time to become a good trader. The secret is learning and practicing a good trading strategy, being determined to follow the rules, and stick with it until you succeed.

If you trade with the trend and follow your trading strategy rules, profits are inevitable. Ask yourself if you’re willing to study and learn one strategy well rather than run with every new thing that comes along. If you’re not willing to take the time to study, practice, and follow the rules of a system, it will be really hard to become a profitable trader. If you are, you will have a very profitable account someday. That’s when you’ll know that you have made your dream come true.

Do I Have The Right Kind of Money to Trade The Forex Market?

2008-08-31T02:51:00.001+07:00

One of the best ways to lose your money is to try and trade when you need the money to pay bills. You do not have any room for a draw down. If you have a loss then you try harder to make it up to reach your required objective. When you do not reach it you start to over trade your account and lose the money faster. You start to break all of your trading rules and have no discipline. Then your emotions creep in and now you are out of control and frustrated. In fact you have almost lost any chance of being successful.

You do not have any control as to when and how much the markets will give you. You need to be relaxed and in tune with the market. Not stressed and fighting the market. The market does not care if you win or lose. So put the odds in your favor and only trade with money you can afford to lose.

Can You Learn The Forex Market

2008-08-31T02:41:00.000+07:00

We visited Springfield Illinois where Abraham Lincoln lived and had a successful law practice. We were able to take a tour of the house where he lived when he ran for President of the United States. The guide shared with us that the house was small when they first moved in and as he became more successful in his law practice he added on to his house. We then visited a replica of a little town where he lived for 9 years and was a partner in a mercantile business. We found out that he was a successful surveyor as well.

What does this have to do with the currency market? I was thinking how Lincoln learned how to do his many professions, it was by studying asking questions and practicing. That is how we have to learn how to trade, by studying, asking questions and practicing. I talk to many people that want someone else to trade for them because they think they can’t learn how to trade forex. Then there are the people that want to find a system that will do all the trading for them so they just turn it on and the money comes in. A person has to be careful about whom they get to trade their accounts because it seems that most professed money managers just manage to loose all the money. If there is am automated trading system that makes all the money and the investor doesn’t have to do anything then we have not seen nor heard about it.

My point is that the currency market is learnable but it does take a lot of study, asking questions, and practice. It is not for everyone but it can be for many if they put in the effort. This does not mean you can sit and look at charts hour after hour and get the knowledge you need to be a successful trader . It means there will be a lot of reading, listening to trainers, watching videos, and learning trading systems along with looking at the charts. It is fun and can be rewarding and it does take a lot of work. Make sure there is fun in your trading or you will not be with it very long.

Don’t Think You’re Better Than The Market

2008-08-31T02:35:00.000+07:00

good rule to follow is to always use good money management. The market doesn’t care if you win or lose your money. It is always moving and there is always something happening.

Some people get into a trade and let it run against them thinking it will come back. When it doesn’t come back usually one of the following two things occur:

1. They run the risk of a margin call.

2. They put more money in their account to prevent the margin call. (Not a good idea)

You also need to learn to leave your emotions out of your trading. Don’t try to beg the market to go in your direction. Because there are many people that haven’t learned to keep their emotions in check and they are begging and praying for it to go in the opposite direction that you want it to go.

Never trade with your emotions or your pocket book. Learn some good trading rules and techniques, and then follow them.

Think Of Trading As Points And Percentages

2008-08-31T02:33:00.001+07:00

We talked about the amount of risk a trader has in the market now it is time to talk about how you feel about money. If you have a big attachment to money then it will cause a big emotional strain when you lose some of the money.

One of the hardest things a new trader has to learn is how to loose. Losing is part of trading. Losses need to be looked at as expenses, or cost of doing business. There is no Holy Grail or magic trading system that just has to be turned on and the money will roll in.

If you can’t change your relationship with money, then just don’t think about it. Focus instead on numbers. Think of a % of your account, risk-to-reward ratio, and points to be made as profit not as points to be lost.

Once you learn how to make points then the money will come. You can accelerate the amount of money you make with good money management once you know how to make the pips.

Trading as a business

2008-08-31T02:31:00.000+07:00

If you take trading seriously you will think of trading as a business. Not just a hobby, or a way to get a quick rush, or a way to escape life’s problems, or a way of spending some of your extra time. You can think of trading, as a lot of things but to make the big bucks you talk and dream about, you need to think of it as a business.

Businesses have income and expenses. Most of us know that you have to spend some money to make money. When you lose, that is an expense and when you win, that is income.

Most successful business take off slowly build a good foundation then take off. All businesses have different time frames before they become successful. Many businesses have to adjust when their markets changing. By making small changes in the way they do things as they learn and grow they are staying in tune with their market.

You are much more likely to become profitable when you realize that trading is a business. Do not take it personal when you’re struggling. Do not put blame on someone or something else when you lose. Just learn how to run your business take it at the speed you feel comfortable with. Learn to trade, practice, implement, evaluate, learn to trade more, practice again, implement and evaluate. Do this over and over with each trade and watch your business grow.

Three Things That Give You An Edge

2008-08-31T02:28:00.001+07:00

You need three things in your trading system to have the edge you are looking for:

1. Signals that give you distinct alerts for entry and exit points.

2. The ability to determine the direction of the trend, so you know which way to trade.

3. A system which allows you to time your entry. Having that can make you a lot of extra pips. It is important to know how much money you are willing to risk on each trade.

When you know how and when to get into the market and how much you have at risk, it takes a lot of the emotion and guess work out of trading. Then, if you can add a system to know where to put your stop loss once the trade is profitable, you have a good foundation to work with. This will allow you to protect your profit and help you determine how and when to add on to a profitable trade. Start with a good foundation and grow from there. There are many traders that spend years trying to find something that works, and even then they are still not quite satisfied.

Bull Markets | Bear Markets - Which Should I Trade?

2008-08-31T01:38:00.001+07:00

The term “Bull Market” is used to describe when a market is going up. Therefore, the term “Bear Market” is used to describe when the market is going down. Therefore, you’d be better off not to sell in a bull market and not to buy in a bear market.

Nevertheless, there are some traders that say they like to trade the retracements. This is like trading against the trend or trying to swim up stream. Yes it can be done, but why trade the hard way for the least amount of money? Instead, you can trade with the trend or with the current and make more money with less effort.

If you sell when the market is going up or buy when the market is going down you will make less money with a greater risk of loss. I have heard people say that they like to do dollar cost averaging and they keep buying when the market is going down, with the hopes that the market will turn and come back in their favor. Some times it does come back and other times they get a margin call before the market turns and comes back for them.

It is smart trading to learn what the market is willing to give and then taking it. Do not try to get more than the market is willing to give or you will loose some or all of what you have. You are getting in tune with the market when you want what the market wants and take what the market is willing to give. Nothing more, nothing less.

The terms “Bull” and “Bear” come from the manner in which each animal attacks. The bull uses its horns and thrusts them up in the air, whereas the bear swipes down with its paws. So, if the trend is up, its a bull market, if the trend is down, its a bear market.

Trend and Money Management

2008-08-31T01:20:00.000+07:00

There are many Forex traders and thus there are many things that they feel are important to do to manage their money. We have found that the trend is the most important requirement to make money using technical analysis. The tools used to measure the trend are not perfect, yet very helpful…so a trader will need to be aware of the risk in trading and protect themselves against sudden turns in the market.

When a trader decides to enter a trade he must also decide when he is going to exit the trade. The trader needs to decide when to exit the trade if it is positive and if the trade turns negative. Making the decision at which price to set your stop loss before entering a trade is a way of protecting against large losses. If the stop loss is going to be far enough away from the entry price to make the trader feel uncomfortable then there are two things that can be done:

1. Trade with a smaller lot size.

2. Do not take the trade at all. It is best to be in control of your emotions and your investment capital before you enter a trade.

One of the greatest advantages when entering a trade is that an exit point can be established at a point that if reached the trader knows that something is wrong, either with his research or the market behavior. This is one way that the risk or loss can be determined right in the beginning of the trade. Because the risk can be determined, money management principles can be applied that will lower the chance of loss. By trading in the direction of the four hour trend you will also lower the risk in trading. Being patient and waiting for the market to give an entrance signal is another way of limiting risk and managing your account balance.

Follow the trend and see how much easier and less stressful your trading will become.

NEVER Stop Practice TradingNEVER Stop Practice Trading

2008-08-31T01:17:00.000+07:00

It is a well known fact that if you take time away from your skill, it takes a bit of concentration and practice to get back on top of your game. Professional athletes have to work hard on their skills to get back to peak levels of performance after the off season. The same thing holds true for Forex traders. It may be different amounts of time and different levels of effort to get back into trading shape but it does take time and effort.

Learning doesn’t stop once trading with real money begins. In fact, it is the exact opposite; the learning curve actually accelerates. I know of many traders that will trade with a live and a demo account in tandem. They place the same trade on each account and find themselves trading the two accounts differently.

When the demo starts to make more money than their live account it is easy for them to see what they are doing different and correct the difference. The wise traders will learn from tandem trading and those traders that should not have started trading live are still wondering what is happening to them.

Other traders say “it is no fun to demo trade” and other traders say “I don’t learn when trading a demo account”. One suggestion is to trade with a mini account and only place micro mini lots i.e. 0.01 lots. This is trading with a penny. If they do lose 100 pips they have only lost one dollar. If this is what it takes, you still need to practice. Remember perfect practice makes perfect results.
Use the 5 and 15 minutes time frames, and signals to get in and out of the market. Using the smaller time frames over many currency pairs you will get a lot of practice in a short amount of time.

Practice, have fun, and trade well.

When To Trade With Real Money

2008-08-31T01:11:00.000+07:00

When did the training wheels come off the bike? When does the parent let the new driver go solo? When can the new pilot fly solo? When does a trader start to use real money? The answer to these questions will be different for everyone.

One of the first things in each of these examples would be the level of confidence the participants have in themselves. With the bike rider, it might be when he/she does not touch the training wheels any more. With the student driver and pilot, it might be when they have passed some tests and practiced enough to be proficient in the operation of the car or plane. In trading it might be when the trader has more winning trades than losing trades in their demo accounts and knows how to operate the trading platform. Everyone progresses at a different pace and is ready to move on to the next level at different times.

These are the steps we recommend:

1. Learn how to use the trading platform
2. Learn the basics of a trading strategy
3. Practice simulated trading using the strategy
4. Practice demo trading
5. Practice visualization trading.
6. In the demo account there should be more winning trades than losing trades.
7. When the confidence is there move onto live trading.

The object is to be a good trader before you try to make a bunch of money. The money will come after you master the above steps on becoming a good trader. If a new trader tries to skip some steps in the learning process and has some success, then they were lucky. There is no short cut to learning how to trade well. The market does not care whether you make or lose money. The currency market has a way of keeping traders humble. It is always best to learn and follow some trading rules in becoming a good trader.

Which Comes First, The Skill or The Money?

2008-08-31T01:06:00.000+07:00

You should only trade with a forex strategy that you’ve proven to yourself. One of the most important tools you need to learn how to use, even before you start trading at any level is how to use the trading platform. We offer a free forex video tutorial that shows you how to set-up and use the MT4 trading platform. There are people that open a live account, get into a trade and do not even know how to close the trade. Then they want the broker to give them their money back, and make things even for them. Once you can use the trading platform proficiently you can move on to learning the trading strategy you are looking at.

You should always practice trading to become acquainted with the indicators. When enough time has been give to simulated trading and the entry and exit signal are easily spotted then move on to demo trading. When demo trading play money is being used with live data feed and real time results. When the winning trades are happening more often than the losing trades, then consider opening a live account with real money. Use the 80-20 rule to determine the proper time to start live trading. At this point you may feel like you are a great trader but you now have to deal with your emotions. The best thing to do is start out trading with very small trades. If the amount of money you will lose on a single trade is uncomfortable to you, then you may want to lower the amount of money you have in the trade. For example: If you set your stop loss at 50 pips and you do not feel good about losing $50.00 on a one lot trade, then you could place a 0.1 lot trade which would give you a loss of only $5.00 if your stop loss is hit. If you feel comfortable with the $5.00 loss then it is ok to be in the trade.

Controling Risk

2008-08-31T00:58:00.000+07:00

Some people say you should not risk any more than 2 percent of your account on any one trade, while others say between 3-4% is max. One thing is for sure, you should be conservative. We feel you should never risk any more than 5 percent of your account on any one trade. We also recommend that you start out small then add on to the trade once you see it is moving in a strong trend. Now let me clarify why I say 5 percent. Most of the time you should start out around the 1-2 percent range then add-on when the trade goes in the direction of the trend. When the small initial order is profitable then move the stop loss so the trade is at a break even or even a little profitable, this way there will not be a loss on the trade.

Now look for the add on signals. At this time the trade is showing the true trend and it is easier to add on to the trade with greater confidence and trading 5 percent of the account is not an issue. It is possible to trade much more than 5 percent of the account and only have 1 or 2 percent at risk for the rest is protected by your stop losses in a profitable position. Until proper preparation and practice have taken place, do not trade real money.

You should always know where your stop loss is going to be placed before you enter a trade. Once the trade moves in your direction then move the stop loss to a point that is at least break even or where you have a slight profit. Know what your exit signals are and close your positions when the signals are given. Do not try to get more than the market is going to give.

You need to take care of your emotions. If you have a loss and do not know how to handle it then you will become afraid to trade. So set an amount that you can afford to lose both emotionally and financially. Once you have reached that limit then you should do some more simulated trading to sharpen your skill on spotting your entry and exit signals. Once you feel good about that then move on to demo trading. When you are ready to trade live again start out small and grow from there.

You will always need to control financial risk as well as the emotional risk. If either side gets out of control then it could take you out of the market.

6 Things That MUST Not Be Used In Your Trading

2008-08-31T00:57:00.001+07:00

There are certain things that must be kept out of your trading, such as emotion, revenge, anger, your pocketbook, and fear. Every trader should follow a set of rules or guidelines in order to be a successful trader. When you trade without rules, you are essentially trading blindfolded.

Emotion: Wanting the market to go a certain way.

Revenge: Some people think they will get even with the market if they stay in or keep on putting on losing trades one after (cost averaging). The market doesn’t care about what you want. It will show you what it is going to give so learn to only want what the market is willing to give at any given time.

Anger: People will get angry with themselves and do foolish things to try and make up for a mistake.

Pocket book: When you are getting out of the market because you can not afford to let the market move a little. You were over trading your account or did not have enough money to trade to start with. A new trader with an under funded account has a greater chance of failure because he does not have enough room to let the market move and a little loss takes a big part of his trading account. This increases his emotions and compounds the trade.

Greed: When a trade has ended expecting it to give you more. Then it turns and you lose all you just made.

Fear: Many times people have fear because they are trading with money they can not afford to lose.

The Rules: A pre-defined trading plan. How many lots, how many pips, when to trade, when to get in, how long to stay in, practicing good money management, etc. It also means keeping a journal of your trades to learn from the positive and the negative trades and make sure your rules are working. Be sure you know what your trading platform can show you and how to use it’s features to your benefit.

How Important is an Exit Strategy?

2008-08-31T00:54:00.000+07:00

There is a saying: “cut your losses and let your winners run.” I know that is not what some people teach, they say when you get some profit you should bank some of the profit and move your stop loss to a break even. That way you will not take a loss on the trade. They are saying that when the market is moving in your direction, to get out before you lose-just take a little bit of the profit on the trade. I have often wondered what their exit signals are if they are willing to close part of a trade and see what the rest is going to do. That seems like gambling to me. (Lets see what happens.) This tells me that they do not have a good exit strategy.

I think you should start out small like trading only one lot to start with. When you see add on signals you should add on 2, 3, 4 or more lots once the trend is truly telling you which way the market is going. If they have a good exit strategy why are they only closing a portion of the position? I say why not close the whole trade if the market looks like it is going to turn on you. If the market retraces a little, and takes off again, you can get back into the trend.

The Importance of Losing when Trading

2008-08-31T00:48:00.001+07:00

In real estate the three most important things to an investor are location, location, location. In trading the three most important things are: money management, timing your exits and timing your entries; in that order. More important than how much you make on a trade is how little you lose on the losses. When you are looking for a place to exit a trade you want to consider a location that will not cost too much. Think of how much you will lose before you think of how much you will make. A losing position should be exited as soon as they have reached your worst-case scenario. By staying in a trade so you don’t lose money is not the way to make money. For a pip saved is a pip earned. Learning how to lose correctly is one of the most important things a trader can do. It is important to know how to hold on to a good trade. But if you do not know how to get out of a bad trade you will not go very far as a trader. If you are properly capitalized no one trade will take out your account. Sticking to trading with a stop loss is critical because a small loss does not mean very much but a large loss can end your trading career both financially and emotionally.

Every trader needs to understand that losing is different from a loss. All traders have lots of little losses because that is part of trading. It is when you have little losses turn into large losses is when you have lost. Once a trader knows it is normal to lose then it is easier to get out of bad trades. Even if you are a poor trader you will have some good trades. And you will have a chance at success if you learn to cut your losses short. The skill comes when you can cut a bad trade but still let the market have a chance to work so you can capture the good trade.

A trade needs to have time to develop. But a trade needs to be closed when you know you are wrong. A good exit strategy combines knowing when to hold em and knowing when to fold em.

Be a Trend Trader, Don’t Pick Tops & Bottoms

2008-08-31T00:44:00.000+07:00

I see many people trying to pick tops and bottoms in the market. They feel bad if they leave a little bit of money on the table. The truth is that you cannot pick tips or bottoms. You can however lose a lot of money trying to pick them. The best approach is to take a portion out of the middle.

Find some indicators that give you signals when the market is starting to move. When it does move, get in and then add on to your position as the trend gets underway.

I think it is best to start out small with (one lot) and a stop loss. Once the market tells you that it is really moving then add on to your position. Once the market tells you that the trend is over,close all of your positions at one time when the trend has ended. Exercising a little patience and waiting for a proven direction to take, can increase your odds of profiting and somewhat reduce your risk.

Once you are out of the trade then start looking for another entry point. There is always another trade just around the corner in either the same pair or another currency pair.

Should You Trade The News?

2008-08-31T00:21:00.000+07:00

Hi everyone. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about when, how and even if you can profitably trade the news, so I decided to write this post to hopefully answer all those questions. It’s kind of long but I think you will benefit from it.

Many times the big pip movements take place when news is released … 30-50-100 pip movements in minutes are common. It is a natural reaction to want to get in on some of that. It looks easy but it may or may not be easy. The price moves up and down, the spreads are wide and you can’t get filled. What looks easy is also frustrating.

At news times the market does make big moves. There are a lot of news announcements each week creating many chances for pips to be made. News release times can be found on the Forex Factory website. The main things to look for would be which country is having a news announcement and what time the news is being announced. This will give heads up as to which currency pairs to trade.

Every news announcement does not have to be traded. Here is a list of some of the better U.S. Market news announcement topics.

• Employment Growth
• Interest Rate decisions
• Trade Balance
• Gross Domestic Product
• Retail Sales
• Durable Goods
• Inflation reports (Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index)
• Foreign Purchases report

Also look for similar reports from other countries that will give good moves.

Trading news announcements can be the riskiest type of trading that one can do. Many traders loose more money trying to trade the news than at any other time.

The most profitable way I have found to take advantage of the news announcement is to wait for trading signals to give you the best entry point. You should not just enter with a guess of which way you think the move will go. You may have to wait from 5 to 30 minutes before you see a proper entry signal. Another way to get a feel as to when the market is tradable is to wait until the spreads come back to normal. This way the market is letting you know that a direction may be forming.

Good trades may be found on many different time frames. The 5-minute time frame seems to be good when the market is moving fast. Good signals can be seen and acted upon with the 5 minute when the market is moving fast. The one-minute time frame has too much noise for most traders (up and down movement).

During the first 5 to approximately 30 minutes the market moves up or down and may not give a good signal. But once there is a proper signal, based on indicators then it can be a good move. Also one of the great things about focusing on news releases is that they are scheduled in advance. A trading schedule can be planned around the news announcements.

Many people put on pending orders with tight stop losses. Then they find themselves in and out of the market in a few short minutes, or seconds, with big losses. This may happen because of the spreads widening. With a 10 pip stop loss and the spread widening to 12, for example, a trade would be open and closed as soon as the trade was placed. The best way is to trade with the direction of the trade, the way the market decides to go, and not try to guess which way it will go. The market moves not so much by what the news says but by the reaction of the traders to the news.

One thing to look for is when the market is quiet for a few hours before a news announcement. In other words it is moving sideways. When this happens, the market is waiting for the news announcement then it will start to move in the direction the traders trade it.

Another observation that happens often enough to be of some value is to check the direction of the trend on the currency pair you are going to trade. Once the direction of the trend is determined only place trades going in that direction. After the impact of a news announcement is over the market tends to move in the direction of the overall trend. To check the directions of the trend use the 4 hour chart. There are a couple of things that can be done to determine the direction of the trend. The easiest, and my favorite strategy is to place two moving averages on a chart, 3 period shift 0 simple at the close, color yellow and 5 period 3 shift simple at the close color, purple, as shown below. When the Yellow crosses the purple line going down it is a downtrend and when the yellow crosses the purple going up it is an up trend.

Another way to get a general direction of the trend is to look at a 4 hour chart and draw a line from the point where your price bars start on the screen on the left hand side, to where they end on the screen, right hand side. This will give an indication of the direction of the trend also. (see below)

Trend lines may also be drawn. Once the direction of the trend is determined the news may be traded in the direction of the trend for a less risky trade.

When the trend is UP, on the 4 HR chart, and the news drives the market DOWN, after a drop in the price, watch for a turn in the price to the up side with a continuation of the direction of the trend.

When the trend is down, on the 4 HR chart, and the news drives the market up. Watch for a turn to the down side with a continuation of the trend.

When the trend is up, on the 4 HR chart, and the news drives the market up, you can see a sharp move up with a period of rest then a then a resuming of the trend.

When the trend is down, on the 4 HR chart, and the news drives the market down, you can see a sharp move down with a period of rest then a continuation down then a resuming of the trend.

Below is an example of a good trend and some of the areas where news went against the trend then came back. You will also see places where the news went with the trend.

While trading the foreign currency market don’t think of it as an ATM machine were the market owes you something. Especially when trading the market around news time. If 20 people show up to buy and there are only 10 lots for sell then someone will not be filled until some more lots become available. When the price gets good enough for the seller then you may buy but it may not be at the price you would like. This all happens very quickly at the time news is being announced.

There are traders that do make money trading the news. It is a more common reality that more traders will lose their money while trying to trade the news. Trading any strategy takes time and practice. Skills need to be developed to become good with the use of any indicator. Trust also needs to be developed as to what the indicators are saying. If the news is traded right with solid trading principle where a bit of the trade is taken out of the middle and not going for the tops and bottoms of the movement then there is a chance of having success trading the news.

Why You Need a Trading Plan

2008-08-31T00:17:00.000+07:00

You can learn a lot about the Forex currency market. You can have a great system for trading but without a good trading plan and the discipline to stick to it, you will NEVER be profitable.

Your trading plan will continually move you in the correct direction to make money trading the currency market. If you can make a living without a plan, you must be a market genius.

Let us give you some good reasons why you should have a trading plan.

Why Do You Need a Trading Plan?

First of all, it moves you down the right path.
It is imperative that you develop consistency in your trading. We all have our daily routines, which help us make each day a success. As a trader, a routine is vital to your success. Not only does a routine improve your chances for success, but you are able to measure your success and change something in your routine if you are not getting your desired results. Make a plan, and stay with it. If you don’t, it will be hard to consistently make money and you’ll never know if your routine is worth keeping. Read your plan daily, follow it and you will stay on track with your goals.

Secondly, successful trading is not just a hobby.
I say this because successful trading requires that you have a business mindset. All successful businesses have a plan. By sticking to a plan a business will be successful. If it stops following the plan, it will become weak in its industry and fall by the wayside. Don’t think that your plan is set in stone and can’t be altered. Many times it may be necessary to update it, but the important issue is that you always have a plan.

The difference between the winning traders and losing traders is a plan. If you have a good plan (developed over time) and you stick to it, you will become successful!

Don’t get tied down trying to make some complex business plan. Make a simple plan and add to it as you learn. Whether it is simple or complex, I can’t stress to you enough that you FOLLOW YOUR PLAN.

Basics for Your Plan

1. What Are My Goals

Take some time and think about what you want to accomplish as a trader.

Do you plan on making currency trading your main source of income?
Make a realistic goal on how much return you would expect with your current trading skill and experience.
Remember, all your goals don’t have to deal directly with making money. They can be oriented around learning specific details in the forex market, or they can even be personal.
Ask yourself what you would like to accomplish through this experience, and remember why you are doing it if times get rough. Hopefully you will have worthy enough goals that they will constantly motivate you.
A goal to make a lot of money is not really a goal. It will be the end result of accomplishing the goals you have set.
2. Trading Routine

As discussed previously, a trading routine is an important part of your trading plan. By having one, you will already know:

At what times you analyze the market and plan your trades
The best time for you to place trades and watch the market.
At what specific times throughout the day that you will check the market.
Example: I will analyze the market each evening when I get home from work and just before I go to bed. I will watch the market for an hour in the morning before I go to work. I will check the market when each new 4 hour bar is formed when I am awake.

3. Trading System

The trading system is the foundation of your trading plan. At least a month before you start trading real money, test your system out using your Pre-Launch Trading and Demo Trading.
Some of the most essential things you should include in your system are:

• The maximum percentage you will risk on each trade.
• How many lots you will trade.
• Which time frames you will look at.
• The entry and exit signals you will use.

Example: I trade the US market. I trade in the direction of the trend on the 4 hour chart. I trade when I get at least two confirmation signals (on the time frame that is easiest to read at the time I am trading). I will always start each trade with only one lot. I will add on to the trade as new signals present themselves. I will exit all positions when my manual trailing stop is hit or when two price bars close below the purple line.

4. What is My State Of Mind?

Being calm and relaxed is an important part of trading. By following your routine you can be in a better state of mind than if you run in and look at the market to try and get a few pips while checking the price randomly through out the day. Your routine will help keep your emotions in check.

Example:
• I will look for signals-not guess which way the market is going.
• I will only trade in the direction of the trend.
• When I lose on a trade I will see what I can learn and move onto the next trade.
• I will not try and get even with the market.
• I will not be hard on myself for losing on a trade.
• I will use each trade as a learning experience.

5. Your Trading Journal

Make sure you log the details of each trade and record the reasons for the trade in your Trade Tracker sheet. This will be a constant progress report and allow you to evaluate yourself from time to time. You will learn from your mistakes, and realize how much of a better trader you’ve become. This will give you the confidence to be even more successful later on. It will better help you keep track of your goals and remind you what you need to do to accomplish them. It doesn’t take long to write down your trades, and will be well worth your time.

Summary
Your trading plan will be just like a flight plan; it will keep you on target toward your goals.
Review your trading plan every time you trade and stick to the plan.
You may have all the knowledge out there and be able to talk the talk, but if you do not put that knowledge into a trading plan it will be much harder to apply it in your trades and be successful.
Keep in mind when you start to trade with real money you are actually creating a business, and any business needs a plan to succeed. If you do not want to start a business then stick to Pre-Launch and Demo trading and treat it as a game until you have the confidence to do so.

Below you will find an example of a trading plan.
You should make up your own trading plan from the suggested outline above.
You will be amazed that by following the trading plan you will stay in trades longer and reduce the amount of poor trades you make.

TRADING PLAN
(Example)

I never trade when I am tired, upset or rushed. I check the markets when I get home from work.I set up signals just before I go to bed.When an alert sounds I check the market and place my trades based on entry signals.I never anticipate what the market will do I trade only with signals.I always trade with a stop loss.

I check the market when I get out of bed.

I always trade in the direction of the trend on the 4-hour chart.

I enter the market on the time frame that is easiest to read.

I always use signals to enter and exit a trade.

I always make my own decisions to enter/exit a trade.

I always start a trade with one lot.

I only add to a trade when there are signals.

I never trade with more than 10% of my trading account.

I record my trades in my trading journal.

I accept losses and move on to the next trade.
(Losing is part of trading)

I take responsibility for my successes and failures in the market.
(I do not blame others)

I practice trade daily ___ weekly ___ for 15 minutes.

I want what the market is willing to give.
(No greed or fear)

The Smart Way to Lose a Forex Trade

2008-08-31T00:12:00.000+07:00

We have seen over the years traders will trade without a stop loss for fear of a small loss. When the market turns against them they let it run in the wrong direction rather than getting into the trade and trade with the move. Their total focus is set on wishing the market would turn and come back for them. Now the trade is several hundred pips against them and they can’t take it any longer so they close the trade and take a big loss and feel good that they did not lose more.

We all have to realize that a loss in trading is part of trading. We need to put the advantage in our favor so we will win more than we lose and not fall in love with a trade that is losing and let it run. When we take a trade we need to know where our stop loss is going to be then let the market tell us when to get out.

Once we have profit in a trade we need to concentrate on protecting the profit. So it is best to protect profit rather than hope a loss will get smaller. The first loss is always the smallest and will give you better vision for the next trade.

E.A.S.Y. Trading Method

2008-06-08T03:56:00.000+07:00

E.A.S.Y. Trading Method
http://rapidshare.com/files/120832131/EASY.zip.html

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2008-06-08T03:49:00.000+07:00

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Forex Trading - Anyone Can Learn the Skills to Win, But 95 Percent of Traders Lose, Why?

2008-05-21T19:27:00.000+07:00

It's a fact anyone can learn the skills needed to win at forex trading - but they don't and the reason why is, they neglect the major factor they need to learn to achieve forex success. Understand this factor and how important it is and you can win.

This is a simple equation for forex market success:

Correct Knowledge = Understanding = Confidence = Discipline = Forex Success

What's obvious about the above?

That your forex trading system or the system you use is not important, providing it's logical and based on trading the odds - but your understanding, confidence and the way you apply it is. You can have a good forex trading strategy and fail here's why:

How do most forex traders learn to trade?

They day trade, or they trade mechanical systems sold by vendors, with simulated track records and we have two problems here that are the route cause of trader losses:

1. Day trading is not the correct knowledge to learn - it doesn't work!

It's based on ridiculous assumptions i.e. you can predict what millions of traders will do in a day!

2. If you use a mechanical system you cannot follow it unless you understand how and why it works (ok most the forex trading systems sold on the net are junk) but even if you do find a successful one, you still have to follow it with discipline through periods of losses. You won't follow it, if you don't understand it or have confidence in it!

Learning the correct forex knowledge and getting a robust forex strategy together is easy - the hard part is applying it. Understand this - success rests with you, not your broker, friends, vendors or anyone else - YOU.

Many forex traders hate taking responsibility and cry like babies when they lose, its everyone's fault but theirs - but it isn't.

If they lose it's their fault.

Successful forex trading involves you getting and applying the right knowledge and applying it is the hard part. All forex trading systems lose, for sometimes weeks on end (and that includes the best) so you have to accept responsibility and have the confidence and discipline to follow your plan.

Why Its Forex Trading is so Hard and The Rewards so High?

You are trading against the market and it is always right and only you can be wrong. Your success is down to your market timing and how accurate you're trading signals are and that's it. Sure, the market will prove you wrong and sure the market will make you look stupid - but that's trading.

So if you understand the above, then your forex education is all about:

Getting a logical method that puts the odds on your side, having confidence in it and trading it with discipline, through good times and bad times.

It's easy to learn currency trading - but it's harder to get discipline however, if you accept this and want success, forex trading can reward you with a fantastic and sometimes even life changing income. Currency trading success is in your hands - are you up for the challenge?

If the answer is yes - welcome to the exciting and lucrative world of global FX trading.

EA Pyramid Ultimate v.2008

2008-05-14T00:45:00.001+07:00

DOWNLOAD = EA Pyramid Ultimate v.2008

The Best Time of Day to Trade

2008-05-10T19:25:00.000+07:00

Although a Forex trading day runs 24 hours a day, 5-1/2 days a week, each day is typically divided into the Asian session, the European session and the New York session.

Volatility generally increases dramatically with the opening of each market. Check out your price chart and you will likely notice changes often occur as a new session begins.

Depending on your currency, certain times will usually be quiet, while others will be volatile. Study your time charts and the most active times will be obvious.

Pay close attention to the data calendar as well, as volatility is also unpredictable during data releases.

Choosing the Best Choosing the Best - Part of a Solid Forex Strategy

2008-05-10T19:23:00.000+07:00

One of the biggest mistakes traders make is looking at a Forex trading time frame which is too short. Virtually all online trading platforms have the ability to show you time frame charts with everything from "ticks" of several seconds, to 1 minute, 2 minute, 5 minute and so on up to monthly periods.

As shown in the Trading Platforms - Broker area, it is in your Broker's best interest if you trade more often, but not yours. These shorter time charts do nothing good for you, but rather tend to give you a false sense that you are following a trend.

As we all know, the safest Forex strategy is to determine the major trend, then jump aboard for a ride. Trading against the trend, something you could easily do if not using a suitable Forex trading time frame, places you at greater risk of your trade going against you.

Your Forex strategy should include using longer time periods when determining the trend. Don't even look at Forex trading time price charts with a period of less than 1 hour, unless you are a very well experienced trader.

When considering a trade, check 3 time frames... the 1 hour, 4 hour and daily for the currency pair. If each of these is trending in the same direction, it's a pretty solid piece of information.

As you can see by the picture below, a simple candlestick chart with a 50 period simple moving average to smooth the data will clearly indicate the underlying trend...

Price movements occur during the day to day business of Forex. Large central banks cause price fluctuations just by repatriating money from their country to others.

These random movements (which are not caused by the typical drivers such as data releases) may give the false illusion of trend changes on shorter time period charts. This same activity on a longer term chart simply appears as "part of the flow", as it should.

Use a longer Forex trading time frame and reduce the chances of false signals.

Choosing a Forex Online Trading System or Forex Trading Platform is a lot like Finding the Perfect New Car...

2008-05-10T19:15:00.001+07:00

If there was a perfect Forex indicator, everybody and their brother would be scooping bucket-loads of cash from the market regularly. The fact they aren't tells us something very important. One of the reasons they aren't perfect is covered in the link Looking Back.

Technical indicators are commonly used for Forex analysis, but a strong reliance on any of them is going to give you false sense of security. I cover the usual ones in the links below, but be sure to read the part about the limitations of each.

With the decentralized nature of Forex, there is no way to get a "Volume" component for the typical technical indicators common to stock and options trading. Traders have no reliable way of knowing "how much" of any currency is being bought or sold at any point in time.
There are a few Forex indicators which have shown an ability to reflect "Market Sentiment". The importance of knowing this sentiment becomes clearer once we fully explore what the Pro's are using in their toolkits.
According to surveys, the "really big" players, the one's with the resources to move the market (ie. the Central Banks, multi-billion dollar funds, etc.) rely on technical indicators to provide them with less than 25% of the information they base their trading decisions upon! In other words, 75% of the inputs used for making trading decisions have no basis in technical analysis! See "The Big Guys" below for more on this.
Your "Common Sense" is one of the best signals at your disposal. You need to learn to trust your own brain. The link below helps explain why.
Finding the "Right" collection of indicators to suit
your trading will take some experimenting.
Most of the trading platforms on offer for the "Spec" trader these days have enough "built-in" technical indicators to choke a horse. My advice to you is to not "bet the farm" on any one of them.
Your winning trading system will consist of many bits of information. The ability to separate the useful from the useless and apply them as your perfect Forex indicator is something you'll have to experiment with. The only indicators that are worth anything, are the ones you trust.
Use your demo account trading experience to try various indicators and then decide which ones are right for you. As I mentioned above, the Pro's only put, on average, 25% of their faith into technical indicators.

Finding an Accurate Forex Indicator - The Truths and Myths Behind the Popular Ones

2008-05-10T19:13:00.000+07:00

With the decentralized nature of Forex, there is no way to get a "Volume" component for the typical technical indicators common to stock and options trading. Traders have no reliable way of knowing "how much" of any currency is being bought or sold at any point in time.

There are a few Forex indicators which have shown an ability to reflect "Market Sentiment". The importance of knowing this sentiment becomes clearer once we fully explore what the Pro's are using in their toolkits.

According to surveys, the "really big" players, the one's with the resources to move the market (ie. the Central Banks, multi-billion dollar funds, etc.) rely on technical indicators to provide them with less than 25% of the information they base their trading decisions upon! In other words, 75% of the inputs used for making trading decisions have no basis in technical analysis! See "The Big Guys" below for more on this.

Your "Common Sense" is one of the best signals at your disposal. You need to learn to trust your own brain. The link below helps explain why.

Finding the "Right" collection of indicators to suit
your trading will take some experimenting.

Most of the trading platforms on offer for the "Spec" trader these days have enough "built-in" technical indicators to choke a horse. My advice to you is to not "bet the farm" on any one of them.

Your winning trading system will consist of many bits of information. The ability to separate the useful from the useless and apply them as your perfect Forex indicator is something you'll have to experiment with. The only indicators that are worth anything, are the ones you trust.

Use your demo account trading experience to try various indicators and then decide which ones are right for you. As I mentioned above, the Pro's only put, on average, 25% of their faith into technical indicators.

Understanding Forex Risk

2008-05-10T19:03:00.001+07:00

Forex risk is a subject that deserves careful consideration. Individuals who have found the key to trading Forex have probably lost all the funds in their trading account... more than twice.

You can make money trading Forex, but there are no guarantees you will make money.

It is generally accepted that a new Forex trader
will lose their trading funds five times before
they begin to show consistent profits.

There are a HUGE number of traps, any one of which is capable of swallowing your trading account whole! Do yourself a favor... pay very close attention to the risk statements which most brokerage firms have you sign. Not only is there a risk of you "trading away" all your capital, but there is also a danger the brokerage operation themselves may go under, taking your money with them.

There are ways to reduce your exposure to Forex risk... but you can never completely eliminate it. Do not, for even an instant, believe claims of guaranteed success from "system sellers" out there.

There are, however, many things you can do as part of your risk management to swing the "odds" of success in your favor.

You cannot buy a "system" that will
guarantee trading profits

To help minimize Forex risk, check out my collection of "Must Do's" here before you start trading with "real money."

Never Trade with Money You Can't Afford to Lose!

Here is something to think about...

When trading, prices either move up or down. They never stay the same. Your goal, as a trader, is to speculate which way the price is likely to move, trade in that direction and then exit your trade with a profit. Sounds simple enough!

Professional traders generally agree on the following - give 2 new traders an equal amount of money, have them trade a position in opposite directions, and they are likely to both lose money. Try this same tactic on 2 experienced traders, and they are likely to both make money!

A Conclusion? You have your work cut out for you to become a trader who takes profits from the market. Read and understand everything I offer you on this website... it will help you become a better trader, which in itself will help reduce your Forex risk.

Disclaimer

Forex trading is not appropriate for everyone. There is a substantial risk of loss associated with trading this market. There has been no system or method developed that can guarantee profits or ensure freedom from losses. Losses can and will occur. No representation or implication is being made that using the information on this website or any of the material available for download will generate profits or ensure freedom from losses. This material is for informational purposes only.

10 Forex Trading Essentials that can Improve Your Trading Immediately

2008-05-10T18:59:00.000+07:00

Here is my list of 10 Forex trading essentials. Compare your trading style against this list and if you are struggling to make profits, try these suggestions...

1) Increase your time perspective - If you are not a well seasoned Forex trader, you shouldn't even look at a price chart of less than 60 minutes. The randomness of the "normal" transactions which occur in Forex will distort your judgment of the "true picture." Use longer time frames, such as 60 minute, 4 hour and daily charts when planning your trades.

2) Reduce your position size to 5% Maximum - Having more than 3 to 5 percent of your trading capital "on the table" is a major "no no". High leverage makes it sooooo easy to get in, way over your head. This combination snares many traders and can rapidly destroy your account. You need to have the ability to ride the volatility waves common in Forex.

3) Give your trade time to work - You can only use this option effectively if your position is sized safely... as per 2) above. Prices will fluctuate dramatically in Forex, and you need to be sure that a "loss really is a loss" before you close a trade that is moving against your plan. A 30 pip stop loss will often kick you out of a trade, just as it's about to turn in your direction. You need to allow for larger price swings... if you have determined the major price trend, be patient and let the odds work in your favor.

4) Reduce your dependence on technical indicators - Due to the fact that technical indicators get their data from past events, the reality is they have no ability to predict the future. Pro's that enjoy success using these indicators, often profit from the knowledge of how "the masses" are likely to react to this data, rather than the information itself. You need to determine the major trend (a simple moving average will show you this) and hop aboard. Use a longer time frame, as in 1). The largest players in Forex, rely about 25% on technical indicators when making their trading decisions.

5) Trade only one or two currency pairs - And stick to the majors... not the crosses. Currency prices are driven primarily by fundamental data. In order to anticipate what is likely "coming down the road", you need to follow some basic data for each of the countries involved. Trading too many currencies will make it difficult to keep up to date. There is equal opportunity to profit from each of the pairs, so wait until your experience level has matured and the information tends to "sink in" without as much effort on your part before you start to trade more currencies.

6) Average in and out of your trades - If your trading account is less than $10,000 have your broker enable mini-lots for your account. This will allow you to average in and out of your trades... a real "plus" as you will see on the Forex Strategy page. If this applies to you and your broker doesn't offer mini lots, find a new broker... this is an important "need to do".

7) Follow the data for your currency pair(s) - Know what data is pending for release. Volatility often increases dramatically when these releases occur. The safe strategy is to exit your positions prior to major releases... this is the way many of the larger accounts handle these situations. Data releases can often cause a change to the trend. Take them seriously.

8) Determine the trend and get aboard - As with any type of trading, the safest bet is to determine which way prices are trending, and then trade in that direction. You don't need anything fancy... a simple moving average on your candlestick chart is sufficient. Zoom your chart out to be sure you have the "big picture". Compare where the price is now, relative to where is has been for a significant amount of time (at least a month). Use caution if the current price is near upper or lower extremes, as there may be a trend change once that extreme is reached.

9) Know when to take a profit - A winning position can quickly turn into a loser if you set your sights too high. Don't be afraid to take your profit - or a part of your profit at 20 or 30 pips. The price waves in Forex make it ideally suited to averaging into and out of positions by using multiple entry and exit points for each position. The benefit of spreading out your position is that your overall risk is reduced. See the strategy pages for more on this one.

10) Stop listening to "Gurus" - Don't fall into the trap of believing everything, or even "most" things, you hear. The trading world is overflowing with gurus only too willing to offer their opinion on the future. It will only be an opinion, nothing more. They may seem to have convincing data, but trust your own brain. You need to weigh the economic data from "your" countries... that is what drives currency prices. The enormous size and nature of Forex ensure there is no "insider information". You have access to the same data as everyone else in the game. In time, your own instinct will guide you to your goals, and that is what you need to trust.

These 10 Forex trading essentials are a high-level peek at the pitfalls that catch many traders. Each of these are more completely explained throughout this website. Compare your trading style with these simple "fixes" and if you are not employing some or all of them, you are placing yourself at a higher risk level.

5 Traits of Successful Traders

2008-05-10T18:52:00.000+07:00

We often hear the alarming statistics regarding the failure rate of traders. Stop me if you haven't heard this one… " 90 percent of all traders go broke."

Has a familiar ring, doesn't it?

The reality is, trading doesn't necessarily have a track record any worse than any other worthwhile profession. How many people start playing basketball with the dream of becoming a pro and actually make it to the NBA? I'll bet it's much less than 5%.

How about Doctors? Lawyers? Pilots? Engineers? Accountants? I could go on all day.

Like all professionals, traders have to dedicate a lot of effort to achieve a high level of success. Unsatisfactory trading results are usually the end product of someone with little or no experience throwing their money onto the market and expecting the profits to be easy pickings.

Although all traders are different, successful traders share many common traits. Novice traders need to invest in themselves to become profitable, and concentrate on developing, at least, these 5 characteristics:

1) Education

To be successful, a trader must completely understand their market. Like any business, trading for profit requires one to constantly be learning. Make it your goal to learn everything possible about your playing field.

The people that comprise the trading markets are constantly evolving and winning traders know they need to adapt to the ever changing landscape. Take the time to invest in your professional growth and it will pay rewards in the long term.

2) Patience

A successful trader can sit on the sidelines for days waiting for the proper setup. They don't jump into a trade just for the sake of trading. Yes there may be opportunities, but the smart trader waits for the best ones. Often the best trade is no trade.

Over trading by rookie traders is a big obstacle to overcome. A need to always be in the market will lead to taking trades that are likely too risky. Learn patience, it's a key to success.

A winning trader usually has an extraordinary amount of self control. Whether reaping rewards or taking a loss, successful traders will have an even emotional state.

3) Trading System

Top traders have developed a system to guide their trading decisions. They have established rules and once certain conditions are satisfied, they act to open, extend, reduce or close their positions.

There is no perfect system that will guarantee only winning trades, but a good system will tell you when it's time to cut your losses.

A system needs to suit the trader. Factors such as the amount of time a trader chooses to devote to trading, or the level of risk an individual is comfortable with should be major considerations when building a system that fits.

A system must be built to suit a trader's personality and this is the single biggest reason off-the-shelf systems seldom work for their buyers.

4) Discipline

Trading is not a black and white game. There are no sure bets. It is about calculating the odds of success and determining how much to risk on each play.

Having the confidence in yourself and your system to make the move to book your profit or take a loss when your method tells you to is a winning trait.

You have established the rules to protect and grow your money. Success will come with discipline.

5) Long Term Perspective

The current trade is only a small part of a much larger long term picture. Win or lose, you will move on to the next trading situation. Every trader must develop the ability to keep on going.

You can have many failing trades and still be profitable in the long run. Short-sightedness causes rookies to over trade, often trying to make back lost capital from an earlier unprofitable trade.

Losses are part of trading. Successful traders are independent thinkers and have achieved a healthy level of self confidence. They don't take losses personally… it's part of the game.

(end of article)

So, are successful traders born, or built?

An interesting question.

I recently read an article on the CNN Money website that tackles this question head-on. Titled "What it takes to be Great", it describes what the experts have found.

Why trade Forex?

2008-05-10T18:49:00.000+07:00

Why trade Forex? With this week's trading tip, I want to illustrate one of the differences between a professional trader and a weekend warrior.

Are you trading for fun or profit?

That is the question you are going to have to answer at some point with respect to your trading.

Many people play golf for fun. They invest large sums of money into equipment and lessons, spend hours at the driving range, read all the latest publications and dream about golfing.

Do they expect to beat Tiger Woods someday? Do they think they can make a living at it? No, most just golf for the fun of it.

Imagine you are planning a visit to a casino. Would you expect to spend a couple of hours watching "How to win at Blackjack" videos and be able to walk away with the casino's profits? Not likely.

For some reason, many new traders expect to be able to spend a weekend reading an e-book or two and watching a trading video and then magically pull huge amounts of cash from the market on Monday morning.

Sorry, it's not that easy.

Like chess, where you can learn the basics in a few hours, but learning the subtle moves that the pros use can take a lifetime, profitable trading is going to take a commitment. I know, nobody wants to hear that.

Would you expect to become a lawyer with only a weekend at law school, or a doctor with only having read the e-book "Medicine Made Easy"?

You are going to have to invest in yourself if you want to play this game for a living. Don't believe the claims of snake oil salesmen that you can buy success for $47. You will be forever chasing the holy grail, which sadly does not exist.

Research, learn and practice. Those are the keys to your success. It can be done. It will be worth the effort!

Wishing you trading success,
David Stevenson.

Building a Trading System

2008-05-10T18:46:00.000+07:00

Building a trading system is easier than you think. Without a system, you are almost certain to fail in your quest to be a successful trader.

As we learned last week, our trading brain is actually composed of two different parts that dramatically effect our trading. There is the old primitive brain our ancestors lived (or died) by and the new age brain that provides the sophistication necessary to survive in today's world.

Using Our Logical Brain

Our logical or "new age" brain can think logically, analyze situations and make good decisions. The problem is that once we are trading, our primitive brain takes over and runs the show.

The trick to keeping your primitive brain out of your trading is to develop a trading system that is "rules-based" using your logical brain. With a system, once certain rules are satisfied, you trade according to your plan. This is the way you keep your "brains" from messing up your trading.

Let's build a short-term system (a few hours to a couple of days) that we will use to guide our trades...

Getting Started

So, where do we start? We start by establishing the rules.

For example... since the safest direction is to trade with a trend, we need to determine the current trend. The problem with that is what time period do we use? The 5 minute is up, the 15 minute is sideways, the 30 minute is down, the hourly is flat and the daily is pointing at the moon!

Can you imagine the war going on between your two brains? This is why we build the rules ahead of time. In our case, let's set a rule that says the 15 minute, 1 hour and 4 hour chart are all moving in the same direction when we check their 21 period exponential moving averages.

I use the 21 period because it is a Fibonacci number that a lot of short-term traders follow and the exponential MA is more "in tune" with the current action than a simple MA.

Something you will learn along the way is certain indicators are followed by a large number of traders and knowing how other traders are likely to react when the indicators give their "signal" will help you anticipate the probable reaction to prices hitting a certain level.

Next week we'll continue building a trading system by adding more rules to our check list.

Wishing you trading success,
David Stevenson.

Automated Trading - Does It Work?

2008-05-10T18:45:00.001+07:00

Using automated trading on your Forex account may turn your trading career into a money making venture. Traders from around the world use trading robots to manage their accounts, and some are very profitable!

The Future is Here Now

Technology has now made it possible for the smaller retail Forex trader to use the same type of trading program that institutions have used for years.

Trading robots, which are actually small software programs, enter and exit trades based upon certain rules. Many different styles are available and prices range from free to hundreds of dollars or more.

The Trading Platform

The most common platform used for automated trading is the MetaTrader solution. There are hundreds of brokers offering trading with this platform, but as usual, do your homework before sending your hard-earned cash to anybody!

The trading programs are copied into a special folder within the software and once activated, execute trades based upon how their parameters are set. Most of these robots allow a small amount of adjustment to suit your risk level.

There are a few things you should consider before you jump onto the robot trader bandwagon. There are pros and cons to automated trading and you need to be sure they suit your circumstances.

Why Use Auto Trading?

If you have done any trading at all, you know the emotional roller coaster ride you take while trading... profits appear, then they're gone, maybe some losses, then profits again, back into loss and on it goes.

Our emotions are usually what gets us into trouble while we are trading. We have a plan, but once we see profits or losses, our fear, greed and confusion take over and we abandon the plan we spent all that time preparing.

Trading robots on the other hand, are programmed to execute specific actions based upon certain events. Their complete lack of emotion makes them the (almost) perfect trader. They don't get caught up in the excitement, but simply do what they were designed to do... time after time.

The Flip Side

This type of trading does have limitations. Probably the largest one is the robot's inability to know what is coming in the way of news and data.

The trading action is based upon indicators, which are based upon historic prices. As soon as a new tick is made, the previous one is history. By this measure, the robot is unable to predict the future of prices.

Add to this the robot also doesn't know the NFP or interest rate numbers are about to be released, which could easily result in a major blindside to it's trading plan. This is usually overcome by switching off the automatic system during news times.

Since these programs are running on your computer, your system needs to be left running and connected to the internet for the entire time the market is open. Usually a broadband connection is also required or desired to ensure the data stream remains constant.

Something you should consider is that some robots don't put out a hard stop-loss order when the trades are taken, but rather monitor losses internally and act when necessary. Should your system happen to go down for any reason, you would be left without any stop-loss protection on your trades with this type of robot. Of course you can manually enter a stop order for safety sake when a new trade is opened, but what if it's 3:00 am and it just happens to be a night when you can sleep! Just beware.

The Bottom Line

I think the automated trading robots are the future for us. We all know that to be successful, we have to put our emotions aside. It's much easier for your computer to do that and it also doesn't mind working 24 hours a day!

We do need to hold their hands during news times, but that will be cured by smart programmers, I'm sure. Some trading programs boast earnings of 1000% per year and more. Timing and dealer intervention play a large roll in your results, so they may vary.

Now we search for the ultimate trading robot that will drive us to the land of riches while we sit back with our feet up. Let me know when you find it!

Wishing you trading success,
David Stevenson.

Developing a Forex Trading Strategy

2008-05-10T18:41:00.000+07:00

Properly developing your Forex trading strategy is going to require you have a decent knowledge of how currency prices move, as well as the factors that affect those moves.

The following subjects all need to be considered as part of your strategy, and details on each are provided through the blue links.

Click on the link to a simple strategy near the bottom of this page, which you can use to get started.

Before you even think of putting on a trade, you need to have a Money Management plan in place. Failure to do this will virtually guarantee you will lose all your money.

Poor money management is probably the single biggest cause of ruined trading careers. Even the greatest Forex trading strategy on the planet is likely to fail without proper money management.

Forex strategies need to be "tailored" to suit the Time Frame you are planning to trade. A Forex trading strategy based upon a 15 minute price chart will vary greatly from another based upon daily charts.

The weight you give to both the Fundamental and the Technical indicators will influence your decisions. It is important you understand the information the "Pros" use to determine their moves.

Successfully day trading Forex currency is going to require some of your attention... more than the two minutes a day some shady "system sellers" are flogging. If you believe otherwise, you're going to be in for a few surprises, and a bumpy (expensive) learning experience!

Invest in your trading future properly and there can be great rewards. Take it lightly and your results are likely to reflect the effort you've put in.

Mini Lots are a Great Way to Reduce your Risk Exposure

If you are new to Forex, or your trading account size is under $20,000, you should use a Forex Mini Account. The added flexibility you'll enjoy trading mini lots means it should be a part of your Forex currency trading toolkit.

You need to understand and use the Forex trading edges that are available to you. Having the ability to "swing the odds" your way is a tool you need to use. There is risk associated with every trade, but how you use use your edges will make the difference between success and failure.

You will need to determine suitable Entry and Exit points which are likely to meet your expectations of profits over a given time period.

Another key consideration will be when to take your profits off the table. If you have traded Forex, you will know how quickly a "profitable" trade can turn into one that is draining your trading account.

The way in which you enter and exit a position will have a profound impact on your trading success

The other side of this point is knowing how to control a trade that is not going the way you had expected. Often the typical Stop Loss mentality of "cut your losses quickly" is not the most successful Forex strategy.

Together, all these components contribute to a solid Forex trading strategy. If you are not incorporating some of them, you will be at a disadvantage and with currency trading, you want every advantage available to be working for you.

Try This Simple Forex Strategy

2008-05-10T18:35:00.000+07:00

The simple Forex strategy I outline below is a medium term (1 or more days) one that should work for you, or at least provide a solid foundation for you to build your own strategy upon. Medium term is the most suitable for the average retail Forex trader, as it requires the least amount of capital.

The reasons why I follow each step are explained elsewhere on the website, so you won't see any explanations here. This is a simple summary from many different articles.

If you have questions, concerns or are just unclear on any aspects of this simple Forex strategy, send me a brief note via the Contact Us page, and I'll get back to you with an answer quickly.

Even though this is a simple Forex strategy, you still need to do some homework. If you don't know the basic support and resistance levels you are up against, you are likely to get clobbered!

The Entry

1) Decide which pair you are going to trade (stick to a major pair)

2) Determine the major trend by checking the 1 hour, 4 hour and daily charts (be sure they are all going the same direction)

3) Draw trend lines through the lows if in an uptrend, or through the highs if in a down trend (the daily chart is the important one here and make sure you can see at least 2 months of data... more is better)

4) Note the support and resistance levels (obvious previous turning points over the past few weeks)

5) If the price is approaching the trend line you have drawn, or nearing a support/resistance level, wait until it has obviously bounced off or moved through that level before proceeding

6) Check the MACD, Stochastic and RSI indicators to see if they favor your pending move - if they're giving you a warning, you would best wait for a more favorable setup (and they come often, so be patient!)

7) Be sure there are no major data releases for the next day or two for either country

8) A pullback in price on the hourly chart is a good place to get in (make sure the trend has resumed before you jump). Candlestick reversal patterns are also great signals!

9) Get in, but use no more than 3% of your capital! Doing this will allow you to place your stop far enough away from the current price action, without a high risk to your capital.

10) Place your "Stop Loss", but as I show you, put it far enough away from the entry price so you won't be "stopped out" of a good trade. Set it about 10 pips beyond the nearest major support or resistance level.

The Exit

1) Place your "take profits" limit order. There is nothing wrong with a 30 to 50 pips target. Try to place it just ahead of a major support or resistance level. A good target for your limit order is between 10 and 15 pips before the next S/R level.

2) Monitor the trade and once the price is a safe distance from your stop, move the stop ever closer to your entry price until your profits are locked in. You may want to then convert the stop to a trailing stop which will follow the market.

3) Turn off your trading software and review this website, or go read a good book about trading (you'll drive yourself nuts watching the prices tick up and down - avoid the pain)

Anything can happen in trading, and this simple Forex strategy is not immune from any of it. The "stop loss" will ensure that if you happen to get hit by a bus, your position can't get away on you. As long as you are staying within the 3% guideline, the price can move against you, even several hundred points, without any real effect on your account.

Be sure to review the more detailed explanation of "stop losses" in the main Forex Strategy section.

Forex Trading Advice - These "Tips" may be Your Best Forex Trading Education

2008-05-10T18:33:00.000+07:00

Forex trading advice, everyone has some, myself included. Advice comes in many forms, from "Hot Tips", to best buys. Try to understand the motive behind the advice... your best interest might not be at the root of it. This is a brief list of topics I would "Advise" you pay close attention to...

Predictions - Be leery of those with "predictions" of future market trends... this will only be their opinion. The things that "motivate" price changes in Forex are far-reaching, and can change dramatically in an instant.

Understand the Risk - Before you trade, you need to fully understand the risk you face in Forex. With leverage up to 400:1 available to almost any who care to play, one wrong turn can spell disaster for your trading funds.

Know the "Market" - Forex is like a chess game and there are "masters" playing against you. My Forex trading advice to you is to get an understanding of the "basic moves"... it is critical to your success. One's profits come at the expense of another's losses. The best Forex trading education is one you have before you put your money on the line.

Use Practice Accounts - As you well know, the internet has made it possible to learn Forex currency trading online before you put yourself at risk. Take full advantage of the "Demo" accounts available from virtually all brokers offering online trading platforms. This "almost real world" experience is invaluable for giving you an understanding of the mechanics of these online systems.

Test Your Strategy or System - There is no reason to believe if it doesn't work on a demo account, it will miraculously work with "real money". And don't fudge the numbers... you'll only be fooling yourself.

Understand Why Prices Move - There are pretty specific reasons why prices will fluctuate, and if you don't see them coming down the road, you're likely to get run over. You must pay attention to some crucial information!

Trade Within Your Means - The temptation to "over-trade" in Forex is much stronger than in the regular stock markets. The lure of "fast money" is more likely to burn you than it is to reward you. Oh, you will see random rewards... but usually just enough of them to coax you into the fire!

Fund Your Account Sufficiently - Think of your funds as ammunition, and your trading as a battle. Once your funds are gone, it's game over. Follow the guidelines presented, to enable you to meet your objective.

That is my Forex trading advice. The ability to learn Forex currency trading online has removed a huge obstacle for you. Take the time to properly understand why you need to have a proper trading plan. There is an incredible opportunity for profits, but you need to tread carefully - Forex often won't give you a second chance, once you make a careless mistake.

Developing a Forex Trading Strategy

2008-05-10T18:29:00.001+07:00

Properly developing your Forex trading strategy is going to require you have a decent knowledge of how currency prices move, as well as the factors that affect those moves.

The following subjects all need to be considered as part of your strategy, and details on each are provided through the blue links.

Click on the link to a simple strategy near the bottom of this page, which you can use to get started.

Before you even think of putting on a trade, you need to have a Money Management plan in place. Failure to do this will virtually guarantee you will lose all your money.

Poor money management is probably the single biggest cause of ruined trading careers. Even the greatest Forex trading strategy on the planet is likely to fail without proper money management.

The weight you give to both the Fundamental and the Technical indicators will influence your decisions. It is important you understand the information the "Pros" use to determine their moves.

Invest in your trading future properly and there can be great rewards. Take it lightly and your results are likely to reflect the effort you've put in.

Mini Lots are a Great Way to Reduce your Risk Exposure

You will need to determine suitable Entry and Exit points which are likely to meet your expectations of profits over a given time period.

The way in which you enter and exit a position will have a profound impact on your trading success

Choosing a Forex Broker

2007-09-06T18:01:00.000+07:00

Since I've received such an overwhelming amount of emails from readers requesting for more information on broker selection, I've decided to put together a small comparison of the two types of brokers out there. I hope you will find this useful, and if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to contact me.
As you may already know, foreign exchange (Forex/FX) is an unregulated market that is not traded on an exchange, which means that prices you see and get from one broker could vary from those of another broker. There are mainly two types of brokers. One type is an ECN (Electronic Communication Network) and another a Market-Maker.
Market-makers "make" or set the prices on their systems based on what they think is best for themselves as the counter-party. This is because every time you sell, they must buy, and when you buy, they must sell to you. This is why they can give you a fixed spread since they are setting both the bid and the ask price. Many of them will then try to "hedge" or "cover" your order by passing it on to someone else; however, some may decide to hold your order, and thus trade against you. This can result in a conflict of interest between the retail trader (you) and the market-maker.
ECNs, on the other hand, pass on prices from several banks and market-makers, as well as from the other traders in the ECN, and display the best bid/ask prices based on these input. This is why sometimes you can get no spread on ECNs, especially in very liquid currency pairs. How do ECNs make money then? They do so by charging you a fixed commission for each transaction.

Here are some of the pros and cons of ECNs and market-makers:

Market-Makers
Pros:
Usually give free charting software and news feed
Prices can be "smoother" and less volatile than ECN prices (this can be a con if you are scalping or trading very short term)
Often have a more user-friendly trading and analysis interface
Cons:
They may trade against you. In that case, there will be a conflict of interest between you and them
The price they offer you may be worse than what you could get on an ECN
It is possible that they may trigger stops or not let your trade reach your profit target levels by manipulating prices
During news, there will usually be a large amount of slippage; their systems may also lock up or not allow order placing during times of high volatility
Many of them discourage scalping and put scalpers on "manual execution" which means their orders may not get filled at the price they want

Examples of some market-makers:
http://www.ac-markets.com
http://www.oanda.com
http://www.gftforex.com
http://www.fxdd.com

ECNs
Pros:
You can usually get better bid/ask prices since they come from several sources
Variable spreads between bid and ask may give no spread or tiny spreads at times
If they are a true ECN, they will not be trading against you but will pass on your orders to a bank or another customer on the other end of the transaction.
You will be able to offer a price between the bid and ask with a chance of it getting filled
If they support Stop-Limit orders, you can prevent slippage during news by making sure that your order either gets filled at the price you want or not at all
Prices may be more volatile which will be better for scalping
Cons:
Many do not offer integrated charting
Many do not offer integrated news
Many of the trading platforms are less user-friendly
Because of variable spreads (between bid and ask,) it may be more difficult to calculate stop loss and profit target in pips beforehand.

Examples of some ECNs*:
http://www.mbtrading.com
http://www.efxgroup.com
http://www.hotspotfx.com
http://www.coesfx.com - It seems the NFA has withdrawn their licence so be wary.
http://www.interactivebrokers.com
http://www.fxcm.com (note: FXCM told me that they now offer a "No Dealing Desk" execution option, and they are no longer a market maker)
* Some of these "ECNs" may not be true ECNs, and you may be going through a dealing desk. It is impossible to verify for sure because of the lack of regulation governing forex brokers.

Summary
It is important that you carefully look into the pros and cons of each broker before choosing the one which best suits your needs. You may also wish to have several broker accounts to mitigate the risks, and so that you can compare bid/ask prices and trade on the broker with the best prices for the direction you wish to trade. Because of the unregulated nature of forex, US brokers are not required to keep your money in an untouchable account that only you can have access to if they were to collapse. As customers of Refco (was one of the world's largest brokers) found out, their unprotected accounts made them unsecured creditors, and thus are less likely to get their money back than those who had given secured loans to Refco. What this means is that the customers' money was used to pay other creditors.
The moral of the story is this:
Deposit as little money with your broker as you need for trading, and withdraw your profits when they exceed a certain amount. Keep the rest of your trading capital in your own bank accounts which are probably government-insured.

Make Money Trading Forex

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Interview with a forex champion

Forex Broker Daily Chart Changeover Times

Avoiding Failure in the Forex Market

A Successful Currency Trader

Types of Exits

Always Use Correct Stop-Loss Orders

Systems Will Make You a Better Trader

How Long Do I Stay in a Trade?

The Secret of Building a Highly Profitable Trading Account

Do I Have The Right Kind of Money to Trade The Forex Market?

Can You Learn The Forex Market

Don’t Think You’re Better Than The Market

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Three Things That Give You An Edge

Bull Markets | Bear Markets - Which Should I Trade?

Trend and Money Management

NEVER Stop Practice TradingNEVER Stop Practice Trading

When To Trade With Real Money

Which Comes First, The Skill or The Money?

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The Importance of Losing when Trading

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Why You Need a Trading Plan

The Smart Way to Lose a Forex Trade

E.A.S.Y. Trading Method

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Finding the "Right" collection of indicators to suityour trading will take some experimenting.

Understanding Forex Risk

It is generally accepted that a new Forex traderwill lose their trading funds five times beforethey begin to show consistent profits.

You cannot buy a "system" that willguarantee trading profits

Never Trade with Money You Can't Afford to Lose!

Disclaimer

10 Forex Trading Essentials that can Improve Your Trading Immediately

5 Traits of Successful Traders

So, are successful traders born, or built?

Why trade Forex?

Are you trading for fun or profit?

Sorry, it's not that easy.

Building a Trading System

Using Our Logical Brain

Getting Started

Automated Trading - Does It Work?

The Future is Here Now

The Trading Platform

Why Use Auto Trading?

The Flip Side

The Bottom Line

Developing a Forex Trading Strategy

Mini Lots are a Great Way to Reduce your Risk Exposure

The way in which you enter and exit a position will have a profound impact on your trading success

Try This Simple Forex Strategy

Forex Trading Advice - These "Tips" may be Your Best Forex Trading Education

Developing a Forex Trading Strategy

Mini Lots are a Great Way to Reduce your Risk Exposure

The way in which you enter and exit a position will have a profound impact on your trading success

Choosing a Forex Broker

Finding the "Right" collection of indicators to suit
your trading will take some experimenting.

It is generally accepted that a new Forex trader
will lose their trading funds five times before
they begin to show consistent profits.

You cannot buy a "system" that will
guarantee trading profits