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.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
When To Trade With Real Money
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.
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?
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
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
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.
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.
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