FOREX

Become a Professional Forex Trader From Home in 4 Simple Steps!

2009-06-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

forex trading platforms online forex trading platform learning forex trading currency foreign forex trading forex trading courses forex trading learn forex trading managed forex trading forex trading hours

The good news is anyone can learn currency trading online so anyone can become a professional Forex trader from home, if they follow the 4 simple steps outlined in this article.

You can be any age, male or female or of any educational background, there is nothing to stop you earning a great second or perhaps even a life changing income - if you want too. Let's look at our 4 simple steps to trading like a pro.

1. Accept Responsibility

You will see a lot of vendors online who claim you can make easy money by following their cheap software packages and guess what? None of them work, otherwise they wouldn't be sold so cheaply! Traders fall for these systems all the time and think by paying a hundred dollars or so, they will get rich with no effort but that's a fantasy and not reality.

To win at Forex trading, you have to accept responsibility for your destiny and learn skills and get the right mindset for success. This doesn't mean you have to work for months on end, you can learn Forex trading in a couple of weeks and soon be making big profits in just 30 minutes a day or less.

2. Use a Simple System Based on the reality of Price Change

To win you only need a simple system and this has always been true. Make a system to complex and it will simply have too many elements to break.

Keep it nice and simple and also don't try and predict market highs and lows, trade the reality of price change and base your system on breakout trading. We don't have time to cover this great methodology here but we have written about it in our other articles so look it up.

3. You Can't be Perfect Accept Your Losses

You can't win every trade and when you trade on leverage its important you keep losses small, you are going to have them so take them and then run your profits when you get them. I know traders who lose 70% of the time yet, still make triple gains because their winners are so big. Money management and preservation of equity is the foundation Forex trading success is built on so pay attention to it.

4. Trade with Discipline at ALL Times

Most traders can't trade with discipline; when they lose they start to run losses, revenge trade, swap systems or stop trading. You must trade with discipline at all times and follow your system, always remember - if you can't follow a system with rigid discipline, you don't have a system

Why You can Win

Forex trading is a learned skill and its as much about having the right mindset, as having a good method but you can learn both and soon become a professional Forex trader from home, making a tripe digit income in 30 minutes a day or less.

Online Forex Resources Are Abundant

2009-06-11T19:43:00.002-07:00

Forex isn’t the same as the stock exchange which carries positions for a much lengthier time span. Forex trading (also known as currency trading) is the buying and selling of currencies in order to make a profit. Trading in the Foreign Exchange market is a challenging opportunity where above average returns are available for educated and experienced investors who are willing to take above average risk.

Using forex trading strategies that 99% of traders use will not make you successful. You will need a rare, innovative and original trading strategies related to how the market behave in order to become more successful in the forex trading business than you have ever dreamed of.

After understanding the basics of how the forex market works, you should start learning more in depth detail of how to trade and earn a huge profit. Aside from the traditional means of learning the forex market, there are a lot of forex books that can help in the process as well.

Forex Market

While some markets have the luxury of industry standard authoritative sources, the forex market is fortunate to have many forex resources at the disposal of investors large and small. To really get a solid foundation to make logical, profitable forex buys, you need to build your house on solid granite. When it comes to initiating your way to learn forex trading system, the best way is to know about what exactly forex trading is all about and who are the actual players in this field.

If one considers the weight and scope of the forex exchange and the volume of information one might need to conduct even the most simple of transactions, then it might be a good idea have a comprehensive understanding of the numerous forex resources available to the average and large investor.

Forex Resources

Online forex resources are abundant and can range from entire forex platforms to articles that offer advice and information. While some might prefer the gut feeling and instinctual business acumen acquired on Wall Street, forex resources are essential for any, successful or unsuccessful, forex transaction. Forex resources must be culled from newspapers, local and national, market reports, and charts and graphs, along with the transactions of other investors considering their own forex resources.

Forex Trading Software

Forex traders who have continued to pull in earnings regularly from their forex trading, all have been able to do this by employing some system or software to assist. They are more in demand right now because software development has greatly improved. It's important to know exactly what you're looking for when it comes to choosing the best software that will produce the best results with Forex trading or investing.

Automated forex trading software enables one to just do that almost perfectly. First off, disregard any robotic software that can’t show live feed of one of their products in action. Use the internet to research reviews on the software and see the actual robot do the work. You should start by looking up reviews and ratings to find out which hardware and software are the best. If "Yes", then you are most probably are aware that you won't have any real chance of doing well without some sort of software assistance.

As you become better and more knowledgeable about forex trading, you can begin to make trades based on what the software’s telling you and on what your own intuition and skill tells you, too. In fact, you can get quality software for about $100; the software is reliable and proven, and it can definitely make you money. The company that sells the software should also offer a money back guarantee. Books, software and technical trends are some of the available resources useful to the novice trader.

What is the Best Forex Indicator? NONE of Them!

2009-06-11T19:43:00.001-07:00

Forex traders often wonder which is the best forex indicator? Is it Stochastics, with it's ability to tell you when a price is overbought or oversold. Is it the MACD, which let's you trade using price divergence. Or perhaps it's the moving averages, which many traders use as crossover systems.

The answer is that none of them provide any kind of insight to the market. In fact, they are only useful for telling you what has already happened in the market. Seems kind of meaningless doesn't it?

Yet traders, every day are overflowing their charts with this useless information. Sure, it may look pretty to have all those lines, colors, and figures on your charts, but what purpose do they actually serve?

The truth is no indicator could even come close to what you could see. Remember, indicators are nothing more than fancy formulas. They react to the market the same way whether its ranging or free falling. Do you really think the markets were meant to be traded that mechanically? I don't think so.

You have the ability to see the market from a much more subjective and analytical place. Instead of letting your indicators make the decisions for you, you should be the one calling the shots.

This has to start with the ability to trade price action movements. The markets have these rhythms that most traders never bother to learn. There are inherent patterns in the market which can be seen everyday. All you have to do is take the time to learn them.

John Templeton has been a successful forex trader after learning how to trade price action. Once he understood that all he needed to trade forex was on a plain chart with no indicators, his profits soared. He developed his own course, called Trading in the Buff, where he teaches traders how to properly learn to trade forex.

Making Money With Forex - Is it Really Possible?

2009-06-11T19:42:00.001-07:00

Due to the fact that 95% of forex traders are losing money right now, the idea of making money with forex seems like an impossibility to some. You can certainly understand why.

But let's examine why there is such a separation between the 5% who are marking money with forex and the 95% who are losing money. What makes these traders so different from one another.

Some people think that the 5% have some kind of "inside" information that the 95% aren't aware of. While that certainly may be possible, I seriously doubt that is the case for the entire successful trading public.

Some people believe that it's an intelligence issue. They somehow feel that this elite 5% had a better education, higher IQs, etc..... that they are able to grasp all the mysteries of forex trading, while the other 95% are just throwing darts at a dartboard. Well, that's wrong as well. I can tell you with great certainty that successful trading has nothing to do with intelligence. I've met some traders who make 7 figures a year who didn't even graduate from high school.

It really boils down to thinking outside the box. Many people conform to the ideas of using lots of bells and whistles. For instance, a lot of traders love the idea of slapping a bunch of indicators on a chart, and letting these indicators make their trading decisions for you. This is where many people go wrong, and this is why the failure rate is so high. If you want success, you should try to see the markets in its purest form, and for a technical trader, this means using price action.

John Templeton has been a successful forex trader after learning how to trade price action. Once he understood that all he needed to trade forex was on a plain chart with no indicators, his profits soared. He developed his own course, called Trading in the Buff, where he teaches traders how to properly learn forex.

Forex Mistakes - 5 Common Mistakes Losers Make and How to Win at Forex

2009-06-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Forex trading is more popular than ever and it's a known fact that everything about Forex trading can be specifically learned but 95% of traders still lose. So how do you avoid the losing majority and enter the elite 5% of traders, who make huge gains? Let's find out.

Here are the reasons the vast majority of traders lose and there all avoidable mistakes.

1. They think they can get rich with no effort

These traders follow cheap software packages which claim big gains with no effort and they soon get wiped out. If you want to make money, you need to make an effort - it's as simple as that.

2. Not Understanding the Dangers of Leverage

Leverage can work for or against you and most traders simply leverage their money to much and get wiped out. Over leveraging an account, will sooner or later lead to a wipe out so use sensible leverage. Leverage of 10 or 20:1 is enough for most traders.

3. Over Trading

Forex trends last for many weeks, months or years yet, most traders try and scalp a few pips in a day or two. The result is they take low odds trades, lose or make marginal gains which never cover their inevitable losses.

Keep in mind, you don't get rewarded for how much you trade, just how much you make per trade! So focus on high odds trades which are long term.

4. Over Complicating a Trading System

Many traders think 10 indicators are better than 2 but this is not true. If you make your system to complex, with to many rules, it will simply have too many elements to break in real time trading. All the best systems are simple and yours should be too.

5. Not Trading With Discipline

If you want to enjoy profits longer term, you need to have strict money management and trade with discipline. This means you take your losses and keep them small -Sounds simple?

Well most traders can't do it, they let their emotions get involved, run losses or override their system rules and lose. Forex trading is not about ego or being right all the time, it's about making money and you can actually lose far more trades than you win and still make money, if you run your profits and cut your losses.

All traders even the top ones, will lose for periods and you will too and how you deal with these losses, will determine if you enjoy long term currency trading success or not.

Winning at Forex Trading

If you want to win at Forex trading you can. You need a simple robust trading strategy you have confidence in combined with the discipline to trade it.

You need to keep losses small and run your profits - this has always been the way to succeed and always will be. If you put in the effort and have the right mindset, no other business can make you as much money as global Forex.

Learn to Trade Forex - 5 Simple Yet Powerful Trading Rules

2009-01-16T00:21:00.001-08:00

Do you think that forex trading is easy or difficult? If you are like most people, you would feel that forex trading is a risky and difficult financial game.

If you think it this way, how can a game with only two options (buy and sell) be so difficult?

It has lesser commands than your typical Xbox360 game! The reasons why most traders can keep losing money are that they are not following the simple rules that have made the top traders so rich. Now learn to trade forex with these 5 simple and powerful trading rules that the top traders use.

1. Obey the trend or else they will kill you

People say that trends are friends. Well, I would say trends are like wave of tsunami that sweeps anyone away who goes against it. Do not try to trade against trend or you will surely get killed.

Trends are so powerful because they are directed by the majority of the traders. They all have the same opinion where the prices should go. So learn to trade forex by following the trend. It will greatly improve your net profits in the long term.

2. Stick to your trading plan and embed it into your DNA

If trend is like a tsunami wave, a trading plan would be the actions to get you out safety and profitably.

Most traders get confused in the trading market due to the zig zag manner in how the prices move. These are noises in the market and will often interfere with your emotions to trade properly. In this kind of situation, you need to follow your trading plan to keep calm. Learn to trade forex like a robot who only follows the trading plan.

3. Trade with the money you simply do not care

Money is the holy idol of many people. Nothing wrong about that but the temporary loss and gain of it during trading will constantly affect you to trade properly.

If you are having this problem, treat your money as a business inventory instead. It is simply an expendable business inventory that you have to sacrifice to make you more money.In order to do that, you should allocate money that you can afford to lose without any pain. Learn to trade forex without any pain and then you can follow your trading plan faithfully!

4. Trade the currencies that is world is looking

Noise is a killer in forex trading. It causes traders to exit or enter at the wrong time. The noise level in thin currencies is the worse. Big traders can manipulate the currencies easily to hit your stoploss before continuing your intended direction.

We do not want to put ourselves in difficult spot so we only trade the major currencies. These currencies are traded by most the forex traders in the world and thus they follow a steady trend.

Learn to trade forex using the big 5 currencies only: USD/EUR, USD/JPY, USD/GBD, USD/CHF, and EUR/JPY. They have high liquidity as they are traded by the majority of the traders.

5. Make Forex dull and professional

Make forex trading another dull routine of yours. Every day you simply fulfill this routine by following your trading plan.

Excitement and any kind of emotions do not make you any money. They are merely making you ineffective in trading. If you are trading with the money you can lose without any pain, there is absolutely nothing in forex trading that can cause your emotions to go wild.

Want to succeed in trading? Do Not Quit!

2008-12-23T18:12:00.001-08:00

If you want to succeed in trading, don’t quit. Others will say quit. Screw them. If you want to be a trader, the best strategy for being a trader is: Don’t Quit.

Even if you lose your money. It’s the tuition you didn’t spend on a Masters, if you choose to learn the lessons. Get some kind of system down. Dont’ make it the best cause it’s not what will make you great. Its part of the equation. My final point is, if you want to be a trader, if you are a trader, then you don’t quit learning.

Trade at a level that you can learn at. Trade at the level where you see the market and can see what its telling you moment to moment. When you do this, you will be in the zone occasionally. You will know it.

I don’t agree that your rules have to be science, but you need to listen to your rules. Not doing so will show you the bad feelings of losing big. Perhaps you need to feel those feelings of losing big. What’s the message? You will lose big until you experience that and learn.

Find the areas where trend breaks are important

2008-12-23T18:11:00.003-08:00

It takes a long time of trying to read a chart in a try to find the areas where trend breaks are important, but some basics every trader already know.

Looking at major pivot highs and lows and trendlines on longer term charts are the primary ones.
Stops tend to aggregate under/over pivots as the implication is that these leveks are defended by those who beleive in a continuation of trend.
Strategies of buying a break are common, equally common are seeing the break re-broken in the opposite direction once stops are eaten up so its not the be-all and end-all of strategies anyway.

Will or will not ECB raise rate?

2008-12-23T18:11:00.001-08:00

Will or will not ECB raise rate?
The answer is not as importnat as it seems…
What a trader would like to know, is NOT if the ECB gang will or will not raise rate…

What a trader would like to know is:

which wines will they drinking during the meeting, following PAR ideas and comments.
will there be any girls at the meeting for massage, because we know that these meeting can be “hard”, pardon the pun, and tense and temper can fly
what is on the menu for the meeting? Simple ham and egg sandwiches? Paella?
Anyone knows why the BoE is not announcing this week ahead of the ECB? Is it for cricket reason?

Anyway, whatever they decide, be prepared!!!
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!!
Wouldn’t it be conflicting if the ECB raised rates and at the same would be ready to intervent in the FOREX market?
But then again a trader is a a simple mortal, so what do he know ….!

A safe way to enter a trade

2008-12-23T18:10:00.003-08:00

After identifying the trend up or down, a safe way to enter a trade is to wait for the first horizontal continuation pattern of five minutes or more and simply do a stop order above it, if going long, or below it, if going short. Then set your initial stop loss at one and a half to twice the width of the pattern on the side opposite your order.

Livermore in “Reminiscences…” once said something like that: “admitting that I was wrong with my long automatically meant that I had a reason to short”. Maybe not exactly that (don’t remember exactly and lazy to search for an exact quote in a book ) but you got the idea.

P.S. Don’t open your full position initially.

Trading with Post Traumatic Disorder Self-Test

2008-12-23T18:10:00.001-08:00

If you suspect that you may suffer in your trading style from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), complete the self-test form, by printing the text out. Simply circle either yes or no in answer to the questions. Once completed, show the results to your Doctor.

Post Traumatic Disorder Self-Test

Yes No Have you experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event that caused intense fear, helplessness or horror?
Do you re-experience the event in at least one of the following ways?
Yes No Repeated, distressing memories and/or dreams?
Yes No Acting or feeling as if the event was happening again? (flashbacks or re-living it).
Yes No Intense physical and/or emotional distress when you are exposed to things that remind you of the event?
Yes No Do you avoid reminders of the event and feel numb, compared to the way you felt before?
Yes No Do you avoid thoughts, feelings and conversations about the event?
Yes No Do you avoid activities, places or people who remind you of it?
Yes No Have you blanked on parts of the detail?
Yes No Are you losing interest in significant activities in your life?
Yes No Are you feeling detached from other people?
Yes No Do you feel as if your range of emotions is restricted?
Yes No Do you feel as if your future is diminished in terms of marriage, children or a normal life span?

Are you troubled by two or more of the following:
Yes No Problems sleeping?
Yes No Irritability or outbursts of anger?
Yes No Problems concentrating?
Yes No Feeling ‘on-guard’?
Yes No An exaggerated startle response?

Having more than one illness at the same time can make it difficult to diagnose and treat the different conditions. Illness that sometimes complicate an anxiety disorder include depression and substance abuse. With this in mind, please take a moment to answer the following:

Yes No Have you experienced changes in sleeping or eating habits?

More days than not, do you feel:
Yes No Sad or Depressed?
Yes No Disinterested in life?
Yes No Worthless or guilty?

During the last year, has the use of alcohol or drugs:
Yes No Resulted in your failure to fulfill responsibilities with work, school or family?
Yes No Placed you in a dangerous situation, such as driving a car under the influence?
Yes No Been responsible for you being arrested?
Yes No Continued despite causing problems for you and your loved ones?

Reference: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Washington DC, American Psychiatric Association.

Also i feel that traders should look into the nutritional deficiencies in the industrialized world along with whatever else they are doing for their PTSD. Omega oils, hyaluronic acid, collagen, phosphatydlyserine are largely gone from the diet and they are all brain nutrients. Load up on those, you will notice differences in just days and over a few months you will be a lot better off. The PTSD thing is way magnified if your brain is not healthy IMO.

Do you trade to make money or to maximize profit?

2008-12-23T18:09:00.001-08:00

Do you trade to:

make money or
to make maximum profit?

Interesting.
After a lot of discussions about this topic my friends answered, its 2:1 in favor of making money vs. maximizing profit. I think the responses reveal a mental status not oriented to win by default.

So, who will explain all the fierce discussions regarding “superior” trading styles or techniques, as well as the self-deprecating topics about leaving money on the table, getting stopped out, etc?

Of course to answer that question you need to understand the subtle difference between making money and maximizing profit!

My guess, many traders are not being honest with themselves…

The Fair Value of The Euro

2008-12-23T18:08:00.001-08:00

As a trader I think that Fair value for the Euro is 1.15/1.20!
We been under value at 0.82 on October, 2001, and now over value at 1.60. the balance line is 1.17.

That’s make the euro over value by 25% against the dollar. While the dollar at fair value against most asia ccys.

Asian currencies have been falling vs EUR with market focused on fall in USD past 6-9 months. While USD has fallen vs both G10, emerging market currencies, EUR has absorbed a very large part of USD decline. Since start of turmoil in July 2007, EUR has risen about 14%. Asian currencies have fallen on average about 10% vs EUR; even “strong” Asian performers like SGD, MYR, TWD, CNY have fallen more than 5% vs EUR on average, though fundamental backdrop for these currencies is stronger than that for EUR. Notes a fair few Asian currencies are managed; while officials are willing to tolerate more gains to combat inflation they “are still not allowing for fast and volatile moves.” Also, EUR often considered safe and very liquid proxy to trade USD decline story. If anything, EUR gains vs Asian FX have led to “more pronounced fundamental imbalances between Asia and Europe”; Asian currencies very undervalued vs EUR: By about 25% according to its valuation framework. Asia also has more favourable external position than Euroland with less reliance on trade to U.S. last few years. Inflation is on rise in Asia, triggering need for tighter monetary policy. Has long TWD vs basket of 50% EUR and 50%.
Goldman Sachs