Discretionary Trading is Better Than Robots

I have been trading for more than 15 years now.
When I first started, in 1994 as far as I remember, there wasn't a lot of softwares on the market and of course we didn't talk about forex yet.
But, "magic systems" were already spreading over the web. You were finding different kind of gurus selling their black box that only professionals use, of course, promising you a fortune in a matter of days or even hours...

One after the other, the gurus disappear leaving place to others.
Today, you can find thousand of "wonderful" systems if you type "trading system" on any search engine. You may read numerous articles promoting the success of such expert advisor or trading robot.
Speaking of robots, it's amazing how people believe in automatic trading. They think they can go to work in the morning, leaving behind them this wonderful robot catching pips on the forex market all alone. Have you been given the chance to get this ultimate trading system only used by banks or institutionals ? Just be patient, a smart guy will soon propose a good one, maybe the best. by Sebastien Duval

I use an ironic tone on purpose because I am tired to see all this disillusion from people who still believe in Santa Claus. Get back on earth, my friends, there is no easy way to earn money on the financial markets. Most of the traders, living from their activities, won't share their work with you.

The good news is you can learn to trade by yourself. Today, you can get very good trading courses on the web, free or not. You have access to valuable resources if you take the time to select websites.
Now, what are we supposed to do with all these trainings and advices, you might ask?
Well, if you want to be successfull in trading, whatever the market, you will have to learn to become a trader. You will have to develop your system, or trading approach, and adopt a good attitude through a back-tested money management (the one you feel confortable with and which works).
So, as a summary:

• learning the trading basics from books or online ressources (technical analysis etc.)
• develop you own trading system which could be as easy as efficient
• use a money management system which is a necessary condition to make your trading system profitable
• learn how to behave properly while trading (have you heard of the emotions control...)

When I use the word "system", I don't make reference to any automatic trading or robot. Besides the fact I can't stand automatic systems, it has been proven that systematic trading doesn't work on the long term.
Why is that ? We know that patterns always repeat themselves cycle after cycle so we could imagine a easy way to benefit from this repetition. The answer relies in the human being behavior on the market. Traders are filled with emotions like greed or fear. Even if most traders now recognize the usual patterns and knows how to follow a trends, most of the time they let themselves overwhelmed by emotions when the market doesn't react like it should...

That leads this question: why discretionary trading works?
Dicretionary approach consists in following a trading system (because you always need some king of system) through the human eye. A trader, controlling his emotions and analysing the market with objectivity, has the ability to understand the market crowd represented by all the traders. He will be able to understand the excesses and adjust his trading accordingly.

A robot will enter a position as soon as a resistance or support is broken or when a 38% fibonacci retracement has been reached etc. Of course a trader would initially adjust his robot parameters according to his strategy but he won't be able to "play" new market conditions for exemple.
The market likes to defeat all automatic systems which tend to setup logical stop losses and profit targets. Have you ever seen the wonderful spikes on the forex market, in particular after news releases...

A discretionary approach will never prevent you from losses. Any trader will suffer from losses. It is part of the activity. If you don't want to loose, you should try no-risk investments offering 2-3% a year.
But at least, you will always control what you are doing, knowing exactly what the market is leading and if this is a good moment to enter a position or not.

You have obviously a set of rules, explaining the "when and how" you enter a position, but you may adjust your strategy according to certain market conditions.
Be careful though. You need to stick to the plan you implemented when developing your trading system and money management. It's a very important aspect of the trading. But once again, there is no automatic entry position. For the exits, it's a bit different because you can set a profit target in advance and exit the position automatically. You develop this aspect in your money management rules.
I hope I gave you the desire to become a real trader using a discretionary approach, far from automatic systems which definitly don't work. Trading can be fascinating if you give yourself the means to do it properly.

How The Matrix Will Boost Your Forex Profits?

Perhaps you remember one of the most impactful movies of our time, the Matrix? Morpheus believed totally in Neo to the point where he almost sacrificed his life to save him. Yet Neo did not believe in himself at the beginning, he was most uncertain about whether he was the One or not. So when he went to see the Oracle, she told him that being the One is like being in love, nobody tells you that you are in love, you just know it.

The Oracle pointed to a sign hanging on the door: "Know Thyself"...
Still Neo didn't believe in himself but when agent Smith captured Morpheus and a member of his crew suggested to pull the plug so the agents of the Matrix won't get access to Zion, something in Neo changed and he began to believe...

A little further down the path of the One, Neo "accomplished miracles" because he learned how to believe in himself fully and completely. And remember Neo had a mentor who believed in him beyond any doubt and who taught him how to use his mind to defeat the Matrix and its dangerous agents. Neo's mentor, Morpheus, showed him the path and helped him empower his mind, yet Neo walked the path to his own success after he started believing in himself and mastered his own mind.
Perhaps you were wondering, yes and what has this to do with trading the Forex market?

"Know Thyself"
Forex trading or any trading for that matter is a mind game in the first place. Some people spend a lot of time and efforts perfecting certain trading skills and knowledge like reading the charts and data, entry and exit skills but any normally intelligent person can learn these skills, they are the easiest part of the trading game. They are no doubt necessary tools to your Forex success but they don't make the biggest difference between a really successful Forex trader and the one who is not successful. So what does make the difference? by Karima Bega.

Let's ask the question: what is your goal in trading the Forex? It is to make money. Period! Surely while you're making the money and great profits you can have fun too and you should but what you need are specific mental attitudes and strengths, that is if you want to be a successful Forex trader. These mental states are an asset that will help you in many other situations and contexts of your life.

As my Forex mentor told me, the major three mental and emotional frames of mind that characterize the majority of successful FOREX traders are:

1.Discipline & amp; Passion

2.Confidence & Courage

3.Patience & Smart Persistence

We'll touch upon all three briefly to make it as clear as crystal to you so you succeed in the Forex market.
Like trading a Pair of Currencies these mental and emotional mindsets go hand in hand.

Discipline & Passion
Discipline, say the most successful Forex traders, is really important! It helps you be more effective in planning your trades and in sticking to the good plans you established before entering the trade. Always have an action plan for stop and limit levels for the trade before you enter it, your analysis should cover up the expected upside and downside.

Passion means commitment and love for what you do. It is your passion for something that keeps you going, improving, constantly learning (willing to buy excellent Forex courses from experienced and successful traders, remember Morpheus mentoring Neo) and persist beyond the ups and downs of the business. You need to know why you are trading the Forex because it is an awesome opportunity that you have to take, so develop a passion for it. Simply do what it takes to be successful, learn from the best.

A word of Caution: Never mistake your "Forex passion" for emotion that you might feel while trading the Forex, when trying to enter a trade without using clear and sound entry/exit indicators and rules. Have fun, learn, and stay tuned for future developments and grow as a person in strength and character in "your Forex business" while remaining emotionally detached when you get in and out of a trade. If you do, you are bound to incredible success in the Forex trading business.

Confidence & Courage
Successful Forex traders believe in themselves and their abilities to learn and grow, to acquire more competence learning from a mentor. There is no reality only perception, the Matrix can trick you but you can have your own special Matrix inside your mind that empowers you with an unwavering belief in yourself!
Have the confidence and courage to stick to your plan and stay with your rules even if others are doing the opposite. Keep your vision (end result) that you can make it in the Forex market in your mind until you are successful in it.

If you experience a situation where you know exactly how a currency pair will go and have a sound trading plan, go for it! Sometimes people fail to follow their own good plans because all sorts of emotions get in their way, emotions like greed and fear. Stay calm and act with confidence and courage otherwise your planning, analyzing and information gathering will be totally useless to you.

You become more competent when you educate yourself about the markets and learn from successful traders. Self develop: "Know Thyself", get into the habit of monitoring your emotions and questioning your limiting beliefs so that your mind works for you and not against you. Don't take things too personally, if you make a mistake then consider it to be valuable feedback so you become more successful, never a failure!
Patience & Smart Persistence

An Indian wisdom says: "Life is always right!" we say: "the market knows much better than you do!"
Learn to listen and read the signs the Forex market is giving you. Learn how to wait, observe and only enter a trade when it is the right time to do so, before you can reap the profits.
It can be hard to wait before your Forex trading screen and not jump into action but The successful FOREX trader will enter a trade according to the direction of the prevailing trend or will wait until a new trend shows up and establishes itself. The waiting ranges from a few hours to days or even weeks before a winning trend appears.
even if you day trade and are not a long-term or position trader, you still are well advised to keep impatience from ruining your profit chances. Also be patient means you stick with winning trades. But be most impatient with losing trades.

Practice "Know Thyself" and continue learning your Forex trading from the best and we are sure you will be a successful Forex trader. You will be on the path of Neo, the One himself!