Before we go into 7 rules of Forex Trading, that have been approved
by a number of full time and successful traders, I'd like to narrate
this story.
There was a lion, a donkey and a fox all keen to go out rabbit
hunting together. After a productive day of hunting, the three of them
sit around the pile of rabbits and the lion asks the Donkey, "Mr Donkey,
would you please divide the pile into equal shares for the 3 of us?".
The Donkey obliges and counts the rabbits into three equal piles for
each of them. The Lion immediately roared and pounced him. He then piled
all the rabbits on top of the donkey and asked the Fox "Mr Fox, would
you please divide the rabbits up evenly between us?". The Fox takes out 1
scrawny rabbit from the pile and puts it in a pile for himself then say
"There you go, Mr Lion, that's your pile" pointing to the large pile of
rabbits. The lion says "Mr Fox, where did you learn to divide so
equally?" and the fox says "The Donkey taught me."
by Sorna Devadas
The moral of the story is to learn from others' mistakes. Now we
proceed to our 7 rules. These are for you benefit as mentioned earlier,
from experienced, successful traders.
Rule #1 Never risk any more than you can afford to lose, you
will lose money, all traders do, make sure you're not sacrificing
anything else important in the process
Rule #2 Never risk any more than 2% of your margin trading
account on a simple trade. For mini account holders, 2% of $300 would be
$6 so realistically you would need around $15 so you can make this 5%.
As soon as your account size is big enough, make this 2%.
Rule #3 Always use a stop loss order. If you haven't figured out
where your stop loss order and limit order should be at the start of
your trade then you shouldn't be trading.
Rule #4 Know your exit point before you enter a trade.
Rule #5 Demo Trade First: Become successful with paper trading when there's nothing on the line before you open a real account.
Rule #6 Take a breather when your equity has taken a dive.
Rule #7 Don't let your emotions call the shots: Stay cool, calm and collected. Patience and a clear head will win the game.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Forex: Why Psychiatrists Make Better Traders Than Expert Economists?
It should be noted that millionaire traders, Elder, Williams and
some others are in fact professional psychiatrists. And it is not
accidental that not the economists are the leaders and most successful
traders, but professional psychiatrists and psychotherapists. Think
about it. You will become a successful trader when you understand why it
happens with Forex. You will understand what your Forex mistakes are,
and why you are making them. And when you correct these mistakes you
will become a trader who has no psychological barriers and obstacles on
his way to better earnings in the Forex market.
So, why do the psychiatrists make better traders than economists who, as one would think, have the Forex market at their finger tips?
The economists are confused by:
— the fact that exchange rates are not always related directly to the economic circumstances in the countries. Well, do you know any economist who would be bidding for low fx rates when the economic situation is getting better and better? Or the one who admits that technical analysis of currency pairs is more important for Forex trading than the fundamental one? Any economist is confident that this can never happen because he knows all the economic dogmas. But it happens in the Forex. After all, how can a trader lose with the currencies moving up and down by the economic rules? The currency will surely react to the economic changes in the country, but who knows when and how? Here is a tip: there is the Elliott fifth way to teach a lesson to the ones who believe that fundamental knowledge is enough (before the trend turns, the currency spurts absurdly by the old trend), to confuse and draw the newbies into the game, while the experts wait for the trend to turn back.
— the lack of psychological knowledge that helps to understand the behavior of the crowd. And that is self-evident.
Are there any methods to overcome this fear?
It seems that every Forex book, every article offers efficient solutions for psychological difficulties experienced by the traders.
IN FACT NEITHER OF THESE BOOKS CONTAINS METHODS TO OVERCOME THE FEAR EXPERIENCED BY A FOREX TRADER!
But what do these books offer instead?
Almost every book of this kind consists of two unequal parts:
— the bigger part of the book narrates about traders' problem that interfere with their Forex work and make it unsuccessful (nervousness, doubts, worries, fear, sleep deprivation, etc.). As if the traders do not know their own problems.
— the considerably lesser part contains conclusions and recommendations to the traders who are to solve their problems and overcome their fears to become successful.
The conclusions are disappointing:
Many psychiatrists realize that the new field opens before their eyes — now they may treat traders whose number amounts to millions all over the world and is growing with every day. And since most traders have a dream to become as successful as George Soros and other famous traders, this new field promises to be rather lucrative.
One thing is bad though: the overwhelming majority of these new-sprung trader brain specialists do not even know what the Forex is all about.
by Alexander Brin
So, why do the psychiatrists make better traders than economists who, as one would think, have the Forex market at their finger tips?
The economists are confused by:
— the fact that exchange rates are not always related directly to the economic circumstances in the countries. Well, do you know any economist who would be bidding for low fx rates when the economic situation is getting better and better? Or the one who admits that technical analysis of currency pairs is more important for Forex trading than the fundamental one? Any economist is confident that this can never happen because he knows all the economic dogmas. But it happens in the Forex. After all, how can a trader lose with the currencies moving up and down by the economic rules? The currency will surely react to the economic changes in the country, but who knows when and how? Here is a tip: there is the Elliott fifth way to teach a lesson to the ones who believe that fundamental knowledge is enough (before the trend turns, the currency spurts absurdly by the old trend), to confuse and draw the newbies into the game, while the experts wait for the trend to turn back.
— the lack of psychological knowledge that helps to understand the behavior of the crowd. And that is self-evident.
Are there any methods to overcome this fear?
It seems that every Forex book, every article offers efficient solutions for psychological difficulties experienced by the traders.
IN FACT NEITHER OF THESE BOOKS CONTAINS METHODS TO OVERCOME THE FEAR EXPERIENCED BY A FOREX TRADER!
But what do these books offer instead?
Almost every book of this kind consists of two unequal parts:
— the bigger part of the book narrates about traders' problem that interfere with their Forex work and make it unsuccessful (nervousness, doubts, worries, fear, sleep deprivation, etc.). As if the traders do not know their own problems.
— the considerably lesser part contains conclusions and recommendations to the traders who are to solve their problems and overcome their fears to become successful.
The conclusions are disappointing:
Many psychiatrists realize that the new field opens before their eyes — now they may treat traders whose number amounts to millions all over the world and is growing with every day. And since most traders have a dream to become as successful as George Soros and other famous traders, this new field promises to be rather lucrative.
One thing is bad though: the overwhelming majority of these new-sprung trader brain specialists do not even know what the Forex is all about.
by Alexander Brin
Why is Swing Trading in Forex Popular?
Swing trading in forex is a form of quick trading performed by
investors aiming to maximize profits and minimize risks by making
strategic trades that last from 3 to 30 days. This is a very popular
style of trading among investors and day traders across the globe. Swing
trading depends on short-term variations in the market, forcing traders
to react to the changes in a rapid manner. This form of trading depends
more on stress price patterns than actual value.
As a trader, you do not wait for currency prices to hit either high or bottom, but wait for short term fluctuations in the market. Swing trading is highly favored by day traders, rather than by large financial establishments or brokerage houses. Swing trading is most profitable when markets are stable.
Advantages of Swing Trading in Forex
The reason for swing trading in forex being popular is the many advantages it offers over other conventional forms of trading, like buy-and-hold investing and position trading. The returns tend to be higher for an average trader. You can, for instance, trade for a short while and pay your monthly bills. Swing trading is, however, subject to market fluctuations and conditions. Like all forms of trading, swing trading is susceptible to lean phases.
When executed properly, you will experience less risk as compared to other methodologies. Unlike conventional investors whose fortunes are tied to bulls and bears, swing traders are free to exit losing trades and step out. There is an exit strategy for swing traders. Another strategy for a swing trader is to short the market even when the market suffers a slowdown.
Swing traders can have a flexible schedule unlike most day traders. All you need is to do some market research after work, and place new trades the next morning when the markets open. This style of trading offers more attractive returns due to its less labor-intensive requirements. You also need not worry about:
by Kitz S
As a trader, you do not wait for currency prices to hit either high or bottom, but wait for short term fluctuations in the market. Swing trading is highly favored by day traders, rather than by large financial establishments or brokerage houses. Swing trading is most profitable when markets are stable.
Advantages of Swing Trading in Forex
The reason for swing trading in forex being popular is the many advantages it offers over other conventional forms of trading, like buy-and-hold investing and position trading. The returns tend to be higher for an average trader. You can, for instance, trade for a short while and pay your monthly bills. Swing trading is, however, subject to market fluctuations and conditions. Like all forms of trading, swing trading is susceptible to lean phases.
When executed properly, you will experience less risk as compared to other methodologies. Unlike conventional investors whose fortunes are tied to bulls and bears, swing traders are free to exit losing trades and step out. There is an exit strategy for swing traders. Another strategy for a swing trader is to short the market even when the market suffers a slowdown.
Swing traders can have a flexible schedule unlike most day traders. All you need is to do some market research after work, and place new trades the next morning when the markets open. This style of trading offers more attractive returns due to its less labor-intensive requirements. You also need not worry about:
- Scrutinizing financial statements like most investors
- Monitoring market crests and troughs like position traders
- See your profits vaporize before your eyes due to unfavorable market conditions
- Using complicated systems like other traders
by Kitz S
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Stop Loss?? Why You Should Always Use It in Forex Trading.
Last week I was reviewing a website which has a trading signal
program for those investors who prefer to not being involved in
confusing market analysis and I respect them because such services
normally will bring them more time to do other important things in their
daily life. But the interesting thing was the most of signalers did not
actually place a stop loss point on their recommendations. Is that so
because they know they are right all the time? Or that's because they
did not lose half of their trading account in an unexpected slump of 200
hundred points and a single trade by S.A Ghafar.
However, the answer is most of them have something between -1000 to -5000 pips of open trades on their signal board and they actually trapped in desperately while they could cut the losing trades and ran another one instead. Also I should mention that there are some other types of system trading that called "Hedge Fund" and I don't actually want to argue if they are right or wrong. I am definitely talking to day traders who get into challenge with big bear every day.
Sometimes, I don't understand why a trader could be convinced of not having a Stop Loss while we see almost every month an unexpected uncounted impulse (I would call it Best of the Test for whom with less of the rest) in the market.
There is no specific rule as to where you should place the stop loss, so consider the below mentioned tips as the general rules and ask your mentor to fit reliable Stop loss rules just for you and your trading system(If you have one?).
Try these tools to define the most accurate stop loss points easily:
However, the answer is most of them have something between -1000 to -5000 pips of open trades on their signal board and they actually trapped in desperately while they could cut the losing trades and ran another one instead. Also I should mention that there are some other types of system trading that called "Hedge Fund" and I don't actually want to argue if they are right or wrong. I am definitely talking to day traders who get into challenge with big bear every day.
Sometimes, I don't understand why a trader could be convinced of not having a Stop Loss while we see almost every month an unexpected uncounted impulse (I would call it Best of the Test for whom with less of the rest) in the market.
There is no specific rule as to where you should place the stop loss, so consider the below mentioned tips as the general rules and ask your mentor to fit reliable Stop loss rules just for you and your trading system(If you have one?).
- Many loser traders do place the same stop loss for all the trades they execute without even trying to measure market environment.
- Don't be scared of placing a stop loss while it is for your gain and you must know what your profit objective is.
- Stop Loss should not be too close to the current price while most of the stop loss enemies have ruined their trading accounts already just by using very close ones.
- Stop Loss should not be too far from the point you get into trade while it's better to not placing any Stop Loss rather taking an unreachable, fictional protector.
- Try to not to risk more than the points of your profit goal. Pro traders recommend to only take those trades which have at least 2 points of potential profit per 1 pip of potential lose, but I would say it is completely depends on the money management system that you use, as different money management systems has different recommendations for Risk & Reward.
- Sometimes a trading system does not work if you risk less than recommended %7 to %10 of your total account balance. It means you trade oversize or you just entered the market when everyone else getting out of the market. In this case this is not your fault as it has a clear message for you "don't trade this way anymore and ask an expert to solve the problem".
- If you are convinced enough that you can make up 1 million dollar out of your 10000 dollars account by not using stop losses as you may think you are the one who knows the price will be back on its way to you instead of hitting new highs, well, simply you are wrong.
- Remember, there are no sky limits for the price of any of currencies in FOREX market.
- If you don't like to place a pre defined Stop Loss on your trades, please ask someone to show you how to follow a wining trade by using "Trailing Stop".
- Be sure it is better to have one or two losing trades with 100 points of lose, instead of being desperate with sinking into -1000 pips of dizziness.
Try these tools to define the most accurate stop loss points easily:
- Use 10 pips over/below the first Parabolic SAR spot(dot) appeared over/below the price candles for Short/Long Trades.
Note#1: Remember you just can use 10 pips above the parabolic SAR dots as an Stop Loss point when you have a Short trade and Vice Versa.
Note#2: You realized that the Stop Loss obtained from SAR is too far from the point which you want to enter the market. OK, this means you are about to enter the market very late so better to not do it. - Use 10 pips over/below the day before yesterday's HIGH and LOW and in the case of the market has moved a lot far, use 10 pips over/below the yesterday HIGH and LOW as a Stop Loss point for your Short/Long trades.
- Use two Moving Averages of 55 EMA and 144 MA. You may place
your stop loss just 10 pips below/above one of those two MAs depending
on how do you set up the profit/loss game for your Long/Short trades.
Note#: If you trade on the range market break out be aware of this kind of Stop Loss setting, and it is quite safer to use another way. - Place the Stop Loss 10 pips over/below Bollinger Bands Upper/Lower band for Short/Long trades.
- If you use Elliot Waves theory to analyze the market:
# Place the Stop Loss just 10 pips below the lowest point of the Second (2) wave in bullish trend when you LONG on Wave 3.
# places the Stop Loss 10 pips below the lowest point of the 4th Wave when you go for LONG on 5th Wave.
# Place the Stop Loss right above/below the top/low of the previous wave when you go for SHORT/LONG based on A-B-C correctional waves.
- Aforementioned suggestions are based on 4Hours chart.
- Those ways of defining Stop Loss points has worked for me, but It does not necessarily works for you, so ask your mentor or an expert friend to do evaluate the probability of fitting those suggestions to your trading strategy.
- 10 pips are because sometimes price hit the important support or resistance levels by more than a touch.
- Please don't forget, the Stop Loss issue is not actually a game. It is not even an option for you; it is a "MUST" and will save you when you can do nothing, so refresh your mind in this case.
- Forward your questions right to my email address opportunity4people@ymail.com, I'll try my best to give you the best answer. Good Lock
5 Things You Must Do If You Want To Attain Financial Freedom Through Forex Trading
With the amazing growth of the forex market, you are going to see an
astounding amount of traders lose all their money. Unfortunately, they
haven't followed the simple steps I have laid out for you. Go through
these steps and give yourself the greatest opportunity to achieve your
goals by Eddie Yakubovich.
1. Have Faith In Yourself
To reach the level of elite forex trader, you must trust in yourself and your forex trading education. You must be willing to make all your trading decisions, instead of relying on someone else's thoughts or ability (or lack of). Of course, you will prepare yourself fully before every risking any money.
2. Accept Your Learning Curve
Unless you are a veteran trader, you will lose money trading the Forex market. This is a near certainty. I don't say this to talk you out of trading. In fact, quite the opposite. You will be trading against others that fall to this reality day in and day out. You, however, will not risk a dime until you have learned the skills you need to make money trading the forex.
3. Decide What Type of Trader You Are
There are many ways to trade the forex. They range from very active to very patient. You must decide which style suits you best. The best time to learn this about yourself is while you are trading a demo account. There is no need to allow your learning curve to cost you money.
4. Get Educated
Education is the shortest path to elite forex trading. Regardless of your ultimate goals, you will reach them quicker with a great forex trading education. Take some time to review different options before deciding on who to trust with your forex trading education needs. A forex seminar will help shorten your learning curve drastically.
5. Continue to Get Educated
In order to achieve and retain elite forex trading skills, you must constantly be adding to you knowledge base. Your education should never end. In fact, one of the key points to look for in an elite forex trading course is ongoing education. It's nice to have an ongoing relationship with the person/people helping you to achieve your goals.
What separates an elite forex trader from all others is their desire and ability to be independent. Many traders are willing to follow signals, systems, strategies, or anything else you may call them. By taking this approach, however, these traders are only as good as the people they follow.
An elite forex trader will lead. Their decisions will be calculated and analyzed to near perfection. They will make decisions with no hesitation, and handle the growth of their account in a predetermined, intelligent fashion. Take your trading to their level and you will never look back.
1. Have Faith In Yourself
To reach the level of elite forex trader, you must trust in yourself and your forex trading education. You must be willing to make all your trading decisions, instead of relying on someone else's thoughts or ability (or lack of). Of course, you will prepare yourself fully before every risking any money.
2. Accept Your Learning Curve
Unless you are a veteran trader, you will lose money trading the Forex market. This is a near certainty. I don't say this to talk you out of trading. In fact, quite the opposite. You will be trading against others that fall to this reality day in and day out. You, however, will not risk a dime until you have learned the skills you need to make money trading the forex.
3. Decide What Type of Trader You Are
There are many ways to trade the forex. They range from very active to very patient. You must decide which style suits you best. The best time to learn this about yourself is while you are trading a demo account. There is no need to allow your learning curve to cost you money.
4. Get Educated
Education is the shortest path to elite forex trading. Regardless of your ultimate goals, you will reach them quicker with a great forex trading education. Take some time to review different options before deciding on who to trust with your forex trading education needs. A forex seminar will help shorten your learning curve drastically.
5. Continue to Get Educated
In order to achieve and retain elite forex trading skills, you must constantly be adding to you knowledge base. Your education should never end. In fact, one of the key points to look for in an elite forex trading course is ongoing education. It's nice to have an ongoing relationship with the person/people helping you to achieve your goals.
What separates an elite forex trader from all others is their desire and ability to be independent. Many traders are willing to follow signals, systems, strategies, or anything else you may call them. By taking this approach, however, these traders are only as good as the people they follow.
An elite forex trader will lead. Their decisions will be calculated and analyzed to near perfection. They will make decisions with no hesitation, and handle the growth of their account in a predetermined, intelligent fashion. Take your trading to their level and you will never look back.
Trading Psychology: Mistakes in a Trading Environment
When it comes to trading, one of the most neglected subjects are
those dealing with trading psychology. Most traders spend days, months
and even years trying to find the right system. But having a system is
just part of the game. Don't get us wrong, it is very important to have a
system that perfectly suits the trader, but it is as important as
having a money management plan, or to understand all psychology barriers
that may affect the trader decisions and other issues. In order to
succeed in this business, there must be equilibrium between all
important aspects of trading by Raul Lope.
In the trading environment, when you lose a trade, what is the first idea that pops up in your mind? It would probably be, "There must be something wrong with my system", or "I knew it, I shouldn't have taken this trade" (even when your system signaled it). But sometimes we need to dig a little deeper in order to see the nature of our mistake, and then work on it accordingly.
When it comes to trading the Forex market as well as other markets, only 5% of traders achieve the ultimate goal: to be consistent in profits. What is interesting though is that there is just a tiny difference between this 5% of traders and the rest of them. The top 5% grow from mistakes; mistakes are a learning experience, they learn an invaluable lesson on every single mistake made. Deep in their minds, a mistake is one more chance to try it harder and do it better the next time, because they know they might not get a chance the next time. And at the end, this tiny difference becomes THE big difference.
Mistakes in the trading environment
Most of us relate a trading mistake to the outcome (in terms of money) of any given trade. The truth is, a mistake has nothing to do with it, mistakes are made when certain guidelines are not followed. When the rules you trade by are violated. Take for instance the following scenarios:
First scenario: The system signals a trade.
1. Signal taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade. Outcome of the trade: Positive, made money. Experience gained: Its good to follow the system, if I do this consistently the odds will turn in my favor. Confidence is gained in both the trader and the system. Mistake made: None.
2. Signal taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade. Outcome of the trade: Negative, lost money. Experience gained: It is impossible to win every single trade, a loosing trade is just part of the business; our raw material, we know we can't get them all right. Even with this lost trade, the trader is proud about himself for following the system. Confidence in the trader is gained. Mistake made: None.
3. Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade. Outcome of the trade: Neutral. Experience gained: Frustration, the trader always seems to get in trades that turned out to be loosing trades and let the profitable trades go away. Confidence is lost in the trader self. Mistake made: Not taking a trade when the system signaled it.
4. Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade. Outcome of the trade: Neutral. Experience gained: The trader will start to think "hey, I'm better than my system". Even if the trader doesn't think on it consciously, the trader will rationalize on every signal given by the system because deep in his or her mind, his or her "feeling" is more intelligent than the system itself. From this point on, the trader will try to outguess the system. This mistake has catastrophic effects on our confidence to the system. The confidence on the trader turns into overconfidence. Mistake made: Not taking a trade when system signaled it
Second Scenario: System does not signal a trade.
1. No trade is taken Outcome of the trade: Neutral Experience gained: Good discipline, we only need to take trades when the odds are in our favor, just when the system signals it. Confidence gained in both the trader self and the system. Mistake made: None
2. A trade is taken, turns out to be a profitable trade. Outcome of the trade: Positive, made money. Experience gained: This mistake has the most catastrophic effects in the trader self, the system and most importantly in the trader's trading career. You will start to think you need no system, you know better from them all. From this point on, you will start to trade based on what you think. Confidence in the system is totally lost. Confidence in the trader self turns into overconfidence. Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system.
3. A trade is taken, turned out to be a loosing trade. Outcome of the trade: negative, lost money. Experience gained: The trader will rethink his strategy. The next time, the trader will think it twice before getting in a trade when the system does not signal it. The trader will go "Ok, it is better to get in the market when my system signals it, only those trade have a higher probability of success". Confidence is gained in the system. Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system
As you can see, there is absolutely no correlation between the outcome of the trade and a mistake. The most catastrophic mistake even has a positive trade outcome, made money, but this could be the beginning of the end of the trader's career. As we have already stated, mistakes must only be related to the violation of rules a trader trades by.
All these mistakes were directly related to the signals given by a system, but the same is applied when getting out of a trade. There are also mistakes related to following a trading plan. For example, risking more money on a given trade than the amount the trader should have risked and many more.
Most mistakes can be avoided by first having a trading plan. A trading plan includes the system: the criteria we use to get in and out the market, the money management plan: how much we will risk on any given trade, and many other points. Secondly, and most important, we need to have the discipline to follow strictly our plan. We created our plan when no trade was placed on, thus no psychology barriers were up front. So, the only thing we are certain about is that if we follow our plan, the decision taken is on our best interests, and in the long run, these decisions will help us have better results. We don't have to worry about isolated events, or trades that could had give us better results at first, but then they could have catastrophic results in our trading career.
How to deal with mistakes
There are many possible ways to properly manage mistakes. We will suggest the one that works better for us.
Step one: Belief change. Every mistake is a learning experience. They all have something valuable to offer. Try to counteract the natural tendency of feeling frustrated and approach mistakes in a positive manner. Instead of yelling to everyone around and feeling disappointed, say to yourself "ok, I did something wrong, what happened? What is it?
Step two: Identify the mistake made. Define the mistake, find out what caused the mistake, and try as hard as you can to effectively see the nature of that mistake. Finding the mistake nature will prevent you from making the same mistake again. More than often you will find the answer where you less expected. Take for instance a trader that doesn't follow the system. The reason behind this could be that the trader is afraid of loosing. But then, why is he or she afraid? It could be that the trader is using a system that does not fit him or her, and finds difficult to follow every signal. In this case, as you can see, the nature of the mistake is not in the surface. You need to try as hard as you can to find the real reason of the given mistake.
Step three: Measure the consequences of the mistake. List the consequences of making that particular mistake, both good and bad. Good consequences are those that make us better traders after dealing with the mistake. Think on all possible reasons you can learn from what happened. For the same example above, what are the consequences of making that mistake? Well, if you don't follow the system, you will gradually loose confidence in it, and this at the end will put you into trades you don't really want to be, and out of trades you should be in.
Step four: Take action. Taking proper action is the last and most important step. In order to learn, you need to change your behavior. Make sure that whatever you do, you become "this-mistake-proof". By taking action we turn every single mistake into a small part of success in our trading career. Continuing with the same example, redefining the system would be the trader's final step. The trader would put a system that perfectly fits him or her, so the trader doesn't find any trouble following it in future signals.
Understanding the fact that the outcome of any trade has nothing to do with a mistake will open your mind to other possibilities, where you will be able to understand the nature of every mistake made. This at the same time will open the doors for your trading career as you work and take proper action on every mistake made.
The process of success is slow, and plenty of times it is attributed to repeated mistakes made and the constant struggle to get past these mistakes, working on them accordingly. How we deal with them will shape our future as a trader, and most importantly as a person.
In the trading environment, when you lose a trade, what is the first idea that pops up in your mind? It would probably be, "There must be something wrong with my system", or "I knew it, I shouldn't have taken this trade" (even when your system signaled it). But sometimes we need to dig a little deeper in order to see the nature of our mistake, and then work on it accordingly.
When it comes to trading the Forex market as well as other markets, only 5% of traders achieve the ultimate goal: to be consistent in profits. What is interesting though is that there is just a tiny difference between this 5% of traders and the rest of them. The top 5% grow from mistakes; mistakes are a learning experience, they learn an invaluable lesson on every single mistake made. Deep in their minds, a mistake is one more chance to try it harder and do it better the next time, because they know they might not get a chance the next time. And at the end, this tiny difference becomes THE big difference.
Mistakes in the trading environment
Most of us relate a trading mistake to the outcome (in terms of money) of any given trade. The truth is, a mistake has nothing to do with it, mistakes are made when certain guidelines are not followed. When the rules you trade by are violated. Take for instance the following scenarios:
First scenario: The system signals a trade.
1. Signal taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade. Outcome of the trade: Positive, made money. Experience gained: Its good to follow the system, if I do this consistently the odds will turn in my favor. Confidence is gained in both the trader and the system. Mistake made: None.
2. Signal taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade. Outcome of the trade: Negative, lost money. Experience gained: It is impossible to win every single trade, a loosing trade is just part of the business; our raw material, we know we can't get them all right. Even with this lost trade, the trader is proud about himself for following the system. Confidence in the trader is gained. Mistake made: None.
3. Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade. Outcome of the trade: Neutral. Experience gained: Frustration, the trader always seems to get in trades that turned out to be loosing trades and let the profitable trades go away. Confidence is lost in the trader self. Mistake made: Not taking a trade when the system signaled it.
4. Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade. Outcome of the trade: Neutral. Experience gained: The trader will start to think "hey, I'm better than my system". Even if the trader doesn't think on it consciously, the trader will rationalize on every signal given by the system because deep in his or her mind, his or her "feeling" is more intelligent than the system itself. From this point on, the trader will try to outguess the system. This mistake has catastrophic effects on our confidence to the system. The confidence on the trader turns into overconfidence. Mistake made: Not taking a trade when system signaled it
Second Scenario: System does not signal a trade.
1. No trade is taken Outcome of the trade: Neutral Experience gained: Good discipline, we only need to take trades when the odds are in our favor, just when the system signals it. Confidence gained in both the trader self and the system. Mistake made: None
2. A trade is taken, turns out to be a profitable trade. Outcome of the trade: Positive, made money. Experience gained: This mistake has the most catastrophic effects in the trader self, the system and most importantly in the trader's trading career. You will start to think you need no system, you know better from them all. From this point on, you will start to trade based on what you think. Confidence in the system is totally lost. Confidence in the trader self turns into overconfidence. Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system.
3. A trade is taken, turned out to be a loosing trade. Outcome of the trade: negative, lost money. Experience gained: The trader will rethink his strategy. The next time, the trader will think it twice before getting in a trade when the system does not signal it. The trader will go "Ok, it is better to get in the market when my system signals it, only those trade have a higher probability of success". Confidence is gained in the system. Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system
As you can see, there is absolutely no correlation between the outcome of the trade and a mistake. The most catastrophic mistake even has a positive trade outcome, made money, but this could be the beginning of the end of the trader's career. As we have already stated, mistakes must only be related to the violation of rules a trader trades by.
All these mistakes were directly related to the signals given by a system, but the same is applied when getting out of a trade. There are also mistakes related to following a trading plan. For example, risking more money on a given trade than the amount the trader should have risked and many more.
Most mistakes can be avoided by first having a trading plan. A trading plan includes the system: the criteria we use to get in and out the market, the money management plan: how much we will risk on any given trade, and many other points. Secondly, and most important, we need to have the discipline to follow strictly our plan. We created our plan when no trade was placed on, thus no psychology barriers were up front. So, the only thing we are certain about is that if we follow our plan, the decision taken is on our best interests, and in the long run, these decisions will help us have better results. We don't have to worry about isolated events, or trades that could had give us better results at first, but then they could have catastrophic results in our trading career.
How to deal with mistakes
There are many possible ways to properly manage mistakes. We will suggest the one that works better for us.
Step one: Belief change. Every mistake is a learning experience. They all have something valuable to offer. Try to counteract the natural tendency of feeling frustrated and approach mistakes in a positive manner. Instead of yelling to everyone around and feeling disappointed, say to yourself "ok, I did something wrong, what happened? What is it?
Step two: Identify the mistake made. Define the mistake, find out what caused the mistake, and try as hard as you can to effectively see the nature of that mistake. Finding the mistake nature will prevent you from making the same mistake again. More than often you will find the answer where you less expected. Take for instance a trader that doesn't follow the system. The reason behind this could be that the trader is afraid of loosing. But then, why is he or she afraid? It could be that the trader is using a system that does not fit him or her, and finds difficult to follow every signal. In this case, as you can see, the nature of the mistake is not in the surface. You need to try as hard as you can to find the real reason of the given mistake.
Step three: Measure the consequences of the mistake. List the consequences of making that particular mistake, both good and bad. Good consequences are those that make us better traders after dealing with the mistake. Think on all possible reasons you can learn from what happened. For the same example above, what are the consequences of making that mistake? Well, if you don't follow the system, you will gradually loose confidence in it, and this at the end will put you into trades you don't really want to be, and out of trades you should be in.
Step four: Take action. Taking proper action is the last and most important step. In order to learn, you need to change your behavior. Make sure that whatever you do, you become "this-mistake-proof". By taking action we turn every single mistake into a small part of success in our trading career. Continuing with the same example, redefining the system would be the trader's final step. The trader would put a system that perfectly fits him or her, so the trader doesn't find any trouble following it in future signals.
Understanding the fact that the outcome of any trade has nothing to do with a mistake will open your mind to other possibilities, where you will be able to understand the nature of every mistake made. This at the same time will open the doors for your trading career as you work and take proper action on every mistake made.
The process of success is slow, and plenty of times it is attributed to repeated mistakes made and the constant struggle to get past these mistakes, working on them accordingly. How we deal with them will shape our future as a trader, and most importantly as a person.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Money Management Tips For Trading On The Forex
What is Money Management: describes strategies or methods a player uses to avoid losing their bankroll.
Money management in the foreign exchange currency market requires educating yourself in a variety of financial areas. First, a definition of the foreign exchange currency or forex market is called for. The forex market is simply the exchange of the currency of one country for the currency of another. The relative values of various currencies in the world change on a regular basis. Factors such as the stability of the economy of a country, the gross national product, the gross domestic product, inflation, interest rates, and such obvious factors as domestic security and foreign relations come into play. For instance, if a country has an unstable government, is expecting a military takeover, or is about to become involved in a war, then the country's currency may go down in relative value compared to the currency of other countries.
The Forex, or foreign currency exchange, is all about money. Money from all over the world is bought, sold and traded. On the Forex, anyone can buy and sell currency and with possibly come out ahead in the end. When dealing with the foreign currency exchange, it is possible to buy the currency of one country, sell it and make a profit. For example, a broker might buy a Japanese yen when the yen to dollar ratio increases, then sell the yens and buy back American dollars for a profit.
There are five major forex exchange markets in the world, New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo and Zurich. Forex trading occurs around the clock in various markets, Asian, European, and American. With different time zones, when Asian trading stops, European trading opens, and conversely when European trading stops, American trading opens, and when American trading stops, then it is time for Asian trading to begin again.
Most of the trading in the world occurs in the forex markets; smaller markets for trade in individual countries. Simply put forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Over $1.4 trillion dollars, US of forex trading occurs daily and sometimes fortunes are made or lost in this market. The billionaire George Soros has made most of his money in forex trading. Successfully managing your money in forex trading requires an understanding of the bid/ask spread.
Simply put the bid ask spread is the difference between the price at which something is offered for sale and the price that it is actually purchased for. For instance, if the ask price is 100 dollars, and the bid is 102 dollars then the difference is two dollars, the spread. Many forex traders trade on margin. Trading on margin is buying and selling assets that are worth more than the money in your account. Since currency exchange rates on any given day are usually less than two percent, forex trading is done with a small margin. To use an example, with a one percent margin a trader can trade up to $250,000 even if he only has $5,000 in his account. This means the trade has leverage of 50 to one. This amount of leverage allows a trader to make good profits very quickly. Of course, with the chance of high profits also comes high risk.
Like many other speculative investments, a key part of money management for the forex trader is only using money that can be put at risk. It is wise to set aside a portion of your net worth and make that the only money you use in forex trading. While the chances of good profits are there, if you should have a problem and get wiped out, you'll only have a limited amount of money placed at risk. Also remember that the market is n constant motion. There are always trading opportunities. If a currency is becoming stronger or weaker in relation to other currencies there is always a chance for profit. For instance, if you believe that the Euro is gong to become weak compared to the US dollar then selling Euros is a good bet. If you believe that the dollar is going to become weaker than the yen, or the pound sterling, then selling dollars is wise. Staying current on the news and current events in the countries whose currency you hold is a smart move. Many people reach points where they can predict currency changes based on political or economic news in a given country. Remember though that forex trading is speculation, so be careful when managing your funds and only invest what you can afford to risk.
Please always make sure you check with the pros when dealing in this market unless you are doing this as a hobby and don't have a lot at stake in it. There are a lot of big boys playing here and they won't lose much sleep if you and thousands others lose their shirts...
by David Mclauchlan
Money management in the foreign exchange currency market requires educating yourself in a variety of financial areas. First, a definition of the foreign exchange currency or forex market is called for. The forex market is simply the exchange of the currency of one country for the currency of another. The relative values of various currencies in the world change on a regular basis. Factors such as the stability of the economy of a country, the gross national product, the gross domestic product, inflation, interest rates, and such obvious factors as domestic security and foreign relations come into play. For instance, if a country has an unstable government, is expecting a military takeover, or is about to become involved in a war, then the country's currency may go down in relative value compared to the currency of other countries.
The Forex, or foreign currency exchange, is all about money. Money from all over the world is bought, sold and traded. On the Forex, anyone can buy and sell currency and with possibly come out ahead in the end. When dealing with the foreign currency exchange, it is possible to buy the currency of one country, sell it and make a profit. For example, a broker might buy a Japanese yen when the yen to dollar ratio increases, then sell the yens and buy back American dollars for a profit.
There are five major forex exchange markets in the world, New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo and Zurich. Forex trading occurs around the clock in various markets, Asian, European, and American. With different time zones, when Asian trading stops, European trading opens, and conversely when European trading stops, American trading opens, and when American trading stops, then it is time for Asian trading to begin again.
Most of the trading in the world occurs in the forex markets; smaller markets for trade in individual countries. Simply put forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Over $1.4 trillion dollars, US of forex trading occurs daily and sometimes fortunes are made or lost in this market. The billionaire George Soros has made most of his money in forex trading. Successfully managing your money in forex trading requires an understanding of the bid/ask spread.
Simply put the bid ask spread is the difference between the price at which something is offered for sale and the price that it is actually purchased for. For instance, if the ask price is 100 dollars, and the bid is 102 dollars then the difference is two dollars, the spread. Many forex traders trade on margin. Trading on margin is buying and selling assets that are worth more than the money in your account. Since currency exchange rates on any given day are usually less than two percent, forex trading is done with a small margin. To use an example, with a one percent margin a trader can trade up to $250,000 even if he only has $5,000 in his account. This means the trade has leverage of 50 to one. This amount of leverage allows a trader to make good profits very quickly. Of course, with the chance of high profits also comes high risk.
Like many other speculative investments, a key part of money management for the forex trader is only using money that can be put at risk. It is wise to set aside a portion of your net worth and make that the only money you use in forex trading. While the chances of good profits are there, if you should have a problem and get wiped out, you'll only have a limited amount of money placed at risk. Also remember that the market is n constant motion. There are always trading opportunities. If a currency is becoming stronger or weaker in relation to other currencies there is always a chance for profit. For instance, if you believe that the Euro is gong to become weak compared to the US dollar then selling Euros is a good bet. If you believe that the dollar is going to become weaker than the yen, or the pound sterling, then selling dollars is wise. Staying current on the news and current events in the countries whose currency you hold is a smart move. Many people reach points where they can predict currency changes based on political or economic news in a given country. Remember though that forex trading is speculation, so be careful when managing your funds and only invest what you can afford to risk.
Please always make sure you check with the pros when dealing in this market unless you are doing this as a hobby and don't have a lot at stake in it. There are a lot of big boys playing here and they won't lose much sleep if you and thousands others lose their shirts...
by David Mclauchlan
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