Forex Trading Lesson
January 24, 2006 by Trader Rich
This is an excerpt from a comment made by Sam Shenker at http://www.dailyfx.com.
As a trader one of the lessons I learned the hard way is to never to be eager to enter the market. Eagerness tends to lead to excitement and in turn it tends to cloud rational thinking, which can lead to a loss or a series of losses. The trader did not allow him or herself enough time to assess the market for potential trades and just entered the market because it’s moving. The trader does not want to be left behind. Its ok to miss a trade. In order to be successful, a trader must learn how to control his or her emotions, never be eager to establish positions and never enter the market on a whim, just because it’s moving. Trader’s strongest asset is patience to wait for a high probability setup to materialize, because if the trader is not patient, he or she will not be trading for very long. If you feel the urge to trade just because you are bored, get a cheaper hobby. Be patient and listen to the market and you will be successful. PATIENCE IS A CORNERSTONE OF SUCCESS FOR A TRADER.
I tend to get a bit excited when the market gets moving. The advice above is valuable especially the advice to get a cheaper hobby if you trade due to boredom.
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For me, this is another equally important part of being a successful trader. A primary lure for many who jump into currency trading is the potential for large and fast profits. We all read the stories, this is why we day trade. However the last couple days are a good illustration why patience is a virtue. There hasn’t been a lot of movement in price, and until there is (news = cause, charts = effect) it’s hard to discern what the markets are going to do, e.g., CHF up or down? Do tell. Analysis told me that CHF would go down. I executed a trade a couple hours ago only to watch CHF go up twenty points. It’s since dropped below my entry point. Little news and little volatility, so anything could happen and will. But what? CHF is going back up again in a trading range. Nonetheless I’ll collect my hundred bucks+ on the trade and stand aside. A successful trading day to you.
For me, this is another equally important part of being a successful trader. A primary lure for many who jump into currency trading is the potential for large and fast profits. We all read the stories, this is why we day trade. However the last couple days are a good illustration why patience is a virtue. There hasn’t been a lot of movement in price, and until there is (news = cause, charts = effect) it’s hard to discern what the markets are going to do, e.g., CHF up or down? Do tell. Analysis told me that CHF would go down. I executed a trade a couple hours ago only to watch CHF go up twenty points. It’s since dropped below my entry point. Little news and little volatility, so anything could happen and will. But what? CHF is going back up again in a trading range. Nonetheless I’ll collect my hundred bucks+ on the trade and stand aside. A successful trading day to you.
I’m still learning…
From: 45 Ways to Avoid Losing Money Trading FOREX, by a 20 year vertern bank fx trader
5) Stop Losses — Putting tight stop losses with retail brokers is a recipe for disaster. When you put on a trade commit to a reasonable stop loss limit that allows your trade a fair chance to develop.
7) Trading During Off Hours — Bank FX traders, option traders, and hedge funds have a huge advantage during off hours; they can push the currencies around when no volume is going through and the end game is new traders get fleeced trying to trade signals. There is only one signal during off hours — stay out.
12) Trading Too Short-term — If you’re profit target is less than 20 points don’t do the trade. The spread you pay to enter the trade makes the odds way against you when you go for these tiny profits.
13) Picking Tops and Bottoms — Looking for bargains works well at the supermarket but not trading foreign exchange. Try to trade in the direction the price is going and you’re results will improve.
15) Not Trading Around News Time — Most of the big moves occur around news time. The volume is high and the moves are real. There is no better time to trade fundamentally or technically than when news is released. This is when the real money adjusts their positions and as a result the price changes reflect serious currency flow (compared to quiet times when Bank traders rule the market with their customer order flow).
25) Quality Trading Time — I suggest 3 hours a day of quality, focused trading time. That’s about all your brain allows. When your trading be 100% focused; half way is #$!*!! It doesn’t work. Don’t even think that time spent in front of the computer watching the rates has any correlation to profitability; it doesn’t. Spend less time but when trading be 100% focused.
27) Mixing Apples and Oranges — Have you ever done this: you see the EURUSD trading higher so you buy GBPUSD because it “hasn’t moved yet.” That’s a mistake. Most of time the reason the GBPUSD hasn’t moved yet is because its already overbought or some 4:30am UK news was bearish. Don’t mix apples and oranges; if EURUSD looks bid buy EUROUSD.
29) Too much detail — If you’re trading more than 2 indicators then you need to clean house. Having many indicators stifles trading and finds reasons not to trade. A setup and a trigger is all you need.
33) Over-Relying on Risk Reward — There is zero advantage in risk reward. If you put a 20 point stop and a 60 point profit your chances are probably 3-1 that you will lose; actually with the spread its more like 4 to 1 (from entry point if it goes down 17 points you lose or up 63 you win; 17/63 is close to 4-1).
http://www.eurosdtrader.com/pages/95/index.htm
I’m still learning…
From: 45 Ways to Avoid Losing Money Trading FOREX, by a 20 year vertern bank fx trader
5) Stop Losses — Putting tight stop losses with retail brokers is a recipe for disaster. When you put on a trade commit to a reasonable stop loss limit that allows your trade a fair chance to develop.
7) Trading During Off Hours — Bank FX traders, option traders, and hedge funds have a huge advantage during off hours; they can push the currencies around when no volume is going through and the end game is new traders get fleeced trying to trade signals. There is only one signal during off hours — stay out.
12) Trading Too Short-term — If you’re profit target is less than 20 points don’t do the trade. The spread you pay to enter the trade makes the odds way against you when you go for these tiny profits.
13) Picking Tops and Bottoms — Looking for bargains works well at the supermarket but not trading foreign exchange. Try to trade in the direction the price is going and you’re results will improve.
15) Not Trading Around News Time — Most of the big moves occur around news time. The volume is high and the moves are real. There is no better time to trade fundamentally or technically than when news is released. This is when the real money adjusts their positions and as a result the price changes reflect serious currency flow (compared to quiet times when Bank traders rule the market with their customer order flow).
25) Quality Trading Time — I suggest 3 hours a day of quality, focused trading time. That’s about all your brain allows. When your trading be 100% focused; half way is #$!*!! It doesn’t work. Don’t even think that time spent in front of the computer watching the rates has any correlation to profitability; it doesn’t. Spend less time but when trading be 100% focused.
27) Mixing Apples and Oranges — Have you ever done this: you see the EURUSD trading higher so you buy GBPUSD because it “hasn’t moved yet.” That’s a mistake. Most of time the reason the GBPUSD hasn’t moved yet is because its already overbought or some 4:30am UK news was bearish. Don’t mix apples and oranges; if EURUSD looks bid buy EUROUSD.
29) Too much detail — If you’re trading more than 2 indicators then you need to clean house. Having many indicators stifles trading and finds reasons not to trade. A setup and a trigger is all you need.
33) Over-Relying on Risk Reward — There is zero advantage in risk reward. If you put a 20 point stop and a 60 point profit your chances are probably 3-1 that you will lose; actually with the spread its more like 4 to 1 (from entry point if it goes down 17 points you lose or up 63 you win; 17/63 is close to 4-1).
http://www.eurosdtrader.com/pages/95/index.htm