Trading education » Currency Trading

Forex Currency Trading Systems – The Fibs Ain’t No Lie – A Systems Approach to Trading the Forex

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:46:53 +0000

When it comes to trading the Forex having a trading system is the number one key to success. Making currency trades as “mechanical” as possible is the only way to sanely trade a market where the traders fear and greed are always in play.

This is where a trading system shines. Having a system that says when “A” happens you automatically execute trade “B.” This kind of system has a great effect at removing much of our emotional trading.

How The Systems Work

As you probably know, Forex trading is based on the relationship of one currency to another – called pairs. And these pairs are used to create a trade. For instance you believe that the Euro is due to rise against the Dollar – or said another way – you believe the Euro is strong and the US Dollar is weak. Based on this assumption you would expect to see the Euro rise in value over the dollar and if it did you would profit.

So the pair you would be trading is the EUR/USD pair where the first currency listed, in this case the Euro is called the base currency. The second, in this case the US Dollar, is called the counter or quote currency. Each pair is quoted with a single number that expresses the relationship between the pairs. So if a quote of 1.4525 were quoted that would mean that it would take 1.4525 Dollars to exchange for a single Euro.

The Fibs

Fibonacci, often called the fibs, are a method of gaining some measure of predictive pricing in the Forex markets. They are based on the famed number sequence developed by a mathematician named, you guessed it, Fibonacci. The sequence that he developed is a sum where each of the two preceding numbers are added to form the next in the sequence. So a sequence starting from the number 1 would look like 1,1,2,3,5,8…and so on.

The Forex is especially sensitive to the fibs. If you spend any time with your currency charts you will notice how prices turn at or near Fibonacci numbers.

Now of course then numbers are not as neat and clean as 1,1,2,3,5 etc. In the currencies they look more like. .236, .50, .382, .618, etc., Using this type of number sequence you will find that you can use the Fibs as a price point to enter or exit a trading position. They offer a seasoned trader a certain measure of predictive capability.

They can be used in you trading system as the response to other market signals so if you get a market signal that tells you to enter the market long the Euro, then your mechanical response would be to wait until the prices broke through the next Fibonacci resistance line and then enter your position. Waiting for this type of movement would help prove that the price was on the rise.

Of course this is assuming that you expect the price of the Euro to go up, and that is not the only way the market could move, but this is the beauty of the Forex, you can trade the market up or down. It lets you make money in both directions.

By: Nigel Banks

Learn Currency Trading – 5 Common Deadly Mistakes

admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:58:59 +0000

If you want to learn currency trading you need to get the right forex education and avoid the mistakes of the losing majority. The mistakes below are common ones but there easy to avoid and you must do so if you want to enjoy currency trading success.

1. Following a Vendor Blindly

One of the most common errors is to think someone else can give you success – they can’t.

Most systems sold are junk – but even if you do find a good one, how can you follow it with discipline if you don’t know how it works?

You cant to have discipline to follow a system you must have confidence in it so you need to take the time to develop your own trading system or have total confidence in someone else’s logic.

2. Trading News Stories

We have more news at our disposal than ever before and all those stories are very convincing – but that’s all they are stories. The news reflects the greed and fear of the crowd and they lose longer term – try and trade news stories and you are guaranteed to lose as well.

The best way for any novice to trade is to simply follow the reality of price action on a forex chart and trade it – your trading the truth not an opinion and that is the only way to win.

3. Day Trading

Simply the dumbest way to trade.

It doesn’t work as all short term volatility is random and you can’t get the odds in your favour.

Don’t believe me?

Try and find a forex day trader with a real ( not simulated ) track record that’s made real dollars over the long term. Let me know if you find one I have been searching for 25 years and still not found one!

Avoid day trading at all costs!

4. Trying to Predict Forex Prices

If you try and predict prices in advance you’re hoping or guessing and that won’t get you anywhere in life and certainly not forex trading.

You must not predict wait for momentum to confirm a turn and you can look up how to do this in our other articles – it is essential to confirm a price turn, rather than simply guess when it might come.

5. Markets are Scientific

It’s amazing how many people buy into this myth yet it’s obviously not true.

Why?

Because if prices did move to a scientific theory, there would be no market, as we would all know the price beforehand and there would be no market. The reason a market moves is because we all have different opinions of where the price may go.

The far out investment crowd love scientific theories and like to follow the works and methods of gurus such as:

Gann, Elliot and Fibonacci.

Well they made no money with their theories in forex trading and neither will you.

So if you want to learn currency trading correctly avoid the common mistakes enclosed and work and getting a simple forex trading system which will help you trade the odds, you can understand and can apply with discipline.

If you learn currency trading the correct way ( and 95% of traders don’t ), then you can enjoy currency trading success and create a life changing income – good luck!

By: Kelly Price

Learn Currency Trading – How Did These Traders Make Millions After Two Weeks Training

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:11:50 +0000

If you want to learn currency trading and what it takes to win then you should make this story part of your essential for ex trading education. In just 14 days ordinary people with no experience learned to trade and make hundreds of millions of dollars. How did they do it?

In the nineteen eighties trading legend Richard Dennis decided to prove that anyone could learn to trade, with the right forex trading system and mindset.

He therefore gathered a group of people together who had no trading experience, who were of all ages, both sexes and of all educational standards. The group was diverse consisting of a security guard, to an actor.

He then taught them to trade forex and after 14 days gave them trading accounts.

This group made $100 million dollars in 4 years and went on to become legends.

So how did they do it -after all 95% of traders lose what made them different?

Dennis knew that the problem with traders is not so much method but mindset – they simply cannot stick to a plan and keep going when they incur losses. So although he taught them a simple method, he didn’t tell them blindly to follow it, he taught them to learn it and have confidence in it.

You cannot have discipline without confidence.

Even when your confident, its hard to keep trading when the market hands you loss after loss and makes you look a fool.

It’s a fact that anyone can learn to trade yet, few succeed and the reason is they either get the wrong information or simply cannot stay disciplined.

Most traders are simply unprepared for the fact that they must execute rules and stay on course when they lose trade after trade and don’t believe all the rubbish you read online, about regular income and 90% accuracy – that’s not the real world.

You can win at forex trading but you must be able to take losses to win longer term.

Most traders simply don’t have the discipline to do this.

We don’t have time to explain all the aspects of trading discipline here but it’s hard to achieve but that’s why traders who can trade with discipline are so successful – Dennis proved it.

The forex trading system used was simple ( essentially a long term breakout strategy) but it was the mindset he taught the traders – to stand on their own two feet, be confident and take short term losses, to seek longer term gains which was so important.

If you can learn a simple forex trading strategy, get confidence in it and apply it with discipline, you can win.

Sure its not easy, but you wouldn’t expect it to be with the rewards on offer.

So if you want to learn currency trading the right way get a simple forex trading strategy and focus on your discipline and remember if you can’t trade a system with discipline you don’t have one!

There are big rewards to be made but your on your own and must have courage, confidence and conviction in what your doing – do that and you can enjoy spectacular currency trading success.

By: Monica Hendrix

Forex Day Trading Success For Idiots

admin — Sat, 29 May 2010 02:52:12 +0000

Forex day trading is one form of trading forex investors can participate in. This type of investing involves making many short sells and trades in a single day, trading one currency for another within a matter of hours, or even minutes. Multiple currencies are bought and sold in a single day. The main purpose of forex day trading is to have no total variation at the end of the day. So, for every currency purchased, there is one currency sold.

Many advantages adorn Forex day trading, as opposed to stock day trading. For one, since forex is open 24 hours a day, trades are not limited being made within a certain time frame. No split second selling decisions must be made before the market closes. Decisions can be thought out and executed in a timely manner. Since forex is a 24 hour market, there is no closing price for the end of the day. There are no drastic jumps or declines of the value of a currency between trading periods. A major incentive of forex day trading is the ability to lessen the burden of maintaining a position during the night. To see a profit or deficit, the difference between the values of a currency being sold to the purchase amount.

Though forex day trading is appealing to many forex investors, experts say almost 90% of forex day traders lose profit. Why? Forex day trading may not be as dangerous as other types of forex trading, but the use of margin purchases, like utilizing funds on loan, increases deficits and profits. Shortfall and returns happen in very little time. So in order to be a successful forex day trader, it is vital to learn the basics of day trading. Learn the market from professional traders, workshops, books, and personal experience.

Know that forex day trading is course oriented. In other words, day trading focuses on development. Day traders must be able to determine what makes a winning trade. Once you are able to determine good outlines of trades, you will be more confident when good investing opportunities arise. You’ll make wise investments without guilt.

Remember, though, that 90% of day traders will lose profits. You are bound to lose profits before you are able to gain when day trading. In fact, these experts say most day traders lost large amounts of profit before becoming successful. If you decide to take the plunge into forex day trading, be prepared to soak up a few losses. The key is to speculate positively. You will lose, but keep positive and do what you feel you must to win. Besides, with day trading, losses are fairly small. It will only take you a few minutes to make errors. Risk will be involved, but profits are waiting to be made. Fail if you must, particularly if you feel failure is inevitable. Remember, speculate positively to be successful in forex day trading.

By: Peter Flemming

Forex Currency Trade – A Beginners Introduction

admin — Sat, 22 May 2010 18:33:43 +0000

Trading activities on foreign currencies online or offline. This is forex currency trading. It is different from the domestic stock markets in the sense that one can trade in this field throughout the day as it open for 24 hours. At one time, this currency trade was not allowed, and only big banks had access to the systems required for trading in forex.

The internet and the continuing advancement of technologies has made it possible for any one interested in investing to give the forex currency trade a go. If one goes ahead and does buying or selling using the this platform for trading, he or she will come across a total of four major “currency pairs”, which are US Dollar vs Japanese Yen, Euro vs US Dollar, US Dollar vs British Pound, and US Dollar vs Swiss Franc. These four rule the percentage of trades.

When you make an investment in forex currency trade, the goal is to hold a currency that will appreciate in value over other currencies you trade them against. For example, let us assume that you buy 50 British Pounds at 100 US Dollars and hold the Pounds for about a week. In the meantime, if the value of a Pound goes up versus the US Dollar, you make money on the difference.

There were some rigid financial requirements earlier that used to keep an individual investor from making an entry trading into fx currency trading. However, the Internet has made this matter much easier, allowing FX brokers to come into the scene with various online forex platforms for trading that feature real time online quotes. Stock brokers and FX brokers are similar except that the FX broker in using a forex trading platform.

You must realize that the forex currency trade in not the new york stock exchange or the NASDAQ. As long as you have access to an internet connection and a computer, you can trade from anywhere in the world. This type of trading is widely conducted among the important banks from around the world daily.

The forex currency trade had made it possible for investors to buy or sell any quantity that would suite that particular investor. You should, however, always know your forex basics or go through a trading tutorial before you open any forex trading accounts.

As with all investing there is risk involved. Never put more money at risk than you can afford to. As with anything that involves your money, Do the research to be sure if the forex currency trading is for you.

By: William Rigby

Learn Currency Trading – 3 Simple Tips Anyone Can Apply to Make Triple Digit Gains

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:18:21 +0000

If you want to learn currency trading then most of the information online will not help you win, as the majority loses. The information in this article is not commonly accepted wisdom and that’s why it works…

Let’s look at how to make more money from currency trading

Tip 1 Cut Trading Frequency

How many traders try forex scalping and day trading – a huge amount and how many win long term – none. Why? Because they are trading random moves and cant get the odds on their side and lose.

The first tip is all about trading less and making more – because you are focusing on the high odds trades.

I know traders who only trade a few times a month but make huge gains, because they understand that they should only hit the best opportunities and you should do this to.

Forget day trading and focus on the big longer term trends that make the big profits, these trends last for weeks months or years and you only need to catch a few each year to turbo charge your gains.

Tip 2 Risk More Per Trade

This isn’t being rash this is common sense.

Read most so called experts online and they say risk up to 5% only! Well that’s fine, if you are trading 100,000 – but most traders are not, there trading an average $1,000 so 5% risk = $50.00, well you are going to get stopped out by random volatility.

These traders, really ought to brush up on an essential bit of forex trading education which is – standard deviation of price and they will see why it doesn’t work.

If you are trading a high odds trade – risk more – Up to 20%.

Keep in mind that most traders risk so little, their guaranteed to be stopped out. They try and avoid risk so much, they actually create it.

If you don’t want to risk a meaningful amount, you won’t make a decent profit.

Tip 3 Trail Stops Slowly

This is really related to the above point – don’t trail your stop to close, give the market room to breathe so you stay in the big trends as long as possible. You have to do this and it takes discipline and it’s not easy to take open equity dips but have the discipline to do it and you can make huge gains.

The above is really common sense and seeing currency markets for what they are – a risk market where you need to take meaningful risks at the right time to win.

If you try and restrict risk to much you will lose.

Learn to Love Risk!

See risk as opportunity, have the courage of your conviction, trade high odds trades only have the courage of your conviction, trade with discipline and you will be well rewarded and enjoy currency trading success.

By: Kelly Price

Online Forex Trading – The Best Field To Excel In Life

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:03:20 +0000

Online forex trading is fast finding a large number of interested people these days. Thanks to the advent of the internet the entire process has become that much easier. Before you were to start with trading it is always preferable that you equip yourself with at least the basic knowledge about the entire process. You should for instance understand the forex market is generally speaking a technical market with its own processes and terms which you need to understand first.

The problem that a lot of people face with forex trading education is not finding enough time. Although this is the case with a majority of the people you can easily attend a course on forex trading online. Such online courses have come as a boon to busy people for whom regular classroom sessions are not a possible option. One great thing with such online courses is that you can learn at your own pace. You can now take all the time in the world to read and then assimilate all the information in your mind. Another major advantage with online courses is that you can learn most of the basics for free. There are numerous websites that offer free tutorials.

You can also attend numerous free seminars online which deal with all types of trading. You can find even advanced courses being offered by several websites. Even though these courses do not come free they are still far cheaper than attending a regular classroom session. One thing that you must remember, whatever may be your mode of learning, is that it comes more out of practice. To put it in simple words, it is only when you are actually trading that you get to learn a lot of important things about the entire process of currency trading.

Help is also available for beginners in the form of demo accounts at most of the websites that deal with forex trading. You can very easily learn to manage such online forex trading accounts, with a little bit of practice. Since most of the times there is no monetary risk involved, these demo accounts provide for a good opportunity to learn how the market acts and how to respond.

Once you have got the feel of it you can then up grade to a regular fully functional account. Experts always recommend though that even when you open a regular account; it is always preferable that you start trading in small amounts, during the initial stages. You should always keep all these aspects in mind when dealing with online forex trading.

By: James C Hardy

Forex Trading Myths – The Myth You Can Predict Forex Prices In Advance

admin — Sat, 01 May 2010 03:16:48 +0000

I see numerous advertisements from gurus and system traders who say they can predict prices in advance with science – but this is impossible and if you try it you will lose. Avoid this forex myth and learn a better way to trade…

Predicting is another word for hoping and guessing and if you predict, your prediction in forex will be as accurate as your horoscope! You don’t get anything in life for hoping or guessing and the same is true in forex trading.

Why there is No Way to Predict

There is a huge industry online that sells courses and currency trading systems based upon the law of human behaviour.

Human nature is constant they argue and they know the law – follow it and you will predict and win but there’s a problem with this logic:

If there was a scientific law of investing everyone would know where prices were going and there would be no price movement! Furthermore, if a law is based on science it needs to be totally objective and work all the time – that’s the scientific definition. If someone had found the law of market movement they wouldn’t tell you or me they would simply make themselves billionaires.

The theories Of The Far Out Crowd

The most common methods that are sold which are supposed to be scientific are based on:

- Elliot Wave

- WD Gann

- Fibonacci

Are any of them scientific and tell you what to do?

Of course not, there all subjective and that’s not scientific by definition. Elliot died poor, Gann made a lot of money then dumped it and poor Fibonacci – his theory (which was to solve a puzzle of multiplication) has been hijacked for something it was never intended.

The far out investment crowd, love all the above theories and there mystical connotations – but they are not scientific and are not objective.

If it’s not objective and doesn’t work all the time – it’s not scientific – PERIOD

The REAL Way to Win

Trading is not a game of science it’s a game of odds. Just like the poker or blackjack player doesn’t win every hand you won’t win every trade but you can make a lot of money by trading when the odds are in your favour.

Trade the reality of price change as it happens and don’t predict. Sure you will miss a bit of the move but you wouldn’t be able to see that anyway so there is no point in trying.

Can you make a lot of money doing the above?

Of course you can – it’s the only way to make big gains.

Try trading a breakout method – this means basing your forex trading strategy on buying new highs and selling new lows. It’s a fact that most major forex trends start from these levels and if you wait for them and trade them, you will make a lot of money.

Leave science to the far out crowd and get a forex trading system that’s based around trading the truth and reality of price change and trade the odds.

The scientific theory of human nature is one of the biggest forex myths out there.

Sensible and logical people in other walks of life for some reason believe them despite the fact there obviously isn’t one – don’t make the same mistake.

By: Monica Hendrix

International Currency Trading – An Opportunity For Wealth For Wealth For All

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:29:48 +0000

Could you make money at international currency trading? The answer is yes – but you need to understand a few key points as, it’s a well known fact that 95% of traders fail. So let’s look at the advantages and how to avoid the pitfalls and enjoy currency trading success…

Anyone can trade – but most fail and first you need to learn currency trading the right way and get yourself a solid forex trading education.

First avoid the myths and there are plenty of them, so here are some common ones to avoid.

- Day trading and forex scalping makes money

- Following a forex trading robot with simulated track record will see you win

- You can trade news stories

- You can predict forex prices

- You can earn a regular monthly income with little or no drawdown

All of the above assumptions are wrong so avoid the myths. Forex trading is NOT easy and as the potential for profit is so high, you wouldn’t expect it to be easy. The good news is anyone can build a forex trading strategy for success.

Here are some points to put you in the right direction with your forex trading system

- Keep it simple as simple systems work best and have fewer elements to break.

- Learn the system don’t try and follow anyone else. You need to know what your doing to have confidence

- Base your strategy on forex charts and use the reality of changes in price to execute your trading signals

- Do NOT trade news events, these are discounted immediately and your playing catch up

- De leverage sure you can get 200:1 but 10:1 is plenty for most traders – Over leverage destroys equity quickly as your stop has to be to close

- Base your trading strategy on breakouts to start. We have written on this frequently and it’s a high odds way of trading

- Be patient! Only trade sparingly, the big high odds trades don’t come around often so wait for them.

The big key to winning at international currency trading is having the discipline to execute your plan and this is built on confidence in what you are doing. You can’t follow anyone else – you’re on your own.

With the rise of electronic online trading we have seen a huge rush of naïve and greedy traders enter the market, who think trading is easy and the facts point to the opposite.

For the forex trader, prepared to get the right forex education and work smart with a disciplined mindset the potential is huge.

The world of international currency trading offers you the potential for currency trading success either via a good second income or a life changing income. Sure it’s a challenge – but if you are prepared to work smart, get the right education and adopt the right mindset, you can win.

Are you up for the challenge?

By: Sonia Kristina

Forex Trading Terms Simplified

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:42:10 +0000

If you are a beginning trader in the foreign exchange (FOREX) market, you may be initially mystified by the terminology associated with this type of investing. In some cases the terms utilized do not seem to be even remotely related with the concept involved. Let’s take a look at a couple of basic terms which may help you better understand the fascinating area of currency trading.

Going Long

After you have gained a proper trading education and formulated a well-tested trading plan via your demo account, you will begin walking down the serious path of trading real money. Eventually, you will take a position as determined by your strategy. One possible position involves going long. This means that you have decided to buy a particular currency based on your belief that the price of the same will increase, allowing you to make a profit when you close out the position. Going long, therefore, is the same as buying the currency.

Because currencies are traded in pairs, it is important to note that when you say that you are going long on the EUR/USD, for example, you are really saying that you are going long on the Euro rather than the U.S. Dollar. That is because the reference as to the position taken is made specifically to the base currency, i.e. the currency that appears in the first position of the pair, as does the Euro in this case. Incidentally, the currency occupying the second position in the pair is known as the quote or cross currency.

Going Short

This term is perhaps a bit more difficult to understand at first than the previous one. Fortunately, as you might guess, going short is the opposite of going long. Here, the trader is selling a particular currency. Confusion may occur here in trying to understand how you can sell something you haven’t previously purchased. One way to clear your thinking about this is to think of purchasing the “right” to sell as opposed to selling the actual currency you do not have in hand. Although not necessarily a perfect analogy, let’s borrow from the real estate investment arena, particularly regarding the technique of house-flipping. Many real estate investors involved in house-flipping may contract to buy a house, but before the actual purchase, an arrangement will be made with a new buyer to whom the house will be ultimately flipped or sold very quickly. In the FOREX market, the broker is responsible for facilitating the bringing of the buyer to the transaction in which you are simultaneously selling the same currency.

Trading Tip

In the event you utilize charts to view the movement of the currency pair you are trading, remember that when the line graph moves upward, the base currency is going up in value as against the cross or quote currency. Obviously, when the line goes downward the opposite is true. By way of example, if you go long on the EUR/USD and the graph line thereafter moves upward past your entry point, then you are in the profit zone. If you go short on the same pair and the line graph goes downward past your entry point, you are likewise experiencing profitability.

Sandy Robinson, J.D., Copyright 2007

By: Sandy Robinson, J.D.