Essential Elements of a Successful Trader

Courage Under Stressful Conditions When the Outcome is Uncertain

All the foreign exchange trading knowledge in the world is not going to help, unless you have the nerve to buy and sell currencies and put your money at risk. As with the lottery “You gotta be in it to win it”. Trust me when I say that the simple task of hitting the buy or sell key is extremely difficult to do when your own real money is put at risk.

You will feel anxiety, even fear. Here lies the moment of truth. Do you have the courage to be afraid and act anyway? When a fireman runs into a burning building I assume he is afraid but he does it anyway and achieves the desired result. Unless you can overcome or accept your fear and do it anyway, you will not be a successful trader.

However, once you learn to control your fear, it gets easier and easier and in time there is no fear. The opposite reaction can become an issue – you’re overconfident and not focused enough on the risk you're taking.

Both the inability to initiate a trade, or close a losing trade can create serious psychological issues for a trader going forward. By calling attention to these potential stumbling blocks beforehand, you can properly prepare prior to your first real trade and develop good trading habits from day one.

Start by analyzing yourself. Are you the type of person that can control their emotions and flawlessly execute trades, oftentimes under extremely stressful conditions? Are you the type of person who’s overconfident and prone to take more risk than they should? Before your first real trade you need to look inside yourself and get the answers. We can correct any deficiencies before they result in paralysis (not pulling the trigger) or a huge loss (overconfidence). A huge loss can prematurely end your trading career, or prolong your success until you can raise additional capital.

The difficulty doesn’t end with “pulling the trigger”. In fact what comes next is equally or perhaps more difficult. Once you are in the trade the next hurdle is staying in the trade. When trading foreign exchange you exit the trade as soon as possible after entry when it is not working. Most people who have been successful in non-trading ventures find this concept difficult to implement.

For example, real estate tycoons make their fortune riding out the bad times and selling during the boom periods. The problem with trying to adapt a 'hold on until it comes back' strategy in foreign exchange is that most of the time the currencies are in long-term persistent, directional trends and your equity will be wiped out before the currency comes back.

The other side of the coin is staying in a trade that is working. The most common pitfall is closing out a winning position without a valid reason. Once again, fear is the culprit. Your subconscious demons will be scaring you non-stop with questions like “what if news comes out and you wind up with a loss”. The reality is if news comes out in a currency that is going up, the news has a higher probability of being positive than negative (more on why that is so in a later article).

So your fear is just a baseless annoyance. Don’t try and fight the fear. Accept it. Have a laugh about it and then move on to the task at hand, which is determining an exit strategy based on actual price movement. As Garth says in Waynesworld “Live in the now man”. Worrying about what could be is irrational. Studying your chart and determining an objective exit point is reality based and rational.

Another common pitfall is closing a winning position because you are bored with it; its not moving. In Football, after a star running back breaks free for a 50-yard gain, he comes out of the game temporarily for a breather. When he reenters the game he is a serious threat to gain more yards – this is indisputable. So when your position takes a breather after a winning move, the next likely event is further gains – so why close it?

If you can be courageous under fire and strategically patient, foreign exchange trading may be for you. If you’re a natural gunslinger and reckless you will need to tone your act down a notch or two and we can help you make the necessary adjustments. If putting your money at risk makes you a nervous wreck its because you lack the knowledge base to be confident in your decision making.

Patience to Gain Knowledge through Study and Focus

Many new traders believe all you need to profitably trade foreign currencies are charts, technical indicators and a small bankroll. Most of them blow up (lose all their money) within a few weeks or months; some are initially successful and it takes as long as a year before they blow up. A tiny minority with good money management skills, patience, and a market niche go on to be successful traders. Armed with charts, technical indicators, and a small bankroll, the chance of succeeding is probably 500 to 1.

To increase your chances of success to near certainty requires knowledge; acquiring knowledge takes hard work, study, dedication and focus. Compile your knowledge base without taking any shortcuts, thereby assuring a solid foundation to build upon.

Accept Losses in Forex Trading

Accept Losses in Forex Trading

The lack of a proper trading plan which includes precise rules for entering and

exiting a trade will most certainly guarantee failure over the long term. Beginners

usually suffer from the same common ailments. They abandon trading plans purely on

impulse because things are not going exactly as how they had envisioned. Repeatedly

they use unreliable methods that fail to produce a profit. Many traders hold on to

losing positions telling themselves “it is going to turn” when every indicator says

otherwise because they cannot bear the thought of a loss.

Why do they torture

themselves? Why don’t they just identify what’s going wrong and make a change? For

some people recognizing that a trade or even a trading method is not working and

making a change is easy, but for others it’s very difficult. They have to look at

their limitations admit that they have made a mistake and that’s hard because it

hurts our ego. Psychologically it’s risky, it’s often easier to fool ourselves.

Just keep going, living in a state of denial until your account is depleted. If you

recognize any of these traits in yourself you must stop trading immediately.

Take

a good look at what has been happening, try and identify the problem. If you look

close enough you may see a pattern. This is why it is vital to record every trade

and as much information about it as possible. You have to break out of old patterns

and see things in a new light.

You will never be a successful trader if you

continue to live in a state of denial. What can be done to return to reality? There

is a lot you can do. First of all make sure you are not trading under stress. When

stressed out you can’t see clearly, you become rigid and unable to see alternative

views. One of the easiest solutions is to trade smaller. The smaller the trade the

less the stress, especially for the beginner. If you are experienced and in a

loosing streak reduce your contracts until you get your confidence returns. Some

people need to take a break altogether. Get away from it all. Take your mind off

the trading.

The second thing you can do is to make sure you have a life. Trading

can be addictive especially when you are winning. Do not put all your emotional

eggs in the trading basket. You need to have other roles that give your life

meaning and purpose. By defining your identity in a variety of ways, you will not

place un-natural importance on trading events. Therefore, you will be able to take

losses in stride and look at your trading more objectively.

Finally, radical

acceptance is a key mental strategy for coping with market uncertainty. Many

traders make the mistake of thinking they can control the markets. Nobody can

control the markets. We must learn to accept anything that comes our way and to

trade accordingly. Adopt the attitude that trading is a journey and that all we can

do is go where the markets take us.

To succeed on this journey you cannot afford

to lose too much. Manage risk and just accept what you get and enjoy the ride. This

way you will trade more freely and creatively. Don’t live your life in denial.

Accept your limitations, work around them, and become a winning trader. Write out

your trading plan with precise entry and exit points. Most important set your stops

and mentally decide you will not break them. Test your system on paper and when

confident test in real time with the minimum contract size. You will have losing

trades, accept them with grace and go on to the next trade.

Benefits of Using a Forex Signals Provider

Benefits of Using a Forex Signals Provider

The Forex market can be intimidating and confusing if you are a beginner. Experts and gurus have spent years acquiring experience and knowledge by making expensive mistakes. If you are venturing into forex for the first time, it's almost a guarantee that you will lose money. You may lack the knowledge and skills to make profitable trades.

To overcome the challenges ahead, have two options. The first option is to learn everything on your own. However, as mentioned earlier, be prepared to lose money to pick up the lessons. Also, the learning curve is rather steep. The complex and sophisticated analysis methods can put the most intelligent people off. Not everyone wants to get involved in research and analysis. For sure, it's more fun to be trading and making money in real time.

The second option, is to use a forex signals provider. A forex signals provider is a service provider. To use the service, you will have to join as a member and pay subscription fees. But many service providers claim that the fees are very affordable. That may be true, assuming that you make lots of profits based on the signals that are provided by the service provider.

There are a few special benefits that deserve special mention.

1) Ability to move around while waiting for signal instructions.

You don't have to be hooked to your computer when using a signal service provider. Signal instructions can now be emailed or SMS to you. That means you can be receiving instructions even when you are on the move. You may then execute the trade based on the instructions you receive.

2) Shorten the learning curve.

This is a huge benefit. Instead of spending all your time learning how the forex market works, you can start trading immediately. You can skip right past the complex analysis stage and get involved in the action.

3) Minimize trading risk.

For all new traders, all trades are considered risky due to lack of knowledge and skills. If you don't wish to lose money upfront, then you have to depend on a forex signal provider for reliable instructions. All the decisions are made for you by the service provider - when to buy, when to sell, and what is the stop and loss entry.

4) No need to monitor trades manually.

Sometimes, forex traders get up in the middle of the night just to trade an order. With the instructions given, you don't have to do that anymore. Simply execute the order based on the instructions.

To start trading in the forex market, all you need is an Internet connection, a little money (to start trading), and a forex signals membership. The membership will provide you with signal instructions. You wait for the instructions to arrive, and you execute the order. Once you have done that, all you need to do is to wait for the trade to become profitable.

Before you start investing with real money, you can trade based on the instructions you receive on a hypothetical basis. Once you acquire enough confidence, you may then start trading with real money.