7 Forex Trading Tips
Sunday, September 27th, 2009Whether they are new or seasoned traders, people always want forex trading tips. If you’re looking for tips like the ones on a horse race, I can’t help you! I can’t predict forex winners with certainty any better than I can be 100% certain of your horse winning the race. You’ll find lots more great information about forex trading at ForexInfoPlace.com
What I can do, however, is provide you with some basic forex trading tips to help keep you on track to make money trading foreign currencies.
1. Trade, don’t gamble. Trading is based on research and knowledge, whether yours or a trusted advisor’s. Trading without knowledge or on “hunches” is gambling, plain and simple. Save your gambling for the horses or the gaming tables, not your forex trading.
2. Use a demo account to practice trading before using real money. To do this, use your broker’s “demo account” facilities. With a demo account you can trade as if it were real, making and losing money just as in the real forex world. Because no actual cash is involved, you can afford to win or lose while learning the ropes of trading. I recommend you trade on your demo account for about three months before going live. At the same time, learning from what happens in your demo trades so you won’t make the same mistakes when you do go live with your money.
3. Trade in the time frame that suits your style. Many people trade in short time frames such as 15 minutes because they love the excitement that comes from making their moves just at the right moment to catch the price before it moves. I do strongly advise new traders to look for longer trading timeframes though, as that gives you more time to think before you react.
4. As a beginner, go with the trend. With experience, you might want to experiment by bucking the trend, and you might be successful. But beware, this way of trading is for the experienced, and not for the fainthearted even then. Learn more about trends here.
5. Study the charts of periods longer than your chosen trading time frame. This gives you a bigger picture and gives you a better chance to see and accurately identify trends. e.g. look at daily and weekly prices if you are going to trade in an hourly time frame. The forex market is subject to occasional blips that can trip you up if you’re not ready for them. But if you are keeping an eye on a longer time frame, you are more likely to see them coming, and know whether they are truly trend related or just a market anomaly.
6. Manage your money conservatively. That generally means risking only about 2 - 3% of your total trading account on one trade. Understand that you WILL lose on many trades, that’s just the nature of forex trading. When you do lose, remember you’ll need to make twice that amount very quickly just to stay even. Risk only small percentages of your trading account so it won’t be emptied by a few losses in a row.
7. Get your emotions out of the picture. Trading forex on the basis of emotion has brought many a novice trader down. Make your trades based on analysis, both technical and fundamental, not on panic or elation. Never trade on a hunch (see tip #1).
While it can be exciting, the forex market can be a scary place. As long as you are trading foreign currencies, keep up your forex education. One great place to start is with this free 7-part mini-course
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