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Identifying the Trading Opportunity

  It all starts with the Central Banks One of the key skills you need to acquire as a trader is the ability to identify good trading opportunities. Now this is not simply being able to draw trendlines and understand technical analysis. That is a key component for sure but what I’m talking about is the step before, identifying currency direction and potential trading opportunities. To get an understanding of what I mean I need to explain how the ‘Fundamental’ market works. Long term currency direction (trends) come from the Central banks. They manage their respective economies by micro-managing the monthly economic data releases. Their overall plan has always been to keep inflation between a band of 2-3% per year. They know if they do that the economy will tinker away without any major issues. If inflation starts to get above 3% then they’ll look to take the steam out of the market by raising interest rates. People are encouraged to save and the higher cost of housing etc slows cons...
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If you fail to plan, you are simply planning to fail!

  Professional Trading is Methodical & Systematic I know a lot of traders want to become full-time traders and they dream of a great lifestyle working 30 minutes a day and lazing by the pool or beach. But how can you expect to reach this dream or goal without first adopting a professional structure to your trading? This includes a rigid trade plan and daily trade routine that identifies and guides you into good trade setups and steers you away from potential bad trades. It’s all about increasing your probability of success. But all that will be wasted if you can’t, first of all,  manage your capital professionally ! Most traders want the dream without the professional approach I have spoken to thousands of traders that are super keen and enthusiastic. The usual comments I hear are: “I promise I have what it takes”, “I will be patient and stick to the plan”, “I never lose” etc, etc. The problem is everyone’s trying to get to the end result without any change to their curren...

Can I start forex trading with $100?

  Absolutely! With the introduction of micro accounts by forex Brokers several years ago you can now open an account with no cash and start trading with as little as $100. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. In fact, if you do, I think you’ll find your forex trading experience a very short one. I personally think the regulators need to step in and get some sanity back in the market place because if you start trading forex with $100 it is simply crazy. Let me explain why? The forex brokers make money from volume turnover by their clients otherwise known as brokerage fees. They’ll take money from anyone in order to make a buck. They know there are millions of traders out there with $100 and they are all potential clients. So, to get the ‘punters’ in they offer 400:1 Leverage. That means you can ‘fictitiously’ turn your $100 into $4,000 buying power. Which means you can trade 4 lots (or $400,000) with your $100 capital. Sounds awesome right, especially if you don’t have ...

Can You Really Make Money Trading Forex?

If you are searching around the Internet, you’ll see mixed statistics on trader’s performance in the forex industry. I’m not sure where they’re collecting this data as there’s no central exchange for the data, but the range of failure rate varies from 50% to 90%. So, it’s a valid question can you really make money trading forex? Trading forex is an art form In my opinion the failure rate is closer to the top end of the range of 90% or above. But that’s not because it’s super hard to trade forex, to me it’s more a reflection of the lack of knowledge and understanding about the forex market and trading in general. Trading forex is an art form. Like any art form, or any profession for that matter, it takes time to develop the knowledge and skills to execute without thinking. The market is completely transparent, it’s extremely dynamic as it responds swiftly to changes in the fundamentals. Which is completely different to trading equities (shares) and any other market for that matter. Yet ...