I was about to go to bed, after long hours on warcrafting since morning. It was these 5 Steps to Forex Trading Mastery that I would like to share with you before I slipped my mind.

Use to read dozens of trading books from fundamentals to technical analysis. Tried numerous Forex trading indicators and strategies or attending courses that costs me $3000 for 2 days, and yet I was still in the red or break-even (if I am lucky) by the end of the month.

Recalling back, there are a 3 main reasons why I used to end up this way.

1) I was just searching for the Holy Grail in Forex trading, which does not exist in this world.

2) Lack of in-depth understanding in trading psychology, this is because most of the gurus here did not go in-depth on trading psychology.

3) Too biases on a single direction in the market

After numerous trial and errors, I have personally come up with 5 easy steps to Forex Trading Mastery (If you follow closely)

• 1) Do not be too biases on a single direction in the Forex market, because the situation may change (depending on the big boys). You got to be open minded in the midst of your trading decisions.
• 2) Keep a record of your trades. It is not just trades you have entered or exited. You need to keep track of your feelings and emotions. Try to find what triggers you to enter that particular position; peer pressure? Fear of not full maximizing your profits? Afraid to cut losses?
• 3) As there is no such things like Forex Holy Grail strategies, you need to settle on a strategy that suits your personality and lifestyle. In this way, you will be more focus on the Forex market, than concern about your fanciful strategies.
• 4) Observe your own thoughts and emotions during your trading sessions and keep a record. This will help you to eliminate your fear and greed.
• 5) Develop patience. This will help to filter unnecessary early/late entry to the market.

I hope you enjoy my short article above. Good Night!

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Recently, I have received many emails asking me on how to get started in Forex trading. Therefore, I have decided to write a short posts on how to get started in Forex trading, and I hope that the below information I provided is enough for you to kick start your Forex practice.

Step 1: “Subscribe to Internet Service”

Yes this may sound dumb, however, I have know of some new traders who thought that they can trade online without subscribing to the internet!! So getting connected with your local internet service provider is the first step to start Forex trading.

Step 2: “Open a Demo Account”

Many brokerage houses offers demo trading account and it’s free. Demo account is design to help new/experience forex traders make dummy bets in a trading real environment. Yes, did I say experience forex traders also used demo trading account at times? Yes, demo account will be one of your best friends your forex trading, and it is better to lose your virtual money than real ones.

In case your preferred broker does not offer any charting service, you can download free Forex charting here.

Sept 3: “Practice, Practice, Practice”

Before, you start doing any virtual trades, read up some books or attend courses on Forex trading, and pick on a strategy that suits your lifestyle. It is important that you treat your demo trading as real trading (some people may have difficulties doing that and you need to remember that losing virtual money is better than real ones).

You will need to record all the virtual trades you have made (including profit and losses). Take this time of virtual practice to know more about your own personality in Forex trading.

Step 4: “Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy”

Forex trading is about knowing your own personality and it is very important to build a series of good habits from the beginning. If you find bad habits surfacing, eliminate it immediately. The below are a lists of common bad habits;

-Unwilling to cut losses immediately

-Mental stop loss

-Overtrading your lot size

-Taking losses too hard

-Trading for revenge

 Step 5: “Your Journey Begins”

After a period of demo trading and you have attaint certain confident level (consistency in virtual profits). You may want to test your skill in the Forex market with real money. It is simple; just request an application form from your broker and they will be more than willing to assist you in opening a live account.

I hope you enjoy this short article I have written to help some of those who want to get started but don’t know how.

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I have asked a few traders on how they determined the direction of the Forex market, and they would reply; “Intuition”. They depend on their gut feelings for the direction of the market and using their instincts to make their Forex trading decision. This has lead me to do a research on using intuition in Forex trading, and I have concluded the followings;

Intuition or discretionary traders used their instincts to make their trading decisions. For example; they might go ahead to place a trade despite larger stop loss is required for the current market conditions. Sometimes, they might even avoid place a trade when they sense that something is not right about the market, even when all their entry requirements are met.

While they may use their instinct in Forex trading, however, they need to differentiate their feelings of greed and fear (the 2 demons in traders). Why? It is because they need to know the reasons clearly why they enter or exit a trade, if they are not sure or very firm on the reasons, there is a possibility that their action is based on their emotions. Intuition in Forex trading requires experience and is not suitable for those who are just starting in Forex trading. The followings are ways to find out if you are using your emotions to trade instead of intuition;

1) Cold sweats

2) Heart beat fasten

3) Can’t sleep holding a position

4) Fatigue

5) Quick tempered

For those who are just starting in Forex trading, I would like to encourage using system trading. A system trading is defined as a set of specific rules and parameters that determines the entry and exit points. Some of the most commonly used indicators in system trading are Moving Average, Stochastic, Oscillators, and Bollinger Bands, etc. There are several advantages of using system trading;

1) Eliminate your emotions

2) Easy to learn

3) Can be automated by computer software

One thing to bear in mind when using system trading is that you are not allow to change the set of rules or enter and exit using your emotions. Only professional traders with years of experience overwrite their system sometimes. Another point to take note is that the system you used for Forex trading need to be time tested and be profitable in the long run. Thus it can be a time consuming job to develop a system in Forex trading from scratch.

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Does your heart beat faster whenever you are about to place a trade? Or feels excited when the trade goes in your direction? If this is so, you need to learn how to condition your psychological aspects in Forex Trading. Today, I would like to discuss about how your emotions plays an important role to be successful in Forex Trading. At the same time, sharing with you 4 winning tips in trading psychology, that I have apply in my Forex Trading.

Trading in any financial markets can be the most stressful and challenging profession in the world. In the current economic recession together with the increase of retrenchments, any would-be traders are turning to the financial markets for wealth and security. However, most of them have failed to realize that the key to successful trading lies within individual decision making and reasoning (trading psychology). Why? Let’s take Forex Trading for example; the market is unpredictable and volatile at times. Any changes in the country’s momentary policy may cause the Forex market to turn in the opposite direction prior to the trend. So, since we can’t control the Forex market, the only valuable tool available is our mindset. Lacking control of our psychology in trading, will lead to disastrous results.

I would like to advise everyone to repeat the following 4 winning tips, before they start their trading session. This is to condition your mind to behave with discipline.

1. I Do Not Know the Direction of the Market

The above statement doesn’t not mean that you can skip your analysis of the market, and jump into the trades recklessly. What I meant here is for you to have an open mind about the market direction and not to be too bias in one direction. When you have an open mind about the market, you will have more ease on cutting loses in your trades and protect your capital.

2. The Past Does Not Equal to the Future

You need to take on every trade without emotions of your past trades. This is very important, because you may end up being “trigger happy” and suffer losses because of your previous winning trades, or afraid to execute your current trade because of your recent losing experience..  

3. I am Prepared to Lose Small Money

This may sounds negative to you. But what I mean is that in some strategies, you may have a string of losses before hitting a real winner that will cover your previous losses and make some nice profits. Remember that there are no such strategies that can give you 100% winning rate.

4. I have Patience to Wait

Not everyday is an action day, especially for the short/long term traders. In long-term trading, you may only find 3 good trades in a good year. Therefore you need cultivate the patience to wait for the right signal. Failure to have cultivate patience, will end up busting your account.

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Forex trading is too risky!

Any forms of investments or trading are risky! However, it is only risky if the traders themselves are not educated in Forex trading. It is just like driving a car without learning how to stop the car. Many losers prefer to listen to their friends or so-called “analyst” instead of enrolling with some Forex trading courses to get educated. They prefer to pay expensive ‘course fee’ to the market and learn nothing from it.

You need large amount of Capital in Forex Trading!

Not True! Many losers think that they would be successful if they have more money or could trade a bigger account. All losers get knocked out of the game by a string of losses or a single huge lose. Often after they are square off in the losing position, the market reversed and moves in the direction he expected.

A loser is not under capitalized, his mind is underdeveloped. A loser can destroy a big account almost as quickly as a small one. He will overtrade and his money management is sloppy. He risk too big, a streak of bad trades puts him out of business. It is important to have the right education for your success in Forex Trading.

So start trading part-time first!

This Software Will Make You Money$$ Without Even Knowing How to Trade!

Imagine a stranger walks into your driveway and tries to convince you an automatic system for driving your car. Just a few thousand dollars for a CD or chip install in your car and you can nap in driver’s seat that brings you to work. You would probably laugh the salesman out of your driveway. Now, would you laugh if he tries to sell you an automatic Forex trading system?

Traders who believe in autopilot myth think that the pursuit of wealth can be automated. Some try to develop, while some buy from ‘expert’. Men spent years honing their skills as lawyers, doctors to be one. Do you?

I am not totally against automated trading. It’s just that before you buy the next autmated trading software, you need to ask yourself if you know your stuff.

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