Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Forex Education - 10 Novice Trader Mistakes That See Them Wiped Out Quickly

Here as part of your forex education are 10 common reasons new traders get wiped out. Make any of these mistakes and you will lose too. So avoid these common mistakes...

1. Buying a Forex Robot With a Simulated Track Record

If you want to win ignore the vast number of forex robots - they cost very little, promise a lot and wipe you out. There gains are all simulated going backwards knowing the data and this does not help going forward!

2. Day Trading and Scalping Systems

Day trading doesn't work as all volatility is random and you can't win. If anyone shows you a track record where they have won, it's normally just a simulation. Don't fall for the hype of day trading.

This applies to both points 1 and 2, there is no expert who can give you success, as success comes from within and having confidence in what you are doing.

3. Using to Much Leverage

You can get 200 or even 400:1, in terms of leverage but to use all of this is madness on a small account. Use maybe 10 - 20:1 - that is enough for most traders.

Leverage up to much and Volatility will get you.

4. Starting with a small amount

You get traders starting with $50 - 100, this is not really an investment at these levels, it's a gamble. Look to start with $500 -1000 minimum and preferably $5,000.

5. Believing You can Trade With low Risk

If you believe many people online, you would think you can trade with the odd loss here and there - but you can't! You will face many consecutive losses and they can last for weeks on end ( this happens to the best traders ) and you need to have the confidence and discipline, to take them until you hit a home run.

6. Predicting Market tops and Bottoms

Try and predict and you are hoping and guessing and your prediction will be as accurate as your horoscope. You can't predict in advance, so don't try, trade the reality of price change only.

7. Trading News

Those stories on CNN, CNBC and on all the other news channels are great stories but that's all they are stories and opinions. They reflect the majority who lose, follow them and you will lose to.

8. Trading too Much

You understandably want to be in on the action but most traders' trade to much and end up trading all the time - this will wipe you out, so have patience.

9. Trying to be too complicated

While some traders don't do any preparation and learn the basics and lose another major set think that being complicated and putting in effort means success - it doesn't. Forex trading is simple and you need to have a simple system and the discipline to apply it and that's all.

Make a system to complicated and it will break, in the brutal world of trading.

10. Know Your Trading Edge

You need to know what your trading edge is. Specifically, the reason you will win while the vast majority 95% lose and you need to have the confidence to apply it with discipline for success. If you don't know what your edge is, you don't have one and you need to continue your forex trading education until you do.

You can win at forex trading but you need to do the basics and get a simple system with an edge you can apply for huge gains. If you do this, then currency trading success can be yours.

Forex Education - 5 Key Points to Lead You to Currency Trading

If you want to win at forex trading, then you can it's a learned skill. That's the good news however 95% of traders lose and you must understand the following key points and make them part of your essential forex education. If you do, you will win...

Here are your key points, in no particular order of importance - there all important.

1. Forex Trading is NOT Easy!

Most traders just think they can buy $100 buck robot or get a mentor and someone will lead them to success. This is naïve and you know, if you want success at anything you need to work at the basics and do your homework.

Don't believe the sire fire systems or forex robots which never have a real track record, just a back tested simulation and keep in mind trading forward is what counts and that's hard.

Sure it's hard but that's why forex trading offers such huge rewards in terms of the effort you put in.

2. You are Responsible

If you accept you are responsible for your destiny, you will put in the effort to get the right forex education. You will learn a simple forex trading strategy which is robust, you understand and can have confidence in. If you have confidence then you will be able to acquire the next key trait.

3. Discipline is the Key

When you trade forex you are going to lose, the market is going to make you look a fool but that's life in forex and doesn't mean you can't win - you can.

What you must do is, have the discipline to apply you forex trading strategy through periods of losses, until you hit a home run. To win you must learn to lose gracefully in the short term and keep your eyes on the long term prize.

Many traders believe they can trade with little or no drawdown. They listen to the so called experts but the truth is - you will have to face weeks of losses at a time and discipline is needed in these periods, for you to emerge a winner.

4. You Need to Trade in Isolation

In society we are taught to agree with the crowd but in forex trading this leads to disaster, as 95% of traders lose money. You have to stay away from the herd and even when your emotions are telling you to conform, you need to stand aside. Get sucked into the herd mentality and you will end up with the 95% of losers.

5. Patience

Not only do you need patience to wait for the right opportunities, you also need patience to take your losses and more importantly, to run your profits.

Many traders get so excited when they have a profit, they move to soon to protect it or bank it; whereas if they hung on they could have made huge gains.

Becoming a Winner

If you want to become a winner in forex, you need all the above attributes and if you do achieve them, you will be on the way to currency trading success. They can lead you to a great second income or even a life changing one, in around 30 minutes a day.

The key point of this article on forex education is:

You can win with a simple system and more importantly, the right mindset and this is what most traders fail to achieve.