Forex Day Trading System - The EUR strength against USD in past few days

Forex Day Trading System - The EUR strength against USD in past few daysThe major talking points in past few days has been the breaking of 1.3000 level ofEUR/USD..The USD has shown significant weakness across the board..However, now the currency is retracing, thanks to some pro $$ fundamental announcements such as "Phily Fed" speech, pro NFP (Non Farm Payroll) news..However, the experts are

Forex day Trading system - Another simple trading startegy

Forex day trading system - Trading using EMA and bollinger bandsMany a times when you are trading you,ll observe that market keeps moving in tight range..The candles on 5 min chart become smaller and smaller..If you draw bollinger bands on the chart, they will become tighter and tighter..This generally happens between 6 PM EST to 12 PM EST as the volatility is very low..One can take advantage

Forex day Trading System - Observation from previous trade

Forex day Trading System - Continuation of previous message..In the last post I mentioned that how did I lost in a trade because of fundamental announcement. The announcement broke at 8:30 AM EST and I made the trade at 8:15 EST. The fundamental announcement moved against me and the trade hit stop loss in 5 min..Now, further to that trade I observed that the currency pair of EUR/USD kept falling

Forex day Trading System - My trade yesterday

Forex day Trading System - My trade yesterday on EUR/USDLet me give you a summary of the trade I placed yesterday at 8:15 AM EST..Please note specifically the time. It was a swing trade which means that I placed the trade using 1 hr chart..My indicators were all lined up such as MACD, RSI, EMA (Exponential Moving Average)etc.. and Candlestick was bullish..So, here is what happenned - I placed the

Forex Day Trading System - Tomorrow's FOMC Announcement

Forex Day Trading System - FOMC Fundamental Announcement due tomorrowIt was said that market had comparitively thin volatility today since FOMC fundamental announcement is due tomorrow. FOMC is Federal Open Market Committee and they take important decisions on Federal policy such as interest rate hike etc..So, any forex day trader trying to trade today would have made very little profit..

Forex Day Trading System - What happenned in last Non Farm Payroll (NFP) Announcement?

Forex Day Trading System - What happenned in last Non Farm Payroll (NFP) Announcement?Hello Everyone.. my this post is after quite a few days..2 weeks perhaps..I was busy with few things.Did anyone of you notice what happenned during last friday (8-Dec-06) Non Farm Payroll fundamental announcement? Infact it was a combination of the announcement and what happenned few hours after the

Forex Day Trading System - Importance of candlesticks

Forex Day Trading System - How much is the importance of candlesticksCandlestick patterns are important and very important..When you look at a daily chart, the candlestick formations are very reliable..They point to hammer, hanging man, morning star, evening star and other formations very accurately..However, when the timeframe of a chart drops, so does the reliability of the candlestick patterns

Forex Day Trading System - Another System for 1 min. chart

Forex Day Trading System - Another System for 1 min. chartAs always I have said that for 1 min chart, the technical indicators are not very reliable.. However this system is more cool than others and the indicators this sytem uses is more reliable than others..Lets go through the system -As I have mentioned earlier that use this system for a profit targets of 5-7 pips after subtracting the pip

Forex Day trading System - More rules to follow

Forex Day trading System - More rules to followLets continue going through some more rules -1. Don't use too many technical indicators - Since day trading happens using 5 min, 15 min or 30 min charts, most of the technical indicators keep conflictng with each other and you may keep missing the trade..So, use only 1 or 2 indicators at the most such as EMA (Exponential moving Average, support

Forex Day Trading System - Rules to follow

Forex Day Trading System - Important Rules to keep in mindBefore we start going through another system, I think its important to learn the rules of the game. Thanks Charlie for asking this questionLets go through these points to keep in mind while day trading -1. Use the broker that offers you tightest of all spreads. On the majors (EUR/USD, USD/CHF, GBP/USD etc.) the spread offered by most of

Forex day Trading System - Details on Parabolic Sar

Forex day Trading System - Details on Parabolic SarYesterday we looked at a system which uses Parabolic SAR..Another useful technical indicator...Generally the indicator is used to place stop..Your charts will calculate the parabolic SAR for you automatically..You need to place the stop on the other side of the parabolic SAR..Once the currency pair starts trending, calculate the parabolic sar.

Forex day Trading System - Do you need more strategies?

Forex day Trading System - Lets go through another strategyLets go through another system which is as expected simple and as expected very effective.. This system is based on parabolic SAR and exponential moving averages (EMA)..It can be applied on a 15 min. chart or it can work on a 1 hr. chart...However, let me tell you if you are tading 15 min. chart, don't trade this during news or

Forex day Trading System - Continuing trading using 1 min chart

Forex day Trading System - Continuing trading using 1 min chartLets continue day trading using the 1 min chart..After the setup was made as mentioned in last post, lets go the entry and exit strategyEntry -You are going to enter the trade as soon as -3 EMA (Exponential Moving Average) crosses through the 18 Bollinger Bands Middle line.This will need to be confirmed by lining up of Relative

Forex Day Trading System - Trade the 1 min. chart

Forex day Trading System - Trading the 1 min chart..No, its not a fundamental announcement trading such as NFP or trade deficit etc..Its using technical indicators such as EMA (Exponential Moving Average), Bollinger bands and MACD..You can replace MACD with RSI if you need..Mind you trading with 1 min chart is scalping and you can't capture very high moves..Also, its not very popular for day

Forex Day Trading System - What is moving average?

Forex Day trading System - Learn what is a moving averageTo help understand moving averages, in a given series, a sample of consecutive candlesticks may be referred as a “time window.” If the candlesticks (e.g., closing prices) in a given chart (1 hr or 15 min. or any chart) were added together, and the sum divided by the number of candlesticks in the sample, an “average” gets calculated. So,

Forex day Trading System - Continuation to this day trading strategy

Forex Day Trading System - Lets continue our discussionIn our last session we discussed on Pivot points and how they are important...We also went through R1, R2 and R3 (Resistance levels) and also on S1, S2 and S3 (support levels)..Also we looked at how to calculate these..However you don't have to this manually..On the net there are lots of pivot calculators that are available to calculate it

Forex Day Trading System - Another popular trading system

Forex Day Trading System - Trade using pivot pointsBefore the trading is done, it is important that you know about pivot points. A pivot point is a point of support or resistance. Its a kind of mutually agreed point between traders.In a forex day trading system, the pivot point is calculated using the previous day's high, low and closing value. Generally traders use the pivots in association

Forex Day Trading System - Answering a question

Forex Day Trading System - How much does a pip corresponds to!!??One of a visitor has asked me what is a pip and how much money does it mean. So Lets focus on that to learn forex trading onlineA pip is the last decimal place of a forex quote. The pip, is how a profit or loss is measured. For example if EUR/USD = 1.2506, it means that 1 EUR = 1.2506$. As each currency has its own value, it is

Forex Day Trading System - Important points to be kept in mind when trading

Forex day Trading System - Focus on these points and learn forex trading online Forex day trading rules often revolve around techniques, technical indicators, and equity management. All these are of course important.As it is said that without proper equity management new traders take a lot of risk as compared to they can afford.Generally it is recommended that one should not risk more than 2% of

Forex Day Trading System - Do you trade NFP (Non Farm Payroll)

Forex Day Trading System - Do you trade NFP (Non Farm Payroll)Quite a few traders trade Non Farm Payroll which is a very volatile fundamental announcement. As you know this news moves the forex market at least 100-150 pips in just a minute on most of the USD based currency pairs (Except AUD/USD and NZD/USD).So, most of the trades place the trades on both the sides of the overall forex currency

Forex Day Trading System - A strong technique to day trade

Forex Day Trading System - A strong technique to day tradeIn continuation to last post in which few characterstics of day trading and a typical day trader..In this post, lets go through a simple, yet a very strong and popular forex day trading system.. -Quite a few day traders use the technique of support and resistance, which as I mentioned in my previous posts is nothing but the points from

Forex Day Trading System

Online Forex Trading - Forex Day Trading SystemHello Everyone..Few days back I received a comment from Charles where he asked quite a few questions on Forex Day Trading as to who should do it..What are its limitation, best day trading system etc..That gave me thought on starting a series of messages that will give all the esteemed readers of this blog more insight on day trading since most of the

Learn Online Forex Trading - Tomorrow's Forex Day trading on EUR/USD

Learn Online Forex Trading - Forex Day Trading tomorrow on EUR/USDHello Everyone..Most of the forex traders are day traders which means that they place trade for only for few hours. Generally they trade either during UK/London market ( 2 AM to 10 AM EST) hrs or during USA market hours (8 AM to 5 PM EST).For all the day traders - All of you who are watching the 1 hr EUR/USD chart, you can see that

Learn Online Forex Trading - Non Farm Payroll (NFP)

Learn Online Forex Trading - Tomorrow's NFP (Non farm Payroll) declarationHello everyone..Tomorrow is NFP (Non Farm Payroll) declaration which as I explained earlier is one of the most volatile fundamental announcments..A typical NFP declaration moves all the USD based currency pair in the range of 90 to 150 pips in just a matter on 1 min.So, my suggestion will be to close all the trades by 7 AM

Learn Online Forex Trading - Forex day Trading - What is it?

Learn Online Forex Trading - What is forex day trading?Hello Everyone..I am sure you might have run into terms such as forex day trading, swing trading etc..And at the same time, would have imagined what are these forex trading styles and what factors to consider when trading in these styles? This message is to educate more on these 2 trading styles -1. Forex day trading - forex day trading or

Learn Online Forex Trading - My trade on GBP/USD..is it right?

Learn Online Forex Trading - My trade on GBP/USD..Is it correct?GBP/USD is one of the very volatile online forex trading trading pairs and eventually with a good momentum. It is the most traded currency pair and moves the most on a trading day.The GBP made a double top on 3-Sep-06 in a daily chart and since then start retracing.Now, lets look at the 1 hour chart and see the conditions -1. The

Learn Online Forex Trading - Look at USD/CAD chart

Learn Online Forex Trading - Look at the USD/CAD chart..Remember, in one of the previous posts I mentioned the importance of support and resistance levels in online forex trading. Once thelevels are breken, the currency pair speeds in that direction.Look at the USD/CAD 1 hr chart..It is range bound for quite a while..No indications that it will start trending in the world of online forex trading.

Learn Online Forex Trading - Another strong technical indicator

Learn online forex trading - The Bands of Bollinger are strongBollinger bands is one of the most widely used technical indicator that tells about market trend - it could be any market like forex or stock or commodity or anything.What is Bollinger Band -Bollinger bands were originated by John Bollinger, it consists of a centre line and 2 price lines - one above and one below the centre line. The

Emotional Rescue

Did you know that 90% of all Forex traders lose money? Now I bet you are questioning my zeal for trading the spot Forex market! If you are just starting out trading this market this not a very good omen. How do you ensure that you become the 10% that succeed, especially if given the fact that so many traders are willing to part with their hard earned cash?

There are many reasons for these abysmal stats: lack of discipline, lack of money management skills, and the. I think the reason for the poor success rate is that 90% of the traders can’t manage their emotions while trading. This is the demon I fight daily. Money management and discipline are the symptoms, but emotions are the root cause!

From day one of trading the currency markets I have heard every guru shouting at the top of their lungs to cut you r loses and let your profits run. Or that anyone can put on a trade, but it is the professional trader that knows when to exit a trade. It seems like a simple concept to let your profits run and take those profits when the market offers them up to us. But why can’t we get this right?

Emotions!!

The curse of all traders, the last and most difficult skill for us to overcome is to remove the emotions from our trading. Period!! Well I got news for you… you can’!! You, my friend, are a human being and thus an emotional being. OK, so we must trade emotional-less, but that is beyond the realm of most traders.

Letting emotions interfere with your trading can manifest in many ways. Let me just give you some examples of my past (and sometimes present transgressions):

Taking a loss and angrily reversing my position only to have the market resume in my original direction! The infamous revenge trading!

Listening to trade signals from members of my trading group instead of listening to my own signals and intuition (afraid I was going to miss the proverbial boat!).

And my personal favorite…
Having the market retrace and return almost to my original entry point, exiting and having the market execute a classic continuation pattern to original target (a target that was selected in advance before the trade was executed)!

What do we do?


I have been following traders that focus solely on trading the news or other fundamental factors. Although this has some merit it won’t do squat for checking your emotions. Technical analysis should be your weapon of choice for keeping your emotions in check. Do you analysis before your trading session. Follow your trading plan (money management and strategy) as though your life depended upon it (your account balance certainly does!!). Visualize your trade execution like Tiger Woods does before every golf shot and above all, trust yourself! I repeat the following mantra before every trading session:

“I am the world’s most disciplined forex trader. I trade my plan and I plan my trade. I trade with confidence and decisiveness. If the reason for me to be in a trade no longer exists I will cut my losses or take profit without hesitation.”

I am an emotional person. It makes me feel alive, however when I trade I want to be a stone-cold, calculating pip capturing fool and leave the emotions for when I shank a drive into the water at the golf course.

Happy Trading!!

Click here to visit my lens!

BTW, did you see Tiger Woods at the press conference after winning the PGA Championship? A reporter asked him if he expects to win every major he plays. Without hesitation Tiger said “yes.” There was an awkward silence while Tiger waited for the next question and the reporter waited for Tiger to expand upon his answer. I loved it and want us all to trade with the kind of confidence and discipline Tiger Woods displays while playing golf!

Learn online forex trading - Which fundamental announce moves the market the most

Learn Online Forex Trading - These fundamental announcements move the market the mostHello everyone...I came across this very interesting and very useful article which lists which fundamental announcements moves the forex trading market the most and how many pips does it move.So, definitly it will tell you when is the market expected to be most volatile for online forex trading. I have added this

Seriously

If you have been following my blog you know that I am a big proponent of setting up a compounding account as a wealth building strategy for those of you new to the Forex market. This compounding account is not to be touched until you can meet your financial need with only withdrawing 50% of your profit without changing your risk profile. You can have your “Mad Money” account to satisfy some of your more exotic Forex desires, but having a compounding account where you are depositing a consistent number pips is critical to your long term viability as a individual currency trader.

So why is this so critical? Now that you are a trained trader you have probably realized that your Forex Journey has only just begun. You have discovered that there are numerous strategies and approaches to trading this market. You have also noticed that in the end most of the strategies are viable and that the most volatile factor in any trade is the human interaction in the marketplace itself. I am sure, like me, you have discovered you are your own worst enemy! Having a compounding account ensures that you are trading from a centered base. Your pip goal is reserved and very attainable and your entry and exit strategies will reflect this conservative approach. Trading this account will also build discipline and allow you to avoid those huge draw downs. In this account you are not the gambler, but the casino. When was the last time you heard of a casino losing money on their gaming operations? You rely on a strategy to meet your daily pip goal (at least 3:1) and through money management you are keeping the long term odds in your favor like a casino operator. Your actions will then dictate your profitable results!

Do the math! See what your results would be if you started with a $3,000 mini account, risk no more that 5% on any given trade and made just 15 pips per day. How much will your balance be at the end of a year of trading? The results will astound you!!

Happy Trading!!



For more about my trading visit my Lens!!

Make Forex Education Your Top Priority

I have been doing a ton of reading this summer. This is not atypical for me. Reading is a way to continue my education and renew my focus on the task at hand. I have recently been exposed to several Forex training evaluation sites, as well attended some of those FREE Forex workshops you see on TV (some of them are still calling me!). It got me thinking

… “What advice can I provide to all those who are eager to learn the currency market with all that information out there without getting burned?”

I have come up with 3 Golden Rules to follow when evaluating currency training opportunities.


1. Know Thy Self – This is probably the most important advice I can provide. There is good training and bad training. Often the worst training has the best marketing plans. First figure out how you best learn information. Are you the type of person that can read a manual on rocket science and build a spaceship or are you a person that needs to be shown things through personal instruction and repetition? Figure out how you receive and process information and align Forex training source that fits your method of learning.

2. Don’t Believe the Hype – There is no golden system and it will take considerable effort to trade currencies successfully. Accepting these realities before embarking on your Forex Journey can save you tons of money and more importantly time spent climbing up the learning curve! If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. This should be no surprise! It is buyers beware market out there. Look for a Forex education company that can provide you with some solid aftercare resources.

3. Be Realistic – It is a journey and all good journeys take time to develop and flourish. This can be a remarkable journey, but one where you are apt to lose your account a few times before you surrender to the market and learn to take what the market is offering for profits that day. Listen to recommendations, but make decisions based on your own criteria, because in the Forex market this skill will serve you well!!

When reading internet-based sales letters or infomercial or forums, just remember that everyone has an opinion, but in the end the only one that matters is your!!

Happy Trading!!


For more information visit my Lens!

Learn Online Forex Trading - Market is at key support and resistance areas

Learn Online Forex Trading - Trading market is at key support /resistance areasHello Everyone..So, the NFP ( Non Farm Payrolls ) , moved the forex trading market on average in the range of 100 to 110 pips. The observed the market at that time and saw its volatility...Wow it was fascinating. And like suspected, the trading orders were not getting filled by most forex trading stations. I tested

Learn Online Forex Trading - Its Non Farm Payroll Time (NFP)

Learn Online Forex Trading - Non Farm Payroll (NFP) declaration tomorrowBefore I start mentioning about NFP, I need to share some good news with you -My site is ranking at top of google search engine for some forex trading terms for which 95000 sites are competing. I came to know about this and day before yesterday and it made me feel that yes, this site is worth something.I would like to thank

Learn Online Forex Trading - My trade on USD/CHF

Learn online forex trading - My trade on USD/CHFIn my details of my previous message I mentioned about my open online forex trade on USD/CHF.Till that day I was in a profit of 80PIPS..Pretty handsome.. isn't it?? And the trade was still open. Lets look at the details again -Trade - LongEntry - 1.2451Stop - 1.2405Limit - 1.2575Risk/Reward - 1/2.5Here is what I did when I was in 50 PIPs profit - I

Learn Online Forex Trading - Its USD/CHF time

Learn Online Forex Trading - Details on my trade on USD/CHFUSD/CHF is one the very trending currency pair in the world on online forex trading. Thats why its a favourite currency pair of many traders for trading forex. This makes the currency pair even more strong to obey forex trading rules.Now, the details about the online forex trade that I made on this currency pair -Last start with the

Run to the Light

Hello Forex Nation!!

If you have not noticed my posts have been a little less frequent over the past several weeks. I take time in the summer to vacation and renew. I also enjoy going to trainings and seminars. Not all of these events tie directly back into trading currencies, but then again I also have other interest and passions.

I was at one such seminar last week in Los Angeles. I was networking after the event with a bunch of other entrepreneurs. We spoke about all kinds of topics (I was the only trader in the group … surrounded by mostly real estate investors!), but the topic that seemed dominate is the on around making the jump from W4 employee to being out on your own.

I know there are Forex traders out there that enjoy trading, but have never considered taking the leap to trading fulltime. But, if you are one of those that want to trade fulltime then I have some tips for you that would make that transition easier and they do not involve trading!

Be in Control

It goes without saying that you must have supreme confidence in your trading acumen to cross over. Always have a check and balance in place, because there is a fine line between supreme confidence and arrogance. The latter will end your stint faster that a bucket of ice on my hot summer patio in Phoenix. Recognize that you still have one last unexplored psychological hurdle to cross. You won’t have that paycheck to fall back on anymore! This brings another level of pressure that did not exist before.

Build a Business Plan

Like any other professional venue you will have to trade as a business. You should structure you trading within a legal business entity and develop a business plan which will guide your approach to trading.

Understand Wealth Building Principals

Before making the leap you should have the wealth building principals done pat! They are:

Make a constant investment to your account and watch it grow. I have written previously that you should have a separate Forex compounding account where you deploy conservative strategies and just let it grow! You can only withdraw funds from this account to feed other wealth builsing entities such as real estate or business investment. This account will be your golden goose!

Give your investments time for growth. Getting rich slow in some of your accounts is quite OK!

Know your yield. Your financial education will determine your yield. Remember an investment in you will always offer the greatest return. Become a life long student!

Follow these principals will lead to tremendous wealth!

Network!!

Build a network of entrepreneurs and traders. Seek out their knowledge and expertise on items such as health insurance. Take every advantage your corporation will allow.

One final point to consider, think about developing another source of revenue outside of your trading account. At this stage you have developed an expertise that people are willing to pay to access. Finding a way to leverage this could provide an additional stream of income, adding financial flexibility.

These are a few points to consider. It is way more than just pure trading, but necessary steps to ensure your success!

Happy Trading!!

Learn online forex trading - its relative strength index

Learn online forex trading - Importance of relative strength index1st of all apologies for delay in posting this message as I was busy with some other work for past few days.This message will be on a very important indicator called - Relative Strength Index (RSI) RSI is an oscillator which tells about the current momentum. It compares the recent profits against

Entries and Exits

Hello Forex Nation,

Well, I just returned from some well earned rest & relaxation! It is always a good time to escape the heat of the desert during the summer months. One of the things I like to do during my down time is to catch up on my reading. One of the key points on the Roadmap to Forex Success (visit FX Trade Central for more details) is continuous education and one of my favorite ways is to read.

I just finished "Entries & Exits: Visits to Sixteen Trading Rooms" by Dr. Alexander Elder. I have added this book to the "must read" category for anyone who trades. It really does not matter what instrument you trade, this is a gotta have to any success library!

The long and short of it is the Dr. Elder visit 16 traders that he has met and mentored throughout his career. The traders explain, in short story format, how and why they trade the way they do. This is followed my Dr. Elder's commentary on their trades. The "gem" of this book is to follow the commentary of each trader. In theirs words you will gain great insight and knowledge and determine they are no different than us, so similar and so unique. These trader have cracked the code and the nuggets provided will help you do the same. It is a very easy read, a kin to 16 short stories. I encourage you to read each story and reflect on what lessons you can bring into your own trading room.

I don't care if you get this book from me (http://www.squidoo.com/forexjourney), your local library or borrow from a friend ... just get and read this book! It is worth the 10 pips price of admission!!

Happy Trading!!

Learn online forex trading - Importance of Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP)

Learn Online Forex Trading - The importance of Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP)What is Non Farm Payrolls -Non Farm payrolls is a monthly produced report that represents total number of paid employees/workers in USA. However it doesn't factor in government employees, employees of non profit institutes and Farm employees.Since this report is prepared by US Bureau of labour staistics, its authenticity is

Where Do We Go From Here?

Well, US non-farm payroll numbers where released, the market reacted and now all the traders have retired for the weekend. For the record, US non-farm payroll (NFP) rose by 121,000 in June. A figure I was personally watching this morning, the revision from May (which I thought was low) was revised from 75,000 to 92,000. Also, average hourly earnings increased to 0.5% from 0.1%, which to me reflect employers more willing to pay overtime than take on new employees.

No USD friendly numbers!

So, where do we go from here? I am not an expert on Forex fundamentals. I do, however, recognize the importance of fundamental analysis in maintaining and confirming the long-term technical view of the currency pairs I trade. Can the long awaiting sentiment change in the USD finally be upon us? Before you get comfortable in your range-trading strategies here are a few points to consider for your summer trading.

The Federal Reserve – My favorite people (ha, ha, not!). Will interest rates continue to rise or will Bernanke and crew take their collective foots of the economic breaks?

Economic News – Do the NFP numbers signal a slowing economy and can we expect trade balance to narrow and foreign capital flows into the US slow?

Energy - Will the EU spat with Russia over energy policy have a greater impact on the global economy? Will the North Atlantic hurricane season be as devistating as last year? With another rough season forecast, it is sure to spook investors!

World Politics - Will the geopolitical situation in Iran and now North Korea be another reversal factor? Will Afghanistan's reviving insurgency rival the intensity in Iraq?

I don’t know the answers, but as we progress in the month I am taking a keener interest in the fundamentals. I do declare myself a technical trader. I am looking for chart patterns, wave patterns and am still best friends with Mr. Fibonacci. However, I am learning to appreciate fundamentals more and more to the point where I now incorporate them as an additional confirmation in my trade plan.

Technicals are the rudder of the sail boat, but fundamentals deliver the wind to the sails!!

Happy Trading!!



Remember FX Trade Central and Forex Journey Lens are great sources for Forex training, education and information!!
Why Forex? Click Here now and discover the currency market for yourself!

July USD Outlook

Here is what I see as a possible July USD Outlook

Possible end of tightening cycle
No Federal Reserve meeting – No interest rate
Q2 GDP will likely drop below 3% vice 5.3% in Q1
Wave 5 extension beginning EUR/USD and GBP/USD

July could be a rough month for the USD!

Forex and the Job

So you live in the western part of North America (I trade from Phoenix, Arizona) and you have discovered the power of trading the Forex market. Your passion runs so deep that almost instantly you are convinced that you want to do this full time. You get your requisite training and are ready to trade your live account. Just one problem … the job is keeps getting in the way!

Those of us who live in the Western part of the United States and Canada have a unique challenge when it comes to currency trading. Our time zones are not conducive to trading the European session and our window is small to trade the New York session before we must pack it up and hit the road. The Asian session is perfect timing, but not very active in the currencies rookies tend to focus on first.

I absolutely love trading the European session, but I am wasted the entire day from lack of sleep. I am very selective when I trade with London, because you ALWAYS want to be focused and on top of your game when trading!

Here are some simple recommendations to help you through your transition period.

1. Do Your Homework! This is valid with any trader, but for those of us who have a small window to trade peak hours need to be prepared to take advantage of any pips the market is offering up. This is really not a disadvantage. This can build and nurture a most profitable habit.

2. Go to Bed Earlier! It is very important to get your rest and trading in the Pacific Time zone requires an early wake up call to trade the London-New York overlap session. I awake 4:00 am pacific time to make sure I am awake and prepared when New York opens.

3. Develop a Solid Exercise Plan! I find when I am in decent condition I can get an additional 2 hours more of focused time out of my day. Those two hours I dedicate to making myself a better trader.

4. Find Your Trading Style! Synergize your trading style with your trading session. If you are like me and primarily trade from the 15-minute, 1-hour and 4-hour charts the European and New York sessions are my bread and butter. I use the Asian session to do my homework. If you are a position trader a whole new set of synergies come into play.


5. Be confident in your analysis. When I first started seriously trading currencies and juggling the job I found I had done my homework, planned an entry only to miss it because it occurred while I was in the middle of my mid-morning meeting. I learned very quickly to get comfortable with entry orders.

As you can see from these simple examples that becoming successful in currency trading requires two key elements…

Persistence will allow you to climb the learning curve and learn from your mistakes!
Change of mindset to not allow life to dictate the level of your currency trading success!

Happy Trading!!


Visit Forex Journey Lens for other tips and tricks.

Conquer the Crash

A Book Review

“Conquer the Crash”
By Robert R. Prechter Jr.

If you have been trading the Forex market you will have no doubtlessly come across R.N. Elliott’s Wave theory. In this book Robert Prechter, President of Elliott Wave International, details a compelling economic theory using this wave analysis. Prechter walks us through a technical, social and fundamental analysis of past economic events in a manner for which prior wave analysis is not necessary. He is leading us toward a prediction of future economic events which will leave you staggering! His stunning conclusion of an upcoming economic downturn not seen since the Great Depression will leave you thinking not only of future planning, but also of current events. Warning aside, there are a myriad of strategies outlined in this book that, once deployed, can not only allow you to survive this economic apocalypse, but flourish despite the odds.

The blog is dedicated to Forex education. During major economic downturns your financial education will be the difference between prosperity and struggle. This is must reading for traders and investors alike!!

Click Here to obtain your copy of “Conquer the Crash” by Robert Prechter.


Click Here to preview the lastest Elliott Wave International Market Perspective.

Happy Trading!!

Learn online forex trade - A great trade by me on USD/CAD..Although...

Learn Online Forex Trading - I placed a great trade on USD/CAD..Although I ...Like I guessed in the last message, I was expecting the online forex trading market to wake up from the virtual sleep as FOMC rate decision was going to have significant impact on USD direction.Thats what happenned..The market moved by 100+ pips for each currency pair in which USD is involved. So, I made analysis of USD

FX Education & Training

I have been receiving an ever increasing amount of emails for those of you interested in having dialog about Forex trading strategies. Of course you can email me at info@fxtradecentral.com. I have several sites with a different emphasis within the Forex Education and Training umbrella.

FX Trade Central
This is my mother ship Forex Education and Training website. The focus on this site is to provide an approach or methodology for learning to trade currencies. I also provide a running Forex course evaluation for a comprehensive approach to learning opportunities. Click Here now to view this site!

FXT
This is my premiere training site. This is where I learned to trade currencies and am an active participant in the Online Trading Rooms where the real training takes place during active market hours. Click Here now to view this site!

Forex Journey – Blog
Frankly this is where I can talk about anything I want. I try to relay my personal experience is learning the Forex market, as well as tips and tricks along my journey. I will always be a student of currency trading. Don’t click here because you are already there!

Lens
If you missed my posting on what the heck is a Lens just search back in the May/June archives. I have two lenses which are designed to provide more of a focus on my trading (http://www.squidoo.com/forexjourney) and why Forex trading is the next great frontier (http://www.squidoo.com/successinfx). The Forex Journey Lens is the only site I post excerpts from my trading plan and current trade set ups I am evaluating.

Your risk management strategy resides between your ears. Don’t listen to any sales pitch claiming one system is easier than others. It really lies in a simple formula. Dedication and perseverance! It is not as easy as the sales people make out, but it is also not as hard as the naysayer claim either! You education is truly a lifetime financial skill! No matter where you get your forex education, just get it! It is your most important investment.

Keep the emails coming! Your feedback matters!

Happy Trading!!

Learn online forex trading - Shhhhhhhhh the market is quiet..Why??

Learn Online Forex Trading - The market is unusually quiet....Yes, the forex trading market is unusually quiet for the past 2 days.. Why?? Lets go through the dynamics of the forex trading market..Phase 1 -The forex trading market's direction is driven by the fundamental news primarily. So, lets say that US federal bank says that its going to hike interest rate..This means that USD will get

The Impact of News Events, Part 2

As we mentioned in Part 1, fundamental news tends to adjust the technicals and these adjustments translates into potential trading opportunities on the Forex market. Give these facts it is important we use both fundamental and technical analysis in our approach to trading currencies.

Fundamentals tend to be very inconsistent. This is why most traders, including myself, focus on the technicals. Fundamentals focus on the structural issues of currencies, such as flows of money and tend to be cyclical. Certain fundamental data carry different weight for different currencies. You will hear terms such as balance of trade, capital flows, employment and industrial production.

What does it all mean?

I have no clue. I am not an economist and I will never ever pretend to be (even with my fascination of the Central Bank role in the currency markets). In the end price action matters! How the currency price reacts to the news is the key. For example, EUR/USD pair is trending down and unexpected economic number that is dollar negative is released. The pair is likely to spike up and over a period of time resumes its previous downward technical direction.

It is all about using technical analysis to assess the likely direction of price and supporting it all with fundamental data. It is entirely possible to have two technical indicators and use fundamental data as a 3rd confirmation.

So how do we incorporate this into our currency trading plan?

Know the news and its anticipated impact on the currency pair. In my previous blog posting I provided some links to the two sites I use to monitor economic releases. If you reviewed the site you would have picked up on the fact that some news events are given a greater weight than others. I trade the London-New York overlap session, so the 8:30 am releases (and Fed news) catches my attention, but I will also get up a little earlier if significant news out of the ECB or Bank of England is expected. I tend not to have any short term position on or if I do I may close attention to my stop-loss. I let the market set the trend and enter the market when the “whip-saw” action has settle down and the market sediment for the news and trend has been established.

Be patient and be discipline! Always understand the big picture!

Happy Trading!!



For more information on how I trade visit http://www.squidoo.com/forexjourney. Feel free to email this lens to your friends!!

The Impact of News Events, Part 1

News is the Fuel.

The Forex market is driven largely by world financial market and news, both of the domestic and international variety. There are a host of players on the international FX stage including businesses, hedge funds, governments, banks, consumers and of course us traders!

By now I am sure you are wondering why a self-proclaimed technical trader is blogging about the news? After all isn’t this just more fundamental mumbo-jumbo?

Well you know what they say …

NEWS IS THE FUEL BUT THE TECHNICALS ARE IN CONTROL!!

Fundamental news has a tendency to adjust the technical when the news is unexpected. Before beginning my trading session I am sure to review the up coming economic releases to view any event that has potential to provide rocket fuel to the market. Some news will move the currency pair (Non-Farm Payroll) and some are may not. To get a list of those pre-planned economic releases that have the potential for moving the Forex market look into the following links.

http://www.dailyfx.com/calendar/briefing/

http://www.forexfactory.com/index.php?page=calendar

Here are some recommended sites to get a more comprehensive fundamental view of the market.

Getting to know the impact of news events on your chosen currency will allow you to anticipate movements and plan your trades for more profitable entries.

http://www.morganstanley.com/GEFdata/digests/digests.html

This site will give you much more the Forex, but you can search the archives for the FX related article. This site has been very informative for my long term planning.

In Part 2 we will discuss how to incorporate news events into your trading plan.

Happy Trading!!

Find Your Forex Niche

It is important to find the Forex strategy right for you! When I began learning to trade the Forex market I was introduced to intraday trading using 5-minute charts. I gained an understanding of the nuances of market movements and the importance of technicals tools, such as Simple/Exponential Moving Averages and Fibonacci. These proved to be valuable lessons coming from the options world.

OK, truth be told … I hated it!!

This style of trading just did not suit my personality. It was a necessary step, but as soon as I felt comfortable and confident in the 5-minute trading style I dialed my chart right out to the hourly charts and beyond. I know lots of people that like the fast pace, simplicity of this style and are some of the most successful traders I know.

I am just not one of them!

My personality fits a longer term view and I just did not thrive in the faster paced decision making required in the 1-minute and 5-minute styles. My focus is on swing trading on the 240-minute chart and intraday trading on the hour and 15 minute charts. It is important while you are learning to trade FX you maintain an open mind to all Forex strategies, but in the end your personal trading style must recognized and exploited for long term success!

Happy Trading!!


For more information visit my site at http://today-fx-strategy.blogspot.com or my lens at http://www.squidoo.com/forexjourney!!!

Learn online forex trading - The market stopped me

Learn online forex trading - The market stopped me..what did I do??Remember about my online forex trade on USD/CHF? If not, please read my last two articles.I was looking good towards my target of 1.2270..I was at a point in 63 pips profit.Then the market turned and turned big..To be honest I didn't see that coming..It could have wiped my entire profits. But I guess I was bit smart, so I didn't

Chart Patterns

Now that we are in the summer doldrums, chart patterns take on a whole new significance!

For a review bookmark this link!!

http://www.stockcharts.com/education/index.html

Happy Trading!!

Learn online forex trading - What happenned to my USD/CHF trade?

Learn Online Forex Trading - What happenned to my trade on USD/CHF?Yes, I'll come on to the details of the trade. But before that lets review the technical indicators I have discussed so far -1. Support and resistance levels - In Online forex trading support and resistance areas tell key areas from where the market direction generally reverses. The more number of times the market reverses from

Learn Online Forex Trading - Why do I feel good?

Learn online Forex Trading - Why do "I feel good"?Because another forex trade of mine went right..:-)..If you read the end of my last post, I guessed that USD/CHF will hit 1.2410 and make a double top..Well it didn't exactly 1.2410. It went till 1.2430 and then is now bouncing from 38.2% fib level on the daily charts. So, in the online forex trading this is a very exciting time. If the 38.2 fib

It is Better in Groups

Banks and Hedge Fund Managers do it! And you should too!!

Too often I hear about the lonely trader who sits at their computer while the Forex market forces devour their capital. These are the same people who say currency trading is too risky and it doesn't work.

So you have taken the classes and read the books. Most humans don't learn that way. We must also be shown how to do it. In our case we must be shown (and repeatedly) how to trade, when to trade and when not to trade. Repetition is the key to learning.

And so is trading in a group!

If you do not have a group of traders then form your own group. Just look on Skype to see the myriad of Forex traders out there. Ask questions in forums (know you source though). You interaction with other enhance your Forex trading skill and acumen.

This just may be what the doctor ordered to have that breakout that puts you well on your way to Forex success!!

Happy Trading!!



Click Here to visit a forex training and education site that offers cources and mentoring beyond the tex book and into the live currency market!!

Learn Online Forex Trading - Whats the broker Commission?

Learn Online Forex Trading - What is the broker commission in forex trading?Welcome to another week in the world of forex trading..As you know the forex market opens on Sunday at 2 PM EST with opening of Aussie and Kiwi markets.Now many of you know that their are broker commissions associated with the trades you make in stocks or futures or commodity trading. The commissions vary between $7 to

Learn online forex trading - What are the basics?

Learn online forex trading - What are the basics of forex trading?I guess I started sharing about forex trading at a more high level. People are asking me questions which are making me realize that I need to cover some more basics about forex trading.So, lets start with it. I'll share the information that you'll need in day to day forex trading.1. Learn how is online forex trading done -Forex

CSI Forex

If you trade the Forex market you will inevitably encounter the proverbial down day (or worse yet a series of down days). By bad day I mean when you put on a trade and from 'pip' one just goes against you. Tell me, after this happened have you:

Chased the trade and ended up losing more?
Revenge traded against the trend to recoup your losses and ended up losing more?
Moved your predetermined stop and ended up losing more?
Flipped your position and ended up losing more?

Have you noticed a theme??

Well, when I have a series of losing trades I go into CSI mode!

I actually conduct a crime scene investigation on my trading. First if I suffer a big lost I close my trade station immediately. Experience has taught me that I am susceptible to revenge trading. After a break (could be several minutes or several hours or several days) I take a look at my trade journal and look for clues as to why I suffered a draw down. Keeping a detailed journal allows me to reconstruct my trades to isolate potential errors.

If I am lucky I found that I had sound analysis and execution, but just hit some losers. More likely is that I got away from my style of trading or over-complicated my technique and entered into a bad trade.

Go back to the basics! It works every time!!

Happy Trading!!

Learn Online Forex Trading - What is Double Top??

Learn Online Forex Trading - What is a double top and a double bottom? How much reliable is it?Before I start going through details about Double top, I need to share with you that I am very excited today..Why??Yesterday when I was doing analysis of the charts of EUR/USD and GBP/USD for forex trading, my analysis said that market will bounce tomorrow because it has hit 38.2 fibonacci levels..And

Time for a Breakthrough

Have you every wonder why do Forex traders fail? Even better have you ever wondered what holds must of us back from reaching our true potential as a Forex trader?

Want a hint?

Just look in the mirror!!

The key to success in trading the Forex market is to just plain get out of our own way!! Here are the common mistakes that leads most traders to failure or better yet, hold the true successful trader in all of us back from achieving our true potential. See if any of these areas you can improve upon.

Lack of Forex Education - training is the true key to success. That is why I have dedicated my website, FX Trade Central, this blog and my Lens to this enitre topic. The money spent on proper currency education will be recoup and paid back 1000X!! Click Here for a list of Forex training and education courses on FXTC or Click Here for Forex training opportunity Lens.

Emotions - great if you are watching the NBA Playoffs or World Cup, but it has no home in trading. Again, this is another topic I am passionate about and quite honestly one I struggle with each and every trading day.

Not sticking to a trading plan - or not having a plan at all!! This goes a long way in predetermining your trading decsions and help removing the emotions from your trades.

Expectations - Having realistic expectations at all times. My "Ah-Ha" moment was when I focused on the pips and let my trading plan worry about the lots. Compounding works!

Risk Management - I still hear from people time to time who continue to trade without a stop loss. One word ... STOP!! Just for the fact that you are risking your account on your ISP my account started growing when I managed my risk, took trades that fit my reward-risk profile, and used my stop-loss as a mechanism of last resort to exit a losing position and not a first option.

Bottom line, focus on these areas as much as the mechanics of the trade and you will get over the hump and start benefiting from the most powerful financial market in the world!!

Happy Trading!!

Learn Online Forex Trading - Where is the market??

Learn Online Forex trading - Which direction will market go tomorrow?Look at daily charts for EUR/USD and GBP/USD. They are all at 38.6 Fibonacci levels..Wow.What can happen due to this? My 1st guess is that they will bounce tomorrow, as at all the fibonacci levels the currency pair show some support during downtrend.However I'll do forex trading only when I get indicator confirmation. I do forex

Learn Forex Trading - Was I wrong last week?

Learn online forex trading - Was I wrong last week?I was anticipating EUR/USD breakout last week..What happenned? Was I wrong? Not really..as I didn't knew that the fundamental news of killing of Al-qaeda terrorist will hit the market making USD stronger and stronger. But the important question to ask is - Did I lose any money? No, I didn't..Why?? because I didn't do any forex trading...Why?

Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve

I have never been a big fan of the FED. If you have a moment follow this link and view this video. It will provide some interesting insight!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-466210540567002553&q=mises

Happy Trading!!


For Forex training and education visit my Forex Journey Lens

Philosophical FX Mistakes

Trading the Forex market can be tricky at times. We all see this massive flow of money moving between central banks and all we want is to cast our little net into this river of money for some pips. As a technical trader these are the coomon traps I fell into while developing my trading plan.

Don’t Analyze the News for Future Price Action!

Fundamentals matter, but as a technical trader we are aware of economic news as they tend to act as catalyst. News events offer opportunities, but price action is what matters most! How often have you seen news spur price to technical support and resistance levels? I will leave that to the economist!

Don’t Trade the News!

Again, we should always be aware of news releases during our trading session. I don’t trade the news, but I then again I am not a fundamental currency trader either. I do know some super successful fundamental currency traders. It is just not my game. I like to wait for the dust to settle a trend to emerge before jumping into the fray. If, and that is a strong if, I have any open positions going into any major announcements I am really focused on where my stops are located to protect my position if I am deep into profit. More often than not I exit open trades if minimally in profit or in a losing position. News is the fuel, but technicals are in control.

Keep it Simple!

When I began trading I wanted to learn every forex strategy on earth. I found that the simpler strategies afforded me more consistency! And that is what I was after all along. After being able to consistently drive profits out of my trading activities I turned my focus to maximizing entry and exit points, yet deploying simple strategies all along.

Remember, these are my "Enlightened" thoughts. You should develop your own strategies and plan.

Happy Trading!!

Joys of Compounding

Hello Forex Nation!!

Here is a simple tip. Trade in at least 2 forex accounts. I have a compounding account where I have a dialy pip goal of only 15. I also have what I call my true currency trading account. Here are the differences.

Compounding Account
15 pip daily goal
Intraday trading only
5% maximum risk
When daily pip goal is reached I close all trades and trade station
I rarely withdraw from this account and only for investments into other wealth buidling vehicles (eg real estate)

Trading Account
PIP goals established by reward -risk ratio (minimum 2:1)
Focus on swing and position trades
2% - 5% maximum risk
Use exit strategies predifined in my trading plan
Withdrawals allowed (I use this as an incentive)

My true joy is the compounding account. For those of you who want to witness the true power of trading forex then this is what a compounding account can do for you!!

January 1st - Open a Super-Mini Account with $300.00. Average 15 pip daily goal throughout the year (5% risk). December 31- Account balance ~ $168,000.00

This same scenario with a Mini Account with a starting balance of $3,000.00 would yield a year end balance of ~ $1,680,000.00!! Lots of zeros people! Just want to save for retirement? Average 15 pips PER WEEK and you will have the same amount in 5 years.

How's your 401(k) looking now!

Happy Trading!!


Vistit me at my Forex Lens to jump start your forex education and training!!

Embrace Your Flaws

Hi Forex Nation!!

I have returned! Sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation, if you know what I mean! While I was enjoying beautiful Southern Califoria I had time to reflect on my trading. I had some good points and some ... well, let's just say some not so good points. Instead of getting down about what I felt were flaws in my trading game I thought I would list them out and embrace them.

I had no problem listing my top five areas of trading psychology that required attention. I did this in order to identify strategies to counter these feelings and allow me better overall trade execution. That's what it's all about after all.

Before I continue, remember that I am a flawed individual, so be kind! I also recognize that these flaws serve me well in life and in trading I simply need to understand that they are present and devise methods for incorporating them into my trading plan so they have a positive effect.

Here they are!!

1. Afraid of Failure
This is presetn in almost every traders life.
Counter - read trading plan and mission statement before every trading session.

2. Lack of Discipline
I still find myself occasionally chasing trades.
Counter - I maintain a detailed trading journal that reminds me of how effective I am when deciplined.

3. Impulsive
My arch enemy!
Counter - I find I am more impulsive when tired. If I do not have enough rest I do not trade.

4. Competetive
The old athlete in me. In the past I have joined the herd.
Counter - I trade live in a focus environment with CNBC off and ensure that I make all decisions based on my trading plan and what the market is willing to allow me to take.

5. Greed
It cannot be a true list without fear AND greed.
Counter - Ironically, I employ discipline to maintain a rigid pip goal in my compounding account. Another trait that usually raises it's ugly head when I did not get enough rest.

Kowing what these negative trading traits are and when they are triggered will allow you too to manage your mind-set and turn these into positive currency trades!

Happy Trading!!

Learn Forex Trading - Technical Analysis using MACD Indicator

Learn Forex Trading - MACD indicatorMoving Average Convergance and Divergance (MACD) is one of the widely used indicators in forex trading community. The indicator is calculated on the basis of moving averages. We'll definitely go through Moving Averages tomorrow. Currently please just remember that MACD is based on moving averages.MACD is calculated by subtracting longer moving average from

Learn Online Forex Trading - What is the market saying??

Learn Online Forex Trading - Welcome to the new week. What is the market saying this week? Last week on Friday the the USD went weak..Significantly weak. Why?? Because the "Non Firm Payrolls" results were not strong. Remember guys and gals, I told you that in forex trading market, the market moves because of 2 broad reasons ?? One is Technical and the other is fundamental. Of the two the most

Learn online forex trading - A Perfect Mistake

Learn online forex trading - Read to learn something more about forex trading from my perfect mistake - Remember what did I say in one of my previous posts - http://today-fx-strategy.blogspot.com/2006/05/learn-online-forex-trading-popular.html"Discipline - Without it ,I'll loose money and I'll be responsible for it"Here is an example of a trade in which I was making good profit..But, I

Learn Online Forex Trading - Support and Resistance Indicators

Learn online forex trading - What is support and resistance indicator?Support and resistance lines are another set of powerful indicators you would like to learn in online forex trading. Before I explain it, I would like you to watch the diagram very carefully.As you can see there are some key lines at which the price movement bounces. If from a particular imaginary line, the price bounces and

Learn Online Forex Trading - Do you trade on holidays?

Learn Online Forex Trading - Do you trade on holidays like Memorial day for example?At least I don't!!!The reason is fairly simple. See the online forex trading world constitutes of big banks, institutes around the world. Its not like stock trading which is operated by a regulatory authority. So on a holiday like memorial day I am sure that the banks and financial institutions are closed. This

Trading Thoughts

Trade to be great and not just good.
Trade to be profitable
Don’t trade not to lose.
Embrace the challenges of the day.
Dismiss the distractions.
Be decisive.
Know your expected outcome before executing the trade.
Don’t focus on the results.
Focus on the execution.
Take responsibility for the outcome.
Be realistic and committed.
Believe in yourself without doubt.
Focus on the pips and not the balance.
Become your own coach and cheering section.

Happy Trading!!

Learn Online Forex Trading - My trade on 25-May-06

Learn Online Forex Trading - Details of my forex trade on 25-May-06 (Thursday)This is a very interesting trade I placed on USD/CAD currency pair. First let me tell you few things about my trading style -1. I trade on 30Min chart and 5 min. Chart.2. 30 Min. chart is used to judge market direction. 5 min chart I use to place entry-exit points.3. I use moving averages to judge market directions.4. I

Learn online forex trading - Technical Analysis - Candlesticks

Learn Online Forex Trading - Candlesticks PatternsCandlesticks ?? What are they doing in online forex trading? No..I am not talking about the candles that you light at home.Candlesticks is one of the most widely used indicators to check the market conditions. Make no mistake, It is used across all the markets for trading like Stocks, Options, Commodities, futures and Forex trading of course. On

Snap

Hi Forex Nation!!

I have a little tip to help with the dark side of trading.

All traders find themselves from time to time violating some of their own trading rules. There are legitimate times when it is OK for rules to be broken. For the beginner trader, this last rule should never be explored! If are relatively new to trading or you find yourself repeatedly make emotionally bad decisions while you are hanging on to a trade, this tip is for you!

Try this… (Especially if your technical exit has been reached (profit or loss) or you hear that inner voice going “get out, get out and you don’t!!).

When trading, place a large rubber band around your wrist. Anytime you violate one of your trading rules give it a good snap!! On exit rule violations give it 2 snaps!!

That will interrupt your bad thought process and break your habit of violating your plan. No, I am not sadistic, but trust me it will work!!

Happy (Ouch) Trading!!

FX Trainer Financial Services Inc, Creating Success in FX

Power of Full Engagement

A book review….

Hi Forex Nation!!

I have just read The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. This is good stuff! The book challenges the most commonly held principal that the key to high performance is not through superior time management, but through superior energy management.

The authors focus on both physical and mental energy as they lead you down their theory through a series of real-life examples of past clients. The authors got there start as performance coaches of professional athletes. These athletes spend most of there time practicing their trade, managing their energy and developing mental and physical routines to ensure superior performance at the most critical moments of competition.

The author carries those traits into the corporate world. Recommending that high performance in the business world requires the same approach as an athlete. Managing energy and performance/personal renewal routines translates to peak performance and benefits well beyond your trading station.

I read this book and am now recommending it to you, the Forex Trader. Although this book has no mention of the markets or trading (I think that that is for the good!), these principals can be easily applied to our trading world. We need to be at our peak performance at the moment of truth also.

When we are executing trades is where we need to be at our peak performance. Ensure you are always at your peak during your trading sessions!


Happy Trading!!


Click here for this and other trading enhancement books.

The Da Vinci Forex Code

Hi Forex Nation!!

Did anyone see the Da Vinci code this weekend?? I did! No, I have not read the book, but every time I got on an airplane the past 2 years there was always someone reading this book!

Did you notice the references to Fibonacci all over the movie? I did, and was counting the sequence right along with John Langdon (aka Tom Hanks)! That got me thinking a little more about one of my favorite trading tools and what it all means. So I went hunting for some facts and this is what I found.

Leonardo Fibonacci was the Italian mathematician who was born around the year 1170 AD. His real name was Leonardo Pisano, but was better known by his nickname Fibonacci (“son of Bonnacci”). Fibonacci’s father was a diplomat and his son traveled with him during his formidable years studying mathematics and accounting.

In 1202, Fibonacci wrote Libre Abaci, a book about the mathematics he had learned on the road with his father. That book led to his famous number sequencing when measuring the ratios for which rabbits reproduce.

His sequence 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,… is that each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. The interesting thing is that each of the successive numbers is equal to 1.168 of the prior number.

Check this out!

When looking at this geometrically you find that when you measure a triangle by 1.00 as the hypotenuse the opposing side ratios are .786 and .618. Hey, I have seen those ratios before!

When we make .786 the hypotenuse than the opposing side ratios are .618 and .486. No way!!

If we make .618 the hypotenuse then the opposing side ratios are .486 and .382. Right on!!

The Fibonacci ratios that I always focus on in my trading are:

Retracements:
38.2%
50.0%
61.8%
78.6%

Extensions and Expansion:
61.8%
100%
127% (note that INDU turned almost on this extension last week!!)
162%

Want some more or have you had enough? I thought you would want one more example of FIBOs in nature!

Look at your own hand:
You have...
2 hands each of which has ...
5 fingers, each of which has ...
3 parts separated by ...
2 knuckles

All Fibonacci numbers! How about this, the bones in your finger are all in Fibonacci ratios to each other too! Is this just a coincidence or not??

OK, OK I think I just gave everyone a headache. You are all probably thinking that I need to get away from my trade station more often! Bottom line is that you don’t really need to know the details of Fibonacci’s life or all the examples in nature.

The bottom line is that we all know how important these ratios are to our trading and it will pay huge dividends to learn how to apply these principals to our trading!!

Happy Trading!!

---------------------------------------
More information on trading with Fibonacci can be found at FX Trade Central or Fib Master!!
If you have not checked out my Lens or don’t know what a Lens even is click on the links below and you will be on your way!!

Forex Journey Lens

Success in FX Lens

---------------------------------------

Learn forex trading - Technical Analysis - What is it?

Learn Online Forex Trading - This edition presents details about technical indicators.Please remember that these concepts about technical indicators is very important and you better learn technical analysis concepts very carefully. So here we go -The technical analysis is about reading the charts that demonstrate how the market has behaved in the past. What was the price fluctuation in a

Learn Online Forex Trading - Popular Technical Indicators

Learn online forex trading on this website - Free..:-)There are lots of indicators in the market. And here is another amazing statistic. Every person who you speak to, everyone mentions of a new indicator they use. However as with everything, there are few famous ones - 1. Moving Averages2. Relative Strength Index (RSI)3. Stochastic Indicator4. Support and resistance lines5. Parabolic SAR6.

The Black Box

No, I am not blogging about an aviation accident investigation.

I got a call from a friend of mine the other day and he asked me if I was still trading Forex?

Uh, yah!!!

After catching up for a little bit he came to the real reason for his call. He had gone to a free seminar in town last weekend about a company touting their automated forex trading platform. He described the event and I vaguely remember getting something in the mail about it. It ended up in the shredder with the rest of my junk mail.

He described how cool it was to see the green lights to trade and red lights to exit and that it was much easier than looking at charts and studying the market.

He asked me for my opinion and I gave it to him and now I am about to give it to you!

I am not a big fan of those ‘black box’ trading systems. Quite honestly I have never traded with them, but have spoken to plenty of people who have. I am not here to discourage anyone from using them in their investment plans; I just want to explain why I prefer discretionary trading systems.

From what I found out the big disadvantage to those black box systems is that you can experience large draw downs in your account balances. If I am going to take a draw down (and we all will at some point) I want to understand why and implement corrective actions!

So much for compounding!

I am sure these systems work and fit into someone’s investment plan. Just not mine!

Maybe it is my upbringing, but I like to be in a little more control than that! I want to make the decisions and understand why things worked and why they don’t. That way next time I can make a better decision.

Donald Trump lost billions of dollars only to have it all back and more just a few years later. Why? Because his ‘block box’ investment system was between his ears.

Education is King!!

Let’s stop looking for the easy way and focus! You will get through the learning curve and never look back.

But my most compelling reason to stay with the discretionary trading systems is that the market is controlled by humans and human emotions still rule. To round out your trading tool bag study Fibonacci and Elliott Wave trading techniques, and utilize these strategies and others in your discretionary trading systems which are based on naturally occurring instances in nature. The same process that controls human emotion.


Happy Trading!

Visit FX Trade Central’s Forex Courses for beginners and advanced course reviews including recommendations and more information on Fibonacci and Elliott Wave.

Online Forex Trading - Learn Forex trading and how to analyze market to place trade

During yesterday's session to learn forex trading, we went throgh 2 terms -1. Fundamental Analysis2. Technical analysisFundamental analysis in the world of online forex trading refers to government and world happennings like banking policy, government decisions, Non farm payrolls etc. For. e.g. if US government decides that they will import more oil from Canada, the value of USD will decrease and

New Forex Lenses

Hi Forex Nation!!

On my last posting I mentioned that I was working on setting up a series of Lenses.

What is a Lens?

Well, I have recently come across the concept of a Lens provided by Squidoo. The idea behind it is great as it is like a one stop shop for something that you are passionate about (Forex!!) giving useful information and links. Some examples of a lens could include:

Your hobby

Your business / industry

Favorite celebrity

Favorite recipes

I am a huge Sopranos fan and there was even a Lens dedicated to the show!
Back to business…

The list really is endless, you talk about what you want to and it is opportunity to educate people! And you know I am all about education! Well I have created two Forex related Lenses. The links are provided below (just clock on the icons) and on the sidebar of this blog. I also have two icons on the side bar and they are linked to the two different FX Lenses.

Forex Journey – The Lens

Success in FX

You can help my ranking by visiting my Lenses and giving them a 5-star ranking!! You have to register, but it is FREE! (Thanks in advance!!)

Keep this in your back pocket, because soon you will be hearing about this concept all over the Internet!!

Happy Trading!

Online Forex Trading - My trades for 15 & 16 May

Before I go into details about my online forex trading, I need to tell you few more things about placing orders in the online forex tradeing -1. The trades need to be placed with careful analysis. As much as can you gain with a carefully thought trades, there is equal chance that you may loose money with a rash trade without any analysis.2. The analysis is recommended to be done in 2 forms -

Back to the Basics

Hello Forex Nation!!

Time to get back to basics!

One of the things I like to do on a weekly basis is review my notes when I first started trading the forex market. It serves to reinforce the foundation of my technical analysis, as well as ground me in the very basics of currency trading, no different than bridge builder anchoring their support structures in bedrock!

There is nothing stronger in technical analysis than support and resistance!

FX Traders have at their disposal a number of different technical indicators, but at the end of the day chart support and resistance it the biggest tell-tale sign of what price action truly means.

In Trading 101 we were all taught the virtues of plotting support and resistance. No matter what strategy I am evaluating (swing, intraday) my first actions is to plot support and resistance in the applicable time frames. I use Fibonacci lines confirm my analysis.

Another anchor point I use is trendlines.

Here are some general guidelines you may want to follow. First, look at the general trend of the market. The trend is your friend. For instance if the trend is down this means you have more down days than up -- and usually more pronounced movement to the downside on those down days. Same observations can be made for an uptrend.

I know traders that won’t even trade if the general and daily trends are not in synch.
Once these support and resistance lines are broken then price tend to move rapidly to the next area of support/resistance and the previous break becomes the new floor/ceiling.

Bottom line is to continually build your technical acumen by staying firmly planted in the basic principals of technical analysis.

You can find more FX education and course infromation of FX Trade Central!!

Happy Trading!

Side Notes:

- In addition to trading (always #1) I about working on a Lens. What is a Lens? Stay tuned for my next posting an I will explain.

Online Forex Trading - Which currencies to trade?

Online Forex trading is done using pair of currencies. You make money when the value of one currency changes in respect to the other. There are lots of currencies which are traded -EUR IEuro), USD (Dollar), GBP (British Pound), CHF (Swiss Franc), CAD (Canadian Dollar), JPY (Japenese Yen), NZD (NewZealand Dollar), AUD (Aussie Dollar) etc.These are traded in pairs. The prominant pairs are the ones

Online Forex Trading - When to trade?

The online forex trading market is open 24 hrs a day starting at 2 PM EST on Sunday till 5 PM on Friday. How is this? This is because Forex trading market is inter-country market and is traded across multiple countries. However the most prominent are - UK, USA, Japan, Australia and France.So as you see, in the morning the US market is trading it. As soon as the USA session is about to get over,

Online Forex Trading - What is it?

Welcome to another day in world of Online Forex Trading - Your plateform to learn forex trading and to trade withe meSo what is Online Forex trading - Its just like trading stocks, only you do this trading against Forex (Foreign Exchange) or currency. These are traded in pairs such as GBP/USD, EUR/USD etc. You buy one anticipating that its value is going to rise e.g. the other and when it does,

Forex Trading Tools

Hi Forex Nation!

I was discussing with some friends about setting yourself up to begin trading currencies. I found this good article (a little general), but provides a good outline for what do if your are ready to dive in and start learning!

Forex Trading Tools - Trading Computers, Forex Charting Software, Trade Stations, Trading Platforms, Forex Advisories,, Forex News:

"This is a collection of Forex 'Tools of the Trade' -- products and services that we have found to be the best of all we have tried over many years, and additonally selected because the companies behind them have demonstrated reliable service, integrity and value. They are beginner-friendly, yet offering a growing trader lots of support. Look for the Forex-Trader discounts.
To trade Forex successfully you will need the basics:

1. A reliable, reasonably fast computer, preferably with high speed access to the internet (DSL or Cable Modem for example). An Internet dial-up account or the telephone becomes your back-up should your primary access fail.

2. Good foreign currencies 'charting software' with a reliable, accurate data feed so that you can track currency movements in real time and perform the technical analysis necessary to trade effectively.

3. An on-line Forex trading account with a brokerage firm which provides a reliable Trading Platform, fair 'spreads', quick execution of trades, good on-line reporting, and excellent customer service.

4. A subscription to at least one Forex Trading 'Advisory Service' which provides market overviews at least daily. This gives you the context and overall directions of the market and will greatly assist in your own analysis and decision making.

Most importantly, you will need effective training and/or mentoring to master the techniques and discipline which 90 percent of beginning traders lack. This can be home study via cd's or on-line lessons, classes you travel to, or trainer/mentors who come to you. "

My blog is dedicated to helping those on the journey that currency trading has become for me!

Click here to see my recommended currency training courses.

Also I have established a training curriculum to guide the "new" currency traders through their first year of trading the forex market.

Happy Trading!

Stop Trading!!!

You ever watch a court room drama on TV and have the judge order a recess just as things are getting hot and out of control?

Have you ever been in a trade when things got hot and out of control?

Well, that is the time to stop trading and time to regroup!

Professional traders have a built in advantage in the form of a professional risk manager. These risk managers oversee the traders and monitor their trading activities.

Once professional trader drops below a certain level they must cease trading activities and re-access the market and their trading criteria.

Professional traders are not the only ones with a risk manager to oversea their activities.

In baseball, when a pitcher is having a rough outing the pitching coach will call time out and visit the pitcher. The pitching coach will discuss strategy and mechanics in an attempt to get the pitcher to re-group and re-focus.

If things continue to go bad for the pitcher, the next visit is by the manager to remove the pitcher from the game. Better to stop the pitcher from continuing in order not to jeopardize the game further.

We must also think about having a risk manager!

Individual traders do not have a professional risk manager at their disposal. The individual trader must rely on training, discipline and a solid trading plan.

Like a court room recess or a pitcher being taken out of the game, we must program into our trading plans rules for taking a time out and re-grouping after a series of poorly executed trades or market misreads.

Loses are a part of trading. However, we should have a maximum daily and account size draw that would trigger a predefined re-evaluation of our trading activities.

If we do not have a strategy to regroup built into our trading plan, then you risk letting emotions rule of trading decisions. That can only result in a downward spiral and a quick end of your trading capital and possibly to your FX career.

Remember, the market is always right! But also remember that the market is not trying to punish you. The market is only providing you feedback! The market can be a great teacher, but only if you are prepared to take advantage of the lesson.

“The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.”
- Confucius

Sign up for FXTC’s FREE Forex Newsletter to stay current with your forex education.

To be a complete forex trader visit FXTC’s Forex Education Roadmap. Continuous education will be your springboard to currency trading success!

Happy Trading!

The Canadian Dollar, Swissy of the Americas!

The Canadian Dollar is emerging as the Swiss Franc of the Americas! Recently, the CAD has ascended to levels against the USD that has not been seen since the 1970s!

Let’s take a look at some of the events which would make it the CAD the nouveau safe haven currency of the Western Hemisphere.

1. Euro as Reserve Currency

Central Banks have been on a recent run of reorganizing their foreign reserves. Most Central Banks are diversifying into more euro holdings and less USD. This has solidifying the Euro as a strong alternative in foreign reserve currency holdings.

A declining dollar benefits the CAD greatly!

2. Geo-Political Factors in the Americas

Cuba has long challenged the United States’ influence throughout the Americas. Recently, Venezuela has joined in the left-wing struggle and has been slowly renegotiated energy contract with the big multi-nationals.

With oil prices rising, Hugo Chavez has been exporting Venezuela’s new found oil influence throughout Latin America.

Recently, Venezuela was joined by Bolivia when, in a surprising move, nationalized their gas fields. This has many traders nervous since it is in the United States backyard.

3. CAD is the new Petro-Currency

In the time when the UK began pumping oil from the North Sea, GBP was the petro-currency of the time. Now a good oil play is to buy CAD and sell JPY. The CAD has shown strong correlation with the price of oil. CAD/JPY has shown an over 85% correlation to the price of oil since 2004.

Why the CAD/JPY? Simple! Canada is a net export of oil and Japan is a net importer of oil.

4. Net Exporter

Canada currently runs a trade surplus with its largest trade partner, the United States. This will give it more backing than any currency in the Americas as an alternate to the USD. Canada is rich in the commodities most in demand, oil, natural gas, diamonds and gold.

China and India are emerging economies with size. As their economy grows their demand for oil will grow also. So far OPEC has not demonstrated the capability to expand capacity in line with the increase in demand.

This should keep the CAD in demand as pressure for these resources are predicted to increase into the future.

The fact that the CAD has strengthened so much so fast should not be a surprise to anyone. This country has the resources and government control to play to its strengths, much like Switzerland.

Caution should be exercised. As with Britain when North Sea oil was plentiful, the CAD could strengthened to a degree that could trigger an economic downturn. North Sea oil peaked in 1999 and Britain is now a net importer of oil.

Conclusion, if you are looking for an oil play in the currency market or a safe haven to the USD in challenging geo-political times, let me introduce you to the Canadian Dollar.

For more currency education visit FX Trade Central!

Happy Trading!