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Avoiding Failure in the Forex Market
Forex trading can be an incredibly profitable way to make a living. The combination of margin leverage and a low minimum amount required for trading make forex trading ideal for small investors.
However, despite the opportunities for profit, the majority of forex traders lose all of their money within a year.
Why? Well I have found six root causes that can explain why so many new forex traders fail:
1. Unrealistic Expectations. Too many novice traders read about how easy it is to make money trading forex and they just jump in and lose everything before they even know what hit them.
Forex trading is not a get rich quick scheme. It requires hard work and research to be successful. And even then, you cannot expect every trade to be a winner. Even the best traders lose on trades. The key is knowing when to cut your losses and focus on the winners.
2. Not doing enough research. Forex trading is easy to learn, but difficult to master. Experienced traders make it seem so easy, but predicting currency prices is a complex endeavor. And as a small investor you are at a disadvantage. Large financial institutions have resources that you don't. They may have an entire staff analyzing the most recent economic indicators while you just have yourself. You must be prepared to spend some solid time learning before you can expect to win big.
3. Gambling instead of investing. If you think you can beat the market without doing research and just picking currency trades based on a hunch, good luck. I've seen people do this and they usually pick a few winners and make some short-term profits, but in the end they just get slaughtered.
4. Lack of focus. Depending on which broker you use, there are likely dozens of currencies you can trade. But when you are just starting out, think small. Pick a few of the most popular currencies, such as the US Dollar, the Japanese Yen, and the Euro, and focus exclusively on them. The more currencies you trade, the more data you will have to analyze in order to spot trends. Better to know a few currencies really well than to know just a little about each.
5. Not having a trading system. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different trading systems available. Some you will have to pay for, but many are free. Choose a system that is right for you based on your capital, your goals, and your personality. Without a system, you might as well be throwing darts.
6. Not sticking to your system. Having a trading system is not enough, you have to follow it through good times and bad. This is easier said than done. Its easy to get greedy and go for the big score or get nervous and get out too soon. You must follow your system to determine both entry and exit points. If you ignore them you risk missing out on a big upswing or being stuck in a trade as it goes sour.
The best forex traders know that knowing when to get out of a trade is even more important than knowing when to get in.
Recent Forex News
Technical Analysis
GBPUSD: Bearishness Remains Dominant
Outlook for the pair continues to point to the downside after bear pressure pushed GBP further lower the past week. This is coming on the back of its previous week losses and has now opened up further downside risk towards the 1.5326 level, its Aug 31'10 low. On a turn
EURUSD: Set For More Gains
Having closed strongly higher on the back of previous week strength, further bullish threats are now likely as we enter a new week. This technical development should call for more strength towards its Aug 18'10 high at 1.2921 with a violation there targeting the 1.3332 level. A break will resume
USDCAD: Collapses, Halts Upside Offensive
USDCAD: The pair ended the week lower after an attempt on the upside failed the past week and pushed USDCAD to a low of 1.0384 on Friday. With that said, we think a follow through lower should see the pair weakening further towards the 1.0246 level, its Aug 19’10 low
Weekly Technical Update: Greenback Weakened Post Non-Farm Payroll
The USD was in consolidation/ correction mode this week ahead of the NFP. This is in a sense the market's way of paring some overextended USD gains, but also offers a chance for the market to continue with greenback strength. There was some dollar strength immediately after the release, but
USDJPY: Retains Its Broader Downside Bias
USDJPY: The pair continues to retain its broader downside bias as it looks to recapture its YTD low at 83.58 despite its price hesitation. A breach of there will open the door for more downside towards the 82.00 level, its psycho level with a cut through there aiming at the 81.00 level.
Newsfeed display by CaRP
Fundamental Analysis
Dollar Index Falls to Support on Better Job Data
The dollar, while rising against the yen and Swiss franc, fell versus other key counterparts after better-thanexpected US employment data eased concern of a double-dip recession. For the week, all the major crosses except sterling rose against the greenback. Private-sector payrolls grew more than expected in August and job losses
Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary
For a generation of Americans brought up on action heroes who face impossible challenges and then win the day, the results of fiscal and monetary stimulus are disappointing. Yet, the level of pessimism and talk of a double-dip strike us as too much of a bad thing. This week we
The Weekly Bottom Line
We had some fairly positive data this week, starting with expansions in both personal income and consumption for the month of July. Then the Conference Board's consumer confidence index surprised market expectations on the upside and the ISM manufacturing index also fared better than expected underpinned by a surprisingly strong
Risk Rebounds on Improving Global Data
The past week began with disappointment stemming from Japan's lack of direct currency intervention and risk aversion looked probable to continue into the week. This was not the case as better than expected Australian 2Q GDP started a ripple effect culminating into a global wave of positive data surprises. Upbeat
Is this an Audacious Obama Hope Rally?
The strong rally in risk into today's close in the US today can't be about this week's economic data particularly as the ISM non-manufacturing index for August showed a steep deceleration. So why the rally? The combination of an equity rally and a lousy ISM resulted in the predictable
Newsfeed display by CaRP
Technical Analysis
GBPUSD: Bearishness Remains Dominant
Outlook for the pair continues to point to the downside after bear pressure pushed GBP further lower the past week. This is coming on the back of its previous week losses and has now opened up further downside risk towards the 1.5326 level, its Aug 31'10 low. On a turn
EURUSD: Set For More Gains
Having closed strongly higher on the back of previous week strength, further bullish threats are now likely as we enter a new week. This technical development should call for more strength towards its Aug 18'10 high at 1.2921 with a violation there targeting the 1.3332 level. A break will resume
USDCAD: Collapses, Halts Upside Offensive
USDCAD: The pair ended the week lower after an attempt on the upside failed the past week and pushed USDCAD to a low of 1.0384 on Friday. With that said, we think a follow through lower should see the pair weakening further towards the 1.0246 level, its Aug 19’10 low
Weekly Technical Update: Greenback Weakened Post Non-Farm Payroll
The USD was in consolidation/ correction mode this week ahead of the NFP. This is in a sense the market's way of paring some overextended USD gains, but also offers a chance for the market to continue with greenback strength. There was some dollar strength immediately after the release, but
USDJPY: Retains Its Broader Downside Bias
USDJPY: The pair continues to retain its broader downside bias as it looks to recapture its YTD low at 83.58 despite its price hesitation. A breach of there will open the door for more downside towards the 82.00 level, its psycho level with a cut through there aiming at the 81.00 level.
Newsfeed display by CaRP
Fundamental Analysis
Dollar Index Falls to Support on Better Job Data
The dollar, while rising against the yen and Swiss franc, fell versus other key counterparts after better-thanexpected US employment data eased concern of a double-dip recession. For the week, all the major crosses except sterling rose against the greenback. Private-sector payrolls grew more than expected in August and job losses
Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary
For a generation of Americans brought up on action heroes who face impossible challenges and then win the day, the results of fiscal and monetary stimulus are disappointing. Yet, the level of pessimism and talk of a double-dip strike us as too much of a bad thing. This week we
The Weekly Bottom Line
We had some fairly positive data this week, starting with expansions in both personal income and consumption for the month of July. Then the Conference Board's consumer confidence index surprised market expectations on the upside and the ISM manufacturing index also fared better than expected underpinned by a surprisingly strong
Risk Rebounds on Improving Global Data
The past week began with disappointment stemming from Japan's lack of direct currency intervention and risk aversion looked probable to continue into the week. This was not the case as better than expected Australian 2Q GDP started a ripple effect culminating into a global wave of positive data surprises. Upbeat
Is this an Audacious Obama Hope Rally?
The strong rally in risk into today's close in the US today can't be about this week's economic data particularly as the ISM non-manufacturing index for August showed a steep deceleration. So why the rally? The combination of an equity rally and a lousy ISM resulted in the predictable
Newsfeed display by CaRP