100 Forex Tactics (1 - 44)

1. Learn the basics of forex trading. It's amazing how many people simply don't know what they're doing. In order to compete at the highest level in the trading business and be one of the few truly successful participants you must be well-educated about what you are doing. This does not mean having a degree from a well-respected university ? the market doesn?t care where you were educated.

2. Forex trading is a zero sum game. For every long there is also a short. If 80% of the traders are on the long side ,then the remaining 20% are on the short side. This means further that the shorts must be well capitalized and are considered to be strong hands. The 80%, who are holding much smaller positions per trader, are considered to be weaker hands who will be forced to liquidate those longs on any sudden turn in prices.

3. Nobody is bigger than the market.

4. The challenge is not to be the market, but to read the market. Riding the wave is much more rewarding than being hit by it.

5. Trade with the trends, rather than trying to pick tops and bottoms.

6. Trying to pick tops and bottoms is another common fx trading mistake. If you're going to trade tops and bottoms, at least wait until the price action actually confirms that a top or a bottom has been formed before you take a position in the market. Trying to pin-point tops and bottoms in the foreign exchange market is very risky, but exercising a little patience and waiting for a proven top or bottom to form can increase your odds of profiting and somewhat reduce your risk.

7. There are at least three types of markets: up trending, range bound, and down. Have different trading strategies for each.

8. Standing aside is a position.

9. In uptrends, buy the dips ;in downtrends, sell bounces.

10. In a Bull market, never sell a dull market, in Bear market, never buy a dull market.

11. Up market and down market patterns are ALWAYS present, merely one is more dominant. In an up market, for example, it is very easy to take sell signal after sell signal, only to be stopped out time and again. Select trades with the trend.

12. A buy signal that fails is a sell signal. A sell signal that fails is a buy signal.

13. Let profits run, cut losses short.

14. Let your profits run, but don't let greed get in the way. Once you've already made a nice profit on a trade, consider taking either some or all of the money off the table and move on to the next trade. It's natural to hope that one trade will end up as your "winning lottery ticket" and make you rich, but that is simply not realistic. Don't hold the position too long and end up giving all your well-deserved profits back to the market.

15. Use protective stops to limit losses.

16. Use appropriate stop-loss orders at all times to cut your losses and never, ever sit back and let your losses run. Almost every trader at some point makes the mistake of letting his or her losses run in hopes that the market will eventually turn around in his or her favor but, more often than not, it simply leads to an even greater loss. You win some, you lose some. Simply learn to cut your losses, take your occasional lumps and move on to the next trade. And if you made a mistake, learn from it and don't do it again. To avoid letting your losses run, get into the habit of determining an acceptable profit target as well as an acceptable risk tolerance level for each and every forex trade before entering the market. Then simply place a stop-loss order at the appropriate price - but not so tight (close to the market) that the stop could quickly take you out of the position before the market has a chance to move in your favor. Using a stop is always the smart move.

17. Avoid placing protective stops at obvious round numbers. Protective stops on long positions should be placed below round numbers (10, 20, 25, 50,75, 100) and on short positions ,above such numbers.

18. Placing stop loss is an art. The trader must combine technical factors on the price chart with money management considerations.

19. Analyze your losses. Learn from your losses. They're expensive lessons; you paid for them. Most traders don't learn from their mistakes because they don't like to think about them.

20. Stay out of trouble, your first loss is your smallest loss.

21. Survive! In forex trading, the ones who stay around long enough to be there when those "big moves" come along are often successful.

22. If you are a new trader, be a small trader (mini account) for at least a year, then analyze your good trades and your bad ones. You can really learn more from your bad ones.

23. Don't trade unless you're well financed...so that market action, not financial condition, dictates your entry and exit from the market. If you don't start with enough money, you may not be able to hang in there if the market temporarily turns against you.

24. Be more objective and less emotional.

25. Use money management principles.

26. Money management increases the odds that the trader will survive to reach the long run.

27. Diversify, but don?t overdo it.

28. Employ at least a 3 to 1 reward-to-risk ratio.

29. Calculate the risk/reward ratio before putting a trade on, then guard against holding it too long.

30. Don?t trade impulsively ; have a plan

31. Have specific goals and objectives.

32. Five steps to build a trading system: a) Start with a concept b)Turn it into a set of objective rules. c) Visually check it out on the charts d) Formally test it with a demo e) Evaluate the results.

33. Plan your work and work your plan.

34. Trade with a plan - not with hope, greed, or fear. Plan where you will get in the market, how much you will risk on the trade, and where you will take your profits.

35. Follow your plan. Once a position is established and stops are selected, do not get out unless the stop is reached or the fundamental reason for taking the position changes.

36. Any successful trading system must take into account three important factors: price forecasting , timing , and money management. Price forecasting indicates which way a market is expected to trend. Timing determines specific entry and exit points. Money management determines how much to commit to the trade.

37. Don't cherry-pick your system's set-ups. Trade every signal.

38.Trading systems that work in an up market may not work in a down market.

39. Establish your trading plans before the market opening to eliminate emotional reactions. Decide on entry points, exit points, and objectives. Subject your decisions to only minor changes during the session. Profits are for those who act, not react.Don't change during the session unless you have a very good reason.

40. Double-check everything.

41. Always think in terms of probabilities. Trading is all about thinking in probabilities NOT certainties. You can make all the ?right? decisions and the trade still goes against you. This does not make it a ?wrong? trade, just one of the many trades you will take which, through probability, are on the ?loosing? side of your trading plan. Don?t expect not to have negative trades - they are a necessary part of the plan and cannot be avoided.

42. The place to start your market analysis is always by determining the general trend of the market.

43. Trade only with a strategy that you've proven to yourself.

44. When pyramiding (adding positions), follow these guidelines. a. Each successive layer should be smaller than before.
b. Add only to winning positions.
c. Never add to a losing position. One of the few trade management rules that we can state we never break is ?Never add to a losing trade?. Trades are split into winners and losers, and if a trade is a loser, the chances of it turning right around and becoming a winner are too small to risk more money on. If indeed it is a winner disguised as a loser, why not wait until it shows it?s true colors (and becomes a
d. winner)before you add to it. If you do this you will notice that nearly always the trade ends up hitting your stop loss and does not look back. Sometimes the trade turns around before it hits your stop and becomes a winner and you can count yourself very fortunate. Sometimes the trade hits your stop loss and then turns around and becomes a winner and you can count yourself unlucky. Whatever the result, it is never worth adding to a loser, hoping that it will become a winner. The odds of success are just too low to risk more capital in addition to the initial risk.
e. Adjust protective stops to the breakeven point.