SUCCEEDING IN FOREX TRADING

A lot of traders start Forex trading thinking that it is a fast way of making money in the markets, people go into Forex trading thinking that they can just quit their jobs after one month of trading, well you are headed for a disaster, because if you think you can quit your job and become a full time Forex trader in one month it is synonymous to a medical doctor thinking he can perform an operation after one month in medical school. Let me tell you something, there are no fast ways to make money in the Forex markets, you must sit down and work hard and these are the things you need to do to succeed in the Forex markets
1.HAVE A TRADING PLAN
You need to have a trading plan that you use to succeed in the markets, a plan is a series of steps used to achieve an objective, a plan has to suit the environment where it is going to be executed.A trading plan is a foundation for a disciplined trader, it allows you to hold your head straight when all the talking heads are telling us the world is falling apart. The plan tells us why we are in the trade and make good decisions under the pressure of the markets.A trading plan should look like these
A. AFFIRMATIONS
affirmations should be the first thing you start your plan with, my trading plan starts with what Napoleon Hill says in his book Think and grow rich, whatever the heart of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. You can add other affirmations you like, it really helps in motivating yourself because you need motivation always in other to succeed in the Forex market
B. TRADING GOALS
You need short term goals like to consistently make money in the market to compliment your monthly income from your job and long term goals like to build your trading account to $100,000 or so depending on what you want to achieve financially.
C. FOREX TRADING STRATEGY
Your strategy should entail what type of market you are in, is it a trending or consolidating market? After determining the type of market you need to draw horizontal lines that will show you the core support and resistance levels on the charts, these are the the confluent areas you will look for your strategy to form or price action signals to form. The reversal signals can be bearish hammer, bullish hammer, spinning top, inside bar, outside bar, railway tracks, double top and double bottom. Choose one strategy you like and trade it for 3 - 6 months until you have mastered it before you move to the next one.
D. MONEY MANAGEMENT
You must have a specific amount of dollars you will risk per trade and make sure your risk reward ratio should be at least 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, depending on the one you want. You also have to choose the pairs you want to trade is it EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, GOLD, SILVER etc. Choose the time frame also, is it the daily charts, 4 hours chart, 1 hour chart? Choose the one you want. And remember capital preservation is very important, don't go and risk 20% of your account because sometimes you might see a perfect opportunity that conforms to your plan and if you take the trade you end up having a losing trade, that's how the market is, if you go into the markets expecting you will win all he time then you are headed for disaster because you must have a losing trade in the market, that is why you must limit your risk in order to preserve your capital.
2. TRADING JOURNAL
You need to have a trading journal that you use. So that you will be able to monitor your progress in the markets. Forex is a business you need to keep the records of your trades to assess yourself weekly, monthly or after 3 months depending on what you want to do.
And finally if you are new to the markets I advise you to have a trading plan and journal and then demo trade for 3 - 6 months before you go into live trading and if you do this and control your emotions and don't over trade and gamble with your money and you set realistic goals in the markets you will surely make it in the markets. Thank you.