Tips for beginners in foreign exchange trading
know the markets
We cannot stress enough how important it is to educate yourself about the forex market. Take the time to study currency pairs and their implications before risking your capital; it is an investment of time that can save you a lot of money.
create a plan and stick to it
Creating a trading plan is an important part of trading success. It should include your profit goals, your risk tolerance, your methodology and your evaluation criteria. Once you have defined your plan, you must ensure that every trade you consider matches the parameters of your plan. Remember: you are probably more rational before placing a trade and more irrational after placing it.
practise
Test your trading plan under real market conditions with a risk-free FOREX.com practice account. You’ll have the opportunity to see what it’s like to trade currency pairs and put your trading plan to the test without risking your capital.
predict market ‘weather’
Fundamental traders prefer to trade based on news and other financial and political data; technical traders favour technical analysis tools such as Fibonacci retracements and other indicators to predict market movements. Most traders use a combination of both. Regardless of the style you follow, it is important that you use the tools at your disposal to find potential trading opportunities in moving markets.
know your limits
It is simple, but critical to your future success: know your limits. This means knowing how much you are willing to risk per trade and never risking more than you can afford to lose.
know where to stop along the way
You do not have the time to follow the markets every minute of every day. You can better manage risk and protect potential profits with stop and limit orders that get you out of the market at the price you set.
Particularly useful are trailing stops, which follow the position at a set distance as the market moves and help protect profits in the event of a market reversal. Conditional orders do not necessarily limit downside risk.
leave emotions at the door
You have an open position and the market does not move in your favour. Perhaps you can make up for it with one or two trades that do not fit into your trading plan? A few trades can’t hurt, right?
Revenge trading rarely ends well. Don’t let emotions get in the way of your successful trading plan. It is smarter to stick to the plan and recover losses as you go along, rather than suddenly suffer two devastating losses.
proceed slowly and steadily
The key to trading is consistency. All traders have lost money at some point, but if you maintain a positive margin, you stand a better chance of coming out on top in the end. Educating yourself and creating a trading plan is a good thing, but the real test is sticking to that plan with patience and discipline.
don’t be afraid to experiment
Although consistency is important, don’t be afraid to re-evaluate your trading plan if things don’t work out the way you thought they would. With experience, your needs may change; your plan should always reflect your goals. If your goals or financial situation change, your plan must also change.
choose the right business partner for you
When trading in the financial markets, choosing the right trading partner is crucial. Pricing, execution and quality of customer service can make all the difference in your trading experience.
