Hi everyone! I m trading more than a year now (15 months) and I m not sure if I should quit forex trading or if I should give it another try. Generally I m loosing, mostly because of psychology, bad MM and impatiense. But even when I m trying too apply the above I still choose the wrong trades!(bad luck?) I do not really have too much time every day (I can spend no more than 4 hours/day and I think thats not enough to become a successful trader). I ve spend quite a deal of money reading a few books, watching many good videos and on signals & educational services but still charts are not clear enough! Why a trade is happening and when. At least not always and thats why I m loosing money. Almost every trade I place goes the other way! Sometimes I m thinking that I should trade the opposite of what I think! The only trading method that I ve been quite successful but I didn't continue (maybe I should) were scalping at low timeframes like 1min, 30sec etc. So could anyone tell me any way out of this? I mean how should I continue? I m in a dead end and ready to quit forex but I ve really spent too much efort and hours on it and I would like to give it another try. Has anyone else went through this stage?
take a short break - follow markets in the evening if you still have the feeling you would like to go for it then trade bigger timeframe's try some swingtrading. study charts in evening and evaluate what happent that session will do you more good then reading tons of books. generally i think its better not to trade at the moment and observe the market. no trade no loose. good luck
Almost all short time traders lose. Trade 4 hrs. and only pairs that show smooth price lines with no hectic, jumps or gaps in the past 2-3 days. Enter and exit by looking at 1 hrs and 30 min. charts. And stick to the 4 hr charts. You can make 800 pips a month easy with little drawdown and with most pairs. PM me, if you like to know my setups. Happy trading, Felix
thanks for the replies. I ve got a small account at the moment (about 3k$) so I m not sure if I can trade with 4H timeframe. To be honest 4H scares me since it needs to set big SLs (of course it has big TPs) and from the psychology part this is not good at all if you need to set a eg. 100pip SL for 200 pip gain. Anyway I ll give it a try but to be honest right now I m not sticked with a specific strategy (one year now I m almost sure I ve seen at least the 80% of strategies out there!!! I ve read too many forums/threads/posts!!!)
In my opinion, success is strategy. Everything flows from strategy. Psychology, money management, profitability. If your strategy loses, psychology is a bitch as the subconscious continually freaks in response to what it knows will be a variable outcome, at best. Having gone the distance from newbie to profitable day-trader, I can say that without equivocation. 18 months is nothing. Try 5 years. Thats an investment. You need to reconsider your approach and stick to technical analysis. There's a good thread over at Forexfactory by BillyRayValintine "No Brainer Trades". That's enough help, for now. Stick with it, don't give up, stay with TA and you'll get it within another 12-18 months.
Paper trade until you discover your trading style i.e preferred time frame, entries/exits, strategy etc. All you have done up to now is become better informed about the market and trading, but you don't really have a clue how to trade. It takes time to put it together. Like jumping from a 30 sec time frame to 4 hrs is such a crazy leap you can't jump into trading without a long period of learning. If you were moose hunting and kept missing and getting attacked by the moose but you thought your problem was psychology you'd be laughed out of town. Your technique is the problem before anything else but it's difficult to point you in a direction when you are so unsure about yourself.
thanks for all your replies. Its good that I see replies from traders that are successfull. That gives me courage to continue trying. I know I can make it at the end! Its just that in one trade I loose in one I win!
generally is not that I m totaly newbie. I do recognize many trades that are going to happen but I m scared of getting in (like double tops/bottoms, 123 etc) but some times they do not work or I m entering too late and as a result of that the trade reverses. I m using MAs, Pivots, CCIs and other indicators. But im not 100% how they actually work (I know how to use them in trading). And there are out there so many books, tutorials, videos, forums, strategies etc that its a real CHAOS! And most of them are just looking at your wallet and giving you knowledge in a can. I really do not know which one to follow in order to start having some good results!
Well thats a huge thread and I m not sure if i need to read just the first pages or if i should go all over it! But i ll read it! generally is not that I m totaly newbie. I do recognize many trades that are going to happen but I m scared of getting in (like double tops/bottoms, 123 etc) but some times they do not work or I m entering too late and as a result of that the trade reverses. I m using MAs, Pivots, CCIs and other indicators. But im not 100% how they actually work (I know how to use them in trading). And there are out there so many books, tutorials, videos, forums, strategies etc that its a real CHAOS! And most of them are just looking at your wallet and giving you knowledge in a can. I really do not know which one to follow in order to start having some good results!
Your confusion is 10,000% normal. Every trader must solve the labyrinth themselves. Do what I said in my original post and stick to TA. The answer is buried in there. Keep in mind - trading success comes in varying degrees; from guys who pull 40% a year, to 40% a week. Some even more. You're oriented in the right direction. Now its on you.