Pips 4 Idiots

Archive for the ‘Forex Content’ Category

Keeping a Forex Trading Log to Analyze Your Actions

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

One of the most powerful pieces of information you can use to evaluate your actions as a forex trader is a trading log. With each trade, you should keep track of your thoughts and actions so you can improve your approach to trading. Here are some of the popular entries in a trading log:

1. Date
2. Time
3. Entry price
4. Number of lots opened
5. Initial Protective Stop level
6. Reason for entering into the trade
7. Target price (if any)
8. Exit price
9. Reason for exiting out of the trade
10. Result

After you have logged at least 10 trades, you can go back to compare your thoughts to how the market reacted after your entry.

Some questions to ask yourself include:

1. How did the market trade after I entered into the trade?
2. If the trade was profitable, how far did the market move against me before reversing?
3. If the trade was a loss, how profitable did the trade become before reversing?
4. Where was my protective stop at the beginning of the trade and at the end of the trade?
5. What was the direction of the trend on the daily chart when I opened the trade?
6. If the trade was profitable, how much of the move did I catch?
7. How close was I to the ideal entry point of the move and how could I improve that?
8. Was there a news release or other factor in the move of the market after entry?
9. Could I have managed the trade better?
10. Was my position size good or does it need to be adjusted?

These are of course just some examples. With time, you may need to log more information or ask yourself tougher questions. But analyzing your actions is the best way to see if what you are doing needs to be improved or changed. Certainly, your account balance from month to month lets you know if what you are doing makes sense, but getting better is the key to successful trading and keeping a log of your actions and thoughts is the best way to be able to accurately analyze your actions as a trader. 

Why Get Into Forex Trading?

Monday, April 12th, 2010

There is the stock market and there is the foreign exchange market. The latter is considered the bigger opportunity-if you know how it works and if you have the money to invest. There are a lot of reasons nowadays why people are flocking to learn the in and outs of forex trading.

But why get into forex trading anyway? Are there any truths behind the big profit boon we all keep hearing about? These points are the prime reasons why the forex market is so huge right now:

Boundless Activity
The foreign exchange market is open 24 hours on weekdays. Compared to other markets that operate at specific hours and days, the forex market is a buzz of activity and opportunities in the week. Investors can react to specific changes and trends that happen within the week, anytime.

Freedom
This also means freedom from normal office hours; traders can operate whatever time they wish. Naturally, this attracts people from different lifestyles, locales and classes. If you have a laptop, then you can trade no matter where you are.

Less Cost
Add the purely liquid nature of the market and the electronic way of transacting in it then you would have a feature that will definitely attract people: the lesser trading costs. We can do away with the traditional costs that add up to your bill and concentrate on only the spreads. The spreads here are usually smaller than the spreads in other markets, and that would mean better profits.

Leverage
Unlike other markets where leverages are small, forex trading allows for bigger leverages, giving you the chances to trade up to a hundred times your investment. Brokers have features where they can give you a lot of leverage depending on the account. Of course, this also means a bigger risk of losing money. Risk management protects you from this.

Stable Price
Since your trade is done immediately, chances are the prices you saw are what you are going to get. Compared this to other markets, where your transaction often ends in a span of a day or two thus giving a chance for the price to slip and change. The stability and speed attracts a lot of traders in this market. Your assets are not tied up for long periods, giving you more control.

Transparency
Being electronic in transactions and having liquid, movable assets is easier to analyze and manage. Everything can be accessed by your platform and laptop. Your deals can be executed as per your viewpoint and strategy. This gives you a better feel of the market cycle, making your predictions more accurate each time you trade.

Stable Profit Chances
Since your trading involves two currencies and not other markets and trends, one always has the opportunity for profit. There is no bulldog watching of rising or falling of markets, goods and industries. Whether the market is bullish or bearish does not really need to worry you. What really matters is that you pick the right currency to trade.

Forex trading is considered the perfect competition for logical reasons. Everybody is presented with an equal playing field. Even if the currency is falling, it just means that there is currency rising somewhere and the opportunity of profit exists. An unlimited earning potential, the freedom, and the even opportunity makes the foreign exchange market an exciting opportunity for anyone.