Funds Blog

Common Sense Guidelines For Currency Trading

If you don’t use common sense than you might as well not trade at all! Someone had rightly said a long time ago that common sense is so common that nobody uses it. Well, if you are going to become a trader than you need a lot of common sense. OK, now a few common sense guidelines for you as a trader:

1) Always beware of forex brokers. Your broker might be cheating you and you may never know about it. It is all due to the unregulated nature of the forex market. Even if you complain nothing will happen. Don’t fall into the trap of some unknown broker. Your ability to trade effectively depends on consistent spread and ample liquidity. You should always look for a reputable broker. Anyone can open a position. However, your ability to close a position at a good price is more important.

2) Always live to trade another day. Never try to win big in one single trade. This is not trading, it is gambling. If you believe in winning big than quit trading and start gambling! But if you do that you will only ruin yourself. Trading means making consistent steady profits! Learn prudent money management rules. Avoid using excessive leverage that puts your investment capital at risk. Always trade with a stop!

3) You should know how to calculate the risk/reward ratio for each trade. Only enter a trade when your risk/reward ratio is less than . Set a reasonable risk/reward ratio for your trades. Never ever override yours tops for emotional reasons. Don’t react to price action buying just because you think it is cheap or selling because you think the price is high now. Always use technical analysis to make your decisions. Never ever trade emotionally. Stick to your plan and maintain your trading discipline. Always develop and make a trading plan before you take up trading.

4) Always remember you should plan each trade before actually entering it. You are not a punter. Always plan each trade. Don’t punt. Punting is trading for the sake of trading without any planning or view.

5) Don’t leave stops at round numbers or obvious levels. If you do that chances are they will be triggered.

6) Don’t double up just in order to recoup your losses. In other words, only do that if it is part of a trading strategy. Don’t add to a losing position unless it is part of a plan to scale into a position.

7) You should develop trading discipline. When trading against the trend be disciplined in taking profits and don’t hold out for the last pip. When trading with a trend always use a trailing stop loss order.
Avoid emotional highs or lows on individual trades. Consistency should be your target. Treat trading as a continuum. Don’t base your success on one trade.

9) Crosses are very important. They can give you a lot of useful information about the major currency pairs. Always keep an eye on the crosses. Try to trade multicurrency. This will hedge your risk.

10) Markets hate surprise news. You should know the economic calendar. Don’t trade just ahead of an economic news release. Always beware of volatility following the economic releases. Be cognizant of what news is coming out each day so that you never get surprised.

11) Stay away from illiquid times like holidays or pre-holidays when liquidity is thin. Beware of central bank intervention in illiquid markets.