Last Updated on Mar 12, 2020 by James W
Meeting the Brokers
When one first sets out on his or her mission to become a leading and profitable trader the choices are infinite. Solutions, tools, courses, deals and more the list is never ending. Whether you want to become a part time or fulltime trader will be an important decision when determining the relevant trading styles and strategies for you, so you better think carefully. One of the frequent problems traders have is a failure to map out a sufficient time table for their trading and analysis. Thankfully you can monitor your trades on the go with mobile supported platforms but none the less, you do not want to find yourself analyzing and entering into regular positions whilst rushing out and about. Once you have covered the basics, if you really want to learn to trade you will need to focus, analyze and read around the markets as part of a daily routine. It makes a lot of sense to perhaps choose a session to trade for example; I am going to trade the Asia, Europe or US session and specifically the opening or close. This will help you in turn select the right currencies or instruments you might want to be trading and analyzing and simultaneously help you build a structured time frame for observing price behavior. If you are trading full time, it is still wise to choose a session that can help you focus your analysis, entry point and position taking times.
Choosing the right platform
Technology today is continuously changing the way we analyze and trade financial markets today. Thankfully, you have the freedom to get on top of the market by making the right choice. Most brokers offer a selection of Mobile, Desktop and Web Based Platforms. What this means is that you can both download the application to see your account on mobile whilst also download software on your computer that allows you to access the market prices too. If you are using other computers from time to time a web trading platform can also come in handy as you can access this from any PC at anytime. Be sure your broker is not only regulated out of a viable jurisdiction such as the UK, but also offer all 3 platforms. One additional tip you want to try is to also test the demo platforms first and see what the commissions or spreads are like that the brokers you go with will offer its clients. Once you’re satisfied and they have given you friendly service you can begin to enquire about education packages and then open your account. Take your time, since you will be the one doing the trading at the end of the day. When talking about trading, another platform that would be worth it to keep an eye on is oil trading – known as a real form of basic energy.
Learning the theory
There are many ground rules you must cover before you begin trading on the live markets (which is where you will be gaining most of your experience). Some brokers will provide good education courses and books for you to learn from although there are plenty of resources both online and also printed offline. Some examples of beginner’s education might be babypips.com or investopedia.com whilst hardback books might include “Beginners Guide To Trading???. The basics you would want to cover as a new trader include the following; An overview of the platform, costs and trade sizes, the nature of analyzing market charts and price behavior known as technical analysis, interpreting news and daily economic announcements known as fundamental analysis and several key well known trading styles and strategies. One might want to worry less about specific strategies since over time the ideal scenario is to build your own approach to entering and exiting deals.
The journey is ultimately in your hands
Unless your plan is to invest in a managed forex account, no matter what they say to you, as the trader your profit and loss statements will be in your hands. Treat it like any businessman would treat his new business. Work out how much you’re willing and to invest and what you can afford to invest. Better to be realistic about the sort of returns you would like to make and remember that anything beyond 40% per annum becomes increasingly more risky and chancy. That’s not to say that it cannot be done but may mean your strategy may need to be consistent and perfected in order to head towards such achieving such a return. Becoming a professional trader is a journey that can take time. Do not expect results over night but at the same time do expect to learn new things each and every day. Keeping a trader’s journal is always helpful in taking down notes and documenting both winning successful and less successful trades. Arguably one of the most important skills when learning to become a trader is understanding the importance of risk management, so be sure to explore risk reward ratio concepts and take profit, stop loss management. At the end of it all you will need to learn to both enjoy the up’s and downs and learn to keep up with the changing market environments so read valuable news sources frequently such as Bloomberg, Reuters and Financial Times.
