24) Courage Under Fire â When a policeman breaks down the door to a drug dealer's apartment he is scared but he does it anyway. When a fireman climbs onto the roof of a burning building he is scared but does it anyway, and gets the job done. Same with trading. Itâs ok to be scared but you have to pull the trigger. No trigger â no trades â no profits â no trader.
25) Quality Trading Time â I suggest 3 hours a day of quality, focused trading time. Thatâs about all your brain allows. When you are trading be 100% focused. Half way is bullshit - it doesnât work. Donât even think that time spent in front of the computer watching the rates has any correlation to profitability - it doesnât. Spend less time but when your trading be 100% focused on trading.
26) Rationalizing â Killer. Absolute Killer. Put your trade on and let it run. If it hits your reasonable pre-determined stop you're out. Think of yourself as a prize fighter. You just got knocked out. Moving your stop is like getting up after being crushed with a knockout blow. Itâs pointless. Things will only get worse. Donât ignore the obvious. You're wrong â get out. Come back the next day and try again. A small loss will not hurt you - a catastrophic loss will.
27) Mixing Apples and Oranges â Have you ever done this? You see the EURUSD trading higher so you buy GBPUSD because it âhasnât moved yetâ. Thatâs a mistake. Most of the time the reason the GBPUSD hasnât moved yet is because it's already overbought or some 4:30am UK news was bearish. Donât mix apples and oranges. If EURUSD looks bid buy EURUSD.
28) Avoiding the Hard Trades â Bank FX traders have an axiom "the harder the trade is to do the better the trade". This I learned from experience. When I needed to buy EURUSD and it was hard to get them, thatâs when itâs necessary to pay up and get the business done. When itâs easy to get them, then sit back and wait for better levels. So if you are trying to get into a trade, or more importantly get out of a trade, donât putz around for a few points -get your business done.
29) Too Much Detail â If your trading more than 2 indicators then you need to clean house. Having many indicators stifles trading and finds reasons not to trade. A setup and a trigger is all you need.
30) Giving Up Too Easy â Your first trade of the day may not be your best but certainly itâs no reason to quit. I have a preset daily trading limit and I use it. You canât make money by making excuses. Getting trades wrong is natural and should be expected.
31) Jumping the Gun â Donât be penny wise and dollar foolish. Wait for your trade signal to be clear. Put on your trade and give it a decent size stop loss so that you donât get knocked out by random noise.
32) Afraid to Take a Loss - trading is not personal, itâs business. Donât think that a poor trade is a reflection on you. It could be your just ahead of your time or a commercial order hits the market and temporarily creates a small unexpected move. Again, place your stop beforehand and NEVER increase your pre-determined risk. If itâs going bad it will probably get worse. I think thatâs Einstein's âin motion stays in motionâ¦â
33) Over-Relying on Risk Reward â There is zero advantage in risk reward. If you put a 20 point stop and a 60 point profit your chances are probably 3-1 that you will lose. Actually with the spread its more like 4 to 1 (from entry point if it goes down 17 points you lose, or up 63 - you win; 17/63 is close to 4-1).
34) Trading for Wrong Reasons â Because the EURUSD is going up is not in itself a reason to buy. Buying EURUSD because it's not moving much is even worse. Youâre paying the toll (spread) without even a hint that you will get a directional move. If your bored, donât trade; the reason your bored is there is no trade to do in the first place.
35) Rumors â Rumors are rumors almost 100% of the time. Think about where in the motion you heard the rumor. If EURUSD is up 50 points in last 15 minutes and the rumor is dollar negative, well - then you missed it. Whenever you in motion with the trade, determine where you are entering.
36) Trading Short-term Moving Average Crossovers â This is the money sucker of the century. When the shorter term moving average cross the longer term moving average, it only means that the average price in the short run is equal to the average price in the longer run. For the life of me, I cannot understand why this is bullish or bearish. Easy to set up on software, complete with lights, bells and whistles, and good for the seller getting thousands for the software but in terms of creating profit - itâs a zero.
37) Stochastic â Another money sucker. Personally I think this indicator is used backwards. When it first signals an overdone condition, thatâs when I think the big spike in the âoverdoneâ currency pair occurs. To be overbought means strong and oversold means weak. Try buying on the first sign of overbought and selling on the first sign of oversold. Youâll be with the trend and likely have identified a move with plenty of juice left.
38) Wrong Broker â A lot of FOREX brokers are horrible. Get a good one. Read forums and chats in several different places to get an unbiased opinion.
39) Simulated Results â Watch out for âblack boxâ systems. These are trading systems that donât divulge how the trade signals are generated. Great majority of them are absolute garbage. They show you a track record of extraordinary results but think about it. If you could build a trading system with half a dozen filters using the benefit of hindsight, couldnât you too come up with a great system. Of course going forward is an entirely different story. High-speed number crunching capabilities allows for building great hindsight trading systems, so BEWARE.
40) Inconsistency â Every business (FOREX trading included) requires a business plan (trading plan). Unless you have taken the time to write down a set of rules that you can and will follow, itâs likely your trading will remain unfocused and directionless. Make a plan, have rules, follow them. Set goals that are realistic and you will achieve them.
41) Master of None â Focus on one currency for technical trading. Each currency has a unique way of trading and unless you get intimate with it you will never truly understand its underlying idiosyncrasies. Donât spread yourself too thin â focus, master one currency at a time.
42) Thinking Long Term â Donât do it. Stay in the moment. Especially if youâre a day trader. It doesnât matter what happens next week or next month. If you are trading with 30 to 50 point stops, restrict your thought process to whatâs happening right now. That is not to stay the long-term trend is not important. It is to say the long-term trend will not always help you when your trading a significantly shorter time frame.
43) Overconfidence â Trading is not easy. Statistics show 95% failure rate. If you're doing well, donât take your success for granted. Always be on the lookout for ways to improve what youâre already doing.
44) Getting Pumped Up â The trick is to maintain an even keel. When you are in a trade, you want to think exactly as you would if you didnât have a trade on. To do this requires a relaxed disposition. This is not a football game. Donât get psyched up. Relax and try to enjoy it.
45) Staying in the Game â I donât recommend demo trading because traders learn bad habits when trading with play money. I also donât think âletting it all hang outâ right away is wise either. Start off doing trades and taking risk that is relatively small but still makes a difference to you if you win or lose. About a quarter to a third of what you expect to reach as your trading matures is reasonable.