YOU CAN'T AFFORD NOT TO

When most Traders are facing the possibility of taking a loss, they tell themselves that they can not afford to take that loss, I am saying, You can't afford not to take it. A running loss is like a poison that sucks the life out of our accounts until it is dry. The biggest gift that I would give to all trader if I could is how to take a loss and follow profit. I know that I am always taking about this, but it is the #1 thing that cause Traders heartache and financial ruin.

If You are giving Yourself pep talks about bad trades, like "It will come back" then You are already in trouble. I have learned to set my stop losses tightly; You may not be comfortable with that, but whatever Your stop loss is, You must honor it and not move it if price is approaching it. If You are stopped out, it means that Your opinion of the market's direction was wrong and the market did not do what You thought it would do.

So what, it is no big deal. I take losses and believe me it sucks, but the truth is, once You let the bad trade go, You are better prepared with more capital for the good trade. If You trade a good set-up, then You are eventually going to find the right trade, but it is an art that requires discipline. It is all timing, discipline and set-up my Friend.

Trading is not hard, every day the market does 3 things, moves up, moves down, moves sideways, that's all. We make this a hard process by holding on to bad trades. LET BAD TRADES GO AND NEVER LET THEM TRAP YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

LET BAD TRADES GO, AND DON'T STOP UNTIL YOU ARE AHEAD OF THE GAME. YOU WILL NOT GET EVERY TRADE RIGHT, SO WHAT, SUCK IT UP AND MOVE ON. EITHER PLAY WITH DISCIPLINE OR DON'T PLAY! IF YOU LACK THE DISCIPLINE TO PLAY PROPERLY, YOU WILL ONLY BE ENRICHING YOUR OPPONENT WITH YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. EVERYDAY SOMEONE HAS TO WIN THIS GAME AND AT THE END OF THE DAY I WANT THAT SOMEONE TO BE ME AND YOU SHOULD WANT THAT SOMEONE TO BE YOU. I CAN'T WIN ALL OF THE TIME, BUT I CAN SCORE BIG WHEN I DO WIN!!!

A loss is like putting a rattle snake in your pocket, it will eventually kill You!

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)!

BASKETBALL AND FOREX

We can learn a lot about how we should strategize in forex from basketball. In basketball if a player misses a shot, the team doesn't sit down, close their eyes and ears, while the other team is still playing; hoping that the game is going to come back in their favor. If a coach told you that was his strategy, you'd say that was ludicrous. Yet in forex a trader will put in a bad trade, turn off the computer, leaving the mistake to grow bigger, hoping that things will come back in his/her favor.

Good trading doesn't work like that, you have to practice good defense, you have to protect yourself!!

Everyday in forex you have an opponent and you must use your defense if you are going to be consistently profitable.

In basketball if your point guard has an injury that is keeping him from scoring, you cut that player and use the back-up point guard. In forex You must do the same thing. When your primary plan fails, you MUST cut that position and use a back-up plan..

Many times as traders we take a hit and quit. If you have a good strategy, you can keep playing until you are ahead of the game.

Two things you must remember to get into the big leagues. #1 CUT BAD TRADES QUICKLY #2 DON'T OVER-TRADE YOUR ACCOUNT. When I say don't over-trade, I mean if you have $1000.00 account don't trade a half of a lot.

If you have a $100.00 account and you trade 1 micro lot (.10) you can grow that by $5.00/day. Everyday that You reach your goal you can add 2 more pennies, which will give you an extra dollar everyday on 50pips. At that end of the 1st week, you will have $35.00, $75.00 the 2nd, and if you stop at that (.30), you can make an additional $150.00 for the month, for a total of $260.00 the 1st month; which is more than double what you started out with. The 2nd month you'd have $300.00, that is an additional $3560.00 for the year if you add .02/day to .10 and stopped at .30 and stayed there the rest of the trading year.

Remember forex is a get rich slow game, so don't over-trade your account.

Use discipline with a good strategy. Most importantly CUT BAD TRADES QUICKLY, because the best strategy in the world is no match for a free running loss!

NEVER LET THEM TRAP YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CUT BAD TRADES QUICKLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



If you take a hit, don't sit down and quit hoping the other team is going to have mercy and let you win. They are your opponent, they are not your babysitters, they are out to beat you. You have to stay in the game, practice good defense, and protect yourself if you are going to come out ahead!!!!!

You can do this(^_^)!!!

CONTROLLING RISK

One of the most important things You can do as a trader is to control your risk. In other words pre-set a point that You have determined that You could possibly be wrong.



Remember, trading isn't hard, it is just tricky because everyday the market does the same thing, it moves up and down and sideways and gets choppy. It not only does this every day, but every week, every month and every year. Your job is to determine the primary direction of the market's movement and try to profit from that knowledge.



Sounds easy, but there are hidden traps in the market to snag You, and keep things interesting. Market Makers are always trying to to trick You before taking price strongly against You. They are attempting to trap You in a losing position. This happens everyday in the market, and it WILL eventually happen to You too.



You advantage is in keeping your losses small. Have a predetermined amount of pips the You are willing to lose. Once You have determined that amount, 'say 20 pips or so on a short term trade, MAKE NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!!!!



A FREE RUNNING LOSS can be a major game changer!



It should not take a -200 pips in short term trading before You realize that You have loss Your advantage. If You are telling yourself "Ah it will come back", chances are very good that You are already in trouble!



Being a pro traders does mean that you never take losses, being a Pro Trader means that You never let losses take You out of the game!!!



NEVER LET THEM TRAP YOU!!!!!!!







If You are telling yourself "Ah it will come back", chances are very good that You are already in trouble!



CUT BAD TRADES QUICKLY AND GO IN THE DIRECTION OF PROFIT!!!!!

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)!

EVERY BROKE TRADER DOES IT THE SAME WAY

Every trader who ever goes broke does it the same way.

I have heard it said that Traders go broke because they are under capitalized, that isn't true. If You can lose $100.00, you can lose $1,000,000.00. The problem is the same in both traders, the refusal to let go of losses. The difference between the pro and the amateur isn't necessarily his/her trading ability. Trading is easy!

The difference is in how he/she takes a loss. A disciplined pro will say, " I will stop the bleeding here if I am wrong." The amateur says, " I am right and eventually the market will come back in my favor." If You are thinking that, You have lost Your advantage.

While a pro will let 10 profitable trade kill 1 loss, an amateur will let one loss eat the profits of ten profitable trades. Both traders had the same number of trades but one will end the month in profit and the other will end the month in stress and pain.
Cutting a loss quickly soon ends your attachment to that trade and allows You to pursue a more profitable trade set-up. Part of the reason it is so hard to cut a trade is because You waited forever for that trade set-up and now You not only have to admit that You did not have the advantage that You thought that You did, but now You have to start the process all over again and with a loss.

DON'T MARRY ANY POSITION; THE MARKET CAN CHANGE IN AN INSTANT!!!!!!!!
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU HAVE AN EXIT STRATEGY (ONE THAT WILL CAUSE YOU THE LEAST AMOUNT OF PAIN)IF THINGS DON'T GO AS YOU PLAN!

ANY TRADE CAN TURN INTO A LOSS!

If You play this game long enough, You will eventually meet with disappointment. It happens, cut and move on. The market will give You another chance to make profit.

Never allow yourself to become wounded beyond repair in the market, either financially or emotionally. Cutting a loss means that You love Yourself enough to save yourself.

If You are going to win at this game, You have to have the capital to play and cutting trades that have lost the edge is one way to thrive here.

Gotta learn to save yourself! If You are getting stopped out frequently, You have gotta to rethink your strategy because something is wrong.

Free Your mind to find good trade set-ups by cutting trades that are not working in your favor. Holding on to diseased trades only punishes You and eventually it can break You

The biggest discipline that a great trader learns is how to cut a loss

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

HOW I TELL I AM LOSING MY ADVANTAGE

When trading the 1 min time frame it is essential for You to be able to recognize when You have lost Your trading advantage.

These are ways that I can tell that I no longer have the advantage that I believed that I did:

If price moves above/below the previous candle even though it may not close there, I don't have the advantage.

A good trade should run in your favor almost immediately !

If you are not in a decent profit in 7-10 mins , then You may want to consider getting out with a tiny profit or at break even, because chances are high that price is going reverse on You.

Wacky MA's- Pay attention to the order of Your MA's, it is very important, they will tell You if You are in a good trade or trade hell. If your moving averages are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then they should be in order 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, not 4, 2, 3, 1, 5.

Lastly a flat 50 period strongly suggest that You may not have the advantage that You thought.

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

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KEEPING RISK SMALL

Keeping risk small and rewards big is what a good trader is always attempting to do.

How can we do that???

How can we gain that kind of advantage??????

One way I have discovered is by trading off of the 1 minute time frame.

Why is that an advantage??????
It keeps your risk small when you find yourself on the right side of the trade and within a matter of minutes, you will see that you can secure a very nice profit.

The advantage that it has over larger time frames is that you are able to get in on a move quicker, giving you access to more profit with a smaller risk. Many times when you are trading off of the larger time frames by the time you get your confirmation, the move is almost over, the reward is smaller and the risk bigger, especially if you day trade.

One of the problems that comes as a result is that you find yourself in a nice profit briefly before price reverses strongly on you again, then you find yourself hoping and waiting for price to come back in your favor, kicking yourself all of the time, thinking 'I should have got out when I had a profit.'

Now I do need to mention that while you get many more trading opportunities off of the 1 min time frame, You also get many more false trading signals.............

Let's put the odds in your favor a little more. I don't use a trend line on the 1 min chart, just on my longer time frames, so there is always a trend line available, but it comes off a larger time frame. On your 1 min chart, you may want to consider a moving average, right now I am experimenting with the 8, 10, 14/15, 20 and the 50 period SMA.

Though your SMA is a lagging indicator, it can still give you some clear trading advantages by showing you the times that the odds are the most in your favor.......



The real sweet spot.......

TIME, time is the magic ingredient to pulling off a successful and profitable trade. There are market sweet spots, times when your pair is the most active. Those are the times that give you the biggest opportunity for profit. You want to capitalize on these times. Two good trades at these sweet spots will make your trading day.

Here is a chart that will give you an idea when your pairs are the most active:
http://www.mataf.net/en/tools/02-01-volatility.

The most important thing to remember about the 1 min chart is to get in, get your profit and get out. You can not ride a 1 min trade all day.................On the 1 min chart it iS imperative that you cut your profits when things are no longer going in your favor, because price can soon engulf your profits if you don't.

So in closing the things you want to keep your risk small are:
The sweet spot in time:
A proper trade set-up
Speed of execution.

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

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WHY DO WE HOLD ON TO LOSSES ???

Why do we as traders hold on to our losses???????

Hope,
Fear,
Anger,
Apathy,
Confusion,

When we see ourselves on the wrong side of a trade, we hold on with the thought that the market will soon come back in our favor, because most of the time it does. Hope, one of the greatest gift's GOD has given us, can get you killed in the market.

The fear that when we let go of that loss, price is going to come back in our favor and we would have taken that hit for nothing.

The thought that we can't take this loss, because we don't want to give back some of our profits. Then the loss becomes so large that we really can't afford to take it, so we leave it in the hands on the market hoping for mercy. In that situation, believe me the market is going to run over You every chance it gets, and will wipe You out as many times as possible. As generous as it is on the right side of the trade, it is a ravenous beast with no mercy on the other.

You have done all of Your analysis right, You have waited for a proper trade set-up and everything says that You have the advantage, You get in the market and the trade goes against you, and You are madder than hell because You were right, so You refuse to cut the loss. Let me say that the market loves that, because Your anger is only giving them more of your hard earned money. Your analysis can be 100% perfect and the market can still go against You, because the market will do as it pleases. It leads and You follow, but make no mistake, the same market that lines your pockets so fully can also turn on you like a mad dog.

Another thing that happens when a loss becomes too large is that thought that "I should have cut it at $100.00, now it is $1,000.00". Then the apathy sets in and You just don't care what happens any more. 'If it comes around fine', or 'if I get wiped out so what', 'whatever', then You turn off your screen and You do something else, but You can't stop worrying about that loss that is looming over You larger than life. It is so much better for you to cut a loss than to have the market cut it for You.

The other thing is the confusion about when to cut a loss, it can get to be hard, but having a predefined stop before your entry or soon after or a physical SL, will make taking a hit much easier. I never like to try to define people's SL's because it is a matter of risk tolerance. You know how much You can afford to loss, and Zero is not an option, while none of us want to lose anything, it is just not realistic in this game. There are people who were prosperous for years in the market and got wiped out in single day or week because they could not stand to take a loss. As long as You have money, you have money to make more money, but when your money is gone, you have to get up from the table.

These things are easy to say in theory but hard to do practically, it is I think the hardest discipline that a trader learns, but we must learn to cut losses quickly. The heartache and money I could have saved by cutting my losses quickly and going in the direction that price was moving would be enough for that new Camaro that I love.

That is the great thing about the market, if You survive to play another day, You eventually get it.

CUT YOUR LOSSES QUICKLY (^_^)!!!!!!!!!!!

A failed long usually makes a good short, and a failed short usually means a good long (^_^). There is always good money to be made in the market, just don't be the one because of your false hope, or stubbornness, that the market is making money off of. Don't allow the market to feed on your families hard earned money cut losses quickly!!!!!!!!!!

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

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FINDING THE PERFECT ENTRY

While finding the perfect entry is the fantasy of every trader. There is no such thing. It is pure myth. If you get an exact top/bottom it is more luck than science. We have many indicators to help us to do this, but finding a good entry point can still be a challenge.

While there are no perfect entries; there have to be entries that put the odds of success in our favor

I think the secret to getting a good entry is the waiting. I get more profitable trades than losses because I am willing to allow the trade to come to me. As a trader I do more waiting than trading. Many people don't get that, but the secret to getting your best market entry is in the waiting.

Here are some things that might help. Mark Yesterdays support and resistance , if you are near yesterdays support when you enter the market and price is moving in a bullish fashion, there is a high percentage that you can take your trade long for a good ride. If you exceed yesterdays high and you get a reversal, then you are probably in for a sweet ride to the down side.

If you are at a midpoint, you might want to wait for a pullback or bounce for a better entry. If you have enough distance from your support or resistance, then most of the time you are safe to follow that short term trend. This works best on a non trending or slightly trending market. In a trending bull market, sometimes you will dip down to just below the high of the previous day all the way down to the low of the previous day before price continues on in it's bullish pursuits. In a trending bear market, price might rally above the previous day's close and in rarer occasions all the way to the high of the previous day before reversing.

Never buy near yesterday's top or sell near the bottom unless you are in steps. If You sell near the previous days top or buy near yesterdays bottom, you are much more likely to get a break even trade if the market doesn't do what you expect.

Here is a great link that will show you roughly what your pair is going to do hourly and daily. It also shows you the times that your pair is most active:

http://www.mataf.net/en/tools/02-01-volatility

This is only a guide, compare it to your charts to see how accurate it is overall.

Guys, you can do this and play with the big dogs, but you must educate yourself and employ the kind of discipline that puts you in the winners circle.

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

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BEFORE YOU TAKE THAT TRADE

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!! before you enter that trade:

Did You see how far it was from yesterdays support or resistance?

Is it ascending or descending steps?

Did You draw Yourself a trend line?

Did You wait for a proper trade set-up?

Are You going in harmony with Your current trend?

If You are going against the trend, did You ask Yourself,
"How far am I from the trend line?"
"Is this signal strong enough to make it worth the risk?"
"How far along is this trend?"

"What is an appropriate stop if I am wrong?"

These are a few questions You may want to ask Yourself prior to entering a trade (^_^)

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

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DEMO ACCOUNT

I am always telling new traders to practice on their demo account until they become consistently profitable.

WHY?????

Because I have found that it is a way to program a success pattern in your mind. Your mind doesn't distinguish between a live and a demo account, however we do. Sometimes we allow emotions to interfere with the successful program that our mind is running once we get a live account.

We want trading to be so ingrained in us that it is almost instinct. Your demo gives you the opportunity to train your mind toward automatic success.

Your brain begins to recognize patterns of success as you practice on your live or demo account, it doesn't matter which one?.

As a trader, every time you enter the market, you take a risk.

YOU CAN NOT BE BE AFRAID OF RISK!

But you must make SMART, CALCULATED RISK in the market. Risk no more than 2% of your capital in a trade. 2% on the right side of the trade is more than enough to provide your with a very comfortable life style. 2% on the wrong side of the trade can also take you out. That is why smart calculated risk give you the biggest advantage in the market. When you don't over trade your account it gives you more control over your exit as opposed to being forced out of the trade by the market.

ENTER THE MARKET WHEN YOU CAN SEE A CLEAR ADVANTAGE!

Use your demo up, blow it up several times if that is what is necessary for you to gain an understanding of what is going on in the market.

Take your demo seriously. Practice your successes and it will help your mind begin to eliminate those habits that are counter productive to good trading. Practicing success in your demo translates into success in your live account.

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

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RUNNING PRICE

Many times when price is running like a mad train on steroids, it is very unsettling because all of your emotions are screaming for you to jump aboard. The problem with that is many time that same train that seduced you aboard will often abandon you at the station leaving you wondering what happened??????

One of the most difficult temptation to resist in trading is the urge and beckoning to follow running price. Running price will often leave you stuck at the top or abandoned at the bottom. When your eyes see price running, all of your emotions are screaming for you to jump aboard. DON'T DO IT! Many times it is a trap that will leave you licking your wounds. When you get off of the ground all scraped up, you still aren't sure what happened because you were in harmony with your trend. Many times price will speed up just before the critical end of that run.



Now if you are aboard a trend and price starts on super steroids x 20 then you might want to begin looking for the nearest exit point. It doesn't always happen like that, but I have seen it often enough that I never jump into running price, even though my emotions are still screaming for me to.

While I am looking at price accelerate, I am thinking "look at all of that money you missed, and you knew it was going to keep going" or thoughts like "crap you should have gotten in, you missed your chance." My Friend the market will give you another chance!

I would rather miss out on an iffy trade for a sure one any day. When things settle and I can see a clear advantage then I can enter the market with logic instead of emotions....

Study Your charts and learn the price rhythm of your currency pair or pairs

YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)

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WHAT ARE MARKET MAKERS

In the financial markets, we often hear the term Market Makers, but who are the Market Makers and what do they do????????????

Market Makers are the people who insure that your orders get filled, they keep the market liquid. If you want to move 3,000,000 shares of xyz and there is no buyer waiting for those shares; the Market Makers will buy those shares from you even if though there is no buyer on the other end of the transaction.

Won't the Market Maker go broke doing this???????????

No the Market Makers are Banks and very large financial institution that make their money off of the the difference between the Bid/Ask price which is referred to as the spread. The spread acts to offset the risk of their buying your xyz with no seller lined up in case something goes wrong. Though the spread is often very little, millions of transactions a day creates a very lucrative profit for the Market Maker.

The Market Maker makes money by buying your xzy at 25.5 and reselling it at 25.8. The Market Marker buys low and sells high or sell high and buy low. The Market Maker takes advantages of both the buy/sell, making money in both directions as the market goes up and as the market comes down.

Can a Maker Maker lose money??????????

Sure, if the Market Maker misjudges the market sentiment thinking that the market is going to go up when it comes down. If he bought your xyz at 25.5 and it falls to 13.3, the Market Maker is in trouble if unable to get rid of those shares before price plummets .

Market Makers also get rebates from ECN's (electronic communication networks) for each share that is sold to you at the bid price. On the other hand, the trader who buys the bid of an ECN (your trading platform) is charged a fee. The Market Maker will profit regardless of what kind of order you place whether buy/sell.

In short the market maker makes it possible for you to buy/sell whether there is an existing counterpart to your trade or not for a small fee as long as there is a bid/ask price available.


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YOU CAN DO THIS (^_^)