Trading forex brokers is not for the faint of heart. It is probably the most volatile market in existence. The up and down fluctuations of currency pairs make it the wildest roller coaster ride in the trading game.
As anybody who has taken this ride knows, the very strategies that sent you to bed with a smile on your face and a warm, fuzzy feeling in the hip that holds your pocketbook, can knock you down the next day, leaving you wondering exactly what happened (and whether or not you can get your money back). The market gives quickly, and it will take away just as quickly.
Here are some of the reasons you can lose money trading in the Forex Market:
1) Failing to research out brokers forex trading strategy.
So you’ve read the glowing description the broker gives himself on the web. He is, for example, a “pass through” trader, which means he will let you trade on the market exactly the same way the “big investors” do, not through data he has supplied. You’ve downloaded his Meta Trader and you’ve been trading with, say, $5000 of his “play money”, and you’ve made a profit. You think you’re ready to launch, but wait…
Have you researched out this broker? Try a Google search on his name with the word “scam” added to it. You may be surprised at what you find…
Well, don’t necessarily believe all the complainers, some people will complain about anything. But if you discover people complaining about serious issues, and you’ve checked the broker’s rating with the BBB (and it’s not good), you may want to try another firm.
2) Launching into “real” trading after only a brief period of “trial” trading.
Brokers who offer the Meta Trader usually allow “mock” trading with initial investments of “play money”. Choose an initial investment close to what you intend to put down, and start the “trial” trade. Some say you should not begin trading with your own money until you have doubled your “play” money at least twice. And…if you’ve done that, you may have gained the kind of expertise necessary to avoid reasons 4 through 7.
3) Expecting market indicators to always work the same way.
You just set up your chart and created some market indicators. When the trade graph triggers the indicators, theoretically the market should go long or short depending on the prediction. And it does…most of the time. But just when you think you’ve got the market figured out…it will perversely move in the opposite direction (without triggering an indicator), losing the profit you’ve gained, and leaving you weeping, wailing and gnashing your teeth. Experience is the only answer to this, which you gained by heeding number 2.
4) Revenge Trading.
You just lost in a major way. The long trade you made just took a dive, and you held on, thinking that the the trend would reverse. It didn’t, and you suddenly find your gains are gone (or maybe worse than that). Now you get reckless, thinking you will “get it back” by the end of the day. Beware, you’ve entered the “Revenge Trading Zone”. Enter this zone, and, guess what…
5) Trading at too high a risk.
This is a typical mistake of the novice trader…looking at the history of a currency pair and upping the cost of a pip beyond the risk he or she should take based on the investment. In a card game, you don’t throw down all your money on a single hand, and in Forex you REALLY don’t want to do it.
6) Trading too many pips in one day.
So today you’ve made three trades and done well. You start a fourth, and you suddenly discover you are not doing as well as you were. The Market takes a nasty turn…it’s not going as predicted and you start to lose the money you’ve made. You stop it before your profit is gone, and start a fifth.
You have now entered the realm of “Trader’s Fatigue”. You enter this realm by trading too many pips in a day. Many successful traders limit their trades to no more than 100 pips…and pay no attention to how much money they have gained or lost. Too many pips results in fatigue…and fatigue can spell disaster.
7) Setting the “Take Profit” value too high…and the “Stop Loss” not low enough.
Estimating both the Take Profit and Stop Loss values correctly is critical. While setting the Stop Loss value at, say, 20 pips may seem like a safe, conservative thing to do, the currency pair fluctuation may suddenly drop below this value, only to reverse and reach Take Profit.
Setting the Stop Loss much lower can ultimately result in more profitable trades. You have to watch it though, and this is where you will need…you guessed it…nerves of steel. Research has been done on setting these values, and you should do an internet search to see what experienced traders recommend.
Not moving the Stop Loss as the trade moves.
Another thing you can do is move the Stop Loss as the trade moves in the expected direction. Eventually the Stop Loss will equal the original trade value and if the market reverses you will not lose money.
Well, keep a bottle of Alka Seltzer beside your computer and count on the fact that you are going to need to get a lot of trading time experience what is forex under your belt before you really start to succeed at Forex Trading. But succeed you will, and handsomely if you let these 8 “words of advice” be your guide as you launch into the wild market of Forex Trading.
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