HOW TO GET STARTED!

1. My trading system is simple and easy to use.

I have never tried to invent something new in forex trading. I did not want to invent the wheel from the scratch. We already have everything we need to trade and make money. All of the tools we need are accessible for free. Why should we make our lives too complicated?

I learned the technical analysis and candlestick signals and patterns. This is what I did as soon as I started learning forex. After a while, I almost mastered the technical analysis and candlesticks. I demo traded and came to this conclusion that I should stick to candlesticks and forget about the other things like support/resistance lines and levels, chart patterns, and… because they were somehow too hard, time consuming, and unreliable.

So I kept everything simple from the first day, and I started getting good results very soon. I did not try different indicators, because I did know that if I wanted to do it, I would have to spend the rest of my life on it. There are zillions of indicators, trading systems, and… . But there are some simple and easy to use tools that are already tried by thousands of traders, from Japan to USA, and it is proven that they work. So I used those tools and forgot about the others.

2. I am disciplined.

I simply use what I have learned and the tools I have. I am not looking for anything else. I do not let any emotions interfere and make me decide wrongly. I check the charts and I place the orders if I see a strong signal. It is as simple as that. There is nothing complicated about trading. Everybody can do it. I have a car (my trading tools e.g. candlesticks and bollinger bands), and an address (the trading system/strategy). Every day, I turn on the car and follow the address. I reach the destination within 30 minutes. This is what everybody is able to do.

3. I wait for the best setups.

There are always some weak setups on the charts. Those setups are for the traders who want to lose money. They are not for the professional and experienced traders. So I leave those setups for the others. I wait for the best and strong setups, and fortunately they always form. There are always good opportunities in the forex market. If I don’t trade today, I will do it tomorrow.

4. I use a reasonable stop loss and I am loyal to it.

Stop loss is one of the most important things in trading. Those who do not set a stop loss will be out of the game sooner than later. You can easily wipe out a million dollar account with just one position, if you do not set a proper stop loss. I have seen someone who wiped out a 7 million dollar account, because he foolishly did not set any stop loss, and emphasized that his positions were correct and the market would finally turn around to follow his favourite direction. The market did turn around when his account was already blown up.

Your trading system should tell you about the best and most optimum place to set the stop loss. Otherwise forget about it. You should set a proper and reasonable stop loss which is not too tight or wide, for each of the positions you take. You should not widen your stop loss when the price goes against you and is about to hit the stop loss. Also, please note that a too wide stop loss is like having no stop loss. And a too tight stop loss causes you to lose money even when your position is correct.

To stay away from the emotions, I do not check the charts when I take the positions every day after the daily candlesticks close. Checking the charts when you have open positions can trigger the negative and harmful emotions that cause you to make mistakes. When you see your position is losing, you get emotional and you close your position not to lose more, or you will widen your stop loss because you are afraid of losing too early and you want to give your position more room. When your position is making money and you are watching it, your emotions can cause you to close the position, because you think it is possible that the market goes against you and you lose the profit you have in your hand.

I don’t get emotional so easily, however I prefer not to check the charts and my positions. I take the positions, set the stop loss and target and then I come back the next day.

5. I do not add to my bad positions (I do not average down).

Instead of trading and making money, some people always try to prove that they are right, or they try to break the others’ records. Therefore, when they take a position and it goes against them, they take more positions probably to hit the market turning point finally. However, in most cases the forex market keeps on following the same direction and these traders will lose all they have in their accounts. This is not trading. It is gambling.

6. I do not over-trade.

over trading is another syndrome I see among forex traders. Over-trading does not help you to make more money. It causes you to lose your money faster. It is possible that you double your account within a short time through over-trading, but you will wipe out your account the next day, because you are not going to be lucky every day. If you trade based on luck, one day you win, and the other day you lose all you have already made.

7. I do not risk too much money.

I am not greedy at all. I do not try to become multi millionaire and make millions of dollars every month. It is possible to make millions on the paper and with the demo account, but live trading is different.

I never open a big account to make my broker greedy and attract his attention. I trade with a small amount of money, raise it into some reasonable amount, and then withdraw most part of it and leave a small amount in my account again. I always do this.

I enjoy growing a small account. I do not like to have a million dollar account and make $50k every month, withdraw the profit and leave my capital there.

After several years of working and gaining experiences, my trading buddies and me came to this conclusion that we’d better to grow small accounts, instead of having a big account. This is much safer, and besides, it eliminates the harmful emotions, specially fear.