FXstreet.com: Education: Market Psychology

They can... what about me? Forex opportunities

fxquestions@investija.com (Investija.com) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:49:25 GMT

Today everyone is trying to earn as much money as they can and most of them do forget all the other things that matter in life. Even though some of them succeed by becoming millionaires, greed acts an important role on their life. How do we cope with greed, our emotions depend on our personal characteristics. Nowadays the popular way to try to grab a big piece immediately is at Forex Market where all the emotions are gathered from all the world. Forex involves greed, emotions, fair and more

Five fatal flaws of trading

editor@forexjournal.com (The Forex Journal) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:27:18 GMT

This article is taken from the Forex Journal (August 2009 issue). The author, Jeffrey Kennedy , is the Chief Commodity Analyst at Elliott Wave International (EWI). With more than 15 years of experience as a technical analyst, he writes and edits Futures Junctures, EWI’s premier commodity forecasting package. If you have been trading for some time, you have no doubt felt like an invisible ‘hand’ sometimes reaches into your trading account and takes out money. Jeffrey Kennedy looks at the five

Trade less, win more: how to trust your setup

editor@forexjournal.com (The Forex Journal) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:49:14 GMT

This article is taken from the Forex Journal (July 2009 issue). The author, Boris Schlossberg , began his Wall Street trading career more than 20 years ago at Drexel Burhnam Lambert. There, he traded nearly every type of financial product on the market in the United States from equities and options to stock index futures and foreign exchange. His innate ability to analyze market information and use it to trade has helped him become an industry-recognized, “go to” trading professional. These

More to trading than charts

editor@traders-journal.com (The Trader's Journal) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:00:05 GMT

This article is taken from the Trader's Journal magazine (July 2009 issue) The author, Don Dawson , is an Online Trading Academy instructor. Do you ever ask yourself why other traders seem so successful while you continue to struggle? Don Dawson shares ways to become a better trader by looking at the business of trading as more than just reading the charts.

The Psychology of Trading - The Mind of the Market

info@fxsol.com (FX Solutions) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:33:48 GMT

What is the purpose of the foreign exchange market, or any trading market for that matter? It seems like a simple question with a simple answer. The purpose is to facilitate exchange, to permit participants to sell and buy commodities, equities or futures and to trade one currency for another. But that simple definition disguises a world of complexity. If two parties wish to conduct an exchange, of one currency for another or of an equity or bond for a sum of cash the first question is at what

The Psychological Utility of Technical Analysis

info@fxsol.com (FX Solutions) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:46:45 GMT

Today I am starting an occasional series on one of the most fascinating and essential topics in currency trading; the interaction between the psychology of the market and the decisions of the individual trader. I hope these observations are useful; reader comments are welcome. Technical analysis is sometimes studied as if it contains a grain of secret knowledge or portrays an intrinsic truth about currency movements. Often it is said that a specific chart formation will produce a specific

Timely Advice from a Pro Trader

editor@forexjournal.com (The Forex Journal) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:42:31 GMT

This article is taken from the Forex Journal (May 2009 issue) The author, Johan Kriek, started his trading career when he was just nineteen years old. After finishing school, Johan studied Computer Engineering and started to work for Forex Trader South Africa as an IT specialist. Within one year, Johan advanced from IT Specialist to lecturing and conducting seminars Gradually, Johan became an FX Specialist and conducted various courses in South Africa for Forex Worldwide Training and Support.

What Will You Do At The Fork In The Road?

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:55:16 GMT

All of us at one time or another have come to a fork in the road. It may be a real fork in the road during a trip. It may be a family decision issue. It may be a major situation within your business. It may happen while you trade. How do you approach it? What do you do? Many times, society places so many concerns and warnings in front of us that we just look at both options and then plan and talk and analyze, but no action is ever taken. A commitment to action will always provide a stronger

Man vs. Market

rob@robbooker.com (TraderRadio.net) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:09:45 GMT

Click the image to read the Ebook Is it Man vs. Market? Or something else entirely? IT’S YOU AGAINST THE MARKET. That’s what they’ll tell you. You’ll read about it on the message boards, at the Expos, and you can’t get away from the sense that there is a mysterious entity which means to seriously harm you, to get you, that wants your entire account and wants to leave you in ruins. It’s the market. It’s tens of thousands of traders, all against you. All wanting you to lose. All because it’s a

You Need To Learn How To Dance In The Rain

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:15:24 GMT

Every trader will experience storms during their trading career. You might have days or even weeks without any storms, but they will come. Violent movements, large losses, markets that react opposite than your strategy tells you will happen and so much more. We cannot keep these situations from happening; however we can make a decision to either wait for the storms to pass or step out and dance in the rain. If we are planning on waiting until there are no storms, no struggles, no

Step Outside Of Your Comfort Zone

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:04:18 GMT

Each of us has a comfort zone. That area where everything seems to work like we desire, stress is almost non-existent and we can basically move forward with our eyes closed and not worry. This might sound like the best way to trade, however, if we never strive to grow, to adjust, to refine to get better, we will actually fade away and regress instead of remaining comfortable. It is a challenge to try new things because once we step outside of the area where we know 100% what we are doing, we

The Best Way To Find An Answer... Is To Ask

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:08:58 GMT

Trading has always been and always will be an exciting, yet challenging skill. The best traders around the world, at one time could never make a profitable trade, however they did the one thing that separated them from those who never got better. They asked for help. Asking for some help takes courage, but the rewards are powerful. Almost any question that can be asked has an answer. Each of us must make the decision to step out of our comfort zone and ask someone for help. Once we do that, a

Change is Great... At Least For The Other Guy

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:38:00 GMT

Change is all around us and most individuals are OK with that as long as it does not impact them. Bottom line is that we can not escape change, and those who want to be better at what they do learn how to handle change. Traders will deal with change every day. We cannot control changes in the market, the economy or other areas that impact the value of our trade, but we can learn to adapt to the change to make it work for us instead of against us. We can also make our own changes to what we are

It's 2009. Get Your Trading S*** Together, Man!

rob@robbooker.com (TraderRadio.net) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:04:25 GMT

A week ago, I wrote a letter to a friend about his trading. I told him it was time to get his s*** together. Dear Horatio: You wrote to me and said: My gains for the month are gone. I need a deeper understanding of the Forex Market. Much deeper. Negative. You do not need a deeper understanding of the forex market. You need a deeper understanding of yourself. And then you need to start doing what you promised me that you would do: you need to close down your accounts with a lot of

How Dejá Vù can help with your trades

editor@forexjournal.com (The Forex Journal) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:12:51 GMT

This article is taken from the Forex Journal (December 2008 issue) The author, Jim Martens, is the senior currency analyst at Elliott Wave International (EWI). He worked as an analyst with floor brokers before joining EWI in 1993, where he covered commodities and oversaw currency analysis. After a stint with Nexus Capital Ltd., a Soros-affiliated hedge fund, he is back with EWI, covering dollar rates and major cross rates in EWI’s International Currency Outlook. Currency trader Jim Martens

Do You Believe?

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:50:20 GMT

Tis the season of the year for family and friends and believing. No matter your family background, heritage or culture this seems to be the time of year where people make decisions about what they believe. Whether it is St. Nick, family relationships, a potential promotion, a foundation of personal faith any of the long list of topics, the end of the year brings about these thoughts. As a trader, if we do not believe in our trading strategy, our processes and who we are as a person, then we

Please Stand By

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:17:05 GMT

Every day we each experience situations that we were not expecting. Some times we handle them pretty well and other times we just crumble. When we have an interruption on the TV or radio that says "This is the emergency broadcasting system, please stand by." most of us have a small pit in our stomach begin to form because we do not know what to expect. Is it a major disaster, a warning or maybe just a test? If we are not prepared, this can cause us to make some serious decisions that might not

Making good decisions

editor@traders-journal.com (The Trader's Journal) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:56:04 GMT

This article is taken from the Trader's Journal magazine (November 2008 issue) The author, the trader’s coach Adrienne Toghraie , is an internationally recognized authority in the field of human development for the financial community. Her eight books on the psychology of trading, including The Winning Edge – Volumes 1-4 and Trader’s Secrets, co-authored with Murray Ruggiero, have been highly praised by financial magazines. Good decision-making is a skill that requires practice, preparation

What Do You Have On The Shelves Of Your Internal Library?

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:07:23 GMT

By building an internal library of information that we can draw on at different times, we will discover that when a difficult situation arises, we will be the one that pauses and re-analyzes instead of the one that zooms forward and then wishes they had been more cautious. Listen to the author's thoughts Change Can Only Be Good When You Decide To Actually Do It No one can make you happy, sad, angry, successful or prosperous. The only one that can do this is you. When the opportunity to change

Fear and Excuses Can Create Disaster

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:56:46 GMT

When the market becomes volatile or a series of trades produce loses, it is easy for us to become fearful. We then start to verbalize excuses as to why we even executed those trades or why we use the trading strategy that we use or any of a long list of items. Listen to the author's thoughts We Need To Do What We Have Never Done Before By seeing the areas that we have strengths and keeping them on a path of growth along with honestly working on those areas that need strengthening, each of us

Patience, Preparation and Performance

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:49:09 GMT

Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. With the current volatility of the financial markets, it is extremely important that each of us resolve to be patient in our decisions and not make snap judgments. These can create future disaster. The most successful individuals around the world have a foundation of processes that they utilize consistently, no matter whether the markets are trending with clear direction or being extremely volatile. Each of us needs to be patient and allow the

Is the Grass Really Greener?

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:47:37 GMT

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, yet we still need to cut, weed and water it. There are many aspects of today's society that can cause each of us to not be able to enjoy our successes because we are told to expect more even when we do surpass a target. Sometimes we reach new heights and then beat ourselves up because we could have done better. A trader can become very depressed if they only focus on what they could have made if they would have stayed in longer or

Developing the Trader's Mind: Strategies for Long Term Success - ITC 2008 presentation

rob@robbooker.com (TraderRadio.net) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:06:08 GMT

Summary I’m different. The Market will always come back Heart Of Darkness You have to work on your mind every day Excessive idealism Loss aversion Accumulation Risk & Preference Patience Gratitude Generosity Rob Booker's presentation at the International Traders Conference (ITC), held in Barcelona in October '08

Gaining an Edge with Sentiment Indicators - ITC 2008 presentation

research@dailyfx.com (DailyFX) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:24:28 GMT

Summary I. Trends – A Produce of Psychology II. Sentiment Indicators III. Elliott Wave Introduction and Setups IV. Speculation as a Fine Art V. Forecasts Jamie Saettele 's presentation at the International Traders Conference (ITC), held in Barcelona in October '08

Decide to Be a Learner

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:11:26 GMT

The world is changing rapidly every day. All financial markets move from a smooth pathway to a very volatile environment in the blink of an eye. For each of us to continue to reach and exceed our goals and objectives, we cannot sit still. If we think that we are educated and expect to sit back and just use that knowledge to achieve what we desire, then we are going to receive a big surprise. Only when we decide to continue learning will we stay on a pathway of continued success. Listen to the

Change Is Always A Challenge

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:01:15 GMT

As traders it is so easy to criticize our trading strategy when results do not meet our expectations. The last thing we want to do is acknowledge that we might be making mistakes. However, rarely does a proven trading strategy continuously deliver poor results without the discovery of a trader making changes in the steps due to unproven gut feelings, revenge tactics, fear, greed and so many other emotions that arise when we try to outsmart the market. For all of us to enhance our skills and

Being In Control Requires A Decision

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:59:25 GMT

Our thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, habits and character are what determine our destiny. As a trader, each of us needs to decide that we will be in control of each and every session. We must understand and accept that the way we respond to great successes as well as disappointing losses has a huge impact on how we approach our next trading session. Trading is a skill that we add knowledge and new objectives on a daily basis. If we stand still, the market will become more difficult to

You Will Never Get Wet Unless You Jump In

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:53:14 GMT

We all can probably remember a time early in our life when we were standing on the edge of a pool or a boat dock and being encouraged to jump in. We waited and waited and sometimes never jumped in or maybe we jumped in immediately. Those same feelings are still with us today when we trade. The world around us has a way of instilling indecisiveness in executing trades or exiting trades. If we have developed a proven process of risk management, money management and a strategy that has been

Evolution of a hedge fund manager

editor@traders-journal.com (The Trader's Journal) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:35:07 GMT

This article is taken from the Trader's Journal magazine (Aug 2008 issue) The author, Kevin Teeple has appeared as a featured expert on CNN, Bloomberg, the FOX Network in addition to the NASDAQ’s market site in New York City. Days after the attack on the World Trade Center, Kevin was honored to be one of a select few appearing on the CNN Financial Network to respond to the questions and concerns of Americans regarding their investments, the market and the economy. Kevin Teeple shares the steps

Don't Let Fear Conquer You

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:09:58 GMT

Fear is a very powerful emotion and in trading it can lead us to large errors if we allow it to do so. If we truly understand that every trade we make will bring about one of two results - a profit or a loss - and not make it any bigger than that, then we will be way ahead of most traders. Whether we win or lose, the main factor is whether we followed our trading strategy or not. If we did, then we must not let fear overtake us and keep us from taking the next trade or possibly making major

Small Steps Lead to Better Things

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:45:44 GMT

It is always easy to hesitate, to slow down or to even quit. However, many of us might be looking at situations and being more concerned with the possible outcome instead of the potential growth and learning that we will receive. All great successes start with the first step, the first action and even possibly the first loss. Don't allow yourself to see a small step as a barrier. Let's make the decision to wake up each day and take new steps, no matter how small they may be. the results will

Are You Creative?

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:44:08 GMT

Creativity allows each of us to approach life with new thoughts and ideas. Everyone is creative. The struggle comes when we do not recognize and accept that we have creativity inside of us and ignore the talent and actions that we are capable of achieving. Successful individuals will always strive to think outside of the box and try something new to enhance their proven methods. In trading we each need to apply our proven strategy with new ideas that are creative. If you change the way you

Use Circumstances to Build Discipline

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:33:34 GMT

One of the greatest stumbling blocks to achieving success in the important aspects of life is circumstances. We seem to use them to get us off track or keep us from continuing to the end. On the other hand, successful people use circumstances to drive them towards their goals. As a trader, we all need to understand that there will be times when things arise that could easily cause us to make huge errors, become lazy in our decisions or even quit. Instead, let's use the bumps in the road to

Be An Achiever

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:35:22 GMT

Every day we trade we experience challenges that can disrupt our session. These include the market movement, the economic outlook, our emotions, our attitude and so much more. These items can cause us to do many things. including quitting. However, the achiever recognizes all challenges when they arise and then adjusts so as to continue to move forward. For all of us as traders, we need to never allow challenges to keep us from growing and becoming better at what we do. We need to use

Decide to Believe

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:53:59 GMT

People all around the world desire to have better things happen in their life. The interesting fact is that many of them have had better things happen; however they just did not stop to enjoy it. As traders, we need to evaluate how we are doing and then if we are doing well. enjoy it. If we are not, then we need to be courageous enough to adjust. Change is good if we believe in ourselves. Belief is the strongest element of any journey. Traders who believe will always perform better than those

Trading and Emotions

fxquestions@investija.com (Investija.com) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:34:41 GMT

Psychological factors about the trading are well covered in the books, articles and in all sorts of media information and in this article all the ideas about emotions, caused by the “mad” movements of the market, probably will not be new, but solutions how to deal with them for some traders could be a discovery. I am not pretending to be a wizard of the market, but what helps me could help others as well. Let me first express my opinion, what any trading strategy or investment plan, no matter

Back to the Future

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:50:34 GMT

If you could go back in time to the very first day you began trading, would you do anything different? What if you had the knowledge you had right now after months or years of trading experience. Would you make some changes? By analyzing what we do and what results we are getting and then being open to changing our habits or actions, we will always have a better opportunity for enhancing our skills. So, let's go "Back to the Future" and look at what we might want to do if we decide to re-start

Winning and Losing are Both Part of the Power of Probabilities

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:28:44 GMT

Winning, Losing, Money and Success are just a few of the many aspects of life that people use to determine the worth of others as well as themselves. In reality, it is not these results, but how we respond to them that will make our journey one that we enjoy and desire to continue doing, or whether we quit. As a trader, the understanding of probabilities and how to make them work for us instead of against us will provide great power for you as you move forward in your trading career. Listen to

What Do We Do Now?

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:22:14 GMT

How long do we wait to get started when we face something new? Are we being held captive by the desire to have everything perfect before we begin? Do we want to be sure that we will not have any problems or failures before we get going? The only thing that can keep us from experiencing success in trading is to not trade at all. Don't allow yourself to stop trading, or quit using a strategy or never trading with real money because of the numerous mind games that we play waiting for the perfect

Focus on the Bulls Eye

admin@TradingMetro.com (Trading Metro) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:20:33 GMT

Every day that we trade, we need to ensure that we have a specific goal in mind. Without any goals, we will never know if we had a successful trading session or not. Profit is not the only indicator for success. The best traders continue to fine tune their goals and the target gets smaller and smaller. If you aim for the bulls eye, even if you miss, you still end up with a good result, because when you aim small even if you make an error, those errors are also small. Listen to the author's