If learning currency trading is such a difficult task, how do we proceed? Please accept that we are only providing a framework for you to get started quickly. Trading currencies entails high risk, as the high casualty rate figure warns. You must approach the market in a disciplined manner with a step-by-step strategy that guides your every movement in the market from opening your first position, to following its progress, and to closing out the position for a profit or loss.
Before getting into our lessons, you have a homework assignment. Spend several hours reading articles here on Forextraders.com and on other websites. Take a forex tutorial, if it is offered. The objective is not to gain absolute competency with the material, but to become familiar with the terms and activities associated with trading. Eventually, you will need a competent forex broker, but for now, you may enjoy learning from the free demo that we provide. Once you feel a degree of knowledge and comfort about forex and the demo trading system, proceed.
Rules of the road
We will now begin with a few rules of the road, related to money and risk management, fundamental and technical analysis, and then strategy development and execution. The focus will be on visuals for instruction purposes. If you take what you see and apply it later, you will have a higher probability for success, and that brings us to our first rule of the road:
Rule #1: Never put pressure on yourself to generate a specific level of earnings from trading or risk money that you cannot afford to lose. These concepts will only lead to early failure. Read more on money management here.
Rule #2: Winning in forex is all about working the odds in your favor. There will always be a “50/50” chance for where a currency pair may move in the near-term future, but broker commissions will require a “55/45” winning percentage to break even and a “60/40” ratio to be a consistent profitable trader. The ratio has to do with “net dollars”, not trades. Losses are part of this game, but your objective is to cut losers early, but let winners run, that way you get ahead over time.
Rule #3: Always go with the flow. Individual traders should not bet on high- risk uncertainty. You want to seek out trends, jump on, and then jump out with a profit. This rule is the tried and true way to survive and thrive in forex. You search for situations where the odds favor your entry, then try to capitalize. If the market moves against you, get out quickly. If it goes as planned, stay with it until your projected exit point, then book your gain.
Rule #4: What is your Risk/Reward ratio? OK, a little math is required here, but you will need to retain these steps for future use. The accepted rule of risk is that you should lose no more than 2%-3% of your account balance on any one trade. This is a goal that every trader violates to his demise, but lessons must be experienced to be learned. If your account is $1,000, then your loss limit is $20 to $30. You will set your stop-loss (more on this later) for $20, and your exit point at $40 to $60, depending on how aggressive you wish to be. Your risk/reward ratio would then be “2X1” or “3X1”, respectively. The point here is that losses will occur. You have to be able to absorb them until your favorable trend comes along. Most of your winnings will come from a few trades, while the majority of small losers and winners will cancel each other out. A corollary is to never have more than two active trades going at one time. Over time, you may adjust these parameters, but safety first. Read more about the risk reward ratio.
Rule #5: Keep it simple. Newcomers tend to load up on every indicator or analysis tool available. The result is chaos and paralysis. Simple is best. Focus on one pair with a few tools to guide you. If you have three losers in a row, leave the market for a while. There is always a new opportunity around the corner. Never trade when your mind is in turmoil, and keep a journal to review accurately what you did right and what you did wrong. Learn, learn, learn!!!
Subject: How do we get started? 
Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:24 am
